Page 146 of Tiers of Joy

I sob and smile. Gaige kisses me.

“Thank you. I love the name so much. It’s even macho and manly like yours. It fits perfectly.” I beam.

Gaige rolls his eyes and I laugh.

“Now what? We are stuck here until the snowstorm eases.” I ask.

“We will just have to wait it out. It’s too dangerous to take a newborn out in this. I have rung the hospital and informed them. As soon as it eases I can drive you both to the hospital so you and baby Colton can be checked over.” Doc states.

I sigh. I wish I still had my apartment, I could at least then have a bath. Amy makes everyone a coffee and makes some quick cookies for everyone.

I soon fall asleep curled up with Gaige and Colton in my arms.

I’m not sure how long we are asleep for but I wake when I feel someone tap my shoulder repeatedly. I open my eyes and see Norman right up in my face. It makes me jump.

“Hello.” He smiles.

“Um, the snowstorm has stopped.” He points to the window.

I focus my sleepy eyes and look out of the window. Sure enough the snowstorm has stopped.

I look to Gaige and smile. Colton is laid on his chest. All of us are wrapped up in tablecloths because that was all we had.

“Gaige.” I whisper.

“Hhmm,” He mumbles sleepily.

He slowly opens his eyes and smiles, looking down at Colton and then to me.

“It has stopped.” I point.

He looks and then hands me Colton who stirs and stretches his little arms.

Everyone wakes up and heads home. We go to the hospital for a check up and all is fine. Colton weighs a healthy 7lb 9 ounces. Doc informed us that Colton was born at 11:25pm that night. He was a new years eve baby.

We settled in fairly easily once we got home. We weren’t used to the sleepless nights but Gaige was helpful where he could be and often tried to give me a break.

One week after Colton’s birth I ask Gaige to take me down the docks to speak with Jay.

Gaige parks up.

“I will wait here for you and Colton.” He smiles.

“No, I want you to come with me.” I state.

“You sure?” He asks.

I nod.

We walk down with Colton wrapped up in his pram to the bench. We take a seat and shiver in the cold winters breeze. Before I can speak Gaige does.

“Hey Jay, there is someone I would like you to meet, our son Colton Jay Knox. I chose his name because of you. That way Esme will always have a piece of you with her. You still mean a lot to her and it’s important that you are around in some way.” Gaige smiles.

He turns to me and kisses me.

“I’m going to leave you for a minute. I will wait up here while you talk to him.” Gaige says, kissing me briefly before walking off a little.

“So you’ve met Colton Jay. Gaige named him and he’s perfect in every way. I will tell him all about you, all of our fun times, although maybe not every detail. I would like to avoid giving my son the encouragement to be underage drinking or stealing traffic cones.” I laugh.

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