“Wait a minute?” I asked. “Does that mean the babies were born on October 17th?”
“Yeah, it does,” Tyler said with a chuckle. “Did you not notice the time? Hazel here was born at 12:17, and your baby to be named was born at 12:22 on October seventeenth.”
“October 17th is perfect! And yes, I guess we’ll have to give her a name,” I said and put my free arm around Olivia as she hugged me. I asked for a different nurse to get a picture of my family of four and our favorite nurse together. Tyler suggested we get a picture of her with both babies, and I loved that idea.
“I’m off the rest of today, but when I come in for my shift tomorrow, I’m going to find your room number and find out what you named her! Bye, Hazel. Bye, Baby TBN!”
“You better!” I said. “Thank you for everything!”
“Yeah, thank you. You went above and beyond!” Tyler added while he took the babies out of her arms and gave them to me. He gave Livie a hug, too.
The nurse that took our picture wheeled me in my hospital bed to my postpartum room. As soon as we were settled, Tyler took his phone out to take several pictures.
“I’m sure I look horrible,” I said with a small giggle.
“You look like the perfect mom that went through hours of labor and then surgery.”
I just shook my head and looked down at the sleeping babies in my arms. I looked over at my husband. “I don’t think any of the names from the board fit Baby TBN.”
“Oh, really? Do you have a new name in mind?” Tyler asked.
“I do,” I said.
When I told him the name, he got a huge smile on his face and nodded. “Yeah, that is the perfect name.”
A nurse came in and introduced herself as Joyce. She asked if we had any questions. She was an older nurse with her graying hair in a bun at the nape of her neck. She looked very nice and answered a lot of our questions. She asked if we were up for visitors.
“People are still here this early in the morning?” I asked in shock.
“Your whole room of people all waited,” she said with a laugh.
“Are you okay if I go tell everyone?” Tyler asked me. “I’m sure they are dying to know the genders.”
“I would love that!”
“I am going to take the girls to get their first baths and have the doctor look them over now that you’ve done a feeding. Your guests can look at them through the nursery window.” Joyce said. “Mom here can get some much-needed rest. Your babies will be in good hands.”
It had been a challenge to get them to latch on, but Olivia helped me. She seemed to know all the different tricks and holds to use to try to help me and our babies. We all had a good laugh at how Hazel was fussy when taken out of Tyler’s arms. I was pretty sure she was going to be a daddy’s girl. Her sister seemed to latch on better than her, but they had both finally had a good feeding. I still wasn’t confident in breastfeeding, but I knew I would try as long as I could.
“Hey, baby?” I called out to Tyler before he left the room. “Have someone take a picture from behind you when you tell everyone so we can get their reactions.”
Tyler nodded and said that was a great idea. I heard him ask one of the nurses at the nurse station to help him take a picture.
I soon heard a loud cheering, and I had to laugh. I loved our friends and how excited they were!
I was officially a girl dad. I couldn’t be happier! When I stepped out of Molly’s room and into the waiting room, everyone stood. I couldn’t believe how many people had stayed! My old teammates, Molly’s staff, my family, her friends, and Dominic’s mom were even here.
“So, we have two healthy, red-haired babies.”
“Helping the redhead population! I love it!” Emma said very excitedly.
“Come on, Stone, tell us their genders already!” Cooper called out.
“We have one girl!” The cheering from our friends was sure to wake up some sleeping patients, but I had to grin. “And another girl!”
“I knew it!” my brother, Carter, exclaimed. “I was the only one to say two girls!”
I had to laugh as several people handed Carter bills of money. I couldn’t believe they were betting on my children’s genders. “You know, some of those winnings should go towards their college education.”
