Color of Forgiveness (62 page)

Myra lifts her head once the contraction
subsides. “Where’s Susie and Jackie?” she mumbles.

“I don’t know and I don’t give a shit. I’m
just gonna get you to the damn hospital, baby.”

“
No
. You can’t leave them at the
mall. I need them there.”

“Shit!” Dylan shouts before stopping and
turning around. Jackie and Susie are both sprinting towards him,
and Susie is carrying her goddamn tray still piled high with food.
Myra giggles.

“I’m gonna kill those two,” Dylan grunts
before he turns and starts walking briskly again. “If they aren’t
at the truck when we get there, I’m leaving their asses. They can
find their own damn way to the hospital.”

“You can’t leave them.”

“I can and I will. All I care about is you
and our baby.”

“Well, if you love me, you won’t leave my
two best friends at the mall.”

“
Fuck,
” he mumbles in irritation. He
turns around again. “Hurry up!” he shouts angrily.

Myra stiffens in his arms. She moans again,
one hand slipping from behind his neck to grip tightly to his
shirt. “It’s okay, baby, you’re doing great. I know it hurts like
hell, but it’ll be over in just a few minutes. You’re okay, baby,
you’re okay.”

He continues talking to her while he opens
the door to exit the mall and makes his way out into the parking
lot. He breathes a sigh of relief when he sees his truck. “We’re
almost to the truck, baby. We’re almost there.”

“It
hurts
…”

“I know, baby. I’m
so
sorry. I love
you so much. Just hang in there, baby.”

He unlocks the door and sits her down as
gently as he can in the front seat. She hangs tight to his neck.
“Don’t let me go. Please,” she begs.

“I gotta let go for just a second, baby. I
have to drive.”

“
No…
” she groans and squeezes the
fuck out of his neck. He rubs her stomach and whispers soothing
words to her. Just as the contraction eases up, Jackie and Susie
finally show up.

“Holy hell,” Susie says, panting heavily.
“I’m so outta shape. Instead of admitting Myra, they may have to
admit me.”

“Just get in the damn truck,” Dylan yells.
“Her contractions are coming really fast.”

Susie’s eyes widen. “Shit, Myra. Let’s go! I
had no idea. I’m telling you guys that labor usually takes hours,
sometimes days. I’m not making this crap up.”

“Baby?” Dylan says to Myra as he touches her
arm that has a vice grip on his neck. “I’m gonna have to let you go
now so I can drive. But just for a minute, okay?”

“
No,
” she says in a frightened voice.
“Oh god, here comes another one. Don’t let me go.”

“Fuck!” Dylan shouts. “Somebody else is
gonna have to drive.” He picks Myra up and climbs in the backseat
with her.

“I can’t drive,” Susie argues. “I’d get us
lost in a heartbeat. I don’t know Boise from Timbuktu.”

“Oh my god...” Jackie says her eyes big and
round. “I guess that means I have to drive. Oh my god… I’m freaking
out. You’re truck is huge. I’ve never driven anything this big
before.”

“Just get in the truck!” Dylan yells again,
causing Jackie and Susie to quickly scramble into the front
seat.

Dylan opens his legs and pulls Myra up
against him so that her back rests against his chest. He pushes her
hair away from her neck and wraps his arms around her stomach. “I’m
here, baby,” he says in her ear. “It’s okay. I’m gonna be with you
every second of this shit, okay? I love you, baby. I love you.”

Myra grabs onto his hands and digs her
fingernails into his skin, letting out a loud shriek.

“Oh my god!” Jackie yells. “Don’t have the
baby in this truck, Myra. You can’t have the baby in here. Shit!
I’m freaking out!”

“Just drive, damn it!” Dylan shouts.

Jackie quickly starts the truck and slowly
inches out of the parking space. “Am I going to hit anything? I
can’t see a thing back there.”

“Just back out, damn it,” Dylan growls. “If
you hit something, I’ll pay for it.”

Susie turns around and hangs over the seat,
staring at Myra as she shoves a fry in her mouth. Dylan’s eyes
narrow as he stares at her. “I’m
sorry
. I eat when I’m
nervous!” she says.

Susie touches Myra’s arm. “Myra, look at me.
Breathe, honey. Hee hee hee. Hoo hoo hoo. Hee hee hee. Hoo hoo hoo.
That’s it. Just like that...”

Soon, the contraction is over and Myra
loosens her grip on Dylan’s hands. He reaches up and smooth’s her
hair back, lifting it off her neck so he can kiss her warm skin.
“You did so good, baby,” Dylan tells her. “I’m so goddamn proud of
you. The breathing shit helped, didn’t it?”

Myra turns her head toward him, and there
are tears streaming down her face. “They’re getting worse. I can’t
do this.”

“Yes, you can, baby. You can do this. You’re
the bravest, most beautiful woman in the goddamn universe. You’re
strong. I’m gonna help you. I’m not gonna leave you for a
second.”

“Somebody needs to call Sherri and Natalie,”
Jackie shouts. “Call them and tell them to meet us at the
hospital.”

Dylan pulls his phone out and tosses it at
Susie just as Myra starts digging her nails into his arm again. “It
hurts
,” she cries out. Dylan feels like his heart is getting
ripped out of his chest. He can’t stand seeing her in so much
pain.

“I love you, baby. Breathe like Susie showed
you. Breathe.”

Susie hangs over the seat with the phone in
her ear and a breadstick in the other hand and helps Myra with her
breathing again. Dylan starts doing it with them. “That’s right,
baby, you’ve got this.”

Fifteen minutes later, they pull up in front
of the hospital. “Oh my god, I’ll never get this stupid truck
parked,” Jackie mumbles. “You’re doing awesome, Myra. I don’t know
when I’ll be in there because this may take me a while, but I love
you.” Dylan picks Myra up and he and Susie, still carrying her
tray, practically run into the ER. Myra screams when she gets hit
with another big contraction.

“My best friend is having a baby.
Right
now
,” Susie shouts to the nurse. “We need a doctor pronto!”

“I need to push,” Myra pants in a desperate
voice with tears streaking down her cheeks.

Dylan’s eyes widen. “Don’t push. Don’t push,
baby. Just hold on. It’ll only be a few more minutes.” Myra’s cries
break his damn heart in two.

They get whisked into a room with doctors
and nurses rushing around and within minutes, the doctor has
examined Myra and is telling her to get ready to push.

“I can’t. It
hurts
,” Myra
screams.

“Give her a damn epidural,” Dylan shouts,
pushing Myra’s sweaty hair off of her face.

“It’s too late for an epidural,” the doctor
tells him. “This baby is going to be here within minutes.”

The doctor looks at Myra. “When your next
contraction comes, I want you to bear down like you’re having a
bowel movement and push as hard as you can, do you understand?”

“No.
No
. It hurts so bad…” Myra
moans. “I can’t. I
can’t
.”

“You can do this, baby. You can do it,”
Dylan says, squeezing her hand tight.

“Myra. Listen to Dylan,” Susie says from the
other side of the bed. She has her phone out and is videoing.
“You’re so strong. Just a few pushes and you’ll get to see your
baby, honey. Just a little bit more, and there won’t be any more
pain, all right?”

“
Owww..
. Oh god.
Shit!
” Myra
screams.

“Push!” the doctor yells.

“Push, baby… Push, harder... I’m so proud of
you.” Dylan looks down and tears fill his eyes when he sees a dark
head of hair. “Shit, baby, I can see its head,” he says, laughing
as tears streak down his cheeks. “I can see our baby.”

Jackie flies into the room totally out of
breath and stands beside Susie, who has tears streaming down her
face. “I see it too,” Susie shouts. “Myra, I can see your
baby.”

“Oh my god…” Jackie mumbles staring with her
mouth gaped open.

Dylan grimaces, watching Myra’s face turn
red as she pushes as hard as she can before letting out a blood
curdling scream. Dylan gasps and lets out something between a laugh
and a choked sob when he sees the back of the baby’s head slowly
come into view. “Now don’t push for just a second,” the doctor says
as he quickly cleans out the baby’s nose. “Now I want you to push
this time, but not as hard.”

Myra closes her eyes tight, squeezing
Dylan’s hand and pushes again. He watches in astonishment as the
baby’s shoulders pop out and the rest of its body slowly slides out
into the waiting hands of the doctor.

All of the breath leaves his body and tears
pour down his face. The doctor lays the baby up on Myra’s stomach
and quickly suctions out the nose and mouth. “You have a baby
girl,” the doctor announces. “Congratulations!” And just as if on
cue, the little baby girl lets out a huge wail.

Myra touches their little girl then looks up
at Dylan, tears streaming down her cheeks her eyes filled with so
much damn happiness that it completely overwhelms him. He laughs
loudly and kisses her cheek, his tears mixing with hers. “It’s a
girl,” he says, a sob catching in his throat.

“Oh my god… she’s so beautiful,” Myra says,
sobbing. “She’s absolutely beautiful.”

Jackie and Susie are holding each other,
bawling their eyes out. “She is,” Susie chokes out. “She’s
gorgeous.”

The doctor quickly wipes the baby off with a
towel. “Would you like to do the honors?” he asks Dylan, offering
him a pair of scissors. Dylan’s hands shake so badly that he can
barely take them from him. He quickly rubs the tears from his eyes
so that he can see.

“Just cut right here,” the doctor says,
pointing.

Dylan’s hand trembles but he somehow manages
to cut the cord.

The doctor wraps the baby in a blanket and
puts her in Myra’s arms. “She’s a beautiful little girl. What’s her
name?” he asks.

“Yeah, what’s her name?” Susie asks in an
eager voice, smiling ear to ear and wiping her eyes.

Dylan puts his index finger by his new
little girl’s hand, and watches as she grips it tight. He can’t
control the tears anymore so he doesn’t even try. Myra beams up at
him. “You can tell them,” she whispers in a soft voice before
looking back down at the bundle in her arms.

He clears his throat because he has a huge
knot in it. “Megan Elizabeth Lawson,” he announces.

When Dylan looks back down at Myra, she
looks up at him, tears flowing down her cheeks. “Her initials are
M.E.L…. after her big brother.” A huge sob escapes Dylan when he
looks down at the tiny fingers wrapped around him… his new
beautiful daughter and his precious son’s baby sister.

* * *

“I can’t believe you had her that fast and
with no drugs,” Natalie says to Myra. “I had epidurals with all of
mine. But the pain leading up to the epidural was bad enough.”

“You’re telling me,” Susie adds. “I about
had a heart attack when I went into labor with Tucker, and they
told me I couldn’t get an epidural until I was dilated to four or
five. They don’t tell you that crap until you’re at the hospital in
pain and ready to choke the life out of every one around you.”

They all laugh as Sherri sits down in a
chair by the bed. “He’s precious, isn’t he?” Sherri says to Myra
her eyes on Dylan.

Myra looks at him and nods, unable to stop
her eyes from watering. Since Megan’s been born, a little over an
hour ago, Dylan has not let go of her. Not once. He has also
refused to let anyone hold her except Myra. Right now, he’s
changing her first poopy diaper while Jackie films him with her
phone. Pulling the tiny tabs on her diaper, he undoes it and peeks
inside, his face scrunching up and causing the women to giggle. His
hand looks enormous compared to her tiny feet when he holds them up
with one hand and wipes her little butt with a wipe. He quickly
puts on another diaper, pulling down her little hospital gown and
wrapping her back up in the blanket. He picks her up and kisses her
cheek. Myra lifts the sheet and wipes her face with it, choking
down a sob.

“I need a hanky,” Susie moans, all choked
up. They all look at each other and bust out laughing as they all
have tears shining on their cheeks.

Dylan walks towards them and sits down on
the bed. “All right... You all get five minutes each to hold her
and that’s it. I’m gonna time you.”

All the women start shouting angrily all at
the same time.

Dylan smirks and winks at Myra before he
leans down and kisses Megan’s cheek again.

* * *

“I love my family, but I’m glad they’re gone
and it’s just you and me and her now,” Dylan says, laying on the
hospital bed next to Myra and watching Megan breastfeed. He rubs
his finger along her velvety-soft cheek as he curiously
watches.

“Does it hurt?” he asks.

“A little... because I’m sore.”

“What does it feel like?”

Myra’s brows pull together as she stares
down at her baby in her arms. “It’s a strange feeling. I’m not sure
how to describe it. It’s like this incredible sense of closeness.
It just feels so natural. Like this is how it’s supposed to
be.”

“I’ve never seen a woman breastfeed before.
It’s really fucking beautiful.”

“Dylan… your language...”

“Shit. I mean…” Dylan frowns and clears his
throat. “I guess the days of my potty mouth are now over.”

“Well, maybe not
completely
over.”
Myra smiles and raises an eyebrow at him.

Dylan grins. He loves that his woman likes
his dirty mouth. He’ll save it for her… but only in the privacy of
their bedroom. But for now, he’s gotta start cleaning his mouth up
around his new baby girl.

They both contentedly watch Myra nurse for a
few more minutes. He puts his finger near Megan’s hand, and she
grasps it tight again. “She’s so beautiful,” he says in
amazement.