It had been going on for a while and I was tired. I had expected this at the dinner, but not here. The doctor told me that when I got tired, to try and sleep in between the contractions but there was no way I could possibly do that at the moment.

My eyelids hung extremely low as I watched the scene unfold in front of me. Cam kept his arms wrapped against me as I laid my head on his chest comfortably. I could fall asleep right there in the comfort of his arms but there was too much happening.

"Michael, don't raise your voice at me." My mom said calmly. Kyrie had reached up and held her hand.

He looked scared and it was pissing me off that they were arguing at the wrong time.

"No, you need to leave Lauren!"

"Why? Why do I need to leave? She wants me here."

"This moment, this day, it's for family! You are NOT a part of this family. You will never be a part of it."

I frowned. "Dad-"

"No! Kyra how could you invite her here?!"

"She's my mother! What's wrong with you?" I asked in disbelief. "It's my life, my choice."

"That's my grandchild too! That's my daughter too!"

"Ky, come here." I said waving him over. He ran to me and I wrapped him in my arms, kissing his head. I slid Cam's beats over his head and handed him his game.

Cam's family probably thought mine was a freak show. My mom and my dad have this hate for each other that is so unreal. Well at least my father does. Lauren would have talked it out with him. It's so childish and the problem is old now. If I can forgive her, so can he. He needs to dig deep.

I shook my head and sighed. "Cam, I'm so tired..." I groaned.

He nodded and helped me lay back in the bed with Kyrie but the second I did, I started screaming. Cam immediately helped me back up as Anna placed a rag over my head.

"How much is that?"

Cam looked at his watch. "10" She nodded. Anna rubbed my back as I screamed but nothing was helping. It literally felt like something was eating at my flesh.

The nurse came in and grabbed my arm. "We need you to stand up." I shook my head no as tears fell from my eyes like a waterfall. They put me on my feet, and I tried to bend over.

Cam wiped my face off, sweat and tears adorned my skin and I was tired.

My dad stood in shock as my mom helped Cam. "They need you to walk around Kyra, you're so close." My mom said running her hands through my hair.

"Don't touch her." My dad muttered.

"" I yelled.

Cam looked up. "Are you two serious?" He asked in disbelief.

"It's not the time for this! Why are you arguing right now? I don't give a damn about whatever you got going on but take it outside." He grumbled.

"This is about your grandson! This is about Kyra and you're stressing her out. Look at her." They all glanced at me as I continued to belt out in pain.

The doctor walked in and helped them sit me back on the bed. My chest heaved as they lifted my legs up.

He placed something inside of me and Cam frowned making me laugh through my pain along with everyone else. "Yo, what you doing man?"

"She's almost ready.." He said with a smile. He walked out and Cam shook his head. "Hell naw, you need a female doctor."

I laughed as the pain started to go away. "He's just doing his job." He kissed his teeth.

Three nurses walked in the room with a gurney. "Time to get you prepped." They said in cheery voices.

"Two people can come with her." They said as they lifted me on to the gurney.

"Cam, can you and Anna come?" He nodded.

I pointed to my dad and my mom. "If you two can't be civil for me, be civil for your grandson. If you don't have this figured out by the time I get back..." I said the most serious is probably ever been in my life.

"Leave."

Anna held one hand and Cam held another as I squeezed the life from his. They had given me the epidural and now all I felt was extreme pressure against my uterus. I had pushed seven times already and his head was now poking out according to the doctors. I was exhausted and worn out. I had been up since yesterday in pain. Now I just wanted to see my son and go to sleep.

"One more push for me Kyra." He said from underneath the medical sheet placed over my bottom half. My legs were propped up and he was directly staring at my vagina. You would think I would be uncomfortable; Cam definitely was but it was the last thing on my mind. I wanted to close my eyes.

I pushed as hard as I could and felt a pop before silence... I expected Joshua to cry or something, but we heard absolutely nothing.

"Cam, come here." A nurse said with a smile. I kissed Kyra's head and smiled. "I'm so proud of you." She let out an exhausted breath and smiled.

I walked over behind the sheet, surprised by all of the blood. I didn't know she would bleed like that.

There he was, he wasn't clean, and I couldn't see what he looked like, but he was really small.

She handed me a pair of peculiar looking scissors and smiled. They showed me how to cut the umbilical cord and then he started to cry.

She took him away and watched them clean him as my mom wrapped me up in a hug. "You're officially a father Cameron." I smiled.

The nurse handed me a clipboard that contained some papers to fill out with Kyra, but I didn't bother her I just finished them since I already knew what the baby's name was and stuff. I signed the birth certificate and handed it back and she walked away.

I looked back at Kyra who barely had her eyes open. My mom rubbed her arm as I bent down and placed a kiss on her lips. "I love you."

She gave a faint smile and a chuckle. "I know." I laughed. "You just had to ruin the moment."

"I love you too Freckles."

I smiled at her calling me that. I hadn't heard it in so long. I'd gotten so used to it.

They came in to start cleaning Kyra before they took her back to her room so me and my mom walked down to the NICU.

The nurse directed us to the incubator he was in and I smiled.

I finally got a good look at Joshua. He was so small. I could probably hold him in one hand, but he looked fully developed, just small. He had a few tubes connected to him as his chest rose and fell peacefully.

He had a head full of hair and a nose just like Kyra's, but my freckles adorned his tiny face. They were almost unnoticeable but when his skin darkened from the red pigmentation it held at the moment, they'd be noticeable. Mama smiled and touched his small hand.

I glanced at the two small anklets he wore and turned to the doctor. "What are these?"

"The first one is simple a name tag. It has his full name, his weight, which is 4.5 pounds, and you and Kyra's name." I nodded as she pointed to the second one.

"This one is a little different. Each baby is fitted with an anklet that will set off the hospital into lock down if the child leaves the department it is in. A signal will beep to let you know if you're getting too close to the door, and to turn around. Once past it, you're not getting anywhere with that child. This is for protection, so no child is removed from the hospital." I nodded.

"Are children being taken?" My mom asked. He shook his head. "No, it's a national safety precaution because it's happened before. Not here of course."

"We are going to take little Joshua here and run some test since he's a little early. He's underweight so they want to make sure he can breathe on his own. Premature birth is a risk, but Kyra's went pretty smoothly even with the scares she encountered."

"Can he hold him? Is that safe?" He nodded and carefully lifted Joshua from the incubator and into my arms. He was so light.

"Now you can't really move because of the oxygen tubes but I know this is a big moment for you." The doctor said patting my shoulder.

I stared at him in my arms as a strong emotion came over me. The moment was surreal. I almost didn't want to close my eyes in fear that he would disappear. I was a father, I was somebody's father, someone was my responsibility. I felt a tear slide down my face and I looked over at my mom who was already crying.

"He's beautiful." She said smiling as she caught my tear with her side of her bent finger.

His small hands scratched at the sleeves of my shirt and I chuckled.

When I woke up, I was still tired, but I was functionable. I looked to the left of me and Cam was stretched out on a small bed with Kyrie. I chuckled causing everyone to look at me.

"Have you seen him yet?" They all nodded, and I smiled.

"What does he look like?" I asked sitting up. I hadn't even seen Joshua yet, but I was too tired to hold him anyway and it was eight o'clock at night, so I had been sleeping for a while.

"Cam." They all said in unison before laughing.

My parents weren't fighting anymore, I wasn't in pain anymore and for once, I felt like my body and my mind were all at peace. That's all I had wanted.

"He's really small." Jamie said giving me a hug.

"Is he okay? He wasn't crying."

"He was crying." Anna said rubbing my back. "He cried after the cord was cut. I know you're worried but he's fine, he's just a little underweight." I sighed and nodded.

"He has a lot of hair Kyra. My baby nephew is a little Werewolf." I started laughing and pushed her.

"Don't talk about my baby."

The door opened and the doctor came in.

"Oh, you're awake." I nodded.

He peeked out of the door and mumbled something before walking back inside. "You feel alright? Nothing hurts right?"

I shook my head no.

"Alright, we want you to stay overnight just in case and it's just hit eight o'clock so visiting hours are over. I'm sorry."

Everyone started to get up and tell me goodbye. Cam sat up rubbing his eyes and started telling everyone farewells as they left slowly by surely until it was just us.

The door opened, and a nurse slowly made her way to me with Joshua. She placed him in my arms gently and put an oxygen tube back in his nose.

"Is he okay?"

She nodded. "He can breathe on his own. We do this for all premature infants."

I trailed my fingers over his tiny face, and he shifted in my arms making me smile. He did have a head full of hair and it was straight and brown.

He was pretty and he looked like Cam.

"He has freckles." I said excitedly. Cam kissed his teeth playfully and I waved him off. "I wanted him to have freckles."

Cam kissed my temple and I leaned into his embrace and we stared at our son. He was so small, but so perfect and calm. I fell in love all over again with this little person in my arms. I was finally holding him and meeting him for the first time, and I couldn't help but cry. I was extremely happy and relieved that through the trials and tests we'd been through, he survived.

He was healthy and ready to be loved.