“Go check on him,” she urges as I stand there frozen in my thoughts.
Dr.Thompson, who is on the other side of Sutton, says, “I’ve got her, go ahead.”
Melissa comes over and after she sits down where I just was, I hesitate for a brief moment before rushing over to the corner where a clear plastic box and machines are stored.There is a large team of people in scrubs all working in sync as they check over my baby, all calling out numbers and orders.
“Five pounds, five ounces…”
“Head measuring…”
“Length is eighteen point two inches…”
“Temp is…”
“Apgar is seven, setting timer for five minutes…”
I stand there for a few minutes and watch as they work him over, checking every inch of his perfect little body.I find myself counting each of his tiny toes and fingers.
“Let’s show him off to Mama before we take him upstairs,” one of them says.Melissa and I made sure to tell the staff that the first person to touch or really get a chance to see him was Sutton.She’s the one who has been doing all the work, and she deserves to have that moment.
I trail behind them as the nurse walks our boy over to his mommy.Raegan and Ivy, who I completely forgot were in the room, snap pictures and videos as the nurse approaches Sutton.
“Little guy needed some love from his mama before going up to his room for a bit,” the nurse tells her as tears leak out the corners of my wife’s eyes.
“He’s perfect,” Sutton whispers as the nurse positions the baby on her chest so that our boy can feel his mother’s skin.Sutton kisses everywhere she can reach as our boy places his little hand on her cheek.I feel something cool slide down my cheek and realize that my own tears are falling.
“Do we have a name for this precious baby boy?”another nurse asks beside us.
Sutton breaks her eye contact with our son to find mine.I give a nod.We’ve talked about the names over the last several weeks, and we just knew that this was the one we wanted for our son.
“His name is Rocco Kit Roberts.Rocky for short, if that’s okay with you and Phillip?I’d love to tell him when he grows up that he’s named after our very best friend who saved our lives,” Sutton explains our choice to Melissa who stands next to me.
She lets out a sob and then covers her mouth.
“We’d be so honored for this beautiful little baby to be called that,” Melissa cries and when I look around there’s not a dry eye among our people.
They take little Rocky up to the NICU for further evaluation with Melissa hot on their tail, keeping a watchful eye over him.Melissa told us that she’d stay by our boy’s side until after I made sure Sutton was settled in.The original plan was for me to go with our boy, but my need to make sure my wife was stable and okay first ruled that out.Once he was gone, they rolled Sutton into our room for the next four or so days to recover from surgery.I’ll be so ready to get the fuck outta this place and home, all under the same familiar roof.Zane doesn’t like going home at night without me or Sutton, and I have to say I don’t like us being separated right now either, especially since we’ve been apart for so long.
“You did good, Mama,” I say sliding onto the bed next to my wife, careful of all her wires and IVs.
“We did good,” she corrects.Her eyes lazily blink, and I know she’s exhausted.
“Take a nap and rest before everyone comes to see you,” I tell her.“Melissa said that I can wheel you over to see little man once you can move around a bit.”
“Okay.”She doesn’t even put up a fight as her eyes close.
Later that evening,I’m wheeling Sutton over to the NICU as my brothers line the hallway, waiting for a chance to see our son.Each of my brothers places a hand on her shoulder as we pass by, and she makes sure to thank and squeeze each of their hands.
Melissa taps on the glass window of the NICU where he is being kept for observation.He needs a little oxygen and to fatten up a bit, but other than that he’s in perfect health.The nurse that was there earlier comes over pushing our son who’s sleeping in the incubator to where we can all see him.
“So, do we have a name for the little fellow?”Brass asks, not taking his eyes off of the baby.
Sutton looks up at me, and I help her stand from the wheelchair.Melissa holds onto Crusher as our old prez gives me a reassuring nod.We’d asked him to come by our room after Sutton woke up from her nap.We asked him if he’d be okay with us naming our little guy after the son that he lost such a short time ago, and he was floored.I’d never seen the man so choked up, except for when he lost Rocky.Raegan and Ivy decided not to tell anyone and to let us announce the name.
“Brothers, I’d like to introduce Rocco Kit Roberts to the family,” I reveal.“With Melissa and Crusher’s blessing, we’ve got a little Rocky back in the family.We’ll never be able to replace our fallen brother, but there isn’t another name that could match for our son.Rocky is the reason we have Sutton and this little man here with us today, so we want to honor him.We can only hope that our best friend is keeping a watchful eye over our son.”
As bad as we miss Rocky and how he was taken from us too soon, the energy and joy from the brothers as they jump up to congratulate us is infectious.While I get slung around, Sutton is gently hugged.Stone is the last brother to approach us and has remained very quiet during the celebration.
He clears his throat then looks us in the eyes.There are so many emotions flashing in them that I’m not sure what his reaction will be.
