Hope
At 6:38am on the fourteenth of February, weighing a hefty nine pounds six ounces, Abigail Hayley Casarazzi made her grand entry into the world, having come very close to being born in the middle of a crime scene.
Thankfully, she was brought into the world at St. Luke's Hospital in Boulder by an actual doctor with an MD and not the overly helpful, criminal gang member Gonzalez had vouched for.
Childbirth was by far the most amazing feeling I had ever experienced – the most painful too – made bearable by the fact that her father was in the room and by my side the entire time.
Her father was there.
Alive.
In the hours since she was born, Hunter told me everything; explaining every single mind-blowing detail from the night he 'died' at the Ring of Fire to his return to Boulder last night.
When he told me, I was stunned.
I was angry.
I wanted to shout at him.
I did shout at him.
I was so unbelievably overwhelmed about the whole ordeal that I actually threw up in a disposable bed pan.
And then I cried in his arms for what felt like an eternity, before I dared to allow myself to acknowledge the truth that he was really here.
He really came back to me.
Not only had Hunter come back home to me, alive and breathing, but he had managed to do the impossible.
David was finally gone.
He was dead.
Hunter did that.
He did that for me.
For our daughter.
He kept his promise.
And he was still right by my side, keeping his promises, loving me and only me, giving me protection, nurturement, loyalty, support, and unconditional love.
Sure, he was capable of terrible things, but he was one hell of a good man.
For several hours after Abigail's birth, Hunter and I locked ourselves away from the rest of the world, together with the baby we had created, holding onto each other because we knew how unbelievably lucky we were to have been given a second chance.
Because there had been a time in both our lives when we thought we would never see each other again, and we refused to take it for granted.
When my family finally clawed their way into the room later that morning, we were bombarded with questions, everyone as stunned as I had been to see Hunter in the flesh. Cameron was the only member of my family absent, but he had called earlier to check in.
Everyone wanted to cuddle Abigail, and she was the best little baby.
She was passed around between my parents, Teagan, Noah, and four of her uncles, and never once fussed. Thankfully, the nurse intervened by chasing them all out and then making my family take turns visiting.
I think she could see how overwhelmed I felt, and her empathy made me warm to her just that little bit more – even though Hunter continued to refer to her as Whiskers.
Naturally, Mom and Dad took the first turn, eager to coo and fawn over their first granddaughter.
While Dad talked to Hunter in the far corner of the room, Mom took the opportunity to get some cuddles in with Abigail, whose name I quickly learned had already shortened to Abi by everyone in the family.
When it was Dad's turn to hold her, I honestly didn’t think he would give her back.
"I love her," he said over and over as he rocked my tiny daughter in his arms. "Look at her, Lee."
"I see her, Kyle," Mom cooed dotingly.
"We have a granddaughter," he whispered, as if the thought had only just come to him. "A girl."
"It's about time we had a change from all these boys," Mom teased.
"And she's blonde," Dad cooed, babbling down at my daughter. "Yes, you are. You are just the most beautiful little girl." He paused and looked to Hunter. "I hope you've enjoyed whatever sleep you've had before today, Luck," he told him before turning his gaze back to my baby. "Because you will never sleep a solid eight hours for the rest of your life…. No, he won't," Dad's voice transformed into a soft coo as he babbled lovingly. "You're going to break your Daddy's heart, aren’t you, Abi?"
"Thanks for the heads up," Hunter shot back dryly as he leaned back on the bed and wrapped an arm around my shoulders.
"And when she's all grown up and headstrong like her mommy, and brings home a big, grizzly, tattooed punk?" Dad continued to tease.
"She's not going to do that," Hunter growled. "Because she'll know her daddy keeps a Glock in the house for occasions like that."
"Time's up, Carter," Teagan called out as she poked her head around the door and beamed. "You're holding up the line."