The maternity floor waiting room of the hospital looks a bit more crowded than normal for a weekday evening in June. But the crowd gathered this night isn't exactly waiting for a baby to make their grand entrance. No, they're waiting to make theirs.
The elevator doors open once more, revealing another wagon load full of gifts being pulled by James while Ollie's hands falter with the large wrapped box he's holding. "Is that everything?" Laura asks, rushing to help Ollie before he drops and breaks whatever the gift might be.
"Yeah," James tells her. He pulls the wagon over closer to the table they'd set up against the wall of windows, the sun setting over the St. Johns River casting a nice orange glow amongst the stark white and navy blue waiting room.
Renee unfolds a cheap pink tablecloth with the help of Hazel, laying it over the top of the table before reaching further into the bag of decorations. Each of them women take on a role in order to get the room looking more festive within the small window of time the nursing staff has granted them.
Adam helps his sons unload the wagon, placing the gifts that won't fit on the table around a chair that Hazel had already deemed the extra 'gift table' that will be close enough for Daphne to reach from her wheel chair.
Down the hall and around the corner, Daphne is near tears as she waits for Chris to show up. It's already 6:15 and he's never once walked in later than 6:01. Trying to hold back her emotions as much as possible so as not to disrupt Juniper, she reaches for her phone again. Looking for some type of a message or missed call to let her know he's alright.
She drops her phone when the door opens, feeling a sense of relief at the turning of the handle. But it fails once she sees it's another nurse. "Mrs. Evans, are you alright?" she walks over checking the monitors and the leads attached to her chest and belly. "Your alarms were going off at the station so I wanted to check on you. What are you feeling right now?"
"Anxious," she whispers, her breath beginning to become shallow.
"Why is that? Maybe if you talk through it you'll be able to calm your blood pressure down." She offers to listen while instructing Daphne to turn over onto her side.
"He's not here. He's never late. Something must've happened," she starts, feeling the dam of her emotions teetering.
The nurse adjusts the monitor wrapped around Daphne's lower abdomen, looking for which direction the baby moved as the heart beat fades out. She does all of this while keeping her composure, and doing her best to get Daphne's mind on other things.
"How did the two of you meet?" she asks, pulling the band down a bit more.
Daphne closes her eyes at the memory. "The first time was through a car accident. He's a paramedic and got called to my accident, but I was too out of it to even remember his face. About a month later he came to the school I taught at for a community helpers day that we hold. When he spoke, I recognized his voice. We went to breakfast the next day and have been together ever since."
The nurse tugs on the monitor, moving it back and forth a bit while applying slight pressure to Daphne's womb with her opposite hand. "Sounds like a real fairy tale if you ask me." She concentrates a bit more on the pressure in her hand until she feels a gentle nudge from the baby giving her the spot to place the monitor. As soon as she does the sounds of a healthy beating heart comes back over the monitors. She presses a couple of buttons and starts the process of reading Daphne's blood pressure.
It's still reading a bit higher than they'd like. She instructs Daphne to stay on her side as she begins to softy massage her back to try and relieve a bit of tension. "Just breathe for me, Mrs. Evans."
"I'll breathe easier when he walks through that door," she whines, finally releasing a floodgate of tears. Her eyes snap wide as the door opens, revealing Chris in a pair of khakis and a button up shirt. She releases a long sigh and finally begins to relax.
Chris takes note of his wife's distress, coming to cradle her cheek in his hand as she whimpers in her relief. "Sorry, love. Had to take care of a couple of things that took a bit more time than I imagined." He leans in, pressing his lips gently to hers. The nurse gives Chris a warm smile from behind Daphne. "Rough day?" he asks.
"Better now," she whispers quietly, watching the monitor for another reading. She gives Chris a hidden thumbs up before ducking out of the door.
"You scared me," Daphne says, drying her eyes with the pads of her finger tips.
He kisses her forehead, keeping his gaze matched with hers. "I know and I'm sorry. I wasn't really able to let you know. But, I'm here now and I have a bit of a surprise for you."
"A surprise?" she asks, pushing herself up on the bed. She notices the bag in his hand, raises a brow in question. He just nods before holding his hands out to her so she can swing her legs carefully off the bed. Once she stands he keeps hold of her with one hand while grabbing onto the monitoring machine in order to pull it along with them.
Chris guides her to the bathroom, helping her sit on the closed lid of the toilet. "Thought you might like a new gown," he tells her, pulling out a deep purple nightgown along with a pale lavender robe covered in small white flowers.
"Babe, it's beautiful!" she exclaims, completely enamored by her husband's thoughtfulness.
"I thought you might like it. It's that lighter material you like too."
She smiles up at him as he helps her slip out of the hospital gown and into her new gift. As she puts her arms through the sleeves of the robe, she pauses. "I'm not entirely sure that a robe is necessary though, but it'll be nice for when I finally get home."
Chris hides a grin away behind his beard as he begins pulling a brush through her hair. She hums in contentment at how sweet he's being, thankful that he's been this way since they began dating. "Down or a braid?"
Daphne eyes him through the mirror. "You can braid?"
His smile breaks through easily now. "I may have watched a couple videos. I am having a little girl, ya know."
"Well, by all means, test out your knowledge on her mother."
She watches him lovingly as his brow furrows and he chews on his lip as he works his fingers through her hair, an air of concentration surrounding him. When he tied it off with a small band she gave him a round of applause before tugging on his hand to bring him back around to her. "Thank you," she says, grateful. She lifts her head a bit, silently telling him that she wants a kiss. He smirks, but leans in granting her wish. "You're gonna be a great daddy."
Her tone soft and fragile, making his heart ache in love for the woman in front of him, filled with a life that is both parts of the two of them.
"Back to bed," she announces, standing once more. Chris opens the bathroom door to reveal a wheelchair. "What's that for?"
"Well, my love, one of the reasons I was late is because I was meeting with Dr. Kallen. I convinced him to let you out for a 'ride' around the floor for a bit. Not too long though because you need to be laying back down soon. What do you think? Something you want to do?"
The joy on her face is enough to answer his question, but he much rather appreciates the squeal of delight and the arms that suddenly wrap around his waist. "I guess that's a yes," he teases, kissing the top of her head.
Daphne waddles over to the wheelchair, carefully sitting down before Chris fixes the feet rests and slips the brakes off. He opens the door, maneuvering himself and the chair through it before letting it close behind him.
They take the long route away from the room, passing the nursery, stopping for a moment to peek in at the new bundles. Passing by a handful of rooms they occasionally catch the sweet cries of a newborn baby before the intercom system announces their arrival with Brahms' Lullaby floating through the sound system.
Once they pass the nurses station Chris gives a little nod to the nurse that was with Daphne when he came up. She moves slyly, pushing a button that would open the double doors out into the waiting room. With just ten more steps, the couple are met with the sweet sounds of "Surprise!" coming from the newly laden pink waiting room.
*Whew! Sorry for the long wait. I'm hopeful it won't be that long again, but who knows.