Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 58470 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 292(@200wpm)___ 234(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58470 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 292(@200wpm)___ 234(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
After seven hours of labor, Meghan Romero-Beckett came into the world at a perfect eight pounds ten ounces and twenty-three inches long. She was beautiful, her blue eyes curious and unfocused, her little wisps of dark hair sticking up like a duckling’s feathers. I was instantly, deeply in love. They laid her on my chest, and I touched her so carefully, felt her trying to wriggle even though she was swaddled tightly. Tears came to my eyes of their own accord, and I pressed a soft kiss to her downy hair. I looked helplessly up at the three men leaning over to get a better look at her. Jeremy took a few pictures, the nurse took one of all of us together, and I looked from one to the other of them in speechless wonder.
“Yeah, she’s perfect,” Darren said.
“She looks like you,” Rory added. “If you were really small and all red.”
“She just got squeezed out of my body! Be nice, Beckett!” I said, and he grinned.
“Watch out for mama bear. She’s beautiful, Julie. I was just teasing.”
“She’s amazing,” I said, carefully unwrapping her to look at her tiny, perfect fingers. She waved her arm and then shivered. I tucked her back in the blanket and looked up at them. “Who wants to hold her first?”
They looked from one to the other and Darren said, “Arm wrestle for it?”
“Rock paper scissors?” Rory offered.
“Give her to me and they can play hopscotch for second place,” Jeremy said.
“I saved them from the fire,” Rory piped up.
“You can’t use that to get your way on everything forever,” Jeremy said.
“Maybe I’ll hold her first!” Kendall said, sweeping in with presents in a gorgeous blue dress. “That’s my niece right there.”
She whipped out a monogrammed pink baby blanket and expertly lifted Meghan off my chest. “Get the woman a Sprite! What is wrong with you people? She pushed out a person and she loves Sprite!”
I laughed as the guys looked at each other trying to figure out who screwed this up. Kendall sat down in a chair and cooed at Meghan. A nurse came in to check me and the guys returned with Sprite, a cup of ice, and about half the contents of a snack machine.
I took a couple of sips and lay back on my pillow. “I really just need to rest,” I said apologetically, watching the three of them sit on the couch against the wall. Kendall rose and brought the baby to me.
“Kiss Mommy good night. She needs her rest. Now the daddies are going to hold you and I’ll take tons of pictures, I promise.”
I kissed my baby’s head and smiled sleepily as Kendall took charge and made the guys take turns holding Meghan. I fell asleep to the sound of them raving about her perfection, her obvious brilliance as she blinked her unfocused eyes and made a small noisy fuss. When I woke up feeling rested and happy, Rory sat beside my bed feeding Meghan a bottle while Darren took about fifty pictures of her eating. When I stirred, Jeremy and Darren came to my side to help me sit up and get me anything I might want to eat, drink or wear.
All I really wanted was my baby girl. Rory stood and so carefully placed her in my arms. It felt more right than anything ever had. I looked at them each and whispered, “Thank you,” because this love we shared, this family was everything I could ever want.
The End