Hip To My Heart

After several long hours of being in labor and having to put my body through pain for a couple more hours, I was exhausted as could be. I think my body sensed it before I could, because I literally fell asleep before I even knew I was falling asleep. And the sleep didn’t last long either. It must have only been an hour or two before they brought in mine and Chay’s little munchkin from the nursery room, where he was washed off, weighed, measured, and then wrapped in a warm blanket.

Our nurse, who I had actually gotten to know pretty well these in the last 36 hours, had first given our baby boy to me before slipping out of the room. He looked absolutely precious… No, more than precious. I had never seen anything so beautiful in my life. Though I was in too much of pain to be in any emotional state, a tear nonchalantly slipped down my face as he wrapped his tiny fingers around my index finger.

I examined his face to search for traits. He had Chay’s nose, he had my chin. I couldn’t see what his hair looked like because of the green knit hat he was wearing—compliment of the hospital—but I hoped he had orange hair just like his dad’s.

“He’s beautiful,” Chay says, “Looks just like you.” I could have sworn I heard a quiver in his voice. I look up at him.

“Are you crying?” I ask, watching a tear on his face slide down his cheek.

He smiles. “You are too.” He defends himself. I opened my mouth to say something until our nurse, Carissa, comes back in.

“You have some visitors.” She states, before opening the door all the way. In walked a whole parade of family, both of mine and Chay’s. First were the mothers, whose jaws literally dropped when they saw me holding the baby. Next were our dads, then my younger brothers, and Chay’s older brother Colby with his wife Natasha.

“Want to hold him?” Chay said looking out our mothers. They nodded at the same time. Chay’s mom, being the generous lady that she is, took a step back and patted my mom’s back, signaling for her to hold him first. My mom’s face lit up and she smiled at me. I looked up at Chay, flashing him a smirk as he leaned down to pick up our baby. He held him tightly, almost as if it were an instinct, and gently bounced him as he walked to my mom. Then the sweetest thing happened: before he handed him off to my mom he gently pecked him on the forehead. I smiled, telling myself I would never forget that moment. The very first kiss on the forehead he’s gotten, from his daddy.

After my mom held her grandson for about ten minutes, she handed him off to Chay’s mom. After that I lost track, but all I knew was that he had got passed around to everyone at least twice.

“Have you picked out a name yet?” My brother Alex asked as he held his little nephew.

“No,” I said. “Not yet.”

“He looks like a Chay Jr. to me.” Colby remarked, followed by chuckles from the rest of us.

“We were actually thinking Trevor.” Chay retorts as he sits in the chair next to me. The sound of “oooh’s” and “ahhh’s” trailed after he spoke. He looks at me, smiles, then interlocks his fingers with mine. We had already received kudos from our parents for picking out a good name, which meant we were off to a good start. I just hoped it was a sign it would continue to be good after this. Only, I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, especially since Chay was going to be busy with his hockey career. We had already made plans that I would be a stay-at-home mom while he works, but I knew it was going to be tough without him being around.

“Well sweetheart, it’s getting late, we better get going.” Chay’s mom said as she yawned and looked at her watch. I had lost track of time nearly two days ago when we arrived her, but I guessed it had to be around 9 o’ clock or so. “I had a lovely time though. We’ll be back here to see you tomorrow though, okay.” She walks up to Chay and kisses him on the forehead, and then she turns to me. “Take care of yourself honey,” She tenderly swipes the hair out of my eyes then leans over to kiss me on the forehead as well. “Get rested up.” I smile and nod at her. The rest of Chay’s family waves goodbye before they leave, which left my family still in the room.

“Well we better get going to; it’s been a long day.” My mom says, walking towards us. Chay stood up, giving my mom a hug and patting her on the back. When they’re finished my mom moves towards me, hugs and kisses me, and while that’s happening my dad shakes Chay’s hand, congratulating him. I also receive a hug and a kiss from my dad, and also from my brothers before finally receiving back our baby boy. They say goodbye as well before leaving, and though I knew they’d be back to visit tomorrow, I couldn’t help but miss them already.

Chay shuts the door behind them, and then softly pads back to his chair. When he sits, he lets out a huge, exhausted sigh. I laughed.

“What?” He looks at me as if I’m crazy.

“You tired?” I ask.

“Yeah,” he smiles. “But not as much as you I bet.”

I smile back. “Want to hold him? You’ve barely gotten to all day.”

“Of course.” He grins. After grabbing the baby from my arms, he holds him ever so sweetly and examines his face, almost like how I was earlier today.

“Wow, he has your chin.”

I laugh some more. “He has your nose.”

He tilts his head, then after a moment he nods. “Yeah, you’re right, he does.”

After a brief moment of silence, I speak again. “What should we name him?”

“We’ll decide that in the morning. Right now you need to get some sleep. Can I get you anything first?”

“Yeah, I could really use a drink.”

He looks at me funny. “Um, no. I read in one of those ‘What to Expect When You’re Expecting’ books and it said you shouldn’t drink alcohol for up to three months after giving birth.”

I smiled. “Actually I meant a glass of water, but thank you for the information. I’ll be sure not to have alcoholic drinks for the next three months.” My smart-ass remark was a sign that I was feeling a little bit better.

“Oh,” he laughs, “Right, well just hang tight.” He carefully places the baby in the bassinet that was provided to us by the hospital. “I’ll be right back with your wah-ter.” He says with emphasis. But before he came back with my ‘wah-ter’, I had already dozed off, dreaming about how life was going to be for literally the rest of my life.

~*~

The next morning, I was awoken by the nurse, this time it was a different one. I could smell the scent of eggs, bacon, and toast, and immediately I was stricken out of my exhaustion. I was probably more hungry then tired being that the only thing I ate the last two days was half of sandwich Chay bought from the cafeteria. Then, as the thought hit me, I looked toward the empty chair next to me. Where in the world was Chay?

“Sorry to wake you hun,” the nurse says, “But I brought you some breakfast. I imagine you’re really hungry after all you’ve been through.”

“Yes,” I reply. “I am, thank you.”

“No problem.” She helps me sit up so I can maneuver the tray that was bolted onto the bed over the top of me. She then placed the platter of food on my tray equipped with a glass of orange juice. “If you need anything, just press this button and let me know.” She says pointing at the remote that was connected to the bed. I nodded, but wasn’t exactly paying attention due to my hungriness. I literally dug into the food as quick as I could. I could say that I scarfed it down in a matter of minutes, right when Chay returned from the room.

He tilted his head when he saw the empty plate sitting on my tray. “When did you get that?”

“A few minutes ago, why?”

His eyes went wide. “I literally left five minutes ago to get a coffee, and you’ve already scared down your breakfast!?”

I shrugged then explained. “I was hungry.”

He chuckled. “Well, I just got a call from my mom. She said she’d bring us lunch. Anything specific that you want?”

Nodding, I immediately replied. “I’m really craving some Red Pepper right now. Tell her to get me anything. I could literally eat a cow right now.”

He laughs again. “You must be feeling better.”

“I actually am, yeah.” I smiled, realizing that I really did feel a hell of a lot better than yesterday. “Was he okay all through the night? I didn’t wake up once.” I changed the subject, obviously talking about the baby.

“Yeah, actually he only woke up once for a diaper change. Then he went straight back to sleep. He’s probably getting hungry now though.” I nodded in agreement.

The rest of the day happened in a blur. After first learning how to breastfeed the baby, Chay’s family came for lunch, then they left. Then my family came for supper, and then they left. In fact, that day was probably the busiest out of all of them. I was finally able to get out of bed and walk around, which meant I was able to get back to normal quicker. I thankfully was able to shower my sweaty, gross self, and when I was finished I felt a lot better. When I returned in the room though, I saw Chay cuddled up with the baby, who we finally decided to name Trevor Brian, cuddled up on the bed. I laughed and crawled in beside them. I somehow nuzzled myself into Chay’s arms and put a hand on Trevor too. I smiled. It felt so peaceful at the moment; just me, Chay, and Trevor. We were a family, a happy family. I closed my eyes and told myself to get some sleep, because tomorrow was going to be a big day.

We were finally going to get out of this hospital. We were going home.