Chapter 5
Four hours later
“Breathe, honey. Just breathe,” Harold coached, as Jackie
gripped his hand so hard her knuckles were white. Her breaths came in short gasps, and a sweat
had broken out on her forehead.
Finally, her contraction ended, and she
collapsed back against her pillows, breathing hard.
“It’s over,” she murmured.
Harold nodded. He knew it would not be much longer
now. It was already eleven thirty, and
her contractions were coming only minutes apart.
“How’s Harry?” Jackie asked weakly.
“He’s sleeping,” Harold replied. The whole night, he had been running back and
forth between his wife’s room and his son’s, dragging poor Brian with him. But his youngest son had finally fallen
asleep in a chair in Jackie’s room, and he still was there.
Jackie glanced at Brian, noticing him stir
in his sleep and let out a soft moan.
Moments later, he opened his eyes and slowly sat up, rubbing his eyes
groggily.
“Hi, sweetheart,” Jackie said softly. Brian said nothing, just lay his head back
against the armrest on the chair. Jackie
bit her lip and looked at Harold. “He
shouldn’t be in here,” she whispered.
“He’s exhausted, and he needs to go to bed.”
“I know, Jackie, but it’s eleven thirty at
night. Who are we going to call?”
Harold reasoned.
Jackie shrugged. “I know, honey,” she said. “But-“
Suddenly, her face contorted in pain as
another contraction hit. She clenched
her teeth, trying her hardest not to cry out, as she gripped Harold’s hand once
again. He just patted her shoulder and
clenched his own teeth, trying to ignore the pain in his hand.
A small cry finally escaped Jackie’s lips,
and it was just enough to bring Brian out of his light sleep.
“Mommy?” he asked, his eyes widening at
the sight of his mother in such pain.
The contraction ended, and Jackie slumped
back down in the bed once again. “It’s
okay, honey,” she said between breaths.
“Mommy’s okay.”
“When are we going home?” Brian
whined.
“Not yet, buddy,” Harold said. “Mommy’s having the baby, remember?”
“When?” he asked.
“Very soon,” Jackie said. “Just a little while longer, and you’ll have
a new little brother or sister.”
Brian jutted out his lower lip. “I don’t wanna stay here anymore though,” he
complained. “I wanna go home!”
Harold sighed. “We will, buddy, after the baby’s born. But for now, we have to stay here. That way we can see the new baby when it’s
born. Don’t you want to see your baby
brother or sister?”
“I don’t care,” Brian muttered,
pouting.
Jackie patted her husband’s hand, flashing
him a look that said, Let him be.
He’s just tired.
Suddenly, a nurse poked her head in the
door. “Mr. Littrell, your son just woke
up, and he wants you.”
Harold sighed and looked at Jackie, torn
between which of his family members he should be with.
“Go down to Harry,” she urged. “I’ll be fine for now.”
Harold nodded. “Okay, honey.
But make sure someone comes to get me if-“
“I will, dear,” Jackie promised. “Take Brian with you, okay?”
“Okay.
Come on, Brian,” Harold said, offering his hand to his younger son.
Brian reluctantly took it and dragged
himself off of his chair, slowly following his father out of the room.
***
“Harry, are you okay?” Harold asked,
stepping into his son’s room. He took
one look at Harry’s face and saw that he had been crying. “What’s wrong, buddy?”
“I had a bad dream,” Harry said, rubbing
his eyes. “I wanna go home.”
“Me too,” Brian announced, looking up at
his father hopefully.
Harold sighed. His stress level at this point was
sky-high. “Bri, I told you, we can’t go
home yet. And Harry, I know you want to
go home, but you can’t right now. You
have to get better first.”
“I know,” Harry mumbled. Then he looked up again. “Has Mom had the baby yet?”
“Nope, not yet,” Harold replied. “But she will very soon. Tell you what, you go back to sleep, and
I’ll wake you up again when the baby’s born, okay?”
“Okay,” Harry said, lying back down in his
bed. “Night, Daddy.”
“Goodnight, son,” Harold said, ruffling
Harry’s hair. “We need to go back up to
see Mommy again. I’ll be in to check on
you later, okay?”
“Okay,” Harry murmured sleepily, his eyes
closing.
Harold bent and quickly kissed his son’s
forehead, which was warm from his fever, and grabbed Brian’s hand again. “Come on, Brian,” he whispered, leading
Brian out of the room.
***
