Candy Apple Red - Book Two

Epilogue

SEVEN AND A HALF MONTHS LATER...

October 29th...

Perspiration is beading down my forehead.  My hair is sticking to my cheeks. I'm exhausted, and I'm ready for this baby to come out already, "Alright, Brie, give us one big push! The baby is crowning!" The Doctor calls out. 

Seth and Maggie are holding my hands while Momma and Mariah are holding up my feet.  Once the contraction starts, that's my cue to start pushing as hard as I can. "Yep, like that, Brie!" The Doctor encourages me. 

He catches the baby as it's body slides out, "It's a girl!!" he calls out before placing her on my chest. The nurse quickly rushes over with a blanket in her hand and vigorously rubs the baby to get her to start crying. 

The moment she belts out her first cry, the entire room cheers. Seth cuts the cord as I gaze at my beautiful baby girl. She's perfection with thick dark hair and a full set of lungs. The nurse lifts her from my chest and walks her over to the warmer before weighing and measuring her. 

Seth leans down and kisses me on the forehead, "You did good, baby!" 

I reach up to cup his face, "I love you!"

"I love you more!" he responds as he presses his forehead to mine. The nurse calls out, "Baby girl Madden is 8lbs 4 oz and 20 inches long, born at 7:18 pm.  Seth walks over to admire his little girl and watch as the nurses work to clean her up. Mariah approaches me, "Wow, sissy, no wonder you were so big! That's a big girl for as tiny as you are."

I snicker, "Oh god, you weren't kiddin about the heartburn. Did you see the head of hair on my child?" I ask her. 

She chuckles, "Sure did!" 

Momma leans over and kisses me on the cheek while the doctor works to deliver my placenta. Seth is preoccupied with the baby; It's a good thing, too; I'm sure the sight of what the doctor is doing at this moment would shock him. 

Once the doctor finishes, the nurse begins to massage my abdomen. It's very tender, and I attempt to push her away, "Ouch. Please leave me be!" I order.

Seth spins around and walks back toward me. The nurse continues,  "Sweetheart, I have to do this; you could hemorrhage." she explains. 

"Well, it hurts. Can you do it later?" I ask with a snarky undertone.

"No, darlin, I'm sorry, I know it's uncomfortable, and I know you are finished with us messing with you, but we have to do this now. As I said before, we want to keep you from hemorrhaging." 

"Brie, stop being so damn stubborn and let her do what she has to do." Seth scolds me. 

I snort, "Well, you try pushing an eight-pound baby out of your cat and see if you are so gracious when someone comes over to push and poke on you!" 

He points his finger directly at me, "Now hush, woman! Let her do her job!" he orders as he bites lip to keep the laughter from escaping. 

Momma grabs my hand, "Trust me, sweetie; you want them doin this." The nurse takes the baby out and gets her cleaned up and dressed before wheeling us to our recovery room.

Once we arrive and get settled, they bring our daughter in moments later. Seth picks her up and carries her over to me. I lift her to my nose and inhale her scent. Ahhhh, she's all cleaned up and smells so sweet. They placed a little bonnet on her head with a baby hospital gown. 

I stare in awe at her...Wow! I have a daughter! Seth and I had no clue that we were having a baby girl until delivery. We wanted it to be a surprise. I would have been happy either way, and so would he, but it does help to even out the testosterone in the house with some estrogen. Daddy is gonna have his hands full now with adding a little girl in the mix.