Your Chance

Chapter 19

Carrie woke in the middle of the night, severe pain coming from her stomach. It's just another contraction, she thought to herself. But when the pain stayed persistent, she had doubts.

Swinging her legs off the bed, she attempted to walk it off to no avail. Her legs gave out, sending her falling back on the bed. Reaching behind her, she pushed him. "Let's go."

Harrison sat up. "What?"

"The baby's coming!"

"Now?"

"No tomorrow! Yes she's coming!"

He jumped out of bed, changing clothes. Carrie tried to stand up again, but couldn't. "Easy sweetheart, I'm coming."

Soon he had her in his arms, carrying her down the stairs. "Why can't this baby be born at a reasonable hour!"

Carrie grimaced as he took her outside. "This is the second one! First Adam, now this one!"

She opened the car door as he set her in the passengers seat. "Go tell my mom," she muttered, crying out in pain.

A minute later, Harrison ran back and jumped in the drivers seat. In the side mirror, she could see her mom go into their house. "She's going to get the kids ready."

Carrie nodded. "Drive fast, agh! Please!"

The nice thing about going into labor in the middle of the night was there was nobody on the road. He was going 70 in a 40 mph speed limit. Harrison even ran a few red lights after checking there were no other cars.

They got to the hospital about 10 minutes later. He carried her in until doctors met them with a bed. As they wheeled her to the birthing room, she saw a clock on the wall which read 4:10 a.m.

Carrie didn't think this would be a middle of the night hospital visit, but their daughter had other ideas. Harrison held her hand the entire time.

Getting to the birthing room, she somewhat put on a scrub as they gave her an iv. Carrie felt the baby beginning to move. She screamed, pushing as hard as she could. "You can do this," he encouraged from beside her.

She took his hand, squeezing it hard. Hard enough that Harrison couldn't feel his hand. But when the baby was born and the pain subsided, it was worth the middle of the night trip to the emergency room.

"You did it," he whispered as the doctors took the baby for post birth testing. He wiped the sweat off her forehead, kissing her gently.

"We did it," she said. "You had to take care of me a lot."

They transferred Carrie to another room. "What are we going to name her?" Harrison asked.

Carrie swallowed. "What do you think?"

They both turned as the doctor brought their baby in. "Mr. and Mrs. Ford, your daughter has passed the post birth tests. She's perfectly healthy."

She handed the baby to Harrison. "I'll leave this here," she smiled, putting the birth certificate on the side table.

Harrison leaned over the side of the bed, holding their daughter. "The birth certificate's not going to fill itself."

Carrie smiled. "We were stuck between Billie, Olivia, or Rachel."

"Her middle name's going to be Catherine right?"

She nodded. "I like Billie. It's unique and beautiful."

"Me too."

"We sold on Billie?"

"Yep."