Sea Breeze 01 - Breathe

sitting up with her legs spread—with the covers draped over her, thankfully. A nurse, who appeared very calm and collected considering her patient was screaming profanities at her, smiled at me. I smiled at her apologetically and went to stand beside Jessica.
    “Is she about to have the baby now?” I asked nervously.
    The nurse nodded. “Yep, as soon as the doctor gets in here, she can begin pushing.”
    My stomach churned. The whole idea of pushing and where this baby was going to enter the world from made me slightly light-headed. However, another of Jessica’s bloodcurdling screams was like a slap in the face, and I quickly shook the thoughts out of my head.
    “What can I do?” I asked, anxiously staring at the nurse.
    “You can lock me in my room if I ever decide to date again!” Jessica yelled, and grabbed my arm as another onslaught of contractions hit her.
    I grimaced and fought the urge to pry her hands off me. As soon as it ended and she released her ironclad grip, I stepped out of her reach. The nurse grinned at me.
    “That might be wise,” she whispered as she walked past me to check the machine’s beeping.
    Jessica began screaming again, and this time the bed rail was her gripping post. I rubbed my arm, thankful to have put distance between us.
    “Ah, the doctor’s here.” The nurse beamed, obviously ready to get this over with so she could escape the violence being spewed from my mother’s mouth.
    “Are you going to stay for this part?” the doctor asked, frowning as he slipped gloves onto his hands.
    Jessica panted and nodded. “Yes! She is!” she yelled, and then let out another fierce scream.
    I nodded.
    He shrugged and took his place down by her feet. “All right, Ms. White, are you ready to do this thing?” he asked jovially, and I wondered if someone had to be mentally off to actually be glad he was in the room with a screaming woman and about to extract a human from her body.
    “Get it out!”
she screamed.
    He smiled at me. “She’ll be back to normal real soon.” He winked and nodded to the nurse.
    I stepped back toward Jessica’s head when he flipped the white sheet up over her knees.
    “Okay, Ms. White, when the contraction starts, I want you to push as hard as you can,” he instructed.
    Jessica panted, then began screaming and pushing all at once.
    “That’s great! Keep this up, and we’ll have a little one here in seconds.”
    She stopped to catch her breath before her face morphed into the monster those men had been speaking of earlier, and she screamed and pushed again. We went through this several more times before I heard a cry that was too soft to be anything but a baby.
    “Beautiful! You can relax now, Ms. White. He has arrived.”
    The doctor had said “he.” I no longer cared about the messy scene going on down by her feet. I just wanted to see this little life that was now a part of mine.
    The nurse wrapped him in a blanket and smiled at me. “You have a brother.” She handed the baby to Jessica, who, although exhausted, smiled down at the little life in her hands.
    “Hello, Sam,” she whispered.
    I leaned down over her and studied his miniature features.
    “Sam, meet your big sister, Sadie,” she said, handing the little bundle up to me.
    I stiffened and stared at her like she was crazy.
    “Oh, come on. He’s just a baby. Hold him.”
    I slid my arms under him and took him from my mother. His tiny little fist fought its way out of the blanket, and he swung it around in the air and let out a small cry. I laughed. He was like a little miracle.
    “We need to go clean him and let the pediatrician check him over. However, we will bring him back to eat very soon.” The nurse was standing in front of me with her arms held out.
    “Okay,” I said through the lump in my throat. Reluctantly, I handed over this new little person I already loved, and watched her take him away.
    “Don’t worry, you were ugly too when you first came out, but after a few days you were the most beautiful baby I had ever seen.”
    I glared at Jessica, who had laid her head back and closed her eyes.
    “He’s beautiful now,” I countered. Already the little guy had me wanting to defend him.
    She let out a laugh. “No, he looks like a prune. All new babies do.”
    I frowned and tried to remind myself that Jessica was not normal, so I should not expect her to treat birth normally.
    “Excuse us, but we need to patch some things up for your mom and move her to a room.