Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 92930 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92930 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
“Yes.”
“The baby had a little formula. But if you like, we can try seeing if she’ll feed right now.”
Nina lowered the hospital gown, revealing her swollen breast. Amazingly, our daughter latched on almost immediately. Couldn’t say I blamed her one bit.
“I’ll leave you alone with your daughter,” the nurse said before exiting the room.
Nina lifted the pink hat. “She looks like you, Jake. She’s got the same dark hair as A.J. I guess I have weak genes.”
“You just can’t escape me. Now, I’m multiplying inside you.” I ran my thumb along the baby’s soft fuzzy hair as she continued to devour Nina’s nipple like there was no tomorrow. The suckling sound was freaking adorable. “My little alien. You wreaked havoc today.”
“Is that what you want to name her? Aliena?”
“That would be fitting. But I think we should come up with something else.”
“Actually, I kind of had a name in mind,” she said.
“What is it?”
“Kennedy.”
“Kennedy Green. I like the sound of that. The two of us.”
“Yes. Exactly.”
“It’s perfect, baby. Perfect.” Tears were returning to my eyes. She had a name. I was finally able to absorb the magnitude of my daughter’s entry into the world now that Nina was safe. “You like that, Kennedy?”
“She doesn’t care what her name is right now. She’s too busy eating.”
“I can relate. You make me forget my name all the time when I’m feasting on you.”
“It will be a little while before that happens again. I have to heal.”
I groaned, “Don’t remind me.”
She lifted her brow. “We can be creative.”
“Oh yeah?”
“I think your delivering our baby warrants a pretty damn epic blow job when we get home.”
“I’m gonna be pushing for an early release then.”
“Seriously, Jake. You were incredible in that elevator.”
“We do elevators well, baby, don’t we?”
***
The following day, Nina was extremely sore, but thankfully, all of her vitals were checking out normally. She was taking a nap while I held the baby in the seat next to the bed.
Earlier in the day, I’d gone out to purchase a car seat for the long ride back to Boston. We were counting the minutes until we could take Kennedy home to meet her big brother. We’d told our families not to bother travelling up to New Hampshire, to save their energy instead for when we got back. Nina needed her rest now anyway. Her mother was planning to stay with us for a couple of weeks, so we’d have plenty of help.
There was a light knock at the door. A woman walked in with some paperwork.
“Hi, Mr. Green,” she whispered. “Your wife filled in the information for the birth certificate earlier today. You weren’t in here at the time. She wasn’t sure of exactly how you wanted your occupation listed. Would you mind adding it in for us?”
“Of course.” I kissed Kennedy’s head as she lay cradled in my right arm. “It’s official, little alien. I’m your Daddy on paper, too.”
I moved Nina’s plastic water jug to make room on the small table for the piece of paper and took a pen from the woman.
“You’re a lefty.” She smiled.
“Yup. My son, too.”
Filled with pride, I looked down at my daughter’s first name on the form. Nina and I hadn’t discussed a middle name. I wasn’t even sure if we were going to give Kennedy one. So, when I noticed that Nina had filled that line in, it took me by surprise. But what really shocked me was the name she chose. She’d told me the story, so I knew it wasn’t a coincidence. It was a beautiful sentiment meant to give us some closure. More than that, it spoke volumes about the kind of person my wife was. It was a bigger level of acceptance than she’d ever gifted me with before. It touched me so deeply that the pen was shaking in my hand.
Kennedy Aria Green.
CHAPTER 23
NINA
Four weeks later, our house had turned into a virtual zoo. Somehow, in the midst of the baby coming home, A.J. had convinced us to get a dog. We ended up adopting a black pug. We came up with the name Luna because it’s the Spanish word for moon.
So, we had a newborn baby, a pug yelping at all hours, and now Skylar and Mitch were arriving for a weekend visit to meet Kennedy for the first time. They were bringing their entire family: three kids and their aging blue-fronted Amazon parrot, Seamus. A.J. had gotten on the phone earlier this week and begged them to bring the talking bird who always provided hours of entertainment.
On his way home from visiting Ivy, Jake was out stopping for beer and wine. So, I was alone with the kids when our friends arrived. The noise that emerged from behind the door was evident before the doorbell even rang.
I lifted myself off the couch with Kennedy attached to my breast before throwing a blanket over her head to hide myself. Luna raced me to the door as her tiny scurrying paws scratched against the hardwood floors.