Her hair was splayed across the pillow, and her eyes were closed. An IV was connected to her arm. My poor baby was exhausted.
Exhausted but alive.
I wanted to be strong. She’d been through enough without seeing me break down. But the moment my face landed in the crook of her neck, I came apart. Smelling the scent of her skin, listening to the breaths I wasn’t sure I’d ever get to hear again, my body shook. An endless flow of tears poured from my eyes and onto her hospital gown.
“Jake…”
“Shh. Yes, baby. I’m here. You don’t have to say anything.”
“Is the baby okay?”
“Baby’s great.”
“Why are you crying?”
“Because I love you.”
“I don’t remember much after I blacked out. Am I gonna be okay?”
“Yes. They stopped the bleeding and fixed it.”
“Can I still have babies?”
“Yes. That’s what the doctor said.” I held her tighter. “You mean, you would want another one after all this?”
“Only with you.” Teardrops were streaming down her cheeks. “You were amazing. You delivered our baby!”
“Nina…you were the amazing one, so brave. We have a daughter. I couldn’t even truly appreciate her because I was so terrified to lose you.”
“Where is she?”
“She’s in the nursery. I haven’t checked on her because I couldn’t move from outside the operating room until I knew you were okay.”
“I want to see her.”
“I’ll go check if they can bring her to us.”
The door opened just as I was getting up. A nurse carried our baby girl who was swaddled in a blanket. She was wearing a pink hat and had white mittens covering her hands.
Nina cradled the baby to her chest. Our daughter immediately started to search with her mouth for sustenance, her little head twisting back and forth over Nina’s breast as she tried to locate the goods.
“Look at her!” Nina laughed. “She knows who her Mama is. She’s not wasting any time.”
“She’s like her Daddy that way.”
The nurse coughed and smiled awkwardly. “Are you planning to breastfeed?”
“Yes.”
“The baby had a little formula. But if you like, we can try seeing if she’ll feed right now.”
Nina lowered the hospital gown, revealing her swollen breast. Amazingly, our daughter latched on almost immediately. Couldn’t say I blamed her one bit.
“I’ll leave you alone with your daughter,” the nurse said before exiting the room.
Nina lifted the pink hat. “She looks like you, Jake. She’s got the same dark hair as A.J. I guess I have weak genes.”
“You just can’t escape me. Now, I’m multiplying inside you.” I ran my thumb along the baby’s soft fuzzy hair as she continued to devour Nina’s nipple like there was no tomorrow. The suckling sound was freaking adorable. “My little alien. You wreaked havoc today.”
“Is that what you want to name her? Aliena?”
“That would be fitting. But I think we should come up with something else.”
“Actually, I kind of had a name in mind,” she said.
“What is it?”
“Kennedy.”
“Kennedy Green. I like the sound of that. The two of us.”
“Yes. Exactly.”
“It’s perfect, baby. Perfect.” Tears were returning to my eyes. She had a name. I was finally able to absorb the magnitude of my daughter’s entry into the world now that Nina was safe. “You like that, Kennedy?”
“She doesn’t care what her name is right now. She’s too busy eating.”
“I can relate. You make me forget my name all the time when I’m feasting on you.”
“It will be a little while before that happens again. I have to heal.”
I groaned, “Don’t remind me.”
She lifted her brow. “We can be creative.”
“Oh yeah?”
“I think your delivering our baby warrants a pretty damn epic blow job when we get home.”
“I’m gonna be pushing for an early release then.”
“Seriously, Jake. You were incredible in that elevator.”
“We do elevators well, baby, don’t we?”
***
The following day, Nina was extremely sore, but thankfully, all of her vitals were checking out normally. She was taking a nap while I held the baby in the seat next to the bed.
Earlier in the day, I’d gone out to purchase a car seat for the long ride back to Boston. We were counting the minutes until we could take Kennedy home to meet her big brother. We’d told our families not to bother travelling up to New Hampshire, to save their energy instead for when we got back. Nina needed her rest now anyway. Her mother was planning to stay with us for a couple of weeks, so we’d have plenty of help.
There was a light knock at the door. A woman walked in with some paperwork.
“Hi, Mr. Green,” she whispered. “Your wife filled in the information for the birth certificate earlier today. You weren’t in here at the time. She wasn’t sure of exactly how you wanted your occupation listed. Would you mind adding it in for us?”
“Of course.” I kissed Kennedy’s head as she lay cradled in my right arm. “It’s official, little alien. I’m your Daddy on paper, too.”