Fic: BigBang 2011 - The Works Of His Hands Are Faithful And Just (Epilogue/7+Epilogue)
After using the yoga ball for about half an hour, Jared had started to get restless and Jensen had walked around the small room with him for a while, keeping up small talk with Jeff to distract themselves from worrying too much.
Jared was holding up a lot better than anyone had dared to hope, but as the time slowly crawled by and the contractions became more frequent and more intense, he had gradually gotten worked up, shaking ever so slightly and breathing unsteadily even between the pains.
“Do you want me to get Steve, so he can check on you again?” Jensen asked, carding his fingers through Jared’s damp hair to soothe him.
“No… No, they’re still too far apart.” Jared shook his head nervously. “He said that it… it might still need… Argh!”
Jensen grabbed his hand and leaned down, pressing his forehead to Jared’s temple to whisper close to his ear. “Breathe through the pain, Love. It’ll all be good.”
Even though Jared was trying to be as quiet as he possibly could, Jaden was a very perceptive baby and started crying as if he understood that his daddy was suffering.
“Awww… Don’t cry, JT,” Jeff said in a gentle voice and rubbed the baby’s back to calm him down, as he paced the room and rocked the little boy.
“Jay, what’s wrong?” Jensen suddenly asked, alarmed when he saw the tears forming in Jared’s hazel eyes.
Jared shook his head and the first tear rolled down his cheek, quickly followed by a second one.
“Do I need to get Steve?”
Again Jared answered with a shake of his head but then finally found his voice. “That’s the nickname she had chosen for me…” His voice was so small and unsteady that Jensen wouldn’t have heard it if he hadn’t been so focused on the younger man.
He was about to ask who Jared was talking about but then something clicked in his head. “You mom?” This time he got a nod from his distressed lover.
“She never… never got to… got to hold me,” his voice was breaking as a huge lump formed in his throat but somehow he had to get it off his chest and tell Jensen his story. “Gran told me that… she had picked out my name… long before I… before she…”
Jensen bent further down, cradling Jared’s head against his chest and holding on even more tightly when he felt him tense up with the next contraction. “Everything’s going to be alright, Love. You’ll be fine and our baby will also be fine.”
The contraction was slowly ebbing off when Jaden gave a loud wail, kicking at Jeff’s torso and scrunching up his face.
“Jaden?” Jared asked, breathlessly and tried to disentangle himself from Jensen’s embrace to see what was wrong with their son. “Jaden…” he held out his hands to Jeff, who looked more than just a little reluctant to hand the fussing baby boy over.
“Jeff’s got it covered,” Jensen assured, slightly raising his voice to be heard over Jaden’s wailing. Hearing their son cry always broke his heart but right now he knew that he was in good hands and Jensen was more concerned about Jared.
“Let me hold him,” Jared said in a demanding voice and Jeff stepped closer to the bed to carefully shift the child into his arms.
Jaden kept screaming but Jared just laid him down on his huge, protruding belly and calmly laid a hand on the baby boy’s back which somehow did the trick. “It’s OOOHHH…” He gritted his teeth, breathing through his nose as a new wave of stabbing pain rolled over him.
“Breathe, Jay… Just like we practiced,” Jensen coached softly, trying to sound more confident than he was feeling. He noticed Jeff’s hand on his shoulder and relaxed ever so slightly but then Jared gasped loudly and there was a splashing noise.
“Okay, I’ll get Steve,” the priest said quickly and ran out of the room, leaving both men and their seven-month-old alone in the room.
Jensen needed a moment to process what had happened but then his eyes widened in recognition. “You’re water just broke… That means it won’t take much longer now, Love,” he assured, hoping that he wasn’t lying and that Jared would in fact not have to suffer for that much longer.
Only seconds later the door was pushed open, and Steve, Chris and Jeff walked into the tiny room. Steve threw the gloves he was wearing into the trash can by the door and snapped on sterile ones that Chris had grabbed from the dispenser on the wall.
“Let’s take a look to see how things are progressing,” he said, trying to sound cheerful even though there was no denying that everyone in the room was nervous. “It’s easier if you put your feet in the stirrups, Jared,” he went on.
Trying to follow Steve’s advice, Jensen tried to take Jaden out of Jared’s arms, so he could move more easily but his lover held onto their son with fierce stubbornness.
Chris just shook his head at Jensen, silently telling him that he shouldn’t contradict the laboring man, while carefully lifting Jared’s right leg into the contraption.
Taking the hint, Jensen followed his best friend’s lead and lifted Jared’s other leg into the second stirrup, while Steve took position between the young man’s thighs and lifted the hem of his gown.
“This looks really good, Jared. If you feel like it you can try to push with the next contraction. You baby’s head is right at your opening.” Very gently he traced the sensitive rim of his friend’s stretched out sphincter with his fingertip. “We’re all ready when you are, Jay. Just wait for the next contraction and give me a couple of light pushes, okay?”
Jared nodded wordlessly, feeling the next pain already building deep inside his swollen belly. He clutched Jaden nervously to his chest as the pain increased and took a deep breath before starting to push tentatively.
Once more the baby boy began to whimper softly, nuzzling into his father’s chest as if he was trying to comfort him.
“You’re doing so well, Jay,” Jensen whispered in a hoarse voice, covering Jared’s hand that lay on Jaden’s back with his own.
“That was really good. Just wait for the next one and push like that again,” Steve instructed in his best doctor’s voice.
Jared didn’t have much time to recover from the last contraction before the next one hit as he got ready to push once more. The sharp pain that was spreading through his whole lower body was suddenly replaced by a burning sensation right at his entrance and he hissed in distress.
“Keep pushing, Jay. I know it hurts but you have to push to get him out.” Steve’s voice was warm but firm as he supported the stretched out membrane to prevent Jared from tearing.
The burning intensified and Jared winced, stopping to push.
Jensen pressed a kiss to Jared’s sweaty temple and lovingly caressed his pale cheek with the back of his fingers.
“You can do this, Love. Just concentrate and do what Steve says. You’ll be alright.”
He remembered what Dr. Mitchell had said about Jared having narrow hips and tensed with worry. After their first appointment the doctor had never brought that topic up again, though, so Jensen hoped that it wouldn’t be an issue after all and that the man he loved would be able to deliver their second child without complications. He could hear Jeff’s deep rumbling voice behind him and realized that he was praying, so he silently sent his own prayer for Jared and their baby heavenwards.
“Oh GOD!” Jared’s scream cut through the stifling air in the room and he snapped forward to grab his knees.
Instinctively Jensen reached out for Jaden, picking him up and clutching the crying baby boy to his chest with one arm while curling his other one around Jared’s back. He wanted to say something reassuring but couldn’t find his voice as he watched Jared pushing with all his might to birth their second child.
“That’s it Jared. Keep pushing until the pain stops,” Steve continued to repeat, while Chris stood next to him wordlessly as if he didn’t know what to do with himself. “He’s got dark hair, just like you and Jaden.”
Jared barely had enough time to fill his burning lungs with much needed air before he was pushing again, ignoring the fiery pain in his lower half as he slowly pushed the baby’s head out of his sore body. He cried out in obvious distress but forced himself to keep pushing as Steve very slowly counted to ten and then he felt the baby’s head slipping out of him.
“The head’s out, Jay. Just a couple more pushes for the shoulders and body and you can finally relax,” Steve declared cheerfully.
Jared nodded nervously, gasping for breath before he tensed up once more and pushed as hard as he could, feeling first one shoulder leave his body and then a second followed by a rush of fluids and the rest of their son’s body.
“There he is!” Chris shouted in excitement, watching Steve clear the infant’s airways with a rubber bulb. “He’s… huge.”
Jared sagged back against the bed, panting heavily and feeling a bit light-headed but that didn’t hinder him from worrying. “He’s… he‘s not… crying…” he rasped, staring at Jensen with wide panicked eyes.
That’s when Jensen realized that the room was eerily silent save for Jared’s ragged breathing and Jaden’s quiet hiccupped sobs.
“Steve?” he asked shakily, dreading the answer. This couldn’t be happening! Jared had been feeling just fine, he was healthy and he had done everything right.
One quick look at his friends’ horror stricken faces and Chris knew what was going on in their minds. Without thinking, he pinched the newborn’s chubby arm and a small wail pierced the air. Chris felt bad for hurting the baby and the glare Steve shot him definitely meant he was in trouble, but when he looked back at Jensen and Jared he saw them visibly relax.
Jeff clapped Jensen on the back. “Do the honors, son,” he said with a proud smile and pulled Jaden out of Jensen’s embrace so he could cut the new baby’s cord.
“Jared?” Jensen asked his exhausted lover softly and saw him nod weakly. “You’re amazing, Love!” he whispered adoringly and kissed the younger man’s dry lips before moving to the lower end of the bed and taking the scissors which Chris offered to him.
“Cut right here and then let the little guy meet his other daddy, Jen.” Steve pointed at a spot between both clamps and observed how his friend cut the tough cord that was still connecting his lover and their child. “There you go.” He smiled, wrapping a blanket that Chris had handed him around the newborn and laying him into Jensen’s waiting arms.
Jensen’s face was split in a huge smile as he rushed back to be at Jared’s side and lay their newborn son on his belly. “He’s perfect, Jay.”
“He looks just like Jaden…” Jared whispered in awe and let his gaze wander back and forth between the child he had just given birth to and their older son who was still sniffling in Jeff’s arms. “Oh, Jaden…” His whole body felt sore and his limbs were heavy as lead but the tried to reach out for the seven month old baby boy.
“Come on, meet you brother, Jaden,” Jeff cooed and transferred him back into Jensen’s arms.
“Do you guys already have a name for my new nephew?” Chris butted in while Steve was still busy, making sure that Jared delivered the afterbirth.
Jensen’s exchanged an uncertain look with his lover and Jared nodded.
“We didn’t discuss it because I didn’t want to jinx anything…” he started explaining, stroking Jaden’s cheek to soothe him. “But there’s a name I really liked…”
Seeing the small hopeful glimmer in Jared’s eyes, Jensen would have agreed to everything. “Which name is it, Love?”
“I’d really like to call him Jason Daniel Ackles…” he trailed off, gazing at Jensen expectantly. The way that Jensen’s eyes started to shimmer with happy tears told Jared that he understood the deeper meaning behind the name. They had already discussed ‘Jason’ when Jensen had been pregnant and ‘Daniel’ was the name he had chosen for Jared when he had met him. “Jason means ‘to heal’ and Daniel means…”
“’God is my judge’,” Jensen finished the sentence for him. They didn’t need to discuss the last name because Jared had already made sure that he really didn’t want to pass on his name to any of their children when Jensen had been expecting Jaden. Jensen was suddenly reminded of the painful conversation they had had when Jared had explained to him that he wouldn’t pass on his father’s name because that man had never meant anything good, going as far as to say that he would gladly get rid of the loathed name himself if he could.
“Marry me,” he blurted out without realizing he had voiced that thought out loud until Jared’s eyes widened in shock.
Jensen’s mind was racing with thoughts, trying to find out what he could possibly say to do some damage control. He certainly couldn’t take the words back but Jared looked so shocked that he really needed to do something. He also became painfully aware of the fact that the whole room was deathly silent all of a sudden and that probably all their friends’ eyes where set on him. “I’m…” He really didn’t know how to finish the sentence but at least he had the intelligence to bite of his tongue before apologizing and making things even worse.
Jensen was still mentally panicking and only came out of his daze when he heard Chris’ loud and cheerful voice cutting through the silence.
“That’s the part where you kiss him, Jenny!”
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Jensen’s eyes finally focused on Jared’s pale but smiling face and this time he heard his lover’s voice.
“Yes, I want to marry you.”
Jensen was still feeling a bit dazed but a wide, happy smile broke out on his face and he leaned down to finally kiss Jared, ignoring Chris’s wolf whistle. Everything had finally fallen in place.
The End