“We’re having a baby!”
And only sixteen hours of labor later, Hyacinth Beanie Hudson is finally earth side. Even though it’s the middle of the night, Sadie stayed for the whole thing. She and I held Delilah’s hands as she labored, and Sadie even helped me cut the cord.
I think the whole experience was just gross enough for her nine-year-old sensibilities that the memory will serve as birth control for at least a few years once she’s in her teens.
Watching your sister come out of your mother has to be more effective at instilling the importance of safe sex than the plastic baby I drowned in high school.
Now the four of us are lying in a hospital bed, Sadie in the middle with a sleeping Hyacinth in her arms and Delilah and me on either side.
“Vee Vee, are you Hyacinth’s other Mama?” Sadie asks, not taking her eyes off her baby sister. I look at Delilah over her head and she gives me a nod.
“Yeah, Sadie Girl. I am Hyacinth’s other Mama.”
“Does that mean you’re my other Mama too?”
I brush my hand over her smooth hair, pushing flyaway wisps out of her face.
“That depends. Do you think you might want me to be your other Mama? Or do you want me to just be your Vee Vee? I’ll be whatever you want me to be, Sadie Girl.”
She takes a moment to consider, her little lips pursed in concentration. I bite the inside of my cheek, anxiously awaiting her answer. I’ll be fine either way. The only thing that matters to me is that Sadie, Hyacinth, and Delilah are happy and healthy. But still, the anticipation is nerve wracking.
“I think…I want you to be my Mama Vee Vee. You’re already kind of like my mom. You do all the same things Mama does for me, and you live with us and take care of us. We already are a family, but I think we could be even more family if you’re Mama Vee Vee and Mama is Mama.”
I blink up at the ceiling, willing the tears not to fall.
“Mama Vee Vee it is then,” I say to Sadie once I’ve halfway composed myself.
“You’ve just become a mother of two, Ivy. Congratulations," Delilah winks through tears. She couldn’t hide hers if she tried, having just given birth. The hormones are going to be in control for the foreseeable future.
“Any advice for me, Lilah baby?”
“Yeah. Good fucking luck, babe.”
ANOTHER EPILOGUE - COVERED IN YOU
Delilah
“Are you sure you want to do this, Lilah?”
“Oh my god, Vee. I’ve had months to think about it. If I was going to change my mind, I would have changed my mind. Stop stalling.”
“Ugh, fine.” Ivy rolls her eyes, but even her irrational fear of inflicting pain on me in any way couldn’t stop the smile from creeping across her face. With my hand and arm positioned as she needs it and the stencil applied perfectly to my skin, I’m ready for my very first tattoo.
Some people might say that getting your first tattoo on your hand of all places isn’t the smartest move in the world, but fuck it. I’m a thirty-something mother of two who just stopped breastfeeding after afull year and is pumped to have her body back to herself. I can do whatever the fuck I want with it.
The buzz of Ivy’s gun hums in the air, and though she winces slightly her hand is steady as she brings the needle to my forearm to begin the first line.
“I’m sorry, honey. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she chants under her breath as the needle glides across my skin, leaving an inky black curve behind as she works her way up and across the top of my hand.
“I’m fine, Vee. You’ve seen the size of our babies. A little tattoo burn is nothing after pushing those two bowling balls out of my vagina.”
“Don’t make me laugh!” Ivy chastises, though neither of us can help our giggle fit. The truth is that the tattoo hurts worse than I expected, but I’d never tell Ivy that. If she knew the way the nerves in my hands were lighting up at the needle’s assault, she’d stop completely and leave me with nothing more than a few black lines and swirls permanently inked in my skin. So I close my eyes and let the sound of the tattoo gun and the bite of the needle wash over me. Eventually I sink into the sensation and before I know it, Ivy is shaking my shoulder.
“Only you would fall asleep during your first tattoo,” she says with a smile as I blink my eyes open.
“I fell asleep?” I ask, my voice raspy.
“You sure did. Which is interesting considering I’m the one who was up at three in the morning with Hyacinth while she repeatedly showed me how well she can blow raspberries. You’re all finished, love. Want to see?”
