An urgent need to pee wakes me up way too early in the morning. Then to top it off…the toilet breaks. Right as I bend down and attempt to fix it, I begin to feel contractions…
I immediately return to the bedroom to tell Q…
Alida: Q…wake up! The baby’s coming…
Q wakes up in a panic, just like last time…but for some reason, I feel much calmer this time around. Maybe it’s because I sort of know what to expect.
Quincy: What should we do? Do we go to the hospital now or should we wait?
Alida: Let’s just let Peri know and wait a bit.
Q hurries out of the room, but I follow behind and stop him. I can use some reassurance, and he provides it by pulling me into a tight hug. It seems to calm him down a bit too.
Quincy: It’s okay…everything is going to be okay.
After the hug…I return to our bedroom, and Q rushes down the stairs to Peri’s bedroom.
Quincy: Peri…wake up. Mommy and I are leaving for the hospital soon. The baby is coming!
Peri wakes up slowly…
Prosperity: Already?
Quincy: Yep…do you want to come or stay here?
Peri doesn’t seem too enthused about a visit to the hospital.
Prosperity: Uh…maybe I’ll just stay here.
Quincy: Okay…we’ll keep you updated.
Q heads back upstairs but stops at the calendar on the wall once he realizes that no one has added any potential baby names. He takes a moment to jot down a couple of names on a sticky note…and places it on the board.
Peri also realizes that she hasn’t made good on her mother’s simple request. She pulls out a sheet of paper and writes a list of a few names. Then she takes it upstairs and uses one of the magnets to stick it up on the board.
Prosperity:*to herself* There! I did my part…time to go back to bed!
Q returns to the bedroom fully dressed to see Alida fast asleep. He sits on the bed next to her for a while…waiting, but eventually ends up falling asleep himself. He lies there still fully dressed, ready to go to the hospital at a moment’s notice.
I wake up a few hours later…mostly because I’m hungry. I enter the kitchen to see if there’s anything quick to eat. I notice the notes up on the calendar.
I walk over and read the names on the lists. I chuckle when I see that Q has added Quincy III to his. In fact, he’s circled and it and suggested that it can be for a boy or a girl. Too funny. I’d love to honor that if we had a boy, but there’s a particular name on Peri’s list that I absolutely love, and I’m sure that Q would agree that our children need their own names – their own identities. I pull the notes down, just as I’m hit with a huge, painful contraction.
I hurry to the bedroom to tell Q that we should leave for the hospital right away, but as soon as I get there…I realize that it’s too late. This baby is coming now! I walk over to the bassinet. Q wakes up when he hears me cry out in pain…
I push multiple times and give birth to a baby boy…a beautiful baby boy. Q and I are both thrilled.
Quincy: A son! We have a son. I added a list of names to the board.
Alida: I saw it. Peri added a list too.
Quincy: She did! I’m glad because I completely drew a blank.
Alida: *chuckles* I noticed.
Quincy: Did she come up with something good?
Alida: Yes…there was one I really liked.
Quincy: So what’s our son’s name?
Alida: I want to name him Merit…Merit Banks!
Quincy: Merit…I like it.
I rock Merit for a while in an attempt to calm him, but I have to pee so bad. I lie him down in his bassinet and leave it up to Q to stop him from crying, while I go to the bathroom.
I return to the bedroom and discover that Q and Merit are gone…the basinet and everything. I immediately get a text from Q…
Quincy’s Text: Come down to the office…
Why would Q take the baby to the office? It’s strange, but I follow his instructions…
(Generation 1a Chapter Summaries)
