Matthew quieted, turning into Bryce’s chest. He couldn’t take his eyes off the infant, but they drifted closed as he leaned down and pressed his lips to his son’s forehead.
“Bryce,” Codi said, and he turned, squared his shoulders, and walked over to her.
“Look how perfect he is,” he said, carefully passing the baby to Codi.
“He’s one hundred percent perfect.” She gazed at Matthew with pure love in her eyes. “How big was he?” Codi asked, and Bryce realized that he’d fallen down on the only job she’d given him.
He turned around and thankfully, the nurse who had given the baby to Bryce said, “Eight pounds, seven ounces. Twenty-one inches long.”
“Oh, you’re such a big boy,” Codi cooed at the little baby.
“You can have two visitors back here at a time, Mister Young.” She held up two fingers, emulating a peace sign. “Two.”
Bryce grinned at her. “You’ve met my family, right, Rhonda?”
“You can take the baby out to them too,” she said. “But we’ll want to give him a bath and make sure that he’s warm enough before you do.”
Bryce nodded, and in fact, they hadn’t even left the delivery room before another nurse entered. “I’m going to take him for his blood tests and his bath. You can come, Daddy. Codi, they’re moving you to four-thirty-four.”
“Four-thirty-four,” Codi said. “Bryce.”
“Four-thirty-four,” he repeated back, torn between staying with her and going with his son. In the end, he went with the nurse, because Codi did not want their baby to be alone.
The nurses who worked in labor and delivery certainlyknew how to do things efficiently, and it only took a couple of minutes to bathe Matthew and wrap him back up in clean blankets and a pale blue hat on his head.
“Is he warm enough?” Bryce asked as they passed the baby back to him.
“He’s doing great,” the nurse said. “Vitals all look good. We got all the blood we need for the tests. He’s yours for a little while.”
“Will Codi be breastfeeding?” another nurse asked. “We have a lactation specialist we can send in.”
“Yes,” Bryce nodded, his voice soft. “Can I take him out to meet my family first?”
“Yes,” the first nurse said. “He should be fine.”
Baby Matthew grunted and snuggled in closer to Bryce, who always wanted to keep the boy close to his heart. He didn’t want to walk without looking at his son, but that proved to be more difficult than he’d like to admit, and he found that he couldn’t carry a baby and walk at the same time—not without looking up.
He did that and pushed out into the waiting room only a few seconds later. This birth was so similar to OJ’s, and yet so different. That had been a time of extreme turmoil and hurt and pain for Bryce, and yet such a celebration in their family. This time he got to enjoy the love and hope and joy a new baby brought to a family.
“He’s here,” Bryce said, though his father’s eyes had already locked onto him. He stood first and reached for Abby’s hand. They came over first, and Bryce tipped Matthew toward themslightly.
“He came really fast,” he said. “Codi dilated like crazy after she got the epidural.”
“It sometimes helps women to calm down,” Abby said. “Look how beautiful he is.”
Bryce passed the baby to his momma, suddenly feeling empty and lost and like he didn’t know what to do with his hands. Daddy wept as he bent over the baby too, and when he looked up, Bryce grabbed onto him and clapped him heartily on the back.
“I’m sorry, Daddy,” he said because Bryce knew that his father had suffered a lot of pain by not being able to be OJ’s grandfather the way that he would have liked.
“Nothing to be sorry about,” Daddy said. He stepped back and turned, gesturing for someone to come over. OJ had stood, and now he practically flew over to their huddle.
“My daddy texted all the uncles,” he said. “He said Luke is gonna behoo-boy-mad.”
Bryce laughed and cried at the same time, and he put his arm around OJ’s skinny shoulders. “This is Matthew,” he said. “He’s kind of your cousin and kind of your brother.”
“Yeah,” OJ said. “Look at him. He’s so small.”
“I think you were a little bit smaller,” Bryce said, though he couldn’t quite remember how big OJ was. “You’re gonna have to fight all the aunts to hold him, but I’m sure you’ll get a chance.”
