Chapter 58

Finally, it was Thanksgiving day. Homestead was filled with the smell of turkey and different pies as the children all arrived for the family meal. They knew that Hanukkah would begin in about a week. They would all be spending a great deal of time in the area.  Skyler and Kaylian would even be joining them for dinner, much like the years previous since Jeremiah and Jona got married.

Jessi's husband wasn't able to make it out for Thanksgiving. He would however be out for the Festival of Light. He was looking forward to another holiday with the Draiman family. When he and Jessi married his parents disowned him. She wasn't Jewish enough for them, even though she spoke Hebrew was well as they did. Jessi didn't care and neither did David. All that mattered to them is that they loved each other.

Abigayle was getting to be so big. No one could believe that she was six months old by that time. But, little Abby and little Rina were the apples of everyone's eyes. They were truly the centers of attention. Anytime a grandparent was available they were being taken from whomever was holding them so that Gramma or Grampa could spoil the hell out of them.

Finally, the babies were fed their lunch and everyone was called to the table. "It's time to eat", Jake announced. "Everyone to the dining room please."

Once everyone had gathered, they were all seated. James helped Kenna into room and into her chair. David sat at the head of the table with his wife at his right hand. Jake and Delilah sat at his left and everyone else just sat wherever they could. 

When everyone was still and quiet, David looked over everyone in the room and smiled. "Surely you'll all forgive me for not standing this year. My joints just won't let me right now." That got him a laugh. "Glad I could amuse everyone today. Now, I look out over the tables this afternoon and I see many things. I see new faces. I see missing faces. I see familiar faces. To the new ones, welcome to the monstrosity that is the Draiman clan. To the ones that are missing that we wish were here, we hope to see you soon. As for those that are missing that we don't particularly miss, good riddance to you. We wish you the best. Now, usually we'd go to the table and have everyone give one thing that they're thankful for but there are just too damn many of us to do that now, so Mom and I will then we'll eat. Does that sound like a fair exchange?" The kids and grandkids that were old enough and capable all nodded. "Baby, why don't you go first?"

Brie smiled and looked at the room full. "I am grateful to have been able to get up another day to all of your smiling faces, to be surrounded by the people I love and who love me, and to know that all of my children and grandchildren are safe."

David nodded. "I don't think I could say that any better. I think I'll add to it that we're both thankful for all of the new additions to the family, the new babies and the new adults. And I can't help but wonder, James and Kenna, when we're going to see your new one. Sometime this year I hope."

"Any time now, Dad. Could be today, could be next week. Whenever he's ready."

"So anytime now?"

"Yep. Anytime now."

"Sounds good. Now, shall we carve one of these turkeys and start eating?"

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After dinner, the children who needed naps took them and those that didn't quietly played in the playroom.  The three oldest kept an eye on their younger siblings and cousins.  There weren’t a lot of them that weren’t still young enough to have to take a nap, so it wasn’t too big a task.

David and Brie both sat back and watched the hustle and bustle with smiles.  It wasn’t every day that they got to watch everyone scurry about after a meal.  They usually came in once a day and didn’t stick around long.  They wanted their children to live their own lives without having to feel like they were having to keep an eye on Mom and Dad; or like Mom and Dad were keeping an eye on them.

Once things were settled, Kenna made a face that said she was in a little bit of pain.  James was right at her side.  “Is everything ok, baby?” he asked as he got her sitting down.

“Yeah… no”, she said.  “I’ve been having some pain in my stomach off and on all day.”

James knew he was out of his depth.  He looked to Jake.  “What do I do, bro?”

Jake sighed and went into doctor mode.  “How often are you having the pains?”

“It’s sporadic.  Lasting for odd periods of time”, Kenna responded.

“Do they seem like they’re trying to become regular?”

“They’re becoming stronger, but not really more regular.”

“If you feel this sudden gush of fluid between your legs, let someone know and we’ll get you to the hospital.”

She nodded.  “What does that mean?”

“It means that you’re going into full blown labor”, Brie interjected.

“Yeah, that”, Jake chuckled and looked at his mother.  “The midwife never died did she?”

Brie laughed.  “Nope.  I couldn’t help myself.”

“You wanna finish the explanation?”

“Sure.”  She looked at Kenna.  “The gush is your water breaking.  Usually- and this is how it happened for me, I can’t speak for the rest of the woman in the house- they’ll get stronger and more frequent once your water does break.”

Kenna nodded.  “And you said it will be a sudden gush.  I won’t have any warning?”

“Doubtful.  When I had Jake and Jordan it was pretty sudden.  I had a weird pain while I was in the shower and went to get out.  As I was wrapping the towel around myself there was a gush and I looked down as the amniotic fluid hit the floor.  I screamed for David and he came running.”

“How did you manage only J and M names?” Kylely asked.

“Purely by accident”, David and Brie asked.  “At first there was just Malachai.  Then Jacob and Jordan.  Then Madison.  As we were expecting the twins, we were talking about names with the surrogate and Meagan and Makayla came up, and that’s when we realized that we’d established a pattern.  James and Jeremiah caught us by surprise and we scrambled for names”, David continued.

“How could you two not be prepared for us?” Jeremiah asked.

“We were told throughout Natalie’s pregnancy with you that it was only the two girls.”

“Then how did you end up with quads rather than twins?” Meagan asked.

“The boys decided to hide behind the two of you girls”, Brie said with a nod.

Kenna was sitting and listening to the family stories an tried to ignore the pain.  It wasn’t an easy task, especially when it felt like her body was trying to rip in half from the inside out.  She took deep breaths trying to get through the pain.  It was all she could do not to cry as the pain became stronger and more regular.  She tapped James on the knee to whisper in his ear that she needed help up so that she could stretch her legs.  As he helped her to her feet, there as a sudden gush and everyone heard the sound of liquid hitting the hard wood floor and Persian rug under their feet.  “I’m so sorry, Jake.”

“That’s what a rug cleaner is for”, he said with a chuckle.  “James, go pull your car around front.  I’ve got this.”

“Mom, Dad, please come with us”, James and Kenna asked in unison.

David and Brie exchanged a look and shrugged.  “Ok.  Good thing we wore jackets in from the cottage.  You go get the car, Mom and I’ll drive you to the hospital.  We’ll sit in the waiting room unless you want us in the room.”

“We can make that decision on the way.  I’ll go get car”, James said, trying not to freak out.

“I’ll run up and get the bag for you”, Delilah said and took off.

“Go get the car, James”, Brie said in a sing- song voice.

He nodded a little rapidly.  “Yeah, that’s right.  Car.”  He still didn’t move

“Your mother and I aren’t getting any younger so why don’t you just give me your keys and we’ll go pull the car around and you can sit with your wife”, David said with a chuckle as he shrugged into his jacket.

James pulled his keys out of his pocket.  “You’ll have to deactivate the alarm.”

“I figured as much.  How long has it been sitting in the garage?”  David took the keys and he and Brie went out to the garage.  “He froze”, David laughed as he hit the alarm button to turn it off.

“He’s in shock.  Remember, this is the first of his children that he’s actually gotten to be present for the birth.  Hunter he adopted and there was a restraining order against Kim for the last three months of her pregnancy with the twins”, she said with a smile.  “Once he gets past the shock, he’ll be fine.”

“I know.  I just hope the shock is over soon”, David said and opened the passenger front door to James’s SUV.  “If it isn’t, he’s not going to be any good to Kenna.”

“I don’t remember you going into shock with either of the pregnancies I carried to term.”

“I did briefly with Jake and Jordan, but it was quickly pushed to the side with the fact that you needed me.”  Once the doors were closed and the driver’s seat was adjusted to accommodate for the fact that David was shorter than James by 5in. they pulled away and up to the front door.  Kenna was loaded into the backseat carefully by James, Jake, and Jeremiah, and finally, they were off for the birth of the newest addition to the Draiman family.

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Once they were at the hospital James and Kenna went straight up the delivery room while David and Brie checked her in after James left her information with them. Afterward they were shown up to the delivery room. "Oooowwwww!" Kenna screamed. "This hurts!"

"I know baby. Just breathe."

"When you experience this kind of pain, I'll tell you to just breathe."

David and Brie paused outside the room. "Do we really want to go in there?" Brie laughed. "I don't want to get roped into playing labor coach again like I did for Jessi."

"We did tell him that we'd wait in the waiting room."

"OH GOD THIS HURTS!" Kenna cried in pain.

"We should probably get in there", he chuckled. "She may kill our son if we don't."

"Then let's get in the room so that she doesn't behead the boy."

They walked in and James was opening and closing his hand over and over again, trying to get feeling back in it. "Baby, no need to try to break my hand. I kinda need it."

"I'm sorry, Jay. It hurts so badly", Kenna said a little sadly.

"It comes with the territory", Brie said from the door. "Child birth is a positive feedback system, unlike getting a cold or something like that."

"Would it be ok for me to get up and walk around? I don't think that I can sit her much longer."

"I don't see the harm in it. It certainly can't hurt with labor progression."

They got Kenna up and walking around, doing laps around the delivery ward. The first time a contraction hot while they were walking through the halls, Brie instructed James in what to do to help her through it and comfort her. James looked at his father. "Dad, how did you manage to do this through two pregnancies?"

"It wasn't the pregnancies that were difficult or even the labors. It was the fact that I had to pace a space the size of two of those hospital rooms with your mother over and over. It got rather repetitive after a while, especially the second time around", David said with a shrug.

"Well, we were dealing with a unique situation at that point and I did tend to pace a lot", Brie responded.

"What was going on?" the doctor asked as she approached.

"My brother had been arrested and was being tried by the Utopians for treason."

"Yikes. Not fun." The doctor looked at Kenna and James. "Why don't we get her into bed and check her?"

James nodded and they took Kenna back to the room. "What's the news doc?"

"She's getting close. I'm gonna say another few hours." She looked at the young woman I her care. "If you would like and epidural now would be the time to ask."

Kenna loomed at Brie. "Is it ok?"

"Sweetie, you're the one in labor. You're the one having the baby. If you want the drugs then get them. Don't let me stop you. There are times when they're needed and more than welcome", was Brie's response.

Kenna then looked at James. "What do you think?"

"I echo my mother. If that's what you want, then do it."

Her eyes wondered back to the OB/GYN. "Give me the drugs."

"Alright. I'll have the anesthesiologist come in to a bit." And with that she left.

Brie looked impressed. "She seems decent."

"She is", Kenna said. "Much better than the guy I saw back in Chicago. He was a tool."

"There are some people that go into medicine that just shouldn't do so", David said. "Apparently this guy was one of them."

---------------

It was early in the morning on the day after thanksgiving. "Ok," the doctor said, "let's see what's going on." She ducked underneath the sheets and checked Kenna's progress. The baby was crowning. "Let's get ready to push. He's crowning."

The nurses flooded into the room and started getting things ready. The doctor looked at James. "You wouldn't want to catch, would you Daddy?"

James smiled from ear to ear. "Are you kidding me?! Yes I want to catch." He looked at his parents. "Do you mind holding her feet so that I can catch my son?"

They both shook their heads and smiled. "Get a gown and some gloves on so that you can catch your boy", David said.

"As long as you're doing something productive, we don't mind", Brie said with a smile.

James dressed out and go into position. When it was time to push, David and Brie lifted Kenna's feet into the air and she pushed with everything she had. It took a few pushes and a little work on James's part, but it finally happened. They finally had a little boy. In all his bloody glory, James held him up for everyone to see. "We have a boy", he said with a smile.

"Congratulations, son", David and Brie said in unison.

James handed the messy munchkin to his Mama once his airways were cleared and the child screamed for the first time. They were both grinning from ear to ear. "Well Daddy, did you want to do the honors and give your boy a name?" Kenna asked James as tears started to roll down her cheeks.

James reached up and wiped his eyes with a shaking breath. "Welcome to planet Earth, Gabriel William Draiman."