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Ever since she first laid eyes on her little baby, Giselle hadn’t been able to stop crying. She was so small, smaller than she had anticipated certainly, and her face was scrunched up, as if she wanted, desperately, to start wailing, but only quiet whimpers were managing to make their way out. Her cheeks were red, her tiny hands balled into little fists, and she wiggled, burying herself against her mother’s warm chest.
Robert murmured something beside her, though she could hardly make out a word he said, and she felt a gentle kiss press against the side of her still rather sweaty head. His hand then caressed her face, and wiped her tears away, which earned him a watery laugh in response.
“She’s so perfect, isn’t she?” Giselle traced over the slope of Sofia’s nose, and he nodded, his other hand squeezing her shoulder. Leaning closer, she kissed her daughter’s forehead and lingered there for a moment as more tears built up inside her. “I love you so much, sweetheart.”
Feeling an ache in her neck, and back, and several other places, she reluctantly pulled away, and looked at Robert, who was smiling fondly at their little one, his gaze filled with love, and adoration. Though it almost pained her to mention it, as she, rather selfishly, did not want to stop holding her, she carefully nudged his side.
“I’m sorry,” she hiccuped. “You haven’t really held her yet, have you?”
Robert shook his head. “It’s okay, I can wait.” She could tell he was lying, that he so desperately wanted to hold her, but she certainly wasn’t going to complain about his refusal. “If I hold her now, I’ll never want to put her down, and I’ve got to go get Morgan. She’s still in the waiting room. But,” he slowly ran his thumb along Sofia’s cheek, his smile growing. “I’ll hold her when I get back.”
He then kissed her temple once more, and reluctantly slid off the bed, murmuring that he would be right back. Readjusting her hold on Sofia, Giselle took one of her tiny hands, and held it between her forefinger, and her thumb. Her daughter wiggled, her legs flailing for only a moment, then her eyes opened, and she looked up, blinking slowly. Already, Giselle could feel more tears welling up inside her and she gave her forehead another kiss. She then began humming a song that had popped into her head months ago, when Sofia had first started kicking. It was one her baby loved, one that always had her excitedly rolling around inside her belly. Sofia seemed to recognize it, her hand squeezing Giselle’s finger, and her smile widened, her bottom lip trembling.
A few stray tears slid from her cheeks down onto Sofia’s, though she hardly seemed to notice, or care, and she let out a loud laugh.
“Oh, goodness,” she gently wiped the tears away, her gaze warm, and tender. “I’m sorry, my love. But I just can’t help it.” Sofia’s hand curled into a ball, then slowly uncurled, and she pressed a kiss to her palm. “I’m sure you of all people can understand just how hard it is to keep those tears inside.”
Hearing the door open again, she forced herself to look up, and grinned when she saw both Robret and Morgan standing before her. Morgan was awkwardly tugging on the sleeve of her shirt, as if she wasn’t sure of what to do, or say, and Giselle simply held her hand out. She shuffled closer, taking it, and her eyes shifted to the bundle in Giselle’s arms.
“Sofia, this is your sister,” she murmured. Sofia twitched, trying to bury herself further into Giselle’s chest, and she laughed lightly, looking back at Morgan. “She’s very excited to finally meet her partner in crime, trust me.”
Morgan chuckled, and Giselle squeezed her hand as Robert sat beside her on the other side of the bed.
“Would you like to hold her?”
A flash of nervousness flickered across Morgan’s face, and she laughed awkwardly, shaking her head.
“No. No, I uh…” she shrugged, her cheeks turning light pink. “I mean, she looks pretty comfortable with you. I wouldn’t want to bother her or anything.”
“Well, I want to bother her,” Robert chimed in with a playful voice.
He held his arms out, quietly asking for his “little princess”, and Giselle carefully passed Sofia over. She looked even smaller curled up against his chest, which only served to make her cry more, and he held her close, kissing the bridge of her nose. Squeezing Morgan’s hand again, Giselle gestured for her to sit beside them, and she did so, moving slowly. She then leaned against her daughter’s shoulder, linking their fingers together.
“I missed you,” she said, stifling a yawn as her eyes slipped shut.
Morgan playfully rolled her own in response. “We weren’t apart for that long, Mom.”
“It was long enough.”
She didn’t say anything else, and the sound of Robert murmuring softly to their little one filled her ears. His bicep brushed against hers as he readjusted his hold on her, and Giselle lazily reached out, resting her hand on his leg. It felt like ages since they all sat, squished together like this, and it made her feel warm, and fuzzy, so unbelievably happy.
“Are you… crying?”
For a moment, Giselle thought Morgan was talking to her, and she laughed, nodding her head. But then, Robert spoke again.
“No,” he said, in a rather defensive tone.
“You so are!”
Giselle’s eyes fluttered open, and she turned to look at her husband, who was shaking his head. His cheeks were red, possibly out of embarrassment, his eyes glistening, and she couldn’t help but join in Morgan’s giggles. Cupping his face, she pressed a tender kiss to his jaw.
“It’s alright to cry, you silly man.”
Robert ignored their teasing, keeping his gaze locked on Sofia, and his smile only seemed to grow as she looked up at him with wide blue eyes. Carefully he took his daughter’s hand into his and kissed her knuckles. Giselle watched him for a moment, her heart fluttering, then she gave his shoulder a kiss, and nestled herself against him. Her eyelids felt heavy, her body aching, and she knew it was only a matter of seconds before exhaustion would finally take over, and she would fall asleep. Stretching her arm, she took Morgan’s hand back into her own, and looked down at her baby one last time, tears slowly trickling down her cheeks, then she allowed her eyes to close, and relaxed as the world around them faded away.