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When my nurse returns, Preston is sleeping soundly against my chest. I don’t want to give her to the nurse just yet. She is snuggled into me warm and content. Trey shoots me a look of reproach, so I grudgingly hand my baby over into the nurse’s waiting arms.
“We’ll take good care of her, Mrs. Sinclair. Don’t you worry. We’ll have her back to you in the morning. Get some rest.” She bustles out of my room with our daughter in her arms.
“Why bother with the marriage ceremony, Trey? Apparently everyone already thinks I’m Mrs. Sinclair,” I say, waving my hand dismissively.
He is sitting in the rocker and looks over, quirking an eyebrow. “Don’t be mean, Tylar,” he admonishes gently, “you aren’t pissed about being called ‘Mrs. Sinclair,’ you’re pissed because she took Preston to the nursery. But I’m here with you, baby.”
I roll my eyes at him, still aggravated that I can’t have my daughter with me all night. I just met her a few hours ago.
“What?” Trey teases, sauntering over and sitting on the bed with me, pulling me close to him. His hand strokes my hair. “So I’m just the lowly sperm donor to be cast aside?” he complains.
I look up into his amused eyes and laugh. “I didn’t mean to be that way, I’m sorry Trey,” I reply. “I just miss having her next to me. We’ve been a mother-daughter team for the past nine months, you know?”
“Trust me,” he replies sweetly, “you’ll have plenty of time to spend bonding with our daughter.” His hand lifts my still damp hair up off of my neck. Trey lowers his head and I feel his soft lips on my neck gently kissing me. “I love you, baby. Thank you for our daughter, Tylar,” he whispers brushing his lips against my skin.
“It’s my pleasure Trey,” I reply, my mind floats back to that night in the stable, recalling the raw passion and frenzied lovemaking that gave us our beautiful baby girl.
“Happy belated birthday, Trey. I love you.”
The clock over the glass windows of the nursery read 11:17 p.m. Nurse Sheila Bradley just completed the last diaper change of her shift. She would be clocking out for the night in a little less than 15 minutes. What a day this has been. Five new babies in the nursery. Four baby boys and one baby girl. Nurse Bradley glances over at the row of clear bassinets. They are all down for the count, as least as far as her shift goes. Four tiny little blue cotton caps and one tiny little pink cotton cap. Five precious little angels.
It almost makes Nurse Bradley long for her childbearing days. They seem to have gone by in a flash. It makes a woman feel different psychologically when the reality sinks in that childbearing is gone forever. She supposes that's why God created grandparents. She peers out into the empty corridor on the other side of the glass viewing windows. That was a strange bird that had come in a little more than an hour ago. How did she slip up to the maternity floor unnoticed like that with visiting hours long since over? The woman was petite and attractive; she looked like she wasn’t much past 40 years of age. She seemed nice enough but she was one bull-headed lady that was for sure. Claimed she was from out of town and just got into Atlanta that very minute.
It was strange that the woman didn’t want to see her daughter. She'd been adamant about not disturbing her since she'd gone through a very complicated labor and delivery. Young girls always think their labor and delivery is complicated when it’s their first birth. Nurse Bradley chuckles to herself. The mother’s chart mentioned no such complications when she looked it up to see which baby she'd delivered.
Nurse Bradley should have followed regulations and called Security when the petite woman insisted she would not leave until she got to see her grandchild. It was her first grandbaby, she said, and she wanted to see it. Hell, there wasn’t any harm done. It took all of two minutes to pick up the little pink swaddled baby girl and bring her over to the window for her grandma to see. Grandma seemed especially tickled to find out she had a granddaughter. She waved her hand to the newborn baby girl, blowing her a kiss. She told her not to worry, “Nana” would be back soon to see her.
Nurse Bradley picks up her purse at the nurse’s station and walks over to the time clock. She runs it through and then returns the card to its slot with the others. She has been clocking in and out at this hospital for 23 years now. She presses the button for the elevator, waiting patiently for the doors to open.
Nurse Bradley is startled to see the same petite woman who'd visited the nursery earlier now standing in the elevator. She gets on and pushes the button for ground floor. Why is this woman still in the hospital? Nurse Bradley pulls her sweater a bit tighter around her as the hair on the back of her neck stands on end.
