Giving Up

Chapter 14 part 2

Kay and Anna spent all day cleaning the house, cooking delicious food, and making sure everything was complete for Avariella's arrival home. They baked and decorated a cake, and made all of Jamie and Lillie's favorite foods. They had been planning this surprise party since they were told that Ava was going to survive. They needed something good to happen with all the bad that the family had gone through. Ava was their little angel. Everyone had a special gift planned.

"Well Lil, today is the day we get to take our daughter home!" James said with a smile on his face. He couldn't wait to get home and put Ava in her nursery. He was even looking forward to getting up with her in the middle of the night. After everything they had endured, he was looking forward to a little bit of normal life.

"It has been a long time coming. I have been looking forward to this day since I had her. I knew that she would make it. She is so strong." Lillie hugged her husband and continued to gather up everything they would need to take home with their new baby. The doctor was going to be arriving any minute to go over any last minute instructions before releasing Ava from the hospital.

As they were getting ready to leave, every nurse on staff came in to say goodbye to both the baby, and the parents. The nurses had gotten quite attached to Ava but even more so, they were attached to Lillie's voice.  They would stand still just listening to her sing to the babies. They also enjoyed her being there every day because she would rock the babies that didn't have a parent with them, and she was always quick to volunteer to help them with any task they needed to do. She was going to be a great mom; the staff had no questions about it.

Once James had the car seat buckled in, and had his daughter safely strapped into the car, they were ready to head home. Lillie decided to sit in the back seat with Ava, because she just couldn't bring herself to leave her side. James and Lillie talked all the way home about the different outfits they wanted to get pictures of Avariella wearing, and all of the visitors they expected to have the first few weeks.

Lillie knew something was going on as soon as they pulled into the driveway. She could see people quickly moving through the windows, and she could see familiar cars parked up the road. She decided that she wasn't going to say anything to James, who was preoccupied with his little AJ. She wouldn't ruin the surprise for him, if he didn't already know about it.

As the couple entered their home, they saw all of their closest friends and family, and noticed that Anna and Kay were still in the kitchen preparing more food. Everyone hovered around the baby, and Lillie politely asked them all the go wash their hands and to inform her if they had any cough or cold symptoms because with Ava being prematurely born, she was more likely to get sick and it would be rather hard for her body to fight off any illnesses. Everyone complied with her request, and she sat down on the sofa with her new daughter and introduced her to everyone.

After everyone had gotten the chance to hold Avariella, she started getting fussy and Lillie knew that she was hungry. She told everyone to enjoy the wonderful food that her mother-in-law had prepared, while she excused herself to the nursery so that she could nurse Ava. She had almost forgotten what a beautiful room James had created for their daughter, and as she walked through the doors, she once again admired the beautiful shades of pink that covered the walls and the furniture. Lillie positioned herself in the rocking chair, and nursed her beautiful daughter until her belly was full. She used this chance to try out the new changing table as well, and then she placed Ava into her crib for the very first time.

Lillie knew that everyone there would still want to admire the baby, but she also knew that she didn't want Ava to have an overload of attention all at once and make her crabby. She knew that she needed to rest quietly before joining the party again. Once Lillie had Ava settled into her room, she decided to go join the crowd before she took a nap as well. It had been a long six weeks since she first gave birth to her daughter.