The Meaning of Family: The Collections

From Friends to Spouses (Part 6/7)

"Just let me know once you've finished pumping and I'll come collect your milk." The nurse stated after helping Sophia get situated with the automated breast pump. It had been a week since Sammie was born, and Sophia was still having some troubles with properly pumping her breast milk, so the NICU nurses were aiding her whenever it came time. "Her next feeding will be in about an hour, and you'll get to hold her this time. Both of you." The nurse made sure to include Yoongi in her announcement, and the couple's eyes lit up at the thought. Due to how small Sammie was, especially after her weight dropped a little in the first few days after her birth, they had been unable to hold her yet, making that be the first time they would ever get to hold her.

"Did you hear that Yoongi?!" Sophia exclaimed after the nurse left the room. "We're gonna get to hold her and feel her and it's going to be amazing and-why does this thing have to feel so weird?!" She glared down at the pump attached to her breast, causing Yoongi to chuckle at her.

"Just think how weird it would feel if it were actually Sammie~" Yoongi pointed out as his phone dinged. He looked at it and immediately moved to stand up from the couch. "My dad's coming up with our lunch, you want me to close the curtain?" Sophia nodded and Yoongi pressed a kiss to her cheek before pulling the curtain hanging in front of the couch to protect the privacy of pumping mothers to cover Sophia just in time for Jin to walk into the room with Jimin.

"Subway delivery is here~" Jimin greeted, setting the sandwich sacks on the small table in the room before claiming the rocking chair in the corner of the room.

"I didn't know you were coming." Yoongi commented as he searched through the bags to find his turkey sandwich.

"Your dad was called away to handle a case, so Jimin came to help move Taehyung move into his dorm for band camp instead." Jin explained as he washed his hands in the sink that was in the room. "I didn't feel like driving him back home before coming here." Once his hands were dry, Jin moved over to the incubator in the middle of the room and, after getting Yoongi's permission, opened one of the side panels to reach his hand inside. "Hi there, Sammie~" He lightly stroked her hand with his finger, and she soon opened her fist to be able to grasp onto it. "You got a good grip there~" He commented.

Sophia soon finished pumping and had Yoongi run the tube of milk to the nurses' station down the hall while she enjoyed her own lunch. Eventually, it was Sammie's feeding time, and Jimin traded seats with Sophia so she could have the rocking chair. "Can you undo a few of your buttons so we can get skin to skin bonding going?" The nurse asked as she checked over the various tubes and wires around Sammie to make sure they weren't at risk of coming loose as she moved her to Sophia's arms.

The second Sammie was placed in Sophia's arms, everyone could see the way the young mother relaxed at finally having some physical contact with her baby. "Hi, Sammie~" Sophia cooed, a few tears of joy escaping her eyes as she lightly stroked the newborn's cheek.

The nurse brought a pacifier over and handed it to Sophia. "We're going to try to get her latching and sucking motion down to make an easier transition to bottle or breast."

Sophia placed the soother against Sammie's mouth and pushed it in. The infant welcomed the object, suckling on it for a few seconds before attempting to spit it out, unable to due to Sophia holding it in place. "Looks like somebody doesn't like pacifiers~" Sophia cooed to the infant as the nurse began to push the milk through the feeding tube.

After they finished feeding Sammie, the nurse took the infant from her mother's arms and gestured for her to switch places with Yoongi, so he could hold his daughter. After undoing the top few buttons of his own flannel, since the nurse informed him that skin to skin contact with the father was also beneficial to the baby, he welcomed Sammie into his arms and felt his insides both warm and soften at getting to hold his daughter for the first time. "Hi there, princess~" Yoongi whispered to the baby, silently vowing to himself to always protect her every second for the rest of his life.