WHY MARRY?

TWENTY

Jade woke up one morning to the most painful stomach ache and rolled over onto the other side of her bed in pain. She wrapped her arms around her protruding belly and sat up. She felt a sudden pressure on her bladder and made her way to the toilet. Just after taking a few steps towards the bathroom, she felt a warm sensation down her thigh and she immediately realised that her water was broken. She started to panic, not knowing what to do. She started to feel a sharp pain in her abdomen; and then the pain continuously grew stronger from there. She forced her way to the phone to call room service for help.

"Hello, room service" the person said from the other end.

"Help me!" she whispered. She was now toppled over in pain.

"Pardon?" the person asked in confusion.

"My water-my water broke!" she cried. "Please get me to a hospital"

"ma'am, just hold on, we'll be right there" the person said before hanging up.

"Aaah!" she screamed, in pain as she forced her way to the entrance of the door. She pulled the handle and fell into the corridor.

"Ma'am, ma'am! hold on; the ambulance is almost here!" the person told her. "They should be here right away since this a fairly small town" the woman who the voice belonged to assured her, as she held her up. She held Jade's hand until the ambulance came. When they arrived, they carried her in a stretcher and onto the back of the vehicle. They monitored her heart and checked all her vitals. They put an oxygen mask over her nose and connected her to an I.V.

"Breathe" the paramedic advised. "Do you have a guardian?"

"I'd rather not not call anyone" she managed to let out in between her groans of pain.

"If you have a guardian, please let us know, because if there are any complications, we will need their consent to proceed" the paramedic told her. She thought carefully about what he said and then decided.

"Contact my father please" she stated. She gave them the information they needed and they contacted him. They soon arrived at the hospital and her father was already at the reception eagerly waiting.

"Oh my princess, where have you been?. I've been looking for you everywhere!" he exclaimed as he came up to her on the stretcher.

"I'm fine dad" she assured him, taking his hand in hers. "I'm glad you're here with me" she confessed as the nurses took over and wheeled her off. They transferred her from the stretcher to the bed and checked how far she was dilated; by then the pain had increased twice fold.

"You're almost there" they revealed as they rechecked her vitals. "Hang on in there a little longer" they told her before leaving her with her father.

"Princess, I can't believe this, you've lost so much weight" he looked her over.

"And here I was, thinking I looked like a whale" She managed to let out a low laugh.

                                                             ~

"Come on, princess; you can do it!" he father encouraged as he stood by her shoulders. The doctors were asking her to start pushing and Jade was so far having the worst experience of her life, as she terms it.

"I really can't!" she screamed.

"Yes you can" he encouraged. She held onto the sides of the bed as she attempted to push.

"We're getting there!" the midwife mentioned. Her father was wiping the sweat off her forehead. Jade’s head fell back onto the bed.

"Dad!, I want Aiden here pl-"

"No, you're not allowed to see or talk to that boy!" he scolded. "Now, come on push!" he supported. She pushed once more with a huge force.

"I can see the head, don't give up yet!" the midwife said out loud. She gave a strong push and the baby's body came forth.

"Last push!" Jade heard. She mustered all the strength she could gather for this final push.

"Help me Aiden!" she screamed, and the baby was completely released from her body. She sighed heavily and lay back onto the bed, clearly exhausted.

"Well done sweetheart!" her father cheered. "That was good work"

"It's a healthy baby girl, with ten fingers and ten toes!" the midwife announced with a smile. They took the baby away to clean it up. Jade was then made to push forth the placenta and was cleaned up, while her father followed them to look at the baby. She fell asleep straight after, without getting to see or hold the baby. A few hours later, she woke up to the whimpers of her baby. She looked over to see her father rocking the baby gently in his arms.

"Dad" she whispered.

"You're finally awake princess; here hold her" he passed the baby gently to Jade. "I need to leave for a minute, I'll be right back" he announced before leaving. Jade stared at her baby who was staring right back; with her bright blue eyes.

"Hello baby" she whispered. She pressed a kiss to her cheek. The baby yawned and Jade smiled brightly. She kept the baby close to her body and the baby started to reach for Jade's breasts with her mouth.

"I think it's time to try feeding her" the nurse who came to check on her suggested. Jade slowly unbuttoned her robe and placed the baby's face towards her chest, wondering what the baby might do. She looked down just as the baby latched on, and began to suckle. She had just met this baby, but was already head over heels in love with her daughter.

"So this is what they call unconditional love" she thought as she admired her baby's tiny fingers and tiny toes. After the baby was done breastfeeding, the nurse showed her how to burp the baby and she soon got the hang of it. The nurse took the baby and placed her, in her cot.

"I'm back princess" her father announced.

"Dad, when did you buy this?" she laughed as he walked in with a bunch of balloons and cupcakes.

"You're still my baby so of course I have to spoil you" he smiled. "Wow, my baby just had a baby" he sighed.

"But dad, what is it with all these cupcakes; I’m nursing now and cant have these" she pointed out.

"I guess, more for me then" he joked.

"Dad, you know you're not well" she complained.

"Don't worry, I'm just playing" they both laughed. He went over to stare at his grand daughter again.

"Have you named her yet?"

"I have" she revealed.

"So what is it?" he questioned.

"Blue" she said.

"Like her eyes" her father smiled. "Hello Blue" he whispered to his grandchild.