Of Love & Sacrifice

41

-'Is she completely fine?', -'From these quick tests I made, I'd say she is so far, her breathing seems a tad bit labored but we'll give her time, in the meantime y'all can spend time with her', -'Thank you, let Mark hold her for a bit, I'm still catching my fucking breath' she chuckled, Cynthia got even closer to her daughter and gave her a big kiss and a hug, -'I'm so proud of you, Natali and your dad are like freaking out back at home', -'Aww that's sweet!', -'...She looks at lot like you Stef!' Mark concluded as he observed his daighters face carefully, -'yeah, she kind of does...', -'Hey should I call your father and tell him to come with Gi?', -'No, remember when Michelle said. Her immune system may not work properly and she can catch infection quickly so it's best to not expose to a lot of people for now', -' I see! Well I'm gonna go to the house and shower and all that', -'Okay mom, thank you', Cynthia teared up and hugged her daughter, -'I'm so proud of you, thank you for letting me part of such a wonderful time in your life', -'Of course mommy, I love you, I'll see you later'.

-'Does it hurt?', -'No, it just feels like someone holding your nipple but it's fine', Mark chuckled and caressed Noa's little head, -'She doesnt have a lot of hair does she?', -'Noo not really...Are you worried about what Michelle told us a while ago?', -'...What', -'That she may be deaf on one of her ears?', -'I mean. Not really, not too much. She's not completely deaf so-', -'Michelle said she won't need an aid, but still it's like, she's not completely fine', -'But she IS! Look at her all happy and cuddly, isn't she the sweetest?', -'Yeah...I'm just like concerned about it, I want her to be completely okay', -'We'll see. Don't think about it too much, Stef'.

Michelle sat down next to Gaga and laid a hand on her leg, -'Stef? We have the final like, results of her exam...', -'Is she okay?', -'Well, we have her in an incubator of course, she's a little less than 5 pounds okay? So we want her to gain weight rapidly so you can take her home as soon as possible. We did blood tests and all, and it seems to be okay. Her hearing though-', -'What about it?', -'She's deaf in one ear. She has like, 2% of hearing capability in her left ear', -'And what about the other one?', -'The other one's fine. She can hear, we did all the tests. It wasn't your fault, it wasn't anything you did or didn't do, these things happen with premature babies' -'What did I tell you?' gaga cried looking at Mark, -'are you hearing the doctor Stef? She's gonna be fine!', -'Is she gonna need hearing aids?!', -'Only if you want, really...', Gaga looked down at Mark and sighed, -'We'll see what happens', -'Okay. Her heart is strong, her lungs are strong, the only thing sketchy about her is her hearing', -'And when can we have her again?', -'Tomorrow...tomorrow morning I'll make them bring her up, okay?', Gaga sighed in disappointment and nodded, Michelle gazed at her shyly and tried to deviate Gaga's attention into something a bit happier, -'So whats the little girl's name?', -'Noa Juliette', -'Woah! Big name for such a little thing huh?', -'Yeah, I guess so! It's Jewish, Mark picked it', Michelle smiled at Mark and stuck her thumb up, -'Good name, dad!', -'Thanks, I tried' he responded with a chuckle.
As soon as Michelle left, Gaga felt like emotions washed over her like a tidal wave, -'I'm so overwhelmed right now', -'Stef, don't even...dont even start with this...dont do this, please you have to be in the right mind set', -'I know! Our daughter is half deaf though! Thats fucking depressing', -'Stefani. A few hours ago you gave birth to our second baby, why the FUCK are you sad and depressed right now? Why cant you be happy about your blessings for a second?', -'Noa IS a blessing though', -'Yes she is, deaf or not deaf. So stop fucking crying and be grateful for the beautiful family we have'.
The truth is Mark was stressed, and Gaga's pessimism really was making him lose his shit, he was trying very hard to keep his composure.