Sunset

  Landon looked doubtful, but he didn’t hesitate for long and Ashley understood why. Her next contraction couldn’t be far off. He hurried out of the room, and after less than a minute he returned, his face lit up. “The doctor said it’ll be anytime. Katy’s been taken into delivery.”

  “No problems?” Even in her own haze of pain and uncertainty, Ashley was grateful for Katy and Dayne. After all they’d been through, the birth of their firstborn would be the sweetest highlight of their life together.

  “None.” Landon took his place beside her again.

  A smile came over Ashley, and she closed her eyes. “I think . . . when the doctor comes back in . . . we should ask how much longer.” She opened her eyes and searched Landon’s face. “A C-section wouldn’t be so bad, right? I’ve done it before.”

  “Of course not.” He took the cloth from her forehead and waved it around, trying to cool it down again. After a few seconds he patted it gently to her cheeks and neck, and then he set it once more on her head.

  She was about to ask how Cole and Devin were doing when the doctor walked into the room and closed the door behind him. He took a deep breath. “That last contraction was harder on your baby.” He glanced at a clipboard in his hand. “His heart rate dipped more than I’d like. If I see it again, we won’t hesitate. As you know, we can deliver the baby by C-section very quickly if there’s a problem.”

  He performed another exam, and this time there was good news and bad. The baby had turned and was head down in the birth canal. But because he’d been in the wrong position for so long, Ashley wasn’t dilated whatsoever. The doctor explained the situation to them. “You’ll need several more hours of labor to get to the point of delivery. Now it’s a question of how much the baby can take.”

  “Why wait?” Landon had slid to the edge of his seat, his back straight, body tense. “Let’s go ahead with the C-section now.”

  “We will if there’s any further concern.” The doctor’s expression was more reassuring than before. “Like I said, we’ll watch very closely. We still want to avoid a C-section if possible. If the conditions are right, a natural delivery is always best for the baby’s lungs.”

  When he was gone, Ashley’s tears came in earnest. She rolled slightly onto her side and held out both hands to Landon. “I’m not sure I can do this.” She was exhausted and tired of waiting. “I’m trying to feel God’s peace, but I’m not sure . . .”

  “You don’t have to feel it.” He cupped his hands around hers and kissed her fingers. “God’s here no matter how we feel.”

  His words comforted her, and she held on to that truth and to one very certain fact. However the delivery took place, every contraction brought them that much closer to the moment they’d been looking forward to for months.

  The beautiful, miraculous first look at their newborn son.

  As Dayne rushed into the delivery room alongside the gurney, as Katy squeezed his hand and fought another wave of contractions, he was overwhelmed by one very amazing detail. Their baby was about to be born on the Fourth of July. The day God had brought him into this family. The timing seemed too spectacular to be a coincidence, and the joy in Dayne’s heart made him feel like he was floating.

  Katy was panting, her face twisted in pain. She groaned when the attendants parked the gurney and the doctor positioned her legs for delivery.

  Dayne leaned close to her face. “I’m here, honey. It’s okay.”

  “I have to push!” Her face was red, her eyes wide. “I feel like I have to push!”

  “Just a minute.” The doctor was adjusting the sheet across her stomach and checking the baby’s progress. “All right, Katy . . . wait for the next contraction, and then you can push. Any minute now.”

  Any minute? Dayne felt a layer of sweat break out across his forehead. His heart banged around in his chest, and he felt like his knees might buckle. Dear God, help Katy. . . . Be with our baby. . . .

  The very first breath of life is from Me, dear son . . . the first and the last.

  Dayne felt the gentle response deep in his soul, in a place where he knew the answer could’ve only come from God. He thought about Ashley’s baby Sarah and how her life had been a direct picture of this truth. That life was God’s to give and His to take. The certainty of that fact took all the worry out of the moment.

  “Dayne, I can feel it. The baby’s coming!”

  “You’re doing great.” He put his arm around her shoulders and supported her. As he did, he whispered near the side of her face, “You can do this, sweetheart.”

  The doctor nodded and looked up at her. “Okay, you can push. Push hard, Katy.” In a mirror that hung behind the doctor, Dayne could see the top of his baby’s head. The doctor sounded calm and in control. “Keep pushing . . . a little more. That’s it, good.” The contraction ended. “Rest for a minute. The baby’s almost here.”

  Katy was completely out of breath. She leaned against Dayne’s shoulder. “Hold me up. I need you.”

  “I am. I won’t leave.” Dayne’s heartbeat tripped into double time. The rest of his life would be changed by the next few minutes. “I can see the head.”

  She tried to see the mirror, but another contraction was already hitting her and clearly she needed all her strength to push. This time, the baby’s head made it out, and on the second half of the contraction, the little body slipped into the doctor’s hands.

  “Congratulations!” The doctor’s voice rang through the room. “You have a little girl.” The doctor waited a few seconds, and at that instant, their daughter’s first cry filled the room.

  The miracle of it all was more than Dayne could take in. Tears welled in his eyes, and he leaned over and tenderly kissed Katy’s lips. “Can you believe it? God gave us a daughter!” The words sounded like they were from a script, like this was a scene from some incredible movie.

  Their little girl’s cries tapered off, falling to little more than an occasional whimper.

  The nurse smiled at Dayne. “You can cut the cord.” She motioned to the spot across from her. “Here. I’ll show you where.”

  Dayne looked at Katy, and he noticed that there were tears streaming down her cheeks. She smiled and nodded at him, silently telling him that she would be okay. He blinked so he could see clearly. And then, for the first time, he looked full into the precious face of his daughter. Whether she could see him clearly or not, she looked at him. Straight at him. And the connection ran through Dayne like nothing he’d ever felt.

  “Hi, little girl.” His voice gained strength. “You’re a miracle.”

  “Hurry.” Katy sounded weak but anxious. “Bring her to me so I can see her.”

  Dayne leaned over her and followed the nurse’s instructions as he cut the baby’s cord.

  The nurse placed a clamp on it and finished wiping the infant clean. Then she wrapped her quickly in a blanket and handed her to Dayne.

  It was another first—the first time he would ever hold his baby girl in his arms. There would be so many other times along the journey of life. The long nights when Katy needed a rest, the times when Dayne would wrap her in a towel after a bath, and the night before her first day at kindergarten when she needed her daddy to help her not be afraid. He would hold her anytime she skinned her knee and anytime anyone dared to break her heart.

  But of all those times, this was the very first.

  Dayne brought her close and kissed her feathery soft cheek. “I’m your daddy, honey. I’m so glad to meet you.” He carried her gently, carefully, as if she might break if he rushed or held her too tightly. Then in the sweetest moment of his life, he lowered her into Katy’s arms. Tears slid down his face as he looked at her. “She’s beautiful. Just like you.”

  A soft gasp came from Katy as she looked at their daughter. “Dayne . . . this feeling.” She lifted her teary eyes to him. “I’ve never imagined anything like it.” She studied their daughter, and a quiet sob filled her throat. “I can’t believe from that first day of seeing
you at the theater . . . that God would bring us to this . . . this moment.”

  “She’s perfect.” He reached out to the baby at the same time she worked her arm free from the hospital blanket, and as Dayne touched her tiny hand, she took firm hold of his little finger. His baby girl, holding his hand, and Dayne felt that little touch to the center of his heart. He met Katy’s eyes. “What’s her name?”

  Katy smiled, looking more beautiful than ever before. “I like your idea.”

  “From last night?” He looked at their daughter. “Hey, I think you’re right. It fits her.”

  “Sophie Kathleen.” Katy beamed at the infant in her arms. “I love it. Elegant and sweet and . . . and so girly.”

  Dayne studied her dainty nose and sweet little lips. “She looks like a Sophie.” With his free hand he touched his fingers to her fine, damp hair. “It doesn’t look very dark.”

  “No.” Katy grinned. “I think she’s gonna have my blonde hair.”

  The nurse came back. “I need to weigh and measure her.” She held out her arms, and Katy handed the baby over. “Just a few minutes and you can have her back.” She looked at Dayne. “You can go tell the family in the waiting room if you’d like. They’re welcome to come in.”

  Dayne waited until the nurse walked away before touching Katy’s face. “I’ve never loved you more.”

  “Or you.” She cupped her hand around the back of his head and slowly pulled him to her. “I can’t believe we’re really here.”

  He kissed her again, and as he drew back, he motioned to the door. “I’ll go tell the others.”

  Katy nodded. “We’ll be here.”

  He tried to take a complete breath, but his chest was too tight, too full from the joy and love that knew no bounds. He pictured Sophie Kathleen’s sweet face, her innocent eyes, the sound of her cry. His daughter, given to him on the Fourth of July.

  As Dayne left the delivery room and headed down the hall to his father, as he tried to imagine his baby in his dad’s arms for the first time, he remembered the way he’d felt that July 4 a few years ago. After a lifetime of wanting a family, after looking for the Baxters and finding them, after knowing about them and longing for them, it was on Independence Day that he’d been with them for the very first time.

  And now, on the same day, God had given him a precious child, a daughter who would be his always, even long after she was grown up and moved away. For though time would one day take her from him, Dayne was sure of one thing.

  That little girl would never let go of his finger.

  Just after midnight the doctor made his decision. By then Ashley was almost delirious from the exertion of the contractions and barely able to concentrate on what was happening around her. She was in the middle of another series of pains when the doctor came in and checked her again.

  “It’s time,” he announced. “I don’t like the baby’s progress. We’ll take him by C-section.”

  “Landon.” She held up her hand. “I’m afraid.”

  “The doctor said it’ll be fast.” He walked beside her, and as they entered the hallway, Dayne appeared from one of the rooms.“We had a girl. Sophie Kathleen. Seven pounds, three ounces. Twenty inches long.” Dayne was grinning so big his smile lit the space around him. But then he seemed to notice the urgency of the moment, and his expression changed. “Is . . . everything okay?”

  “Yes.” Landon’s voice was firm, no room for doubt. “Tell your dad they’re doing a C-section.”

  Dayne stopped and watched them go. “We’ll be praying.”

  Ashley felt another contraction bear down on her, and she held on to the thought that everyone would be praying. The pain ripped into her and racked her body for what felt like a full minute at least. When it let up, she couldn’t quite catch her breath. “Landon . . . help me!”

  “You’re okay. Everything’s going to be okay.” He was right beside her as they wheeled her into a brightly lit room and a group of people seemed to surround her, all of them working on her at once.

  Someone came up to her opposite Landon and asked her to roll onto her side. “We’re giving you an epidural, Ashley. You’ll feel a lot better after that.”

  In the recesses of her mind she knew what they were going to do, that they were going to insert a needle into the fluid around her spine, and she could hardly wait. Maybe then she could focus on what was happening and how her baby was doing. My baby boy, Jesus . . . please let him be okay. Please . . .

  The response came over her gradually, a warmth and a peace, and at the same time Ashley realized that the epidural was probably taking effect. The doctor was asking her to roll onto her back again, and he was explaining something about feeling a slight tugging and discomfort and saying that the baby would be born in just a few minutes.

  “How are you?” Landon was stroking her hair. “Talk to me.”

  It took a minute or so, but Ashley finally realized the pain was gone. Completely gone. She was exhausted but she could breathe again, and the truth about what was happening around her hit her like a splash of cold water. She was about to give birth to their son! She opened her eyes wider than before. “I’m . . . I’m much better.” Now nothing could stave off the excitement growing inside her.

  At that moment, another medical person covered her mouth with an oxygen mask. “Just for a few minutes,” he assured her. “We want you to be strong.”

  Ashley’s fear returned, so she looked at Landon. As long as she could see his eyes, everything would be okay. It had to be. God wouldn’t bring them this far only to have something happen to their baby.

  A couple of nurses erected a screen below her chest, a barrier so she couldn’t watch the operation taking place. The situation was just like when Sarah was born, but Ashley refused to see it that way. This was different. It had to be different. The ultrasound had shown that their son was perfectly healthy. Give me Your peace, God.

  The doctor was right. She felt a series of tugs and pulls but no pain. The pain was behind her for now but not the strangeness of the moment. She was on a slight decline, her head lower than her shoulders, the oxygen mask still in place. Landon moved down by her knees so he could watch the surgery. A few minutes passed while Ashley watched her husband, her strong firefighter, the man who had loved her for so long. With God and Landon she could get through anything. That much time had already proven.

  Suddenly the doctor peered at Ashley over the screen. “Were you expecting a boy?”

  Ashley stared at the man and sucked in hard on the oxygen streaming into her mask. She nodded and thought how strange the doctor’s comments were. Of course they were expecting a boy. The doctor had seen her charts by now, right?

  Landon looked as confused as she felt, and then his mouth opened. “Ash, it’s a girl. I’m serious.”

  Her mind raced, and she shook her head. No, the baby wasn’t a girl. Why would Landon say such a thing? She motioned to one of the nurses and pointed to the oxygen mask. She needed to talk but she couldn’t until . . .

  Tears were in Landon’s eyes, and he came a step closer to her. “The baby’s a girl, Ash. She is.”

  The technician took the mask from Ashley’s face as Landon’s words hit their mark. He was telling the truth. The ultrasound was wrong about this one thing, and now . . . “We have a daughter?”

  “Yes.”

  The sound of the sweetest melodic wailing filled the room, and Ashley tried to make herself believe it was all really happening. God had given them a girl? After all this time preparing for Isaac James, the whole nine months God had been preparing her for a gift too wonderful to take in. Ashley held out her hand and Landon took it, but she couldn’t tell whether she was laughing or crying. Her emotions were too overwhelming to rein in and figure out.

  They had a daughter.

  The next few minutes passed in a blur. The baby was taken to a table, and Landon cut the cord, and all the while the doctor was stitching Ashley up, talking about how ultrasounds weren’t perfect at dete
rmining sex, even with as far as technology had come.

  “I love when this happens.” He chuckled. “Do you have a name for a girl?”

  “A name?” Ashley only wanted to hold her, but the doctor made a good point. “Landon, we don’t have a name.”

  The nurse was cleaning up the baby, then weighing and measuring her.

  Landon came to Ashley’s side and took hold of her hands. “I do.”

  Ashley searched his face. “You do what?”

  “I have a name for her.” He ran his thumbs over the tops of her hands, the way he’d done since the first time they’d acknowledged their feelings for each other. “I never told you, but back before the ultrasound I had a name I liked if the baby turned out to be a girl.”

  A sense of awe swept over her at the wonder of the man standing before her. “You did?”

  “Yes.” He smiled. “I didn’t want to say anything because . . . well, you were so intent on making sure the baby was okay. It didn’t seem right to talk about names until we knew.” A quiet laugh came from him. “I never for a minute thought the test might be wrong about it being a boy.”

  “Me neither.” Ashley felt someone come up behind them.

  “I have your baby girl for you.” The nurse held a blanketed bundle. She carefully placed the baby in Ashley’s arms.

  And then . . . only then did the reality truly hit her. She looked into the face of their infant and tears choked her, kept her from speaking. This little girl would have everything Sarah never could. She was whole and healthy and bursting with life. When Ashley could find the words, she ran her fingers along the side of her daughter’s face. “She looks a lot like Cole.”

  By now, Devin was taking on his own look, more like Landon. But this baby definitely had Cole’s eyes and nose.

  “She does.” Landon softly stroked her head. “No one’s going to believe it.”

  Ashley used her shoulder to dab at a trail of happy tears. “How are we ever going to explain this to the boys?”