“Hey baby, wake up, there is somebody here to see you.”

Wes gently kisses my forehead after he whispers in my ear. My eyes flutter open and I see that I’ve been moved into a different room. I try to sit up, but then I remember that I just went through a major surgery as the pain passes through my stomach.

“Whoa now, darling. You just lay right there, okay?”

I nod my head as Wes uses the controls on my bed to slowly move me up a bit. Now that I’m awake, he uses the remote on my bed to call the nurse’s station to come to check in on me. My recovery nurse comes in and takes some vitals and then checks the closure on my stomach.

“It looks good right now, Mama. Just know that you are going to have a long road to recovery so don’t push yourself too much.”

“Thanks, I’ll try to remember that. Where is he?” I look around, trying to find my baby.

The nurse tilts her chin to the corner of the room under the window. “He’s right over there. Your hubby has been doing a great job learning how to take care of the baby. He’s a natural.”

I smile in response, “Well, this is his second time around, my first.”

“Ahh, that explains it.” The nurse pulls my blankets back up and sets a pillow on my lap. “Wes, do you want to bring him over?”

Wes picks up the baby wrapped up like a burrito and places him in my arms. He’s peacefully sleeping with his pouty lips moving up and down.

“He’s probably a little hungry. He was only able to latch that small bit at first, but we did pump a bit for you while you were sleeping since Wes said you wanted to breastfeed.”

.

“Yes, yes I do. Can I try now?”

“We can try, even if he’s asleep. If he’s hungry, he’ll still nurse.” The nurse is very gentle and patient with me and the baby. She teaches me a couple of ways to hold him while he nurses. I find something that is comfortable and then we try to get him to latch on, but he is having some problems. “Let me try one more little trick.”

She places him up against my breast and them tickles the side of his mouth and he opens up wide, turning to her finger. Instead of her finger, she guides my nipple into his mouth and he latches over it. “There we go, little man!” I say down to my son, marveling at the fact that my body is giving him what he needs.

“Give him about five minutes on this side and then switch. If you’re having problems getting him to latch again you can press the button and I’ll come back in.”

“I will, thank you. Other than that, how is he?”

“The doctor would like for him to stay a few nights just for monitoring, but he seems pretty good and strong.”

The nurse takes a few more vitals and then leaves. Wes pulls a chair up next to me and sits, watching him nurse. “He looks content.”

I giggle, “I’m sure you would be too.”

“Your breasts do sustain my life too,” Wes winks at me and I laugh a bit too hard and I slightly wince.

“Yikes, don’t make me laugh too much.”

“I’m sorry, babe. How are you feeling, Holly? Honestly.”

“I feel okay, really tired and my stomach is sore, but all things considered, I’m just happy that he is here and healthy.”

“Me too, Holly. The doctor said no visitors until tomorrow, but I sent a bunch of pictures.”

“Oh, I’m kind of sad about no visitors, but thank you for doing sending pictures. Are they here in Fargo?”

“Yeah, everybody is staying at a hotel down the street so they can be here if we need them. Hannah and Stacy are here too. They want a name though.”

“Of course they do.” I gently rub my finger down the side of baby boy’s face. “So when I was in recovery I had a dream about my parents and my dad said, “Grayson looks perfect, Holly.””

“Grayson? That was one of the names from the beginning.”

“I know. It is a sign babe. He’s supposed to be Grayson.”

“Grayson Charles Brown?” Wes says once to me and then leans a little closer to the baby and says the name again. “Grayson Charles Brown, I like it.”

“I love it. What do you think, Grayson?” His eyes flutter as he sucks away on his snack. “Well, not very opinionated, that is a good thing.”

“So that’s it?” Wes asks.

“That is it. Annabelle and Grayson.”

“Our babies,” Wes beams with pride.

Grayson went to the NICU for the night so they could keep an eye on him and make sure that his lungs were taking in enough oxygen. He was a little bit jaundice, so they decided to put him under the glow lights, but they also said the more I can nurse him the better, so every two to three hours they brought him up to me anyway.

I didn’t get to sleep much, but I’m running on a bit of a high of everything that has gone on that I’m not feeling the exhaustion yet. I even got up and walked around the halls of the recovery ward. For somebody who has spent most of their pregnancy on bedrest, walking is a gift from the gods.

The next morning Wes called everybody and let them know they could come to visit, but not all at once. Raymond and Betsy were going to bring Annabelle over first. Once she got to meet her baby brother, then the others could make their way over. Wes went into the waiting room and gave her the rules about visiting the baby. I’m holding and cuddling Grayson when I hear her little voice peeking in the door.

“Mommy?” She whispers through the door.

“Hey big sister! I’ve missed you.” Wes holds her hand and she slowly walks over to the bed.

“I missed you too, mommy. Daddy said I can’t cuddle on your lap, but can I give you a hug?”

“Of course you can give me a hug, princess. Here, why don’t you climb up next to me, just be careful of baby brother.”

She crawls up on the bed and wraps her arms around my body and gives me a big, but gentle hug. I wrap my free arm around her and kiss her on the cheek. “Do you want to try and hold Grayson?”

“Am I allowed?” I can tell that she is nervous, but also really wants to. She loves to hold Sadie every chance she gets.

“As long as there is an adult right next to you, you can hold him.” Her eyes light up and she shakes her head excitedly. Wes grabs a few pillows and positions them on her lap and then helps to move Grayson from my arms to Annabelle’s lap.

“You have to put your hand under his head, okay?” Wes reminds her.

“Just like baby Sadie?”

“Yep, just like when you hold baby Sadie.” Wes sits next to her in the chair making sure Grayson is safe, but she’s very gentle with him. There is a gentle knock at the door and Raymond and Betsy join us.

“Well, that is a family photo if I’ve ever seen one,” Betsy says through her happy tears.

Annabelle looks over at her grandparents, sitting a bit taller. “Grandma, Grandpa, look! I can hold the baby.”

“I see that sweetie, you look like such a great big sister already.” Betsy takes the opportunity to grab my cell phone from the table and take a quick picture. I’m going to cherish that picture forever.

Raymond steps in closer and takes a good look at his first grandson. “Look at that big strong boy. Not nearly as big as you boys were, but he’ll make a great rancher in the future.

“Who knows how big he would have been if he had another 4 weeks?”

Raymond laughs, “He probably could have gone right onto a saddle. You did good, Holly. We’re so proud of you.”

“Thank you, Raymond.” Betsy and Raymond both take their turns holding Grayson. He sleeps through most of it, but when it starts to get to his feeding time he begins to get a little fussy.

Betsy stands up to bring him back over to the bed. “I think he wants mommy so he can have a little snack.”

“He’s allowed to have snacks? But he doesn’t have teeth!” Annabelle says, full of sass.

We all start laughing a little bit as Betsy gently sets Grayson in my arms and I get ready to nurse him. Betsy takes the opportunity to educate her smart little granddaughter a bit. “Grayson gets to eat from mommy, her body makes the perfect food, just for him.”

“Sadie doesn’t eat from Auntie Tiff.”

“No, remember that Auntie Tiff didn’t have Sadie like your mommy had Grayson.”

“Ooohhh that’s right.” Annabelle slides off the bed and climbs onto Wes’s lap. “Daddy, did you feed me like that when I was a baby?”

“No pumpkin, it is just something that mommies can do. Daddy just fed you bottles like Sadie.”

“Oh, okay.”

Raymond and Betsy give us all hugs and kisses and say goodbye. About an hour later the siblings all came. Holden and Hannah were both in tears when they held Grayson. Hannah said he looked a little like dad so she was going to find an old picture so we could compare. Wes’s siblings stopped by as well and all took their turns holding and doting over Grayson. Candy, Sheila, and Stacy are going to stop by tomorrow to give us some family time.

When Jimmy and Tiff went back to the hotel for the night, they took Annabelle back with them. It was once again just Wes, Grayson, and me. The pediatrician said that Grayson didn’t have to stay in the NICU nursery overnight tonight. I’m so thankful that he can sleep right next to me tonight.

“Hey, I should probably give this back to you.” He sits on the edge of the bed and takes my left hand, sliding my engagement ring back onto my finger and kissing my hand. “You know they keep calling me your husband.”

“The nurses?” Wes nods. “I know, I don’t correct them. I kind of like how it sounds.”

“Me too. We should probably start talking about making some plans to make that happen.” He leans down and kisses my lips. “I love you, Holly.”

“I love you too, Wes.”