little love

August 2086. Stephanie Nova and Justin Kim are 26. Willow is 5, Lily is 4. Welcome, baby Benji. 


In Stephanie's condition, a natural birth would be more taxing on her body than a c-section, but Stephanie insisted that she wanted to try. Her doctor wouldn't have let her do it if she didn't stand a good chance. So they did it. Her doctor ordered the induction at 38 weeks, estimating the baby's weight at a healthy seven pounds. Stephanie's blood pressure remained stable throughout the labor and her spirits were strong.


"You're doing great," Dr. Avila said. "One more push. Here we go."




Benjamin Justin Nova was born at 2:53 am on August 15th, 2086.


"Hello, my little love," Stephanie whispered. "I'm so happy to meet you."

"He's perfect," Justin said.


The baby was healthy and strong.

Stephanie had been in labor for eight hours and she stayed awake through the rest of the night into the early hours of dawn to enjoy her new son. She looked tired, Justin first thought. Of course, she was tired. Her head wavered and she blinked rapidly. Then she looked confused. "Everything looks starry," she said.

Justin took the baby from her arms and called for the nurse.




The attending nurse brought out gauges and meters. He paged Stephanie's doctor and called for help. He needed the room to be cleared. "Sir, I need you to go with your son to the nursery now."

Before Justin knew what was going on, he realized that he was being asked to leave. "But what's happening?"

"We're going to figure that out. First, we need the baby moved."





An hour went by. Then two. The baby started to fuss, so Justin prepared a bottle for him.

"I know you want your mama instead, but maybe this will taste okay."

The baby squirmed away from the rubber nipple that was not his warm, breathing mother. He was only nine hours old, but already he knew what he was missing. Finally, he took the bottle and drank.

The nursery was quiet and clinical. Justin held his sleeping infant and each passing minute felt lonelier than the last, because it made him imagine having to do this alone. Again. He lost one love to space, and he could lose another to—

He quickly purged that worry.

He thought about phone calls instead. They'd been waiting for the break of dawn to call their families with the good news, not wanting to call too early. Now it was morning and the news he had to tell them was uncertain and scary.



He called her parents first. "Alice, hi. The baby is here. He's fine. Stephanie, she was fine. For a while, she was fine, and then ... I don't know. They couldn't tell me."

Alice said that she was coming right away.


By the time she arrived, they had brought Stephanie back. Justin didn't get to talk to her because she was already asleep. She's stable, they told him. Her body just needs to rest right now.

Don't worry, they told him. But Justin worried.

He sat by her side, counting each soft breath, making sure that it happened.


"They said she had some excessive hemorrhaging," he explained. "And her blood pressure was already in danger because of the preeclampsia, so that just made it worse. Then her temperature spiked and they think she has an infection. It was all just too much, and then she went into shock."

"Oh, my," Alice said. "You poor darlings."

Alice stepped to the foot of Stephanie's bed and rested a hand on her daughter's leg. Her skin was warm with fever.

"Justin, have you had anything to eat today?"

"I don't know," he said.

"Oh, sweetie. Go eat something."

"I don't think I'm hungry."

"A coffee, maybe? Or a nap? Or go hold your baby. I'll sit with her."

"Will you make sure she doesn't stop breathing?"

"I will," Alice said.


Stephanie didn't stop breathing. She woke up, in fact, hearing her mother explain to her father about how close it had been, how much blood she lost, how she'd been pumped full of antibiotics and pain killers. She couldn't quite remember having gone to sleep, but she did remember the whirlwind of doctors and nurses rushing her from room to room and machine to machine.

Now she felt liked she'd been run over by a truck. "Where's my baby?"

"Justin is with him in the nursery. Your doctor wants to check on you again before they bring him back."


Dr. Avila brought Stephanie's next dose of medications. She looked calm and hopeful, which made Stephanie feel calm and hopeful.

"Your family are worried, but you didn't almost die," Dr. Avila explained. "It was very serious and it could have taken a bad turn. We're glad that it took a good turn instead."

"Can I see my baby?"

"If you're feeling up to it. Your mother is with him now. I'll send word for them both."




"I'm so glad to see you feeling better," Alice said. "I think this little guy is anxious to see you, too."


The baby was already crying, but Stephanie lifted him to her shoulder where he settled down.

"It's okay, little one. Your mama is here."


"We're all going to be okay now."

It had been an exhausting day for everyone. For a few hours, until the baby needed to feed again, they all got some solid, restful sleep.

—

When they woke, Justin doted on her. He rubbed her shoulders and brought her some root beer from the vending machine. After making sure with her doctor that one soda wouldn't cause her recovery any harm, of course. He flagged down nurses whenever she needed more medicine. He was so glad to see her smiling and well.

That evening, Stephanie felt strong enough to entertain a visit from two very high-energy little girls, so they invited them up to meet their new little brother.

Lily didn't take to the new baby as fondly as her sister did. 

"Can't we have a different one?" Lily asked.

"Why do you want a different one? He's perfect! He's so excited to meet you!"

"He doesn't look excited."



"Or I think he might be hungry," Justin said.


"Don't worry, little brother," Willow said. "I got a cracker in my pocket. Do you want a cracker?"

"He can't eat a cracker," Stephanie told her.

"What about a Cheerio?"

"Not yet."

"Or some applesauce?"

"When he's a little bigger. But for now you can help feed him a bottle."

Willow sat on the sofa with a pillow across her lap and she helped feed Benji his bottle. But that made Lily upset, because then nobody was paying any attention to her.


"Please, can we have a different brother?" Lily begged.

"No," Justin said.

"Or how about Willow can keep this brother and I can have a different one?"

Considering everything Stephanie just went through to have this child, Justin didn't find this tantrum either cute or funny. "Your mama worked really hard to give you this brother. This is the one you get. You're going to love him, or else ... you can go sit in time out!"

Lily made a grimace and stopped whining.

—

Baby's first going home outfit.


Apart from some regular postpartum aches, Stephanie felt incredible. They kept her for observation a little longer than usual, but a couple days later, she and the baby were finally cleared to go home.

But first, with all of the doctors and nurses and visitors, Justin hadn't had a minute with her alone since the baby was born. He hadn't had a single minute to stop and hold her up and fall apart all at once. So now, that was what he did.


"I was so scared, Steffie. I thought I was going to lose you. I don't know what I'd do."

"No, my sweetheart, no," she said. "I didn't almost die. Not even close. We are stronger than it all. We're cockroaches, remember? We're indestructible."

—

footnotes: preeclampsia // like cockroaches

gameplay notes: on delivery complications

outtakes: the good news 

other notes: As you can probably guess from the story, Lily got the sad moodlet upon meeting her new brother, the little stinker! She's been a stroppy little thing lately, always picking at everybody and going off to cry in her bed, lol! So the moodlet suited her and I wrote it into the story instead of ignoring it. Middle child syndrome, maybe. 

Also, what I would give for a pose of a child holding her baby sibling! Imagine it, you guys! That would be so cute! I did try to mash up some things, but nothing that came out quite right. That image will have to live in our imaginations for now.