Page 90 of Chasing The Goal
He placed her on my chest – warm, wet and wailing, her tiny fists flailing, her skin slick and red and impossibly soft. I curled my arms around her instinctively, the sob that escaped me loud and ragged and full of wonder.
“Hi,” I whispered, over and over, voice shaking. “Hi, baby. I’ve got you. I’ve got you.”
Jaymie leaned in close, one arm around my shoulders, his forehead pressed to mine, his other hand cupping our girls back. He was crying freely now, his whole body trembling as he held onto both of us.
We stayed like that, the three of us tangled together, hearts pounding, skin touching, breath syncing. The chaos was gone. The fear had passed.
We were here. We were whole.
We’d done it.
Together.
Part Five
Jaymie
The hospital room istoo quiet after what we’ve been through.
Just hours ago, I was kneeling on the cold tile of my bathroom floor, soaked from the waist down, blood on my hands, a phone clutched between my shoulder and ear as I listened to a stranger talk me through delivering a baby. Mallory’s baby. The ride to the hospital was nervewracking at best, following behind was not part of the plan but when the EMTs saw the size of Mal's hospital bag, they recommended a seperate car.
Now, Mallory’s resting in the hospital bed, half-reclined, dark circles beneath her eyes and damp strands of hair sticking to her forehead. She’s radiant in a raw, exhausted kind of way. Not flawless, more like the afterglow of a wildfire. She’s bundled under a blanket, Lola swaddled tightly on her chest, pink-cheeked and perfectly still…sound asleep.
I can’t stop looking at her. Either of them.
“She’s heavier than I thought she’d be,” I say finally, my voice too loud in the silence.
Mallory’s lips quirk into a tired smile. “You held her like she was fine china.”
“She kind of came out of nowhere,” I say, rubbing a hand over the back of my neck. “Like, one minute I’m helping you take a bath and the next I’m—”
“Catching a baby,” she finishes, her eyes crinkling.
“That was a once in a lifetime expierence thats for sure. I really panicked there.” I took off my glasses and wiped the lenses on the edge of my tee shirt, feeling more awkward and uncomfortable than I should.
“No, you didn’t. You didn’t flinch. You were steady.”
I snort. “I called 911 and nearly dropped the phone in the tub. That’s not what I’d call ‘steady.’”
“You didn’t drop me,” she says. “You caught my daughter. You stayed.”
I pause. My throat closes up. “Of course. I would do anything for you Mallory, well now I would do anything for the both of you"
Mallory watched for a long beat, then gently shifts Lola off her chest and pats the space beside her. “Come here.”
I hesitate, then sit carefully on the edge of the bed, stretching my arms out. She places Lola in them, and I cradle the baby like she’s a star plucked from the sky.
“She looks like you,” I murmur.
Mallory leans her head on my shoulder. “She has her father’s nose.”
I flinch. Not because I forgot, but because it still stings sometimes. That reminder. That boundary.
“You okay?” she asks gently.
“Yeah,” I say quickly, then soften. “I mean… I don’t know. I don’t have the words for this.”
“You don’t have to.”
