She opened her arms as Aiden stepped up into the hallway and let himself be held. Enya’s heart raced, trying not to jump ahead, her gut a jumble of nerves as she tried to work out if they were happy or sad tears. Eventually, he pulled away, wiped his face on the sleeve of his jacket and, following her lead, tiptoed into the kitchen. Here, too, she quietly closed the door. Aiden spoke, instantly putting her out of her misery.
‘A little girl. We’ve got a little girl, Amelia Jennifer Enya Brown. Seven pounds, three ounces. Mother and baby are doing well.’
His words sounded a little rehearsed as they coasted out on a wave of pure emotion.
‘Oh, Aiden!’ Enya placed her hand over her mouth and tried to order the complex range of emotions, but delight at the fact her name would form part of this little girl’s identity was certainly right up there.
‘She’s beautiful, absolutely beautiful. Holly was amazing – I mean, really incredible.’
‘Were you with her?’
He nodded. ‘Didn’t think I would be, but it all felt very natural. She wanted me to go in and I’m glad I did. It was a privilege and wonderful and overwhelming and a million other things!’ His tears came again, and he pinched his nose.
‘What did Jenny and Phil say?’
‘Oh, they’re beside themselves, as you can imagine. Jenny was in the room with us, Phil was close by. When I left, he was holding Amelia.’
‘Amelia.’ She tested out the name that had already been used a couple of times, the name of a little person who had newly arrived on the planet, her granddaughter! It was surreal, she couldn’t wait to meet her, spend time with her! ‘I’m so excited!’
‘I wish Dad—’ He broke away, no need to expand on the words that she felt keenly.
‘I know.’ She closed her eyes for a second.
‘She’s got hair, Mum, lots of dark hair!’ He reached for his phone.
‘Oh my God! You took pictures!’ In the shock and surprise, she’d forgotten this would be a thing.
Aiden opened his phone and handed it to her, his smile wide as he flicked through, refreshing his memory with the images of his daughter.
Enya gasped. There she was. A tiny blanket-wrapped bundle of perfection with lots of dark hair and a tiny rosebud mouth.
‘You had hair like that.’ She sniffed.
‘Your hair!’ He laughed.
‘Yes!’ She smiled, knowing Amelia would likely spend her teenage years wrestling with her mop, before coming to love her wild hair in her twenties, when her confidence would bloom; hair that Jonathan had loved, and how he would have loved this little one.
‘I need to sit down.’ Aiden seemed to sway a little and took a seat at the kitchen table, where he put his elbows on the table and rested his head in his hands. ‘I’m exhausted.’
‘I bet you are. Do you want something to eat?’
‘No,’ he shook his head, ‘maybe later.’
Enya took the seat opposite him. ‘Iris is asleep on the sofa, you can either join her or go up to bed for a bit?’
‘I feel strange,’ he whispered.
‘You’re bound to.’
He looked up at her, his eyes tired and red, yet with a sparkle of delight to them. ‘I loved Amelia the moment I saw her, felt like I wanted to protect her always, want to be there for her.’
‘Yes, it doesn’t go away, that feeling.’
‘I’m trying to get it all straight in my head.’ Aiden bit his lip; blinking hard, he rubbed his eyes. ‘I love my wife,’ he whispered.
‘I know that.’ She reached out and briefly squeezed his arm.
‘But I love Holly too, how can I not? I’ve always loved her and now she’s given me Amelia,’ he gulped.
