Christmas With The Houstons (Acceptance #4) (24 page)

“I can’t, I’m sorry. I just can’t do this.”

“You can, April, I see his head. Jake, lean her forward so she can see his head.” Nurse Sadie is holding a mirror between April’s legs so she can see Jaxson.

“Oh my god!” she cries. “I can see him!” Then she screams and pushes through the contraction.

“Stop, April, don’t push again. You have to wait until the next contraction so we can get his shoulder out.”

“I need to push!” she cries out, and I’ve never felt more helpless.

“You can do it, babe, I’m right here. Just breathe. He’s so close, just a few more seconds.”

Another scream practically shatters my eardrum but I don’t even care. I’d never be able to handle this kind of pain. Women are fucking heroes.

“Okay, April, this is it. Push as hard as you can.”

With a loud scream and a hard push, Jaxson is here. Dr. Harrison expertly suctions his mouth and then holds him up to us. He’s beautiful.

“Jake, do you want to cut the cord?” Dr. Harrison asks expectantly.

“Um, no, I’m good, but thanks for asking.” No way in hell am I touching
that
.

She laughs and proceeds to do it herself. “Sadie, don’t forget they’re banking the cord blood.”

Dr. Harrison gives Jaxson to Nurse Sadie to get his Apgar and measurements. She wipes him off quickly, wraps him up, and brings him back to April. She shakes her head, though, as if she doesn’t want him.

“I’m exhausted, I’m afraid I’ll drop him. You hold him, Jake, and let me see.”

When she hands him to me, my entire world stops; this is a moment I will never forget.

“April, he’s perfect. He’s got so much hair and…” I pull back the blanket and count, “…all his fingers and toes.”

She laughs through her tears and kisses him softly.

“We love you, Jaxson, so very much,” I tell him through my own tears as the nurse takes him back.

“Alright, April, we need to deliver the placenta and Sadie is going to take Jaxson for a quick bath, some hand and footprints, and then we’ll bring him back and see if we can get him to latch on for a feeding. You’re still planning on breastfeeding, correct?”

“Absolutely.”

Two hours later, Jaxson has eaten and so has April. We’ve been marveling over every little detail for at least an hour and we both agree this is the most amazing thing we’ve ever experienced.

“I feel bad for keeping everyone away. Should we call them and invite them to come?”

I shake my head as I rock Jaxson in the rocker. “Absolutely not. This is our time and I’m going to be selfish with it. This is the only time we’re ever going to have this moment and I want to enjoy it. Besides, visiting hours end in an hour, anyway. They can all just come in the morning like they planned.”

“Okay, Jake. As long as you’re okay, I’m fine with that.”

After gently placing Jaxson in his bassinette, I squeeze into the bed with April.

“As long as I’m with you, I’m perfect. Thank you for bringing our son into this world and making me a dad again.”

“You’re so sweet, but these tears are so stupid. They seriously need to stop,
soon
.”

“Well, if they don’t we’ll just nickname you Kate from now on.”

“No kidding,” she says, laughing through her tears. “I don’t know how she does it. I would have cut out my tear ducts if I were her by now.”

“She must have the market on waterproof mascara.”

“Oh, ouch. Stop making me laugh. It hurts.”

“Not as bad as labor.”

“Nothing is as bad as labor, but it was worth it for him.”

There’s a small knock on the door and I get up to open it to welcome Mia and Hannah; Jess is right behind them. They’re loaded down with gifts and smiling from ear to ear.

Jess gives us both hugs and congratulations and I pick up Jaxson and pass him to her. The girls are so excited but right now they’re focused on April, asking her how she’s feeling.

“He’s perfect, Jake. My God, he looks so much like Zayden did when he was born. Those Houston genes are strong for a reason.”

“Can we see our brother now?” Hannah asks as she makes her way over to Jess and me.

“Let’s wash your hands first,” Jess tells them firmly and passes Jaxson back to me. Once she’s done helping them, she excuses herself. “I’ll be outside. You guys need this time as a family. Text me when you’re ready and I’ll come back and get them. Congratulations again.”

April pats her bed for the girls to hop up, and I pull the bedside chair close so they can get a good look at their baby brother.

“He’s really tiny,” Mia says softly as she touches his fingers.

“He’s kind of red, but a cute red,” Hannah adds adorably.

“He
is
really tiny but he already cries really loud.” They laugh because they think it’s cute—a crying baby is not cute at all. Hailey gets so mad when Grant cries; this is going to be fun to see how these two react.

“Sorry we had to cut our Santa trip short today. Want to tell us know what you asked Santa for, for Christmas?”

Leave it to April; even after giving birth, she’s still concerned she missed something important.

“I wished more kids waiting to be adopted would get parents like you,” Hannah says proudly.

“And I wished more kids in foster care would get Christmas presents from Santa. My nana used to buy presents each year and donate them to help Santa,” Mia replies sadly.

“You guys are going to make me cry. Those are the best Christmas wishes I’ve ever heard. I bet Daddy would be happy to take you shopping for toys to donate before Christmas.”

I’m a bit choked up at the massive amount of love these two girls have in their hearts. It also plants a seed to look into something when I have time. I might have found my new career path.

“I’d be happy to take you shopping for that.”

Each of the girls takes a turn holding their brother, and April has snapped a ton of photos of all of us. After forty-five minutes, the girls are getting tired and so is their mom. Jess comes to get them within minutes of my text with promises to be back in the morning after she drops the girls off at school.

April is barely keeping her eyes open and ends up falling asleep pretty quickly. I’m tired but I’m not sleepy. Instead, I take Jaxson from his bassinet and rock him in my arms until he wakes up to eat. As soon as April heard him fussing, she motioned for me to bring him to her.

He latched on to nurse immediately and April was thrilled. Watching him nurse from his mom fills me with joy, but I also can’t wait until she can pump so I can feed him myself.

“Soon, Jake,” she whispers, smiling.

She knows me so well.

Dr. Harrison stopped by this morning and checked on April and Jaxson. She told April she could go home today if she wanted to and although I wanted her to stay, she wanted to leave. I sent another group text and told everyone there was a change of plans and they could all come by the house later this afternoon.

The pediatrician came by and gave Jaxson an official clean bill of health. He had his blood work and hospital photos done and we filled out the birth certificate.

When we finally got home, the front of our house looked like a combination of winter wonderland meets baby shower. It is absolutely hilarious and I had to take a few photos. April was beaming; she loved seeing everyone went out of their way to welcome him home.

After getting them inside and taking a few moments to introduce Luvbug to Jaxson, April gives the all clear to tell everyone to come on over.

Connor, Jess, and the twins are the first to arrive.

“Congratulations! I hear my nephew has my good looks. Where is he so I can see for myself?”

“He has
my
good looks and so do you, I’m older.”

“Actually, he has my good looks, son, both of you do, and both of my grandsons take after me.” My mom and dad walked right in behind Connor. I didn’t even see them because I was so distracted by Connor.

“Fine, I’ll give you that.” He gives me a big hug. “I’m so happy for the two of you. Congratulations, son.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

My mom pulls me into her hug next. “Both of my babies have babies of their own. Where did the time go? I’m so proud of you, Jake. You’re getting everything you ever wanted in life.”

“Thanks, Mom.” She releases me and follows Connor into the living room. Before I even get the chance to follow behind them, the doorbell rings again.

“Congratulations!” Kate and Daniel call out in unison.

Lucas is holding a blue teddy bear in his hands. “Congratulations, Uncle Jake,” he says, holding it out to me. Scooping him up in my arms, I give him a monster hug.

“Thanks, Luke.”

“Luvbug,” he says, pointing to the floor and sure enough, Luvbug is waiting patiently at my feet. He loves Lucas. When I sit Luke down, he immediately plops to the floor and lets Luvbug climb right into his lap and lick his face.

There’s a rap on the door and before I even turn to answer, Mike, Misty, and the kids come in.

“Uncle Jake! Where’s Jaxson? Can I see him?” Leave it to Hailey to cut to the chase.

“Of course you can, Hails. Go tell Uncle Connor you want to see the baby, he’s in the living room.”

“Luke, come on, let’s go see our new cousin!”

Mike shakes his head at her bossiness. “She’s been spending too much time with Jess, I think.”

“Hey, I heard that!” Jess calls from the other room. “You’re lucky I’m choosing to take it as a compliment.”

Mike sets Grant’s carrier down and pulls me in for a hug. “Congratulations, man, welcome to the world of three a.m. feedings.”

“Don’t get too excited,” Misty says with a yawn. “It’s not all it’s cracked up to be but it’s totally worth it.”

“Well, let’s see the little guy. I feel like we’ve been waiting forever for him. Maybe because he’s the last one in an endless cycle of pregnancies.”

“Isn’t that the truth?”

Mike is completely right; it seems like it’s taken a very long time to get here.

“He looks like you, there’s no denying he’s your kid,” Daniel tells me. He’s sitting next to April and she socks him.

“That wasn’t funny.”

He just laughs and pulls her close. “I love you, April.”

“That’s why it’s so easy to forgive you because I love you, too.”

One nice thing about moving here is that she and Daniel get to spend some more time together. She really needed her closest friend around.

“Look at all of you kids with kids of your own. Brian and I have known most of you since you were babies. You all know we consider each of you as if you were one of our own children. I just wanted to say how absolutely blessed we feel to be here with you all, celebrating in all of the milestones life has to bring. God willing, we’ll still be here to see all of these beautiful children bring our great-grandkids into the world,” Linda says with a huge smile on her face.

“That was beautiful,” Kate says, wiping away a tear. April catches my eye and smiles. Kate’s empathy knows no bounds; it’s a beautiful thing all in itself.

Connor offered to go and pick up the girls from school and when they got back, they had a few minutes with their family before everyone left. When it was just the five of us in the house, it was a surreal feeling.

My life has never been better.

April

Christmas Day 

Jaxson is ten days old today. I’ve never been more exhausted or happy in all of my life. The amount of love I have for my husband and kids is endless. I’ll admit, I’ve been a bit sad since we came home from the hospital. Not having my mom and dad here to see my son hurts more than I thought it would. They’re coming home from vacation in a few days, so they’ll meet Jaxson soon enough… I’m just really missing them today.

There’s no time to be sad, though. My girls will be up any minute, excited to see what Santa might have brought them. Jake is still sleeping and the house is silent, but it won’t be for long. We’re hosting Christmas here today. It’s nothing fancy—more of a potluck—but it’s such a relief to be in my home on Christmas day. Kate, Misty, and Jess were just as excited as I was to not have to travel today. I’ve got a feeling more and more events will be hosted on our block with Rick and Bev and Brian and Linda coming to us. Traveling with so many kids all the time is a bit of a pain.