I laid in my hospital bed, having contractions that made me want to be dead rather than going through the pain.
"Hey baby, are you okay?" Sam asked as he emerged into the room.
"Agh... fine," I inhaled.
Sam took a seat next to me and grabbed my hand. I laced my fingers through his and squeezed.
"She's gonna be a fighter," I tried to laugh, but it hurt too much.
"Just like her dad." Sam smiled and looked at me.
Jack. Jack isn't a fighter, he's a lover. He's so much of a lover. Kami won't be a fighter, she'll be a lover.
"....like me, her dad," Sam finished saying something that I wasn't paying attention to.
"Wonderful, dad," I whispered.
"You think so?" Sam asked.
"I know so," I replied. I wasn't thinking about him. I wasn't sure that he'd be a good father. Jack would be. He would make Kami a lover. Sam would teach her how to be possessive.
"Ready to push?" the doctor came in with a question that slapped me in the face.
"I think so." I clenched my teeth.
"Is the father the only person in the room?" she asked politely, eyeing Sam.
"Yes. Could you please call Jack Gilinsky?" I asked her.
I closed my eyes, but I could hear Sam freaking out. He was yelling in rage, but I blocked it out. Kami couldn't come now, I need Jack.
* * *
"She's so beautiful," Jack cried to me as I got done pushing for the last time.
I fell back into the cotton bed and sighed in relief. Sweat dripped down my forehead as I exhaled loudly.
"Let me see her," I requested.
The doctor handed her to me. She was beautiful. She was the most perfect thing I've ever laid my eyes on. My baby. Jack and I's baby. I held her, protected her, carried her, for nine months. This is the moment I've been waiting for.
"Hey, babygirl. It's mommy," I cooed and kissed her forehead.
"Jack, what do you want to name her?" I asked him.
"Did you already have a name picked out?" he asked me.
"No," I lied so he could pick.
"Annabelle. Anna or Belle for short," he said to me. He looked at Annabelle with such love.
"Annabelle. I love it and so does she." I smiled at him. "Go see daddy." I handed Anna to him.
Jack took Annabelle and started to talk to her, carrying her around the room. He wanted her. He wanted me. He wanted us. He showed up here to be with me while I was going through this. It was a last minute thing and he still showed up.
My eyes slowly shut, watching Jack and Annabelle slowly fade into blurs of love.