BROOKS The doctor hands me a pair of medical scissors and shows me where to cut. My hands are shaking and I am terrified. I cut the cord and as soon as I did, I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. His cries fill the room mixed with the cries from his mother as he is placed on her chest. My whole world is right before my eyes laying on that hospital bed. A world I didn't think I'd ever have. My wife and my son. As soon as the nurses stepped away from Crystal I walked over to the edge of the bed and leaned down. I told her I was so proud of her and I thanked her for giving me this piece of the puzzle to complete my life. I broke down and cried as I stood there staring down at her with our son in her arms. My phone went off and I checked it to see my mom was texting me to see what was going on. I texted her and told her I would be out in the waiting room soon to update them. I asked Crystal if I could get a picture of her and Marvin to show everyone in the waiting room and sh
CRYSTAL After our family left, I was able to get about 2 hours of sleep before the nurse brought Marvin back into the room for a feeding. I slowly sat up and the nurse helped me undo my gown. She placed Marvin on my chest and explained how to get him to latch onto my breast. It took a few times but he got the hang of it and I was able to feed him. Brooks slept through the feeding and the diaper change but woke up a few minutes after the nurse left the room. He sat up and asked if I was ok. I told him I was fine and told him about how Marvin's first feeding went. He said he felt bad for sleeping through it and I told him to hush. Marvin was fast asleep in his little bassinet and Brooks asked if he could lay with me for a little while. I slid over and patted the bed. He crawled up next to me and went to put his arm over my stomach but stopped. I asked why he did that and he said he didn't want to hurt me. I grabbed his arm and placed it over my stomach and told him he wasn't going to
BROOKS As I lay back on the pull-out couch in the hospital room, I looked around at my world. I have the love of my life and wife. I have a son. I have my family and now Crystal's. I have my store which is still doing good. I have the house. I have everything I truly wanted in life. I am complete. No more missing pieces. Marvin began to cry. I got up and picked him up out of his bassinet. I walked around the room with him and calmed him down. Today is the day we get to take Marvin home and start our journey as parents without having people in and out of the room to help us. I am scared sh*tless but excited at the same time. I know Crystal and I can do this ourselves. My mom offered to come stay a few nights until we get settled but I don't think we are going to need her to. The nurse came in to check on Crystal and to let her know she will have to use the bathroom before they will discharge her. The nurse gave her something to help her go, and then she checked on Marvin. Once the nu
Crystal Our first night home with Marvin has been an experience for sure. He has barely slept and so have we. Brooks has been amazing with getting up and helping me with him. He had me pump so I could get sleep in between Marvin waking up. Marvin finally went to sleep around 5 A.M and Brooks crawled into the bed. He kissed me and laid his head on the pillow. It wasn't long before he was out like a light. I wanted Brooks to get some sleep so I gently slid out of the bed and went into the living room with the baby monitor. I crawled up on the couch and pulled the blanket we keep on the back of the couch over me and turned the TV on. I flipped through the channels but couldn't find anything to watch. I decided to just binge-watch Teen Wolf. I lay there with the baby monitor by my head and eventually dozed off. I woke up to Marvin fussing and I got up to check on him. He needed to be fed and I changed his diaper. I sat in the rocker and rocked him back to sleep. After he was out like a
BROOKS It's been 4 months since Marvin entered this world and things are going more smoothly for Crystal and I, than when we first brought him home. He is such a good baby and barely cries now. He loves going to visit with both sets of grandparents and he absolutely loves his uncle Jonah. Jonah is a great uncle. He tries to kick me and Crystal out of the house every Friday so he can babysit. Mine and Jonah's relationship has gotten so much better over the past couple of months and he has been busting his butt at the shop. I started paying him for his hard work even though he refused to let me pay him in the beginning. I've been talking to Crystal about possibly making his assistant manager even though he is only 15. I know he is mature and will take his job seriously. Crystal thinks it may be a little too much on him though with school, being a teenager, and wanting to spend what little free time he has with Marvin. I planned on talking to my mom and Ray about it later on when I
BROOKSAfter finding the test and Crystal and I talking, I fixed Crystal something to eat and she went and laid down after eating. I stood there leaning against the door frame watching her sleep and I couldn't help the thoughts that began racing through my mind. Was I going to be able to provide for her myself and provide for a baby? Was her dad going to kill me for not only asking for his daughter's hand but now he has to find out I got her pregnant? Were my mom and Ray going to kill me for getting her pregnant? I already know my mom is going to chew me a new one because we just had this talk not too long ago. I walked into the living room and sat down with my head resting in my hands. F*ck! I went from being the happiest man alive with her saying yes to marrying me, to finding out I am going to be a father and being terrified within 24 hours. I was happy about it at first but now I am scared to death. I honestly don't know how long I have been sitting here but when I looked up I saw
CRYSTALI woke up with Brooks's hand still on my stomach. I smiled and gently lifted his arm to go use the bathroom. When I finished my business, I jumped in the shower. As I stepped out of the shower Brooks was standing in the bathroom doorway. He was just standing there smiling. I asked why he was in such a good mood and he told me because he had a fiancee and a baby on the way. I shook my head and walked into the bedroom to get dressed. I pulled my wet hair up into a messy bun after getting dressed and told Brooks I was going to go to my dad's to get my insurance card. He asked if I wanted him to come with me and I told him he didn't have to. I was just going to get that and a few little things to bring back with me. He said he was thinking about taking Jonah out for lunch and I told him to go spend time with him. When I got to my dad's I saw his car was in the driveway. I went inside and yelled out that I was home. My dad came in from the back patio and asked how I was feeling. I
BROOKSI got up and Crystal and Jonah were still asleep so I took a shower. When I got out, I woke Crystal up and told her to get ready to go eat breakfast. I went and woke Jonah up and told him the same thing. Once everyone was dressed and ready to go we headed out to The hole in the Wall. It is a somewhat new place I've wanted to try. Once we were seated, Crystal looked over at Jonah funny. I asked if she told him and she shook her head. "Jonah got up last night when I was in the kitchen getting some water and he thought you were up. I think he may need to talk to you about something Brooks." She whispered to me. "Did he say what he needed to talk to me about?" She shook her head."Hey Jonah. Are you ok? Crystal mentioned you were wanting to talk to me." "Um. Uh. Yeah I'm fine. I was just needing some brotherly advice but it can wait." He said to me while trying to avoid eye contact."Jonah, You know if you need to talk to me you can. Is it something you would prefer to talk abou
BROOKS It's been 4 months since Marvin entered this world and things are going more smoothly for Crystal and I, than when we first brought him home. He is such a good baby and barely cries now. He loves going to visit with both sets of grandparents and he absolutely loves his uncle Jonah. Jonah is a great uncle. He tries to kick me and Crystal out of the house every Friday so he can babysit. Mine and Jonah's relationship has gotten so much better over the past couple of months and he has been busting his butt at the shop. I started paying him for his hard work even though he refused to let me pay him in the beginning. I've been talking to Crystal about possibly making his assistant manager even though he is only 15. I know he is mature and will take his job seriously. Crystal thinks it may be a little too much on him though with school, being a teenager, and wanting to spend what little free time he has with Marvin. I planned on talking to my mom and Ray about it later on when I
Crystal Our first night home with Marvin has been an experience for sure. He has barely slept and so have we. Brooks has been amazing with getting up and helping me with him. He had me pump so I could get sleep in between Marvin waking up. Marvin finally went to sleep around 5 A.M and Brooks crawled into the bed. He kissed me and laid his head on the pillow. It wasn't long before he was out like a light. I wanted Brooks to get some sleep so I gently slid out of the bed and went into the living room with the baby monitor. I crawled up on the couch and pulled the blanket we keep on the back of the couch over me and turned the TV on. I flipped through the channels but couldn't find anything to watch. I decided to just binge-watch Teen Wolf. I lay there with the baby monitor by my head and eventually dozed off. I woke up to Marvin fussing and I got up to check on him. He needed to be fed and I changed his diaper. I sat in the rocker and rocked him back to sleep. After he was out like a
BROOKS As I lay back on the pull-out couch in the hospital room, I looked around at my world. I have the love of my life and wife. I have a son. I have my family and now Crystal's. I have my store which is still doing good. I have the house. I have everything I truly wanted in life. I am complete. No more missing pieces. Marvin began to cry. I got up and picked him up out of his bassinet. I walked around the room with him and calmed him down. Today is the day we get to take Marvin home and start our journey as parents without having people in and out of the room to help us. I am scared sh*tless but excited at the same time. I know Crystal and I can do this ourselves. My mom offered to come stay a few nights until we get settled but I don't think we are going to need her to. The nurse came in to check on Crystal and to let her know she will have to use the bathroom before they will discharge her. The nurse gave her something to help her go, and then she checked on Marvin. Once the nu
CRYSTAL After our family left, I was able to get about 2 hours of sleep before the nurse brought Marvin back into the room for a feeding. I slowly sat up and the nurse helped me undo my gown. She placed Marvin on my chest and explained how to get him to latch onto my breast. It took a few times but he got the hang of it and I was able to feed him. Brooks slept through the feeding and the diaper change but woke up a few minutes after the nurse left the room. He sat up and asked if I was ok. I told him I was fine and told him about how Marvin's first feeding went. He said he felt bad for sleeping through it and I told him to hush. Marvin was fast asleep in his little bassinet and Brooks asked if he could lay with me for a little while. I slid over and patted the bed. He crawled up next to me and went to put his arm over my stomach but stopped. I asked why he did that and he said he didn't want to hurt me. I grabbed his arm and placed it over my stomach and told him he wasn't going to
BROOKS The doctor hands me a pair of medical scissors and shows me where to cut. My hands are shaking and I am terrified. I cut the cord and as soon as I did, I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. His cries fill the room mixed with the cries from his mother as he is placed on her chest. My whole world is right before my eyes laying on that hospital bed. A world I didn't think I'd ever have. My wife and my son. As soon as the nurses stepped away from Crystal I walked over to the edge of the bed and leaned down. I told her I was so proud of her and I thanked her for giving me this piece of the puzzle to complete my life. I broke down and cried as I stood there staring down at her with our son in her arms. My phone went off and I checked it to see my mom was texting me to see what was going on. I texted her and told her I would be out in the waiting room soon to update them. I asked Crystal if I could get a picture of her and Marvin to show everyone in the waiting room and sh
CRYSTAL I have been here for an hour now and the nurse who just came in to check me said I was only dilated to 4cm. The doctor asked if I wanted something for the pain but I told her no. I decided after our accident that I didn't want anything for the pain. I barely took my medicine when I had the broken wrist and leg and I managed through the pain then so I didn't feel like I would need it for giving birth. After another hour of laying there, the doctor came in and checked me. She told me that I had dilated to 6cm and things would probably progress pretty quickly now. I pray they do because these contractions hurt like hell! I was able to find a comfortable position to lay in for a while before the pain hit again. I looked up at the clock and saw that I had been here for almost 3 hours and still no baby boy. Another nurse came in and said she was going to check my progression and the look on her face as she took her glove off told me I must not have dilated much. She told us that
BROOKS After I got off the phone with Seth, I checked on Crystal. I told her I was going to make us salads for dinner. I headed into the kitchen and began to make them. I put 2 different kinds of dressing on the tray because I wasn't sure which one Crystal would want to use tonight. I grabbed the tray and headed back into the bedroom. I placed the tray on the bed and sat down. We began eating while watching TV. I noticed Crystal was taking her time eating and I asked if she was ok. "Oh, yeah I'm fine baby." "Crystal, I can tell something is either bothering you or you are hurting and not wanting to tell me." "I'm fine, Brooks. I'm trying to deal with the contractions, that's all." "If you are contracting more, you need to let me know." "I promise I'm fine, Brooks." "Ok, but promise me if it gets any worse you will let me know." "I promise, Brooks." After we finished eating I cleaned the dishes and called my mom to see if Jonah could cover for me at work tomorrow.
CRYSTAL The pains are still pretty intense but they are still 4 minutes apart. I don't want to go to the hospital until they are 3 minutes apart like the doctor said. It's 7:30 a.m. and I've been up since 4:45 a.m. I'm starting to get sleepy but I've been trying to stay awake with Brooks. "Hey beautiful, why don't you try to get a nap? I can see your eyes are getting heavy." "I'm okay, Brooks." "Crystal, please try and get a nap in. I want you to get as much rest as you can." "Ok, Brooks. I will try to take a nap." I laid back and closed my eyes. When I woke up, Brooks was sitting next to me. "How was your nap?" "It wasn't long but it was good." "You've been asleep for the past 3 hours, beautiful." "It was not 3 hours." "It's 10:45 beautiful. Are the pains still bad?" "Honestly, no. I don't think I've felt any pain since I fell asleep." "I've been right here since you fell asleep and I haven't heard a peep out of you nor have I seen you hold your stomach." "Why would the
BROOKS It's been 3 weeks since Crystal and I got married and her doctor has given her the okay to get up and move around more with help. We decided not to have a honeymoon until after Marvin is born and is old enough for us to leave him with one of the sets of grandparents. Crystal has been having some pains in her stomach so we have an appointment in an hour with her OBGYN. Once Crystal was ready to go we headed to the doctor's office. There was a little wait but it wasn't too bad. As soon as Crystal was called back the nurse asked me to help her change into a gown so she could be examined. When the doctor came in she started the exam but it didn't take long for her to figure out what was going on. She told Crystal and I that the pains she felt were contractions. She said she was going into early labor and she was 2cm dilated but with how far along Crystal is, that Marvin wouldn't be in any danger of being delivered this early. I asked her what we needed to do and she told me that