“No!” Keisha opened the door with her gown pulled up to her waist. “My water just broke!”
Aaliyah’s eyes went wide and her mouth formed a perfect O. “We need to get you to a hospital! I’ll get the guys.”
“Liyah,” Keisha grabbed her arm, “I’m not going to make it to the hospital.” She feverishly shook her head. “The baby is coming now!”
“Oh fuck!” Aaliyah bit. “Stay here! I’ll get Ocean now!” She rushed back out and found Ocean talking with his brothers. “Ocean and Savior, show time! Keisha’s in labor in the bathroom. Let’s go! We don’t have time to go the hospital!”
“What?” Savior dropped his drink and followed his brother to the bathroom. Keisha was hunched over on a sofa and clutching her stomach. “Gorgeous…”
Keisha clutched Savior’s arms and breathed hard. “She’s coming, baby. Lyric is coming.”
“Right now?” Savior asked and Keisha nodded. “Oh shit.” He looked up at his oldest brother. “You ready to deliver a baby, Doc?”
Ocean quickly got into position as Savior eased Keisha onto the floor. Ocean checked the baby’s position and knew Lyric was coming immediately. “We’re about to have a baby.” Ocean smiled at his sister-in-law. “Now Keisha, listen to me. The baby is coming quick so when I say push, you do it and don’t stop.” He met eyes with her. “Got it?” She nodded. “Let’s have a baby.”
Soon, other members of the Ellison family rushed into the bathroom. Thomas took off his jacket and Starr crouched down next to Savior and Keisha. Soul acted as security and blocked other curious eyes from watching.
Aaliyah watched in awe as her boyfriend delivered his niece. It was the most beautiful and frightening thing she’d ever witnessed. Savior comforted Keisha while Ocean was focused on the task before him.
“There you go….there you go.” Ocean cooed as he pulled the baby out. He quickly unwrapped the cord from Lyric’s neck and cleaned out her nose. “One big push for me, Keisha, and she’ll be out.”
Keisha hunkered down and pushed through with Savior behind her. She was sweating, mascara ran down her cheeks, and she was mentally and physically exhausted. It was a hard and fast labor at breakneck speed. She had more than enough.
“Is she out?” Keisha softly spoke. Her voice was above a whisper.
Ocean pulled out Lyric and Thomas quickly wrapped her in his jacket. “Aaliyah?” Ocean called for her.
“Yes,” Aaliyah rushed to his side. “Yes, O?”
“Do you have those wipes?”
“Um, yes!” Aaliyah sprung up, grabbed her clutch, and pulled out her baby wipes. She handed them over to Ocean who quickly wiped down Lyric. He placed her on Keisha’s chest.
“Give her a moment,” Ocean sensed the couple’s worry when Lyric was quiet. “She’s trying to figure out what just happened here.” A few moments later, the infant cried and everyone cheered. “There’s my niece.”
Aaliyah was in awe. Ocean delivered his niece without breaking a sweat. Helping others was truly his calling and it made sense he went into the medical profession instead of becoming a lawyer like Savior and their father.
Aaliyah briefly wondered if Ocean would be okay if she got off birth control within the next few years?
“We hear someone delivered a baby!” EMTs came through and met with Keisha and Savior. “Congratulations, mom and dad. Let’s get you to the hospital and get everyone checked out!”
Keisha and Savior left in an ambulance with Thomas and Starr behind them. Ocean stayed behind to clean up and straighten himself out before he dealt with cameras and members of the press. “You were amazing back there,” Aaliyah watched her boyfriend clean up after everyone was gone. It was just the two of them in the bathroom. “You knew what to do without second thinking it.”
“Sometimes, you just go into that mode where the only thing you want is a healthy baby out of it. Childbirth is tricky because it’s two lives at stake and neither is more important that the other.” He thoroughly washed his hands and dried them. “When I saw the chord around Lyric’s neck, I did panic for a brief moment. And then I went back into beast mode.”
“And what a beast you are,” Aaliyah admired. “What a birth story for her when she gets older.”
“I couldn’t have done it without you by my side,” Ocean turned towards her. He walked up to her and pulled Aaliyah close. “You were amazing back there. You were grace under fire and you didn’t even hesitate to help me. Any other woman might have fainted or rushed out of here, but you stayed and supported all of us.” He dropped down to one knee. “I think now is a good time as any to make you an Ellison.”
Aaliyah felt her heart stammer. The pounding was so loud in her ears, it was deafening. Was he going to…? Right now? While there was still some afterbirth on the floor near them?
“O…” Aaliyah felt her lips tremble. “…what…what are you doing?”
Ocean reached into his pocket and pulled out a dark engagement box. He opened it up and an enormous emerald ring flanked by two small sapphires stared back at Aaliyah. “I remember when you said you didn’t want diamonds because you didn’t want to wear someone’s blood on your hands. So, I got you the next best thing. I don’t expect you to wear this all of the time and maybe I should’ve gotten you a simpler ring, but I wanted to show you how much I value and appreciate you, even when we have the odds against us.
“We’ve come a long way and we have an even longer way to go, but I’m willing to see through the end if you are. Aaliyah Flower Smith, will you do me the honor of marrying me?”
“Yes!” Aaliyah cried and stayed still as Ocean placed the ring on her finger. The emerald was so big and it sparkled against her light skin tone. She hugged her fiancée and kissed him.
