by J A Fielding
“Speaking of dad. Where is he?” she asked as she tried to get comfortable. “Ow,” she said when she felt a discomfort in her abdomen. Mitchell put the baby down in her crib and walked up to the bed.
“You need to take it easy. Let me do that for you,” he said as he began adjusting the bed angle while fluffing her pillow so she could lean back comfortably. She looked at him in appreciation as he busied himself in making her comfortable. “So, your dad and Estelle and Mona, Rita, Stacy…everyone was here but they had to stay out. Only one person was allowed in at a time,” he said. Natasha smiled.
“Everyone came?” she asked. Mitchell smiled and nodded.
“Seems like you are a pretty popular lady, Tasha Schmidt,” he said looking down at her.
“I like to think I am,” she said smiling at him. She was trying her best to be conversant but she was in pain. She could barely feel the bottom half of her body and the stitches in her abdomen were nearly driving her wild. It suddenly hit her. The stitches. “I had a C-section,” she said looking at Mitchell who was looking back at her questioningly.
“Yes, we all know that,” he said looking at her. “Why? Did you think that was a hallucination too?” he asked with a smile. She shook her head.
“No, it’s not that. It’s just…get me Dr. Georges,” she said in a panic. Mitchell held her hand and looked into her eyes.
“Baby, why are you so worked up?” he asked looking at her lovingly.
“Just get me the doctor. Now!” she said. Mitchell took his pager and briefly clicked on it before putting it back in his pocket. “There, I paged him,” he said.
“No you need to call him so I know you are not running some kind of scam so some nurse can come and pump some sedatives in me,” Natasha said looking at him. Mitchell knew that look. He had seen it so many times before. It was his wife’s no nonsense look. The look that said, “if you don’t do what I ask there will be hell to pay. ”
“Baby, we are in a hospital. It’s not like I can just pop my head out and call out his name like some imbecile at a bar,” he said as he took her hand in his. “Everything will be fine,” he said looking at her. Natasha still looked restless. His words were not convincing enough. Just then, the door opened and Dr. Georges walked in with a smile. He still had his scrubs on. Natasha guessed that he was either headed to surgery, from surgery or just doing rounds. At that moment, she didn’t even think to notice that this was the first time she was seeing her doctor in scrubs.
“How are mother and daughter doing?” the doctor asked cheerfully.
“They were fine until the mother started acting weird,” Mitchell said. The doctor frowned.
“How weird? Anything out of the ordinary? Natasha?” he asked looking at her.
“I hate to be one of those annoying bitchy women but I have to ask. Did you do a clean job with the cut? I mean I need to know that I can still wear a bikini someday if I feel like it,” she said. Mitchell grinned. He could not believe it, that was her big emergency. At some point he even chuckled before Natasha stared daggers at him. “You better laugh when you still can, Mitchell,” she retorted angrily before turning her attention back to the doctor. “So, was it a nice clean cut? Should I be worried?” she asked looking at Dr. Georges. The doctor looked at Mitchell and smiled.
“I had a plastic surgeon, the best I have, do the work. You have nothing to worry about,” he said. Natasha breathed a sigh of relief.
“I can’t believe you had me page the doctor for this,” Mitchell said laughing.
“Trust me, Mr. Schmidt, that is a very common concern,” the doctor said. His smile slowly disappeared as he looked at Natasha’s chart.
“What? Is there anything wrong?” Mitchell asked looking worried. The last thing he needed right now was to be told that something went wrong. The doctor shook his head and looked up at them.
“I know that you would like to be out of here as soon as you possibly can but we need to keep you here for at least a day for observation. Though it was a simple surgery, you lost quite a lot of blood,” he explained. “We just need to keep you here for observation, make sure you do not relapse at home. Better here than there,” he added with a smile. Natasha looked at Mitchell and then at the doctor and then nodded.
“I understand. But my baby is okay, right?” she asked looking worried.
“Your baby is the healthiest baby I have had the pleasure of delivering in a long time. You should be proud,” Dr. Georges said looking at her. She smiled and felt her cheeks flush. She knew she looked a mess but all that did not matter. At least not now. All she needed to know was that her baby was fine.
“Bring her over. I need to hold her,” she said looking up at Mitchell. The doctor smiled at them as Mitchell carefully picked up the baby and gently placed her next to her mother. “I guess I need to get more pink stuff, huh?” she said smiling up at her husband who nodded.
“Thank God the nursery was not gender specific, right?” Mitchell said with a smile. The doctor stood up and walked to the door. He was obviously tired of being the third wheel…or fourth wheel in this case. He opened the door and turned to look at the young family.
“I’ll let the others know you are awake,” Dr. Georges said before he walked out. Natasha looked up at Mitchell and smiled.
“Now that we cannot have a daughter named Aiden, what do you suggest?” she asked. Mitchell looked at her and then at the baby and shook his head.
“I don’t know. Taylor?” he asked looking at her. Natasha shook her head.
“Taylor Schmidt? That sounds like a failed version of Taylor Swift,” she said. Mitchell laughed.
“You are right. We could call her Madeline,” he said. Almost as soon as he had said that, Natasha suddenly thought of a name and said it at the same time.
“Alexis,” she said and then laughed. “I like Madeline too,” she said looking at him.
“I like Alexis just as much,” he said smiling. “There is no reason why she cannot be Alexis Madeline Schmidt,” he said suggestively. Natasha looked down at the sleeping child.
“Alexis Madeline Schmidt. Why not?” she said in a whisper just as the door opened and everyone came into her room. She lifted her finger to her lips. “She’s asleep,” she said in a whisper.
“So, how are you guys? Except for the obvious pain and disorientation from the meds,’ Rita asked as she walked to Natasha’s bed and kissed her cheek. Mona and Stacy followed suit before giving way to Eric and Estelle. Eric planted a kiss on her fore head and smiled down at her.
“You made me a grandfather,” he said with a smile. “It’s a great feeling,” he added still smiling. Natasha smiled and looked at the baby again.
“Thank God one of us feels great. It’s like these damn meds are not working,” she said frowning. Estelle made her way through and gently draped an arm around Natasha’s shoulders.
“They can only give you enough to help you manage the pain, nothing more. You are breast feeding now remember? We would hate for baby…what’s-her-name to be an addict this early,” she said.
“By the way guys, what’s-her-name has a name now,” Mitchell said excitedly.
“Really? What is it? Oh I know – it's Mona,” Mona said quickly. Rita looked at her and rolled her eyes.
“I think Rita is a better name.” She looked over at Estelle who was giving her a stern look. “What? We’ve been best friends since we were kids,” she said shrugging as she looked away from Estelle to avoid her icy look.
“Okay, if we were to honor each one of you, our daughter would either be Rita, Mona, Stacy, Estelle or Erica. And not forgetting my parents also wanted their names somewhere in there,” Mitchell said pointing at the small group. “So, we decided on names that are not connected in any way to the family,” he added.
“Where are your parents anyway?” Mona asked looking at Mitchell.
“Somewhere in the Maldives. They are unreachable till they get back home. That’s how seriously they take their vacation time,
” he said smiling.
“Bummer,” Mona said under her breath.
“I know,” Stacy and Rita whispered in unison.
“So, what is it? Don’t keep us waiting,” Eric pressed. Mitchell looked at Natasha and smiled.
“Alexis Madeline,” Natasha said with a smile. Stacy walked over and looked down at the sleeping baby.
“May I?” she asked. Natasha nodded, giving her the go ahead to pick the child up. Stacy looked at the sweet angel and sighed.
“You better thank God she is so cute. Otherwise, I would have never forgiven you for not naming her Stacy,” she said with a smile. The nurse walked in and everyone knew what that meant. They had to say goodbye. Estelle looked at Natasha; her eyes were full of pride.
“The last time I felt this happy was when I looked at you when you were born. Seems like just yesterday,” she said as she held Eric’s hand. “We will always be here if you ever need us, okay baby?” she added as she kissed Natasha again.
“I know,” Natasha said weakly as they left the room.
“By the way, Mitchell, tell your daughter to call me Pa,” he said as he held the door. “No one is calling me grandfather,” he added as he made his way out of the room.
“Will do,” Mitchell said laughing. He looked at Natasha who was being made to lie back down so the nurse could look at her dressing. The nurse looked at Natasha and then at Mitchell nervously. “I’m the husband,” he said leaning forward. The nurse smiled as she slowly opened up Natasha’s gown.
“You might feel a little sting as I apply some antiseptic,” the nurse said in a soothing voice. Mitchell held Natasha’s hand as the nurse carefully redressed the wound and gave her another dose of painkillers. “That’s it, and we’re done,” the nurse said as she covered Natasha up with the gown. She smiled at both of them before she left. Mitchell looked down at Natasha and smiled.
“I’ll be here when you wake up,” he said in a low voice. She shook her head. She had no idea how long she had been out for and at the rate they were dosing her with painkillers, she had no idea how much longer she would be out.
“You need to rest. Go home,” she said weakly as the drugs began to kick in.
“I cannot bear the thought of letting my two favorite girls out of my sight,” he said as he kissed her forehead. “Get some rest. I will be right here when you wake up,” he said again. Natasha smiled as she felt herself drift off into a deep sleep.
*****
Two days after giving birth, Natasha and Alexis were still in the hospital even though the doctor had only talked about keeping them in the hospital overnight. Needless to say, Natasha was becoming worried. Again she was afraid that something could have gone wrong with the baby and no one had bothered to tell her. She was becoming infuriated. She longed to be back in her own house, sleeping in her own bed, putting Alexis to sleep in her crib. She wanted to be in that nursery, rocking in her chair as Alexis fed. There was just something about the hospital that was sucking the sanity out of her. Just then, Dr. Georges came in looking cheerful as ever.
“Good morning Natasha. How are we feeling today?” he asked as he picked up her chart. Natasha sighed and rolled her eyes. The doctor had seen this before. He could tell that Natasha was agitated.
“I want to go home, Dr. Georges. Why am I still here?” she asked looking at him. “You had told me that we would only be here one night for observation. It’s been two nights and three days and I want to take my baby home,” she said. Dr. Georges looked at her and sat on the edge of the bed.
“Natasha, you have been my patient for what? Two, three years? And I always want to make sure that you are in perfect health before I let you go home,” he said. Natasha shrugged. “I really like you but I hate making house calls unless of course they are about a nice pot roast and wine,” he added with a smile. This made Natasha laugh. He always had a way with words.
“But I am in good health, am I not? Or is it Alexis? Is something wrong with my daughter?” she asked suddenly feeling herself panicking. The doctor shook his head and put a consoling hand on her own.
“Your baby is fine. I told you. But as I said before, you lost a lot of blood and we had to ensure we replenish it and nurse you back to health as soon as possible, for your baby’s sake. Plus your blood type is not that easy to come by. Don’t worry. It won’t be long now,” he said before getting up. Natasha sighed again as she watched him scribble something on her chart before he headed for the door.
“Could I at least get a timeline?” she asked. The doctor turned around and looked at her. A slow smile played on his lips.
“Not more than twenty-four hours, I promise,” he said and then left. Natasha smiled. That gave her so much hope. She looked over at the baby cot where Alexis was sleeping soundly.
“We’ll be going home soon, Alexis,” she said in a whisper. She smiled to herself as she looked at her baby girl. Looking at that little angel had to be the greatest feeling ever. It was no wonder babies were called bundles of joy. She immediately began thinking of what lay ahead for her, for Mitchell and for their daughter. Alexis’ first words, first steps, first date…she shuddered at the thought of her baby girl dating. If it were up to Mitchell, Alexis would never, ever know that she was a girl. Natasha had no idea how he intended on making that happen. She would just have to wait and see.
As she looked at the baby, she suddenly felt herself getting angry at her mother for walking out on her and her father. How could anyone look at something so innocent and just walk away? Without even flinching? She came to the conclusion that her mother must be one cold hearted bitch to just walk away from her one and only daughter. She would never do that to Mitch or Alexis or herself. How could she live knowing that she left the two people she loved most? Natasha stretched out and gently stroked Alexis’s cheek for the umpteenth time.
“You are mine, Alexis. Nothing would ever make me turn my back on you. I will never, ever let you go,” she said looking at her baby. She smiled when the child stirred a little and almost fluttered her eyelids, still deep in sleep. She let out a small, silent laugh. This moment right here, with nothing else between her and Alexis, this was the best moment of her day. Of her life.
Chapter 4
Three months after having Alexis, Natasha had begun to resent her body. Every time she went to the bathroom was a nightmare. Her tummy was still headed down, literally, and she no longer had that supple waist or a nice, firm butt. All she saw every time she looked at her reflection was a big blob of baby fat. She had declined every invitation Mitchell had given her to go for dinner or one of the company functions. She had always been the one person who stood out without even trying but now everything she wore made her feel like Sponge Bob or a Chucky Cheese employee.
“You okay?” Mitchell asked as he walked into the room. Natasha sighed and nodded as she walked out of the closet. She had been staring at her clothes for…she had no idea for how long. “You are not still mooning over your body now, are you?” he asked as he walked towards her. He slowly slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her close to him. “You do know that you are still the most beautiful person I know, right?” he asked looking into her eyes. Natasha nodded.
“Except for Alexis,” she said with a smile. Mitchell laughed and nodded.
“Yes, except for Alexis,” he said looking at her. He pulled her close and held her in his arms. “Get that awful thought about your weight out of your mind,” he said with a tone that commanded finality. She pulled away from him and looked into his eyes.
“You do know the likes of Beyoncé and Jessica Alba lost their baby weight in a couple of months, right? That really concerns me,” she said looking at him.
“God, Tasha. Are you serious?” he asked laughing. She nodded and began walking towards the bed.
“Yes, I fucking am. They are women like me, right? So what’s the big difference?” she asked as she sat down.
“The big difference is that they worked out like crazy while they should h
ave been eating healthy while breastfeeding. And I will die before I let you starve yourself just so you can look good,” he said with a smile. Natasha smiled back at him.
“At least I have you,” she said as Mitchell walked towards her. He sat down and looked into her eyes before gently slipping a hand behind her neck. She smiled as he brought his face down and gently kissed her. Her hand slowly came up and held the side of his face as their lips crushed together. Soon, they were both breathing heavily as desire took over. Natasha could not remember the last time they got intimate, sexually. Her wound was yet to completely heal and there was the little fact about her not feeling sexy. She let out a moan when Mitchell began to slowly kiss her neck. She could feel his tongue slowly running down one side of her neck. She wanted him so bad. One of his hands slowly made its way down her front and gently cupped a breast, making her moan. He was just about to begin taking off her t-shirt when Alexis’s familiar wail came through the baby monitor. He pulled away from her and sighed.
“That’s a buzz kill,” he said burying his head in her neck. She smiled and patted his back.
“I know. It’s your turn now,” she said as she pushed him away. He groaned and stood up.
“I love that girl to death but I do not understand how something so small can make so much noise,” he said as he walked towards the door. Natasha smiled.
“She probably just needs a diaper change or daddy’s familiar face,” she called out as he walked away. She smiled as she lay down on the bed. She looked at the ceiling and an idea struck her. If she could not have sex, she would have to find another way to pass the time. She rose from the bed and walked to the bedside table. She pulled one of the drawer handles and took out her diary. She smiled as she flipped through the pages. It had been almost three years since she had last made an entry or even gone through some of the entries in there. She made herself comfortable and randomly opened the diary. She looked at the date and almost let out a laugh. It was from 2007. Things were still a bit too weird in her life at the time. She was in her third year of college and was still trying to figure things out. She leaned against the headboard and began reading.
