texasalias2004
Cadet
Awe I can't beleive that the baby is coming already. I hope you update early tomorrow
texasalias
texasalias
In the Blink of an Eye
- Thread starter derevkointraining
- Start date
derevkointraining
Cadet
6helterskelter6
Cadet
what the hell are they going to do?!?!?
AliasSydney502
Cadet
omg, frackin professor!
excuse me..
dude, one more update??! nooo!! this fic is too good to end!!
thanks for the pm. yay double updates
excuse me..
dude, one more update??! nooo!! this fic is too good to end!!
thanks for the pm. yay double updates
gtwallichs
Cadet
Excellent update! 
HA I loved Weiss' gift....too funny!!!! :lol:
-And I'm glad that Jack is helping them out!!!
-But I'm not very happy with Vaughn's Professor...Vaughn better go to the hospital cause he will regret it if he's not there...and I hope there is nothing wrong with the baby!!!
-And I don't want this to end...are you considering a sequel!!!
Loved it!! Thanks for the pm!!
-And I'm glad that Jack is helping them out!!!
-But I'm not very happy with Vaughn's Professor...Vaughn better go to the hospital cause he will regret it if he's not there...and I hope there is nothing wrong with the baby!!!
-And I don't want this to end...are you considering a sequel!!!
Loved it!! Thanks for the pm!!
NadiaSantosFan
Cadet
Hey the update was really great! She's going into labour!!! OOh Micheal absolutely has to there! Also im very sad to hear that you are ending this story
jessie tubb
Cadet
:lol: gotta love eric
stupid god damn professor... i would just got to the hospital
thanks for the pms
stupid god damn professor... i would just got to the hospital
thanks for the pms
SpygirlAmy
Cadet
aww that was great! i cant believe vaughns professor was so mean!!!
i hope syd and the baby are ok1
thanks for the pM
update soon
i hope syd and the baby are ok1
thanks for the pM
update soon
LittleNicky
Cadet
I love that Jack had such fun picking out baby things. Also, Vaughn's professor is an ass :angry: Can't wait to read the last chapter, but I'm so sad it's almost over Maybe you could do a sequel.....
That would be awesome! Thanks for the PM!
Maybe you could do a sequel.....That would be awesome! Thanks for the PM!
derevkointraining
Cadet
OK all, here it is...the last chapter.
Thank you to all of you who read this story, enjoyed it and responded to it. I loved reading your comments! You're all so funny.
Sadly, there is no sequel to this story...it really has no where to go...but in my spare time I have been working on a few other story ideas. I can't promise when they will be done so I can post, but in the near future there will be more happy little fics from me. (Can you tell I am not big on the ansgty stuff?)
Anyway, thanks to all of you again and on with the ending...
Recap:
The professor brushed past Michael and went to the faculty lounge while he stood in shock. “What the frack am I going to do?”
Chapter 11:
Chris had heard the entire interaction and tentatively approached Mike. He wasn’t on the best terms with him since he really hadn’t talked to Sydney since the day he found out she was pregnant, but he knew he couldn’t walk away from this situation. “Hey, Mike?”
Michael looked up. “Chris, now is not the best time for whatever you want,” he stated gruffly.
“No…I just heard what happened and I want to help. Look, I am free now. I can get to Sydney while you do your midterm and take her to the hospital and you can meet us there. Please? Let me help. I need to make it up to both of you. And I know you don’t want to deal with another semester of Professor Shaw.”
Michael stared at Chris for a minute before agreeing. “Fine. But only because I really can’t fail my class and I know you will take good care of her. Here is the key to my apartment in case she has the door locked. Do you need my car too?”
“No…I got mine. I promise I’ll take good care of her Mike…just concentrate on your test and we’ll see you soon.”
Chris rushed off while Michael headed to class. Walking into the room, he gave the professor an incredibly dirty look, grabbed a midterm off his desk and sat down to complete it as quickly as he could.
~~~
“Sydney?” Chris called as he ran into the apartment.
“In here…” I yelled from the bedroom. He ran over. I looked up in surprise.
“WHY THE frack ARE YOU HERE? I DON’T NEED YOUR BULLSHIT RIGHT NOW, I’M IN LABOR!”
“I know, Syd…I’m here to take you to the hospital. Come on…”
“NO! Where is Michael?” I started sobbing once more.
“Mike’s jerk off professor wouldn’t let him miss the midterm. He was going to fail him. I heard the whole conversation between them. He didn’t believe that Mike really had a wife in labor. But he’s going to meet us at the hospital as soon as he is done. So is my mom. I called her on the way over.”
“Why are you being nice now?” I said between shots of pain that were riveting through my body.
“Well, first off, because Mike was treated really unfairly and I knew he needed help. Second, because you really need to get to the hospital. Lastly, I’m an ass and I need to make it up to you. I’m really sorry for how I’ve been acting.”
I screamed in pain. “Not the time. Okay. Take me. Let’s go.” He helped me up and grabbed my bag with one hand. Guiding me to the door, he got me to the car and we were on our way to the hospital.
~~~
Back at school, Michael was trying to rush through the midterm without screwing up too badly. He didn’t care what he grade would be in the class right now as long as he passed. Some of the questions were hard but most were pretty easy. His leg wouldn’t stop shaking in anticipation of getting to his wife.
Professor Shaw watched the young man who was sweating and jiggling his leg nervously. He’s observed Michael Vaughn for the first half of the semester and knew he was confident with his work, never nervous. He realized that Michael obviously had some emergency come up that he needed to get to but also didn’t want to fail. He sighed and called Michael up to the front.
Michael looked up and cautiously went to the professor’s desk. “Mr. Vaughn,” he said quietly, “You obviously had a conflict of interest and I’m sorry for misjudging you. I can tell you wanted to complete your test as the risk of rushing through it. I will allow you to come to my office tomorrow to finish your test and let you get to your wife now.”
“THANK YOU!” he cried and rushed back to his desk to gather the test and his belongings, dropping the test on the front desk quickly and running out of the room as fast as he could.
~~~
Maggie met Chris and I in the hospital lobby and they got me signed in and came with me to the hospital room where I was told I was already dilated five centimeters. “It shouldn’t be much longer, Sydney,” my doctor said. I started weeping again.
“I can’t do this without Michael!”
“He’ll be here, Syd.” Maggie said gently while Chris grabbed my hand. Suddenly a contraction ripped through my body and I screamed, squeezing the life out of Chris’ hand.
“OOOOWWW!” He cried out and received death glares from both his mother and myself. “Never mind, um, breathe Syd! You can do it!”
“SHUT…UP!” I screamed at him, letting the fury of the past few months take over. “I’m still mad at you for you treating me like felgercarb!” He looked scared and I squeezed his hand even harder as another contraction hit me. I watched his face contort in pain.
Maggie gently rubbed my other hand. “Sydney, Honey, okay you need to breathe…slowly. Calm down.” Her gentle tone did calm me and I asked for some ice chips.
“Where is he?” I asked, looking at the clock. “I need Michael here!” Suddenly, like he heard me, he burst into the room.
“I didn’t miss it, did I?”
“Michael!” He rushed over to the bed and kissed me.
“I’m sorry, Honey. My professor was being a real jerk. But then, during the test he noticed I was acting all frantic and he let me go to you, but I have to go back tomorrow to finish.”
“I don’t care. I don’t care. You’re here!”
“Yes, Honey. I’m here.” He took my hand from Chris and thanked him again for getting me to the hospital. Chris and his mom decided to give us some privacy and said they’d be in the waiting room until the baby was born, which would be pretty soon at the rate things were going.
“I was so scared without you…” I admitted, tears falling out of my eyes again.
“I know. I was scared too.” He kissed my cheeks. “So, Jackie is in a hurry, isn’t she?”
“Apparently. Oh! Call my dad! And your parents!”
“Already done. I called while I was coming here. They’re both standing by the phone waiting to hear the minute she is born.” Then he winced in pain as another contraction shot through me and I mangled his hand. “Okay Syd, breathe.” He choked out.
The doctor came in to check on us. “How are we doing in here?”
“Great,” Vaughn said weakly. The doctor smiled, knowing his hand had probably just been crushed.
“Okay, Sydney. Your baby is in a huge hurry. We’re going to move you to delivery now.”
“Is it normally this fast?” Michael asked.
“Normally, most women having their first child take hours and hours. It’s rare that is happens so fast for someone who hasn’t had a child before. But Sydney is lucky because I doubt she’d want to be in labor for 20 hours.”
“Oh god. I’d need new hands!” Michael joked and quickly grew serious when I shot him a death glare.
Minutes later I was in the delivery room with Michael on one side of me and several nurses milling around the room. “Okay, Sydney. I want you to breath and push when I say push.” I followed her instructions and started screaming bloody murder the first time I pushed.
“GET…HER…OUT…OF…ME…THIS…HURTS!” I shrieked at the top of my lungs, grabbing Michael’s shirt by the collar and yelling into his ear. “I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! You did this to me. You bastard. YOU DID THIS!”
He looked at all the nurses and smiled weakly. “That’s her way of telling me how much she loves me.” They chuckled.
“Don’t worry son, they all say that.”
He turned back to me as I was lying on the pillow, panting. “You’re doing great, Sweetie. I love you.”
I growled at him as the doctor told me to push again. “Almost there, Sydney, almost. One more big push.” Tiny cries suddenly filled the air and I collapsed on the pillow.
“Syd… she’s here. Jackie is here. Oh, Honey, you did great. I love you so much.” Michael kissed my forehead and perched on the bed next to me.
“I want to see her…”
“One minute, Syd. They’re just cleaning her up.” He took my hands and massaged them.
“Okay, Sydney, Michael. I’d like to introduce you to your new baby girl. She’s six pounds and two ounces and is completely healthy.” The doctor placed the small pink bundle in my arms and tears sprung to my eyes. She had ten fingers, ten toes and big eyes that were taking everything in.
Michael took a finger and gently touched her nose. “Hi, Baby. Welcome,” he cooed.
“Do we have a name picked out?” One of the nurses asked.
“Yes. Jaclyn Faith Vaughn,” I said firmly and smiled, looking down at her. “Want to hold her?” I asked Michael gently.
He carefully took her from me and cradled her in his arms. “Hey, little girl,” he said softly. “You caused quite a ruckus today, coming early. You’re gonna be a handful, aren’t you?” He was greeted with a yawn in response. We laughed.
Maggie, Chris and Kelly, who arrived, peeked into the room and cooed over the baby for a little while. Michael called the parents, who all promised to come out in a few weeks and then again for Thanksgiving. Chris asked me if he could come over sometime in the next few weeks to talk, and I agreed.
>o<
Jackie and I were released the next day. Michael brought us home, rushed to school to finish that midterm and took the rest of the day off his internship to be with us. Piles of gifts had shown up on the doorstep from Dave and the other waitresses, from Michael’s bosses, and from our friends. We took turns opening the gifts and holding our baby. Michael would rush to comfort her whenever she started to cry. I could tell she was going to be a daddy’s girl.
“She’s so perfect, Syd,” he stated while gently rocking her in his arms. “The perfect mix of both of us.”
I smiled. Jaclyn was a cute kid. She had my nose and mouth, and Michael’s eyes. We think her hair is going to be lighter brown like Michael’s and she has the Bristow ears. Michael took about 30 pictures of her on his digital camera and e-mailed them to everyone he knows. He was such a proud dad already.
The next day was my first test of being alone with the baby all day. Michael had a class in the morning and then the internship until five or six. He kissed the baby and I, said goodbye, and left reluctantly. Everything started off okay. I fed her, changed her diaper, wrote some thank you’s for the gifts, napped when she napped and did it all over again. Around two, however, she started to cry.
“I’m here, little one,” I cooed when I picked her up. I tried feeding her, changing her, rocking her and even singing to her for two hours and she wouldn’t stop. “Please stop crying, Jax. Please. For Mommy?” She kept wailing. Getting frustrated, tears started falling out of my eyes as I picked her up again. “Oh my god, what am I supposed to do? Did Michael hold her differently?” I talked to myself as I tried to sooth my crying daughter.
Another hour and a half went by and I was at the end of my rope as Michael walked in from work. He took one look at my own tear stained face and took Jackie out of my arms. Ten seconds later, the little brat stopped crying.
“WHY? Why does she stop for you?” I wailed. “Three and a half hours and she wouldn’t stop crying. What are you doing differently?” I sank onto the couch in distress. “I suck at this,” I said bitterly, jealous that my daughter stopped crying for my husband.
He looked at me sadly. “You do not suck. Okay, try this. When I hold her, I have my hand cupping her tiny little feet. Maybe she likes the security.” He gently passed her back to me again and positioned her in my arms the way he holds her. He then moved away and I sat like that for a few minutes. Jackie didn’t cry. Instead, she slowly shut her eyes and drifted to sleep. I sighed.
“You look tired. Go nap and I’ll make some dinner.” I nodded weakly, put Jackie in her bassinet, left it next to Michael in the kitchen and collapsed on the couch.
Forty-five minutes later he whispered in my ear that dinner was ready. “Not hungry. Tired.” I mumbled into the couch cushion. He brushed my hair back and gently kissed my neck. I drifted back to sleep and woke up another hour later when I heard the tiny whimpers of a hungry baby. I sat up to see Michael holding her in the chair across from the couch. He brought her to me and kissed my cheek.
“I saved a plate for you. Just stick it in the microwave.” I nodded and leaned over to kiss him again as I was feeding the baby.
“Thank you for making dinner. I know you had a long day.”
“Oh, Syd. It was nothing compared to yours. By the way, I called my boss and told him I am taking off for a few days to help you when I am not at class. He totally understood because he has his own kids.”
“But we need the money…”
“Sydney, a few days is not going to hurt us. Not at all. It’s more important that you feel settled and comfortable taking care of her while I’m out all day. It broke my heart to come home today and see you so upset.”
“You are too perfect.”
>o<
Time flew by. Jackie grew more and more every day and before I knew it, January arrived. On the second, we left her with Maggie and celebrated our first year anniversary.
“Can you believe how much we went through this year?” I said, twirling a forkful of pasta.
“Syd, I can honestly say that as of last New Year’s Eve, I did not expect to be married and have a little girl all by now. Yet, I don’t want to change anything.”
“Me neither. Oh, I have a present for you.”
“Syd, we said no presents this year.”
“I had to do this.” I reached down into my purse and pulled out my driver’s license. Michael stared at it.
“Uh, Syd. I know you can drive.”
“No. Look at it. REALLY look at it.” He studied it for a few minutes before a smile spread over his face.
“Sydney Vaughn. You got your name changed. When?”
“Towards the end of November. I was just sitting with Jackie one day and thought to myself that I was being silly. We’d been married since January and everyone knew by then, and we had a baby. So one day the two of us took a trip to social security and got my name changed so I could go ahead and change everything else.”
He looked floored. “Thank you, Sweetheart. This is a really nice gift. I love it, Mrs. Vaughn.” He kissed me and we smiled at each other and enjoyed the rest of our meal. After, we strolled down the strip hand in hand, much like our first date.
“I can’t believe Jackie is already three months. Are you ready to head back to work and school in a few weeks?” Michael asked me, putting his arm around my shoulder.
“I think I am. I love Jackie. I do. But I miss school and work. At least I have a lighter course load due to that six-week class I took. And I’m starting with less hours at the restaurant too, for now at least.” I looked up at him. “We’re doing fine, aren’t we? Just like you predicted.”
He smiled back at me. “I told you, it was all about faith.”
>o<
December - Two Years Later
I sat in my seat, nervously wringing my hands. I was about to graduate a semester early due to more summer classes I took in between school years. I knew my dad was here along with Michael and Jackie, who was already two years old. Maggie, Chris and Kelly also all promised to come cheer me on.
The ceremony began and it wasn’t long before they called everyone up and said their names. I heard “Sydney Vaughn,” and marched across the stage to get my diploma. I heard a small cheer echo and knew it was my crowd. I smiled widely and sat back in my seat.
As soon as the ceremony was finished, I rushed over to the spot I designated to meet everyone. I saw Michael and started walking over. Halfway there, Chris grabbed me, hoisted me up in his arms and carried me.
“Make way for the graduate!” He cried as we walked over. Jackie giggled when she saw us coming.
“Unka Cwis cawwy Momma like a baby!” She said, squirming in my dad’s arms.
“Oh, like we carry you?” Michael teased her.
“I’m big gul.” My dad laughed and commented on how she was growing up so fast.
Everyone congratulated me once Chris set me down and we all went for a nice lunch.
Later that evening, after we put Jackie to bed, Michael came up behind me and put his arms around my waist. “I’m so proud of you, Sweetheart.” I turned so I was facing him.
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. Of everything. Coming out to Vegas on your own, working, starting school, having a baby and still working and going to school. Syd, you are amazing and I knew it from the moment I met you three and a half years ago.” I smiled up at him. “So what now?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re done. You have your business degree. What do you want to do? Do you want to stay in Vegas? Do you want to move?”
“Michael…the past few years have been all about me. I’m done. What do YOU want to do?”
He thought for a minute. “I’d like us to go out to California, maybe near your dad?”
“Really?” He nodded.
“I’ve actually been offered a job out there with a huge hotel corporation. My supervisor at Harrah’s recommended me to him because they’re friends. I spoke with the guy, but I told him I needed to speak with you.” My eyes glistened.
“Michael,” I said softly. “We’re going to California. It’s your turn now.”
Epilogue
“Mom!” 18-year-old Jackie screamed for me from her room. I rolled my eyes and walked toward her door.
“Yes?”
“My roommate, Cara, you know, the one with the blond hair, she just invited me to Las Vegas for New Years. Her family lives there. Can I go? Please?”
“Las Vegas? For New Years?” I repeated, smirking, while remembering a certain New Years, just over 18 years ago.
“What’s this I hear about Las Vegas?” Michael asked, coming out of our son Ryan’s room.
“Jax wants to go visit her friend for New Years. Her family lives there.
“Oh, really?”
“Please, Daddy? Please?”
“Who will be there?”
“Her parents and their friends. You can CALL them and check. It’ll just be more fun than being here. Please? I swear I’ll be back by your anniversary. I’ll fly back that morning. And she lives on the same street at Aunt Kelly…and I promise I’ll go see her and Grandma Maggie and Uncle Chris. And you can have them check up on me if you want. PLEASE?”
Michael and I looked at each other and smiled. “Okay,” he finally said. “Just don’t come home married or I will cancel your tuition to college and you won’t go back.”
“Married? DADDY! As if! I’m ONLY 18. Who would do something like that?”
Michael and I just looked at each other and laughed. It was all we really could do.
The End
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Thank you to all of you who read this story, enjoyed it and responded to it. I loved reading your comments! You're all so funny. Sadly, there is no sequel to this story...it really has no where to go...but in my spare time I have been working on a few other story ideas. I can't promise when they will be done so I can post, but in the near future there will be more happy little fics from me. (Can you tell I am not big on the ansgty stuff?)
Anyway, thanks to all of you again and on with the ending...
Recap:
The professor brushed past Michael and went to the faculty lounge while he stood in shock. “What the frack am I going to do?”
Chapter 11:
Chris had heard the entire interaction and tentatively approached Mike. He wasn’t on the best terms with him since he really hadn’t talked to Sydney since the day he found out she was pregnant, but he knew he couldn’t walk away from this situation. “Hey, Mike?”
Michael looked up. “Chris, now is not the best time for whatever you want,” he stated gruffly.
“No…I just heard what happened and I want to help. Look, I am free now. I can get to Sydney while you do your midterm and take her to the hospital and you can meet us there. Please? Let me help. I need to make it up to both of you. And I know you don’t want to deal with another semester of Professor Shaw.”
Michael stared at Chris for a minute before agreeing. “Fine. But only because I really can’t fail my class and I know you will take good care of her. Here is the key to my apartment in case she has the door locked. Do you need my car too?”
“No…I got mine. I promise I’ll take good care of her Mike…just concentrate on your test and we’ll see you soon.”
Chris rushed off while Michael headed to class. Walking into the room, he gave the professor an incredibly dirty look, grabbed a midterm off his desk and sat down to complete it as quickly as he could.
~~~
“Sydney?” Chris called as he ran into the apartment.
“In here…” I yelled from the bedroom. He ran over. I looked up in surprise.
“WHY THE frack ARE YOU HERE? I DON’T NEED YOUR BULLSHIT RIGHT NOW, I’M IN LABOR!”
“I know, Syd…I’m here to take you to the hospital. Come on…”
“NO! Where is Michael?” I started sobbing once more.
“Mike’s jerk off professor wouldn’t let him miss the midterm. He was going to fail him. I heard the whole conversation between them. He didn’t believe that Mike really had a wife in labor. But he’s going to meet us at the hospital as soon as he is done. So is my mom. I called her on the way over.”
“Why are you being nice now?” I said between shots of pain that were riveting through my body.
“Well, first off, because Mike was treated really unfairly and I knew he needed help. Second, because you really need to get to the hospital. Lastly, I’m an ass and I need to make it up to you. I’m really sorry for how I’ve been acting.”
I screamed in pain. “Not the time. Okay. Take me. Let’s go.” He helped me up and grabbed my bag with one hand. Guiding me to the door, he got me to the car and we were on our way to the hospital.
~~~
Back at school, Michael was trying to rush through the midterm without screwing up too badly. He didn’t care what he grade would be in the class right now as long as he passed. Some of the questions were hard but most were pretty easy. His leg wouldn’t stop shaking in anticipation of getting to his wife.
Professor Shaw watched the young man who was sweating and jiggling his leg nervously. He’s observed Michael Vaughn for the first half of the semester and knew he was confident with his work, never nervous. He realized that Michael obviously had some emergency come up that he needed to get to but also didn’t want to fail. He sighed and called Michael up to the front.
Michael looked up and cautiously went to the professor’s desk. “Mr. Vaughn,” he said quietly, “You obviously had a conflict of interest and I’m sorry for misjudging you. I can tell you wanted to complete your test as the risk of rushing through it. I will allow you to come to my office tomorrow to finish your test and let you get to your wife now.”
“THANK YOU!” he cried and rushed back to his desk to gather the test and his belongings, dropping the test on the front desk quickly and running out of the room as fast as he could.
~~~
Maggie met Chris and I in the hospital lobby and they got me signed in and came with me to the hospital room where I was told I was already dilated five centimeters. “It shouldn’t be much longer, Sydney,” my doctor said. I started weeping again.
“I can’t do this without Michael!”
“He’ll be here, Syd.” Maggie said gently while Chris grabbed my hand. Suddenly a contraction ripped through my body and I screamed, squeezing the life out of Chris’ hand.
“OOOOWWW!” He cried out and received death glares from both his mother and myself. “Never mind, um, breathe Syd! You can do it!”
“SHUT…UP!” I screamed at him, letting the fury of the past few months take over. “I’m still mad at you for you treating me like felgercarb!” He looked scared and I squeezed his hand even harder as another contraction hit me. I watched his face contort in pain.
Maggie gently rubbed my other hand. “Sydney, Honey, okay you need to breathe…slowly. Calm down.” Her gentle tone did calm me and I asked for some ice chips.
“Where is he?” I asked, looking at the clock. “I need Michael here!” Suddenly, like he heard me, he burst into the room.
“I didn’t miss it, did I?”
“Michael!” He rushed over to the bed and kissed me.
“I’m sorry, Honey. My professor was being a real jerk. But then, during the test he noticed I was acting all frantic and he let me go to you, but I have to go back tomorrow to finish.”
“I don’t care. I don’t care. You’re here!”
“Yes, Honey. I’m here.” He took my hand from Chris and thanked him again for getting me to the hospital. Chris and his mom decided to give us some privacy and said they’d be in the waiting room until the baby was born, which would be pretty soon at the rate things were going.
“I was so scared without you…” I admitted, tears falling out of my eyes again.
“I know. I was scared too.” He kissed my cheeks. “So, Jackie is in a hurry, isn’t she?”
“Apparently. Oh! Call my dad! And your parents!”
“Already done. I called while I was coming here. They’re both standing by the phone waiting to hear the minute she is born.” Then he winced in pain as another contraction shot through me and I mangled his hand. “Okay Syd, breathe.” He choked out.
The doctor came in to check on us. “How are we doing in here?”
“Great,” Vaughn said weakly. The doctor smiled, knowing his hand had probably just been crushed.
“Okay, Sydney. Your baby is in a huge hurry. We’re going to move you to delivery now.”
“Is it normally this fast?” Michael asked.
“Normally, most women having their first child take hours and hours. It’s rare that is happens so fast for someone who hasn’t had a child before. But Sydney is lucky because I doubt she’d want to be in labor for 20 hours.”
“Oh god. I’d need new hands!” Michael joked and quickly grew serious when I shot him a death glare.
Minutes later I was in the delivery room with Michael on one side of me and several nurses milling around the room. “Okay, Sydney. I want you to breath and push when I say push.” I followed her instructions and started screaming bloody murder the first time I pushed.
“GET…HER…OUT…OF…ME…THIS…HURTS!” I shrieked at the top of my lungs, grabbing Michael’s shirt by the collar and yelling into his ear. “I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! You did this to me. You bastard. YOU DID THIS!”
He looked at all the nurses and smiled weakly. “That’s her way of telling me how much she loves me.” They chuckled.
“Don’t worry son, they all say that.”
He turned back to me as I was lying on the pillow, panting. “You’re doing great, Sweetie. I love you.”
I growled at him as the doctor told me to push again. “Almost there, Sydney, almost. One more big push.” Tiny cries suddenly filled the air and I collapsed on the pillow.
“Syd… she’s here. Jackie is here. Oh, Honey, you did great. I love you so much.” Michael kissed my forehead and perched on the bed next to me.
“I want to see her…”
“One minute, Syd. They’re just cleaning her up.” He took my hands and massaged them.
“Okay, Sydney, Michael. I’d like to introduce you to your new baby girl. She’s six pounds and two ounces and is completely healthy.” The doctor placed the small pink bundle in my arms and tears sprung to my eyes. She had ten fingers, ten toes and big eyes that were taking everything in.
Michael took a finger and gently touched her nose. “Hi, Baby. Welcome,” he cooed.
“Do we have a name picked out?” One of the nurses asked.
“Yes. Jaclyn Faith Vaughn,” I said firmly and smiled, looking down at her. “Want to hold her?” I asked Michael gently.
He carefully took her from me and cradled her in his arms. “Hey, little girl,” he said softly. “You caused quite a ruckus today, coming early. You’re gonna be a handful, aren’t you?” He was greeted with a yawn in response. We laughed.
Maggie, Chris and Kelly, who arrived, peeked into the room and cooed over the baby for a little while. Michael called the parents, who all promised to come out in a few weeks and then again for Thanksgiving. Chris asked me if he could come over sometime in the next few weeks to talk, and I agreed.
>o<
Jackie and I were released the next day. Michael brought us home, rushed to school to finish that midterm and took the rest of the day off his internship to be with us. Piles of gifts had shown up on the doorstep from Dave and the other waitresses, from Michael’s bosses, and from our friends. We took turns opening the gifts and holding our baby. Michael would rush to comfort her whenever she started to cry. I could tell she was going to be a daddy’s girl.
“She’s so perfect, Syd,” he stated while gently rocking her in his arms. “The perfect mix of both of us.”
I smiled. Jaclyn was a cute kid. She had my nose and mouth, and Michael’s eyes. We think her hair is going to be lighter brown like Michael’s and she has the Bristow ears. Michael took about 30 pictures of her on his digital camera and e-mailed them to everyone he knows. He was such a proud dad already.
The next day was my first test of being alone with the baby all day. Michael had a class in the morning and then the internship until five or six. He kissed the baby and I, said goodbye, and left reluctantly. Everything started off okay. I fed her, changed her diaper, wrote some thank you’s for the gifts, napped when she napped and did it all over again. Around two, however, she started to cry.
“I’m here, little one,” I cooed when I picked her up. I tried feeding her, changing her, rocking her and even singing to her for two hours and she wouldn’t stop. “Please stop crying, Jax. Please. For Mommy?” She kept wailing. Getting frustrated, tears started falling out of my eyes as I picked her up again. “Oh my god, what am I supposed to do? Did Michael hold her differently?” I talked to myself as I tried to sooth my crying daughter.
Another hour and a half went by and I was at the end of my rope as Michael walked in from work. He took one look at my own tear stained face and took Jackie out of my arms. Ten seconds later, the little brat stopped crying.
“WHY? Why does she stop for you?” I wailed. “Three and a half hours and she wouldn’t stop crying. What are you doing differently?” I sank onto the couch in distress. “I suck at this,” I said bitterly, jealous that my daughter stopped crying for my husband.
He looked at me sadly. “You do not suck. Okay, try this. When I hold her, I have my hand cupping her tiny little feet. Maybe she likes the security.” He gently passed her back to me again and positioned her in my arms the way he holds her. He then moved away and I sat like that for a few minutes. Jackie didn’t cry. Instead, she slowly shut her eyes and drifted to sleep. I sighed.
“You look tired. Go nap and I’ll make some dinner.” I nodded weakly, put Jackie in her bassinet, left it next to Michael in the kitchen and collapsed on the couch.
Forty-five minutes later he whispered in my ear that dinner was ready. “Not hungry. Tired.” I mumbled into the couch cushion. He brushed my hair back and gently kissed my neck. I drifted back to sleep and woke up another hour later when I heard the tiny whimpers of a hungry baby. I sat up to see Michael holding her in the chair across from the couch. He brought her to me and kissed my cheek.
“I saved a plate for you. Just stick it in the microwave.” I nodded and leaned over to kiss him again as I was feeding the baby.
“Thank you for making dinner. I know you had a long day.”
“Oh, Syd. It was nothing compared to yours. By the way, I called my boss and told him I am taking off for a few days to help you when I am not at class. He totally understood because he has his own kids.”
“But we need the money…”
“Sydney, a few days is not going to hurt us. Not at all. It’s more important that you feel settled and comfortable taking care of her while I’m out all day. It broke my heart to come home today and see you so upset.”
“You are too perfect.”
>o<
Time flew by. Jackie grew more and more every day and before I knew it, January arrived. On the second, we left her with Maggie and celebrated our first year anniversary.
“Can you believe how much we went through this year?” I said, twirling a forkful of pasta.
“Syd, I can honestly say that as of last New Year’s Eve, I did not expect to be married and have a little girl all by now. Yet, I don’t want to change anything.”
“Me neither. Oh, I have a present for you.”
“Syd, we said no presents this year.”
“I had to do this.” I reached down into my purse and pulled out my driver’s license. Michael stared at it.
“Uh, Syd. I know you can drive.”
“No. Look at it. REALLY look at it.” He studied it for a few minutes before a smile spread over his face.
“Sydney Vaughn. You got your name changed. When?”
“Towards the end of November. I was just sitting with Jackie one day and thought to myself that I was being silly. We’d been married since January and everyone knew by then, and we had a baby. So one day the two of us took a trip to social security and got my name changed so I could go ahead and change everything else.”
He looked floored. “Thank you, Sweetheart. This is a really nice gift. I love it, Mrs. Vaughn.” He kissed me and we smiled at each other and enjoyed the rest of our meal. After, we strolled down the strip hand in hand, much like our first date.
“I can’t believe Jackie is already three months. Are you ready to head back to work and school in a few weeks?” Michael asked me, putting his arm around my shoulder.
“I think I am. I love Jackie. I do. But I miss school and work. At least I have a lighter course load due to that six-week class I took. And I’m starting with less hours at the restaurant too, for now at least.” I looked up at him. “We’re doing fine, aren’t we? Just like you predicted.”
He smiled back at me. “I told you, it was all about faith.”
>o<
December - Two Years Later
I sat in my seat, nervously wringing my hands. I was about to graduate a semester early due to more summer classes I took in between school years. I knew my dad was here along with Michael and Jackie, who was already two years old. Maggie, Chris and Kelly also all promised to come cheer me on.
The ceremony began and it wasn’t long before they called everyone up and said their names. I heard “Sydney Vaughn,” and marched across the stage to get my diploma. I heard a small cheer echo and knew it was my crowd. I smiled widely and sat back in my seat.
As soon as the ceremony was finished, I rushed over to the spot I designated to meet everyone. I saw Michael and started walking over. Halfway there, Chris grabbed me, hoisted me up in his arms and carried me.
“Make way for the graduate!” He cried as we walked over. Jackie giggled when she saw us coming.
“Unka Cwis cawwy Momma like a baby!” She said, squirming in my dad’s arms.
“Oh, like we carry you?” Michael teased her.
“I’m big gul.” My dad laughed and commented on how she was growing up so fast.
Everyone congratulated me once Chris set me down and we all went for a nice lunch.
Later that evening, after we put Jackie to bed, Michael came up behind me and put his arms around my waist. “I’m so proud of you, Sweetheart.” I turned so I was facing him.
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. Of everything. Coming out to Vegas on your own, working, starting school, having a baby and still working and going to school. Syd, you are amazing and I knew it from the moment I met you three and a half years ago.” I smiled up at him. “So what now?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re done. You have your business degree. What do you want to do? Do you want to stay in Vegas? Do you want to move?”
“Michael…the past few years have been all about me. I’m done. What do YOU want to do?”
He thought for a minute. “I’d like us to go out to California, maybe near your dad?”
“Really?” He nodded.
“I’ve actually been offered a job out there with a huge hotel corporation. My supervisor at Harrah’s recommended me to him because they’re friends. I spoke with the guy, but I told him I needed to speak with you.” My eyes glistened.
“Michael,” I said softly. “We’re going to California. It’s your turn now.”
Epilogue
“Mom!” 18-year-old Jackie screamed for me from her room. I rolled my eyes and walked toward her door.
“Yes?”
“My roommate, Cara, you know, the one with the blond hair, she just invited me to Las Vegas for New Years. Her family lives there. Can I go? Please?”
“Las Vegas? For New Years?” I repeated, smirking, while remembering a certain New Years, just over 18 years ago.
“What’s this I hear about Las Vegas?” Michael asked, coming out of our son Ryan’s room.
“Jax wants to go visit her friend for New Years. Her family lives there.
“Oh, really?”
“Please, Daddy? Please?”
“Who will be there?”
“Her parents and their friends. You can CALL them and check. It’ll just be more fun than being here. Please? I swear I’ll be back by your anniversary. I’ll fly back that morning. And she lives on the same street at Aunt Kelly…and I promise I’ll go see her and Grandma Maggie and Uncle Chris. And you can have them check up on me if you want. PLEASE?”
Michael and I looked at each other and smiled. “Okay,” he finally said. “Just don’t come home married or I will cancel your tuition to college and you won’t go back.”
“Married? DADDY! As if! I’m ONLY 18. Who would do something like that?”
Michael and I just looked at each other and laughed. It was all we really could do.
The End
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Cadet
Awe I loved this story. I can't wait for you to write more.
Thank You,
texasalias
Thank You,
texasalias
SydVaughn1001
Cadet
Great ending to a great story - thanks for sharing it with us!
gtwallichs
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That was soooo good!