Page 70 of North
Two nurses came into our room and hooked North up to a machine before checking to see if she was ready to push. The wide-eyed look on the first nurse’s face told me all I needed to know.
“You’re at a ten, mama. It’s beyond time to push,” she smiled. North nodded and slid down toward the foot of the bed with her feet in stirrups, gritting her teeth and gripping the bed rails for stability.
I thought the noises I pulled out of North were beautiful but the way she sounded pushing our out child was otherworldly. It wasn’t sexy or sweet. It was terrifying and sobering. It bubbled over with pain and self-doubt.
She kept going though.
It felt like time stopped when she gave one final push and the nurses cheered. Everything in the world vanished and all I saw was the screaming, squirming baby being placed on North’s bare chest.
She was perfect.
Thick red hair and a rosebud mouth with lashes so long they were stuck to her chubby cheeks.
Oh my god.
I was in heaven.
“Dad, you wanna cut the cord?” Everything clicked back into place and I nodded, taking the scissors and cutting between the designated markers on the tightly coiled umbilical cord.
When I was done, I turned my gaze back to my girls. North was already breastfeeding like a champ and I’d never seen anything more peaceful and gorgeous. I didn’t think it was possible to fall any harder for the amazing goddess in front of me. I thought I’d exhausted my entire heart loving her.
I was wrong. My heart expanded by leaps and bounds once I witnessed her give birth. It was the wrong time for me to be turned on but I couldn’t help it. North was fucking phenomenal and I was ready to give her another baby already. Shit, I wanted a team. She would have my goddamn head if I mentioned it to her right now so I kept quiet.
“You did it, Shortcake.”
“I did it,” she said with a smile and a hoarse voice. She looked different already. Like giving birth to our daughter transformed her into the butterfly she was always meant to be.
“What should we name her?” I asked. We chose not to think about names until we laid eyes on her. I stared at her for what seemed like forever. Even when the nurses swept her away for her bath and first exam, I was transfixed.
“You wanna hold her, Kane?” North asked once we were in the recovery room. My hands and arms shot out without my permission. I would finally get to hold my daughter.
I thought I was head over heels watching North birth and nurse our baby but once I held her little body in my arms…I was ruined for every other woman.
Nobody would have been able to pry me away from North but now…my god. I was drunk on her powdery fresh scent. I was captured by the way her little fingers gripped my finger. I knew I would give her the entire world if she asked for it.
“So now that you’re holding her…what do you think?” North’s voice tore me from the hypnotic state I was in.
“She’s perfect,” I said, rubbing the tip of my nose across her forehead.
“Well, yeah,” she laughed. “But what do you think we should name her?”
I rocked her body gently getting used to the tiny solid weight in my arms. I stared at her shock of red hair and the soft smattering of freckles barely visible across her cheeks. “I don’t know, cupcake. What do you wanna be named?” I spoke against the top of her head.
After the legal proceedings with Sierra wrapped up and we won the defamation case, I fell in love with North’s pregnancy. At the first ultrasound appointment, I dubbed the little baby growing inside of her, Cupcake since North was already my Shortcake.
“I have an idea,” North smiled.
“I’m all ears, baby.”
“What do you think about naming her Blaze? She’s the light of my life.”
“And she has this amazing hair.” The crop of silky hair on her head was already taking on my wavy texture. It looked like a mess of fiery blazes.
“She does. So…Blaze?” The way North looked at me made me feel like I was on top of the world.
“Blaze Fitzgerald it is,” I smiled.
“Oh my goodness, the cupcake is here!” Melanie’s upbeat voice rounded the corner before she did. “Aww, look at her.” When she held her hands out for Blaze, I looked at North before I handed her over. When she gave me a slight nod, I placed my princess in her arms then slapped hands with Elijah once he walked in the room and placed a bouquet of balloons down in the corner.
