Tommy kissed the top of his son’s head. “Hey little baby. Do you like your name? It was my grandfather’s. It means light, and you are the light of my life.”
Angel fingered the soft blond wisps of Lucas’s hair. “He’s so beautiful. So precious.” He kissed the tip of his finger and touched it to the baby’s forehead.
Listening to Tommy and Angel fawn over Lucas was more than Jessi’s heart could take, and she was unable to keep the happy tears at bay. They streamed down her cheeks behind an emotional smile that bordered on a sob.
After six hours of labor, Jessi was physically exhausted, and her arms trembled. “Do one of you want to hold him?”
Tommy carefully lifted his son with the awkward and clumsy movements of someone who had never held a baby before. Lucas made a tiny noise and stretched his arms at the transition, and then he yawned and quickly fell asleep. Tommy relaxed and a proud smile spread across his face. “I have a son!”
A soft gurgle woke Jessi with a startle.
“I got him. You can go back to sleep, sweetheart. You had a busy morning.” Angel coddled Lucas in his arms and hummed softly.
It had been a busy morning. All three of their families had arrived before 10:00 a.m., eager to welcome the first grandchild. Jessi was tempted to return to her nap, but she would much rather watch Angel rock the baby in his arms. She admired the bond between the two of them, ignited by Angel’s constant singing to the baby for the past nine months. Even an unborn child fell victim to the heavenly tone of Angel’s voice. “Where’s Tommy?” she asked.
“He stepped out for a minute.” Angel sat on the bed next to her, shoulder to shoulder, so they could both gaze down at the miracle in his arms.
She placed a gentle kiss on her son’s pale blond hair. “Happy one-day-old birthday, Lucas.”
“He’s a day old.” Angel squared his shoulders, and his chest was robust. He was so proud of this baby and held so much love for Lucas. Her hormones must be running rampant because she started to tear up, and her smile quivered. Angel didn’t notice, because he didn’t take his eyes off the baby.
The door swung open, and an enormous bouquet of sky blue roses filled its frame. Whimsical laughter flowed over Jessi’s lips. “They’re beautiful! Where did you get them?”
With his vision blocked by the wide floral arrangement, Tommy teetered into the room blindly. “I almost needed a hand truck for this thing.” A nurse behind him wheeled an extra nightstand into the room and set it against the wall. Tommy set the oversized floral arrangement down with a grunt. “I didn’t know flowers could be so heavy.”
Jessi slid her legs over the side of the bed and paused. Everything down below was still sore and hindered her movements. Tommy came to her side and supported her elbow. She was going to miss this attention once she was back on her feet and recovered from pregnancy and birth.
She went to the bouquet, stuck her nose in the center and circled her arms around them. “They’re gorgeous. Thank you, baby.”
He slipped his arm around her waist and kissed her neck. “Nothing’s too good for you, hon. I wanted to fill the room with them, but I settled on six dozen. They’re not just from me. They’re from Angel, too.”
She turned to Angel, who was putting Lucas down in the basinet. “Thank you, Angel. You two are too good to me.”
“You’re welcome, sweetheart.”
“They’re so beautiful.” She pulled one free from the vase and admired the color, then traced it down Tommy’s cheek. The flower was the exact color of his eyes. “How in the world did you get flowers this blue?”
“It was my special request,” Angel explained. “We ordered them weeks ago.”
Tommy’s cheeks flushed. “I told him to get any color blue. They didn’t have to match my eyes.”
“Of course they did, mi amor. Look how happy they made Jessi.”
She nodded. “I love them so much more because of the color.”
Angel took another flower and also placed it softly against Tommy’s cheekbone. “The way they resemble your eyes is like the ocean reflecting the sky. Two beautiful images colliding to make one, the same way you and Jessi merged to make Lucas. Your collective beauty and love made another human being. Nothing is more beautiful than that.” He traced the flower down the side of Tommy’s face and over his lips, and then he did the exact same thing to Jessi. He placed one hand on the back of Jessi’s neck and the other behind Tommy’s head. He gently glided their faces together, and then leaned forward so the three of them shared a joint kiss. Their lips met with a soft pucker. One of their tongues, either Tommy’s or Angel’s, moistened their kiss, and then three tongues tangled together. Arms circled each other’s waist and their bodies pulled closer together. Jessi yearned for them, but she put the brakes on her overzealous hormones. “We have to remember there’s a baby in the room.”