Silver Hammer Max

Chapter Fifty

July 17, 2005

Maxwell's POV
By keeping Elliot under the heat lamp, they were mimicking him being in the womb and his body was developing as if he were in the womb. So, when he was a month old, they told us he'd be developing like he would at twenty-eight weeks in the womb- he was supposed to be around two pounds by the time he was a month old and he'd be able to cry. He couldn't cry just yet, so I was almost excited to hear what it was going to sound like.

I went down to the NICU every chance I got but the morning after his birth we were told that Frieda, Caroline, and Madeline were coming to visit him. I was excited- I missed my girls. Apparently when Elijah called Dad, Dad started bawling and he was apologizing for stressing me out so much in my early stages- it wasn't his fault, I had to tell him that.

"Hi, my babies." I whispered when the three of them slowly came into the hospital room with Dad following closely behind them.

Elijah got up and he went to shut the door behind them then he took out a chair for my dad- the girls could sit on the bed with me.

"How was your night with Granddad?" I asked and the three of them were quiet. "You guys have a brother now." I smiled and they all gave me little giggles, like they were excited.

"How big is he?" Dad asked and my heart broke a little bit, just thinking about how little my baby was.

"One pound, nine ounces. He's only, like, eight inches or something." Maybe he was closer to ten, but he was short anyways. "He's going to be little for a while- but he's supposed to be two pounds by his first month." I smiled and Dad made a little noise, nodding while he sniffled a bit.

I couldn't do anything to help my dad so I just put my arms out and he came over, hugging me and crying against my shoulder while I rubbed his back. He kept apologizing and all I could do was tell him that I was okay and that Elliot was okay, that it wasn't his fault but that we were going to make it out okay.

"He's fine, he's just really little and he needs some help with breathing and growing." I murmured and Dad pulled away, his eyes and nose red and puffy. He sniffled and I just rubbed his arm, smiling at him then looking down at my girls. "Want to head down to see your brother?" I asked and the three of them nodded. "Come on, then. Papa, help Baba out of bed, please." I held my arms out and Elijah helped me up, wrapping the housecoat around my body to hide my bum from the world- I still hated the hospital gown.

Once I had my slippers on and was ready to go, Dad picked up Caroline and Frieda and Madeline held my hands, following Elijah and I down the halls. Eli told them that they had to be quiet when they went to see the baby and I knew there was nothing we could do to actually prepare them for what their brother looked like- he didn't look like other babies they had seem and it totally made sense because he wasn't like any other baby they had seen.

I crouched in front of the girls when they got to the doors, telling them that "brother looks a little different, okay? He's really, really little and he has a lot of tubes hooked up to him, and he has to wear a mask so his eyes can grow a little more," and they all nodded with small smiles.

Elijah opened the door for us and we took them to Elliot's bassinet- he was still just laying there but we were told that he was just fine. He looked like he was asleep but his little chest was rising and falling so quickly that we could tell he was working hard to get his breathing in order.

"Jesus, Maxwell." Dad whispered and I nodded with a small hum, looking down at my boy and putting my finger on the glass where his hand was resting.

"He's just a little brother." Madeline told me and I nodded with a little smile, sniffling back a few tears.

"Do you guys love him?" Elijah whispered and the three girls said that they did. Apparently he reminded them of a baby doll.