Page 47 of Matrimonial Merger
“Keep going! She’s coming!” The doctor said.
And within a few seconds, The baby was there—in the doctor’s hands first, then on Daphne’s belly. Daphne went from screaming obscenities to sobbing happy tears. In fact, we both did. As Cordelia screamed at her distaste for life outside the womb, we fell in love with her. Relief washed over me. She was here. Life suddenly felt complete in a way I’d never imagined.
Daphne
I woke in the morning, hungry as could be. All I’d gotten was a deli sandwich the night before. It was a piss-take. I’d pushed out a baby—a whole eight pounds of human—to have a turkeysandwich and bag of chips. I wanted bacon and eggs desperately. Sitting up, I saw Cal sitting on the pullout sofa, cross-legged, just staring at Cordelia.
“You’re up,” I murmured.
He looked over. “Couldn’t sleep. Too excited.”
“I need you to sleep,” I giggled. “Cuz this baby needs to be on a schedule.”
“I’ll sleep after breakfast. I hope you didn’t mind that I put in the order—bacon, eggs, hash browns.”
“Yes, please,” I said. “Bless you. Did you feed her?”
“And changed her,” Cal said. “I didn’t want to wake you.”
I sighed, looking down. “Yeah, well, it hasn’t been a great success trying to feed her. I could try in a bit.”
I was frustrated that my milk hadn’t immediately come in. And since Cordelia was slightly jaundiced, they’d wanted to top her up with formula. I knew it wasn’t the end of the world, but I wished things would have been perfect.
“Don’t freak about that,” Cal said. “It’s going to be wonderful. Here, take her.”
He deposited our daughter in my arms. She stared up at me, bright-eyed.
“I still need to pinch myself,” I admitted. “How did this finally happen?”
“You deserved it. You worked really, really hard to get her here. So, of course, she’s perfect. It’s only fair.”
I beamed at him. “She is perfection.”
“She’s a beauty like her Mom.”
“With your annoying amount of energy.”
He chuckled. “Let’s hope that wears off, and she sleeps like her mother soon.”
I kissed Cordelia on the forehead. She groaned and kicked her legs. Watching her fight the swaddle was my new favorite pastime. She hated it, but I knew it was good for her.
“Your mum wants to come today,” Cal said.
“That’s fine,” I agreed. “She’s welcome. I don’t really want everyone here, though.”
“I told Mom and the siblings they’d have to visit us later,” Cal said. “But I figure since your mum is helping a bit, you wouldn’t mind.”
“I will oblige her. Why don’t you go home and shower and nap while she’s here?”
“Daph—”
“It’s an order, baby,” I said.
“Fine,” Cal said. “But I don’t really want to leave her.”
“I know, but take the time to rest. Because once we go home, you need to be on baby patrol. I plan to do fuck all but nurse her.”
“That was the plan. Fine.”
