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She looked at me with a serious look. “What will you do for me if I push once more?”
My mouth snapped shut as I looked around the room. Everyone now had their eyes on me.
“Um . . . I’ll, um . . . well, what do you want me to do?”
Oh, shit. Please don’t ask for anything sexual. Please.
“I want a hot fudge sundae, desperately. If I push this baby out, will you go get me one?”
I physically breathed a sigh of relief. “You dodged the bullet on that one,” one of the nurses said.
“Yes! Baby, I’ll get you ten if you want!”
She turned to Dr. Hopkins and said, “Let’s do this!”
Less than two minutes later and our baby girl was crying.
Tears streamed down my face as I watched them wrap our daughter in a pink blanket and hand her to Kilyn, who wore the most beautiful smile I’d ever seen. Her face glowed with happiness as she took our daughter into her arms.
When her eyes met mine, I couldn’t grin hard enough. “Our daughter. We have a baby girl, Thano.”
Moving my eyes to the most precious, and beautiful, creature I’d ever seen, I stared at her. Her little eyes stared up at me as I slowly shook my head.
“Hey, baby girl.”
Kilyn held up our daughter’s hands and counted each finger and repeated the process with her toes. Gazing down at her, Kilyn whispered, “She’s perfect.”
My finger moved lightly over her soft cheek. “She’s beautiful, just like her mother.”
Lifting her eyes to meet mine, Kilyn’s chin trembled. “Thank you,” she said as I pinched my eyes together in confusion.
“Why are you thanking me? You did all the work.”
Pressing her lips together, she smiled and shook her head. “Thank you for coming into my life and giving me yet another amazing gift.”
I leaned over and kissed her. Pulling back slightly, I whispered against her lips, “Thank you. And don’t think I didn’t notice you put your hair up in pigtails after I left.”
Her face flushed as I kissed the tip of her nose.
One of the nurses walked up to me and smiled. “Okay, Dad. The baby’s name was being left up to you if it was a girl. Do you have one picked out?”
Kilyn lifted the baby up for me to take. Scooping her up in my arms, I looked into my daughter’s eyes. It was as if she was trying to tell me something. Probably not to name her Maria.
With a huge smile, I nodded my head. “I have.”
“Well? What is it?” Kilyn asked with an inquisitive look.
Sitting next to her on the bed, I held our daughter so we were both looking at her. “She looks like you, Kilyn. Look at how light her blue eyes are.”
Kilyn ran her finger through the small amount of dark hair. “My mother had the most beautiful blue eyes. She has my mother’s eyes,” Kilyn softly said.
“She also has your mother’s name. And your father’s.”
Her eyes snapped up to mine as she pressed her lips together. Tears filled her beautiful green eyes. I knew what the name was going to be the moment Kilyn and I decided if it were a girl, I would pick the name. I couldn’t imagine how she felt not having her parents here to share in this joy with us. This was my small gift to her.
I slowly spoke the name of our daughter while I watched my wife cry tears of happiness.
“Kira Kelly Drivas.”
Kilyn buried her face in her hands as she cried. Quickly getting herself calmed down, she wiped her tears away and kissed our daughter on the cheek.
“It’s beautiful. So amazingly perfect.”
Placing Kira back into Kilyn’s arms, I took a memory snapshot of this moment.
My garden was full. I would tend to it every single day for the rest of my life. Sheltering them from the storms and showering them with love.
My two beautiful girls.
My ladybugs.
FIVE YEARS LATER
I WATCHED AS Kira and Robert ran around the backyard trying to catch a butterfly.
“Get it, Robert! Catch it for me!” Kira shouted.
“Good Lord. That child is so bossy, and I swear my son seems to drop and roll when she says to.”
With a chuckle, I nodded my head. “It’s the mix of Irish and Greek, I think. She’s bossy.”
Kira screamed in delight as Claire and I looked back out at them. They were four months apart with Kira being the older of the two.
“Stay still, Kira. It’s going to be on the top of your head. That’s good luck, you know,” Robert said as he placed the butterfly on top of Kira’s head.
Her smile was wide and bright. “Is it there?”
Robert frowned. “Of course it’s there.”
Turning to look at Claire, we both laughed.
“So, this is the calm before the storm, huh?” Claire asked.
With a nod, I glanced around at all the birthday party decorations. “Yep. I told Katerina only immediate family, but you know everyone will show up.”
