Melwood's Miracle

Chapter 28: The Announcement

Chris's POV

I wake to the sound of my daughter's cries.

I carefully get out of bed, in case Melissa isn't awake get and go pick Willow out of her crib.

"Hey darling. It's okay," I whisper to her as I rock her in my arms.
She stops crying, but I decide I'm not extremely tired anymore so I go out into the living.

When she falls asleep in my arms, I stand and go look out the windows that line the whole wall in the living room. The city lights are minimal where we are on the fourth floor, but the street is lit with life and excitement for three in the morning.

For about an hour, I wander the one floor apartment, gently swaying Willow in my arms so she'll stay asleep. I then decide to just go back to bed because I'll be too tired tonight if I don't.

When I creak open the door, I relax slightly when I see that Melissa is still asleep.
I gently place little Willow in her crib and lightly touch the small amount of brown hair she has coming in.
"Sleep well, Lo-Lo."

—in the morning—

I jump back to life when I hear a knock on the door. I look over and Melissa is still in bed.

I slip out of bed, pushing the grey blankets aside and silently make my way to the door.
When I look through the peep hole, I see a man. He's dressed casually in a denim jacket and some sweatpants. I decide I have never seen this man, so I go back to bed.

"Who was it?" Melissa asks, startling me.
"Just some guy," I tell her, walking over to Willow.
"Interesting," she mumbles then gets out of bed and goes to the washroom.

Melissa's POV

"Here," I say. "Let me feed her today."
Chris doesn't protest and hands me the bottle he just warmed up, then I take Willow from his arms.

We settle on the couch, Chris with his coffee and me with Willow in my arms.

"Should we tell everyone today?" I ask him.
"Should we?" he looks shocked.
"She's almost 2 weeks old," I tell him. "We might as well."
"Okay," is all he says.

I pick up my phone and open Instagram. It take me a couple minutes before I decide on the best picture to post.
It's a picture of Willow holding my thumb through a hole in the bed she was in when I first saw her.

I click on it and start thinking of a caption.

Finally, I come up with this:
It's been hard keeping a big secret like this for 9.5 months. I have never been more happy to hold something so precious and beautiful in my arms before. Now I have two wonderful people in this world to spend my life with. Thank you Chris + W

I press post and sigh.
After a minute, "some of these comments are funny."
"Are they?" I laugh.
"This one says, 'who's the father?'"
"I said it in the caption!"
"I know!" he says.

We spend awhile reading comments and messages, laughing and smiling at the funny or sweet ones.
At some point Willow catches on and her face makes our hearts melt into a puddle.

—
Hope y'all enjoyed!!
-E