The Sweetest Save

Baby

"I can't believe it's finally time!" Sara Heikkenen gasped. "I can't wait to meet my little niece!"

"I know!" Anja, her older sister, smiled for a second before suddenly doubling over in pain from a contraction. "If only bringing her into the world wasn't so damn painful!"

"Hold tight, Anja, we're almost at the hospital!" The girls' mother explained. "I'm driving as fast as I can without breaking the speed limit!"

"Go quick or Anja's going to give birth in the car!" Sara squealed.

"I don't think so, Sara," Anja gasped. "I only want to go to the hospital so I can get an epidural to stop the pain. It hurts a lot worse than I thought it would!"

"We're pulling up to the hospital now!" Anja's mother told Anja and her sister as she pulled into a half-full parking lot. "Sara, help your sister get out of the car, and I'll grab her hospital bag."

Two minutes later, Anja was checked into the hospital as a patient, and she was being rushed to the delivery room in a wheelchair.

"I'm so nervous," Anja thought out loud, running a hand over her very swollen abdomen.

"That's perfectly normal," her mother reassured her. "You should have seen how nervous I was when I was having you and Sara!"

"I can imagine it now that I'm going through the same thing," Anja giggled nervously. "I just hope this baby gets out quick."

"If you got my genes, she will," Anja's mother opened the door to the delivery room. "Both of you girls were out in less than three hours."

Anja sighed. "That's good. I hope my own daughter will be the same."

Their conversation ended, and Anja was helped up onto a bed by a few doctors and nurses. She was hooked up to multiple machines, and her legs were held up and apart by braces.

"Alright, Miss Heikkenen," the head doctor said after conducting a quick examination. "You are about five centimeters dilated. It shouldn't be more than a few hours until this baby's out."

Anja groaned. "Fantastic."

A few minutes later, Anja was given an epidural, and she felt much calmer. Her mother noticed, and the woman smiled at the older of her two daughters.

"Have you picked out a name for your little girl, Anja?" Mrs. Heikkenen asked with a sweet smile.

"Yes I have," Anja responded. "The name is something that's very special and personal to me. It's something that Tuure treasured and probably still treasures to this day. I know we're not together anymore, but he'll always have a piece of my heart."

"Wow," Sara gasped, sitting down in one of the seats next to the bed. "What is the name that's so special? It sounds pretty important."

"Her name will be Esteri," Anja stated. "Esteri means star. Esteri will be a star just like her father. Oh, and the personal part is that the first ever Stanley Cup Final that Tuure and I watched together involved a team called the Dallas Stars. It was in 1999, and the Stars ended up winning the Cup. I'll never forget how Tuure cheered and hugged me at the buzzer."

"That's really sweet," Mrs. Heikkenen smiled at her daughter. "Oh, your father just texted me! He'll be here soon. He's on his way home from that business trip that he was on."

"Great," Anja said, then winced when the doctor told her to push. "I am really hoping that this doesn't take much longer..."

An hour later, Anja's father arrived with lots of gifts for his daughter and new granddaughter. At that point, the baby was almost out, much to Anja's relief.

"Just a few more pushes and your little one will be here!" The nurse smiled kindly, patting Anja's shoulder.

"I hope so!" Anja laughed breathlessly.

The baby crowned a few minutes later, and Anja was suddenly surrounded with people shouting at her to push and breathe.

"Just one more push!" The doctor stood between Anja's legs, preparing to deliver the baby. "One more big, strong push, Miss Heikkenen! You can do this, I know you can!"

Anja went up onto her elbows and pushed as hard as she could, and a baby's cries soon filled the room.

"It's a girl!" The doctor announced joyously. He held up the newborn baby, who was wailing at the top of her little lungs.

"Fantastic!" Sara Heikkenen said from her sister's bedside. "Can I cut the cord, Anja?"

"Of course," Anja consented. "I mean, Tuure isn't here to do it, so...you go ahead."

"Sweet," Sara rushed over to the delivery area. A nurse handed her a pair of scissors, and she cut the cord right between the two clamps that were cutting off its blood flow.

A few minutes passed as the doctors cleaned the newborn baby and wrapped her in a soft blanket. Finally, the baby was placed gently and carefully in her mother's arms.

"She is so beautiful," Sara cooed, looking at the peaceful face of her niece.

"Yes, she really is," Anja looked down at her daughter fondly. "Esteri Janina Heikkenen is a beautiful baby girl. Hello, Esteri!"

Esteri turned her head and looked at her mother with stunning green eyes.

"She clearly inherited your eyes," the baby's grandfather commented. "Look at how beautifully emerald-colored they are."

"Yes, she does have my eyes," Anja agreed. "Everything else about her looks just like her father, though. I hate to sound like a whiner, but I'm really sad that leaving him was the best choice in our situation."

"Oh, Anja," Mrs. Heikkenen squeezed her older daughter's shoulder. "We miss him too. Tuure did seem like such a wonderful boy. I thought you two were going to get married one day."

"We actually talked about it," Anja said as she rocked her daughter gently. "We talked about marriage and having a family. I was going to bring our children to all of his games and cheer him on until the day they raised his jersey into the rafters in Boston. I wish I hadn't messed it up."

"Well, at least this is a chance to start over," Anja's father added. "You can get your degree, get a nice job, and help support your daughter as she grows. Maybe you'll fall in love with another man who can help you and be a father to her."

Anja sighed. "I loved Tuure, Dad. I still do, actually. I only broke up with him because I felt like it was the right thing to do at the time. I didn't want to leave him, but I think I did what was best for him."

Anja's father stared at his daughter in shock. "So, are you ever going to tell him about Esteri?"

"I will," Anja nodded. "I will tell him when the time is right. I will tell him about Esteri Raskinen."