In Their Baby's Eyes

Part three of three.

 

“Come on baby, push, push,” Dayton coached as he held tightly to his wife’s hand.

            “I…I can’t…do…this,” she said, screaming as another contraction hit.

            “Yes you can, it’s almost over babe,” he said, squeezing her hand. He brushed back a strand of hair that had fallen over her face and kissed her cheek gently. “Keep pushing Liz, it’s going to be alright. It’s almost over.”

            She screamed out loud as yet another contraction hit, worse than any other before. Dayton could feel her squeezing the life out of his hand. He wasn’t sure what to do, but he continued to hold her and whisper gentle words of encouragement in her ear.

            “Keep pushing Liz,” he reminded her after the contraction eased. She started pushing again, hoping it was almost over.

            “That’s it, I can see the head,” the doctor announced a minute later. “Keep pushing, it’s almost over.” It took two more pushes before the sound of a baby’s cries filled the room and Liz collapsed against Dayton’s chest, breathing heavy, but with a broad smile on her face.

            Dayton smiled and brushed her hair back as he kissed her gently. “I love you Liz,” he said, his face lit up as they listened to the crying baby…their baby.

            “I love you, too,” she replied, her voice shaky as she leaned against him for support.

            The doctor smiled and walked over to them. “Congratulations on your new son,” he said as he gently placed the baby boy into Liz’s waiting arms.

            Her eyes filled with tears as she looked down at their new baby boy. She couldn’t believe that they had actually created a new life. After nine long months of waiting, he was finally here. It almost seemed unreal, but he was in her arms…finally.

            “He’s so beautiful Day…so perfect” she said, looking up at her fiancé with complete adoration. “He looks just like you.”

            Dayton just smiled proudly as he watched his new son stretch up his little arms and yawn. He couldn’t believe that he was actually a father. He couldn’t believe how much love and pride he already felt for this small creature that was his son. He was speechless; no words could have possibly described his feelings at that moment.

            “Do you want to hold him?” Liz asked, breaking him from his thoughts.

            Dayton nodded and gently picked up his son and cradled him in his arms. He was so small; he was afraid he might break him, but he smiled as he watched his baby looked around the room with wide blue eyes before finally settling his gaze back up at his father.

            “Peyton Noel,” Liz said as she watched them, referring to the name they had agreed upon if they were to have a son.

            “Peyton Noel,” Dayton said in agreement. It was perfect.

            “He’s going to be a spitting image of you,” she said, smiling as she watched the two of them. They were already bonding.

            Dayton smiled proudly as he watched his new son yawn and stretch his little arms up. It didn’t take long before the newborn baby boy fell asleep in his arms, and Dayton took Liz’s hand as they watched him sleep soundly.

            A million thoughts ran through Dayton’s mind as he held his son in his arms. Would he be able to raise him properly? He was still a kid himself, only eighteen years old, and barely able to support him and his wife. He had been worried about this day for the past nine months. Now he had another mouth to feed when their income was minimum at best. But he had been doing the best he could, and he would continue to do that. He owed his son that and more.

            After several minutes of silence Liz held her arms out for Peyton and looked up at her husband. “Why don’t you go call our parents and tell them the news?”

            Dayton nodded and placed their baby in her arms as he stood and walked out into the waiting room to call their family. As he took out his cell phone and dialed her parents, a wide smile came to his face and he realized for the first time how his parents must have felt when he was born. Scared, but excited as a new chapter of their lives began. Now it was his turn to experience that. He just hoped that he was as good of a father as his father was.

            It was several rings before her parents picked up the phone. Dayton had lost track of the time because of all of the excitement and hadn’t realized that it was past midnight and her parents were fast asleep. But eventually her mother picked up and answered in a sleepy voice.

            “Hello?”

            “Pam, it’s me Dayton,” he said, then added quickly, “Sorry to wake you, but I have some news for you.” His excitement was showing in his voice; he just hoped that it didn’t make her worry. Pam was as worrisome as his own mother.

            “Is everything alright? Where are you Dayton? Where’s Liz?” she asked, her voice now full of worry.

            Dayton couldn’t help but smile as he assured her that everything was absolutely fine. “Liz had the baby,” he told her, smiling wide.

            The tone of her voice immediately changed to excitement as she breathed a silent sigh of relief. “Oh, that’s wonderful! Boy or girl?”

            “A boy,” Dayton said proudly. “Seven pounds, five ounces, twenty inches long. He’s perfect.”

            “You should be proud Dayton,” she said, the excitement of her new grandson showing through her voice. “I can’t wait to see him.”

            “He’s perfect,” was all Dayton could say in reply. After a moment he said, “Well, I’ll let you go now and get back to sleep. We just couldn’t wait to tell you the news.”
            “Thanks Dayton,” she said. “We’ll be down to see you guys later today.”

            “Alright, see ya then,” he said and hung up. He dialed his mother’s number and waited through four rings for her to answer. She was all the way across the country from him, but it was still pretty late for them. She was probably just getting to sleep, but he couldn’t wait any longer to tell her.

            “Hello?” she answered, sounding a little sleepy over the phone.

            “Hey Mom,” Dayton said excitedly as he pictured her in his head. “How’s it feel to be a grandmother?”

            He could almost see her face light up as she said excitedly, “She had the baby? Oh Day, that’s wonderful! What is it?”

            Dayton smiled proudly as he told her, “A boy, Peyton Noel. He’s absolutely perfect Mom, I can’t wait until you see him. I’ll send pictures as soon as I can.”

            “I can’t wait,” was all she could say in reply, but she was smiling wider than she had in a long time. “Does your sister know yet?”

            “Not yet, I’m gonna call her after we hang up,” he told her. He paused and took a breath before saying, “I wish Dad could see him. He has his eyes.”

            Sandy smiled on the other end of the phone. “I’m sure he’s smiling proudly down at you son.”

            Dayton smiled. “I hope he’s proud of me.”

            “He is, son, I’m sure he is,” she answered him.

            “Thanks Mom, I love you,” he said.

            “I love you, too Dayton,” she replied. “Give Peyton a kiss for me, okay?”

            Dayton smiled. “I will. I’ll talk to you soon, take care.”

            “You too, bye son.”

            “Bye Mom.”

            Dayton smiled as he hung up and walked back into the room. Liz was asleep and someone had laid Peyton into the bassinet that was sitting next to the bed. He smiled and kissed Liz’s forehead before walking around and leaning over to give his son a gently kiss on the forehead. His son… he liked the sound of that.

            “That was from your grandmother,” he whispered to his baby boy. He leaned over and gently kissed his forehead again. “And that one, my son, was from me.”

            He stepped back and took out his cell phone again and put it on camera mode. He took a picture of Peyton and sent it to his sister, along with the message, “Your nephew says ‘hi’.”

 

~*~

 

            Destiny woke up in the middle of the night to her cell phone ringing. She sat up and picked it up from the nightstand. Flipping it open, she stared at the picture for a few minutes confused, then squealed with excitement as she finally understood what the message meant. Without thinking twice, she called her brother back.

 

~*~

 

            Dayton had stepped back into the hallway to wait for his sister’s call, and sure enough, a couple minutes later, his phone was ringing.

            He smiled as he answered, “Hello Aunt Destiny, how are you?”

            “What’s his name?” she asked excitedly, trying to keep her voice low because of her mom asleep down the hall.

            “Peyton Noel,” he told her proudly. “He’s absolutely perfect, Des. Wait until you actually see him.”

            “I can’t wait,” she replied. “How’s Liz?”

            “She’s doing good, sleeping right now. Peyton wore her out,” he said with a chuckle.

            Destiny laughed. “I bet.”

            “Well, I’ll let you go sis, I just wanted to tell you the news.”

            “Alright, thanks Day. I love you,” she said.

            “Love you, too sis,” he replied before hanging up.

            When he got back in the room, Liz was still sleeping. He stood over the bassinet for awhile, watching his newborn sleep. A million thoughts ran through his mind, all centered around this tiny human being that was now his greatest responsibility. Would he be a good father? Would he be able to teach his son right? Could he prevent Peyton from making the same mistakes he did? He wasn’t sure, but as he reached down and began to lightly stroke the side of Peyton’s face, the baby opened his eyes and looked directly up at him. His blue eyes were wide and wondering, yet somehow trusting.

            Dayton smiled at him. “Don’t worry son, I’ll be right there with you for every step you take.”

Author's Note

again, let me know if you notice any grammer problems and whatnot

Reviews

[alyssa]

OMG!!! I love it its soo lovely..i love the detail and the descriptiveness...(if thats a word)(i think don't soo
)