Jennifer bit her lip before saying, “I can feel it. It doesn’t hurt, but I still feel it.”
“I can see the baby. Okay, here she goes.” Mark squeezed her hand.
Jennifer’s eyes squeezed shut as the doctor made the final incisions.
Then, finally, “Okay folks, we have a...a baby girl! Congratulations!”
“It’s a girl, Jennifer,” Mark said as he leaned over to see the baby.
“Why isn’t she crying?” Jennifer opened her eyes and stretched her neck to try to see over the curtain.
Mark wanted to settle her mind, but he couldn’t. A few moments passed.
She squeezed his hand tighter. “Mark, why isn’t she crying?”
The nurses went through the steps with his new daughter and all Mark could do was stand by and watch. Her purple body lay completely limp on the warming table. Afraid his eyes would betray him he whispered, “She will soon.” Her hand went slack and his worst nightmares came to life. Jennifer’s eyes were closed, and her face a sickly grey. “Doc?”
The fear rose in his voice.
“We’re losing a lot of blood here, people,” Doctor Simmons shouted. “I need suction, start that bag...”
****
Mark paused at the double door of the waiting room before pushing it open. Four sets of eyes turned to him as Rebecca, Sally, Ruth and Albert waited to hear the wonderful news. He removed the surgical cap and sat in a chair. Not quite sure how to talk, not sure how much to tell.
Sally looked from him to the others and back again. “Mark?”
“We have a girl.” Everything from the past half hour washed over him. The quiet in the waiting room felt strange, warm and wonderful compared to the terror he’d just experienced.
“A Girl! Aww, I have a niece,” Rebecca started.
“How’s Jennifer?” Sally asked as Mark continued to sit quietly.
Jennifer. His love. The fear he’d felt as the doctor tried to stop the bleeding was like nothing he’d ever felt before. “There were some complications.” He took a few deep breaths. It was over now. He looked up at Sally. “Jennifer lost some blood. The cord was wrapped around the baby’s neck.”
His fear passed, everything happened so quickly. “Emma is in NICU and they were closing Jennifer up when I left. Everyone should be fine.”
Mark’s eyes burned as tears traced down his face, overwhelmed by the emotion of the day. “I have a daughter. I have a little girl.”
Ruth came over and sat next to him, pulling him into her arms. “This is wonderful, so wonderful.”
The clean, pale room didn’t look right. They should be celebrating! “We have to get flowers. I need to get Jennifer some flowers.”
“I have balloon for baby,” Albert said.
Mark stood and pulled Albert into a hug. “It’s a girl!”
Everyone started talking at once. “A girl!” “Emma!” “How wonderful!”
The nurse entered the waiting room. “Jennifer is settled in her room, Dad, any time you want to go see her.”
“Rebecca,” Mark began.
“Don’t worry, I’ll go get her the prettiest flowers I can find. Let us know when we can come in, okay?”
“I will.”
Mark walked back to Jennifer’s room dizzy with happiness. The baby had finally cried a few moments after she was out and the cord was unwrapped. She had amazing lungs. The only reason she’d gone to NICU was to bring up her oxygen levels before she went into the nursery. Jennifer and Mark hadn’t been able to hold her yet, but she was breathing. And she was healthy. Nothing else mattered.
“Knock, knock.” Mark spoke the words quietly as he entered her room. Fatigue had painted dark circles under Jennifer’s closed eyes, but her chest rose and fell steadily as she slept. Mark sat down beside the bed and picked up her hand. He kissed it and held it in his own. He sat there and watched her breathe. His Jennifer. Reaching forward, he caressed her brow.
“Mmm?” Her eyes stayed closed.
He kissed her cheek. “Rest, my love.”
****
Holding Emma in her arms, Jennifer caressed the baby’s forehead. “She’s perfect, right? I mean, she’s absolutely beautiful. Not every baby is this perfect at first, right?”
She’d done little more than fawn over their baby ever since the nurse rolled the bassinet back into the room. She has the perfect cry, right? She has the perfect little toes, the perfect fingers, look at her perfectly long fingers.
He felt the same way. Emma’s round cheeks, cherub head and tiny button nose couldn’t have been more adorable. And with the sprinkle of red hair and Jennifer’s pouty lips, it seemed certain Mark would have many sleepless nights as she grew older.