"Hey, Jack," John said. "Why don't you go ahead. I'm right here. Go ahead, bring her out." "No way, man," he said, backing away. "Come on--you know you want to. Might as well. You did the hard part. You put up with this for nine months." "Hey!" Mel objected. "Excuse me?" But Jack got a funny, dreamy look on his face and said, "Yeah. Let me bring her out. Let me. Since you're right here..." All these months of insisting this wasn't what he wanted and suddenly it was all he wanted. He'd pulled the last one right out of her body and he felt as if he'd gone to heaven, it was such a trip. He gloved up real fast. "There won't be anyone for Mel's back," he said. "I'll take her back, and I'll coach you," John offered. "But you're okay, you know what to do. Go for it, man. It's your baby." "Okay," he said, getting himself settled on his knees, right at the foot of the bed, and waited through a few more contractions, and then she delivered the baby's head. Without even being told, he checked around the neck for the cord. John left Mel for a second to look over his shoulder to be sure. Then Jack supported the baby's head with a large hand and John told Mel to give them a little push. The baby came out slick and easy, mucky and screaming. Jack held another life he'd produced in his hands. No one should be this lucky, he thought. No man on earth should have all this. John"