The CEO’s New Baby

Chapter 12

If there is one thing about pregnancies it is that they prepare you for everything, except the moment of delivery. You read books, articles, and attend classes. You listen to advice and whatever else, you acquire knowledge of how the baby should be fed or changed. But none of those ever include the vivid description of how painful the delivery is. Funny thing is that even if you had had a baby, you still manage to forget how intense that pain is. You remember it faintly, a simple ghost among many others.

Kayla remembered the agony she had gone through with Emily’s birth only after she found herself gasping for air and pushing. But even then, it was too late. She strongly believed that it was a defense mechanism the body created to prevent young mothers from being too scared. She had no other definition for that.

Despite all that, one thing was for sure, she was giving birth, and she needed to find out a way through which she could manage to get out of it. She hadn’t been in labor for long, but those few minutes seemed to go on and on. Unlike the time before, Ryan wasn’t with her yet. He was waiting with Emily outside, hoping that their mothers would show up already. He needed to be by his wife’s side, and he needed to do so ASAP.

“Kayla, I want you to breathe. Your contractions are really close now, your baby will be out any moment now. You just need to concentrate.” She tried following the doctor’s instructions. She tried taking in steady breaths, one after the other, supplying her tensing muscles with oxygen.

Just when she least expected it, another contraction came her way. She screamed, her lips parting almost immediately. She meant to arch her back, a thing that was highly not indicated, but just as she was about to do so, she felt someone’s hand onto hers. Her body recognized Ryan’s presence before her mind did, relaxing a bit as he touched her.

“It’s okay. I am here now.”

“Ryan!” she hissed as she pushed. That one time, her body reacted to the contraction differently. She felt every muscle inside her contract, not just her lower half. Her scream echoed through the room. Just as her body slammed onto the bed once again, she heard it.

The little cry that followed the silence after her scream. The voice was the cutest thing she had ever heard. Her entire body shivered. Tears welled in her eyes as she saw him. The baby inside the doctor’s arms. He was still covered in blood, his small body wrinkled and a bit blue. But he was still beautiful.

“Congratulations, it’s a healthy and beautiful boy.”

Kayla cried, her lower lip trembling as she extended her arms towards the doctor.

“Hello, Bryan,” she whispered. Her finger caressed his cheek, feeling the softness of his skin beneath her fingertip. She could swear she saw her little baby smiling at the small touch. But the expression was gone before she could make sure.

“Well, hello there, little one! You have given us quite a fright back at the park.” Ryan chuckled. He was trying to look strong, but he didn’t succeed. Even a blind person could see the tears of happiness in his eyes. His hand trembled as he cupped his son’s head.

Ryan might have been a strong and feared businessman, but he was a loving and emotional husband and dad. He had the purest and most tender heart Kayla ever came to meet. And it was the heart she loved most in that entire world.

Slowly, her son opened his eyes, but only for a few seconds. That moment had been magical. It had been the first time they ever gazed into one another’s eyes. The first time Kayla and Ryan had the privilege to see those two hazel orbs behind the closed eyelids.

“He has your eyes,” Ryan whispered, kissing her forehead.

She nodded as she cried. She was sobbing now, it was bad to cry this much, but she couldn’t contain herself. She had been through so much the last couple of months. She had gone from being sick without a hope of treatment to being sick because of the treatment. But in the end, every bad thing led her to where she was then. Right there, holding her baby. Each and every bad day had vanished, she was finally happy.

She understood that God had a plan for her. All she had to do was accept the darkness and search for a way to lighten the way.

“You should go tell our moms I gave birth. They must be freaking out,” she whispered. She did not want Ryan to leave. Not even a bit. But they still had their duties.

“Don’t come back. She will be sent to her room soon enough,” her doctor mentioned as she returned to her seat, probably preparing to clean up the place before letting her go.

And, in fact, that had been exactly the case. An hour later, Kayla was back in her hospital room, surrounded by flowers and balloons. The sun had settled long ago, leaving the lightbulb as the only source of light inside.

Meredith was currently holding Bryan, showing his little hands to Emily, who was ecstatic. She had tried persuading her into letting her hold him, but Kayla had been too scared. She allowed her, however, to sit in bed by him and shower him with kisses and love, the way a bigger sister should.

Tanya, on the other hand, was tending to her own daughter, helping her clean up a bit. She had brought a pair of pajamas and one of the silk scarfs Kayla wore to bed. They had all been in the bag they had prepared a month ago.

When they had packed that bag, everyone thought they would leave for the hospital from home, the bakery in the worst case scenario. None of them, however, would ever dream that her water would break in the middle of the park.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door that made them all turn. A red-headed nurse walked in, her smile reaching her ears as she greeted them all. She seemed young, definitely not older than twenty-five. She must have been either in her last year of studies or just graduated.