--- *** ---

--- A Couple of Months Later or So ---

--- 16th of August, 1967 ---

The months flew as quickly as a light summer breeze as the mid-summer days were still in the heat of being not only sweltering, moreover esthetically mesmerizing with its photogenetic sunsets, faint summer breezes and the balmy, serene nights.

The former devotional woman of the cloth has altered drastically through her dynamic, unspeakably enticing and agonizing in the same time roller coaster. Not only her body was getting pudgier and bigger in its frame, in fact, the fresh life was developing and growing inside her yet, but also the morning sicknesses were no longer an issue for her.  At last but not least, the mild irritation which was flushing her cells and demeanor was accentuating her exclaimations as usually.

And shortly after the second trimester which was gradually dying with the elapsing time, the future parents have determined themselves to embellish their bedroom with a bassinett for their future baby son, besides purchasing baby clothes for boys and toys.

As the middle-aged lady was in the hall, wearing a large-sized, beige sundress that hugged her pudgy frame along with her last trimester's pregnant belly, one of her petite, milky as snow grasped the earpiece to her ear, factly, her former mentor, Mother Claudia phoned her just a few minutes ago. At the moment, the former aspiring Cardinal was watering the plants on the balcony with the water can since they necessitated abundance of water. 

It has been awhile since the elder, revered nun has phoned her protege, in order, to conversate each other for a couple of minutes only. 

"How is your ray of sunshine, Jude?" The older lady enquired with bliss, vomited in her enquiry, whereas a blossoming beaming, heavenly smile smeared across the former sister of the church's naturally mauve, luscious lips. In the meanwhile, the warmest, brightest caramel pigment shimmered her irises which were lowered on her solely free hand that was resting on the bump, feeling frequent faint baby kicks that startled her at first especially if they were haphazard ones.

"Ah, the baby is doing well!" The blonde replied with a tad stammer, curling upon her lips whilst kneading delicately the bump, emboldening her unborn infant to subdue its frantic, frequent kicks which sometimes flinched her and panicked her to bones. Her lips produced a hoarse, cheerful giggle. "I can't already wait to meet the unborn one. To hold him into my arms by hugging and kissing him."

"Aww, one day if I pay a visit, I'm eager to see him either, Jude! Have you decided how to name your little boy?"

"It's going to be either Lucas or Philipp, but I'm hesitating between these both beautiful names for the unborn handsomer." The Bostonian exclaimed in hesitation, chewing on her bottom lip, due to the tough dilemma she's going to be through with her husband when it's time to name their angel. 

"Oh! That's amazing. I think Philipp is going to be a glamorous name for your handsomer, you know." All of a sudden, the crudely incessant contractions commenced as the former licentious jazz nightclub singer dropped unintentionally the earpiece, bleating a high-pitched yelp in severe, soreful pain as she felt her knees weak, kneeling on the ground. In the interim, the phone's cord hung the sagging receiver like an icicle, verging to fall. "Jude, is everything alright?"

"Oh fucking Christ! I think it's coming." The blonde emitted a husky, uncontrollable, shrill cry in pain by clutching tightly shut her eyelids as if the violent contractions were consuming her.

In the interval, the younger man stormed off from the balcony as he left the watercan on the table, walking away from the kitchen as his impending destination was the hall to check on his wife, whose bewails were obnoxiously audible for him, keeping his wits about the forthcoming laboring. 

"Jude? My child? Is anything wrong?" The elder woman of the cloth still echoed through the earpiece which wasn't adjusted to the phone yet. In the meantime, the middle-aged lady's facial expression significantly changed. The beaming, joyful smile which once flexed her rosy-coloured, plump lips, it was wiped off as its radiance and joy ebbed out in the vacuum. The potent, recklessly recurring throbbing of her frail heart into her chest, pulsated into her ears. 

"J-Jude? Rare bird, is everything alright?" At the moment, Timothy crouched down as immense panic enveloped his flimsy heart, hammering heavily in his ribs cage as if he witnessed a crime scene, hints of a homicide taking its place.

"My water just broke down. Get out of my way, asshole!" The older lady wailed as she managed up to grip her husband's hand, in order to get from the ground, whilst her only free hand was rubbing gently the pregnant belly, encouraging it to diminish the pressure. 

Whilst the both future parents struggled, meanwhile, Mother Claudia's phone cut off as pipping tingled the former members of the clergy's sensitive ears. 

"We should go to the hospital in a jiffy! I can't leave you to give a birth to our son here. Right at our home!" The British compatriot grabbed the earpiece immediately with his solely free hand, whilst grasping the middle-aged woman's one, squeezing it, in order to alleviate her and subdue her agonizing pain. 

"Do not think I'm that daredevil to give a birth to our child in the hospital! It's high time," Jude was panting as dew of perspiration veiled her porcelain, still young-looking complexion by nibbling on the silken skin of her bottom plumpish lip. "Now! Before it's too late!" She emphasized the last word, whilst the ambulance eventually accepted Timothy's exceeding call. 

--- *** ---

--- A Quater an Hour or So ---

In less than a quarter an hour the once holy members of the church have already arrived in the grand, old hospital as Judy was transmitted in one of the patients' rooms, located on the first floor, due to the urgency. 

Agitation, exasperation and lackluster ire were brewing and cooking inside the Bostonian. Agitation as she wasn't patient to end the sinister madness of being in labor, subsequently welcoming with her husband their creation, made of their own flesh and blood, besides living inside her pregnant belly for almost a year. 

Exasperation and lackluster ire, due to her vicious, nonetheless beneficial pregnancy and everything that encircled her. 

Furthermore, once the blonde was transmitted in the patient's room as she was encompassed by nobody else than her husband and 2 doctors, who were only women, she laid on the bed as the older doctor was past the patient's bed, whilst her younger colleague was seating on the chair and supervising the ultrasound monitor, checking the gradual progress. 

"Is it your first time having a baby, ma'am?" The older woman posed the question seriously as a benevolently, soothingly optimistic smile zipped across her lips by looking down at her patient's sweaty, weary face.

"Y-Yes, it's!" The blonde produced a stutter through the pant, affecting the spelled syllables as Timothy was seating on the edge of the bed by her right side, taking her elvish, milky as vanilla hand into his larger, reassuringly warm, loving hand. She casted a glassy, jaded gawk at the doctors, biting her lip. 

"Do you realize how painful is going to be?"

"Yes, I do!"

"If you're really ready to go through this, I assure you it's going to be a pain in the ass. Are you ready?" 

In the meantime, the former holy woman exhaled sharply by clearing her throat as a brief pause, seconds before replying emphatically to the nurse.

"I'm ready. More than anything!" She bobbed humbly, defiantly her head in agreement as assertiveness poked her tongue tip.

"Alright then!" Meantime, the elder doctor pushed up the hem of her rigidly shapeless, ordinary patient gown up to her round knees so that to have a better access to the crowned head of the unborn child and supervising the laboring process. "Give a first push as a fresh beginning!"

"Argghhh!" The blonde bared her ivory, still firm teeth, squeezing firmly her husband's hand for additional support.

"Bravo, my rare bird! You're doing a fantastic job." The British aristocrat rubbed with his solely free hand her upper back alleviatingly, in order to the blonde to not lose any faith and encouragement with the labor, she's being through currently. An optimistically merry smile kissed his pale-pinkish lips.

"That's good, ma'am! Keep pushing!"

After a handful of pushes, the baby's head was almost crowning the middle-aged woman's slit whilst the breathless, weary pants heaved from the top of Jude's brittle lungs, surging its recurring oxygen through her breathing organs as her nostrils flared.

"I can't do it!" The former promiscuous jazz nightclub singer lowered her voice as her firm Boston accent accentuated her pessimism, cusping with realism as it predominated it. 

"Never say these ugly words, rare bird! Of course, you can do it, Jude!" Meanwhile, the former ambitious Cardinal pecked a tender, feather kiss on the top of her head, consequently crashing his berry-coloured, damp lips with hers in a brief, steamy kiss. 

"Your husband is right. Do not give up!" The younger doctor cautioned sternly, cold-bloodedly, whose dark eyes were transfixed on the ultrasound monitor.

"Jude! My Jude!" Suddenly the younger man earned promptly his wife's attention by cupping her cheek in the palm of his colossal, loving hand as their orbs met, locking up them. His chocolate brown orbs as they sheened the warmest chocolate were soothingly promising, buoyant, darted to her hazelish-brown with somberly disquiet, apprehensive ones. They vibrantly contrasted one another and it was magnetically obvious. "The doctor is,"

"I don't give a damn rat ass what the doctor just said! It's fucking wrong that I can do it." All of a sudden, the former religious woman of the cloth cut him off curtly, vexedly. Timothy's mid-sentence abided unfinished. 

"Don't talk like that! You're just scared and you've never given a birth to a baby before, besides the pregnancy is the crucial reason why you're so irritated." His long as piano keys, soft as velvet fingers traced gently, lovingly her ruddy-tinted cheek, admiring her ethereally ageless beauty, oozing of her and highlighting ideally her facial features. 

"So irritated? Oh God!" She shot him a piercing as a cupid arrow, huffing glare at his handsome, parchment face. "I hope this madness ends as quickly as possible."

"Me either, my rara avis! And that's why it's your task to push yet as the baby's coming." At the moment, he tucked a couple of stray, greasy gilt curls behind her petite ear as his pale-pinkish, damp lips encouragingly, dotingly greased her lips once again before the last pushes.

"I-I know." In the interim, she resumed with the agonizing, painful pushes without giving up as the baby's head was crowning gradually until the older nurse scooped into her secure arms the newborn one by cleaning it and swaddling it in a cotton, convenient cloth as the baby's shrill, uncontrollable blubber floated in the patient's room background. 

"It's a boy. Congratulations to both of you!" The elder doctor handed the newborn to the middle-aged mother as she scooped it in a doting, warmhearted hug.

"Aww, here ya are my tiny angel!" Jude rocked their newborn angel into her maternally protective arms, in order to embolden the infant to peter out his cries. "Yar so handsome like yar fathar." 

Eventually their nameless ray of sunshine possessed the pale as ghost skin tone, chestnut, straight hair texture and ears as his father's heritage, whereas he took after his mother's button nose, big, feline honey brown orbs, fueled with sheer love, innocence and warmness, besides her well-shaped, elegant eyebrows.

"Aww, look at him! He's undeniably beautiful baby." The both proud, content parents's irises were fixed on their unnamed baby boy in awe, admiring his endless, indisputable grace and the facial features he's inherited from his both parents. "I'm so proud of you, sweetheart! I told you you can do it."

"Thank ya! I didn't expect this miracle so far." The middle-aged mother evoked out as if she was in seventh heaven, resting her head on her husband's broad, muscular shoulder. 

"Thank you for not only being part of my life with our adorable angel, but also for gracing us with it and making me the happiest man ever lived in this world!"

"I'm honored to hear all that." The Bostonian's smile bloomed yet as the nameless newborn's big hazel pools were gaping uncertainly at his parents as a slight, beatific smile honed up in the corner of his tiny lips as he felt safe and loved with them. Even more they became momentarily fond of him once he was being handed to their creators. "How about naming him?"

"Oh yes! I almost forgot." Hoarse, wry chuckle tickled the corners of his mouth as the older lady joined him. "How about Philipp?"

"That's great, honey!" In the meanwhile, the once holy priest stroke gently, dotingly his wife's lion mane of greasy, old Hollywood golden tresses that perfectly framed her angelic, porcelain complexion. "Can I hold him too?"

"Is that even a question? Of course, ya can." As soon as the blonde handed Philipp to Timothy, he rocked him gingerly, affectionately into his strong arms, spending his very first moments with his son.

"Aww, look at you, sweet cupcake! Philipp Martin Howard, welcome to our family as you're an unique addition to it!"

--- *** ---

--- The Next Day ---

--- 17th of August, 1967 ---

The day after the former ecclesiatical members of the clergy successfully welcomed their new family member to the small family, Jude spent the rest of the day in the hospital, in order to take a break after the exhausting laboring. Moreover, in the wee hours of midnight, they left the hospital as they were on their way to home and they received phone calls from their inner circle, factly, congratulating them for Philipp. 

At last but not least, Philipp's birth certificate was already issued to his biological parents and his measurements. 

As the saturating sun rays dispersed through the widely opened bedroom door, bathing in gleaming sun light the room, Judy was lying on the king-sized bed as she wore nothing else than the same sun dress which she wore yesterday before fleeing to the hospital. The mid-August sun hung in the lucid, cloudless sky in Rome's sweltering afternoon.

Philipp was fed and bathed with changed garments a half an hour ago only, besides the Bostonian adored more than anything spending her leisure time with the only-day-old child. 

"Aww, look at ya, tiny cherub angel! I'm so proud of myself for delivering ya in this world." In the interval, Jude's rosy-coloured, soft as satin lips grazed his cheeks in peppering tender kisses. "Yar making yar Mommy a bloody happy woman."

All of a sudden, the former nun was caught off guard when Timothy opened the notoriously creaky bedroom door as he set a foot inside by shutting the door, approaching the bed until he seated alongside Jude. 

"Are ya free?"

"Yes, I'm." Timothy replied as he lifted up his mammoth, creamy as baby skin hand to the baby son's cheek, caressing it delicately, lightly. Meantime, his chocolate brown eyes, filled with pure, paternal love and warmness were goggled on him. "What a cutiepie!"

"Isn't he actually, is he, Timothy?"

"I can't agree more! I'm heavenly blissful for having both of you as my family."

"I bet yar family is going to be tremendously pleased to see this handsome prince once they come here back in Rome or we go eventually in London."

"For sure! I love you so much both of you, my rare bird and Sunshine!"

"I love ya much more than anything both of ya!"