“He saw me kiss you earlier,” Felix answered with a sly smile, like it was no big deal.
My head shot back over to Murray. “Oh, well, um, thanks, but can you just wait on the celebration until we tell Cooper?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep my trap shut.”
I quickly changed the subject before Murray continued with any further commentary. “What’s the latest on Freddie? How’s she getting on?”
“I dunno. The mothers and Wolf are in there,” he nodded to the closed door. “The doctor kept coming in to examine her,so I moved out here. But I can tell you that her temper only marginally improved when she got the drugs. How long until Coop gets here?”
Felix looked at his watch. “Another hour at least.”
“Why don’t you guys sit and get a coffee? I’m going in to see Freddie, and then I’ll come and find you. If you go to the nurses’ station, tell them I sent you and ask for a private waiting area.”
“Okay, we’ll see you in a bit.” Felix kissed my cheek, making Murray snort again.
He threw his arm around Felix’s shoulder. “Come on, Babs. Let’s go.”
“Who the fuck do you keep talking about?” I heard him grumble as they walked off.
I knocked on the door, opening it as I did, all of them turning to me. Freddie was on the bed, laying on her side, her mom rubbing her back. Her face was puffy and red. She’d clearly been crying. The monitor she was attached to was beeping in the corner and an IV bag was hanging by the bed from the epidural which had been administered since I was last in here.
“Hey, how’re you feeling?” I walked over and gave her a kiss on the cheek, before hugging Diane.
She sniffed. “I’m okay, now that I can’t feel anything.”
“What’s the doctor said? How far along are you?”
“Seven centimeters.”
“That’s good, you’re doing so well, and the boys said Coop will be here soon. He won’t miss this.”
I hugged my mom and Wolf, who was pumping breast milk in the chair, before perching on the windowsill. Behind me the views of the Hudson stretched all the way down to New Jersey, past the Statue of Liberty. The lights of the city were already twinkling as the sky darkened with the short, winter days.
“Do you guys need anything? How was the spa?”
“It was amazing, although we left in a hurry, and now this baby’s got us all worked up again we could probably do with another massage.” Diane replied.
I rubbed my stiff shoulders. “Yeah, I could definitely do with one. Wolf, where Floss?”
“I left her at home with the nanny. I didn’t want to worry about her sleeping here.”
“Yeah, that’s sensible. How is she?”
Her face softened, her eyes sparkling in the way that only talking about tiny babies brought on. “So cute. She already notices when Jasper’s away, and I don’t get the smiles he does. If you don’t mind being bored to death by baby pictures, I have some new ones.”
“Yes, please.” I got up, taking the phone she was holding out, and my mom moved to stand next to me as I flicked through them. She’d grown so much since I’d last seen her, and that was only a week ago.
When I was an intern, before I’d taken on ortho as a specialty, the hours were grueling and exhausting, and on the worst days I wondered if I could even make it through. And when I felt like that, I’d always go to the pediatric unit to look at the new babies. Seeing them sleeping so peacefully always brought me a sense of calm and renewed ability to carry on. It had been a while since I’d visited, but looking at the pictures of Florence evoked the same peace.
“Wolf, she’s so beautiful. She looks just like you.”
“Oui,and I hope this one takes after Freddie.” My mom nodded over to the bed.
“Where are the boys?” Freddie asked.
“I set them up in a private waiting room. I think there was too much estrogen in here.” I laughed. “They’re getting coffee.”
My mom practically started salivating. “Oh, I could do with coffee, although maybe not hospital coffee. Diane, let’s go and get proper coffee.”
