Me:Yep!
Captain:I’ll be home soon. Can’t wait to see you.
I don’t tell him to hurry because I just want him to get here safely. They’ll take a bus back to the stadium and then he’ll be home shortly after that.
Me:I’m at my dad’s.
Captain:Okay, I’ll come there. See you soon.
Joanie is still awake, too, and maybe a little traumatized by the fact that I’m going into labor, but that’s why I’m here with her…so I don’t have to go through it alone.
And I love her for being here with me.
Cooper and my father walk through the door at the same time. They’re laughing at something they must have shared out on the front porch, and I’m wincing with another contraction as they walk in, my hand over my stomach as Joanie kneels beside me breathing with me.
Both Cooper and my dad freeze when they see the picture in front of them.
“Are you in labor?” Cooper asks.
“Her contractions just moved to five minutes apart,” Joanie says, and I keep breathing because the pain seems to be getting stronger with each one.
“It’s go time,” Cooper says. “Is your hospital bag here?”
I nod. “In my truck.” I open my notes app and read off what I need him to pack that isn’t in my bag. “I need my toiletry bag in the bathroom upstairs and my phone charger. I think I have everything else.”
He’s as calm as ever as he heads upstairs to get the things I need, and he returns a beat later. “Snacks?” he asks, and I nod.
Joanie races over to the pantry and starts pulling things out, tossing them in a grocery bag.
“Calm down,” Cooper says with a chuckle.
“I’m sorry if I’m notcalm!” Joanie protests. “I’ve been dealing with her contractions for the last four hours while you all flew home!”
He sets his hand on her shoulder. “Thank you for taking care of her. I’ve got it from here.”
And he does.
He tells Joanie and my father that he will let them know when he has any news at all, and he drives calmly to the hospital in mytruck since that’s where the car seat is already installed with my hospital bag snuggled into it.
And seven long hours later, at seven twenty-one in the morning, a beautiful baby girl with Cooper’s blue eyes comes tumbling out of me.
I cry as the nurse places her on my chest. Cooper’s eyes are misty as he kisses me and tells me how much he loves me, and we both stare down at the perfect little life we created together.
“Baby girl’s name?” the nurse asks.
I nod at Cooper.
“Sunny Rose,” Cooper says. The perfect name for our little one, made even more meaningful because we share a middle name.
He leans in toward me, a calming presence as always as he kisses my temple. “Good thing it’s a girl,” he says with a chuckle.
I glance over at him. “Why’s that?”
“Because if we went with your nickname for me plus my middle name, the baby would’ve been named Captain Michael.”
I giggle despite the exhaustion. “Captain Michael. Maybe for baby number two.”
“Talking about baby number two already and baby number one isn’t even an hour old yet?” the nurse asks. “You two must really be in love.”
Cooper sits on the side of the bed. He sets his hand on the baby’s back covered in blankets. With his other hand, he squeezes mine. “I thought I loved her as much as I could ever love anybody, and then she gave me this gift.” He pats Sunny’s back. “And just like that, I love her even more.”
I smile up at him as the same sentiment seems to run through me.
We definitely played hardball to get here, but through all the curveballs life has thrown at me, Cooper Noah is my favorite.
* * *
