The First Night

Janet Sheldon lay in the hospital bed, dozing in and out of consciousness. She had just spent several hours performing the most laborious action that her body would ever undertake. After all the screaming, crying, and chaos, the only thing in the world that mattered now was the well-being of her son. It was now early in the morning, and all of Janet's family and friends had gone home hours before. Even her husband was at the house now, and had promised to pick her and the baby up in the morning.

As Janet lay awake, she listened to the sounds of the babies crying down the hall, wondering if her son was one of the ones making a fuss. She giggled to herself at the notion that she had a son now. For her entire life, she dreamt of the day that she would get to hold her baby for the first time. A tiny, helpless creature that would rely on her for everything in its early stages of life. All that she ever wanted was to be a mother, and now she finally had it.

The door to her private room slowly opened, letting in a small amount of light, which roused Janet fully awake. A nurse entered quietly, carrying something in her arms. Janet soon realized that this was her son being brought to her. It had occurred to her only in that moment that she and her son hadn't gotten any time to bond properly yet, as the baby was passed around to every visitor throughout the day. Now it was quiet, and the world seemed still. The only sound that mattered was her son's little whimpers.

"Are you up?" The nurse asked.

"Yeah," Janet said. "Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine. He was getting a bit fussy, and so I figured you might want to try feeding him.”

The nurse handed the baby to Janet, and he immediately calmed down. Janet focused in on her son, and for the first time was really able to get a good look at him. The first time she laid eyes on her son, she joked that he looked like his Daddy, which was mostly true. But the more Janet was able to study her son, the more she was able to identify physical features belonging to other members of her family.

The baby smiled as he nestled into his mother, and Janet spotted two large dimples in his cheeks. She began to weep, as they instantly reminded her of her grandmother that passed away when she was a child. The two had always been close, and she had died almost twenty years ago, but as far as Janet was concerned : Her grandmother was alive and well in the room.

When the baby opened his eyes, he looked at his mother as if trying to identify her. He knew her scent, but appeared to be trying to remember her face. There was a moment where it looked like he was going to cry, but Janet began singing a song that had been passed down through her family for generations.

Janet’s soft voice soothed the baby almost instantly, and he squeezed tightly onto her skin. It was as though he recognized her voice right away, and took comfort in it. He clung to her physically the way that she clung to him emotionally. The two were attached now for the rest of their lives. Janet began to cry, noting that this was the first time that she ever felt like she was a mom.

The following morning, Janet’s husband, Daniel, came up to greet his family. As he entered the room, Janet turned the sleeping baby to face him,. She spoke quietly, saying, “Look! Daddy’s here to take us home.”

Daniel felt weak in the knees, and forced himself to sit down in the chair beside the hospital bed. Janet asked him what was wrong, but her husband could hardly speak. He stared at the image of his wife, looking beautiful as ever, holding their firstborn child. He was at a loss for words, and struggled to formulate his thoughts properly. This was a level of life that he never thought capable of possessing. He thought that seeing Janet on their wedding day would be an image he would always retain, but this one was so much more powerful.

“He’s here,” Daniel said. “He’s really here. That’s our son.”

With their love for each other, they had taken pieces of themselves and created an entirely new life. One that would grow, make mistakes, learn from those mistakes, and make other ones. This was a new human being that had no survival skills or anything of the sort, and relied solely on its parents to take care of him. Daniel had nothing but confidence in his wife’s capability as a mother, and she felt the same about him as a father. While they were nervous, as any new parent was bound to be, they were both confident that their relationship could only grow with the love of this new baby.

Daniel gathered his wife and child, and escorted them with the help of the mandatory wheelchair out the building. Janet had never before felt more in love with her husband. She had known him since they were children, but she looked at him now as a man. Janet and her husband had gone through the many ups and downs that life and to offer. Their relationship had survived family deaths, divorces, accidents, along with gatherings, move-ins, and graduations.

They both felt satisfied, in the best and truest sense of the word. Daniel and Janet both lived a singular life for themselves, then they came together exactly when they needed to, and created a relationship that flourished into a lifelong commitment. That commitment then led to the creation of another human being, again at the moment that they were ready for it.

Daniel helped his wife and child inside their new family vehicle. Janet lay her head on the window, absolutely exhausted from the events that just transpired. Daniel looked in the rearview mirror and took pride in the sight of a carseat that contained his son.

This was the epitome of everything that they both wanted for their life, and they finally got it. Together.