“There you go. Scream through it if you have to,” Shelby praised. “Erys, tell me what you see.”
“I can see the head,” he shared, assisting Remedy in her reposition. Her upper body resting on the cushions of the loveseat.
“Alright, Erys, her next push, help guide him out,” Shelby instructed. “Rem, baby, you push whenever you’re ready and not a moment sooner.”
“Where are you?” she half-whined half-cried.
“I’m ten minutes away. But until then, I’m going to need you to do what we talked about. You’re about to have a beautiful, healthy baby boy, mama. You’re in good hands. There is no one more capable than guiding this life into the world than your husband.”
Shelby’s comment hit Erys in the chest. For all the life he took, he was somehow rewarded with bringing in the next generation of the Moore lineage into the world. He looked up at his wife who was preparing herself for another push.
“I love you, Rem. You can do anything. I’ve watched you. You can do this. One last push with everything you got, okay?”
“Okay,” she whimpered. “Okay.”
Erys got as close as he could. “You ready?”
“Mmhmm,” she gritted, baring down and pushing with everything she had in her.
“Guide him, Erys,” Shelby called out.
“I got it. I got him,” Erys replied over Remedy’s loud gritting. With guidance, that was Remedy’s final push. Erys hurried and wrapped him in a sterile blanket as his cries filled the space. Erys couldn’t help but let tears of his own fall. “I got him.”
Tired, Remedy carefully turned her body around, preparing herself to receive her baby.
“Congratulations,” Shelby cheered. “Erys, keep them warm. I’m coming. Rem, you good?”
Remedy cried, holding her baby against her chest. “Yes, I’m good. I did it.”
“You did it,” Erys praised. “I’m so proud of you, baby. I’m so proud of you.”
“I couldn’t do it without you. He’s so beautiful.”
When Shelby arrived, she finished the process, cleaned up baby and mom and assisted them into the bed. Erys stayed close, assisting Remedy with getting Heir to latch while making sure she ate some after birth soup the daytime aide made. It was evident to everyone but Remedy and Erys that she’d been in labor and moving around the house for the last twelve hours.
“Thank you, baby,” she hummed tiredly.
“Don’t mention it. I got you.”
Shelby ensured their space was returned to normal. “If you need me at all tonight, I’ll be across the hall. Get some rest, you’ll need to feed him in another three hours, alternating breasts.”
She placed a blanket over Remedy and the baby and smiled. “You did a beautiful job today.”
“Thank you,” Erys replied, seeing that Remedy had fallen asleep. He took their son and held him close. “Hey, Heir, before you have my wife up all night, I have someone you need to meet.”
Erys carefully moved down the stairs and into Ernie’s room where he was sitting up in his chair waiting for an update. “Hey, Pop. I got someone you need to meet.”
“Is that my boy?” Ernie asked, holding his shaking limbs out.
“Yeah. Eight pounds, twelve ounces. All his fingers and toes and a set of lungs on him just like you,” Erys shared, kneeling so Ernie could receive his grandson without hazard.
Ernie looked down and grunted proudly. “I got something right. Tell your momma I’ll be up there soon. Tell her to wait on me.”
“I will,” Erys promised, watching his father hold his grandson and cry. The night time aide was sure to snap a picture of the three of them, unsure if they were going to get another moment like this.
Erys carried his son back to the bedroom, settled into the loveseat with the bassinet to his right, ready to handle the night shift so Remedy could get the rest she needed. “Heir, you’re going to be amazing. You got a good momma, I’m cool too. But that mother of yours, you’re going to see why her name is Remedy. She saved me. Now I know why.”
EPILOGUE
