Page 53 of Remembering You
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Approximately, two hours later, Marty stood in Ronnie’s hospital room, cradling the tiny baby. Little arms and feet pushed and kicked against the soft cotton swaddle. With tears in her eyes, Marty glanced up at her son-in-law, sitting in the chair beside his wife, holding the other baby.
“Which one am I holding?” Lex asked, glancing from Ronnie to Marty.
Marty glanced down at the baby in her arms, embarrassed to say, she also didn’t know which baby she was holding and she chuckled softly, careful not to wake the stirring baby. “I have no idea,” she said quietly.
Ronnie glanced into Lex’s arms, pulling the blanket away from the baby’s face and looked momentarily horrified. “Oh God. I have no idea, either.” Panicked, she looked up and caught her mother’s eyes. “We’re going to be terrible parents! We can’t even tell our twins apart!”
Marty’s chuckle turned into more of a belly laugh at that.
“Mom, this is serious! What are we supposed to do, pull their diapers off every time I need to know which is which?”
“Sweetie, relax. It’s a lot easier with a boy and a girl—eventually you’ll figure it out. In the beginning with Callie and Noah, your father and I used to mix them up constantly. Once, I came in to find your Dad dressing them and he had accidentally put Noah in the dress I had laid out for Callie.”
The story that Marty thought would put her daughter at ease seemed to horrify her even more. Tears welled in her eyes. “Oh God,” she said. “I mean, not that I care if Hugh decides he wants to wear dresses someday, but… what if we scar them because we can’t tell them apart?”
A deep rumbled from the doorway and we glanced up to see Chris standing there, clipboard in hand, smiling. “You’re not going to scar them,” he said kindly, smiling at Ronnie. “And your son actually has a small birthmark on his shoulder. It kind of looks like a turtle shell.”
Marty felt her heart quicken—a turtle shell? She tugged the swaddle down past the baby’s arm and sure enough, there on Hugh James’s shoulder was a series of small birthmarks that came together in a pattern not dissimilar to a turtle shell. Tears filled her eyes and spilled out onto the swaddle—it was like Jim’s small way of being here with them. “Well, hey there, Turtle,” Marty whispered to the sleeping baby. “I think we found your new nickname, little guy.” With a swipe of her wet cheeks, Marty inhaled slowly before glancing up, smiling. “I have Hugh James,” she said, proudly and lifted her chin to Lex’s arms. “Which means you have Calliope Ruth.”
Chris—Dr. Foster—entered the rest of the way into the room, checking Ronnie’s vitals and her chart quickly. “I just wanted to see how you were feeling?”
“Good, considering,” Ronnie answered, then shrugged. “Tired, but that’s to be expected.”
Chris nodded and gave her one of those perfectly heart-melting smiles. “Good, good. That’s great to hear. This was probably my most nerve-wracking C-sections yet… considering the grandmother is a colleague.” Marty grinned at Chris as he slid her a wink. “Luckily, the surgery was easy as pie and little Hugh James and Calliope Ruth are in good health. A little on the small side, which is to be expected and Calliope is slightly jaundiced, which is quite common. The nurses will be taking her a few times a day for treatments and we just suggest that you roll her bassinet towards the window so that she gets some light while the sun is out.”
Ronnie exhaled in relief as Lex bounced the gurgling baby in his arms. “We were actually thinking of calling her Lio for short… to help lessen the confusion of having two Callies in the family.”
“God knows we don’t need two Callies in this family,” Callie’s brassy voice was a far cry from the rest of our soft whispers in the room. Marty’s youngest daughter poked her head inside, holding Olivia’s hand as she peeked shyly around the corner. Behind them, the rest of the Tripp family was piling into the room, arms full of balloons, flowers, and candy.
Steve and Yvonne tucked in beside Marty and she handed them Hugh so they could have a moment with him. Cam, Lydia, and Maddie crossed over to Ronnie’s bedside and Maddie held up the phone where Noah was face-timing and waving at his sister through the camera. “You look like hell!” he said, the phone echoing in the small room.
Ronnie rolled her eyes and snorted. “Gee, thanks.”
“Dada?” Liv whispered and Lex’s grin widened at the sight of his first-born toddling into the hospital room hesitantly.
“Liv, come over here and meet your brother and sister,” he said quietly.
Olivia shook her head, but Callie kneeled beside her, smiling widely and brushed her forefinger down the bridge of Liv’s upturned nose. “Come on Livie,” Callie said. “Aren’t you so excited to be the best big sister,ever? I always wanted a younger sibling,” Callie added. “And I can tell you from experience, you will be their hero.” Callie’s eyes cut to Ronnie who was looking at her younger sister, smiling, even though she was no doubt exhausted. “I know my big sister ismyhero.”
Chris cleared his throat and backed to the door. “Well, I’ll give you Tripps some privacy. Some family time.” He caught Marty’s eye with a small nod of his head and before she realized what she was doing, Marty was on her feet.
“Wait, Chris.”
He stopped dead in his tracks, turning slowly to face her, the quizzical expression on his face apparent.
“I want you to meet my family—the whole family. Obviously, you’ve met Ronnie and Lex.”
Chris smiled and nodded at her daughter and son-in-law. “Yes, of course. And Hugh, Lio, and Olivia, too of course.”
“This is my oldest son, Cameron—his daughter, Maddie and his fiancé, Lydia.” Cam sent a quick glance to his mother before reaching over to shake Chris’s hand. But before he could say anything or ask questions, Marty continued. “My second oldest son, Steve, his fiancé, Yvonne.” Yvonne cast Marty with a quick, knowing smile. She had helped her dress for the date and something told Marty that Yvonne knew exactly who was standing before them. “And this is Callie, my youngest… and over there on the video chat is her twin, Noah.”
Chris gave a little wave around the room, but despite the discomfort in his stance, his smile was easy and calm.
“Everyone, this is Dr. Chris Foster. We work together…” Marty paused and lines pursed around Chris’s mouth momentarily. She could see the question in his eyes.Is that all we are? Colleagues.Marty cleared her throat. “But we’re also dating.” Marty closed the space between them and fell into Chris’s outstretched arms as he beamed down at her. Pink flushed his cheeks and with a chuckle, he glanced around the room.
“This is incredibly intimidating,” he admitted, running a free hand through his dark hair. Almost all of her children stood there staring at them stunned, mouths agape. Only Ronnie and Yvonne seemed unphased by it and Ronnie sent her mom a quick wink.
