Crave

- TWELVE -

Kurt P.O.V.

"Sir! I need you to calm down or we'll have to remove you from this room." The doctor said more calmly than I was comfortable with. How was he not freaking out? I was freaking out. I suppose it was a good thing that the doctor was calm, though. I'd be worried further if the guy's hands were shaking as badly as mine.

I nodded, trying to calm myself, and pushed Stacy's hair off of her sweaty forehead, "I'm sorry. This is my everything right here, so you're going to have to find a little patience for me."

The doctor's face softened, "I understand, but I've got a job to do and you're going to have to let me do it."

"Relax, Kurt, you're making me nervous." Stacy said and then squeezed my hand, crying out as another contraction took over her body. I cringed, watching her face contort with agony. I wanted to take her pain away.

The doctor suddenly sat straighter, "Alright, Stacy, you're doing great and everything now looks ready. So during your next contraction, I want you to push and keep pushing until you can't push anymore."

"Ok—" Stacy had no sooner mutter that one word when a contraction took over again and she pushed with all her might. It felt like she was breaking every bone in my hand, but I didn't mind. In fact, if it would take her pain away, I'd willingly break every bone in my body in that moment.

I kept expecting the baby to just pop right out the longer she pushed. That's what happened in the movies anyway. Stacy's body relaxed as the contraction ended and she couldn't push anymore, but there was still no baby. I looked at the doctor worriedly, but I bit my tongue. I'd already been yelled at for freaking out before. I didn't want to cause any more problems. Another contraction began and again Stacy pushed with all her might. The doctor spoke encouragingly and this time, a baby did emerge. I stared, in amazement.

"Congratulations, folks, you have a handsome baby boy." The doctor said, as he cleaned out the baby's lungs and then handed him off to a nurse, who began wiping him down. The little guy was screaming now and I couldn't look away. I still held Stacy's hand, which I stroked lovingly. We'd done this. We'd created this beautiful little being.

"Well, daddy, what are we naming him?" Stacy asked, sounding a little weak, but very proud.

I looked down at my wife, to see a soft, contented smile on her face. I smiled back and said, "You decide."

Stacy frowned, "But..."

I shook my head at her. We'd been discussing baby names for months. We had decided to wait to find out the gender during delivery, so we'd been trying to narrow down both boy and girl names. We'd been having trouble deciding, but after everything that just happened, I felt like a name was just a label. Stacy had given birth to a tiny little miracle and nothing would make me happier if she would name him.

Stacy sighed, "Alright, then his name is William Kurt Strong."

I smiled and leaned down to kiss her brow, "Well, alright then."

A moment later, they placed baby William into Stacy's arms for the first time. I'd never seen a more beautiful sight. My wonderful wife, holding my handsome son. My life couldn't have turned out more perfect. Since Stacy and I had gotten married, she'd picked up her life for me, but I didn't think she regretted it. She had decided to go ahead and finish her teaching degree. Now she was attending culinary school, as well as teaching an intro to baking class in the evenings. She had been talking about cutting back some, with the arrival of the baby, so I wasn't sure how she'd juggle everything. If anyone could do it, Stacy Strong could, I thought proudly.

Stacy cooed and cried over our son for several moments before she passed him over to me. I held him a little awkwardly, at first, as I'd never held something so delicate and tiny. As I stared into his tiny face, with his tiny nose and tiny lips, my heart swelled to the point that it felt like it might explode. I looked at my wife and whispered, "Thank you." It might seem like something stupid to tell someone after giving birth, but until Stacy I never knew what I wanted out of life. Then I met her and now I had everything that I could ever want. I had a beautiful wife, whom I still craved with every breath I took, a handsome son, a booming business, and we were currently designing our first home. I couldn't ask for more...well, unless Stacy wanted to give me a daughter who looked just like her someday.

I knew that our family would be going stir crazy, in the waiting room, wanting to meet William, but I selfishly took my time with him. Stacy's dad and Sheila had been here for the past week. Sheila had been a godsend, considering Stacy hadn't been able to do much around the house. Gloria had arrived yesterday morning and Lucas had arrived last night. There had been some strange tension between Gloria and Lucas, which I'd have to get to the bottom of later, considering those two barely knew each other. For now, however, my focus was solely on my growing family. The rest of the world could wait, because everything I craved was right here in this room. Life couldn't be more perfect and I couldn't be luckier. Who knew that, what I thought was, a simple craving could bring so much more?