Author’s Note: What better day than American Labor Day to finally publish this fic for an anonymous request to write about Emma and Drake giving birth to baby Harper? (It’s a stretch, but it works!) This is also my submission for the @Choices-September-Challenge day 3 prompt of ‘Dance’. Some of you may remember my little super-fluffy Daddy Drake fic called Midnight Dancing for Mother’s Day, and this story explains how Drake and Harper’s little tradition started. I hope you enjoy this fluffy fluff today! 💕💕
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“A little to the left … no, not that far! Yeah, that’s good.” Emma sighed in contentment, shifting forward on the bench and leaning into the stack of pillows atop the kitchen table while Drake rubbed her lower back. At almost 41 week’s pregnant, it was nearly impossible to find a comfortable position at this point. This creative tabletop massage chair setup had been Drake’s handiwork after his many failed attempts to get the right angle on Emma’s back when she was lying on her side in bed. And thank goodness her husband was handy because these little back massages were the only thing that was even remotely helping to relieve the pressure of the extra 40 pounds of baby and baby cushioning she was wearing these days.
Drake continued to rub her back, admiring the contented smile finally reaching his wife’s lips. “Better?” He said after he finally felt her stiff muscles release, Emma nodding slightly with her eyes closed in bliss. ”I know you’re so uncomfortable, Em … only a few more days and then the doctor will induce you if he has to. And then we can finally meet our little girl.”
Emma smiled at Drake’s reassurance. She honestly wasn’t sure if she was more excited to finally meet her daughter or be able to see her feet again … well, definitely the first one but the latter was a close second in appeal at this point. She glanced back over her shoulder to give him a thankful grin. “I just never thought that we’d have to wait past the due date to finally have this baby. I mean, why call it a due date if it’s really just a general target?” She whined, straightening her back to sit up and push away from the table, holding onto Drake’s shoulder as she unsteadily rose to stand. “And you know I’m not looking forward to an induction … the only chemicals I want flowing through my body at that point is a very strong epidural.”
Drake grasped her hand before she was able to waddle away, stopping her to wrap one arm around her inflated waistline. “Em … stop putting so much pressure on yourself to have all this be perfect. All you need to worry about is taking care of yourself and the baby. And trusting the doctor that he knows what’s best for both of you.”
Emma leaned down and pressed a sweet kiss to his forehead, amazed at how sweet and thoughtful this previously-grumpy man had become in the last nine months. He had finally let her see his gooey marshmallow center after years of building walls when he opened his heart up to her two years ago … but to see how emotional and excited and gentle he had become since they’d seen the plus sign on that white stick eight months ago just made her fall in love with him even more. And his patience with her, especially this last extremely uncomfortable month, was impressive by anyone’s standards. “Thanks, Cowboy … you’re so good to me. I’m sorry for whining again.” She stroked her thumb along his cheek as he beamed up fondly at her before finally making her way to the cupboard to retrieve a glass. She meandered over to the fridge, moving to position the glass underneath the water spicket- “Aghh.” She moaned as she clutched her abdomen, a sharp squeezing pain shooting from the top of her belly down to her pelvis. “Uhhh, Drake … my water!”
“It’s okay, I can help clean up.” Drake pulled himself away from the table and grabbed a towel from the kitchen counter. “Yeah, I will definitely say that the belly has made you a little clumsier. I won’t miss having to clean up or pick things up off the floor for you.” He jested playfully before stopping in his tracks. Emma had one hand bracing the fridge and the other holding the glass against her belly, a worried expression spread across her face as she stared down at the floor below her.
“Well, I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that too much longer, Drake … I meant MY water. My water just broke!”
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Drake wandered the sterile hospital corridor in a daze, gripping the cup of ice chips he had just retrieved for Emma in his hand. The adrenaline that had been pumping through his veins the past twelve or so hours was officially wearing off. It had to be sometime in the middle of the night, but he no idea what time it was exactly. He had never been more tired or emotionally spent in his entire life. Today had been a complete blur of doctors and nurses and chaos in the delivery room, and he knew that tomorrow was going to be packed with visitors and gift deliveries and … man, he really just needed to rest. That tiny little fold-out couch in Emma’s room was looking like a pretty good option right now.
“Oh! Congratulations Duke Walker!” Drake hadn’t realized he was already passing back by the nurses station near their room until he heard the chipper voice call to him. He smiled softly and nodded his head, murmuring a quiet thanks as he rounded the final corner and entered Emma’s room.
His wife, who only moments ago had requested a big cup of ice, was now dozing in her hospital bed with her hand perched on the side of the hospital bassinet. Emma had not wanted to take her eyes of their beautiful pink newborn daughter even while Harper slept, despite everyone’s advice to sleep while the baby was sleeping. As soon as both parents had laid eyes on the dark-downy-haired blue-eyed infant screaming to announce her arrival into the world, they were instantly even more smitten that they ever thought possible. But even a mother’s protective love can only keep her alert for so long, and Drake knew that after all the physical and emotional rigor today that Emma was sure to fall asleep as soon as she had more than thirty seconds of silence. And so that is how he found her … her eyes shut gently from where she had been beaming at her daughter just a minute before, one hand cupping her cheek against the pillow and the other splayed across Harper’s chest in the bassinet, a hint of a smile tugging the corners of her lips upward.
Drake marveled at his sleeping wife, emitting a quiet breath of relief as he set the ice cup down on the table beside her. Tip-toeing around the foot of the bed towards the bassinet, he noticed that his tiny infant daughter was wide awake and staring up at him with those big blue eyes. Those big blue eyes that reminded him so much of Emma’s … damn, this little girl already had him wrapped around her petite little finger. He oh-so-carefully picked up Emma’s hand, placing it in his own to lay it down softly on the bed beside her face. She stirred slightly, but immediately nestled back into the pillow as her breathing steadied.
Drake smiled down at Harper and stroked his index finger across the soft, smooth skin of her cheek. He had read in all the baby books that newborns could not determine faces yet, but he swore that she turned her head slightly in his direction and met his stare in recognition. Surely the facts in those books didn’t account for the father-daughter bond, he mused internally.
He delicately scooped the newborn up in his big palms- the fact that she was so tiny that she fit perfectly in his two hands still amazed him- and then cradled her in the crook of his arm against his chest. He pulled back her hospital cap and smoothed her dark hair down with this thumb while she pursed her lips in a little pouty face and stared up at him. She breathed in steady breaths, her chest rising with each inhale and falling ever-so-slightly as she exhaled with a barely audible little hum. It was the sweetest noise Drake’s ears had ever heard in his thirty-three years.
Still holding his daughter snuggly, Drake walked back around the bed to where a beam of light spread across the floor from the slight crack of the open door. He could hear soft music playing and the chatter of the nurses and doctors in the hall, no doubt enjoying the quiet late night hours of a peaceful shift. He didn’t recognize the song from the radio but he appreciated the slow melody as he unconsciously started swaying to the gentle beat. Harper seemed to appreciate it as well, her focused stare eventually broken by the fluttering of her eyelids and subsequent sleep as her father rocked her back and forth.
Drake stared mesmerized at the beautiful treasure he held so securely in his arms and then over to Emma curled up on the bed, his heart full of nothing but joy and love. He yawned subtly, shaking his head to dispel the exhaustion of twenty hours with no sleep away. Yes, he was tired and he knew tomorrow would be busy, but right now none of that mattered. The only thing that mattered right now was dancing with his daughter in the darkness of their hospital room on her birthday, making their first memory together.
END