Desiree
The maternity floor was quite busy when I got there. I stopped at the nurses’ station and they were ready for me.
“You have to hurry!” one of them said. “She’s pushing right now!”
We ran down the hallway to Elizabeth’s room. When I ran in, I saw Jax on her right side holding her leg and a nurse on the left holding that leg. I saw everything else she had as well. Still no baby. I’d made it just in time.
“You made it!” Elizabeth said. “I didn’t think you would!”
I smiled. “I wouldn’t miss this for the world! But, if I’m to be completely honest, I was starting to get a bit worried myself.”
“You can come stand here,” the nurse holding her leg said. “When she has a contraction, hold on to her. It will help her bear down.”
I did as I was told. Elizabeth looked beautiful. Sweaty and pale, but beautiful. I could not have been happier for her. She was about to meet her brand-new baby.
“Aiden is here,” Elizabeth whispered.
I looked over and saw him sitting in a chair against the wall. I’d been so focused on her that I didn’t even see him. I wanted to ask why he was there, but another contraction started. It was better to wait anyway.
The minutes ticked away and Elizabeth grew more and more fatigued. A hard contraction hit, and she pushed with all she had. We heard the sweetest words ever.
“I can see the head!” the doctor said.
I looked down to see a tiny little head full of hair crowning.
“I can see him!” I said. “It looks like he has Daddy’s dark hair.”
“I’m burning up!” Elizabeth said.
Without hesitation Aiden made his way over to the sink and put cold water on a cloth before coming to stand next to me. He placed it on her forehead and gently wiped her face and neck with it. Elizabeth sighed in relief just before another contraction hit. Over and over, she pushed through the pain. After several more minutes, his little shoulders cleared, and he was pulled free. Within moments he was screaming, and I certainly wanted to. There was so much crying. The baby was crying. Elizabeth was crying. I was crying. And not one, but both of the boys were crying.
Aiden’s jaw had fallen open as he watched the nurses clean the little guy up. Aiden watched them use suction to clear his nose and throat, all while that tiny little thing screamed, and as they wiped him down, removing the fluid and blood from him before wrapping him in a blanket.
“He’s so small,” Aiden said.
My heart was pounding in my chest as I studied him. He was enamored with the baby. He was so curious and excited about him.
“I’ve never seen anything so beautiful in my entire life,” he mumbled. I wasn’t quite sure if he’d said it for anyone in particular to hear, or if it was just for himself, but it was clear that he’d meant it.
My stomach rolled again, and I had to excuse myself to run into the bathroom. I threw up the small amount of Gatorade that I’d drank on the way there. When I finished, I sat back on my heels. I pulled a package from my right pocket. It was torn, the white plastic inside showing. I pulled it free just enough to see the dark “+” sign on the small screen. I swallowed hard.
After flushing and washing my hands, I walked back into the room, the test tucked safely away in my pocket again. Elizabeth was holding him tight to her chest, staring into his light sensitive eyes. They were barely open, but she could see they were a deep blue. The nurse told her that color typically turns brown after a few days.
“Auntie Desi, I’d like for you to meet your newest family member. Hunter Caleb Lee.”
I cried again. I couldn’t help it. Everything was so overwhelming. He was so beautiful and perfect. The biggest reason why I was able to move forward, but all of the other reasons were there, too. Elizabeth. Jax. Aiden. The father of my unborn child. The man that had absolutely no idea he was a father. Hell, I didn’t even know until three hours before, but there we all were.
“What’s wrong?” Elizabeth asked, a beautiful smile on her face.
I shook my head. If I opened my mouth, I knew I’d say it. That day wasn’t about me. It was about the beautiful family of three sitting before me.
“Sweetie,” Elizabeth said. “What’s wrong? Come over here and talk to us. Would you like to hold him?”
My chest warmed at the thought. I needed to touch him and to kiss him. I sat down on the edge of the bed and Elizabeth gently laid him in my arms. The second his little eyes opened to look at me, I lost it.
“Hi, Hunter,” I said, sniffling back more tears. “I want you to know that I love you so much. You will never know all the ways that you have helped me. I will never let anything happen to you. I will always be here if you need me.”
I kissed his little face, his soft skin felt so warm and sweet. He made several little noises and I laughed a little. I had no idea that my heart could be so full, but I knew it had only begun. I didn’t want to wait any longer. Aiden waited, and I damned him for it. I wasn’t about to make the same mistake. He deserved to know, and Elizabeth would have murdered me if I didn’t tell her right away, so I decided to tell the whole family.
I passed little Hunter back off to Elizabeth before standing and facing Aiden.
“I’m sorry that I was so cold,” I said. “It took this long for me to get through all of those emails and I finally read the very last one today. You should read it as well. You made a mistake and didn’t tell me something that I felt was very important. Now, as I stand here wanting to run out of the room instead of saying what I need to say, I understand the decision that you made more than ever.”
His brows furrowed. “Thank you. That means a lot to me. I care so much for you. I’ve been miserable without you in my life. You can tell me anything. Don’t ever feel worried or scared. What is it?”
I looked over at Elizabeth and Jax. There was confusion on their faces, but that quickly cleared. Their eyes widened in tandem. I focused back on Aiden and pulled the pregnancy test from my pocket. I looked at it before pulling it from the plastic. I couldn’t bear to look him in the eye as he gently took it from my hand.
“Desi,” he said, his voice barely a whisper. “You’re… We’re going to have a baby?”
He’d said ‘we’re’. I looked up to see tears filling his eyes again.
“Is this right?” he asked. “Am I going to be a daddy, too?”
“I was very sick this morning just before I got the call to get down here. I realized that I was having some other symptoms, so I took a test on the way down. Actually, I took three. All were positive. So, yes. It seems that way.”
A large smile spread across his face as he looked down at my stomach.
“Can I?” he asked, his hand slightly outstretched.
“You won’t be able to feel anything this soon,” I said.
He looked disappointed and I couldn’t resist. I took his hand and placed it on my lower abdomen.
“Please let me fix this,” he said. “I don’t want to miss a second of this. Please let me make this right.”
“Give the man a chance, Des,” Elizabeth said. She was also crying. There were enough tears in that room to sink a ship. “He loves you.”
I remembered Caleb’s words. He said to give Aiden a chance. I was relatively certain he didn’t mean exactly this, but I’m sure he didn’t not mean it either, as Elizabeth had once said. He’d also told me to fall in love again. To have lots of babies. To have a family. Right there it was. Right in front of me. My chance.
“I want to take you out for dinner,” Aiden said. “Just because this isn’t starting traditionally doesn’t mean that we can’t make it perfect. We can have a family. A real family, Desi.”
A smile spread across my lips. He was so desperate for me to say yes and I wanted to. He was a good man. An honorable man. He’d made mistakes, but what person hasn’t? I placed my hand on the side of his face and pulled him down before giving him a soft kiss.
“Don’t be late,” I said.
He smiled as Elizabeth and Jax both cheered in the background. They sure knew how to make it awkward, but I’d brought that on myself when deciding to have that conversation in front of them. We were a family. First it was the three of us and now with six. My life had changed so much in such a short amount of time and it was about to change even more. I thought that I was excited for what the future held before, but that was nothing compared to what I felt at that moment.