Chapter One
The last push ended with a tremendous sense of relief as Presley Ann’s son entered the world. Wrung out and absolutely elated, she collapsed against her sister, Leah, who had served as her coach.
“You did it, Mom!” Dr. Emma Rivers crowed as she cleared the baby’s mouth and held up Presley Ann’s son for her to see, the doctor’s eyes twinkling as she gently placed the infant on her chest. “There you go, Mama.”
Laying a tremulous hand around her son’s tiny warm back, Presley Ann fumbled for the snaps on the shoulder of her hospital gown but it had gotten sweaty and twisted while she’d been in labor.
Glancing up from her work, her labor and delivery nurse Tracey said, “Here, honey, let me help you.” She pulled the snaps loose and helped move the baby onto Presley Ann’s chest. “Would you look at that little head of jet black hair?”
Presley Ann pulled the baby closer to her, marveling at how tiny he was, and tears welled in her eyes as she snuggled him close on her bare chest. She cooed at him as he drew his fists close to his face and a knot tightened her throat when his lips bowed upward.
“Would you look at that?” Tracey whispered. “I know people say that’s gas or just a coincidence but, honey, I think he’s happy to be with his mama.”
Leah sniffled as she lay a gentle hand on the back of his head and in a voice that cracked she whispered, “I think so, too. You did it, sis. He’s gorgeous.”
Tracey nodded. “Trust me, honey. They don’t come out naturally looking much prettier than that.”
Presley Ann gazed at him, utterly awed. She brushed his tiny lower lip, noting its perfect fullness and the bow in his upper lip. She stroked his black, perfectly arched brows, and marveled at his long, thick, black eyelashes.
As Tracey rubbed at his hair with a towel, the black tufts stood up and Presley Ann remembered that jet black hair. He was the image of his father. Utter joy tinged with sorrow mixed together in her heart. A deep sob welled up and she let it out as she held him close and kissed his brow.
Leah held her close and kissed the side of her head and the three women let her cry as she gazed at her son, feeling protective and terrified in the same breath.
Leah took pictures of the baby and began letting their friends know as the sun rose in the sky. Once Emma was done and the baby was cleaned up, they moved her into a patient room and Leah left to run errands. Although Leah was allowed to come and go, visiting hours wouldn’t start for a while and the room was soon blessedly quiet.
Despite her aches and pains, her heart hummed with a lush sense of achievement. She’d done this. She’d brought this perfect little being into the world. She sat in her hospital bed, enthralled as her baby opened his eyes and gazed up at her. With gentle hands she laid the swaddled infant in front of her and opened the receiving blanket so she could take a good look at him. He was still bright red, and he watched her with equal intensity as she pulled the stocking cap from his head and all his starkly black hair stood straight up. She smiled at him and rubbed the soft strands. “You are beautiful.”
He drew up his knees and his face scrunched as he let out a soft squawk that made her smile. His diaper was teeny-tiny, wrapped around his little butt, and his legs were like string beans.
“Don’t worry, sweet pea, we’re gonna fill you out fast.” Never in a million years would she have believed that she would want to breastfeed but it felt like the right choice. His presence in her life had forced her to make changes at a deep level, to become a person she liked.
She reached for the tiny, super soft sleeper she’d brought with her, and gathered the leg up to slip his foot into it. It hadn’t occurred to her that he might be wriggly as she worked, but she accomplished her goal of dressing him with only a little drama—just in time for him to poop his diaper.
Stripping the sleeper off of his bottom half, she opened his diaper and gaped. “Good Lord, boy. Did you eat algae?” A giggle escaped from her and she prayed as she cleaned him that she didn’t royally screw this new job up. She cooed in sympathy when his little jaw trembled as he howled indignantly in reaction to the cold wipes.
“My goodness you have good lungs, sweet pea. Hush now, Mama’s got you.”
Once she’d wrapped up the hazardous materials, she re-diapered and got him dressed again. After swaddling him, just like Tracey had showed her, she breathed a sigh of relief and said, “Ready for something else that’s new and different? Oh yeah, me too. You and I are a team now, little man.”
She knew the pep talk was for her as much as for him and tugged at the snaps on her hospital gown. Tracey had coached her on breastfeeding a little earlier, before leaving her alone with the baby. “Let’s just pretend like this is old hat for us, okay? We’ve done this a million times.”