Beep...Beep... Beep...

I stirred awake and opened my eyes to high white ceilings. My muscles felt sore yet relaxed and I noticed I was in a private hospital room. I looked away from the IV line in my hand and turned my head to the side. I found Nicholas seated on the small sofa with the baby clothed and in his arms. He was watching the baby with profound amazement and hadn't realized I'd woken up.

I took advantage of the upper hand and took in his appearance. We hadn't seen each other in over a week and he'd grown out his stubble a bit more. He had the sleeves of his forest green woollen shirt pushed past his forearms and the baby tucked in his left arm. His right arm scratched the material of his light ash jeans. He lifted his eyes from the baby and met with mine.

My heart skipped a beat at the eye contact. I hadn't thought about what we would say to each other when the baby was born. Everything had happened so fast so I hadn't processed what my countenance towards him should be. He stood to his feet and placed the baby in the cot provided by the hospital.

He moistened his lips and took hesitant steps towards my bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," my voice came out hoarse and my throat felt dry. I swallowed hard and tried again. "Tired but fine. Can I get some water?"

"Yeah, sure. Of course" he walked towards my hospital bag and pulled out my personal water bottle.

I tried to push myself to a sitting position. Nicholas rushed to my side and helped raise the top of the bed so my upper half came up. "Thank you," I mumbled as I took the water bottle and sipped it.

He sighed and ran a hand across his face and stopped right on his jaw. "I can never express how sorry I am enough. I'm sorry for that night. I'm sorry for lying to you. I'm sorry for not being by your side to hold your hand during the birth. When I got the call about what had happened, I couldn't think straight. I don't know what I'll do if I lost both of you, my life would have literally ended. I'm just so sorry" his voice cracked as he spoke and I could see him fighting back the tears.

I nodded. "I know you are . . . and I forgive you" I moistened my lips and swallowed past the hot emotions that bubbled up in my throat. "But, I don't think I can move past it. The only relationship that can exist between us now is being parents to the baby"

He folded his lips back and nodded. "I understand"

The baby let out a small cry of discomfort and stirred in his sleep. We turned to him and watched to see if he'd settle down. He released a long piercing cry and his lips trembled as he wailed his tiny arms.

"I think he's hungry, could you?" I said, gesturing towards the baby.

"Yeah, sure" he walked over to the cot and took his time to lift the baby.

I untied the ropes of my hospital gown as I waited for the baby to be brought to me. Once Nicholas placed him in my arms, he excused himself to let everyone waiting outside know I was awake. I caressed the side of my baby's face as he suckled on me. His eyes fluttered open and stared up at me with grey orbs for a few seconds. My heart warmed up just looking at him.

Once I was done breastfeeding, I placed the baby against my chest and patted his back till he burped. I cradled him in the crook of my arms and rocked back and forth. I placed a finger in his clenched fist and his little hands held onto it tightly. He was the love of my life.

A knock on the door pulled my eyes away from the baby. Whitney poked her head through the doorway, a small smile appeared on her lips as she met my gaze. She progressed into the room and stood by the side of the bed.

"Hey," she whispered and peeked at the baby. Her smile deepened. " Awn, he's so small and cute. Oh my God, he's such a beautiful baby"

"Thank you," I whispered as well. He jerked and flailed his arm then settled down. "Do you want to hold him?"

She nodded enthusiastically. I smiled as I passed him to her, whilst supporting his head as I did.

"Oh my God, he's so tiny" she gushed and began to rock him when he started to fuss a little.

I watched both of them in silence as they had their moment. Whitney continued to coo at him until he fell asleep then she placed him back in his cot. She walked back to my bed and sat beside me.

"So, how are you?" She finally asked.

"I'm fine" I rested my head against the pillow.

She placed a hand over her chest. "You cannot believe how scared I was when I heard you had the baby in the elevator. What was that like?"

I re-adjusted my head against the pillow. "I was so scared, I'm not even going to lie. I had no network there so I couldn't call anyone except 911, and then my phone died. It felt so lonely in there but-"I moistened my lips. "Then God spoke to me. He filled me with his presence and it felt . . . so, peaceful. I can't really explain it" I went on to describe everything that happened in that elevator.

"Wow," she mouthed

I nodded. "I know"

We talked for a few minutes before we heard a knock on the door. Nicholas walked in, the rest of his family in tow behind him. They all inquired about my well-being in low voices. They moved over to the cot and gushed over the sleeping baby.

Lucia gasped and placed a hand over her chest. "Oh my God, this is legit the most beautiful baby I've ever seen. No offence Vee"

"None taken," Evelyn whispered as she peered into the cot.

"How are you feeling?" Rosa appeared by my side and placed a gentle hand on my shoulder.

I nodded. "I'm doing well, thank you"

She gave me a small smile and patted my shoulder. "No, thank you. He's precious"

"So, what are you going to call him?" Frank asked, stuffing his hands into his pocket.

"Do you want to tell them? Or should I?" I glanced at Nicholas and he nodded in my direction.

I moistened my lips and cleared my throat. "We decided to call him Noah Kosisochukwu Nataniele Wilson"

They all expressed compliments on the choice of names. Rosa got a little teary-eyed because Nataniele was her father's name. Although, I didn't pick out that name for that reason. I loved that Nataniele meant 'Given by God'. The name also being her father's was an added bonus. As for the Igbo Nigerian name, I always said that when I grew up and had a child, if it was a boy, I would name him Kosiso and it meant 'God's will'. I personally decided to call him by his Nigerian name just so it doesn't become 'one of his names', others could call him whatever name they pleased.

A nurse came into the room and informed them that visiting hours were over, after a couple of minutes. Nicholas being the father was allowed to stay back with us. Nicholas moved to the couch and picked up the blanket the hospital provided.

I waited till he settled down on the couch before speaking up. "Nick?"

He turned to his side and faced me. "Yeah?"

"Happy birthday"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I had been up since the early hours of the morning. The baby woke up twice in the middle of the night and in the wee hours of the morning, screaming for food and a nappy change. After the second time, I couldn't go back to sleep. I didn't need a mirror to know that my eyes were puffy. Nicholas stayed awake with me to rock the baby back to sleep those two times and he still looked as fresh as ever.

I got out of the adjoining bathroom and found Nicholas pacing about the room with a crying Kosiso. Nicholas had him placed on his chest, with one hand on his head for support and the other gently patted his bottom. I walked over to the duo and gently took the baby before moving to sit on the sofa. Nicholas passed me a breastfeeding cloth to cover both of us as I began to nurse Kosiso.

Nicholas cleared his throat as he sat at the edge of the hospital bed. "I want you to move in with me as soon as you're discharged from the hospital" he held up a hand before him. "And before you refuse, I want you to give it some thought. That elevator is a hazard and I'm not sure you want to be climbing a flight of stairs with a baby, every time. It's not safe there"

I was silent for a moment then nodded my head in agreement.

"So, you're not going to fight me on this?" Nicholas narrowed his eyes and cocked up a brow.

"I mean, I'm not exactly ecstatic to live with you" I clasped my bra on and adjusted my gown. "But like you said, after what happened I don't think I'd be able to go back so soon" I pulled down the cover cloth and dropped it beside me on the sofa. "Also, with the nursery at your place, it would be more comfortable for him" I concluded as I patted Kosiso on the back.

He nodded.

As soon as Kosiso let out a loud burp, I passed him to his father so I could tidy up the room a bit. There were baby items scattered all over the place. A nurse came in right after and helped prepare a bath for Kosiso. I changed the baby out of his previous day's onesie and into a fresh light blue one that said 'I love mommy'. He looked so adorable.

Nicholas offered to get me something to eat but I opted to get some sleep before Kosiso's next feed. I figured it was better to sleep while the baby slept so I don't go around looking like a zombie.

I had just laid down on the hospital bed when a knock came through the door. Dr Meera walked in with Ashley following behind her.

"Hi, congratulations" Dr Meera smiled as she walked up to me. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm good" I sat up on the bed and gave a smile to Ashley who wiggled her fingers at me.

"Okay, are you experiencing any pains out of the ordinary?"

I shook my head. "No, just slight pains in my abdomen and soreness down there"

"That's normal, it will stop with time. We will keep you back for today just to make sure everything is fine before discharging you" she said the moved along to check the baby's vitals.

"We'll be back later in the day to give the baby his first dose of HepB vaccine" she informed me then excused herself.

Ashley stayed back for a while to chat and gush at the cute baby before returning back to work. Nicholas left to get us food since neither of us had eaten anything yet. He got us some Chinese takeout and Chicken and fries as I requested.

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Kosiso - pronounced Koh-see-soh

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