And I Love Her (Paul McCartney) (COMPLETE)

Chapter 21

The screams were music to my ears. Paul's grip on my own hand had tightened as I stared ahead of me. I saw the baby's head where the doctor was holding it. Still, neither of us knew the gender.
"Oh my God..." Abby spoke. "Casady you have a girl!"
I let out a breath I didnt know I was holding in, and laughed in joy.
"Paul, we have a girl," I whispered. He leaned down and kissed me head repeatedly.
"Paul, you want to cut the umbilical cord?"
He seemed to be speechless, in awe. Something dropped onto my cheek, a tear. But it wasn't mine.
Paul was crying joyously above me.
He nodded, and Abby handed him the scissors to cut it, which he did, right where she said. They took her to be weighed and measured, before putting a cloth diaper on her and wrapping her in the blankets.
"Here you go..." Abby came over with a bundle of the soft pink blankets in her arms and set the girl in my own arms. She was beautiful, and I couldn't keep a smile off my face.
"Baby, you did it!" Paul whispered. I smiled and laughed a little, tears spilling over my eyelids.
"God, she's beautiful, Paul." The little girl opened her eyes, displaying Paul everywhere. They were big, hazel colored crystals, and her hair was as blonde as mine. She was a split of Paul and I in the face. Body wise, she had the shape of my body when I was born, and the same weight. 7/11.5 pounds, and 22 inches tall.
"We made this, Paul. We made her," I cried.
"What's her name?" Abby asked, holding a clipboard in front of her. I looked at Paul and he nodded.
" Haydan Lennon McCartney."
"Aww, Cas! That's adorable! That's the one you had told us."
"Yeah, it is." Abby wrote it on the birth certificate and put it in a folder, handing it to Paul.
"Congratulations, you guys. She really is beautiful."
"Thank you, Abby." Abby bent down to kiss my cheek and left, softly closing the door behind her. Paul kept his gaze peering over my shoulder and he was smiling from ear to ear.
"Can I hold her?" He asked shyly, his face turning a bit red and bashful.
"Of course, Paul. She's you're daughter." I handed her to Paul, who cradled her with the utmost care. His whole demeanor changed when he laid eyes on Haydan , and he was so soft and gentle, nothing like I had ever seen before. It melted my heart.
And to think that he was worried about it.
"Casady, she's so beautiful," he sobbed. He was shedding more tears than I was. He bent down to kiss her little button nose, yet another image she got from Paul. Her tiny fists, balled up, reached up to his cheek, and Paul felt the softest of little hands on his cheek. He wedged his pinky finger between her palm and little pink fingers, and she squeezed it on instinct.
"How were you so worried about this?" I asked him softly.
"I don't know. I guess I just didn't know how amazing it would be until it happened. And don't you dare say-"
"I told you so," I interrupted. He sighed softly but kept the smile on his face. Haydan stuck her fist in her mouth, then drew it back with slobber all over it. Paul chuckled lightly.
"You're so beautiful, my baby girl," he cooed. It was truly a sight to see right then.
It was still dark out, and it dawned on me that this was my half birthday, May 28. And she was born at exactly 1:46 am, exactly 12 hours away from the time I was born in 1942. And now, the day that marked halfway between my birthday and the last one would also be the birthday of my daughter.
She started to fuss, and Paul handed her back to me, unsure of what to do. I chuckled a little, and opened the front of the gown I was wearing. Paul blushed and looked away.
"You better get used to this. They're not all yours any more." He blushed even more as Haydan stuck her mouth on me and started sucking happily. The feeling was weird but I could easily get used to it.
Paul and I talked as our daughter happily fed, and he would occasionally blush at the sight. When Haydan was finished, she detached and fell asleep right away and I was moved out of the labor and delivery room and into recovery. Nurses smiled as we passed them in the wheelchair, holding Haydan to my bare chest. She was sound asleep, with not a care in the world.
They finally put me in a room and got me into the bed, where I would spend the next night before I could go home. Paul spent all day holding her u less she had to be fed or if I just wanted to hold her again. She only seemed to fuss around him when she got hungry or needed a change. She didn't really fuss around me either.
We heard the door open in our room, and Abby poked her head inside.
"You have visitors. Can I let them in?"
"Sure," I replied. She nodded and moved out of the way, letting Cynthia and Julian in.
"Hey!" I said happily.
"Oh my God! You had a girl!" Cynthia came around and hugged me, careful of Haydan in my arms. "Oh, congratulations!"
"Thank you Cyn. Hi, Jules." I peered around Cynthia's leg and found Julian clinging to her jacket. "Hey, come here," I softly said, holding my hand out for him to take. He did and I lightly pulled him towards me and the bed, angling Haydan down so Julian could see her. He smiled a little and lightly let her grab his small finger, squeezing it. He giggled and looked up at me with sparkling eyes.
"She's pretty, isn't she Jules?" I asked.
"Mmm hmm," he replied. I smiled up at Cynthia, amused at the little 2 year old. He turned 3 last month, on April 8.
"Jules... come over here," Paul said. Julian complied and scurried over to Paul, climbing up on his lap. Paul scooted his chair closer to the bed, and set Julian up next to me. I slowly handed him Haydan, and showed him where to put his hands to keep her upright.
"Put your arm under her head, then a hand under her bum." Julian giggled, and I rolled my eyes playfully. "Silly boy. There you go." He had Haydan held upright and I let him do it on his own. I smiled and put a tired arm around him, yawning.
"Still tired from the delivery?" Cynthia asked.
"Yeah, considering she was born at almost 2 in the morning." Cynthia chuckled and I laid my head back.
"What's her full name? The same one as you told us?"
I nodded. " Haydan Lennon."
"God, that's so beautiful. If I ever have another boy, sorry, but I'm stealing Zachary."
I laughed lightly, closing my eyes. I could hear Paul talking to Julian quietly and felt Cynthia's loving stare on them. Adaline had just fed, so she should be fine for a while. I heard the small gurgling noises coming from her and Julian's giggles, Paul's deep laugh, and Cynthia's light chuckle, before I fell into peaceful, deep sleep.
~
The next day I was ready to go home, as I changed into a t-shirt and jeans that Paul had brought yesterday. Once I was changed, I put my hair up and took Haydan from Paul's arms while he carried the bag. I sat in the wheelchair that Abby had out as the four of us went down to the circle drive and to Paul's car. We fastened our daughter in the middle seat, and I stood up to give Abby a hug.
"Thank you, Abby. For everything," I spoke into her shoulder.
"Anytime, Cas. I'm always here to help you." She kissed my cheek and let me go, closing the car door behind me. I smiled as Paul drove away, and Abby went back inside to clock out of her shift.
Once we got home, Haydan was getting sleepy so we put her to bed in the nursery, which we had painted months ago. It was themed with Elvis Presley, and light colors all around. I had painted the words for my darling, I love you, and I always will up on the wall above her crib.
When she was put to sleep, Paul and I went downstairs and sat on the couch. I laid my head on his shoulder and sighed heavily.
"Love, you did amazing yesterday. I can't imagine how painful it was."
"Yeah, you try pushing a 7 pound child out of there," I mused, wrapping an arm around his waist. "You still afraid you're not gonna be good enough?"
He was silent for a second, and hummed. "Honestly, yeah, a little."
I still couldn't necessarily blame him for at least being a little scared. Haydan was less than a day old, and even I was scared. I was scared, for some stupid reason, that I wouldn't be a good mother, considering how I spent my own childhood. But that's why I had Paul to help me. He lived a much better childhood than I did, and he knew how parenting worked better than I did. His only problem was that he was a musician who was gone from home more often than not.
With him, I would be just fine, and Haydan would live to best life possible.
"Cas?" Paul asked. I shook my head a little and met his eyes. "I asked you a question."
"Sorry, what was it?"
"Do you think she'll look like me or you?"
I shrugged. "I think she's going to look like you."
"I think she'll look like you, just with brown eyes instead of blue."
"Who knows." I snuggled myself against his chest and his hand crept under my shirt, planting itself firmly on my waist. I shrugged it away, which bought a look of confusion from Paul.
"What's wrong?"
"Stretch marks..." I replied shortly. Paul chuckled.
"Love, your imperfections make you even more perfect. Don't hide from me." He put his hand back on my waist. The stretch marks were incredibly visible, meaning I wasn't wearing a bikini for a while yet.
"I'm so proud of you," Paul whispered. He kissed my head, and we fell asleep like that, on the couch, for the rest of the night.