Chorale asked Kay to only call her parents in the morning. They were tired and even though this was good news, they had to rest. So even at 5 a.m. when the nurses came in to take Kayla for her first bath, Dwayne and Agnes did not know that their daughter had given birth yet.
Mama Rica and Caleb had gone back home to change and rest a while before they come back to the hospital. Kay had refused to go home, naturally. He had already called John to postpone all his meetings, even the presentation. He was taking the whole week off.
Chorale had already drifted off to sleep before the nurses came back with Kayla. Before they took her out, the nurses put a tag on her wrist. The tag read “Baby Kay Sanders”. The feeling he felt when he saw it was heavenly.
His.
His baby.
Kay thanked the nurses after they brought her back and put her in the baby cot, and they left. He went to stand by the cot to watch her.
She was even more beautiful now that she didn’t have blood all over. Her eyes were still shut and she was sleeping so soundly. He noticed how she had clenched her small fists and he moved his hand to hold it. She grabbed his index finger in a grip and he let out a soft laugh, and then she did something really cute- she smiled. Before now, he thought Chorale had the deepest set of dimples he had ever seen. This little lady here had stripped her mother off that title.
He loved her already and he couldn’t wait to show her to the whole world. He managed to free his finger from her baby grip and took out his phone to check the time.
“Shit!” he cursed under his breath. It was already past 6 a.m. and he was yet to make all the numerous calls he had to. He sat down in the chair and dialed Dwayne’s number. He answered on the last ring, which meant they were all still asleep.
His voice also sounded sleepy, “Tell me, son,”
“Good morning, dad,”
“Good morning, Kay. How are you, and Chorale?”
“We’re fine. I called to tell you that Chorale gave birth to-”
The older man started screaming into the phone, Kay had to move it away from his ears for a while. He placed it back after a few seconds.
“Agnes! Agnes! Wake up! Chorale has given bir-” He paused for a while, “Kay, which hospital did you say you were in?”
“St. Luke’s Hospital, Dodowa” Kay laughed and answered. He heard Agnes voice in the background. It seemed she had just made sense of what her husband had said. She gave a louder scream and Kay heard loud singing in the background. It was his cue to hang up because they weren’t listening to him anymore.
Next, he called his mother who was just as excited as Chorale’s parents. She said she would come over to Kay’s later that day.
He checked the world clock and saw that it was 12:13 a.m. in Mexico but he still decided to try his luck and call Chorale’s friends. He called Margarita.
“Hello, Margarita,”
“Good….erhm….good morning, Mr. Sanders,” she answered sleepily.
“Oh. Did I wake you up?”
“Don’t worry, Mr. Sanders. Is everything okay? How is Chorale?”
“Call me Kay, Margarita. And yes, everything is fine. Actually, I have some good news for you. Chorale gave birth last night.” Kay smiled.
There was a short pause and then Margarita let out a loud scream. Kay just sighed and whispered lowly to himself, “I’ll need a replacement of eardrums after today.”
Margarita’s scream probably woke her entire household up because Kay heard a male voice ask something in Spanish. He figured it was her husband and then another feminine voice followed minutes later, he guessed it was Esmeralda. Margarita told them something in Spanish and Esmeralda screamed too. The man laughed lightly and said, “Felicidades” Kay didn’t speak Spanish but he knew that could only mean “Congratulations.” He said ‘thank you’ to the man and Margarita got back on the line. “Can we speak to her?” she asked.
“She’s sleeping right now but once she’s up, I’ll let her know you want to speak to her.”
“Thank you, Mr. Sand…erhmm, Kay, and Congratulations.”
He laughed at her confusion, “Thank you, and please inform Antonio too. Bye,” with that, he hung up.
He went on ahead to call his siblings and they were also very much elated.
****
Dwayne, Agnes, Derrick and surprisingly, Valerie and Liam got to the hospital after about an hour after Kay placed the call to Dwayne. They were dressed for church, for Val and Liam’s wedding thanksgiving service.
Immediately Kay opened the door for them, Agnes run and hugged him so tight. At first, he was caught off-guard and almost tripped but he gained composure and hugged her back. It was the first time, since he and Chorale started dating, that he had hugged her. She was shaking softly and Kay didn’t know what to say or do.
“Thank you, Kay” she sobbed.
“Thank you too, ma” Kay responded, patting her back.
“Where’s the baby?” she asked and Kay pointed to the baby sleeping in the cot, beside her sleeping mother. She freed herself from the hug and literally run to the baby cot.
She just stood watching and dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief, “She’s beautiful!”
Kay smiled with pride.
Dwayne, Derrick and Liam also took turns to hug the newest daddy in town. They all congratulated him and went to see the baby too.
Now it was Ms. Dramatic’s turn. She hugged Kay so tight.
“Thank you for making me an auntie on the day after my wedding-” She paused for about a minute and freed herself from the hug.
Her eyes turned huge like saucers, “Chorale told me yesterday was your birthday.”
Kay laughed and nodded, “Yep” he answered, popping the ‘p’.
Then she hit him with her purse.
“Ouch” he feigned pain. “What did I do now?” he asked rubbing his chest.
She answered amidst laughter, “I can’t believe you actually planned this. You wanted her to give birth on your birthday and you calculated everything before you put the baby there. You bad, bad man, Kay!” She hit him again. Kay, as well as everyone else, broke into an uncontrollable fit of laughter.
“Val, why are you abusing my boyfriend?” a sleepy voice asked and they all turned their heads to Chorale’s direction.
She smiled and the first person to run to her side was Val, and then Dwayne, Derrick, Liam and then Agnes. She had carried the baby out of the cot and was holding her in her arms. She only allowed Dwayne to have the baby because she went to hug Chorale and congratulate her. Everyone used the chance to hold the baby before her ‘wild’ grandma came for her again.
They congratulated the new parents and said they’ll come over to Kay’s house after church. It was already past starting time.
*****
After about thirty minutes when everyone had left, the doctor, Marina came in to check the baby’s and the mother’s vitals. They were both doing fine so she discharged them to go home. Kay packed all their stuff into the bag they had brought and sent it to the car. He then came back for them.
“Give me my baby, ma’am” he demanded, playfully.
Chorale laughed. “Oh I see. This is where my importance ends huh?”
“Yhuuup,” he answered and she put the sleeping baby in his arms.
“I love you,” he said and kissed Chorale on the forehead. “I didn’t think I’d ever be ready for this, but seeing this beautiful human here, I’m ready to do all it takes to outdo whoever the world’s best dad is. You gave me this chance, and I love you. You make me so happy.”
“I love you too,” she answered.
“Let’s go home now and show everyone our little bundle of love.”
Kay managed to carry the baby in one arm and put his free arm around her waist. He was smiling non-stop and all eyes were on them.
Chorale couldn’t stop laughing.
Her life felt complete.
Perfect, in fact.
YOU ARE READING
CHORALE SANDERS
Romance"I cannot tell you anything right now, but promise me, Mama Rica. Promise me you'll take care of him for me, now that I won't be here to." She took the older lady's face in her hands, looking at her with very teary eyes. "Don't leave him like I am...
