She nods, then rolls one of the plastic tubs close to the window, and I get my first look at her. The tubes and wires are all still there, but they fall away when I stare at the beautiful little face. She’s tiny, even tinier than I expected.
“Is she okay?” I ask loudly.
The nurse gives me a small nod before walking away to tend to one of the other babies.
The only movement Anna makes is the rise and fall of her little chest. I don’t know how long I lean my head against that glass wall and stare at her. After a while, I realize my forehead has gone numb.
“Bye, sweet baby. I’ll be back to see you soon,” I whisper, and blow her a kiss.
I backtrack the way I came, then turn left toward the other hall.
Margot’s door is closed, and I hesitate before pushing it open. It’s the moment of truth. Hopefully my parents stuck with the plan to stay at Margot’s.
As quietly as possible, I slip into the dark room. Brad is asleep upright in a chair, a blanket thrown over him, and he’s snoring loudly. Margot is in the bed, buried under a mountain of covers. There are several machines surrounding her, numbers lighting up the area.
I tiptoe to the bed and whisper, “Margot?”
Her head turns toward my voice, but her eyes remain closed. She looks really pale, and there are dark circles under her eyes. I decide it’s not worth waking her. I came to see Anna and I’ve accomplished that.
I turn and head toward the door, but her voice stops me.
“Sophie? Is that you?”
I spin around and within seconds I’m at the side of her bed.
“Yes. I’m here,” I whisper, then glance at Brad. He hasn’t moved a muscle.
“What are you doing here?” Her voice is groggy, and it looks like it takes a lot of effort to open her eyes.
“I promised I would come see the baby when she was born.”
She stares at me a moment, then slowly scoots over, patting the space next to her. Gently, I crawl into the bed next to her and lace my fingers with hers.
She squeezes my hand. “Dad will kill you if he finds out.”
“That’s why we won’t tell him I was here.”
We lie there in silence and I think she’s fallen back asleep until she asks, “Did you see her?”
“She’s perfect,” I answer. “Totally worth the sausage toes.”
Margot laughs, then moans as if it hurts.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
She nods. “Yeah. Everything is sore, especially where they opened me up for the C-section.”
“Thank you for giving her my name. I’m going to be the best aunt ever.”
Margot tilts her head until her forehead rests against mine. “I know you will.”
There are so many things I want to say to her, to ask her, but she looks exhausted.
“I so wish I could have seen you dressed as Mary.” Her voice is sleepy and her eyes are closed.
“Margot, that was the worst.”
“So which one was the best?”
