I went to stand up and felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned and saw my father standing there.

“Scott, just let them do this, so you can get it done and get back to Jessie. Your mother and I are here.”

“Who called you?” I asked, confused as hell.

“Garrett. Now, go on. Just let them get you fixed up, son. I promise, you won’t miss anything.”

I turned and looked at Jessie, who was holding my mother’s hand. I smiled when I looked at the two most important women in my life. They had both grown to love each other so much, and I loved that Jessie called her mom. She was the mother that Jessie had never had, and my mother adored Jessie so much. I felt tears building in my eyes as I looked up at my mother. She nodded her head, and I knew they were right.

I reached out my hand for Jessie’s. “I’m so, so sorry I did this.”

She let out a giggle. “I love you, Scott. I’ll hold the baby off for as long as I can.”

As the nurse began taking me down to get an X-ray, I turned around and saw Jessie staring at me. She lifted her hand and waved, and I blew her a kiss. I watched as the smile spread across her beautiful face.

I turned back around and cursed all lounge chairs and dogs.

We are never getting a pool. Ever!

I was impressed that the doctor in the emergency room had worked so fast to get me fixed up. The X-ray had shown a small fracture, so the doctor put a cast on and gave me crutches. He told me to follow-up in a few days with my doctor.

I swore Jeff was having a grand ole time, pushing me in the wheelchair as fast as he could, as I held on to my crutches while telling him to hurry the hell up.

By the time we got up to the labor and delivery area, my heart was pounding so hard that I was beginning to have a hard time breathing. I saw our family and friends in the waiting room and smiled. I have the best group of friends ever.

“Where are all the kids?” I asked, looking at Heather, Ari, Ellie, Gunner, and Josh all sitting around, drinking coffee.

Ari laughed. “That’s the best part of having the grandparents over for a party. If we all need to leave, we’ve got built-in babysitters!”

“Ellie, you left Colt?” I asked, knowing Ellie had yet to leave Colt with anyone.

She smiled and nodded her head. “Well, I figured five grandparents could take care of him and Alex.”

“Mr. Reynolds? Your fiancée is getting closer,” the nurse said.

I jumped up and out of the wheelchair with my crutches. “Shit! Shit, this it!”

Everyone let out a laugh. Jeff, Josh, and Gunner walked me to the door.

Before I went in, I turned and looked at them. “I don’t know what to say, but thank you. Thank you for being more than just a friend. Y’all are like my brothers, and I…I…”

Gunner put his hand on my shoulder and smiled. “We know what you’re saying, dude. Go welcome your baby into the world, and don’t forget to tell Jessie what a great job she did.”

“And tell her she looks beautiful,” Jeff said with a wink.

I looked at Josh, and he smiled. “Oh man, dude…take it all in because it will be one of the most amazing moments in your life. Just make sure she knows how happy you are, Scott.”

I nodded as I looked at all three of them. I opened the door and heard Jessie cry out in pain. I quickly shut it and turned back around to them.

“Holy fuck, I can’t do it.” I started to hobble away.

Gunner grabbed me and opened the door. He turned me around and gently guided me into the room.

The moment her eyes caught mine, I didn’t need any help. I needed to get to her. She looked down at my ankle in a cast, and she started crying.

“No…no, baby, don’t cry.” I tried my best to make my way to her side.

My mother was standing on the other side of Jessie, and she smiled at me when I finally made it to Jessie’s side.

“Honey, I’m going to step outside now that Scott is here,” my mother said.

Jessie reached for her. “No! Mom, please stay with us. Please,” she said as her voice cracked.

My mother smiled and pushed Jessie’s sweat-dampened hair away from her eyes. I saw tears building in my mother’s eyes as she nodded her head.

“Of course I will stay with y’all, baby girl,” my mother said.

My heart felt like it was going to burst. I was so happy.

My mother looked at me. “You have one very strong and brave young woman here. She is doing this with no drugs.”

I instantly felt like shit, remembering how I had just begged the ER doctor to give me something strong to take away the pain. Some cowboy I am.

“Looks like you made it right on time, Scott. I think a few more pushes, Jessie, and we will get to meet this baby of yours,” Pete said.

The next few minutes felt like a lifetime, yet it all happened so fast. Jessie pushed about five more times, and she never once complained about the pain. She cried out in pain each time, but I could tell she was trying to be so strong. I leaned down after each push and told her how proud of her I was and how much I loved her.

Then, it happened. Jessie let out a long and loud scream with the last push.

Pete looked up at us and smiled. “You have a beautiful and healthy baby girl.”

I busted out in tears and looked at our baby girl as Pete held her up.

“Oh my god! She’s the most breathtaking thing I’ve ever seen,” Jessie said.

Pete handed the baby to the nurse, who moved our girl to a table. I watched the nurse do all kinds of weird-ass shit to the poor little thing. She was crying away, and my heart had never felt like this before. I thought loving Jessie was amazing, but this…this was beyond amazing, just like Josh had said.

I glanced down at Jessie as she cried and tried to see what the nurse was doing to the baby.

I leaned down, placed my finger under her chin, and moved her face over to look at me. “I love you more than anything. I never in my life thought that I could feel so much love in my heart, and you just proved me wrong…again. You amaze me. I’m in awe of you right now, and you…you’ve made me the happiest man on Earth. Thank you for loving me.”

I gently kissed her, and she moved her hand to the back of my neck, pulling me in for a deeper kiss.

When we parted our lips, she smiled and looked me in the eyes as she said, “I love you to the moon and back.”

She began crying again, and I wiped the tears from her cheeks.

“And I just want you to know…I’m never doing that again,” she said.

My mother busted out laughing. I smiled and nodded my head as I looked up at my mother, who winked at me.

“Are you ready to meet baby girl Reynolds?” the nurse asked.

She walked up to me and gently put my daughter in my arms. The moment I held her, she immediately stopped crying.

“Hey…look at that. Already a Daddy’s girl,” Pete said.

He walked over to the sink and did a few things with the nurses, and then they slowly sat Jessie back up.

Looking down at this beautiful miracle in my arms, I couldn’t help but smile. When she yawned, my knees about gave out.

“I promise to always love and protect you and your mommy. You two are my whole life now, baby girl.”

I turned to see Jessie watching me. The smile on her face was like nothing I’d ever seen before in my life. I carefully took our baby and placed her into the arms of the woman I’d loved since before I could remember.

I would lay my life down for this woman and for our daughter.

I watched as Jessie brought our baby girl up to her lips, and she began kissing our daughter all over her little face. One peek at my mother, and I saw she was crying like mad. I smiled and wiped a tear away.

“I’m so, so happy to finally meet you. I’ve waited so long to hold you, and I thought for sure with how much you kicked and punched me, baby girl, that you were going to be a boy!”