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Star

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It was now the twenty-second of January. It had been almost two weeks since the baby shower and for the past several days, I was feeling worse and worse. It was like the baby wanted out, but at the same time he was too scared to come out. He would kick and move around, but it was like he was changing positions more than anything. And to top it all off, it was like I had a large heavy ball sitting right on top of my pelvis. I had actually barely been able to move at all lately. I admit, I was miserable.

"Are you OK Mommy?" Zack asked me as we sat down to breakfast that Saturday morning. Artem had carried me like he normally did, and after we ate, I would just sit in the living room either reading or working on some crochet that I was learning to do from Aunt Criztie.

"I\'m fine, sweetie. It\'s just uncomfortable is all."

"Is it the same as it has been?" Doc asked with a worried look. "All in the belly and nothing in the back?"

"Yeah, that\'s what it seems like right now. Though most of the time I am just too uncomfortable to tell." I told him, answering his question honestly.

"If it gets to where it is painful, or you can\'t take it, let me know. I will check you later this afternoon as well. You\'re getting really close to your due date so we need to monitor it closely."

"OK." I nodded at him as a slight pain went through my belly.

We finished eating shortly after that, and I was taken into the other room by Artem. I liked to be in his arms, even with how uncomfortable I was; it was so nice having him hold me.

"You look sad, Star. Is everything OK?" Artem asked as we were almost to my favorite chair for the time being.

"Yeah, I think so. I just don\'t want you to leave me right now. I just really like being in your arms."

"Then I will stay with you." I heard joy in his voice. "If that is all that is bothering you, honey, then I will stay with you all day."  He was talking so softly and giving me such a loving look that I literally wanted to cry.

"Oh, Artem." I smiled at him. "Aren\'t you busy though? Don\'t you have things that you need to do? Important things?"

"Star, what could possibly be more important than you?" He truly did melt my heart at times like this.

I sat there on Artem\'s lap, talking and working on the little blanket I had been making. It was almost done, and I wanted to use it for when the baby came.

"You\'re getting good at that." Artem noted as he watched me make stitch after stitch.

"Thanks. It\'s all because your aunt is a good teacher."

"I think it helps that you\'re a quick learner."

"Maybe." I chuckled as I closed off the last stitch for the blanket. "Look, it\'s all done." I told him excitedly.

"I think that the baby is going to love it." I grinned at his words.

"Yeah, I think so t-." I stopped, unable to finish what I was going to say. "Ahh!" I ended up crying out in pain instead.

"Star? Are you OK?"

"I..it hurts, really bad." That was the only response I had to his words.

"Do you think it\'s time?"

"I don\'t know. I can\'t tell the difference in the pain."

"Let\'s get you up to see Doc."

With that, Artem scooped me into his arms and started to carry me up the stairs to the clinic. All the while, I was still clutching the baby blanket in my hands and trying not to cry out from the pain.

"Lay her down here, I will check her." Those were the first words out of Doc\'s mouth when Artem carried me into the room. He didn\'t even ask what the problem was. I was glad that he was so efficient and good at his job.

Artem set me on the bed in the back of the room and pulled the curtain shut. I could hear Doc washing his hands before he came around the curtain with a pair of gloves on his hands.

"I think it\'s probably going to be time, but I\'m checking you to be sure."

It was never the most comfortable feeling when Doc checked to see if I was dilating, but I was getting more used to it every time so it wasn\'t that bad anymore. I just closed my eyes before I felt him reach down and slide his hand inside of me. That was something that was usually intimate and something that only Artem would do. Doc was an actual doctor though so that was why this was fine.

"Oh, yeah, it\'s getting really close." I heard the excitement in his voice. "You\'re almost fully dilated. It won\'t be long now."

Things started to move a little quickly after that. Doc hooked a monitor up to my belly that would tell him when I was having a contraction. There was also another monitor that told us what the baby\'s heart rate was. I was nervous with all that was going on, but I was excited too.

About an hour later, after I was settled in, and Doc was sure that we still had a little bit of time, Artem brought the boys to see me. They were excited because they were going to meet their baby brother today.

I was able to get hugs from them all, and they told me they hoped I would be OK. After them, Mom and Dad came to see me. The two of them were excited to meet the baby, and they were happy that our family was growing even more. Mom was also nervous for me and said she would come back in with me at any time if I wanted her to.

The visitors continued from there, Chay, my cousins, Grandpa, Artem\'s family, even Kent, Toby, and Morgan. Everyone was here, and they were all waiting to see the new baby. I was happy that we had so many people here with us. This was the way that I had always envisioned a loving family of being.

After a little while I was sitting in the bed and felt a gush of liquid start to spread out between my legs.

"Artem!" I called out to him in a panic.

"What happened, Star? Are you alright?" I really wished he would stop repeating that every time that I called out to him.

"There is something wet on the bed. I think that my water just broke." 

Doc had prepared me for this a couple of months back. He had told me that when the fluid surrounding the baby came out it would probably be time for me to push. And, almost immediately after the water broke, there was an intense pain that filled me.

"Ngh! Ahh!" I cried out even though I didn\'t want to.

"Alright, Star, let\'s check you one last time. I think you will be pushing soon." Doc came around the curtain then, he had obviously heard what I said about the water.

His hand slid down to check me again, and then I saw him grin. "Oh yeah, you\'re ready. I am going to lay you back, and then when you feel a contraction coming we\'re going to push like I told you. Remember, until the count of ten."

I saw that Artem\'s eyes were glowing with excitement. He wasn\'t nervous or scared like I was right now. He was just eagerly awaiting the birth of our child.

I started pushing on Doc\'s commands, I wasn\'t even upset or nervous that he was looking at me between my legs. At that point, it had gotten to where I was too focused on what I was doing to care.

"Come on Star, give me another big push. That\'s it. Just like last time. That\'s my girl." The words that Doc was saying were only partially registering in my mind as I pushed harder and harder every time.

"Grraahhh!" I screamed, pushing until I couldn\'t push anymore. The pain was intense, but I knew that it would be over soon. That\'s what I kept telling myself. It\'s almost over. It will be done soon. The baby is almost here.

I was chanting my words right along with the words that Doc was repeating for me.

"Come on, the head is almost out. Come on Star, you\'re almost there. Push."

I did as he told me. I pushed again, harder and longer than before. By the time that I was finished with that push, all I could do was collapse back onto the bed. However, somehow the pain was lessened. I didn\'t feel the intense pressure anymore. And then all of a sudden, I heard the most beautiful sound in the world. There was a baby crying.

"It\'s a boy." I heard Doc\'s words, but I ignored them. I was too busy listening to the sound of my baby boy crying.

"He\'s here, Star." Artem kissed my forehead. "Our baby is here."

"Our baby." I felt the tears already starting to stream down my cheeks.

"Come on Artem, you can clip the cord."

Doc called Artem over to him and handed him a pair of oddly shaped scissors. With a goofy smile on his face, Artem took the scissors and cut the cord that was connecting me and my baby.

"Alright, I am going to get him cleaned up a little bit. When I come back, we will finish up."

Doc walked away with the baby then, and Artem just kept kissing my forehead. I wanted to tell him to stop; it was disgusting to kiss my head when it was covered in sweat like that. I couldn\'t tell him though since I was still in a dazed trance as I listened to the sounds that my baby was making.

"He...he really is here, isn\'t he?" I was still crying, but I could also feel the smile on my lips.

Yes, baby, he\'s here. Our baby boy is here. You did so good."

"Artem." I took his hand and looked at him, smiling as big as I could. "I love you."

"I love you too, baby. I love you so much."

"What are we going to name him? We never did settle on that, did we?"

"Let\'s wait until we see him and hold him. That is when we will know what to name him."

"OK."