“We’ve come a long way since that first day of class together. You know, the one you told me every single day that you thought I should find a seat that wasn’t next to you. Well,”—I nod to the sleeping beauty now her arms— “so much for that. I know we started in an unconventional way, but we started, Syd, and that’s all that matters to me. You and me. And now our daughter, too, obviously. If I knew that I’d be here with you, in this room, down on my knees next to you and our daughter—God, can I just keep saying that? Well, I’d do every single bit of it over again to get here. I want to be with you forever. I, too, want to wake up with you, fall asleep next to you, and everything else that you want, I want. As long as we’re together. I love you, Sydney. Will you please be my wife?”
I regretfully let go of her hand to retrieve the ring box I grabbed before I left the house. I had high hopes for today, but I did see her list, so, there is that.
“Yes,” she whispers through her tears.
I stand quickly and start to put the ring on her finger, but it only goes halfway.
She laughs. “I’m still a little swollen. Just put it back in the box for now.”
I nod. “Think we’ll ever do anything the traditional way?”
“Probably not. Our lives are too crazy for that.”
“Well, if that’s the case, as long as I have you, I want crazy.”
“Me too.”
I lean down, pressing my lips to hers for as long as she’ll let me. Or until the baby squeaks in her arms.
We both gaze down at our dark-haired beauty.
The journey to this day was like walking on hot coals, but as I said before, every single moment was worth it.
Sydney
I’m a mother now.
To a baby girl named Stella Coraline Young.
It feels different, and yet, it doesn’t.
I glance over at the little bundle wrapped like a burrito next to me. I’ve practiced swaddling at home with stuffed animals, but after watching the nurse do it, I had better ask her for a quick training course before we leave.
Stella is so quiet.
I love her so much already.
“I can’t believe we picked out a name,” Mark says.
“Yeah, because we were picking out a sign for her room and one of the artist pages already said Stella,” I laugh. “We lucked out, or we might still be debating it.”
“True, but we both knew it was meant to be.”
“Yes, we did.”
Our day nurse pokes her head in the room.
“The doctor is headed to the hospital now and will be here shortly to discharge you. He already sent the paperwork, so I’d say you two should be ready to head home in about twenty minutes. Is there anything you need until then?”
I shake my head and Mark answers, “No thanks.”
As soon as she’s gone, I look at Mark. “They just let people take these home after twenty-four hours.”
“Looks like it.”
He comes over to stand next to me. We are both just staring at our baby.
Our baby.
