Page 197 of Cornerstone
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Iris Carolina Durant is born on October 13th.
A Friday the thirteenth, funny enough, but despite the date, everything with the delivery went incredibly smoothly.
This is our third rodeo for birth, but I still felt the panic well up inside of me when my wife woke me up, saying her water had broken. We had been planning for a C-section next week, but our little girl was making her appearance early.
My wife was completely calm and relaxed as she puttered around the kitchen getting Noah's breakfast together for him, while I was swirling around the house like a tornado, calling my mom to get her to come over and watch Noah, grabbing our half-packed hospital bags, the baby bag, the car seat, and the special baby blanket and outfit that Wendy crocheted.
Wendy had been watching me with a bemused smile and offered to help, but I shut that down. I hadn't even wanted her to get Noah's food together, but she said she needed somethingto do.
My mom had blustered into the house with an excited squeal, the whole family was looking forward to our new arrival, and had gotten an excited Noah loaded into her car while practically shoving us out the door to get to the hospital.
A couple of hours later, Iris arrives, all ten pounds of her showing off a healthy set of lungs.
I stayed up by Wendy's head, talking to her, telling her how much I love and how proud I am, and then when we heard the first crack of cries in the air, we both melted into tears.
"Here you go, Iris, here's mommy," the nurse says, carrying over our pink swaddled bundle.
When we talked about names, we knew we wanted to honor our sister-in-law with her middle name, but we wanted her first name to be special. Iris meansrainbow,and after everything our family has worked through, she truly is the rainbow after the storm.
"Hi, sweet girl," Wendy coos, getting stitched up, but still all sunshine as the nurses help adjust her to allow skin-to-skin with Iris.
"I'm your Mama," Wendy's glimmering green eyes meet mine, and she beams, "And there's your Daddy, and he's the best Daddy in the world. You're a lucky little girl."
With that, I fall in love all over again.
"No, I'm the lucky one, baby," I say, leaning down to press a kiss to Wendy's lips and then my daughter's head.
My heart expands in my chest as I gaze at my two ladies, Wendy's finger tracing down Iris' small nose—Wendy's nose.
I take a deep breath, close my eyes, and sit in my gratitude.
To Wendy.
To my daughter.
To my sons.
To my brother.
To my parents.
And to myself, for finding the strength to get help.
I don't think about potentials anymore. I focus on the hereand now.
Later, I'll FaceTime Liam and introduce him to his baby sister, and he'll come home on the weekend to meet her.
Later, my mom will bring Noah to the hospital so he can hold his little sister and fawn over her.
Later, Silas will come by to meet his niece, and he'll shed a few tears at her middle name, named after the woman who changed everything.
Later, I'll settle down in the hospital bed with Wendy, holding her as our daughter sleeps in her bassinet nearby.
But for now, I sit in the chaos with my wife and daughter, knowing that I am safe.
I am home.
Because that's wherever Wendy is.
THE END
