Wandering Off

Surprises

He turned to the night stand and handed me the device. I dialed the assistants number and could see her on the screen only seconds later.

"How's it going? Are you coping well?", she asked, then gasped, when she heard the newborn cry and saw him on my chest, "oh my gosh, he looks just like Gabriel! He even is just as bright blond!"

"Yeah, right!", I said quietly, "and he is just as stubborn as him and won't stop crying! Did you reach him by now?"

Nathalie nodded.

"He should be here any minute. How are you feeling? Was it bad?"

I shrugged.

"It hurt, but the pain is gone now and all I can feel is happiness! So don't be scared, I am very sure, you can do that even better than I did!", I said soothingly.

"Did you hear something already?", came Gabriel's voice from afar now and Nathalie giggled.

"Come and see, darling!"

"What?", I heard him call and then his steps quickened and a second later his face appeared next to Nathalie's.

"Say 'hi' to your father, sweetheart!", I cooed, "he's beautiful, Gabriel and his name is Paul! I really hope, you like that name! And he's a tiny copy of you! See?"

I saw the usually so tough man gulp and his eyes brimmed with tears, as he tried to speak:

"I....I just.... I can't right now..."

And then he buried his face in the crook of Nathalie's neck and began to sob. The pregnant woman smiled compassionately, as she rubbed his back comfortingly.

"I think, the snow plow, I sent, should be there soon, so you can come back! I will try to get Gabriel back into a functioning state, so we can prepare a couple of things for you here. I already made another call to a pediatrician, so you don't have to go to the hospital, if you don't want to. She'll come and do all the examinations and tests here, as soon as I call her!"

"Thank you, Nath! That's very sweet from you. See you soon!"

I looked at Sean with a beaming smile.

"Would you mind, starting the car already, so it will be warm for our little boy? If Nath is right, we can leave very soon and I wouldn't want him to get cold", I looked down at the baby, who had stopped crying and was moving with his head along my bare chest, "you poor little boy. Your mummy doesn't even have any clothes for you here!"

My boyfriend though grinned, then hummed:

"But your daddy has! It was supposed to be a surprise for your mum, a little gift to show her, how much I love you both. And to you, mummy, that 'searching' he does right now, means, he is hungry. Would you like to let him drink? I can help you, to get him into a good position for it, before I get your surprise and let the car warm up."

I suddenly felt very self conscious.

"I don't know how. It would be really nice, if you helped me. I-I d-didn't even n-notice, that h-h-he was hungry. I-I already feel like a-a f-failure!", I was sobbing now, feeling totally pathetic. But Sean just sat up and looked at me with a smile.

"Stop thinking like that. You just gave birth to a person. Your brain is allowed to take a break too. Just let me help you and you'll see, as soon as he starts to drink, you'll forget about all those things and just enjoy the bonding with your baby! Come, I'll help you sit up a bit. I'll try to be back very quickly, so we can also clean you up a bit, before we leave!"

"Yeah, that would be great, I feel disgusting. Thank you for already removing the towels and the sheets. But I still feel as if I was lying in a puddle of.... I don't even wanna speak it out loud. Woah! He's doing that so strongly!", my ranting had turned into enthusiasm, when I felt my son suck on my right nipple, trying to get some milk.