I see it in your Eyes (you'll be alright)

Chapter 15

Jennie was left alone in the NICU with Evie after Lisa left to collect Ella from school later that afternoon. She knew that she would be gone for the next two hours at the very least given the half hour trip home, plus work traffic on top of it all, and then she had to turn around and do it all again on the way back. Jennie still felt exhausted and her heart ached for Ella, she hadn't seen her since she tucked her into bed two nights before and she really just wanted to squish her in her arms and never let her go.

She was beyond excited to see her again, but Jennie knew that she would be limited with what she could do seeing as how she had just had major surgery and was still in a significant amount of pain. She couldn't pick Evie up on her own, she could barely even walk unaided, and while it was endlessly frustrating, Jennie had to remind herself of just how lucky that they were to have gotten a healthy baby out of the whole thing. Both she and Evie, despite both dealing with a few complications and such, were healthy and doing alright and that's all that Jennie could ever wish for.

"Hey, would you mind lifting her out for me if it's alright, please?" Jennie asked the nurse as she popped in to check on Evie.

"Of course, you can just ring the buzzer whenever you want to hold her, you don't have to wait for someone to come in and check on her." the nurse told her with a friendly smile as she greeted Evie before gently lifting her out from the incubator.

"I just didn't want to be a bother to anyone." Jennie admitted with her eyes glued to the baby who was now fussing a little at being moved from the warmth of her bed.

"Nonsense, she's your baby and you can hold her whenever you like." the nurse winked happily before settling Evie on Jennie's chest and leaving the room with a final smile and wave goodbye.

Jennie hated the way that the machines occasionally beeped, most of the time it was simply because Evie had gotten a hand or foot caught in one of the wires and tangled it or tugged on it a little, all it needed was a little readjusting and the beeping stopped immediately, but it still made Jennie's heart jump every single time just in case something was actually wrong with her sweet little baby.

Despite the almost constant worry and anxiety that she felt, Jennie wouldn't change it for the world. The warm, comforting pressure of Evie laying on her chest whilst also knowing that Ella was on her way to visit with Lisa made her feel like the luckiest, happiest, most blessed person in the whole entire world despite the fact that she was currently wearing ugly white mesh underwear that were bigger than anything she had ever worn in her entire life, complete with an adult diaper beneath it and a ridiculously large bandage over the aching scar on her lower abdomen. She also really craved a shower to wash the smell of surgery out of her hair, but Jennie knew that she just had to accept things the way that they were for now if she had any hopes of getting through everything without having a breakdown.

The sound of Evie letting out an adorably loud little grunt tore Jennie out of her thoughts and she looked down as Evie continued to wriggle around on her chest and let out the most adorable little squeaks and grunts every so often.

"You sure have a lot to talk about today, huh?" she asked with a laugh. "How about you tell mommy a few more stories."

Jennie listened intently for a while, throwing a few random questions and statements in occasionally as though Evie was telling her an actual story. She didn't stop talking to her until she noticed that Evie's little eyes were slowly starting to flutter behind her closed eyelids and Jennie carefully adjusted her on her chest to get a better look as her daughter finally opened her eyes for the very first time.

"Why hello there my beautiful girl." she smiled down at her daughter. "Looks like you got your mommy's eyes, huh?" she finished her sentence with a gentle kiss to Evie's forehead before gently stroking her hand with her thumb. "Mom is gonna be so excited, she was hoping that you would have my eyes. She's a real sweetheart that one, you got super lucky with her. I couldn't think of anyone better to be by my side during all of this and I know you'll have the best life with her by your side. I certainly do."