The Dove And The Grenade.

Chapter 32: The Dove Meets The Grenade.

Matty and Eliese stood beside the incubator, beaming down at their infant daughter. It's been a month since Genevieve's dramatic entrance, and today she's being taken out of the incubator. Both Matt and Eliese were excited and a tad bit nervous. Today will be the first time Genevieve is held by either of them. Matt is so excited to finally be holding his first born child. He's touched her a couple times but he wants to hold and cradle her. He can't live with touching her through a thick pair of latex gloves. He wants to feel her skin under his. He wants her to know what her daddy's skin feels like. He wants her to know what safety and security feels like.

Eliese, on the other hand, was scared. She still felt extremely guilty and ashamed of what happened. She knew Andrew was a violent man but she didn't think he'd try and kill her and her unborn child. Nobody has told her about what happened in the ambulance on the way to the hospital that night. Nobody had the heart. But Matt knows that sooner or later she'll find out and she'll be upset. But he's finally got her sleeping through the night without having a kitchen knife beside the bed. For a while she didn't even sleep at the house, she was so scared. Matt had a security system installed at the house so she could see who was at the front door without being at the front door. There were alarms and pincodes, and all the bells and whistles just so he could get her back at the house. But she refuses to be alone, Matt thinks that in a month she'll be back to normal. But for now Eliese will keep pounding on herself about it. "People make mistakes, you're only human." Matt's had to repeat that statement numerous times but Eliese doesn't seem to believe it.

"Are we ready to hold baby?" Asked the brown eyed Doctor as she waltzed up to the two anxious parents with a smile on her face and a clipboard under her arm. She bypassed the other stabilized infants and went directly to the smallest baby in the NICU. Eliese twisted around to meet the gaze of the Doctor while Matt mindlessly smiled down at his daughter. Butterflies filled his stomach, he felt like a little kid on Christmas morning. He watched with wonder as the trap door to the incubator fell open. He saw Genevieve gasp for the cleanest air in Los Angeles, her tiny nostrils flared. The Doctor reached into the small compartment and slid her hands under the blankets that Genevieve was wrapped up in. And just like so, Genevieve was pulled out of the bubble she's spent the first month of her life in. Suddenly it was all real. She wasn't just some being in a plastic bubble anymore. She was a living, breathing human being who needed both of her parents to help her through life.

"Who wants to hold her first?" The brown eyed Doctor asked curiously, holding a sleeping Genevieve in her hands. The infant didn't even wrinkle her nose. She looked sieren and calming. There were no words to describe it. Eliese was bewildered that this tiny human being lived inside of her body, she lived inside of an organ only females have.

"Daddy does." Eliese uttered. Matt was surprised, he thought for sure that Eliese would want to be the first person to hold her. He thought she'd jump on the chance but he didn't mind. He was nervous to say the least but once that bundle of blankets with a tiny human being inside was securely cradled in his arms, all that nervousness vanished. Matt couldn't contain his smile as he gazed down at the baby, his baby. She had a lot of hair, it was thick and dark, and curly. It was smooshed under the white cap that said MADE IN CALIFORNIA and it was a gift from George. Eliese laughed at its accuracy and adult humor. Genevieve had her dad's nose and lips, she even had his hair. But she had her mom's eyeshape and skin colour.

"Hey baby girl, it's daddy here. You're in my arms right now. Yeah, I know, about flippin time. Mommy's right here too. We're very excited to finally hold you. The next step is to bring you home to meet your sister, Emily and the family pet, Daisy, the chicken. Remember, I told you about her. Your sister wanted a puppy so we got a chicken. The rest of the family wants to meet you, they're cross legged over the wait. Your cousin Ava is excited to see you, granted she's a baby too but still. Daddy finished assembling the furniture in your room. That means your room is now ready for you." Matt always talks to her. He either reads, sings or just sits and talks to her. He tells her about tour and being in a band, and he lists everything that makes him happy, making sure Eliese, Emily and Genevieve are at the top. He always tells her that he loves her, and will always love her. He doesn't care that she doesn't talk back. He doesn't care that she doesn't understand him, he knows its good for her if he talks to her regularly. Eliese could not be more thankful for having Matt be her baby's father. She was worried he'd leave like Nathan did. But he didn't. She thought he'd get a taste of what he thought he wanted and not like it. She thought he was like the rest of them.