Invisible(5)

“The baby is absolutely perfect, and your wife is doing well. She’s a little groggy right now, but you can see her as soon as she leaves the recovery room.”

“She was in labor for thirty-one hours,” he reminded her, and she nodded.

“That’s not long at all for a first baby. The baby weighs eight pounds, two ounces. That’s a good size.” She beamed at him and pointed as a nurse on the other side of the large picture window held a bundle wrapped in a pink blanket, and tilted her so he could see his daughter’s face. She had perfectly defined features, and was exquisite, with a little duck fuzz of blond hair under a pink knit cap that kept her warm.

“She has the face of an angel,” he said almost to himself. She looked nothing like Fabienne, with her exotic dark looks. The baby had a little heart-shaped mouth, and a dimple in her chin, and appeared more like him than he realized. He was tall and blond with a cleft in his chin.

    “Is my wife all right?” he asked again, and the nurse reassured him with a smile. The nurse beyond the window took the baby away and put her in a bassinet at the far end of the room.

“She’s tired but doing well. She’ll sleep for a few hours now, and then you can see her.” As he stood, still gazing at the baby that was his now, he felt overwhelmed by the miracle of birth. Suddenly, this tiny, perfect little human being was his, a daughter, the ultimate proof of his love for Fabienne. He couldn’t quite believe it, and walked away with a dazed expression.

He left the hospital to get something to eat. He still found it hard to believe that thirty-one hours was a normal amount of time for a baby to be born. He couldn’t wait to see the baby again and hold her himself, and to see Fabienne when she woke up. This was a landmark moment for them. They were a family now, not just a man and woman who had fallen in love. His life had new meaning. It was a very grown-up feeling, and he could hardly wait to see Fabienne and share it with her.





Chapter 2


Brandon spent three more hours in the waiting room, waiting for Fabienne to wake up. They finally came to tell him she was in her room, and he could see her. He had gotten her a private room, since she said she didn’t want to be disturbed by another mother and baby. He thought it was the least he could do for her, since she was producing a miracle for him, and had suffered for nine months.

She was still dozing when he walked softly into the room. Her hair had been brushed and pulled back away from her face, her perfect creamy skin was whiter than ever, and she had dark circles under her eyes, which suggested to him that she’d been through an ordeal. Her eyes fluttered open when he kissed her, and then closed again. She was still drowsy from the drugs they had given her after the delivery, and she let out a soft moan, as he took her hand in his and kissed it.

“Oh my darling, was it awful?”

    “Yes,” she said, as she looked at him, still shocked by how hard it had been. Nothing had prepared her for the agonies of childbirth. “It was terrible,” she said, as tears slid slowly from her eyes and rolled into her hair. “No more babies after this.” He nodded and didn’t know what to say. He could see the toll it had taken on her.

“I’m so sorry. She’s beautiful, though. I saw her at the nursery window.” Fabienne had decided before the delivery not to nurse her, and said it would have ruined her figure forever. She thought the whole idea of nursing was disgusting. She said only peasants nursed their babies in France. He didn’t know if that was true or not, but many women in the States didn’t nurse either. It was considered old fashioned and a little primitive, and he didn’t expect her to do it. “Have you held her yet?” he asked gently and she shook her head.

“No, I don’t want to. She has caused me enough pain already,” she said, and he nodded, hoping she would forget it soon, and wouldn’t hold it against the baby. He was sure her maternal instincts would rapidly overcome the memory of the pain of delivery.

Brandon stayed with her for an hour, and left when a nurse came in to offer her a shot for the pain. She was having cramps and eager for relief. He stopped by the nursery window to see the baby again, but the nurses were busy with new arrivals, and there was no one to hold her up again for him. They had agreed on a girl’s name for her before she was born, Antonia Marceline Adams, named for both their mothers. As pretty as she was, even a few hours after her birth, he thought the name suited her.



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    Fabienne looked more like herself the next day. She had brushed her own hair, put on lipstick in the familiar bright red, which stood out even more in her startlingly pale face. She had lost a fair amount of blood during the birth. She had brought one of her own lacy nightgowns with her, and she had artfully concealed the dark circles under her eyes. She looked like a movie star again, and not an ordinary woman who had been through hell.

They brought the baby in while he was there, made Brandon put on a gown so he could hold her, and he sat staring down at the perfect tiny face as she slept in his arms. Fabienne watched him holding Antonia, and she quickly rang for a nurse to take her back to the nursery. She said she wanted her sent back before she woke up and started to scream. Fabienne spent the rest of the visit talking about how quickly she wanted to lose the weight she had gained and get in shape again. She spent five days in the hospital, and Brandon never saw her hold the baby. Her stomach was still slightly swollen when they left the hospital, but she was wearing a short red swing dress, which showed off her fabulous legs, and high heels. She was the only woman he could imagine who was so glamorous and sexy five days after giving birth.