We decided it would be the two of us when the egg hatched. I marked it on our calendar in the kitchen. Nova had a kitchen put in for me before I ate the berry. It was handy for when we had guests though and I still loved to cook.
Nova shot up from his sleep and scared me to death. "The baby!" and he rushed out of the room.
I was freaked out because I thought of horrible things. It died or got kidnapped or something. I stumble after him to the nursery. I froze. I saw a crack in the shell. It took my brain forever to process what that meant.
Nova was touching it. "He's hatching!"
I stood beside him. Oooh, that's what that meant! I was in shock. "Hi baby!" I whispered.
I cried.
Nova was taking pictures and it was so cute... until he snapped one of me. I was a mess as the crack got bigger, I gasped.
"That's it, Sweet Pea!" Nova coached. "Come on. You can do it!"
I stared. I didn't want to miss a moment. The crack became two and three until the egg broke apart. It was messy but all birth is. He was covered in egg gook but his big eyes met with mine and I was crying. "Baby!"
Nova slowly picked him up. "Hello, Sweet Pea. I'm your daddy! This is your other daddy." He cradled the baby in his arms and ignored the mess.
I picked up a towel, because I had no idea what we needed. I even boiled water for no reason. Seriously, there was a pan of water that I boiled before bed. It was cooled down now and I didn't use it! I patted the baby dry and wiped his face and eyes. Pretty white and purple eyes.
Nova kissed his cheek. "You were right. This is a perfect moment."
"I know." I whispered. He handed the baby to me and snapped more pictures. I kissed his cheek and then kissed the baby. "Hi, Sweet Pea. Happy birthday!"
He giggled at me and closed his eyes and sucked on his hand.
"We need to feed him!" I handed the baby to Nova, took his camera and snapped three pictures and rushed to the kitchen. I mixed the formula, some special honey vegetarian weirdo Faerie mix and shook it. The mix was blue. Okay?
Nova walked in with the baby all bundled. "How do we feed him?"
I smiled. "I'll show you." We went back to the warm nursery and I set Nova in the rocking chair and held the bottle to the baby's mouth. It was pretty easy after that. The baby sucked the liquid down and Nova held him and rocked him. "Simple, Nova."
That man was a natural at everything and being a dad wasn't any different. He changed diapers, bathed him and fed him without any struggle. I was in love again.
We snuggled into bed together. "We need a name for him." Nova sighed.
I laid my head on his chest as we stared at the baby monitor computer screen. "Nyx Blacklocks." I just said it. "I love nighttime and that name is cool."
Nova chuckled. "Joseph, you always surprise me. Nyx is perfect."
I was so content. "My mom..."
Nova moved my hair from my face. "You never talk about her. What was her name?"
I smiled just thinking about her. "Layla Elizabeth Renner. She loved her name. It means night. I thought that naming our first child Nix would keep her close to me."
Nova sighed. "Joseph, I love the name even more. Nix is a great way to honor your mom. I'm sorry she isn't here with us. Do you think she would like me?"
I smiled. "Probably more than she liked me."
Nova nodded. "Probably. I am fabulous!"
I couldn't argue with that. He was fabulous. I just chuckled.
Thanks for reading. There is one more chapter but I hope you enjoyed the story!