“No,” I assure her.“Just wake everybody up and let them know what’s happening.Come up to the hospital and wait?”
“We’ll be there.”Justice wraps me up in a tight hug until another contraction causes me to let go and hold onto my stomach.“Go.”She pushes me out the door.
Before I know it, I’m sitting in the truck next to Bishop and we’re heading the ten miles to the hospital.“This is really happening?”I reach over, grabbing his hand with mine.
“Sure is, Lee.We ready?”
“As we’ll ever be.”
She is the strongest person I’ve ever seen in my life as she pushes.The doctor counts, before Harley leans back, taking a break.
“You’re doing so good,” I praise her, wiping at her forehead with a cool cloth.“We’re going to meet him soon.”
“I know,” she mumbles, moving her head back and forth.“I wanna see him, but this is so hard.”
“You’re a fucking warrior, baby.You’ve got this.”
Doctor Simmons agrees.“He’s right there.Two more good pushes and you’ll get to meet your son, Harley.”
It seems to be the motivation she needs.With a concentration I’ve never seen before, she bears down hard and, within moments, I hear Doctor Simmons.“There’s the head, he’s coming, Harley.”
Our son makes his debut into the world screaming bloody murder.
It’s the best sound I’ve ever heard.
They prop him on Harley’s belly while she sobs, counting all his fingers and toes.At some point, they turn to me.
“Want to cut the cord, Dad?”
Unashamed of the tears rolling down my cheeks, I take the scissors they hand me and do my first duty as the male figure in my son’s life.