Hannah wouldn’t have thought it possible to laugh. “Hopefully, it still will be after you witness what’s about to happen here.”

He kissed her cheek and tightened his hold on her. “It will always be a big deal to me. You, my love, are the biggest of big deals to me.”

“I won’t be quite so big after I get this baby out.”

“Love you, Hannah. If it gets to be too much for you, hold on to me.”

“That’s the plan.” She looked back at him. “Love you, too.”

Sitting on a chair, the doctor rolled into position between Hannah’s legs and eyed the monitor that tracked contractions. “You ready to rock and roll, Hannah?”

Nolan squeezed her hand.

“We’re ready.”

“Okay, here we go. Let’s give it a big push.”

Hannah pushed as hard as she could. The epidural made it so she could feel only the pressure, which was tremendous, but no pain.

“That was good,” the doctor said. “Just like that again.”

Nolan fed her ice chips, wiped the sweat and tears from her face and supported her through each push. Having him to lean on made all the difference.

She wanted to sleep, but the contractions were coming fast and furious, each one of them a new chance to push.

“One more big one, Hannah,” the doctor said in that endlessly cheerful tone that had Hannah wishing for the wherewithal to punch her.

“Ready, sweetheart?” Nolan asked.

Replying would take focus she didn’t have to spare. She took a huge breath and pushed with every ounce of reserve fortitude she could muster. She pushed until she felt the pressure let up and then sagged into Nolan’s arms.

“You have a girl!”

“You did it, honey,” Nolan said, sounding tearful behind her.

For once, the doctor’s cheerfulness didn’t annoy her. She was too full of unreasonable joy to be annoyed about anything. A girl. They had a girl!

The OB immediately handed off the baby to the neonatal specialist, who whisked her to a warmer they had set up on the other side of the room.

“Why is she so quiet? Isn’t she supposed to cry?”

“She’s taking it all in,” the neonatal specialist said.

“It’s okay that she didn’t cry?”

“It’s fine, but she’s small. Just over four pounds, and she’ll need some time in the NICU for her lungs to develop further.”

“Can I see her?” Hannah asked through tears that blinded her.

“Just for a few minutes,” the neonatal doctor said. “These little ones lose their body heat very quickly, so we need to get her into the warmer.”