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Number of reviews: 42
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July 2014
Sierra groaned and rolled over on the bed. She had been trying to fall asleep for a couple of hours but was uncomfortable. Justin placed his hand on her thigh and squeezed it lightly.
“Quite moving,” he whispered loudly.
“My back is killing me,” Sierra answered.
“That doesn’t mean I have to suffer too,” he said.
Sierra turned her head and glared. “Don’t start … I have been having small contractions off and on for the past 12 hours.”
“Why didn’t you say something?” Justin’s voice softened. He moved so he could place a hand on her lower back, and made small circular motions there.
“Because it is not serious right now,” she answered.
“That still doesn’t mean you couldn’t have told me,” he said.
“I know,” Sierra sighed and settled her head back down on the pillow. “Just keep doing that, it feels good.”
“I can do that,” Justin settled back down on the bed too. “How far apart are they?”
“Just about 45 minutes,” she answered quietly and closed her eyes.
“We have to go to the hospital at 20 minutes,” he stated.
“Or when my water breaks, but that will be a while still,” she said.
“Mmhmm,” Justin sighed. “Good thing Mom came in yesterday.”
“Yep. I’m going to try and get some sleep now.”
“Okay.” Justin said and closed his eyes too. He kept his hand on her back before drifting off to sleep.
“Hey where are you going?” Justin asked when Sierra got off the couch.
“To get a snack,” she started to head into the kitchen. “I need to move around some. When I was in labor with Cameron, they made me walk around to speed things up.” Lady came running into the kitchen when she heard the fridge door open. “You are a smart puppy aren’t you?”
“How are you feeling?” Lynn asked when she came into the kitchen.
“I’m ready to get this show on the road,” she answered and pulled out some sliced cheese to snack on.
“I don’t blame you,” Lynn said. “I’m going to take the kids to the movies, and hopefully when we’re done you guys will be at the hospital.”
Sierra smiled as Lynn squeezed her arm lightly before leaving the room. She headed back into the room with the plate of cheese in her hand and Lady at her heels. Sierra sat back down on the couch next to Justin.
They said good-bye to the kids and Lynn when they left for the movie theater. Justin and Sierra watched a movie on TV for another hour before she got up to go to the bathroom.
“You okay?” He asked when she came back out.
“It’s time to go to the hospital,” Sierra said.
“Really?” Justin asked and stood up from the couch. He turned the TV off and picked up his keys and wallet from one of the end tables in the room. “Did your water break?”
“Yep,” Sierra put a hand on her stomach and took in a sharp breath, “definitely.”
Justin went over to her side and wrapped an arm around her back. He placed one hand on her stomach. “Can you walk?”
“Just … give me … a second,” Sierra held onto his hand and breathed through the contraction. Justin kissed her forehead and helped her out to the car when it was over.
“She sounds awfully healthy,” a nurse said. She placed the screaming baby girl on Sierra’s chest and wiped her off with a cloth a little bit.
“Hey Carolyn,” Sierra said and moved her arms a little to adjust the baby slightly. “Look at her Justin.”
“I see her,” he smiled. “She’s gorgeous.” Justin ran a finger over the baby’s forehead.
“We’re going to steal her away for a minute, to do a quick check-up and clean her up a little bit.”
“Okay,” Sierra let her go reluctantly.
“You did so good Sierra,” Justin brushed her hair away from her face and kissed her forehead.
“Are you a proud Daddy?”
“Always,” he said quietly.
“Good.” She smiled against his lips after he kissed her again. The two of them stayed quiet and watched the doctor and nurses fuss over Carolyn for a few minutes before bringing her back over.
“Here you go Dad. We’ll give you a few more minutes alone,” the nurse said as she handed the baby over. “And before I go, do you have a name picked out?” She picked a chart up from the table and opened it.
“Yeah,” Sierra answered and moved over on the bed a little bit so Justin could sit down on the edge.
“Last name?”
“Timberlake.”
“First?”
“Carolyn, C-A-R-O-L-Y-N. And her middle name is Mae, M-A-E,” Sierra said as the nurse wrote it down.
“Thank you.” She closed the chart as the other doctor and nurses filed out of the room. “I will be back in a little bit to take her into the nursery.”
“Okay,” Sierra smiled and looked over at Justin who was admiring the baby girl in his arms.
“This is incredible,” Justin said and traced her little features. She had calmed down a bit more as Justin counted her fingers and toes again.
“Yeah,” Sierra sighed. “It’s so different when she’s your own.”
“Mmhmm,” Justin nodded. “I thought bringing Olivia into my family was special, but this is on a whole other level.”
“Justin, what are you doing?” Sierra sounded annoyed as she watched him pull out the video camera from its bag. She curled her arms under Carolyn more and pulled her closer to her chest.
“Come on now we want to remember this forever,” he turned the camera on and pointed it in her direction. Sierra smiled. He moved the camera towards Olivia who was sitting on one of the chairs in the room. “There’s big sister Olivia, and big brother Cameron, and the ever special Aunt Cora.”
He moved in closer to the bed and zoomed in on Carolyn, “and there is the newest addition, Carolyn Mae.”
“Let me hold?” Cameron asked and held his arms towards the camera.
“You know what? I bet if you go and sit up there nicely next to Mom, she’ll let you hold Carolyn.” Justin tried to divert his attention away from the camera.
“Mmm …” He looked towards the bed and back to Justin, “no.”
Sierra laughed, “Just let him hold the camera Justin.”
“Only for a few minutes though,” Justin handed it to Cameron and made sure he had a hold of it. “Be careful.”
“I no break,” Cameron insisted as he moved closer to the bed with the camera.
“I know,” Justin said.
Cameron pointed the camera at Sierra. “Say hi Mom.”
“Hi Cam, why don’t you get Carolyn … hmm …” Sierra suggested to get the camera off of her face.
“She’s boring,” he answered and turned around to tape Cora and Olivia for a few seconds and then pointed the camera at Justin. Of course the whole video was probably going to be a big mess but Justin smiled and waved anyway. He then made himself comfortable on the edge of the bed to fuss over Carolyn for a moment.
“I done,” Cameron said after another minute.
“Okay,” Justin sighed and stood up. “Let’s put it away then.” He took the camera from the little boy and put it back into the bag.
“Can we go now?” He asked and looked up at Justin.
“We just got here,” Justin answered. “Let’s wait until Grandma gets here and then we’ll see.”
Lynn came in after a few minutes and the first thing Cameron asked was if she would take him home.
“Let me see the baby for a few minutes and I’ll take you home,” Lynn said as she walked over to the bed. “Can I steal her away?”
“Of course,” Sierra smiled and let Lynn take Carolyn from her arms. “I need a break.”
“Hey,” Sierra smiled when she saw Tyler and Jill walk into the room. Justin, Lynn and the kids had left a few hours before to eat dinner, which left Sierra all alone.
“Hello, we brought you this,” Jill held up a pink bear, “and some balloons.” She set them on the table with the other flowers and stuffed animals.
“Thank you,” Sierra said. “Come here and give me hugs.” Jill and Tyler did just that.
“Olivia called and told us right away,” Jill sat down on one of the chairs.
“She’s been really excited for a while now,” Sierra responded. It was quiet for a moment.
“We just wanted to thank you for being so nice to us and welcoming us into the family,” Tyler said.
“Well you guys deserve a family too,” Sierra stated.
“We wanted to talk to you about the offer that you and Justin made, to move us to Tennessee with you,” Tyler started. “We decided that we want to stay here so Jill can finish high school here.”
“Okay. That’s completely understandable,” Sierra said. “I just want you to know that it will always be there for you guys.”
“We know, and it was really nice of you guys to offer to do that for us,” Jill said.
“Anytime, you guys are family now,” Sierra smiled as a nurse came in the room with Carolyn.
“Hello everybody,” she said and picked the baby up. Jill and Tyler nodded hello. “It’s time for her to eat.”
“Great,” Sierra sat up a little and held out her arms for Carolyn to be placed in them.
“You are sure you don’t want to nurse right?” she asked.
“Yes,” Sierra answered, “I want Justin to be able to do something.”
“Good thinking,” the nurse handed her a bottle and cloth diaper. “I’ll be back in and hour to check on her.”
“Okay, thank you,” Sierra smiled and adjusted Carolyn before she began to feed her.
“What did ya’ll name her again?” Jill asked.
“Carolyn Mae,” Sierra answered.
“Oh that’s right,” Jill said. “It’s a nice name.”
“Mmhmm … Justin gave it to her,” Sierra looked down at Carolyn. “She’s named after my Aunt Carrah, his mom, Lynn, and my mom, Mae.” It was quiet for a minute before she spoke up again. “So how has ya’lls week been?”
“It’s been good,” Jill answered. “I have a date tonight.”
“Ooo … really? Tell me about him,” Sierra asked. Jill told her about the guy she met at work the other day while Tyler huffed next to her. Jill and he stayed for another hour talking and taking turns holding the baby before they left Sierra alone again.
Justin came in a few minutes after they left.
“Hey,” he kissed her on the forehead and ran a finger over Carolyn’s. “How’s she doing?”
“Just fine,” Sierra answered. “She ate about an hour ago. Did you see Jill and Tyler on your way in? That just left here.”
“Oh yeah,” Justin said and pulled a chair over closer to the bed. “It’s too bad they aren’t going to move to Tennessee with us.”
“Yeah, but it’d be hard for Jill to start at a new school senior year. So it’s for the best,” Sierra said.
“Yeah,” Justin agreed.
“So what are you doing here?” Sierra asked.
“I’m going to spend the night here. Mom kicked me out of the house since I was pacing,” Justin answered. Sierra laughed. “Can I hold her?”
“Of course, you don’t have to ask,” Sierra said as Justin reached over to take her from her arms. He sat back down and adjusted Carolyn in his arms. Sierra watched Justin admire their baby while she thought about how to tell him what she’d been thinking about recently.
“So …” Sierra started Justin glanced up and her and smiled. “Justin I don’t think I want to have anymore kids. Now I know what I said before we got married, but I’m happy with it being us and just the four of them. Plus now we have Olivia’s brother and sister as well. I just feel like our family is complete.”
“You know what?” Justin asked and looked up at her as he held Carolyn close. “I agree.”
“Really?” Sierra sounded surprised and let out a breath of air.
“Yeah.” Justin nodded and looked down at Carolyn for a minute. “Our family is perfect.”
Don't forget to leave feedback. I really appreciate the few I have gotten. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
Christine
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