Golden Gooses

23

P.S.: I'm looking back at the past chapters and feeling dissatisfied with the plot's pacing, so I'll be trying to increase the chapter sizes. 

     Timothy would continue to cradle his new child as Evan watched, trying to decipher how he felt. But the more he rocked the baby in his arms as Miranda slept, the more fatigued he felt. He began to feel exhausted, his vision going out of focus as his legs trembled. He trudged to a chair in the corner of the room, sinking into it. "Evan, grab your sister." He directed, his arms beginning to give out. Evan hesitantly grabbed her from Timothy's arms as he fell asleep. The nurses had begun to leave the room to check on other patients, so it was just Evan with his baby sister now. He looked down at her, grimacing. "You look weird. Like a flesh potato." He mumbled as they stared at each other, both confused. "Flesh potatoes sound nasty. I hope Mommy doesn't force you to sleep in my room. I heard babies cry a lot." He rambled, filling the empty air. He wanted to fill the silence of being left alone with this oddity that everyone kept referring to as his sister. When he couldn't think of anything else to say, he just gazed at her, wondering what she was thinking. She kept an idle stare locked on him as if she was in a different world. But then, she smiled. It may have been minute but it made him feel the same loving assurance from his parents. He was taken aback by a whirl of emotions—adoration, confusion, and hesitance. He was reluctant to respond, not wanting to hurt her by hugging her. He hesitantly patted her head, her smile widening. He cautiously rocked her in his arms, not wanting to hurt a hair on her. He was overcome with the urge to care for her with his life.

     Miranda was the first to wake up, blinking sleep out of her eyes groggily as she looked around the room. She squinted to shield her eyes from the bright hospital lights. She spotted Evan standing in the corner with his sister in hand. "Aw, c'mere baby." She gestured. He shuffled over and handed the baby to her. She nestled her in Miranda's arms. "Aren't you the cutest?" She'd coo before turning to Evan. She stroked his hair, smiling. "Bonding with your little sister, huh?" He quietly nodded. He grasped her hand. "Are you okay, Mommy?" He asked, concerned. "Uh-huh, Mommy's just tired right now." She answered, trying to keep from nodding off. She glanced at Timothy, mustering a snicker. "How is he more knocked out than me?" She yawned. "Anywho, can you go wake him up? We gotta go sign this little lady's birth certificate and get out of here." Evan nodded, walking over and shaking Timothy. "Daddy, Daddy wake up! Mommy says you guys gotta sign a birth certificate." He explained. Timothy was jostled out of his sleep, looking around startled as his mind caught up with his body. "Huh? Oh, just you. Just..." He yawned before starting again. "Just, uh, tell your mom we can sign the certificate now." He responded, waving Evan away. He got to his feet sluggishly, stretching. He lumbered over to Miranda, briskly grabbing her from the bed. "Timothy!" She exclaimed, taken by surprise yet delighted. "Now, now. What husband would I be if I let you hobble all the way to the door?" He teased, already carrying her out of the room. "Yuck." Evan mocked before trailing behind them.

     Timothy and Miranda stood at the desk as the nurse handed them the paperwork to fill out. She handed them a pen as they began to scribble down the basic information. They got to the part where they had to decide on the name and exchanged looks. "Well, I want her to also have an E in her name. Just a cute little gimmick." Miranda brought up. "I like the idea of that too. Em's a cute nickname, don't ya think?" Timothy added. "Ev and Em. That's adorable!" She agreed. "So, Emily?" He suggested. Miranda's ecstatic expression dropped to a disappointed frown. "So no Emily." They fell silent, contemplating a name. "Emerald!" They exclaimed in unison. There was a moment of silence before they burst into laughter. "Great minds think alike!" Timothy commented. Miranda turned back to the paper and wrote down Emerald. "I think this paperwork's gonna take a while. Why don't you go start up the car? Take Evan and Emerald with you while you're at it." She suggested. "Alright." Timothy agreed, grabbing Emerald in one hand and holding Evan's hand with the other. They left the hospital and headed out to the car.

     Timothy placed Emerald into the carrier in the backseat, and Evan hopped in right next to it. Timothy entered the driver-side door, sitting down and sighing. Evan didn't know much, but even he could tell a massive weight was lifted from his shoulders. As the car went dark and silent, besides the ambiance of car headlights flashing into the windows, Timothy began to drum on the steering wheel with his fingers. "Daddy?" Evan spoke up. "Hm?" Timothy answered, imploring him to continue his question. "Will... Emerald, continue looking like... that?" He asked. "Whaddaya mean by 'that?'" Timothy glanced at him in the rearview mirror. "Well.. kinda like a flesh potato," Evan explained. Timothy tried to stifle his snicker but burst into laughter. Evan was surprised, then quickly transitioned to annoyance. "What's so funny?!" He asked, embarrassed. "Nothing, nothing, it's just..." Timothy broke up his sentence to take a good breath. "Whew. Well, no. We come out looking like 'flesh potatoes' but we eventually grow. Soon she'll grow up to the same size you are, and then you and her will grow up to be the same size as Mommy and me." "Oh, okay." He replied, still eyeing his sister curiously. Miranda walked over to the car and opened the passenger-side door, stepping in. "Got the paperwork done?" Timothy asked. "Yup. She's now a proud Von." Miranda gushed, beaming. "Then let's go home," Timothy chimed as he already began to back out of the parking lot, merging onto the freeway.