𝐔𝐍𝐂𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐃 - c. cornell

chapter twenty one

1991
ollie

That rest of the night after Monique was out of the womb we had visitors. Obviously. Steph, Eddie, Stone, Jeff, and Mike all came to visit since Dave was still busy and they seemed to love the baby. Especially Steph.

...

Steph and the rest of the bunch walked in as I held the baby in my arms. "Hey guys!" Steph said quietly but seemed very excited to see the baby. "Hi Aunt Steph" I said smiling and she put her hands over her mouth as she looked down at Monique. "She is so beautiful," she said and I smiled at the compliment. Monique was beautiful with her greenish-blue eyes like mine and Chris' almost merged together. She was a mix of both of us, yet she looked a bit more like Chris in my opinion. "Wanna hold her?" I asked and she nodded. She gently picked up our infant and held in in her embrace gently. Eddie walked up behind Steph's shorter figure and smiled down at them. Some day I wished they might take into consideration having a child of their own.

"I will gladly babysit anytime that's all I'm saying" Steph laughed as she didn't bother peeling her vision from Monique. I laughed back as well and the others looked as amazed as the rest of us. "My opinion, but she looks like Chris" Stone said and I nodded. "I don't know, she looks like us both" Chris said looking at me then at Stone. "Or she looks like her own person?" Jeff butted in and we all laughed. He wasn't wrong though. I did find it interesting how parents could baffle over how their baby looks once there born, in the end, it doesn't matter because you love them so much.

"Yeah yeah, you've had your turn give me the baby" Stone said waiting for Steph to hand over Monique. She did end up giving the baby to Stone, looking rather disappointed in having to do so, but did I blame her? Not at all. "Hi little baby, I'm uncle Stone! I know you have like a million other uncles and stuff but keep in mind...I will always be the best one!" he said whispering the last part so no one heard but he sucks at secrets so we all heard him. Jeff rolled his eyes and so did Eddie, annoyed about how goofy and slightly self-centred Stone was being.

"Stone ya know she has a name right?" I said laughing. "Right! What name did you decide on?" Steph said smiling and anxiously waiting for my response. "Her full name is Monique Ray Cornell" they smiled in awe at us and I saw Stone handing Chris back the baby. "It's a great name" Steph said. "I can't wait to bring her home" Chris said smiling and kissing my head. "I know, I feel so old now being a mother" I replied putting my head back onto the pillow. "Ah stop! Your only in your twenties still you guys probably will have another one when your thirty-some!"  I rolled my eyes and put my head into my hands.

"God, don't remind me of my future" I said laughing. "But we're also really proud of you for being able to do that" Steph said hugging me. "It seems like these past two years with Chris went by so damn fast...I wish I could revisit those special moments sometimes" I smiled at Chris and he smiled back at me.

...

Everyone left after a while of catching up, they decided to let me and Chris rest. A knock on the door was heard as I held our little baby in my arms. "Hello! I'm just checking in to see how everything is going" the kind nurse said as she walked in. "It's going great, but Monique is a little fussy" I said gently bouncing her in my arms. "Let me see her" the nurse said offering to take her. She held her for a few seconds and rocked her back and forth shushing her kindly. "Well I think she might need to be fed"

That was something I was nervous about. If breastfeeding was a healthier option, I would do it for Monique. "Right..." I said and she placed my baby back in my arms. "If you are ok with it, I'll help you get comfortable" she said and I nodded. It was weird for the moment but I'm sure it wouldn't be a big problem once I got comfortable. Minutes of getting ready, I had begun feeding. "So you can put on a towel if you want over her head if there are people around and you don't feel comfortable with the feeding process" she said and I nodded. Chris and I knew each other for two years, plus he was gone to get water and use the phone to call some others but he would be back soon. "Thank you" I said to her. "No problem! We're gonna start testing tomorrow making sure she's ok and then you should be good to head on home" she smiled and left the room.

Sitting with Monique was peaceful actually. Her being so new and hours out of the womb, and staying so peaceful and bliss. She wasn't giving me a hard time at all either which was amazing for me, babies crying made me sad and a bit stressed out, it made me wonder if they got headaches from crying as much as we do. A few seconds later after spending time with Monique, Chris came back. "Hi sweetheart" he said kissing my head. I was glad he wasn't quick to judge a person for their decisions because it was like he didn't even notice me feeding Monique. "Who did you call?" I asked as he sat down. "My manager Susan, she's been acting so weird but I told her you gave birth so I can have some time off" he smiled and reached for my hand.

He caressed the back of it gently sending me into peace. Everything I needed was here; my daughter and my boyfriend. "She's a cute little thing isn't she?" Chris said chuckling as he looked at us. "For sure...but I have to admit, she looks way more like you" I laughed and he rolled his eyes. "She's her own person but she's both of us"

chris

I noticed after a while that Ollie fell asleep. They were so cute together and I didn't want to wake them, but I had to give Monique and Ollie some space. I gently scooped the baby into my arms as she awoke. Crying was made clear and I quickly tried to calm her down. "Shhh it's ok darling" I said to Monique rocking her back and forth. "Is everything ok?" Ollie woke up. "It's all good" I said giving her a thumbs up. "Um there's a pacifier in that first pocket of her diaper bag" She instructed me and I looked in the bag. Low and behold I found the damn thing and gave it to Monique. "There we go" I said bouncing her. I began to hum the song that was stuck in my head the whole day. Black by Pearl Jam that song always got to me.

I looked back to see if Ollie was asleep and luckily she was, so I gently sang the song instead. Soon enough Monique was asleep and I placed her in her bassinet. I felt so accomplished succeeding at not messing up at putting my daughter to sleep. Now I suppose it was time for me to sleep as well. I got next to Ollie and smiled at her, gently kissing her temple before placing my head down and drifting off.