Chapter 34: EPILOGUE

THEO

“How far apart are your contractions?”

“Ten minutes.”

Nadia went into labor this morning and refused to go to the hospital until her contractions were closer together. That was eight hours ago.

“Can we go now?”

“What if it remains at ten minutes for the next few hours?”

“At least we’ll be at the hospital. I won’t have to rush you there as you’re getting ready to push.”

Nadia hunched over and grabbed the back of the couch as another contraction hit.

“Is there anything I can do?” Nathan asked.

“Convince your sister it’s time to go to the hospital.”

“I’m with Theo. We don’t want you giving birth here.”

“Fine, I’ll go. Just stop fucking nagging me.”

“I’m not taking that personally,” Nathan said before walking into his room.

“I already have our to-go bags, and Jay’s mom is going to pick up Nathan.”

“Thank you.”

By the time I got Nadia to the hospital, all hell was breaking loose. Her contractions were almost back to back.

She was yelling at me to help and to stop helping at the same time.

The nurse took one look at Nadia and ushered us down the hall.

“I need to push,” Nadia yelled.

“Don’t push,” the nurse yelled back. “We need you to wait a few more minutes.”

“This baby isn’t waiting,” she huffed out between contractions.

The nurse stopped us in the middle of the hallway and checked.

“The baby is crowning. We are going to deliver in the hallway. Page the doctor,” she told another nurse.

Within minutes, I watched my amazing wife give birth, and for a moment I forgot to breathe.

I would never forget the first cry that came out of them.

“You have a beautiful baby boy.”

The nurse placed him on Nadia while they took us to a room to wait for the doctor.

“He’s beautiful,” Nadia whispered.

“Do you still like the boy name we picked out?” I asked.

“I do. I think it fits him perfectly. Welcome to the world, Dolen Monroe Hart.”

“Welcome to the family, Dolen.”

Dolen was perfect. We already loved him and couldn’t wait for our family to meet him.

We picked Dolen as his first name because it meant wanderer, and it was a perfect way to honor Theo since he refused to have the baby named after him if it was a boy.

“Sweet boy seems to be in perfect health,” the nurse announced as they brought Dolen back to us.

“Would the dad like to hold him?” the nurse asked.

“Yes,” Theo said without hesitation.

I watched as he cradled Dolen in his arms.

“I never knew how much I needed you in my life,” he whispered.

Over the past nine months, life had been great. Theo and I got married at a small courthouse ceremony. Nathan was doing better, and he hadn’t had a flare-up in months since he was able to see a specialist regularly.

That day we embarked on a journey of parenthood, and I was terrified yet excited. All I could think about was the future. They filled my future with love, and that was all that mattered.

End of Book 2