The Good Life

Alex

"DADDY!!!" I heard Izzy yell from upstairs. I quickly got up from the couch and jogged up to her room.

"Izzy! What's wrong? What happened?" I called out. She was standing in her bathroom with liquid running down her legs. "Oh did you um have another accident?" I asked.

"No. My water just broke." She said.

I did exactly what Jack told me not to do in this situation; I panicked. I needed to get Izzy down to my car and call Jack so he could meet us at the hospital.

"Okay, alright, we have to go to the hospital." I grabbed Izzy's hand, but she stopped me before I could go.

"Wait Daddy I don't have pants on." She said.

"Right." I went to her closet and grabbed a pair of sweat pants for her.

I helped her into the pants and then took her out to my car. I helped Izzy get in on the passenger side then I ran to the driver's side.

"Izzy, call your dad and tell him we're on our way to the hospital." I told her.

"Okay and should I start counting how far away my contractions are from each other?" She asked as she texted on her phone.

". . . What? What does that mean?!?"

"Like the feeling of me wanting to push out the baby."

"Is that happening now?! Does that mean it's coming now?!" I began to slow down and pull over.

"No Daddy! It's just like muscle contractions or something like that. Papa said I should count them."

"Wait I can call him through my car." I remembered. I pushed the phone button and went to Jack's name. His phone rung a few times then he answered.

"Hello." He said.

"Jack! Izzy's water just broke! We're on our way to the hospital now!" I panicked.

"Wait slow down. What did you say? Her water broke?"

"Yeah and now we're going to the hospital!"

"Izzy?" He called out.

"Yes Papa."

"Are you in pain?"

"No. I'm just a little freaked out." She told him.

"I'm sure you are because Alex is probably freaking you out. And Alex do you remember the most important thing I told you about if Izzy's water breaks and I'm not there?" He asked me.

"Um not to panic." I mumbled. Panic is that all I’d done so far.

"Yeah because it's going to scare her. So both of you take a deep breath. Alex just safely get Izzy to the hospital and the nurses will know what to do from there. We're leaving the restaurant now so we'll be there soon."

"Okay." I said, a little more relaxed.

"I love you two. Bye."

"We love you too." Izzy and I said and he hung up.

I was calmer after talking to Jack, but I was still worried. Izzy was going to have to give birth in a few hours. I drove all the way to the emergency room and parked in front of the valet. I handed him the keys and he paged a nurse to come out with a wheelchair. Seconds later a lady sped walked out of the sliding doors and came over as I helped Izzy out of the car.

"Hi ma'am, you can take a seat in this chair and I wheel you inside." She told Izzy.

"Oh thank you." Izzy sighed.

"No problem! Sir you can follow us. I'm going to get your wife set up in a room while you fill out some paper work." The nurse said.

"She's my daughter, but thanks." I said politely. She apologized but I told her I understood the mistake.

I stopped in the waiting room to grab Izzy's paper work. Then I went back to room 10c where they placed Izzy. She was lying in the hospital bed and trying to turn the TV on. The nurse checked her vital signs before leaving us alone.

"Are you okay, Angel?" I asked her.

"Yeah I feel fine right now. The contractions are the worse part and it's not that bad yet. The nurse said the doctor will be here in a few minutes to check on me."

"Okay." I took a seat on the chair next to her bed.

Minutes later Jack, Joyce, and May walked in. They all went to Izzy's side to make sure she was doing fine. She assured them that she felt okay, but they continued to baby her.

"Has the doctor seen her yet?" Jack asked me.

"No. Izzy said the nurse told her he'll be here in a few minutes, but that was ten minutes ago." I told him.

"That's fine. I just want to know if he can give us an estimate on how far away she is."

"That's a good idea. I was thinking about calling the rest of the family but I don't want them to wait here all day with us."

"They probably won't care." He said.

"Yeah that's true. I'll just put it in a group message and tell them that they don't have to come yet."

I typed out a message to everyone telling them that Izzy's water broke and that we're at the hospital. I also told them that it was probably going to be a while before she actually gave birth do they didn't have to come yet. Messages quickly flooded my phone from Cass and Hannah saying they were coming now with Oli and Rian. Austin said he would drop the kids off with his parents and come and my dad said he would come a little bit later.

"You were right. They're on their way now." I told Jack and showed him the messages.

"I told you so." He chuckled and went back to Izzy.

"When do I get that epidural thingy?" Izzy asked.

"That won't be until much later." Joyce told her.

"But it'll be in enough time so I won't feel anything right?!"

"Yes Sweetheart! The doctor will give you the shot in enough time so you won't feel anything."

"Okay."

There was a knock at the door and then the doctor walked in. She had a polite smile on her face and she shook all of our hands.

"Hello I'm Dr. Lanka!" She exclaimed. "I'm going to be the doctor delivering Isabella's baby for her." We all told her hello and thanked her.

"Isabella do you have a nickname that'll makes you more comfortable?" Dr. Lanka asked.

"Yeah, you can call me Izzy." Izzy told her.

"Okay! Well Izzy I'm going to pull your clothes below your waist off. I need to see how far away you are." She explained. She removed Izzy's clothes and then had her place her feet on two pedals. I could tell Izzy was uncomfortable with the idea of someone new looking at her naked. Her checks were completely red.

"Wow okay it looks like he is trying to escape quickly. You're already five centimeters dilated. I would say you probably will be ready in maybe five hours." The doctor told her.

"Is that a bad thing?" Izzy asked.

"No no it's okay. It's kind of a good thing, it means you all won't have to wait too long to meet your baby." Dr. Lanka chuckled.

"Oh-okay." Izzy trembled.

"There's nothing to be afraid of, Sweetie. You're in the best hands!" Dr. Lanka assured her. She told us she would be back to check on Izzy later and left.

One by one everyone else came into Izzy's room. Rian and Cass made it first, then Austin, and then Oli and Hannah. It was pretty crowded in the room, but it made Izzy more comfortable to have all of her family with her.

"Are you ready to meet your son?" Cass asked Izzy.

"Yes and no." She answered. "I'm ready to get this over with but at the same time I'm freaking out."

"It's honestly not as bad as you think. The hardest part for me was all the pushing." May told her.

"I'm just worried about the pain. I'm already sore and these contractions are making it worse." She groaned as another wave of pain hit her.

"I'm going to get the doctor to give her some pain medication." Joyce said and left.

"Are you going to stay in here while she's delivering?" Rian asked.

"Yeah." I told him.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Austin joked and I flipped him off.

"It isn't." Oli added. "Jack, you do know that Alex is just going to pass out the first time he sees one drop of blood don't you?"

"I'm prepared for that to happen." Jack giggled.

"Oh whatever. I'm not going to pass out. I'm not as squeamish as I used to be." I lied. The slight of blood still creeped me out, but I really needed to be in here with Izzy when she delivered.

"At least we're already at the hospital so he'll get medical attention quickly." Rian laughed.

"You don't have to stay in here, Daddy, if it's going to make you sick. I completely understand." Izzy told me.

"No, babe I want to stay here with you to help you through this."

"Thank you."

"No problem."

***

Five and a half hours later everyone, except for me, Jack, and Joyce, were out of the room. Izzy was given her epidural shot and the doctor was ready for her to give birth. She placed Izzy's feet back on the two petals after they finished setting up.

"Okay Izzy I need you to take a deep breath and relax. Now I need you to push as hard as you can." Dr. Lanka told Izzy.

Jack and Joyce grabbed her hand and I took a step to the side. I didn't want to see anything that was going to make me pass out. Izzy began weakly pushing.

"I need you to push way harder than that." Dr. Lanka told her.

Izzy tried pushing again and again and again, but each time Dr. Lanka told her she needed to push harder. Izzy finally gave up and laid back against the bed and started crying.

"Izzy you have to push, Babe." Jack told her.

"No I can't! I can't do this!" She cried.

"No you can't break down right now. You have to be strong and get through this." Jack said.

"I can't! Please don't make me! I swear I'll never have sex again! I swear I'll do whatever you want me to just don't make me do this!" She sobbed. It broke my heart to see her so scared, but it was a little too late to make those promises.

"Shh you'll be fine. You're already half way there." Joyce told her.

"I can't!"

"Yes you can!"

"No I can't!"

"Yes you can! Just take a deep breath." Joyce demanded.

"Now push." Dr. Lanka told her.

Izzy squeezed Jack and Joyce's hands and pushed for a few seconds and then stopped. She cried more as they all yelled for her to push again.

Ten minutes later they were still yelling for Izzy to push every few seconds. Izzy was starting to get the hang of it but it still a bit of a struggle because she was exhausted.

"Alex can you come wipe her forehead off?" Jack asked me. I was kind of afraid to get anywhere near the bed but I did it anyways.

I grabbed the cloth and dabbed Izzy's forehead. I also wiped her eyes where the tears were falling. I began to rub her hair soothingly until it was time for her to push again. It sounded like she was in pain from all the groaning and yelling.

"Here comes his head." Dr. Lanka announced. The nurses brought over a suction machine to get ready to suction liquid out of the baby.

I glanced over and caught a glimpse of the mirror showing everything. The sight that I saw made me grab onto Jack for balance.

"Alex, what's wrong?!" He asked.

"Nothing I'm fine. Just give me a second." I told him. I took a few deep breaths to get myself back together. The last thing I needed was to pass out while Izzy was giving birth.

I finally calmed down and released Jack. I went back to wiping Izzy's forehead and trying to avoid any more looks at the mirror.

"You're doing fine, Izzy." I told her and she nodded and continued to push.

Forty minutes later, Izzy did one final push and Dr. Lanka pulled the baby all the way out. We could hear him screaming and the doctor cut his cord held him up for us all to see. He was pink and all wrinkled up. I looked down to see Izzy's expression, but she was basically passed out.

"Is she okay?" I asked Jack and Joyce.

"Yeah she's okay. She's just exhausted." Joyce told me.

I pulled up a seat next to her and ran my fingers through her hair soothingly. The nurses took the baby to the sink and rinsed him off. They did the normal routine needed for all newborns.

Jack leant down to kiss Izzy on the forehead as she slept. He grabbed my head and leant down to kiss me too. We were both pretty relieved that this step was all over with. We still had to help Izzy raise the little guy.

"Oh no she's still sleeping." The nurse said as she brought the bundle of blue blankets over.

"Yeah she's not getting up anytime soon." I joked and kissed Izzy on the cheek. "You can give him to his second dad." I pointed her to Jack.

"Oh hush." Jack laughed as he took the baby from the nurse. He smiled down at the baby and held him closer to his heart. "He's so perfect."

"Bring him closer." I told him.

Jack got lower with the baby and brought him down to my level. I looked into the blankets and saw how perfect he really was. His eyes were shut, but his movements let me know that he was awake.

"Do you want to hold him?" Jack asked and I nodded. He slowly handed me baby-no-name.

"Hi." I whispered happily and he opened his eyes for a second. "He has some pretty big eyes." I laughed and Jack rolled his eyes at me.

"I'm sure he'll grow into them." He chuckled.

I handed Joyce the baby so she could meet her great-grandson. "Oh I couldn't even help her pick out the name yet." Joyce told us.

We each took turns holding the baby until they were finished with Izzy. They cleaned her up and took her out of this room. We followed the nurses down the hall to the new room Izzy was going to stay the night in. The nurses took the baby to the incubation room to run more checkups on him.

The rest of the family was allowed to come in the room. They were impatiently waiting for Izzy to wake up and to meet the baby. The nurse came in fifteen minutes later holding the baby. He was crying as she walked him in and handed him back to Jack.

"He's so cute! I literally might die if I don't hold him." May exclaimed. Jack chuckled and handed May her great-nephew.

There was a knock at the door and Rian opened it. Vic and Mike stood there awkwardly waiting for us to let them step in.

"Um hi. Izzy texted me a few hours ago saying she was going into labor." Vic said. "We can come back later if this is a bad time."

"No its fine. Come in." Jack told him.

They both walked in and Vic looked at Izzy worriedly. He smiled as he saw the baby in May's arms.

"Oh I guess I should let you hold your son." May chuckled. She walked over and placed the baby in Vic's arms.

"Thank you." He said to no one in particular. He played with the baby's fingers and Mike watched over his shoulders.

It was completely silent in the room until we heard Izzy's voice.

"Vic." She called out, trying to make sure she was seeing right. Vic walked over to her with their baby. He slowly slid him into her arms and tears began to fall from Izzy’s eyes. She kissed the baby on the forehead and held him tighter.

She looked up at Jack and I and said, "Bassam."

Jack's eyes lit up as soon as she said it. "Really?" He asked.

"Yes! Bassam Fuentes Barakat-Gaskarth." She told him.

"That baby is going to have the hardest time spelling that name." Joyce joked as she wiped a tear from her eye.

"He can go by Bass for short. I know it might get a little weird say your dad's or husband's name over and over.

"Thank you." Jack told her and kissed her on the forehead.

"Baby Bass kind of has a ring to it." Oli said.

"Yeah." I agreed.

We stayed on the room with Izzy each talking turns holding baby Bass. Even though I wished we could have met him a few years down the road, like when Izzy got older, it was nice spending time with the new member of our family.

Notes

Baby Bass is finally here!