Hawk's Princess

Chapter 3

I woke up to my alarm and untangled myself from Eli's arms. I always got ready first because he always took the longest. I got in the shower, showered real quick, got out, got dressed and I made sure to put a tank top under my scrub top so when I needed to put Michael to sleep I could do the skin-to-skin contact. I wore all black scrubs today and then I got Eli's scrubs out. I chose black because we always matched scrubs unless I forgot to do the wash. I braided my hair in two Dutch braids and put them into a low ponytail. I then went back into the room to wake up Eli.

"Babe." I shook him a little.

Nothing.

"Babe." I shook him a little more.

"Ok, ok I'm up." He groaned.

"Come on you need to shower." I kissed his forehead.

He sat up and kissed me one more time before getting up and walking into the bathroom.

I went downstairs grabbed our lunch pales and started making our lunch. I made us each a salad with ranch dressing and leftover hot wings from last night. I also packed us a granola bar for a snack. I finished packing our lunches and I put on my shoes then went upstairs to go see if Eli was ready.

I walked in and he was blow-drying his hair. He looked over at me and shut off the blow dryer.

"Awe Princess you look so cute in your scrubs." He looked at me up and down.

"And you look very handsome." I smiled.

He came up to me, grabbed my waist, pulled me closer, and kissed my lips.

"What was that for?" I asked.

"Because I love you." He smiled and kissed me again.

"I love you too. Also, I already packed our lunches and snack." I smiled.

"Thank you, Princess." He smiled.

"Ok, now hurry up we are going to be late." I laughed.

"Alright, let's go." He smiled.

We went downstairs and he put on his shoes. We grabbed out duffle bags we took with a change of scrubs just in case and we put our lunches inside. We drove to the hospital and we walked in. We rode the elevator together and I was on the 3rd floor.

"Alright, babe I'll see you when you come to meet Michael." I kissed him.

"Love you." He smiled.

"Love you too." The doors closed.

I clocked in and went to the nursery. I scanned my badge and walked in.

"Hey, Madilyn." Amy smiled.

"Hey, Amy." I put my stuff in my locker.

"Brittney should be coming in any second, she said she has an announcement." Amy picked up Bella.

"So, we are having a meeting?" I questioned.

"Basically." Amy laughed.

"Hey, Mads." Chelsea smiled.

Chealse was the girl I switched with for shifts. She was the one that was assigned with Michael in the daytime.

"Hey, how's Michael?" I asked.

"Crying, he hasn't stopped crying. Right after you left he started crying again, and I haven't gotten him to eat or sleep." She sighed.

"I'm sorry." I walked through the door where Michael was.

Once I opened the door I heard his cry. I hated hearing babies cry because it made me feel sad. I walked to his incubator and opened it.

"Hey, buddy." I spoke with my baby voice.

He stopped crying and opened his eyes.

"Missed me?" I picked him up.

He looked straight at me and smiled.

"Awe, you're a smiley baby." I cooed.

I grabbed a bottle from the bottle warmer and gave it to him. He started eating it right away.

"You must be starving, you haven't eaten all day." I spoke softly.

I walked into the other room where everyone had come in.

"There you are Madilyn." Brittney smiled.

"I had to grab Michael." I explained.

"Now that you're here we can start. I decided that I am going to split you, nurses. These are the names that are going to stay in the nursery. Madilyn, Amy, Clare, Stephanie, Patrica, Lexi, and Makala. The rest of you will be in delivery rooms. Also for everyone that will be in delivery rooms, there is a list in the main office where you will be, it will be updated every hour. Now, for everyone in here in the office each of you will be assigned two babies, you and your pairing will be on the list." Brittney smiled at us after she finished.

Everyone nodded and headed to the office to see their new assignments. I couldn't take Michael out of the nursery but luckily he fell asleep so I went back into the other room and placed him in his incubator. I walked back to the front.

"Madilyn, I want to talk to you." Brittney looked at her clipboard.

"What's up?" I hoped it was nothing bad.

"Michael, he is struggling a lot. As you may know, he doesn't sleep or eat with anyone else but you. So I was wondering if you and Eli wouldn't mind taking him during the day and bringing his back for your night shift." Brittney looked stressed.

"I don't know if I can legally do that, since he got taken away from his mom. Don't I have to be a foster parent to do that?" I asked.

"I talked to his social worker and I told her what was happening, she said that since you and Eli already have background checks all you guys would have to do is sign some papers." Brittney explained.

"Does that mean I would have to take other kids home?" I wasn't ready to be a foster parent or a parent for that matter.

"No, it would only be Michael in your care for the day." She smiled.

"Can I talk to Eli about it at lunch and I'll stop by your office before I get off my shift?" I asked.

"Yeah, of course, that's no problem." She smiled.

"Thank you." I was nervous.

"So, you don't have to leave, your other baby is coming in later on. There is a scheduled C-section for a mom it's going to be a girl. We don't know her name yet but be prepared for her around 2 a.m." Brittney looked at her chart.

"Ok, that's fine." I was excited to meet the other baby.

"Alright have a great shift, I'll see you later." She left.

After she left I heard Michael start crying on the monitor. I walked back into the other room to get him.

"Hey, buddy it's ok I'm right here." I picked him up.

I sat in the rocking chair and placed him on my chest. I grabbed his binky and gave it to him. I made sure his skin was touching mine and I rocked him back to sleep. After a couple of minutes, he fell back asleep. I didn't want him to wake up as soon as I put him down so I just held him, because I had nothing else to do.