Page 27 of Baby Blue
“Sure, I guess.” He waited while she opened the door and motioned for him to go in.
The room was dark. “What’s going on? Hey, what is?”
The darkness erupted into bright light and a chorus of “SURPRISE!” filled the air. Blue looked around and couldn’t quite take in all he was seeing. Pink streamers were everywhere, and pink balloons, and little decorations on tables full of food, all kinds of little pink baby decorations. And there were at least twenty women in that tiny room.
From the back of the pack, Anne stepped out and toward him. “Surprise, Brent!” He knew he had to look dumbstruck. “It’s a baby shower! All the ladies wanted to give you a baby shower! Isn’t that cool?”
Blue was still standing there, his mouth gaping open. He finally came to his senses and whispered, “Um, can I talk to you in the hallway, please?”
Anne’s brow dropped. “What’s wrong?” She let him hustle her out the door and when he had her in the hallway, she asked again, “Brent? What’s going on?”
“I can’t do this. I can’t accept charity. It’s bad enough that you’ve been helping me, but strangers? I can’t, Anne. I just can’t,” he said, feeling a little frantic.
“Brent, it’s not charity. It’s a party. Pregnant women are given baby showers all the time, and women love to buy presents for babies. So now it’s your turn. And you can use anything they’ve gotten together for you. Now go back in there and be gracious!” she said, opening the door and pushing him back through.
As soon as he stepped back into the room, one of the women in the front turned and smiled. “Is everything okay?”
“I’m, uh, I don’t know about?”
Another woman, a little older and dark haired, made her way through the group. “Brent, Anne told us about the stork’s unscheduled visit on Saturday. That must’ve been a huge shock to you,” she said, her voice kind and sympathetic.
“Yeah. It still kinda is. I mean, I wasn’t expecting this,” he said. When Anne covertly punched a knuckle into his ribcage, he added, “But it’s really nice of all of you. This is so nice.”
“It wasn’t just us,” the woman told him. “It was almost every nurse in the hospital. They all heard about your little bundle of joy and they wanted to see her and wish her a grand hello.
He’d forgotten he still had the baby in his arms when another pretty blond-haired nurse said, “May I hold her? I just love babies!”
“Um, sure,” he said, handing his little girl over to the woman. She smiled down into the baby’s face, and Indigo waved a hand toward her nose and grinned. “Oh, she’s so cute!”
Someone had started some soft music playing and Anne took Blue by the elbow. “Come on over and have some cake and punch.”
“This is kinda girly,” Blue whispered to her.
“Yeah, well, Indigo’s a girl and we’re all girls. Except for Brandon back there,” she said and waved to a guy standing in the back. “He’s the only male nurse we have right now. You should go talk to him. He’s a really nice guy.”
“I’ll do that,” Blue said as another woman in scrubs smiled and shoved a plate with cake and nuts on it into his hand. He picked up a cup of punch and found a seat on the far side of the room. In seconds, Brandon joined him on one side and a red-headed nurse named Amber sat down on the other. They chatted back and forth with him for a few minutes, asking about the baby and how things had been. Blue was shocked. They seemed genuinely interested in him and Indigo. Why would complete strangers care about them?
“Time to open gifts! Come on, Brent! Let’s see what everyone brought!” Anne called to him.
“I’ll keep the gift register,” Amber said, grabbing a piece of paper and a pencil.
Before he knew what was happening, he found himself in a chair in front of the refreshment table as one package after another was placed on his lap. It was bewildering, but as he opened each gift, his heart ached a little more with the knowledge that these people, people who’d never met him, had cared enough about him to go to the trouble to do something that nice for him.
And the gifts! There were little outfits, several packages of diapers, onesies, socks, tee shirts, and two little dresses. Someone gave them a nice diaper bag and to Blue’s relief, it was a manly plaid that didn’t look like a purse! There was a strange, baby-shaped sponge, and Anne explained that he could put it inthe tub and put the baby in it while he bathed her. That sounded a lot better than the kitchen sink, at least to him. One box held a stack of colorful bibs decorated with cartoon animals, and another had stretchy headbands with silk flowers fastened to them. Those would be cute on her for sure. Another gift revealed several sheets and mattress pads for a crib. He didn’t dare tell them he couldn’t use them. On his pay, there was no telling how long it would take him to get a crib for her.
All the small gifts were gone, and someone pushed a large box toward him. “Here ya go,” a young woman with white-blond hair said. “This is a gift from the nursing staff on the urology floor. We all went in together to get it.” Blue ripped the paper away and gasped.
A stroller! And a nice one too. “Oh, wow, Brent, isn’t that nice?” Anne whispered.
“Yes, it really is! Thank you so much,” Blue told the young woman.
Another big package appeared in front of him. “All of us in the emergency room went in together and got this. Hope you like it,” Amber said.
Blue stripped the paper away and was completely in shock. It was a car seat, and it had to have been very, very expensive. Part of it lifted away to make a baby carrier. It was nicer than anything the fire department would’ve given him, of that he was sure. “Oh, my god, this is… I don’t know what to say. Thank you. Thank you so much. Now I’ve got to figure out how to put it in my truck,” he said.
“I can help you with that,” Brandon called out. “I work in the obstetrics department, and we have to put them in cars when parents take babies home. That one’s a piece of cake. No problem. We’ll get it fixed up before you leave.”
“Thanks,” Blue told him. “I’d appreciate that.”
