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I had to get up and pee, so I sat up in bed, and gave myself time to adjust. Then, I made it to the bathroom and had my first pee after delivering.
When I got back to the bed, Luke's eyes were open, and he sat up and rubbed his face.
"You should have woken me up."
"I'm fine, Luke. Women have babies and go out and work in the fields."
"They shouldn't."
I laughed. "They do, regardless. I'm good."
We spent the rest of the morning looking at people's response to our photos of Leif and of course, we took turns holding him and I fed him again, although nothing much came out yet.
By the time it came time to leave, I was feeling much better and thanked the nursing staff for everything.
As the orderly wheeled me out to the waiting limo and Luke carried Leif in his brand-new car seat, I felt like all was right with the world.
I slid in the limo beside the car seat and watched as Luke adjusted the straps to make sure everything was in place and secure. He leaned down and kissed Leif's little head, covered in a tiny green knit cap the ladies auxiliary provided for all newborns. Leif was squirming a bit, but settled down, his tiny fists clenched under his blanket.
Luke got in on the other side of the car seat and after he was strapped in, he nodded to the driver.
"Let's go. Home."
I reached over and took Luke's hand, happy that he was such an attentive and happy father. When I first saw him, I had no idea the man with the red umbrella, whom Candace said was Armani handsome, would be the father of my child but life has different plans for us.
"I love you, Mr. Big Daddy," I said and smiled.
He kissed my knuckles. "I love you. We're so lucky."
"We are."
At that, the limo drove off and we made our way out of Manhattan toward Westhampton, starting our new lives together as parents.
From where I sat, the future looked bright. Despite everything that happened over the past year -- the good, the bad, and the ugly, we'd weathered the storms and were stronger as a couple because of it.
Epilogue
Luke
A month later...
I loved being a father.
Alexa was still healing but so far had no complications after such a fast delivery. Her mother was staying with us, and had taken over all the cooking, cleaning and some of the baby care, giving both Alexa and me a chance to sleep during the day if we needed it. It was a blessing to have her there.
Candace went back to Manhattan after the first week, but made plans to come out for a weekend every month. She intended to be Leif's Godmother and took that seriously.
"I want him to know me from the start and be like a nephew. I want to be Crazy Aunt Candy," she said with a laugh, rocking Leif in her arms like an old pro. "I don't expect I'll have any nephews or nieces of my own so your kids will have to substitute."
"They're yours," Alexa said. "They couldn't ask for a better Crazy Aunt. Dana is much milder than you.”
On Leif's official due date, Alexa and I took a walk along the beach. It was a fine day in May, the sky was cloudy after a brief rain, and the ocean calm. The sound of waves washing up on the beach was soothing.
We were both exhausted.
Leif, on the other hand, was bright eyed and looking around, a fist stuck in his mouth. He was in a Snugli and pressed against my chest, his little head in kissing distance. He'd really put on weight since birth and was now up in the 90th percentile of babies his age.
As we walked along the beach near the house, I kept one hand on his butt and the other stroked his head, which was pretty much bald, only fine pale hair growing around his ears like he was an old bald man instead of one in his first month of life. He had his mother's fair coloring and both our blue eyes. He was nursing every couple of hours all day every day, 24/7, which meant that Alexa got at most two -- maybe three -- hours of sleep at night.
