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Epilogue
Jake
“Hi, baby.”
“You’re so cute, aren’t you?”
“Hello? Hello?”
“Oh, my, what little squishy cheeks you have!”
I can’t say how long Anna and I have been standing behind this glass staring in at the long line of newborn babies but I don’t care to know for sure. Long enough to see each and every one of them open their eyes and scream, kick their heels, and wave their little arms around. It’s hard to tell one baby from the next but my eyes easily find the Silva lying just off to the side, swaddled up tightly, and sleeping undisturbed.
That’s my boy, after all.
“Anna!”
We turn around, drawn to Evey’s high-pitched warning voice down the hall of the maternity wing. She walks forward with her own bundled baby attached to her hip and Zachary’s hand clenched in hers. Vincent follows close behind with Charlotte, whose face brightens up the moment she sees us.
Evey’s jaw drops. “Why are you out of bed?” she asks Anna. “How are you even walking right now?”
Anna laughs. “I was in bed for almost two days. I needed to get out. And besides, Jake won’t even let me walk more than a couple feet before—”
“I’d never walk again if I saw what I saw come out of me.” I gesture to the wheelchair beside me. “Don’t worry, I’m pushing her around.”
Anna rolls her eyes and adjusts her hospital gown. “I’m fine.”
Vincent stops beside me and I bend over to pick up Charlotte.
“Hey, Charlotte, you want to see something cool?” I ask her.
“What?” she asks.
I point through the glass at the boy wrapped in blue. “That’s your little brother.”
Evey gasps and pushes closer. “Oh, let me see! Let me see! Awww—!”
She goes quiet. We all do. Even Charlotte, who’s usually hard to impress, looks into the other room with wide-open eyes. I can relate. I’ve been staring at him for hours myself, absolutely speechless.
I have a son. I’m a father. Again. But this time, I was here for all of it.
Every day of Anna’s pregnancy. Every little change of her body. I watched him grow. I felt him kicking. I heard his heart beating. I was there when he took his first breath. I held him when he cried for the first time.
It still doesn’t feel real. Maybe it never will.
Vincent pats my shoulder. “Congratulations, man,” he says, smiling at my expression.
“Thanks,” I say, shaking his hand.
Evey turns Mary in her arms and raises her up to get a better look through the glass. “See that, Mary?” she coos. “Meet your new cousin…” She glares at us. “Did you guys pick a name yet?”
Anna sighs. “No.” She grunts. “It’s a lot harder than I thought it’d be.”
“Just kind of calling him Boy for now…” I muse. “Whatcha think, Charlotte? Who does he look like to you?”
She stretches her neck and looks at him for another moment. “Joshua,” she says.
I blink at Anna. “Um, whoa.”
