Who Knew Then? (What We Know Now?)

We’d hardly had him for more than two or three minutes when the doctors came to take him for measurements and to weigh him and make sure he was all healthy.

“So, what were you two thinking for names?” Tanya asked as she entered the room. She’d left us alone when the doctors had figured I was nearly ready to push, deciding that it was something for just the two of us, although I’d tried to insist that she should stay, seeing as she’d done this twice already. The couple of hours we’d spent in the hospital room had been rough on us, and I was sure Tanya had been on the phone constantly with our family letting them know what was going on. But knowing Tanya she’d probably been waiting for the moment she could burst in and see the baby, and came the instant the doctor said she could.

“Well,” Jared started, looking to me.

“We’re kind of stuck between two right now,” I told her, and she looked at us expectantly.

“We can’t decide between Benjamin or Patrik,” Jared finished.

“Those are both wonderful names! Do you have any idea which one?”

“Um, well I’m almost leaning towards Patrik,” I admitted, and Jared grinned at me before kissing me once more.

“Good, because that’s what I was leaning towards too,” he told me, and kissed me once more.

“So… full name?” Tanya pushed, and I knew she would text Jared’s brothers and our parents as soon as she knew.

“You can’t tell – I get to text everybody and let them know,” Jared quickly informed her, and she looked disappointed.

“Please?”

“No. I’m the dad, that’s my job,” he insisted, and even though she pouted slightly she agreed.

“Patrik Henry Staal,” we told her. Tanya gushed, and looked almost ready to bawl.

“That’s a perfect name, oh my God Henry and Linda are going to flip when they hear that,”

“They’ll flip regardless – they probably think that hit hurt me and sent me to the hospital between periods,” Jared allowed, and I gasped.

“You didn’t tell them?!”

“I was in too much of a hurry trying to get clothes on to come here, let alone text anybody,” he rolled his eyes, making me smack his shoulder.

“Here he is; he’s 9.4lbs, and 22 inches; he’s a good sized baby. But I guess looking at dad that shouldn’t be a surprise,” Dr. Rose beamed as she brought Patrik back into the room. He was fussing and I looked to Tanya, unsure of what to do.

“He’s probably hungry Kassy,” she said, and I felt my face heat up at the more than obvious response.

“It’s okay – I’ll vacate the room,” she offered, and Dr. Rose followed her out.

“Do you want me to go or…”

“No, you can stay. Nothing you haven’t seen before,” I rolled my eyes, earning a grin from my boyfriend. He pulled out his phone and sent a text to his family; Patrik’s size, weight, time of birth, and full name.

“That didn’t seem like a lot,” he worried, and I had to laugh at him this time.

“He’s tiny Jared – imagine how small his stomach is,” I reminded him, and he shrugged.

“I guess so. Mom and dad will probably be here in minutes,” he grinned, wrapping an arm around me and helping me tug my hospital gown back up to where it should be so I didn’t have to try to juggle Patrik.

Sure enough, fifteen minutes later there was knocking and a commotion outside of the hospital door. It startled Patrik, and he whimpered.

“Shh, it’s okay baby, it’s probably just grandma and grandpa wanting to say hi,” Jared cooed, softly stroking Patrik’s arm with his finger until the baby boy quieted down a bit. He then got up and opened the door, to be enveloped by a hug from his dad.

“Congratulations!” he couldn’t contain the beaming smile on his face as one by one his entire family congratulated him.

“And guess what – we won! We’re going to the playoffs!” Eric announced, and he and Jared hugged each other even tighter.

“Hear that?” he asked me excitedly, making me laugh.

“Yes I did,” I replied, kissing him softly as he leaned over.

“So, everybody, we’d like you to meet Patrik Henry Staal,” he said, and as expected Lindsay and Linda gushed over him. Eric gave him a smile and softly tickled his arm, Jordan grinned and announced he was a ‘Staal through and through’ and Marc fawned over him, just as I’d expected.

“Do you want to hold him?” I offered, and Jared and I both smiled as Marc’s face lit up.

“You’re sure?” he asked, and Jared nodded, helping Marc take the small bundle from my arms and settle him into Marc’s.

“He’s so tiny,” Marc said in awe, making me snort.

“Yeah, he seems tiny now – he didn’t seem so tiny a half an hour ago,” that had Linda, Tanya and Lindsay all cracking up, knowing exactly what I meant, while Henry and Jordan’s faces turned a deep shade of red.

“Can I hold him?” Jordan’s voice was apprehensive. He was amazing with kids, but for some reason babies made him nervous.

“Of course you can Jordan,” I encouraged him, and Jared helped Marc move Patrik into his other uncle’s arms. After a few moments of being petrified a smile broke out across his face and he softly rocked back and forth, completely enjoying himself.

I leaned into Jared as he sat down beside me on the bed, watching his family gush over and pass around our newborn son. I strained my neck slightly to kiss his cheek, making him smile at me.

“Thanks Jared,” his brow furrowed slightly in confusion.

“For what?”

“For everything – all of this, and for being here,” I answered, kissing him once more. He met my kiss, softly running his tongue along my lip before pulling away.

“And thank you for giving me the life I’ve always dreamed of Kass,” he breathed in response. Content, I leaned into him and watched our family.