Here is the second part. Enjoy
Part Two:
“Come on Frankie and PUSH!! You can do it! Just PUSH!!”
“Cass, I can’t. I am too tired. Can I just go home and come back tomorrow and finish this then??? We can pick up where we are leaving off today and just finish this delivery tomorrow. How does that sound to you??”
“Frankie, you know better. He is almost here. Just a few more pushes is all I ask. Please push, if not for me, then do it for Charley. She has dreamed of the day she finally gets to be an older sister. Please for Charley??”
“Okay Cass. Don’t worry, I wasn’t serious. I just needed you to talk some sense into my head. Okay, let’s finish this NOW! I can feel another contraction…. YEEOUCH!!!!! Cass Winthrop YOU DID THIS TO ME!!!! NEVER AGAIN!!! Don’t EVER think about touching me EVER AGAIN!!!”
“Okay, Frankie, just calm down.”
“Calm down you say. You TRY pushing something out the size of a watermelon through something the size of a grape and see how you like it. Calm down you say!!!”
“Frankie, you have got to concentrate and push,” says Jamie. “Just two more pushes ….Okay, you are crowning. Push, push, that’s a good girl, the head is out. Hold it, let me clear the airway.” Suctioning noises and then a lustful and hearty cry as the lungs are cleared and expand to allow in that first all important breathe of life. Cass and Frankie both grin and then break out in tears of joy.
“Frankie, I need you to push just a bit more for me. We have to get the shoulders out now. Push, easy does it, push. You are doing just fine. Good! Good! One more!! GREAT!! Congrats Cass and Frankie you have a beautiful baby boy. Meet your son.” Jamie lifts up this wiggling, screaming newborn and places him on his mother’s stomach. Those words had never sounded sweeter to either of them, especially Cass. He thought he would never get the chance to go through labor and delivery again, but finding Frankie again fixed all that.
“What are you going to name him?”
“Wallingford Michael Winthrop”, Cass and Frankie say in unison.
“I like that. Wally and Michael would be proud to know that their names were carried on,” says Jamie. “Let me go call the nursery and let them know that the newest Winthrop is here.” As Jamie leaves, he says, “Remember they grow up so quickly. Enjoy him now cause one day...” Jamie chokes before he can say what is on his heart to say to them. “Gotta let the nursery know. Frankie, I will check on you in a bit. Congrats, Cass.”
As Jamie leaves the room, Wally settles down and stops crying. He opens his eyes, much to the delight of his Mom and Dad. “Happy Birthday, Wallingford Michael Winthrop”, says Cass, as he tenderly leans over and plants a kiss on top of his son’s head.
“Where’s mine, Counselor?” asks Frankie.
“Thought you didn’t want me to touch you EVER again,” teases Cass.
“Oh you get over here” and at that, Cass plants a much deserved kiss on the lips of his bride. Frankie lifts up their son, and gives him a kiss. “Mmmmm, though the thorns of pain, comes the sweetest of all roses” says Frankie as she and Cass drink in the sight of their newborn son.
“Thank you Mary Francis, for everything.”
“You’re welcome Counselor.”
“Frankie let me take him and put him in the warmer and get his vitals and measurements”, says Ronnie, their nurse. Frankie reluctantly hands him over.
“Apgar-9”
“Head 40 cm, length 20 inches, plumbing works rather well, gotta get changed in a bit now, weight 8lbs. 12 ozs” and at that, Cass exclaims “Talk about your bouncing baby boy!”
“Okay spill Counselor. Who wins the pool?”
“What pool?” Cass feigns innocence.
“Cass Winthrop, don’t you think I don’t know about the pool of money everyone was betting on how much he would weigh? Spill it Cass, who wins the kitty?”
“Let me see, it is………Paulina.”
“Paulina?!?! I should have guessed by the way she had been sizing up my stomach. So what does she plan to spend it on??”
“Probably a new helmet for her motorcycle that Jake bought her for their anniversary,” and so goes the easy banter between Cass and Frankie, unaware that life as they know it was about to get complicated, much more complicated than they would have every thought.
In the hospital lab, the lab tech sits back from her microscope, takes off her glasses and rubs her eyes. “Something is not right”, says Ali Fowler. “This can’t be right. I need to get someone to look over there results and make sure I am seeing what I am seeing on these slides.” |
