Intimate || Les Twins

32. Back To Normal

Unedited...

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It's been nearly a full month since Aaliyah gave birth to her daughter. A full month since she's stayed a full night in her own home; a full month since she's slept more than four hours. A full month since Aaliyah's life changed drastically. She didn't seem to be the same woman she was a month ago. It was heart-rending for the ones around her to see. They'd never seen her so stressed and out of it that they didn't want to leave her by herself sometimes. Especially in Laurent's case. He never wanted to leave her side even though she encouraged him to go back to work and reassured him that she'd be fine on her own. He knew that she only wanted him to be happy doing what he loved and not worried about her every moment of the day, but the top of his priorities was her and his daughter. Nothing and no one could ever make him leave them.

Laurent and Aaliyah were walking down the halls of the children's unit of the hospital. Aaliyah was holding a small pink blanket on her arms in front of her. She walked silently while Laurent talked. He talked about a few of the ideas he had for their wedding which was new because he'd never said anything about it before. Aaliyah looked straight ahead. She walked slightly faster than him but that was normal. She held her hand over the sensor for a hand sanitizer station and Lau did the same then proceeded into the NICU. She didn't bother to stop at the desk because she knew where she was going. She walked straight to the room where her daughter was only to find a clear space where her baby normally rested. She blinked and backed away from the door, dropping the blanket in her hands and running her hands through her hair frantically.

"Oh, Ms. Cartier I'm so sorry! We couldn't-"

"Where's my daughter?" Aaliyah asked, voice shaking slightly.

Laurent finally caught up to Aaliyah and saw what she saw. "What happened?" He looked at the nurse worried.

"We couldn't wait until you got here to move her. We were so excited and we moved her right down here to this room." A nurse that looked to be in her late 40s said starting to walk down the hall. Laurent picked up the blanket and followed behind her and Aaliyah. "Here she is."
Aaliyah's eyes went from weary to bright in a matter of seconds seeing her daughter moving around and making a lot of noises. She actually couldn't believe her eyes. For a nearly a month, Aaliyah hadn't seen her baby do much of anything being hooked up to all types of machines but now it was a miracle.

"When did this happen?" Laurent asked in shock.

"A little bit after you left last night. She's been active all morning." The nurse replied with a smile.

Aaliyah walked into the room and went straight to the side of her daughter. She looked into the bluish grey eyes of her precious baby girl for the first time since she had her and her heart melted. "Hi baby," Aaliyah cooed. "mommy was here everyday waiting for you to open your eyes again."

"Thank you so much!" Laurent said to the nurse.

She smiled feeling how genuine that thank you was. "Not a problem."
The nurse looked on as the couple spoke softly to their baby like they usually did but this time with more enthusiasm. "Ms. Cartier, you ca-"

"Please, call me Aaliyah." She smiled warmly.

The nurse smiled back. "Aaliyah," she nodded. "such a beautiful name."