“One second.” Dr. Hanini works quickly, doing something I can’t see.
“Please hurry! I have to push!”
“Okay, now!” The doctor gives me the green light. I barely even push before I see a still, silent, little blue infant being lifted into the air. I nearly pass out.
“Let me see him! I need to see him!” He’s not crying and allthe nurses are crowded around the doctor and my baby.
“Kayne!” I grab his wrist, but he’s still as stone as he watches the hospital staff work on our child.
My emotions spin further out of control every second there’s no sound.
I don’t know how long time lingers before we hear it.
The first wail of our newborn son.
It breaks me out of my petrified state of panic.
“Is he okay? Please tell me he’s okay.”
“He’s perfect.” One of the nurses places him on my chest, and I burst out into tears.
“We just needed to suction him.”
I hold him close as he squirms, instantly bonding with the helpless little angel. I fall in love for the second time in my life. I look up at Kayne. He’s stiller than a glassy lake. I think he’s in shock. Actually, I know he is.
“Say hi to your son.”
Only his blue eyes move. From me to the baby and back again.
Definitely in shock.
“Okay. Time to clean up this little fella.” One of the nurses lifts him off of me.
“Already! I just got him.”
“It will only be for a few minutes, and then I’ll give him right back.” She’s a sweet woman, very smiley, but I still give him up reluctantly.
Kayne tails the nurse, putting his super stalking skills to good use and hovering already.
“What’s his name, Mom?” One of the other nurses in the room asks.
“Alec. Alec Jett Stevens. AJ for short.” I wipe away my happy tears as they fall one by one.
“Jett? Oh, I like that.” She smiles coyly.
If you knew him, you’d like it even more.
Kayne and I both wanted to name him after someone important in our lives. Who’s more important than my father and Jett?
I watch as Kayne’s towering figure spies on everything the nurses do to AJ, while at the same time battling with fatigue.The adrenaline that was keeping me awake is now fading fast, exhaustion settling in its place.
“I HAVE SEEN A LOTof nasty shit, oops, I mean stuff. Daddy needs to learn to watch his language, but that black tar in your diaper takes the cake.” I hear Kayne before I even open my eyes.
When I crack them open, I watch silently as he wraps AJ up in a little blue blanket and lifts him from the hospital’s bassinet.
“I know you’ve only been here a few hours, but I think now is a good time to have our first talk.”
Kayne sits down in the rocking chair in the corner of the room and proceeds to talk to the tiny bundle nestled in his arms. AJ looks even smaller when he holds him, like an oversized peanut.
