Page 64 of Make Your Play

Give that sweet baby a kiss for me and keep me updated.

Nash

Of course. Love you, sis.

Nova

Love you, big brother.

I lock the screen of my phone, tucking it back into my pocket before looking back at the baby. His eyelids slowly peel open and his eyes instantly meet mine. He stares right through me, wonderment filling me as I watch him studying my face. I don’t think babies can see that well, but he doesn’t look away from me.

“Hey, bud,” I murmur as I lean closer to him. “I don’t know if you remember me from when you were in your mom’s belly, but I’m Nash and I’m hopelessly in love with your mother.”

He blinks, his lips parting as he stares back at me with his sleepy eyes.

“I know you don’t know what the hell I’m saying, but that’s okay.” I slide my hands under him, slowly lifting him into my arms as I tuck him close to my body again. “I’m going to be honest and tell you that I don’t really know what I’m doing here, so we’re just going to have to figure all this out together.”

He makes a soft sound and lets out what sounds like a sigh. I watch his face, his lips turning downward as his expression cracks and he lets out a wail.

“Oh shit.”

I don’t know what the hell I’m supposed to do now.

I glance around the room, attempting to slowly rock him in my arms, shushing him. The call bell is on the remote attached to the wall. My footsteps are slow as I walk to it, bending my knees to pick it up as I press the button.

His cries begin to subside as his eyes begin to search my face again. The door opens behind me and I turn around to find the nurse walking in with a bottle.

“Someone sounds like he’s hungry.” She smiles, walking over to the two of us. “Come sit and I’ll show you what to do,” she tells me, motioning to the rocking chair. I walk over, slowly sitting down as I prop him up in my arms. She hands me the bottle, showing me what to do, and takes a step back as she watches me feed him.

He sucks on the nipple, drinking some of the milk, but it doesn’t last long before he drinks the amount she wanted him to have and he falls back asleep again. She takes the bottle from me, setting it down on the table. “Good job.” She grabs a burp cloth, throwing it over her shoulder. “I’ll show you how to burp him and you can do it next time.”

I hand him off to her, watching her as she does it, gently bouncing him up and down as she pats his back until he finally burps. “How do I do skin to skin with him?”

Sabrina looks at me, a smile growing on her lips. “Grab that blanket,” she says, pointing at the back of the chair. “Take off your shirt and we’ll get him on your chest.”

She turns away, giving me privacy that I don’t care about as I remove my shirt and cover back up with the blanket. She waits until I’m ready, turning back around as she starts to unwrap the cloth around him. I move the blanket from me as she strips him down to his diaper. She holds on to him, positioning his chest and stomach against mine before taking the blanket to cover both of us.

His little body is so warm against me, and I hold him against my chest, making sure he’s protected and secure as he sleeps on me. I watch Sabrina as she grabs the remote, stretching the cord so it’s sitting on the arm of the chair. She leaves the two of us with the promise of only being a call away.

I slowly begin to rock, my heart growing inside my rib cage as I cradle the baby boy. I don’t know how long we stay like that, but an hour easily passes as I stare down at him in wonderment. He truly is amazing. Riley really fucking did it. She grew a whole-ass person in her belly and now here he is.

There’s a soft knock on the door. I continue to rock, my head turning to the side as I watch the door open and a bed is wheeled in, with a handful of medical professionals following. I sit up straighter, holding the baby firmly against my chest as they push Riley into the room, setting her bed up in the empty space.

“She woke up in recovery and we waited until she was stable enough to be moved, but she seems to have fallen back asleep,” the one nurse explains to me as she smiles at Riley and then me. “She’s pretty exhausted from everything that happened today.”

I slowly rise to my feet, keeping the blanket secured around the baby so he isn’t exposed to the cool air in the room. My stomach sinks when I see Riley lying in the bed. Her long dark hair is pulled away from her face in a braid and she looks so incredibly pale and fragile.

“Is she okay?”

The nurse nods as she connects her IV tubing to a bag hanging on the pole beside the bed. “Her blood pressure has already started to come down, but we still have to keep her on medication to prevent seizures for at least another day. Her kidney function has begun to improve, so it appears that the injury was acute.”

Relief floods me. “So, she’s going to be okay.”

“Yes.” She smiles, the warmth radiating from her expression. She looks over everything once more, making sure Riley is connected to the different monitors and fluids. “I will be back in a little bit to check on her again.”

I stare down at Riley as the nurse disappears from the room. Her son stirs against my chest and I hold him close as I lower myself down onto the edge of her bed.

“We’re here waiting for you, mama. Whenever you’re ready to wake up, we’ll be here.”

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