Okay, I'll tell it like it really happened. Taleesa was a week passed her due date. She looked like a lollipop that had slid half way down the stick, but still a very gorgeous lollipop. Who knows what kind of pains she was dealing with, well besides women. I had my own stresses to deal with. Is he going to come out at all? And if he does, will he look like me? Will he have arms and legs? What if he was another elephant man?
Taleesa and I woke Saturday morning, waiting and waiting for the call from the hospital. We waited all morning trying to finish the last season of Seinfeld that we had received as a wedding present. Even Kramer couldn't help us pass the time. Finally, we drove into town stopping at Applebee's for lunch. Right after we ordered we got the call. We got our lunch to go, and putted on down the road.
At first, it was just us two, and there was a silence that filled the room. The tension stung my ears. We had talked about this before, but now that we were here, and in the room it was different. We talked about if there happened to be a Jazz game on the night she went into labor, and if we would be able to watch it, even muted would be okay. Ah, it was just the Clippers, I thought as I looked at her in that gown.
She was quiet, and gentle, and soft, but strong. She looked like she knew what she was getting into while I had no idea. She looked beautiful, lying on the bed quietly, like an old woman slumbering waiting to meet God, waiting for God to deliver our son.
Time seemed steady, not too quick, or too slow. The Jazz were getting punished most of the night, and finally came back to tie at the end of the fourth quarter. One overtime, no baby. I'd go and adjust Taleesa's legs. They were numb from the epidural. She could feel one on top of the other, and would ask me to move them. At the end of a second overtime, the Jazz had been victorious, and now it was time.
Our room had been packed quickly after we arrived. Everyone was ushered out. Taleesa's body was ready, and I think she was too. The two of us were left alone for about half an hour. We said a prayer, asking God to watch out for Taleesa, and our baby boy. Then, the nurses returned, and got set. I went out and invited any of the girls that wanted to come in while trying to remind them of the lack of seating. I was followed by seven or eight ladies who all piled onto the couch. Peanuts were passed back and forth along with "I remember's" as Taleesa started going into labor.
I don't want to spoil the miracle that is birth for anyone who has not witnessed it so I'll skip over all of that. One last push and he was here. A whole body. A beautiful head, covered in blonde fuzz, ruby red lips, and blue eyes. I was the first to hold him. I welcomed him to the family, and tried to warn him of all the evils in the world. I told him to learn to spell, and read, and don't listen to pop music. We discussed a few things before I gave him over to the woman who earned him.
He's great, and Taleesa is great, and I'm happy to be a part of what it is that they've got going on.
