The Sweetest Devotion

Meaningful Memories

An hour later Nikki and their newborn daughter had been checked over and given the all-clear before being sent to the postnatal ward for monitoring and recovery, their daughter had been cleaned down weighed, and dressed.
Both parents for the past hour had been admiring their daughter in awe, "I can't get over how beautiful she is" Jack smiles watching Nikki cradle their daughter, he comes to Nikki's side again kissing her head and stroking their daughter's tiny balled fists.

"She needs a name?" Nikki smiles contently.
"I know, we can't keep calling her 'she', now that she's here," Jack smiles happily perching himself on the bed.

The pair sit in silence for a moment thinking of names, "How about Geraldine?" He smirks.
"No," Nikki responds as she glares at him, "Be serious Jack."
Nikki looks at her daughter again and smiles her heart swelling each time she looks at her, "How about something meaningful?" He responds.

"Okay?" She smiles.
"Now I know you may not like it, but it was my Great-Grandma's name, so I would like you to consider it... okay?... but how about Katherine? with a K, not a C, so it is different to my Great-Granny in a way," Jack suggests.

He watches Nikki's face for a response as she keeps her eyes fixed on their daughter, "Oh..." She mumbles. Jack panics realizing she doesn't like it but he doesn't know what else to say and just waits for her suggestion. "I love it," She smiles.
"What really?" Jack beams in delight, Nikki nods slowly and looks up at him her face copying his expression.
"Katy for short," She smiles.
"Katherine Hodgson," Jack sighs happily and shares a kiss with Nikki.

"How about a middle name for little Katy?" Nikki quizzes happily.
"How about something from your family?" He asks.
"No, I don't want her named after any of my family members, what was your Mum's middle name?" Nikki asks.

Jack thinks hard trying to remember his mother's middle name, "Maria," He smiles cheerfully.
"I love it, it works well with Katherine and Katy," Nikki chuckles and kisses her daughter lightly on the head.
"Welcome to the world Wee Katherine Maria Hodgson," Jack smiles.

The couple sits in silence for a while before another midwife comes through to them and checks on how Nikki and Katy were doing. "So do we have a name for this beautiful little girl yet?" the midwife smiles as she checks Nikki's charts.
"Yes we do, this is Katy," Nikki smiles happily.
"What a lovely name," the midwife smiles as she watches the new parents for a moment, "Have you managed to get her to latch yet?" She adds noticing a wet patch on Nikki's pyjama top clearly a sigh her milk had come.

"Not yet, I've been so wrapped up in her being here, It slipped my mind," She responds.
"Shall we give it a go?" The midwife smiles and Nikki nods happily as Jack moves off where he is perched on the bed so the midwife can help Nikki.

He stands for a moment watching her, "I'm going to give my Da a call let him know the news," He smiles and Nikki nods happily as the midwife guides her through what to do.
Jack leaves the room and pulls his phone out of his pocket, searching for his Dad's name, and dials the number, he waits a moment before he hears the phone being answered. "Jack son? it's nine in the morning, I've only just got out of bed," Connor grumbles down the phone.
Jack waits a moment trying to think of the best way to announce his daughter's early arrival, "You've only just got out of bed? I've been up since half five this mornin'," Jack chuckles.

"Son, what do you want? you never call me this early..." Connor responds.
"Nikki had the baby this morning," Jack comes out clearly not being able to contain his excitement any longer.
"What!" Conor almost chokes.
Jack chuckles to himself and bites his lip fighting back the emotion again think about how perfect his daughter is, "Yes... she arrived at half eight this morning. ten wee fingers and toes."

There is a comfortable silence between them for a moment, "Congratulations son... is she all well?" Conor responds.
"Yes, given the all-clear... if the feeding process does well and she passes a nappy soon they said we could be home for dinner time," Jack smiles.
"That's good news then... Does the wee thing have a name?" Conor asks.
"Yes, her name is Katy," Jack smiles cheerfully, his chest once again swelling with complete happiness.

There is a comfortable silence between the pair for a moment before Conor speaks up down the phone, "When can I meet her?" He quizzes.
Jack thinks to himself and wondered if Nikki would be up to a visitor later today, "Let me ask Nikki, she was the one to go through fourteen hours of labour," Jack chuckles.

Soon the phone call ends and Jack heads back into the ward where he finds Nikki sat with Jack resting on a pillow clearly attached to Nikki's breast, something ever so natural and once again made Jack feel on top of the world. "Hey" He smiles walking over to her and perching on the side of the bed.

"Hey yourself," She beams.
She looks so tired but she was determined to stay awake to allow Katy to feed without fear of dropping her if she was to doze. "I'm so proud of you," Jack smiles stealing a kiss from Nikki.

As they pull away from their nose's brush and they both chuckle at each other, in unison the pair look down at their daughter and smile noticing her eyes wide open taking in as much as she can from that angle. "Those big brown eyes already," Jack mumbles running the upside of his index finger along Katy's soft cheek.

"She's going to be a heart breaker," Nikki smiles before glancing at Jack who is still so close to her face, she glances at his lips without second thoughts she captures his lips and smiles into the kiss. "I love you."
"I love you too Mrs. Hodgson," He mumbles and gently cups her cheek, their newborn daughter still situated between their pair, oblivious to their affections, unaware of the love she would receive from her parents in the coming years.