Eight months and twelve days later

Our baby was arriving late and it had all of us worried. Elsie had been in labor for over two days now and we were all camped out at the hospital.

I’d arranged for the best. Elsie was admitted to the best hospital in Chicago and I had the best gynecologists looking after her. Nonetheless, there was still a chance that things could go wrong.

Mona and her husband, David, were at the hospital. Emma was there too, but she had fallen asleep now. I was pacing up and down the corridor, worried out of my mind.

It had been several hours, and we hadn’t heard anything from the doctors. They’d informed us that our baby was too big and Elsie couldn’t deliver naturally. She’d been taken into surgery.

I couldn’t remember the last time I was this nervous about anything in my life. No business deal, no violent fight between my parents—nothing had instilled this much fear in me. I just wanted to see Elsie again, I wanted to hold our baby in my arms.

“Jared…” It was Mona’s voice behind me. She’d startled me and now I whipped around to face her. She was smiling softly, and she reached for my shoulder and squeezed.

“It’s going to be okay. Elsie will be fine,” Mona said, and I nodded. I wanted to believe that. But I had grown so accustomed to things going wrong in my life that I was expecting the worst.

“These things happen sometimes. If there was anything to worry about, the doctors would have told us by now. You should sit down, rest a little.” Mona was leading me back to the waiting area again.

I saw that David was asleep too now, with Emma on his lap. They looked like the perfect picture of a happy father-daughter scene. I wanted that with our kid. I was anxious to have that!

Mona sat down beside me. She placed a hand on my knee and squeezed.

“I’m going to be an aunty! Elsie’s going to be a great mom,” Mona said. I smiled at her. “And you’re going to be just the dad this baby deserves. You’re going to be fine, Jared.”

I gulped. These past eight months had been a hell of a rollercoaster for me. I was finally happy. I had Elsie in my life again. I had something to look forward to every morning when I woke up.

Despite that, I couldn’t shake off that nagging feeling that I would fail as a parent. That my own parents had been a horrible example to me. Traits I would never be able to be rid of.

“Thank you, Mona. For giving me a chance,” I told her.

We hadn’t really had a heart-to-heart since that day she showed up at my office. Mona smiled at me now and patted her hand on my knee.

“I always wondered what Elsie saw in you. Now that I’ve gotten to know you, I see it too. She has always been a perceptive girl. I wish our parents had had a little faith in her too,” Mona said.

“I really didn’t want to go against your parents’ wishes. I know they would be dead-against this. Us having a baby together, building a future together,” I told her and Mona shook her head.

“They didn’t see the guy Elsie saw. They were wrong. Just because they wanted the best for her doesn’t mean that they were right,” Mona replied.

“I promise you, I’m going to do everything to make Elsie happy. And our baby,” I said.

“I know you will,” Mona replied, just when a doctor interrupted us.

“Mr. Morin, you have a son!”

I jumped up from my chair. In the heat of the moment, I hugged the doctor.

“I have a son!” I was shouting with joy. Mona hugged me and then she rushed over to wake up David and Emma.

“How is she? How is Elsie?” I asked the doctor.

“She’s doing great! They came out of surgery just some time ago. She’ll be regaining consciousness soon,” the doctor replied.

“Can I see her now? Can I see my son?”

“Of course, Mr. Morin. Follow me”

I did just that. Me, Mona, David and Emma followed the doctor down the hall to the room where Elsie was. Emma was skipping with glee. She reached for me and I lifted her up in my arms.

We entered the room together, to see Elsie on the bed. There was a baby’s crib beside her and a nurse was hunched over it.

I rushed to Elsie’s bed side. She was just regaining consciousness. Her eyes were droopy, and she was still groggy from the surgery. I looked into the crib and saw our little bundle of joy for the first time.

Elsie was right. It was like a lightning bolt struck me. The moment I looked at his face, I knew what I had to do. I knew I was going to be okay.

“Hey, little guy…” I whispered. The nurse was lifting him up and placing him in my arms. I could hear Mona crying behind us. Emma was jumping up and down, trying to get a look at her new cousin.

I was holding our son in my arms when Elsie finally opened her eyes wide.

“Jared…” she whispered, and I leaned our baby towards her.

“Look at him, Elsie…look at how beautiful he is!” I exclaimed, still in disbelief. Elsie laughed. Mona was by her side, stroking her hair now.

“Come here!” Elsie called out to me and I dragged my gaze away from our son to kiss her.

“Thank you, Elsie. Everything I have is because of you. Thank you for making me a father,” I told her and kissed her again.

“I love you, Jared. This baby is lucky to have you,” Elsie said, and I handed our son over to her.

Looking down at them, I knew that I felt content. I didn’t need anything else in my life now to fulfill me. As long as I had them.