It Takes Someone Special to Be a Dad

Evgeni’s POV
The big day had finally arrived. Kate hadn’t slept at all she was up every hour and as much as she tried not to she woke me up too. I didn’t blame her, I was nervous, hoping and praying that everything would go smoothly and we would have our little boy back in one piece.

We snuck into Asher’s bedroom and I climbed into his bed to wake him.
“Jeffrey, Copper,” I called the two dogs to help me.
“Wake up, little man,” Kate sat on the edge of his bed and ran her hand through his hair.
He stirred before trying to pull the blankets up over his head, “no wake up,” I stopped him.
“No,” he grumbled.
“Yes, it’s your big day remember,” Kate kissed his forehead before getting up and rummaging through his closet.

“Up,” I ran my finger up his neck it being his most ticklish spot.
“Stop,” he tried not to smile.
“No,” I grabbed him and hung him up in the air. He began giggling and squirming before he crash landed on my stomach.
“Be careful you two,” Kate looked disapprovingly at me.
“What?” I tried my best innocent face which Asher took one step further with his adorable puppy dog eyes.
“Don’t encourage him,” she pointed her finger at me and left with the animals following her.

I was making the most of the happy little boy in my arms. We had no idea how he would come out of the surgery. Would he be the same little happy boy I fell in love with? Would something go wrong? We didn’t know.

Kate’s POV
I was a bag of nerves as we packed the car, “you comfy?” I asked as Asher wiggled himself in his car seat.
“Yes,” he nodded.
“Good,” I tucked him in his blanket and handed him his teddy, “here you go.”
He snuggled in and closed his eyes drifting back off to sleep before Evgeni got in the car.

When we got to the hospital the nurse led us to what would be Asher’s room for the hopefully only the next few days.
“Here is his gown, and the doctor should be in soon,” she smiled before leaving.

There was a knock at the door but it wasn’t the doctor, “Mama, Papa,” Evgeni smiled and welcomed them with a hug.
“Hey,” I smiled as his mother came over and kissed me on the cheek.
“How you?” her English lacked a lot more than Evgeni’s but we managed.
“Good,” I continued trying to get Asher’s shirt off so I could put his robe on.

The doctor eventually came in with a nurse in tow and Evgeni’s parents had to leave.
“Alright, now it’s going to be a long day,” the doctor sat down in the chair at the end of Asher’s bed where we sat.

He began explaining everything that would go on and how it would happen but it wasn’t making me feel anymore reassured.
“Don’t worry; I will make sure everything goes to plan.”

He checked Asher over one last time before the dreaded IV needles were due to be placed in his arm.
“Shhh, it’s ok,” I held him tightly as the tears streamed down his face, “your such a brave little boy,” I kissed his forehead and ran my hand through his soon to be gone hair.

Evgeni picked Asher up and we took him out into the waiting room where Evgeni’s parents were, “woah, where did you guys come from?” I looked around at all the familiar faces of the team.
“Couldn’t miss seeing my number one guy,” Vero stole Asher from Evgeni.

They each took it in turns to shower him with hugs and kisses before we were finally able to take him back to his room where the anesthesiologist was waiting.

Evgeni held Asher as the needle was slipped into his arm before putting him in his bed. We got to tuck him with what could be the last time but we weren’t thinking that way. “See you buddy, we will be here when you wake up. I love you,” I kissed his little forehead as he drifted off into a deep sleep.

“He be ok,” Evgeni wrapped his strong arms around me as they wheeled Asher off down the hall.
“I hope so,” I felt a tear stream down my cheek.
“Hey,” he grabbed my chin and made me look at him, “he is strong ok?”
“Ok,” I nodded as he captured my lips.

Evgeni’s POV
For hours I paced the waiting room floor, for hours Kate stared at the screen that told us where he was.

“He is in recovery!” she announced as everyone perked up around us.
“Thank god,” I sighed rushing over to her and wrapping my arms around her.

“Kate,” the doctor came in. She pulled away and headed straight for him, desperation all over her face. I quickly followed wanting to know if he was ok.

“The surgery went as best as we could hope.”
“What does that mean?” she scrunched up her face. I could see she was about to get worked up if we weren’t given answers, “it means we don’t know how he is going to be but I can tell you he is going to wake up.”
“Well can we go see him?” she questioned.
“Sure,” he led us through the big white doors to the ICU.

Kate’s POV
My heart was pounding as he pulled back the curtain to reveal my little boy. He had a chunk of hair cut from the left side of his head with a patch of dressing over it.

His little eyes struggled to open and I rushed to his bedside, “hey sweetie,” I ran my hand through what was left of his hair, “how are you?”
He looked at me and tried to smile before his eyes shut again, “he is still waking up,” the nurse offered.

I sat on the edge of his bed holding his hand. Evgeni watched my like a hawk as I waited; hoping and praying for everything to be ok. That he would be the same little boy he was just yesterday.

“Mummy, daddy,” he mumbled as his little hand squeezed mine.
Evgeni looked relieved, “still dad,” he smiled leaning over and kissed Asher’s forehead.
“Always dad,” I smothered our little man’s face with kisses.