*Third Person POV*
~Five days later~
Chris had been going to see his daughter everyday, spending two hours standing at the incubator in the NICU. On the third day, it seemed the infant started to recognize his voice. It faintly cried when Chris stopped talking and also when he left, which caused him to spend an hour more with her. He could not get enough of his baby. He talked to her and even managed to get his daughter to hold his finger in her tiny hand. She was strong for what she had been through. It surprised Chris, but he knew she was strong like her mother. All the nurses have told Chris that his daughter has already managed to wrap Chris around her tiny little finger. That she was his whole world and she already knew it.
Chris had went out and bought a bouquet of tulips for Katie. Today was the day Chris gets to see his wife for the first time since that awful night. Apparently, Katie had been sleeping nonstop since the procedure and Dr. Brooks was worried she had slipped into a coma. But this morning, five days after the c-section, Katie woke up on her own and had eaten a little. Dr. Brooks told Chris that Katie was already begging for her husband. So Chris had to dress up for his wife and got her non-cliché romantic flowers: tulips.
Chris was walked back to Katie's hospital room by yet a different nurse. He noticed all the women hawking at him for the past few days, their eyes raking his body like it was fresh meat to hungry lions. It made Chris feel uncomfortable, but flattered. But there is only one woman who holds his heart, and he was going to honor his vows to his wife.
When Chris and the nurse stepped into the hospital room, he nearly shoved her aside and ran to his wife. Katie laid in her hospital bed half asleep. The sight of her after so long filled Chris's heart and made it swell with joy. Katie looked as if all her energy was drained from her body, so weak and tired.
"Honey?" Chris says sweetly, sitting down next to her, "Katie, Baby, wake up."
Katie turns her head towards Chris, her eyes shut. She lightly moans, her brows narrowing from the dull pain in her abdomen. Chris puts the flowers on Katie's lap, his hands take hers and place them on the stems of the flowers. Chris kisses his wife's cheek.
"She had a fitful night." The nurse says to Chris, checking Katie's vitals. "Her medication wore off and she was in a great deal of pain. Thank God I came and checked on her when I did."
Chris kisses his wife's hand. "When will she wake up? No hurry! I'm just eager to talk to her."
"I'm sure after days of not seeing her." The nurse nods, smiling. "She should wake up any minute now."
Just as the nurse mentions waking up, Katie's eyes flutter open. Slowly, but then all at once. Chris grins at her, taking her cold, weak hand in his. His warm skin burns against hers.
"Hi, Baby!" Chris says happily.
Katie's face scrunches up. "Chris?"
"Yeah, Honey, it's me." Chris says softer, his thumb caressing over the top of her hand. "It's Chris."
Katie begins to cry, her weak hand gently gripping Chris's. Their child has more strength than Katie does. Suddenly, Katie's eyes open wide. Wild and alarmed, she looks to Chris. Her heart rate increase on the monitor.
"MY BABY!" Katie screams, "WHERE'S MY BABY?!?"
Chris gently kisses Katie, shushing her. "Shhh, it's okay. She's in the NICU. She's okay."
Katie calms down, grasping her stomach. "How long have I been asleep?"
"Five days." Chris nods slowly, "You looked drained."
"I am." Katie's brow arches, "I'm exhausted."
Chris kisses the back of her hand, his voice cracking. "I love you so much..."
Katie gives Chris a look but then noticed the bouquet of tulips in her other hand. She instantly grins. Chris remembered her favorite flower from so long ago.
"Baby," Katie says softly, "don't cry. Please."
"I thought I was going to lose both of you." Chris tears up, "I really thought I had lost you, Katie. You have no idea how terrified I was."
Katie's thumb rubs against his, both caressing each other hand. They smile at each other for the longest time. He's still as handsome as the night before she blackout.
"Is she beautiful?" Katie says softly.
Chris smirks. "Gorgeous like her momma."
Katie rolls her eyes. "Then she's not very pretty."
Chris's grip tightens, scaring Katie for a few brief moments. They stare into each other's eyes for the longest time. There is something in Chris's eyes that Katie has never seen before and it's not too attractive as women think it is. He's defensive against Katie's little joke.
"Relax!" Katie says annoyed, "I was shuts kidding—"
"No, Katie." Chris says sharply, "That's MY Princess and you're MY wife. You're BOTH EXTREMELY gorgeous whether you want to admit it or not."
"Okay, Chris! Geez." Katie says annoyed, "I just woke up after five miserable days, give me some air to breathe!"
Chris sighs, scratching the tip of his nose. "Sorry, I'm on edge too."
"What are we going to name her?" Katie sighs tiredly, "Nothing generic or old timey—or new and spelled weird."
Chris takes his phone out and finds a decent picture that he took of his little Princess. When Katie see the photo of her baby, she begins to cry. Her chest rises and falls rapidly as she sobs.
"She's so cut up!" Katie says between sobs, "What happens to her? Is her left hand disfigured?"
Chris shakes his head. "No, she sprang her bitty hand when they pulled her out. And the cut on her other arm is because she was kicking and screaming when they tried to cut the umbilical cord and they nipped her arm."
Katie gives him a look. "DOES THAT LOOK NIPPED TO YOU?!"
"Katie, calm down." Chris says soothingly, "Her skin was already torn when they started to pull her out. It just tore more."
"Will she be able to use her arms?" Katie says worriedly.
Chris nods. "It didn't get her muscles, just her skin."
"She's still beautiful." Katie smiles at the picture.
"So what are we going to name her?" Katie says once again, "My nurse gave me an idea this morning when she chatted me up about the hospital news."
Chris smirks. "What's your idea?"
"When I came in for my c-section, there was another woman who was giving a difficult birth in the delivery room next to mine and she named her baby Chole Grace."
Chris thinks about it, frowning. "We need to use something original and not what someone else used—"
"You didn't let me finish, Chris." Katie says with attitude.
Chris sighs, rolling his eyes. "Sorry, Boss."
"I've thought about what I would name my kids and I've went though a whole list of names." Katie explains, "Like Jessie, Isabelle, Eliza, Madison, and even Taylor. But one that I last thought of was Chole. I stopped trying to think of names and focused on reality. And I just find it ironic that the nurse mentioned it."
Chris shakes his head. "Not really, she was making conversation."
Katie gives him an annoyed look. "Don't be an S.O.B. first thing in the morning."
Chris chuckles. "Are you still high on pain meds, Baby? Feeling loopy at all?"
"I love the name, Chris." Katie says with an annoyed grin, "Chole because her first two letters match her Papa's, C H for Chris and C H for Chole. And they both contain five letters! And Ann because that's my Mama's middle name and your mother's middle name—only she has an E at the end of hers."
Chris can see in his wife's eyes that she was confident in her conviction. There was no swaying her decision. The way her eyes lit up and the magic on her face. Chris didn't have the heart to argue or fight her on the subject anymore. Their one and only child's name had been decided right before his eyes. His precious infant daughters name is now Chole Ann Eaton.
YOU ARE READING
In Your Arms
Fanfiction"I didn't want a fight." I look down in my lap sadly, "That's one of the reasons why I didn't want to tell you." Chris walks over and sits next to me. He puts an arm around my body, pulling me closer to him. He kisses the top of my head. I...
