Protecting Her: A Romance Bundle

She looks a lot like Veronica, but with my dark hair and green eye color. The nurse said that might change over time, but I hope it doesn’t. Right now, she’s perfection. I don’t want anything about my daughter to be any different. I haven’t ever looked at another person and known that they’re flawless, but my baby girl is.

She came quick, it didn’t take long for labour to be over once we got into the hospital, just like I predicted. Maybe if Veronica had said something earlier then we would have been here in plenty of time, but it hardly matters now. She got into the bed and her labour kicked in. Now, it’s all over, like it was a blur. I don’t even know how much of this day I’ll be able to remember, but I hope it’s all of it. It’s been the most monumental day of my entire life. I gained a wife and a baby daughter. How many people can say that they’ve done that much today?

“When will I get to hold her again?” I complain. “I miss my baby already.”

“I suppose we need to come up with a name first,” she replies, completely and pointedly ignoring my question. We’re both obsessed with that little girl, I don’t think she’ll be put down very much as we both fight over who’s going to hug her next. “We never did agree on any, did we? I don’t want to just call her ‘baby’.”

I rub my eyes, remembering the endless conversations that we had about this. “What was the short list?”

“Erm, I think we decided on Ruby, Serena, or Lisa. But now I don’t know if any of them suit her.”

“Hmm.” I have to say, I agree. “Yeah, I know what you mean. Have you got something else up your sleeve?”

“I do.” Veronica bites down on her bottom lip. “But I don’t know if you’re going to like it. It’s a bit out there… I just keep looking at her gorgeous little face and I think it suits her. But maybe it’s baby brain.”

I sit up straighter and stare right at her. Veronica and her baby brain has been amusing us both over the last few weeks. The more pregnant she’s become, the worse she’s gotten. Forgetting things, losing everything, making terrible decisions and thinking it’s the right thing to do… I’ve had to step in a lot to stop the wedding from going nuts, but I’m sure now she has something good for us. I can see it in the twinkle in her eyes.

“Hit me,” I say with a smile. “If it’s crazy, I’ll tell you right away. You know I will.”

At first, I struggled to tell her if she acted nuts because I thought her hormones might make her kill me, but it soon became clear that she wanted to know, and since this is our daughter’s name and something which will be with her for life. I’m willing

to take the risk. Even if I’m a tiny bit afraid of her tearing my head off.

“Zaalia. And before you say anything, just think about it and look at her. Just really think about it.”

I push myself back into a standing position, working through the tiredness and I glance down at my baby. Immediately, the name feels right. I can see her being called that forever. It’s cute, it’s unique, it’s spunky too. I think considering this little girl is a combination of the two of us, she will be that! Fiery and fun.

“I love it,” I tell Veronica happily. “I think you’re right. It does suit her. Zaalia. I love it.”

“Are you sure?” Veronica’s eyes dance and dart with excitement. “You don’t have to agree if you…”

“I’m sure,” I jump in. “I’m really sure. I love it. Zaalia. It’s amazing.” I lean down and kiss them both. I kiss Zaalia on the top of her head because I don’t want to wake her up, then I kiss my new wife on the lips, a little groan flying past my lips as I do. “Zaalia Miller and Mrs. Miller. How did this day get so wild?”

“Oh yeah, I nearly forgot that we’re married! I suppose we won’t be able to forget our anniversary.”

“Yeah. I’m sure our baby girl will love that. Us ruining her birthday with our anniversary every year.”

“To be fair, she did ruin our wedding,” she replies with a shrug. “So, she can’t complain too much.”

I laugh loudly and nod. “Yeah, you’re right. Stuff her, she did destroy our wedding day. I’m going to remind her of that every single birthday. I’ll tell her this tale at all her celebrations. She’ll love it, I’m sure…”

There’s a knocking sound at our door which makes me spin quickly. I expect it to be a nurse coming in to check on us, but to my surprise I see Rachel giving me a guilty look. Shock floods me,

“I’m sorry, I know you told us all to wait at the reception, but we couldn’t hold out. We’re all too excited to see the baby. Oh, my goodness. Is that her there?” She rushes over to Veronica. “Oh, wow she’s so beautiful.”

“We?” I have to focus on that part because it freaks me out. “What do you mean, we?”

“Oh.” Rachel scoops Zaalia up in her arms and holds her as a shield. “I mean everyone from the wedding. We all couldn’t keep away. I know you’re going to be mad at me, but we just couldn’t help it.”

I suck in a deep breath, knowing now that everyone is about to descend on us. My parents, her parents, all our friends. Instead of sitting and eating nice food, drinking wine and having a good time, they’ve come to share in our joy. I suppose it’s sweet really, if not a little overwhelming. I need to focus on the sweet part.

“Where are they all then? In the waiting room, hiding out? Do I need to go and find them?”

“Erm, just outside the door,” she whispers back. “You could just call them in if you want to…”

I give it a moment while I listen to Veronica and Rachel discuss Zaalia’s name, then I do the dreaded and I call everyone in. I should just enjoy their company and not want to keep my family all greedily to myself. I have the rest of the time in the world for that. And as the room fills up and happy chatter surrounds me, it doesn’t feel like a mistake at all. It’s actually a pretty picture-perfect moment. My wife and all the people who love us, coming to welcome our daughter into the world. Everyone looking like they’re on top of the world.

I lean back in my chair and really appreciate everything, not taking any of it for granted. We really shouldn’t be here, there are so many times this could have fallen apart, but we made it. Through the high school drama, the challenges at college, the long-distance relationship, the freaking kidnapping and the threat on Veronica’s life… I cannot believe how much drama is has taken to get to this point.