Page 108 of The Long Way Home
I reach for Sylvie’s outstretched hand before they can roll her from the room, bringing the back of it to my lips. “I’ll be there soon, baby.”
She nods, a single tear slipping from her cheek, and it takes everything I have to hold back my own. I want to fall to my knees right here on this floor.
The door shuts and I waste no time pulling the scrubs on over my clothes and wait for the nurse to return. It’s the longest five minutes of my life and when she finally returns she leads me down a long hallway.
“She’s right in here,” she says, holding open another door.
Sylvie is lying on an operating table, a clear partition between her head and belly, but all I can see are the tears streaming down her temples.
When she sees me, her eyes flood with relief. “Linc, I’m so scared.”
I rush to her side, brushing the tears from her face. “Don’t be scared, baby. Everything is going to be okay.”
“Why is this happening?”
“Baby, don’t you know, nothing comes easy for us. We have to fight for what we want every step of the way. Even the birth of our child. But that’s what we are, we’re fighters and we’re gonna win this battle.”
“Mrs. Matthews, you’re going to feel a little tug and probably some pressure but you shouldn’t feel any pain,” the doctor says.
Sylvie’s eyes widen. I can hear the doctor and nurses working but I keep my attention on my gorgeous wife. Leaning down, I kiss her trembling lips then her forehead.
“I love you, Sylvie, so much.”
She nods, squeezes her eyes shut, and pushes out another wave of tears.
“Our baby is going to be okay, I promise you.”
She nods again and this time the room fills with the best sound in the world. I stand up, looking over the partition just as the doctor raises our crying baby.
“What is it?” Sylvie cries, grabbing for my hand.
“Would you like to do the honors, Dad?”
I nod and then lower my lips to Sylvie’s. “It’s a girl. You did it, sweetheart. We’ve got a beautiful baby girl.”
Sylvie smiles through her tears. “It’s a girl?”
Tears fill my eyes, pouring down my face unchecked. “She’s so beautiful, Syl. Just like you.”
“Here you go, Dad.”
I turn to find a blanketed bundle of joy being held out to me. With trembling hands, I reach for my baby girl. She’s still crying, but as soon as I get her settled in the crook of my arm, she quiets.
One of the nurses slides a chair up, allowing me to sit next to Sylvie’s head. I lower the baby and Sylvie kisses her several times before looking up at me.
“Look at all the hair,” she says, laughing when I twirl my finger through it, making it stick up in a wild mess. “And she’s got your eyes.”
“Let’s just hope she gets everything else from her mother.” With my baby tucked to my side and my arm around Sylvie, my entire world shifts again.
This is the moment I’ve dreamt about for so long. Once we have Caroline next to us, my family will be complete. I’ve often wondered if it’s fair for a man to be this happy.
Content.
But then I look down at this woman and realize just how hard we’ve had to fight to get here. How much we’ve had to overcome. The roads that lead us here have been hard to navigate. We didn’t have a road map or a GPS telling us which way to turn or warn us of danger ahead. Yet we made it here anyway.
To this remarkable place.
Together.
Love isn’t always easy.
But it’s always worth it.
