A Beautiful Forever(43)
“Would you like to cut the cord?” The midwife asks me, holding out a pair of surgical scissors. I nod, taking them from her and work them to cut the cord that connected mother and baby for nearly nine months.
The door to the delivery suite opens, and the doctor walks in. He takes a couple of steps and freezes, “Oh, I guess I’m a bit late,” he comments.
“Yes, this one couldn’t wait to meet her parents,” the midwife says.
“Well congratulations,” he says, moving over to the midwife to talk quietly with her for a moment about the delivery before congratulating us again and leaving.
“I’m sorry,” I say to the midwife, “I never caught your name.”
“Victoria,” she informs me.
“Well, thank you Victoria, for bringing our baby into the world.” I say.
“You’re very welcome.”
Paige
Staring down at the child in my arms, I’m so overwhelmed with love, that the pain of the delivery seems like a distant memory now. Victoria is helping me as I try to latch the baby onto my breast for her first feeding. It’s a lot harder than I thought I would be and hurts a little when the baby starts suckling before she has her mouth open properly.
“So do you have a name for her?” asks Victoria when she’s sure the baby is attached properly.
Elliot and I look at each other and smile. We had thought long and hard about what our baby’s name will be, “Grace,” I tell her. “Her name is Grace.”
“Yes, Grace Roberts,” Elliot puts in.
I look at him and laugh, “Who says she gets your last name?”
“It will be your last name too,” he informs me.
“Really?”
“Yes Paige,” he says, wrapping his arms gently around both me, and our daughter as she feeds from me, contentedly in my arms. He lowers his head and looks me in the eyes, a serious expression on his face. “Paige Larsen, will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?” he asks.
Tears begin to pour out of my eyes as I nod my head frantically. “Of course I will Elliot,” I say through my tears. “Of course I will!”
He steps away from the bed and searches through my bag for a moment, returning with a small black ring box. He sits beside me and opens it, revealing a beautiful ring with a gold band that overlaps itself in two swirls around a single diamond suspended between the metal. I hold my shaking hand out as he places it on my finger, admiring it as it catches the light.
He leans in and kisses me, resting his other hand gently on our daughter’s tiny head, “I love you Paige. Thank you so much for giving me a daughter.”
“I love you too. But we made her together, she's a gift for the both of us. ”
Chapter 36
SIX MONTHS LATER
Elliot
A happy Grace is gripping tightly onto my fingers as I hold her on my knees and bounce her up down. She smiles broadly; her two tiny teeth in the middle of her bottom gums are absolutely adorable as she gurgles and grins.
“Who’s Daddy’s little girl,” I ask as she cranes her neck in an attempt to chew on my finger.
“Watch those teeth,” Paige warns from beside me, smiling as she wiggles her finger in the middle of Grace’s stomach, causing her to erupt in a fit of baby giggles. “They are very sharp.”
Suddenly Grace’s laughter turns to whining and we both shush her as Paige reaches out for her. “She’s getting tired,” she announces settling Grace against her chest to feed her to sleep. Watching the way my wife is with my daughter, I feel a great swell of love for the both of them, greater than I ever thought I was capable of feeling.
I look out the window of the plane and can see nothing but clouds blanketing the sky. We’ve decided it’s time to return to Australia. I really want Grace to grow up in the sand and the surf just like I did. I’ve loved living in the UK, but Australia is and always will be my home and now that the two girls I love most in this world are coming back with me, I won’t ever have to live anywhere else again.
Paige
I slide my shirt closed as Grace’s mouth falls away from my chest and position her more comfortably as she sleeps. Elliot reaches over and slips a blanket over her tiny body and kisses me on the side of the head.
I’m really nervous about going home to Australia, but I know it’s the right place for us to be. Elliot has his whole family there, as well as all of his friends and I agree that Grace should get to grow up the same way her daddy did, and we’ll travel back to the UK occasionally so she can see her grandparents there.
I have really appreciated the time I spent in the UK because not only did I find Elliot, but I got a chance to get to know my mother and father. My relationship with them is never going to be fantastic because I still have all of those bad memories from long ago, but at least now I can put them aside and move on with my life, and I can use them to make sure that my own family is treated well.
Elliot is the most magnificent husband and father; he's always taking care of me and is so enamoured with Grace that he already talks about having more children together.
Through my therapy, I have realised that the only way I'm ever going to heal is to let myself love and be loved. Now that we’re married and have a family, Elliot and I have vowed to be connected to each other forever.
As I rest my head on his shoulder, he reaches over and hooks his finger under my chin to tilt my head up and kiss me, my head swims slightly as we pull away from each other.
“I love you Paige Roberts,” he whispers.
“I love you too,” I say, filled with more happiness than I ever hoped to have in my life time.
He lifts the arm rest between our seats and puts his arm around me, resting his other hand lightly on the body of our daughter, sleeping soundly in the crook of my left arm. I lightly touch the band of vine and script that’s tattooed around his forearm, featuring both, mine and Grace’s names. I have a matching one on my wrist for him and Grace. We felt that since I had marked my body to remind me of all the things I didn’t want to be again, we should both mark ourselves, to remind ourselves we’re in this life together, forever and that’s all that matters to me anymore.
When the captain’s voice comes over the speakers, we’re told that we’re only an hour away from landing in Sydney, my stomach starts dancing about inside me, I’m sure it spends a little time up in my chest as well, dancing around with my thudding heart.
“You ok?” Elliot asks.
“I’m just nervous. I've only met your mum a couple of times, and now we’re going to be staying with her for god knows how long. I’m just nervous is all,” I say, rambling slightly.
“You’ll be fine, Paige. She loves you. You have nothing to worry about,” he assures me.
I breathe out slowly, trying to calm myself as I wait to touch down and start a whole new life with my husband and child.
Elliot
As we move towards the baggage claim, I leave Paige watching the conveyor belt while I go and get a trolley to hold our bags. She looks nervous; it's actually kind of sweet. She's always so tough in life but the very thought of staying with my mother and possibly not being liked by her has got her all worked up. She doesn’t need to worry though, my mum already thinks she’s amazing, so does my step father Steve.
After loading our bags on the trolley, we follow the flow of people outside to find my mother waving frantically at us in the pick up only line of cars. She rushes towards us and envelopes us both in a cloud of hugs and kisses before hurrying us towards the car, so she doesn’t get in trouble for taking too long.
Before we know it, we’re on our way, I’m in front sitting next to mum who’s driving, and Paige is in the back with Grace all clipped into her car seat.
“Mum, thanks so much for getting everything organised for Grace, it’s really great of you.”
“Elliot, don’t be silly, it’s my pleasure, and I have to admit a little selfish of me. If I have everything ready for her, then I can pinch her whenever I want,” she laughs.
“Good luck with that mum,” I laugh.
“What you’re not going to let me take my granddaughter every now and then?” she teases.
“Of course you can take her out with you,” says Paige from the back seat, getting in some ‘good daughter-in-law’ points.
“Thank you Paige,” my mother smiles, poking her tongue out at me like a child. I laugh as I let my head lay against the seat, tired from the trip, but so glad to be home.
Paige
The car ride lulls Grace off to sleep and when we arrive at Elliot’s mother’s house, a large brown brick, two storey home in Westmead, near Parramatta, I’m happy to let Kathy take her from me and place her in the cot she has set up ready for her.