“It’s a girl,” Dr. Daria said, her voice filled with warmth as she lifted the tiny, wriggling form into the air for us to see.
I sobbed, unable to stop the tears from flowing as she placed the baby on my chest. Aleksandr leaned in, his hand shaking as he gently touched the baby’s soft, wet skin. She was perfect. Tiny and fragile but full of life, her cries filled the room as she nestled against me.
“Angelina,” I whispered, the name slipping from my lips as if it had been waiting for this moment all along. “Her name is Angelina.”
Aleksandr smiled, his eyes wet with tears he didn’t bother to hide. “Angelina,” he echoed softly, pressing a kiss to my forehead before looking down at our daughter with awe in his eyes. “She’s beautiful. Just like her mother.”
We stayed like that for a while, just the three of us, lost in the moment. Angelina’s cries slowly quieted as she settled against me, her tiny hands curling into fists as she slept.
Eventually, the door opened, and Sasha and Maxim burst into the room, followed by Sandy, Dimitri, and the others. Their expressions were excited, and their eyes filled with curiosity as they crowded around the bed, eager to meet the newest member of the family.
“She’s so small,” Maxim whispered, his eyes wide as he peered over the edge of the bed.
“She’s perfect,” Sasha added, her voice full of awe as she reached out to gently touch Angelina’s tiny hand.
Aleksandr smiled at them both, pride radiating from him. “Do you want to hold her?”
Sasha and Maxim nodded eagerly, and Aleksandr carefully lifted Angelina from my arms, cradling her with a tenderness I hadn’t known he was capable of. He handed her to Sasha first, his large hands steady as he guided hers.
Sasha’s face lit up as she held the baby, her eyes shining joyfully. “Hi, Angelina,” she whispered softly, her voice full of love. “I’m your big sister.”
Maxim was next, though he seemed a bit more nervous. Aleksandr helped him hold Angelina, his hands trembling slightly as he stared at her. “She’s so… tiny,” he murmured, but his face broke into a smile as Angelina stirred in his arms.
Sandy was next, her eyes misty as she took Angelina from Maxim and held her close. “Oh, Talia,” she whispered, her voice thick with emotion. “She’s perfect.”
Olga and Dimitri took their turns, smiling softly as they held Angelina. However, Dimitri tried to play it off as if he wasn’t completely smitten.
I watched all of them with my heart full, overwhelmed by the love and support surrounding us. This was our family, imperfect but filled with so much love that I couldn’t imagine anything better.
Finally, Aleksandr took Angelina back, cradling her in his arms as he sat beside me. He looked down at her, his expression soft in a way that I rarely saw, his eyes filled with so much love.
“She’s everything,” he whispered, his voice low and rough with emotion. “You’ve given me everything.”
I leaned against him, exhausted but happy, watching as Angelina’s tiny chest rose and fell with each breath. “No,” I whispered back. “We did this together. She’s ours.”
As I sat there, surrounded by the people I loved, with Aleksandr by my side and our daughter in his arms, I knew that this was it. This was what we had been building toward all along - our family.
Angelina was the final piece of the puzzle, and now that she was here, everything felt complete.
