18+ blog: It is YOUR responsibility, as a reader, to think about the content that you consume at your own discretion.
~
Summary: Amy has gone into labour and she is all alone. Her boyfriend Brian isn't picking up his phone and her nerves are completely wrecked. She can't have this baby alone, although it has felt that way for most of her pregnancy, however without the love and support of her best friend Tom she wouldn't have gotten this far.
Warnings: Anxiety, pre-parental panic, cheating boyfriend, giving birth (not graphic) and some use of strong language
------------------------------
Amy tries her best to remember the lamaze breathing technique, as she pads barefoot across the hardwood floors at a somewhat fast, yet steady pace towards her phone that she left on the sofa. Once it was within reach she brought up her boyfriend Brain's number and held the phone up to her ear as it began to ring.
RING, RING!
The droning sound of the ring wasn't very reassuring, in fact it was agonisingly nerve-wrecking with each second it continued to ring, right until the nasally drawl of Brain's voicemail began. "Hi, this is Brain Jones. Leave me a message or whatever after the beep." BEEP!
Amy took a deep breath to keep calm through the labour pains and on the exhale, "Brain, you jerk...it's time...where are you?! I-I need you with me, to hold my hand!" Upon hanging up Amy screamed in pain while tears began rolling down her cheeks, and she had one hand over her baby bump, and the other clutching a death-like grip on her phone. She stayed there for a while until the contraction subsided enough for her to sit down.
Everyone around her has been telling her the most horrible birth stories ever since she announced she was pregnant, almost scaring her out of having this baby altogether. But without the love and support of her best friend Tom she wouldn't have gotten this far otherwise. God knows she needs all the support she can get.
Brain on the other hand certainly has been absent for most of her pregnancy and he hardly reassured her whenever her anxiousness was getting the best of her. He's missed a lot of the doctor appointments and he's missed every single parenting class. Plus any other preparations that needed to be made and the bounding time he could have had with Amy before the baby's arrival he avoided. He used every possible thin and lame excuse he could think of to get out of as much of the baby stuff as possible. Actually he had barely even picked up a paint brush to decorate the nursery, despite the amount of times she'd ask him politely, he was just always out of the door instead. And while Brain took a back seat Tom stood up to the mark and picked up the slack. Even though he's not the father he couldn't abandon his best friend and he genuinely enjoyed every second he spent helping her out. He went to as many parenting classes as he could with her so she wasn't always alone, he drove her to all the doctor's appointments that Brain hadn't gone to (which was just two), Tom also surprised Amy one day after he finished decorating the nursery. Amy was lost for words that day, she could only hug and thank him for the most beautiful nursery ever, it was better than she could imagine it to be.
He's been the perfect self-titled Uncle to her unborn child.
However, as the contractions became stronger and closer together after some time had passed, Amy was at the end of her sanity thread and she couldn't be alone anymore. Besides, it was clear Brian was in no rush to be there for her, so she decided to phone Tom, as she knew she stood a better chance of getting to the hospital with his help.
"Darling, I was just thinking..." Tom's familiar voice began on the other end of the line, after picking up after a couple of rings, only he was quickly cut off.
"Toooom." Amy whaled through the pain.
"Amy, what's wrong?!" Tom could feel the panic raise up rapidly from the pit of his stomach. While panic-stricken he got up onto his feet, and with such haste that his head felt dumb, as if he was experiencing brain freeze after eating too much ice cream too fast.
"Tom...Tom I'm scared and-and alone..." she says in between shaky and blubbery breaths. "The-the baby is coming now!"
"Ok, keep breathing for me, just like we learnt in class. I'll be right there." Tom took deep breaths himself and then pushed the panicking mess down. Once he had collected himself together and cursed Brain, knowing full well that he wasn't there for her, he grabbed his jacket and keys on the way out.
------------------------------
Tom soon arrived and let himself into Amy's home with the spare key she gave him in case of emergencies. He was also quick to find her leaning against the kitchen counter with a glass of water in hand. He greeted her with a kiss to her forehead and preyed the glass from her shaky grasp before putting his hand into hers. His calmness was welcomed with a crooked smile and a thankful squeeze to his hand in hers as he helped coach her with her breathing too.
On their way out Tom scooped up a packed bag from by the door which had been packed for at least a month ready for this exact moment. He knew he didn't need to check it before leaving, as he'd done that enough times already leading up to his moment, plus he knew he wanted to keep her calm, and the sooner they were on their way the better. Although when they were out on the road Amy almost went into a full blown panic attack, thankfully Tom reached over and he squeezed her knee every time the pain was getting too much. It reassured her that he was still there and his soothing voice kept talking to her too which helped her loads.
As soon as they arrived at the hospital Tom carried Amy in bridal style as she couldn't walk due to the amount of pain she's in. Then everything went by in a quick blur and before she knew it she found herself in a hospital bed giving birth.
Amy's death-like grip held Tom's hand close to her chest and her nails dug into the soft flesh. He didn't mind at all, all he cared about was being there for her. He just whispered words of encouragement into her ear, patted her sweat-beaded forehead down with a cool cloth, and helped coach her through her breathing and the pushing. His warm breath on her ear, the light touch of his lips on her neck, and his soothing voice helped her immensely. Albeit she wasn't shy when it came to cursing and wishing Brain to go to hell in between it all.
------------------------------
Amy's beautiful baby boy lay snuggly in his thick warm blankets in her arms. His small delicate fist wrapped around her pointer finger after she lovingly stroked his soft face. Tears couldn't be stopped once he held her finger. He was adorable and so tiny in her arms. Also Tom was so proud of her and he felt honoured that he could be there for this special moment. Although deep down he felt saddened and angry by the fact Brain couldn't be bothered to answer his phone. He should have been here for her, he should be there to greet his son into the world, on the other hand in some deep inner selfish way he was glad Brain wasn't there. As selfish as he knew it was, but he knew Brain didn't deserve such an incredible woman like Amy, nor did he deserve to try and be a good father. Right now this is exactly what Tom always wanted out of life and he couldn't understand why Brain was such a dick.
"Could you hand me my phone, please?" Tom was hesitant to hand Amy her phone, he didn't want this feeling, this moment together to go away so soon. However he managed to push his selfishness to one side and passed Amy her phone.
As Amy cradled her baby boy in one arm she rang Brain on her phone with the free hand. Just like earlier it went to voicemail after it rang out, only this time Amy tried his number as soon as she hung up before the beep sounded. Surprisingly the phone was picked up this time after three rings.
"Brain, what the hell?! You missed the birth of your son..." Amy began to speak sternly, but she tried to keep a lid on her anger so as not to disturb her little boy.
"Oh, I'm sorry sweetie, it's not Brain." A childish female voice suddenly spoke and caused Amy to feel sick to her stomach.
"W-wha, who's this!? Where's Brian?!" Amy demanded and her newborn squirmed in his sleep.
"Br-Brain...oh god...yes...Brain..."
Amy began to cry all over again for a completely different reason and she couldn't listen to another word, she already had an idea what was going on, she just didn't need to hear it. Tom instantly saw the mixed emotions flash across her face and he was quick to wrap his arm around her shoulders. Her head fell against his shoulder, her eyes closed tightly, and her hand reached up and grabbed onto his shirt instead of holding onto her phone, as she continued to cry and her already exhausted body shook.
"Shh darling, I've got you." Tom didn't need to know the details right now, but he felt as though for a long time he already knew deep down. Brain had fucked up. "Don't worry, Uncle Tom is here to take care of both of you." He kisses her forehead and slowly rocks both mother and son gently.
A few days later, the day started as usual. Heather had prepared breakfast (Dirk often offered to make breakfast, but being picky and moody because of her pregnancy, she actually preferred to make whatever she liked that morning) and Dirk greeted his wife and his unborn baby.
Dirk (cooing at Heather’s baby bump): “Good morning my precious little one, be nice to your mother today. I don’t think she got much sleep this night with you kicking around like a little Jean-Claude Von Sim. Oooh, I can’t wait until you pop out and I can hold you in my arms.”
Heather (smiling): “Babe, I don’t think there’s much ‘popping’ to it, but a lot of ‘pushing’ and ‘puffing’ and pain...”
Dirk (sooshing her softly before planting a kiss on her lips): “Hush, don’t think about that now, Babe. They’ll take good care of you at the hospital when the day comes and I’ll be there with you, you know that.”
Heather just smiled and thought “Yeah Babe, that’s easy for you to say...”. But she refused to let the thought of labour pains ruin her morning and they had a lovely breakfast together. But just after she had she came back from a bathroom break, she felt a sudden pain and huge discomfort.
Heather (holding her belly in pain, breathing fast): “Babe?”
Dirk (standing up from his seat): “Yes?”
Heather (opening her eyes wide as another cramp rushed through her body): “It’s popping time!”
