The beautiful, gut-wrenching sound of a newborn baby’s wail filled the air, and Lacy burst into tears.
Mitch, she said, waving his name sign with one hand.Go see her. Go see her.
He left his position at her shoulder and moved to the end of the bed. The doctor held up the baby, a look of wonder on her face. “I know you guys were expecting a girl, but I hope you have some male names picked out too, because your babyboyis here.”
Lacy could only stare at the bright, angry red infant ashescreamed. Then the doctor handed him to a nurse, who wrapped him up in a warm blanket and turned to put him on a table.
Mitch stood there at her side, pressing in close and asking,He’s a boy? We were supposed to have a girl,to no one in particular. The nurse certainly couldn’t understand him, and Lacy smiled. He lookedover to her, and she loved him all the more when she saw tears rolling down his face.
Stay with him, she said.I’m fine. I want you to stay with him.
Mitch nodded, and Lacy called, “Remember, my husband’s deaf, but he wants to stay with the baby. Just show him what you want him to do, and he’ll do it.”
“We’ve got it,” the nurse said. “We’re gonna get his blood to do all of our newborn testing, and I know you want a hearing test.”
“Yes,” Lacy said. “And Mitch wants to give him a bath and show him to his parents, if he can, before I have to nurse him.”
“Well, let’s deliver this afterbirth,” Dr. Marsdon said. “And then whatever you two want to do is fine with me.”
28
Mitch Glover finished gently dripping the warm water onto his son’s head. The baby had absolutely no hair whatsoever, and joy coursed through him in a way he’d never felt before. The baby looked up at him with deep eyes mostly made of pupil, and nothing but love lived inside Mitch.
Everything inside his mind felt noisy, and he wanted to tell the baby how much he loved him.
The nurse at his side handed him a diaper, and Mitch put it on the little boy, being careful of his umbilical cord. She handed him the onesie that he’d gotten out of the baby bag Lacy had packed, and it took Mitch a few minutes, but he managed to get the floppy infant’s arms and legs into the clothes.
How’s Lacy?he asked, using his phone, as he’d been gone from her side for about thirty minutes now, while they’d done tests on his son and then given him a bath.
The nurse took his phone and typed into it.She’s doing great. You can take him to see your parents, if you’d like, or we can take him back in there to see if he’ll nurse.
Mitch wanted to be able to introduce his son to his parents with aname, and he and Lacy had thought they were having a little girl. He typed out a quickLacy,and the nurse led him through a maze of white, fluorescently lit halls to a different room, where Lacy now lay in a hospital bed.
Her face brightened as Mitch walked in, their little bundle of joy held tightly in his arms and close to his chest. She reached for him, and Mitch passed the baby to her, and then crowded in beside her and sort of behind her, so she could lean back into his chest. Her voice vibrated through her shoulder, and though Mitch couldn’t hear what she was saying to their son, it comforted him.
She looked up at him and signed with just one hand in slow, stilted ASL.Did you show him to your parents?
Mitch shook his head.He needs a name.
Lacy’s shoulders slumped, and she looked down at the baby again.Something strong, she said.The way your daddy is Cactus and stands sentinel over the family.
Mitch started tapping on his phone, because he’d learned early in life that there was hardly anything he couldn’t figure out on the internet. He hadn’t even been thinking about male names, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to go with something cowboy, something biblical, or something normal.
Mitch had been praying with everything he had since the moment he’d found out Lacy was pregnant the first time that their baby could hear and that he or she would be happy and healthy, even though they had to deal with him as their father.
He typed in his search and then started showing names to Lacy.Caleb—loyalty and courage. Ezra—helper and steadfast.
I like Brooks, he said.Feels rugged and strong.
Lane—quiet strength, he read, and then he sawKnox, and that rang a bell in his heart. He typed it onto a list, knowing that the names in the Glover family meant something and could be a little unusual. He sawShepherdandBridger, and liked the symbolism of both of those.
He showed his short list to Lacy, and it included Ezra, Knox, Griffin—a mythic guardian—Shepherd, and Bridger.
She considered the list while their beautiful boy slept in her arms. He didn’t seem too terribly concerned with eating, and Lacy looked good, with plenty of color in her face, as she studied his phone. She looked up and then pointed toKnox, and thenShepherd.
Those are my top two. You choose, she said.
Mitch looked at the phone, but she put her hand over it and he looked up again. She spoke slowly so he could read the words on her mouth—something she rarely made him do.
