Reckless Kiss

“You’re doing great, Ang!” Angel’s doctor is a woman just a little older than my aunt, and I’m convinced she was a former cheerleader.

I keep waiting for her to start chanting “Push her out, push her out, waaaay out!”

Winnie, Lourdes, Beto, Valeria, and the girls are in that plush waiting room, and the perky male nurse peeps in every few minutes to get a status check.

“We’re almost crowning,” the doctor calls, and he holds up both hands doing a big nod, before heading out the door again to share the news with our family.

Angel’s face is covered in sweat, and her cheeks are so red. Our hands are clasped, and she’s squeezing the fuck out of my fingers. “I can’t do it anymore.”

“You’ve got this… You’re almost there.” I kiss her forehead, keeping my arm around her shoulder as she sits forward on the bed.

“This is it!” The doctor orders. “We’re right there. Give me one more big push, and we’ll have her.”

Angel gasps again, looking up at me. I lower my face to hers. “You got this, babe. Ready? Let’s meet our little girl.”

She nods, closing her eyes, and with one last deep breath, she yells as she pushes with all her might.

The doctor reaches forward and grabs my wrist, dragging me down to the foot of the bed and putting my hand on something hot and wet. “Guide her out.”

My heart drops to my feet, but I look down and realize… I’m touching our baby’s head. “It’s her!”

Angel pushes once more, and the doctor’s hands are beside mine, guiding her into my arms. I’m holding her when she takes her first breath and starts to cry. My heart expands fifty times its normal size. Her hair is black and her skin is red and she’s and covered in goo and screaming her little head off, and she’s so gorgeous.

I wait as the doctor snips the cord, and the nurse guides me to the head of the bed, where I place our daughter on her mother’s chest. I can’t take my eyes off her.

“My baby…” Tears stream down Angel’s cheeks, and I blink back my own tears as our daughter’s little voice fills the room with strong cries.

A nurse joins us. “I’ll take her for just a second.”

Passing her for weighing and the rest, I gather Angel in my arms and kiss her on the mouth, long and full of love. Pulling back, our eyes meet. “You did it, Mamma.”

“Oh, Deacon.” She sniffs, dropping her head against my chest.

The nurse is back, and she places our daughter in her mother’s arms, helping her latch onto Angel’s breast.

After all the commotion, the craziness, and the noise, the room settles into peaceful quiet. The only sound is my precious daughter’s little grunts as she has her first meal in the world.

I sit on the side of the bed, smoothing my palm over her little dark head. It fits perfectly in my palm.

“She’s so beautiful,” I whisper, my voice filled with awe. “I love her so much.”

Our moment is short-lived as the crew files into the room. Valeria carries Sofia, who reaches for me and climbs over to look at the new baby.

“She’s so tiny!” Sofia cries. “Look at her little fingers. Look at her little fingernails!”

We grin, watching her cousin.

“Great job, Sis.” Beto, steps forward to kiss the top of Angel’s head. “She’s beautiful.”

“Rockstar!” Lourdes holds up both fists. “First you slay the art world, then you slay the motherland… or something.”

We all laugh, and Sofia climbs off my lap to get a better view of her new cousin. “What are you going to call her?”

Angel looks up at me, and I nod. We’ve discussed her name so many times, and we finally decided on just the right one.

“Heaven.” Angel slides her palm behind the baby’s head, positioning her so we can all admire her. “Heaven Valentina Dring.”

“Heaven.” Sofia repeats, nodding her head. “Hey, there, Heaven!” Her voice is quiet. “I’m your cousin Sofia. I’ll teach you everything you need to know.”