Of light mists, of pale amber rose Feels like, I'm lost in a deep cloud of heavenly scent Touching, discovering you those days, of warm rains come rushing back to me Miles of windless, summer night air Secret moments, shared in the heat of the afternoon Out of the stillness, soft spoken words Chorus: I love you, always forever Near and far, closer together Everywhere, I will be with you Everyday, I will devour you I love you, always forever Near and far, closer together Everywhere, I will be with you Everyday, I will devour you You've got, the most unbelievable blue eyes I've ever seen You've got, me almost melt away As we lay there, under a blue sky with pure white stars Exotic sweetness, a magical time (Chorus) Say you'll love, love me forever Never stop, not for whatever Near and far and always and everywhere and everything Say you'll love, love me forever Never stop, not for whatever Near and far and always and everywhere and everything Say you'll love, love me forever Never stop, not for whatever Near and far and always and everywhere and everything
Just then everyone came on the dance floor and started to dance, it was a great party, the food was incredible and occassionally the baby would kick to show that he/or she was also enjoying our reception as well.
We danced and just laughed all night long..and as soon as the last piece of cake was eaten and the last guest left, we came home and immediately fell asleep.
Because i was pregnant and couldn't travel, our honeymoon would have to wait until after the baby was born, so we rented movies and ate popcorn for the next few days.
It was the day before Christmas eve, which was what John lovingly called D-day, the baby showed no signs of coming so John decided to go into work for a few hours and i decided to get the rest of my christmas shopping done, i had to buy a present for Ali and try to figure out what to get my mother because she basically hates everything we'd ever bought her.
John had just left after making me promise to call him every hour and give him an update on the baby..i was so big..i know i'm not a skinny person but i looked like someone inflated my stomach and refused to let the air out of the balloon
I was getting up to go the bathroom, when i got up and SPLAT!..my water broke!
"Oh my god!..not now..your not supposed to come for another day...and Daddy's supposed to be here, OoOO god!"I said as the first contraction hit
"Ok, let's call Daddy," I said picking up the phone
"Distefino skateboard repairs...Vince speaking" the voice said
"Vin, is john there?" I said
"Oh hey Nik, he just went to get a sandwich, why? what's wrong?" Vince asked
" I'm having the baby" I said
"Oh shit..:" He said," I'll get go him"
"You do that but tell him to meet me at Cedar's Sinai" I said
"Got it" Vince said then hung up
"OoOO GOD! We need to find Auntie Annie or Auntie Catie or one of your Aunts Quickly" I said dialing the phone
"Hello?" Annie answered the phone..thank god
"Oh i think i love you..I'm having the baby!" I said
"Ok calm down, i'll be right there don't panic" Annie said then hung up the phone
"Don't panic she says, i'm beeing ripped in two and she says don't panic, oOo god!" i said hunching forward as a contraction hit
The contractions stopped long enough for me to get my tank top and jeans on, it may have been december but it was so warm out..
"Where the hell is Annie? i'm gonna have this baby right here on the floor if she doesn't come soon" I said talking to myself
"I'm right here..so quit bitching.. " Annie said opening the door
"I have a right to BITCH OoOo god! " Another contraction hit, this time i fell on my knees
"We'd better get her to the hospital" Another voice said
"Who's that?" I said
"Honey, open your eyes, it's me Nat " Natalie said..i didn't realize my eyes were closed
"Ooh nat..i think the baby's coming" i said
"I know but unless you want to make the six o'clock news, you need to get up" Nat said helping me up
We managed to get into the cab without a problem but hit traffic
"OoOO god! here comes another one" I said
"Breathe In, Breathe out" Annie said
"It's not working! It's not working!" i said
"Uh Uh close your legs!" Annie said
"She shoulda thought of that nine months ago!" Natalie said
"OoOO don't make me laugh!" I said
"We're here!" Annie announced as the cab pulled up in front of the hospital
"OoOO good! Morphine!" I said
We checked in at the front desk and were soon put up in a private room, where a nice man in scrubs gave me an epidural ..which numbed the pain for a bit but soon the contractions were coming stronger and faster
"WHERE'S JOHN!" I yelled
"He's coming honey, don't worry" Annie said holding my hand
"OoOO god!! i wanna die !!" i cried
"Now Mrs Distefino, we need you to push ok?" the doctor said
"No..john's not here yet.." i said
"Well..this baby doesn't want to wait for him..you need to push " the doctor said
"Nik,honey!" John said
"Where the HELL have you been??!" i asked
"Sorry i got stuck uptown and there was an accident on the Mahattan Overpass" John explained
"I'm having YOUR baby and your giving me some lame excuse?! are you kidding me?!" I said an inch away from biting off his nose
"Can we fight about this later?..right now..PUSH!" John said
"AUGHHHH!!!!! OH MY GOD..SHE'S GOT MY MOTHER'S HIPS!" I yelled
"One more!" the doctor said
"UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I screamed..
the baby came sliding out and shriek
"WAHHHHHHHHH!" The baby shrieked
"Is it a boy or a girl?" John asked
"you have a little girl!" the doctor said
"Oh my god!" i said crying
the doctors cleaned up the baby and handed her to John
"She's so tiny.." He whispered
I took a good look at our daughter, she had peach-colored skin and the darkest hair, my eyes and john's nose..she was so adorable.
"She's perfect" I said
After a few hours in recovery, the baby and i were brought into a hospital room, where John stood over her and watched her sleep
"We still need a name for her" I said
"I know..do you have any ideas?" He asked
"Maggie?" I said
"Hmm..Maggie..i like it ...what about Elizabeth for a middle name?" He said
"Maggie Elizabeth ..i love it.." I said staring at my husband
"Maggie Elizabeth Distefino you are.." He picked up the baby and we all sat on the bed together
We watched our little daughter stretch and move around a bit, she was so amazing ..and when she looked at us with a dead on stare, it was instant love
Just then there was knock at the door
"Come In" I called
"Are you guys up for vistors?" Stevanne said poking her head through the door
"Sure..Come on in" I said struggling to sit up
"Don't get up for us.." Catie said
"Haha" I said rolling my eyes
"Is this her?"Annie asked pointing to Maggie
"No..it's a loaner" Natalie laughed
"Guys ..this is Maggie" John said
"OoOO She's so pretty ..i gotta take a picture" Michelle said starting to snap a ton of pictures
"Alright Michelle, let's not blind the kid" Catie said,
"Anyone know what time is it?" I asked
"It's around 2am..why?" Annie said looking at her watch
"It's christmas eve" I said
"Well We got our present a little earlier this year" John said
"Happy Birthday to you," Catie started to sing," Happy birthday to you .. happy birthday dear Maggie Elizabeth ..happy birthday to you"
Everyone joined in and sang to our baby, who closed her eyes for a little bit then she'd wake up and look around.
"Oh my god!" Annie gasped suddenly
"What?" We broke away from looking at our daughter to looking at her
"It's snowing!" We looked out the window
"Oh, wow..Look Maggie, snow" I said to the baby, who'd fallen asleep in my arms
We said around and talked and watched the snow for a bit until everyone had to go then it was just John me and the baby.
"Can you believe she's here" John asked
"Oh i believe it.. 10 hours of labor, i believe it.. " I said laughing
"True..i think this is going to be one of the best christmas's ever" John said
"Absoutely" I said
We were able to bring home Maggie the day after christmas, December 26th.
As we pulled up to the house, it seemed like a lifetime ago that just the two of us lived there ..
"Oh while you were in the hospital, i finished up the baby's room" John said before turning off the car
"You did? by yourself?" I asked slowly letting myself out of the Jeep
"Well No, Gina and Annie came by and helped paint then Stevanne and Catie setup the crib" John said taking out the baby carrier
"oOo thouse guys are too much" I said opening the front door
"SURPRISE!" voices shouted
"oh my god!" I said putting my hand over my mouth
everyone was there, our parents, all our friends and basically everyone who'd come to our wedding were in our Living room throwing confetti at us.
"I can't believe this...!" I said as everyone rushed around us hugging me and slapping John on the back
"We've been planning this for months!" Catie said then giving me a hug
"Where's my grandchild!" My mother said pushing past Catie
John had taken the baby upstairs to change her but was coming down the stairs
"Me first" John's mom said
"She's my daughter" My mom said squaring off with John's mom
"He's my son" John's mom said
"How about this..let me sit down and you both can hold her?" I said
"Alright" They both relented
"I knew we shoulda had twins" John whispered in my ear
"Fine next time YOU have the baby" I said then laughed
"So have you picked a name yet?" Vince asked kneeling beside my chair
"Yes..this is Maggie Elizabeth" I said
"Hello Mags" Vince said stroking Maggie's hair
She wiggled for a bit then went back to sleep
"Oo someone's tired" i said playing with her little hand
"How are my two favorite girls?" John said leaning over the chair
"Well Maggie's sleeping and i'm starving..could you take her so i could get a cookie or something?" I said standing
"Uh sure.but i don't wanna drop her" He said nervously
"You won't..i'll be right back" I said and handed him the baby
I walked to the other side of the house where the food had been set up and just watched John with our baby, he looked nervous but after a few minutes, he started to relax and he even started to dance around a little with her.
"Nik?" Annie said snapping me out of my stare
"Yeah?" I said turning to her
"How you feeling?" She said
"Incredibly sore" I said laughing
"Eh ..it'll pass.." She said handing me a cookie
"Yeah..i hope so" I said biting into the cookie
"We were thinking maybe next week we'd all go out to dinner?" She said
"Maybe.." I said as the baby started to cry
"NIK..HELP" John called
Everyone turned and laughed because he looked so helpless and Maggie was moving her little hands and legs like she was trying to go somewhere
I shook my head and walked over to where he stood
"I think i broke the baby" He said panicking
"Why? what makes you think that?" I said trying not laughing
"She's making weird noises and twisting around" He said
"Babies make noises and they move around..Maggie's seeing everything for the first time and she wants to be where the action is" I said taking the baby and walking around the living room
"Oh here's the guest of honor!" My Auntie Diane said
"Oh auntie" I started to say
"Not you dear..Maggie" She said holding out her arms
"Oh." I said then gave the baby to my aunt
I was walking around and talking to different people when someone grabbed me from behind, before i could scream..i realized it was John..
"Can I have this dance?" He asked spinning me around
"Oh i suppose but we have no music" I said
"I think we can fix that..YO! VIN...TURN UP THE STERIO " John yelled
"Alright" He turned up the radio
my favorite song..Leather and Lace by Stevie Nicks
Is love so fragile... and the heart so hollow Shatter with words... impossible to follow You're saying I'm fragile...I try not to be I search only...for something I can't see I have my own life...and I am stronger Than you know But I carry this feeling When you walked into my house That you won't be walking out the door Still I carry this feeling When you walked into my house That you won't be walking out the door Lovers forever...face to face My city or mountains Stay with me stay I need you to love me I need you today Give to me your leather...Take from me...my lace You in the moonlight With your sleepy eyes Could you ever love a man like me And you were right When I walked into your house I knew I'd never want to leave Sometimes I'm a strong man Sometimes cold and scared And sometimes I cry But that time I saw you I knew with you to light my nights Somehow I'd get by First time I saw you I knew with you to light my nights Somehow I would get by Lovers forever...face to face My city or mountains Stay with me stay I need you to love me I need you today Give to me your leather Take from me...my lace Lovers forever...face to face My city or mountains...stay with me stay I need you to love me...I need you to stay Give to me your leather Take from me...my lace Take from me...my lace Take from me...my lace
As we were dancing..John started singing to me..it was so sweet..
After everyone left and it was just the three of us..the apartment seemed suddenly empty.
"Now what?" John asked
"Good Question.." I replied
After we put Maggie to bed, we sat in bed, i attempted to read but John was restless
"How long before we can ..ya know?" He said
"Six weeks" I said turning the page
"Oh man" He said rolling his eyes
"Well i need time to heal..i did just have a baby you know" I said
"Yeah I know I know" he said
Just then Maggie started to cry
"Do you want me to go or do you want to go?" I asked
"You go" He said
"Fine" I got up and walked into the nursery
"Hi baby," I said picking her up and sitting the rocking chair
She fussed and squirmed around for a few minutes.
"Is she alright" John asked from the doorway
"I think she misses her Daddy.." I said
"Well..i think fix that" He said taking the baby from me,"Hi there Maggie"
she stopped fussing and started to fall asleep
"Oh that's it baby..go to sleep..nite nite"He put her in the crib and we went back into our room..
Over the next few weeks, we got into a schedule, Maggie would get up at 3am, one of us would feed her then put her back, where she'd go back to sleep until 7am then we'd take turns feeding her and playing with her until the other one would wake up and then that person would take over..
this worked well until Maggie was about six weeks old, John had to go out of town
"Your leaving?" I said two days before he left for California
"Nik, i have to go, It's the skateboarder's convention" John said packing his suitcase
"What's more important..your daughter or a convention?" I said
"Hey, that's not fair" He said looking for his watch
"Right here, well it's true" I said holding up the watch
"C'mon..you know Business sucks right now..i need to go the convention besides it's only for three days" He said zipping up the suitcase
"Gee..maybe while your gone..I'll go clubbing" I said
"Yeah Ok" John rolled his eyes
"It's true..i can have fun while you have fun" I defended myself
"Yeah,Well just don't get Maggie arrested, we don't want her having a record before her first birthday" He said then picked up the Baby,"Alright Maggie, say bye bye to Daddy" He kissed her on the forehead and then just before he walked out the door, he kissed me on the head and handed me Maggie.
"I love you Nik" He said
"Yeah Yeah i love you too .." I said then he was gone
"If you were any kind of a daughter, you'd have thrown up on him" I said looking down
She burped in response
"Thank you" I said
That night Maggie and I went to dinner all my girls, Catie, Stevanne, Gina, Nat, Annie Michelle, Both Jens and Rachel.
I wheeled the carriage into the restaurant..20 minutes as usual..
"Finally" Annie said then hugging me
"Sorry..it's so was hard to get a cab" I said
"Why don't you have Car?" Catie said
"We would have been stuck on Avenue A for another 40 minutes" I said sitting down..
"Good Point." Gina said
"Where's Maggie?" Stevanne asked
"Right here" I said lifting her out of the carriage
"Ooo there's little Maggie!" Michelle exclaimed holding out her hands
"Hey me first" Jen said
"Back off..I'm first" Jen T said
"How about we eat first then fight over my child" I suggest
"Ok Ok.." They agreed
"Hey where's John tonight?" Rachel asked
"He's in Califorina for the next few days so it's just us girls" I said drinking my water
"Really?" Interesting.."Annie said
"What are you thinking?" Catie said
"Well.." Annie said scratching her head
"Oh god..i know that look" Gina said burying her head in her hands
"Let's have a party" She said jumping up and down
"Oh hell no" Stevanne said
"What? why not?" Annie said
"Why not? because i have child and one of your parties would send the both of us up the river" I said shaking my head
"What river?" Annie looked confused
"Neva Mind.. no big parties ..but we can have a little one" I said
"What kind of a Little one?" Natalie asked
"Like a sleepover" I said
"A sleepover, we haven't had one of those since high school" Catie pointed out
"I'm in" Stevanne said
"Me too" Everyone else said
"Alright everyone ..be at my house @7" I said
The next day, I was rushing around trying to clean everything up before everyone come over and running around to the supper market to get the supplies.
just before everyone was due at our house, Maggie started to cry, I was downstairs reading a magazine but jumped up and ran up stairs to get her
"Hi Baby" I said picking her up,
she kept on wailing
I walked back and forth but nothing would calm her down
"Alright Alright..Do you want your ducky" I said
She screamed later
"Ok Ok, let's go downstairs, find your ducky and maybe have a bottle before all your aunts come over" I said starting to walk down the stairs
We got about half way down the stairs before i tripped over John's sneakers and fell down the stairs
just before ilanded at the bottom, i saw Maggie hit her head on the front door
"My baby" I said before passing out
As i was out cold, all these memories suddenly came rushing toward me, starting when i was kid,playing with my cousins, then as a teenager goofing around playing in the car and then graduation, I saw Annie crying and Dina laughing, I myself getting my diploma and watching the expressions on everyone's face when i read my speech, then suddenly time rushed forward and i saw John and I on our wedding day, saying our vows and looking at each other, then I saw Maggie being born and watching John hold our daughter for the first time.
I just wanted to wake up but it was like someone was holding me down, i struggled to get up but it was so hard...
"Nik" I heard a voice call my name..God?!!
"NIK!" The voice called again..
Please god.. Don't take me... i want to see my daughter grown up, I want to be able to fight with her when she's a teenager..
"NICOLE!" The voice called more urgently
Please God..if you have to take me..can't you just wait until my Husband gets here so my daughter will have someone to watch over her
"NICOLE..IF YOU CAN HEAR ME..PLEASE SQUEEZE MY HAND" The voice said
God sounds remarkably like Catie
"NIK, PLEASE..YOU HAVE TO WAKE UP" the voice sounded so far away
I can't... I'm sorry ..tell Maggie I love her ..Tell John..I'm sorry I have to leave like this and I do love him..please protect them.. Say goodbye to Ma and Daddy for me..Tell Ali to be a good girl.. Tell Stace..I'm sorry about half the crap i put her threw..just tell them goodbye and I'm sorry..I want to be able to say goodbye.. ..goodbye..goodbye...
"Goodbye" I muttered
"Oh my god she's awake!" a voice said
"Are you positive?" another voice said
"Yes..she just said goodbye" The voice replied
"Nikk.sweetie" a third voice said
"Goodbye" I muttered again
"No goodbye honey.." a fourth voice said
"Nikko, open your eyes!" a voice demanded
"NICOLE!" a voice shouted
"Don't shout!" a voice said
"Well maybe scaring her would wake her up" the voice replied
"She's in a coma, not Yankee stadium" the voice sounded pissed
If this is Heaven..I'm screwed ...
"Alright.. I know my Nikko..she won't respond to yelling or threats..Nik.there is a HOT intern you have to open your eyes to see..he said if you open your eyes..he'd give you a special Spongebath" the voice whistled
"Catie!" a voice sounded shocked
"What?..hey i'm trying here..gimme credit" The voice defended herself
even on my deathbed..they'd still fight..i don't believe this
"I don't believe this" i muttered
"She's talking!" a voice said
"NICOLE OPEN YOUR EYES..BABYGIRL..YOU HAVE TO OPEN YOUR EYES!" A voice called
then suddenly I could move and my eyes worked again..but once i opened my eyes..i couldn't see anything
"Oh my god I'm blind!" I panicked
"No Honey..they took off your glasses in the ambulance" a blurry person said ..i think it was Annie
"Here " Someone put my glasses on my face
"I'm alive?!" I couldn't believe it
"Hi Baby..of course you are" Natalie said
"What happened?" I tried to look around but something was preventing me from moving..
"Honey..you broke your ankle and they had to put a cast on you up to your kneecap.."Stevanne explained
"How did i break my ankle?" I wondered
"You don't remember?" Catie asked
I shook my head
"Well We were going to have a sleepover, as a matter of fact, we were on the Porch when Natalie saw you fall from the top of the stairs" Gina said grabbing my hand
"Oh my god Maggie!" I was panic-stricken
"She has a slight concussion,they had to put her in a medically-induced coma" Rachel said crying
"What? Why?" I said
"Because where she's still so little, they didn't want to take any chances and because you were out cold and John's in California, they asked us for consent and we agreed" Michelle said
"Is my baby going to die?" I said crying
"We don't know..the Doctor's haven't done rounds yet" Jen said
"Has anyone called John yet?" I asked
"Not yet..we were waiting to see if you'd wake up" Natalie said
"How long have I been out?" I asked
"Two days" Annie said
"TWO DAYS?" i couldn't believe it
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