When she was finally asleep, I walked downstairs to sit in the dark of the living room with my head in my hands.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I drew it out. I had a missed text message from Gwen, checking in. I replied to it, telling her I hadn’t heard anything lately, and that I wouldn’t be at work tomorrow.
Gwen:Let me know how I can help, Alaric. I’m here for you both. Xo
Before I could reply to her, my phone started to ring, the display showing an unknown number. Since it was after eleven, I took the call.
“Hello?”
“Alaric? It’s Mason.” I tensed. I had limited contact with Mason—always had. Cheryl made sure we wouldn’t cross paths too much, likely knowing I had a deep-set resentment toward the man. When it came to Sawyer, I did; I wanted to be the one tucking her in at night. He had her all the times I didn’t, and that was hard to stomach.
“How’s the baby?”
“Stable,” Mason said on exhale, the exhaustion he must have felt evident in his voice. “When we got to the hospital, they couldn’t stop the labour. The baby was breech and in distress, and Cheryl was losing amniotic fluid. She was born via caesarean section at eight o’clock this evening. She’s got fluid in the lungs, so she’s in an incubator in NICU on CPAP until that clears up. The doctor says anywhere from one to six weeks for that. They’re still running tests, but everything else seems good—her heart is strong.”
“I’m glad to hear,” I said, relaxing back against the chair. “How’s Cheryl holding up?”
“Good. She’s still numb and a little out of it from the surgery. She’s sleeping now, but she wants Sawyer to come to the hospital tomorrow.” Mason replied. I’m sure this conversation wasn’t easy for him, either.
“What time works best?”
“Any time,” Mason said. “Visiting hours go from eight to eight.”
“We’ll be there at nine,” I told him.
“All right, thanks.”
“Congratulations, Mason. I’m glad they’re both okay.”
“Me too,” he choked out, emotion clogging his throat. “See you guys tomorrow.”
* * *
We stoppedat the hospital gift store so that Sawyer could get a present for her new baby sister. She picked out a soft pink giraffe baby rattle with a Harley Davidson patch and hugged it to her chest. “My sister will like this one.”
I smiled. “Okay. Let’s go pick out some flowers too, for your mom.” We moved toward the refrigerator wall. “What about that? It has a balloon.” I pointed at a white basket with assorted pink and white flowers, with a balloon that read‘It’s a Girl!’
“Yes! Mommy will love that!” Sawyer nodded eagerly, and I lifted it down. We made our way to the counter to pay before we took the elevator to the neonatal intensive care unit.
“Remember, be gentle with your mom. She’s just had surgery, so she’s going to be a little sore.”
“Okay,” Sawyer nodded seriously, her brow creased with worry. I squeezed her hand gently, and she looked up.
“It’ll be all right. Everybody’s going to be fine,” I told her, smiling.
Knocking lightly against Cheryl’s door, I waited until they’d granted us permission to come in.
“Hi, baby,” Cheryl said to our daughter. She looked pale and exhausted, but she was sitting up with a tray of food nearby.
I lingered by the door, watching while Sawyer went to the side of Cheryl’s bed and gave her a gentle hug and kiss. “Hi, Mommy. Where’s my sister? I got her a present.” Sawyer said, showing her the rattle.
“Oh, that’s so sweet. She’s going to love it.” Cheryl smiled, taking it from her and patting the bed beside her. “I’m going to go and visit her in a little bit. Did you want to come with me?”
“Yes!” Sawyer nodded eagerly. “Can Daddy come too?”
“Only direct family can visit the baby right now,” Cheryl replied, looking to me with an apology.
“Daddy’s direct family,” Sawyer pointed out.
