capri
. . .
*Note: Listen to 'This Woman's Work' By Maxwell while reading this chapter.
The moment we arrived at the hospital, I was rushed into a room. When the doctor checked me, he delivered the news: I was already eight centimeters dilated, and it was too late for any pain medication. It took both Meer and Blair to pry my fingers off him when he told me I would have to endure the rest of the labor without drugs.
"I want my mother, Meer… I want my mommy!" I screamed, the pain coursing through my body like wildfire.
He rushed out of the room, and Blair took his place, holding my hand and wiping my forehead. "I feel like I have to push, Blair… I feel this intense pressure to push."
"Hold it, Capri… let me get the doctor." She ran off, leaving me alone with Peach. She wrapped her hand around mine and wiped my brow as I focused on my breathing.
"Suga, you can do this. Breathe in and breathe out… you are so strong, okay?" Tears streamed down my face. It was exactly how she and her father had constantly poured into me.
She was only doing what she had watched her father do for me so many times.
"Alright, let's give you a check." The doctor returned with Meer and my mother hot on his heels.
"I'm here, Princess," my mother said, stepping into the room and standing next to Peach.
Meer took his place on my side with Blair as the doctor extended the foot of the bed and I put my legs into the stirrups. "Alright, I'm going to need you to push dur—"
"Arghhhhhhh!" I pushed hard with all my might.
My hair stuck to my forehead as I bore down, Meer and my mother gripping my hands. Peach was standing on a chair beside me, and every so often, I felt her wiping my forehead.
"Come on… give us a good push… Dad, do you want to see this?"
You might as well have called Meer the doctor because he pushed all the nurses out of the way as I continued to bear down. "Suga, she got so much fucking hair… I see it."
He was ecstatic. As exhausted as I was from pushing, I needed to get my baby girl into this world. I had prayed so hard for her, and she was right here, almost here, and I needed to bring her home.
I had gone through so much in my life, and God had blessed me with her. He blessed me with her father and sister first, but He made sure she came right after. Rayce Ann was my angel baby, the little girl who would continue to change her father's world and mine. She didn't know she was healing her father.
She was giving her father a second chance at something he had missed. She was allowing her sister to witness her entrance into the world. Peach would think about the day her sister was born and never forget it.
Rayce Ann was healing our family. The Infernos had been on autopilot for years, and now we were finally living. We had lost so much, and she was restoring hope for us. New life was being born into the Inferno bloodline, and I was the woman making that happen.
"Come on, Shelly-Ann, you got this baby… come on, give us one more push," my mother coached, looking at me with tears in her eyes. "You've always had this, mama… you can do this."
Blair kissed my forehead as she helped me lean up. I gave one more push, forcing so hard my feet curled into balls as I needed to get this little girl out.
"Pri, you got this… come on." I heard Erin's voice and watched her step up next to Blair.
I took a deep breath as I looked into Meer's eyes. We didn't break eye contact as I pushed and looked at my forever. The man responsible for this, but also the love of my life.
"Oh fuck, Suga…. fuck." His voice broke as I fell back onto the bed, feeling them pull her out of me.
They placed her on my chest as they wiped her clean. Blair moved out of the way as Meer came next to me, kissing me all over my face. "I fucking told you that you were pressure. You did that shit without any medicine, Suga… you my fucking wife, you know that." He continued to kiss me as I felt completely depleted.
Gathering enough energy, I looked down at the head full of hair lying on my chest. I looked over my shoulder; Peach had tears in her eyes. "We did it, Peach."
She hugged and kissed me. "You gave me my baby sister, Suga Mama."
I held her face toward mine as she kissed me.
"Big fuckin' mama," Erin laughed, standing there and clapping. "You did that shit, Pri."
"Next time you second-guess yourself… please don't," Blair laughed, kissing me on the head. "I love you."
My mother was a tearful mess as she looked at me and her new granddaughter. "Princess, you did it. I knew you could do it… my beautiful granddaughter."
The doctor instructed Meer on how to cut her cord while the nurses got her weight and measurements. I lay there looking at Erin, and she wiped the tears from my eyes.
"You're a mommy, Capri."
"I'm a mommy," I whispered, tears falling down my face, still not believing I had a daughter. Giving birth had been something that scared me throughout my entire pregnancy. I was so afraid of what could go wrong that while I was in labor, nothing else crossed my mind.
I was worried about getting my daughter into this world, and nothing else mattered. The nurse instructed Meer to remove his shirt, and he sat in the chair beside me. She opened the blanket Rayce was swaddled in and put her on his chest. He held her and looked at me, tears streaming down his face.
"Thank you, Suga." His voice broke as he kissed the top of her head, then looked over at Peach. "Come here, Peach."
"I love you, Quameer."
"I love you, too, Capri." Peach jumped down and ran around the bed. He pulled her into him and kissed her on the head as she kissed her sister.
"My girls," he said, looking me in the eyes.
"Those Inferno girls… a new generation of you and Sim," Erin smiled at us as we were lost in each other's eyes.