“He’s beautiful,” I said on a sigh, a dreamy smile adorning my lips.
And he was. A big, beautiful, healthy boy, with dark hair sticking up all over the place, and long fingers and toes, all swaddled up in a perfect package.
“He look
s just like Victoria,” Scott said as he held Gaby against him and they gazed in at the baby.
“No way, he’s one-hundred percent Brock.” This came from Cal.
They started arguing back and forth, but I figured they were just doing it for fun, because little Declan didn’t look like anyone. He looked just like a perfect newborn baby.
Brock entered the nursery wearing a gown over his clothes, and a cap. He gave us all an exaggerated thumbs up and a huge grin as the nurse took Declan out of the bassinet, then placed him gently in Brock’s arms.
I hugged Craig close to my side as I watched Brock staring down at his son with wonder, the moment almost too personal to witness.
“Want to go check on Victoria?” I turned and asked Gaby.
“Yeah, let’s go,” Gaby responded with one last wistful glance at the nursery.
“Uh-oh,” I said as we started down the hall. “Someone getting baby fever?”
“Maybe,” she said with a laugh. “I miss that time.”
I nodded, remembering how sweet Emma was, then requested, “Could you at least wait until I’m back home to have another one? I don’t want to miss anything else.”
Gaby laughed and linked her arm in mine. “I’ll see what I can do.”
When we got to Victoria’s door we knocked and waited to hear Victoria say, “Come in,” before entering.
“Hey, Mommy,” I said as I rounded the curtain to see Victoria sitting up in her bed.
Her hair was pulled up into a bun, her makeup was perfect, and she was wearing a silky nightgown/robe combo.
“What the hell? Gaby asked, looking around the room, then back at Victoria. “Did you actually give birth in here or are you just on vacation?”
Victoria laughed and touched her hair.
“Oh, stop, I’m sure I look a fright,” she argued with a wink.
“And did they just issue you back your pre-pregnancy body after Declan pranced out?” Gaby continued sarcastically. “Jeez, woman, I don’t even look that put together on a normal day.”
We all laughed and I agreed, “You do look amazing, Tori, and Declan is absolutely gorgeous.”
“Oh did you see him?” she gushed, all jest gone as pleasure took over her face. “Isn’t he perfect.”
“He really is, you did great,” Gaby agreed. Then she lifted the gift bag we’d brought and handed it to Victoria. “Here, Gwen and I got you a little something.”
“Oh, you didn’t have to do that,” Victoria said as she took the pretty pink and silver bag.
“I know how it can get after the baby is born, and everything becomes about them … and rightfully so. But we wanted you to remember that you need to take care of yourself too, and deserve some pampering.”
Victoria squealed when she pulled out the gift certificate to the day spa that Gaby and I had picked out.
“Thank you so much.”
“And if Brock’s busy with work, don’t hesitate to ask me to watch Declan for you so you can go,” Gaby offered.
“Thank you,” she said again.