My nephew turns six years old today and I’m just sitting here thinking back to that cold night in January when it all began almost six years ago. I had just poured milk into a bowl of Frosted Flakes because I like cold cereal at night. I was about to eat the first spoon when my sister came running into the kitchen.

“I think the baby is coming!” she yelled.

I looked at her with a blank stare, “what?”

This was her first baby and my first time dealing with a pregnant girl about to shoot a baby out.

To this day I swear that she said or more like yelled at the top of her lungs, “Put the cereal down you dumbass the baby is coming.” Later she would claim not to have said the word “dumbass” but I’m pretty sure she did.

I put the bowl of cereal on the counter, but must of dropped it in the confusion that followed because when I returned later that night I found the cereal bowl overturned in the middle of a Frosted Flakes and milk mess on the floor. It really didn’t look too great.

Like a dumbass I repeated, “The baby is coming? The baby is coming!”

“Yes!” My sister yelled grabbing her stomach.

I don’t know at what point of the night did I start to hyperventilate but it was probably at that point.

“Oh my God!” I yelled running around frantically looking for my sister’s hospital bag. “We’re having a baby! We’re having a baby right now!” The feelings I had at the time are hard to express. I was feeling so happy, but at the same time I was so scared, nervous and anxious ”Oh my God! We’re having a baby!” I yelled again then it hit me - the baby was coming and we had to so something quick before it came and landed in the middle of the living room floor. I sat on the couch and whispered “Oh my God, we’re having a baby” I jumped up and hugged my sister. I couldn’t have been more happy if I had been the expectant father and not just the uncle.

“Calm down,” my sister said, “I think we still have some time. The pain is gone.”

“where’s the stupid hospital bag?” I ran to the room, looked in the closet, looked under the bed. I even pulled the shower curtain back, but it wasn’t in the bathtub. I looked everywhere I could think of, but I couldn’t find the hospital bag. I even looked in the refrigerator - you never know

All of a sudden my sister let out a blood curdling yell that made my ovaries hurt and I yelled like a woman too, until I remembered that I didn’t have ovaries, and boy was I glad I didn‘t have ovaries. “Cramp!” she yelled, “Hurry, let’s go!”

“where’s the hospital bag?”

“it’s by the door you dumbass!” My sister was already making her way to the car.

I ran after her and jumped in the driver’s seat. I stated to say “You’re a much faster driver than I am, maybe you should drive” but I thought better of it. My sister was a little more calm now, so I didn’t want to rile her up. I don’t know, but I think it’s probably wise not to mess with a pregnant girl whose about to pop a baby out. For the record though, she is a much faster driver than I am - when I go anywhere with her I almost feel as if I should give her three dollars after the trip because it was like a thrilling amusement park ride.

“When Johnny comes marching home again. Hurrah! Hurrah!” I looked over at my sister who was watching me with a strange look on her face - I figured it was a pregnant pain face and not an “Oh my God, Tony sings horrible” face, so I kept singing. “The men will cheer, the boys will shout, the girls will stomp their feet and we’ll all have apple pie, endless beer and Starbucks coffee…” I tend to sing nonsense songs when I’m nervous.

My sister let out another yell.

“I could use a Carmel frappuccino” I thought I was just thinking the words, I didn’t realize I had said them out loud.

“You don’t need no stinkin’ frappuccino!” My sister yelled in a demon voice that made me jump in my seat. “You just need to drive!” It was crazy, it was as if she had used a JedI mind trick on me.

“I don’t need no stinkin’ frappuccino…I just need to drive…these aren’t the droids I’m looking for…move along…move along.”

I drove faster than I had ever driven before. If the baby was coming I wanted to get my sister to the hospital before he came. I didn’t want baby juice all over my car seats. I pulled into the emergency room section of the hospital and helped my sister in. A nurse got her a wheelchair and took her to wherever they take women who are about to shoot a baby out.

We made it to the hospital, but my nephew decided that he wasn’t quite ready to come out yet, so we had more waiting time before the baby’s big entrance into the world.

I think we were all happy and just glad that the baby was about to make his way into the world that we didn‘t really think of anything else. We weren’t ready for the news the doctor would give us at the time. He told us that there were some complications - and that my sister was going to have to have an emergency C-section because the baby’s heart rate had gone dangerously low. He said that there was a very good chance that one or both of them may not survive. As soon as I heard those words I ran from the emergency room. I had to go outside. I needed to be by myself and I needed fresh air to get my thoughts in order. I called a good friend, my voice broke as I told her the news. Before long the entire waiting room was filled with friends who were comforting my mom and telling her that everything was going to be okay. No matter how much they tried to console my mom, she still cried. I know I should have been there for my mom, but I couldn’t, I needed time for myself.

I remember sitting on the cold curb of the street looking up at the night sky and asking God for the strength to face whatever was going to happen. “Please Lord, help us through this. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I trust you and I have faith in you.” Tears started running down my face. “I know I’m not a good person and I know that I don’t go to church, so you probably won’t listen to me, but I’m begging you with everything that is in me please don’t take my sister or the baby.” I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was sobbing really hard. “Dear God, please if you let this baby be born I promise that I will watch over him and take care of him until my dying day. I’ll try to be a good influence on him and I’ll teach him well.” I wiped the tears from my face with the sleeves of my shirt. “Please let them live. I‘ll do anything you want, just please let them live” I looked up at the night sky and felt a little better, but still afraid. “Please.”

I finally went back into the waiting room, but I sat in the corner by myself, away from everyone. I still needed to be alone and didn't want to talk to anyone for fear that if I did I would start crying like a little kid. I sat alone making more promises to a God that I hoped would listen to me even though I hadn't seen the inside of a church in so long.

It was just after 9:00 pm when the baby's father came out pushing the clear plastic carrier with the baby inside. I remember everyone jumped up and ran to him. The nurses that were with him told us that both the baby and mother were doing well. I don't know what happened next except that I do know there was a lot of tears and hugs in that waiting room. They wheeled the baby into the elevator and took him to the second floor. The nurse said that we would be able to see him in a few minutes. Some of the people went upstairs to wait to see the baby while others waited downstairs to see my sister.

It wasn't long before my sister was rolled out in a stretcher. She looked as if she had just laid down for a nap and not as if she had just had a C-section and almost lost her life. She was awake and asked me if I saw the baby. I told her that I had and that he was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen in my life. She smiled at me and then they pushed her into the elevator. She said, "I love you," as the elevator doors closed between us.