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***Damien looked so funny wearing the hospital-provided shower cap. Being here reminded me of how terrified I was the day of his surgery. As scary as it seemed to imagine the doctor cutting into my abdomen today, nothing compared to the fear I’d felt the day my husband went under the knife.
He surprised me when he said, “You know, as scary as my operation was, I’m way more freaked out by this. I just can’t wait until this is over.”
The irony of his statement made me smile. I guess that’s what it’s like when you love someone. The thought of something happening to the other person is far worse than the thought of something happening to yourself.
I looked up at him from my horizontal position on the operating table. “I love you.”
He briefly took down his surgical mask to say, “You guys are my whole life.”
I felt so grateful that he was feeling well, that he was right by my side.
Damien held my hand tightly as the doctors explained everything they were doing. Because they’d given me a spinal, my entire lower body was completely numb.
They’d warned me that I was going to feel some tugging. Just when I did, Damien squeezed my hand harder.
“Oh, my God, she’s coming. They’re taking her out.”
Then I heard them.
Cries.
Cries.
More cries.
My baby.
Damien’s eyes were glistening. “Oh, my God! She’s beautiful, baby. She looks like you. Just like you!”
“She does?”
“Yeah. She’s fair-skinned. She’s an angel. She…she…has…a penis. A penis?”
“It’s a boy,” the doctor proclaimed.
Damien started to cry tears of joy and laughter all at once. “She has a little cock. It’s a boy? It’s a boy! Baby, we have a son.”
“It’s a boy!” I repeated.
“Yes!”
After a few minutes passed, a nurse handed our son to Damien who placed him by my face.
I kissed his cheek, longing to hold him. “Hi,” I said ever so softly.
As much as Damien thought he looked like me, I could definitely see Damien’s nose.
“You were supposed to be a girl,” I cooed. “You had your daddy fooled.”
Damien bent down and kissed our baby boy’s forehead. “He changed the story.”***One of the drawbacks of being thrown off guard by the gender of our baby was the fact that we had no name picked out. We’d been so focused on girl names that the boy options fell by the wayside.
Our son was a few weeks old before we finally decided on a name. We opted to announce it to our closest family and friends on Christmas Eve.
It seemed like just yesterday that we’d had everyone over for a holiday party at our place last year. So much had changed since. Back then, Damien hadn’t even decided on the surgery, we’d also thought we would never have kids, and we were only just dating. Fast forward a year later, Damien was ten months post-operation, we were married, and we had a son. Not to mention, the dogs were now ours full-time.
Damien had the baby in a carrier on his chest while he put up the last of the decorations. Still recovering from my C-section, I took it slow as I prepared the food in the kitchen. We weren’t originally going to have a party, but it was a lot easier than trucking our son from house to house during the holidays. We had everything we needed for him here at our place.
The doorbell rang.
Tyler, his girlfriend, Nicole, and Damien’s mother were standing in the doorway with wrapped gifts.
“Hey, guys! Come on in.”
Monica hugged me tightly. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m good, still a tad bit sore, but great considering.”
Nicole looked me up and down. “You are so tiny. No one would ever know you gave birth a month ago.”
Damien yelled over to us, “She didn’t even look pregnant from behind in her ninth month. I know this because I spent a hell of a lot of time in that position toward the end.” He glanced at Monica. “Whoops, sorry, Mom.”
Tyler pushed his way past us over to the baby. “There’s my no-name godson!”
Nicole smiled. “Aw, he’s wearing a beanie like his daddy.”
We’d put a little gray hat on him to match Damien.
Tyler’s gaze travelled from the baby back up to Damien when he said, “I never thought I’d see the day, man.”
“You and me both, brother.”
Tyler spoke close to the baby. “Don’t worry, little No-Name. Your uncle Tyler is gonna teach you everything you need to know in this life.”
“And then Daddy is gonna tell you to just do the opposite of what Uncle Tyler says,” Damien joked.
“When are we gonna get to hear the name?” Monica asked.
“When everyone gets here, maybe after dinner, we’ll announce it,” Damien said. “We’re still waiting on Chelsea’s family to arrive.”
Nicole meandered over to me as she played with her necklace. “Look what Tyler bought me for Christmas. It’s from Tiffany’s.”
