With things essentially stalled where they were, the pain was steady and harsh, and it was all Emeline could do to stay as still as she could.  She gave a brief smile and nod at Barnabas' reassurance, hoping for his sake that he was right.  She knew the anguish of losing a child, and she didn't want him to ever experience that.

Concentrating, Emeline tried to stay relaxed and calm, knowing that panic from here wasn't going to help anything, and could only make matters worse. 

And then it was over, a rush and the pain was gone, leaving only an ache, but she didn't care, it was better than it had been!

"Is it all right?" she asked anxiously, trying to see what was going on down there, "do we have a son or daughter?"

"Yes, Love. Everything is fine, we'll have this little one out real quick now." Barnabas said waiting for Bonnie Campbell to make the cut on the umbilical cord, he knew what to do then, as his child came forward he would be able to help by gently pulling it by the shoulder, and then, the rest of the body would follow.

"Easy now we're almost there, you'll need to push here in a minute." He added. A snip and the child would be free to come into the world.

"A son..."  Giving a weary smile, Emeline reached to take the infant, seeing a beautiful child, despite his head being a bit misshapen from the birth.  Reaching up, she touched the little face, then looked up at Barnabas.  "He looks like his daddy!"

Well, it was hard to tell anything at this point, besides the shock of curly red hair and deep brown eyes.  "Isn't he pretty?"  She looked at Bonnie then.  "Thank you so much.  I'm glad you could be here."

If she hadn't, things could have been so very different, and Emeline wasn't sure she could take more tragedy.  This was the start of a new life, and she knew it was going to be amazing!

And there Barnabas 'Pronto' Pike stood, a man who had never thought to be a father, looking down at the bundle Em was holding with that red curly hair, who was his firstborn son. A man who had faced death on too many occasions now stood with a tear inching down his cheek looking at the future.

The look on Barnabas' face was something she'd never forget, and in that moment the world was perfect!

Then the baby started to fuss and she laughed.  "I think he's hungry!"  It was a matter of a bit of maneuvering, and soon the little lad was latched on, merrily enjoying his supper, and that reminded Emeline that it had been a long day, she was hungry, and likely Barnabas and Bonnie were as well.  Fortunately, they could get their supper from the bunkhouse tonight.

"The crew is probably wondering what's going on," she commented, then she grinned, "you should let them know that...our son is here.  What are we going to call him...and not Eustace!"

"I figger they purdy well know what's goin' on." He said gazing at his new born son suckling his mother. "As far as a name, we never spoke much about it, and all I really care about is if the boy's healthy. If there's someone you'd like to name him after, that's alright by me, but no, not Eustace, or none of them names you were threatening me with either." Which put a smile on his face. There had been some doozies!

"Far as food, I'll round up Pythias an' see if he'd do the honors for us, which I believe he will. Might let the boys know soon's we pick a name." He added, considering he and Em had done some cooking together. "That oughtta handle that, even for the next few days. I could eat with the hands, but maybe not you and the tyke there."

All these months, she'd been calling the little one different things, thinking up some of the most horrendous monikers she could come up with as a way to tease Barnabas, but they hadn't really had a serious discussion on a name.

"I've been thinking about Wheeler, after my granddaddy," she suggested, "or perhaps Isaac, after Grandpa Harris?  What do you think?  I know I gave you plenty of options!"  She laughed.

"Options? I really wouldn't have called those options. Wheeler? I tend to like that a bit better than Isaac." He replied. "Funny we joked about names, and it seemed mostly for girls, but we never actually sat down and considered what we would name either one." And that had been true. It was mostly her kidding him with those atrocious names.

He had not actually given a great deal of thought to naming the children, but it was time to name is son. What was in a name anyway? it was the boy and how he grew to manhood. He smiled, "I've no preference, and if Wheeler is the name you like, then sure, Wheeler it is."

"Wheeler."  Smiling softly, Emeline gently stroked their son's head, marveling at the new life. 

She looked up then at Bonnie.  "Thank you so much.  You'll spend the night?  We have a guest bedroom, and you can borrow some clothes."  It was already nearly dark out, and she would appreciate having trained help there for that first night.  "Or we can have the surrey hitched and one of the hands can drive you back, whatever you prefer."