“Bambina, what are you doing up?” Joey asked, pulling Melissa's body to his. His hands wandered over her very pregnant stomach and he watched as she half smiled. “How's our little Evie doing?” he asked, kissing her neck.
“I think Evie and I need you to take us to the hospital, Daddy. Cause these contractions aren't getting any farther apart and I think my water broke.” Melissa grimaced as another contraction hit her, trying not to look scared at Joey's panicked face. “Don't freak out, Fatone..we're just having a baby...”
Joey's eyebrows rose even more. “Just having a baby? That's my baby...” he said, looking her up and down and then at himself in just some sleep shorts. “Give me five minutes, Bambina mia..” his fingers brushed her stomach again and he leaned in and kissed her once more.
Melissa watched her husband practically sprint toward their bedroom, shaking her head when she heard him singing very loudly in Italian. She'd gotten ready about thirty minutes ago when she realized that the contractions were getting a little closer and a bit harder. The doctor had told them last week that their daughter could make her appearance at any time and Joey had been a nervous wreck since then. She couldn't fault him though. Even though he'd driven her crazy at times, asking her if she'd eaten the right things and rested, not wanting her to clean too much and telling her it was okay to miss a show if she was tired; he'd been wonderfully attentive and put up with some of her less than loving moods when hormones hit and left her a bawling mess in his arms. Joey had rubbed her feet and went and got her a frosty from Wendy's at 3 a.m.
Joey pulled on a shirt and grabbed the jeans he'd worn earlier that weren't really dirty and shoved his feet into some sandals. Snagging a ball cap, he threw it on and grabbed his wallet and keys and headed back downstairs, pausing to grab his phone off the charger. “How are you, Melly?” he asked, watching her walk slowly.
“Fine,” she replied, her voice strained a little. “I have my purse and phone..the bags are in the Mustang.” She leaned on Joey a moment, sighing. “I'm a little scared,” she confessed. Melissa hadn't voiced any of her fears, the ones in the back of her mind that something could go wrong. She felt her husband's arms around her as he held her close.
“Bambina mia...Mel..You'll be fine, Evie will be fine. Let's get you to the hospital so I will have an excuse to park in Emergency parking and act like an idiot,” Joey told her with a smile, nervous as well, trying to hide it. Of course he'd never voiced this to his wife, knowing it would stress her more. Helping her into the car, he kissed his wife once more. “Let's go have a baby.”
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Joey stood outside the hospital room while the nurse helped Melissa get undressed and put a hospital gown on, along with a few other woman things he wasn't sure he wanted to know about. He'd called his parents and siblings and in laws. Now he dialed his brother in law's number listening to the phone ring.
“'Lo?” Lance's deep voice mumbled from sleep.
“We're at the hospital. Melissa woke me up a little while ago with the contractions not going away,” Joey told Lance. They talked a bit longer before hanging up. Melissa had called Rachel on her way to the hospital and Joey knew she would be there in a little while to help coach. Joey had joked with the women from his family and Linda Bass and Rachel, that he wouldn't have a reason to be there. He'd realized that had been the wrong thing to say when his wife promptly burst into tears. After that, Joey decided just to keep his mouth shut. And after being questioned, Melissa had informed him that he was the only one she wanted in there when it was time for the baby to come.
“Mr. Fatone,” the older nurse said, touching his arm lightly. “You can go back in now. We are monitoring the baby's heart rate and the contractions. They are about nine and a half minutes apart.”
Joey thanked the nurse and went back in the room, pausing at seeing the monitors hooked up to his wife, her round stomach sticking up. He took in a breath and gave her a small smile. “How do you feel?” he asked, sitting down and taking her hand. It was almost four a.m and he was wide awake.
“Like my insides are starting to try and come out.” Melissa smiled and reached for Joey's hand, placing it on her stomach. “Say hi, Daddy.”
Joey smiled, a kick pushing against his hand. Leaning down next to her stomach, he kissed the place where their daughter had kicked. “Eva Sofia, cara mia...Daddy loves you. You be nice to Momma...” he felt his wife squeeze his hand, watching the monitor as a contraction hit. “Breathe, Melly.”
*^*^*^*^*^*
“We heard there was a baby, yo,” Justin said with a big smile as he came into the private waiting room with Chris and Holly. He set down the bag that had a big stork on it with a pink blanket.
“Not yet,” Janine told them, putting down her magazine. “They've been in there since four.”
“It's almost noon,” Chris said, to which Linda Bass just smiled and shook her head. “What?” he said innocently as he sat down next to his friends.
“Labor doesn't have a set time,” Linda explained to which Phyllis just nodded. “And she is related to Joey. I'm sure she will have to make an entrance.” She had been in with her daughter for a while, until coming back out to let someone else come in.
“What's in the bag?” Steve asked Justin, who quickly produced a soft purple unicorn.
“It's Mr. Biscuit,” Justin said as they all laughed at him. “I just figured it's a weird enough name...for a Fatone toy.”
“Oooo it's soft,” Holly said, hugging it to her. “It's adorable, Justin.”
“That's cause I got the know how on baby swag.”
“Yes, because you've been to how many baby showers?” Lance shot back, a smile on his face.
Justin glared at Lance, all of them turning as Rachel came into the room, a smile on her face. “Mel's started pushing and we should have a baby soon.”
“How's Joey handling it?” Joe Sr. asked, looking concerned.
“Like a champ. The perfect coach,” she sat down next to Linda and texted JC, who was at home with their two year old, Noah. “I'm telling C that my next cheerleader will be Joey. All JC did was freak out.”
“What a great thing for your husband to hear,” David said, teasing Rachel. “I love you and I'm having your baby but you suck in the delivery room.”
“JC would agree with your statement,” Rachel said with a short laugh. “Actually JC did good, I'm just surprised Joey hadn't passed out yet. He was close when Melissa's blood pressure spiked but it went down.”
Jim Bass looked at Linda and took her hand. They were excited for their first grandchild and wanted everything to go smoothly.
*^*^*^*^*^*^
“Joey...” Melissa sighed, tired and looked at him. “I'm exhausted.” She'd been in labor for most of the day and now she could push and she didn't want to. She tried to smile at him, letting him feed her an ice chip.
“I know, Bambina. Just a bit longer and we'll have our Evie with us,” Joey brushed her hair back and watched the monitor, knowing another contraction was coming. “Get ready to push, Melly.”
Melissa watched the monitor too and braced herself. The epidural had kicked in so she couldn't feel hardly anything, just knowing she was supposed to push. All of the time they'd waited to see their daughter and now she was almost here.
“Come on Mel,” Joey urged, feeling like his fingers were breaking as his wife pushed. She'd been at it for an hour and it was like all at once there was a screaming, wiggling baby being wiped off by the nurse and put on Melissa's chest. “Oh..my..God..” Joey whispered, tears coming to his eyes. He stared in wonder at the little person still crying and at his wife crying and kissing her head.
“Say hi, Joey...” Melissa watched tears roll down Joey's cheeks and sniffled when he kissed her softly. “Hi baby..that's your Daddy.” The nurse let them have a few moments before instructing Joey on how to cut the umbilical cord before taking their newborn away to get weighed and meaured and shots. Melissa smiled at Joey, who was just standing there in a daze, a smile on his face. “You did good, Fatone. I love you,” she said, leaning back on the pillow and closing her eyes for a moment while the nurse cleaned her up.
“You did amazing,” Joey told her, leaning in to kiss her. “I'm going to tell everyone and then to the nursery to get pictures.” He watched her nod and took off, his heart beating wildly. He was a dad. The precious life he and Melissa had made depended on him for everything. He'd been in love with Eva before she'd been born. Now he was sure his heart was more full.
“Eva Sofia's here!” Joey announced loudly to the group that was in the waiting room, accepting handshakes and hugs before leading them all to the nursery to where they could see her getting weighed and measured.
“She has blonde hair,” Phyllis commented, smiling at her son. “I always knew you liked blondes.”
“She's a cute half wookie,” Chris commented, getting slapped hard on the shoulder by Holly. “Ouch. What did I do?”
“Hi baby, I'm your Uncle Justin,” Justin said loudly through the glass, a huge smile on his face. “I will teach you to be the coolest, sweetest kid ever. I will buy you all the stuff your Daddy says you can't have.”
“Whatever,” Joey huffed, a grin on his face. “Uncle Lance might have something to say about that.”
“Uncle Lance thinks all the honorary uncles will have to wait their damn turn to hold my baby Eva.”
Michael grinned and slipped his hand into his boyfriend's. He'd been the one to paint the pictures that were in Eva's room, getting hugs and kisses from Melissa and a huge bear hug from Joey for the gifts at their baby shower. He felt like he was a part of the Bass family and the rest of the guys had accepted him as well, smiling at the love in the room and the joy of the new baby.
*^*^*^*^*
“Nona said she will be here in a couple days,” Joey told Melissa after he said goodbye to his grandmother in Italian, sending her pictures to her phone and promising her more real pictures. Everyone had come in and held Eva, kissing and cooing over her. Much to Joey's delight, she screamed when Chris held her. And she fell asleep with Uncle Michael, who passed her off to Jim Bass. His father in law would have held her all day if he could have, being pulled away by Linda to the cafeteria so that they could have a little time to themselves.
Now he was sitting the rocking chair with the plastic bassinet next to him. Eva was wrapped up 'burrito style' in a blue and red blanket with a small pink hat on her head. She was asleep and all he wanted to do was look at her. He looked up at Melissa and smiled at her. He'd been in love with her before now, when they got married. And he'd fallen more in love with her, but now it was different. He couldn't explain it exactly, just that she'd given him something that was like nothing else. A child-his child. And he prayed there would be more, but for now, Joey was completely happy with the baby next to him.
“She's perfect, Joey.”
“Yes, she is. Like her mother.”
“If you think that's getting you anywhere...The doctor said no sex for like 10 weeks.” Melissa laughed at his face and sighed. “I figure after that time we'll be lucky to remember our names with no sleep.” They'd been through Rachel and JC's sleep deprived newborn episode, so it would be interesting to see what would be in store for them.
*^*^*^*^
A soft knock came to the door and JC peeked his head in. “Hey,” he half whispered, holding Noah Chasez. “Can we come say hi?”
“Sure, man,” Joey got up and hugged his friend and ticked Noah, who just buried his head in his father's neck. “You wanna see my baby, Noah?” He smiled when the boy shook his head no.
“He woke up from a nap and kept saying 'Baby'...Then we get here and he doesn't want to see,” JC shrugged. “Hey Mel. How you feeling?” JC asked, going and giving her a hug and kiss on the cheek.
“I'm on some medication and had a baby. I'm great,” Melissa told JC, kissing Noah who let go of his daddy to curl up next to her on the bed.
“Baby,” Noah pointed, looking at Melissa with big blue eyes and unruly hair like JC's.
“Yes, sweetheart. Aunt Melly and Uncle Joey's baby,” she explained, watching Joey pick Eva up carefully and deposit her into JC's arms.
“Hi little girl,” JC whispered, smiling when she yawned. “I'm your uncle C. Your Daddy and Momma love you very much. And we do too...” he added, looking up when Rachel came in.
“Hi, I see you have a cute baby,” Rachel went over and kissed Noah and then went over to JC. “She looks like Mel..well..other than the Fatone nose.”
“That's a good Italian nose,” Joey defended, giving her a wink.
“She screamed with Chris,” Rachel told JC with a wide grin.
Eva started fussing and Joey took her, sitting down in the rocker.
Rachel smiled at Joey and went over to Melissa and picked up Noah. “You good, Bass?” she asked, teasing her best friend.
“I'm perfect, Weatherly. Thanks for being here.”
“Where else would I be?” Rachel gave her a hug. “Give me a call if you need anything. We'll come see you and bring goodies later this week. Love you.”
They said their goodbyes and left the new parents alone. Melissa watched as Joey carefully changed Eva's diaper and tried to feed her with the bottle. She heard him whispering and then tears came to her eyes.
“Let me sing you a song, cara mia..Your Momma likes it when I sing to her,” Joey said softly as he rocked. “Tale as old as time..true as it can be...barely even friends, then somebody bends unexpectedly...”
Author's Chapter Notes:
Here is the end of this story. It is one of the longest I have ever written. And I have a couple people to thank: jr88freak and creativechaos. Thanks ladies for your help and nudging and letting my muses play. And to my readers and reviewers, thank you so much for letting me share this story.
Completed
DiamondDoss is the author of 17 other stories.
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This story is a favorite of 14 members. Members who liked Between Friends also liked 212 other stories.
Story Tags: joey
