True Colors

So Late, And Yet, Way Too Early

August 4, 2023

Apollo hated this. He hated every second of it. He hated seeing the love of his life in such pain. He knew that it would be over soon and he would have a beautiful baby girl by the end of it, but it didn’t change the fact that his heart cried out in pain every time his wife did. 

He stood by Leila’s side and held her hand as she pushed. Whenever she had a small break, he smoothed the hair off her forehead and pressed a gentle kiss to her temple or the back of her hand, whispering a few words of encouragement with a fair amount of “I love you”s. 

Leila’s face was screwed up in concentration and probably pain as well. He couldn’t help but think of how long everything had seemed to take when they’d really happened rather quickly. 

They had arrived at the hospital at six o’clock in the evening. Within an hour, Leila’s water broke. By nine o’clock, she had been four centimeters dilated. She hit ten centimeters around eleven thirty and started pushing shortly before midnight. It was now twelve fifty. 

Apollo hadn’t left her side, other than the one time he had gone to the bathroom. His mother, too, had mostly stayed. She had only left for a few minutes to greet and update everyone when they arrived. She was currently seated on the other side of Leila, counting through her pushes. She had, after all, been a nurse in the maternity ward for almost thirty years before she transferred to a pediatric clinic. 

He was brought back to the present as Leila exhaled loudly and leaned her head back against the thin hospital pillow behind her. She took several deep breaths, trying to prepare herself to push again. 

Apollo kissed the back of her hand. “You’re doing amazing. I know you’re tired, and I know it hurts, but you’re almost there,” he whispered. “You’re incredible. I love you so much.” 

“I love you, too,” she replied breathlessly. 

Eight minutes and thirty-seven seconds later, tears streamed down Apollo’s face as Dr. Lewis placed a crying baby on Leila’s chest. No, not a baby, their baby. Leila squeezed his hand, glancing at him with teary eyes and a beaming smile. In that moment, she was the most beautiful he had ever seen her. 

She looked down to the tiny human being laying on her chest. “Hi, baby girl,” she murmured, voice trembling as her free hand settled lightly on their daughter’s back. The baby’s cries began to subside, almost as if she recognized her mother’s voice.

Olivia, the nurse who’d been so incredibly helpful all day, moved a chair to where Apollo stood. “Sit,” she demanded. “Trust me, you aren’t as steady as you think you are.” 

He sat down gratefully, realizing he was shaking, and scooted the chair as close to his girls as he could get. He touched the baby’s tiny hand with his pinkie finger, and in turn, the baby grasped it tightly. His heart swelled so much he thought it might burst. In that moment, as he held hands with his wife and his daughter, all seemed right with the world.

He reached up and kissed Leila full on the lips. “I love you–both of you–so much.” 

“She’s perfect,” his mother sniffled quietly. “I’m so proud of you, Leila.” 

Leila’s lip trembled as she replied. “Thanks, Mom.” 

Apollo’s mother dissolved into tears. It meant so much to all three of them that Leila saw his mom as deserving of that name. 

It seemed all too soon that a nurse came and took the baby to be weighed and measured. Leila was not allowed out of the hospital bed yet, but she nodded to Apollo, seeing how he craned his neck to keep an eye on their daughter at all times. He released her hand for the first time in almost two hours and drifted towards the nurse.