She’d already been in labor for several hours by the time Brandon got to the hospital. She had gotten there by cab, while he drove to the city like a madman from New Jersey. He could hear her screaming as he rushed down the hall, and was allowed to see her for a few minutes, before he was sent to the waiting room to sit with the other fathers. When he left her with a labor nurse, Fabienne was begging for drugs for the pain, and pleaded with him not to leave her, but he had no choice. Her doctor did not allow fathers at the delivery. She had seemed so desperate that he felt guilty whenever he thought of her. A nurse told him that he could go home if he wanted, she wouldn’t deliver for several hours, and said that first babies took their time. Several of the other fathers, the more experienced ones, left and returned later. Brandon didn’t feel right leaving, and at midnight he was still there, waiting for news. She’d been in labor for fifteen hours by then, and the nurse at the desk encouraged him again to go home, and said they’d call him when the baby was born. He couldn’t imagine what Fabienne was going through, and felt sorry for her, but there was no way for him to comfort her since he couldn’t see her.
At two in the morning, he took the nurse’s advice and went home to get some sleep. At their apartment, he stopped in to look at the crib in the empty nursery, and tried to imagine what it would be like to have a baby there, and whether it would be a girl or a boy. Right now, he just wanted the ordeal to end for Fabienne, so they could start their life as a family. He was sure she would adjust to the baby once it was born. It had been causing her misery now for almost the entire nine months.
He fell into a deep, exhausted sleep as soon as he lay down and was surprised when he woke up at nine the next morning, with the sun streaming into the room. There had been no call from the hospital. Worried, he called them, and a cheerful nurse told him that it wouldn’t be long now, and his baby would probably arrive sometime that afternoon. He was shocked by what she said, and hoped she was mistaken. He couldn’t imagine what condition his wife was in if it was taking that long. He had no way of judging if that was the norm, or if something was wrong, but the nurse had said that everything was fine before she hung up.
He had coffee and went back to the hospital, and joined the fathers in the waiting room again. There was a fresh crop of men and a few of the same faces as the day before. And one by one, they left the room, when they were told that their wives had delivered a son or a daughter. Finally, at four o’clock that afternoon, a smiling young nurse in starched cap and uniform beckoned to him, and told him that he could see his daughter at the nursery window, as she led the way.
“Is everything all right?” he asked her, looking panicked. It had been the longest two days of his life, and surely of Fabienne’s.
“The baby is absolutely perfect, and your wife is doing well. She’s a little groggy right now, but you can see her as soon as she leaves the recovery room.”
“She was in labor for thirty-one hours,” he reminded her, and she nodded.
“That’s not long at all for a first baby. The baby weighs eight pounds, two ounces. That’s a good size.” She beamed at him and pointed as a nurse on the other side of the large picture window held a bundle wrapped in a pink blanket, and tilted her so he could see his daughter’s face. She had perfectly defined features, and was exquisite, with a little duck fuzz of blond hair under a pink knit cap that kept her warm.
“She has the face of an angel,” he said almost to himself. She looked nothing like Fabienne, with her exotic dark looks. The baby had a little heart-shaped mouth, and a dimple in her chin, and appeared more like him than he realized. He was tall and blond with a cleft in his chin.
“Is my wife all right?” he asked again, and the nurse reassured him with a smile. The nurse beyond the window took the baby away and put her in a bassinet at the far end of the room.
“She’s tired but doing well. She’ll sleep for a few hours now, and then you can see her.” As he stood, still gazing at the baby that was his now, he felt overwhelmed by the miracle of birth. Suddenly, this tiny, perfect little human being was his, a daughter, the ultimate proof of his love for Fabienne. He couldn’t quite believe it, and walked away with a dazed expression.
He left the hospital to get something to eat. He still found it hard to believe that thirty-one hours was a normal amount of time for a baby to be born. He couldn’t wait to see the baby again and hold her himself, and to see Fabienne when she woke up. This was a landmark moment for them. They were a family now, not just a man and woman who had fallen in love. His life had new meaning. It was a very grown-up feeling, and he could hardly wait to see Fabienne and share it with her.