Happy Birthday

I was kept outside the room while Aunt Jane had the little one. Artie and Skyler sat with me. Skyler's knee kept bouncing against mine from anxiety.

She said she didn't want to go in there because of all the blood, but I could see through her. She was afraid to touch the baby. She didn't want to hurt it.

The three of us straightened when we could could no longer hear any sounds coming from the room behind us. At first there were screams, yelling, crying; but now there was nothing.

Artie leaned forward to look at Skyler. "What's going on?" he whispered.

She didn't answer. He leg began bouncing more.

Then, we heard it. A soft baby's cry. I looked over at Skyler, and she was smiling.

The door opened and Uncle Benny peaked his head out to see us. "It's a girl!" he beamed with joy and pride.

Skyler jumped off the bench and clasped her hands together. Artie and I stood up along with her. "Can we see her?" Artie asked.

"Of course!" Uncle Benny motioned us to follow him inside the room. Artie followed but I stopped Skyler from entering the room.

"Hang on." I took the sunglasses off her face and hooked them onto the front of my shirt.

She looked at me, puzzled. "You're going to want to get a good look at her."

She smiled at me, but still didn't say a word.

I took her hand and led her into the room. Aunt Jane was laying on the bed. Her hair was tied up and she was smiling.

The little baby was in Artie's arms. He turned to look at us and he grinned. "Look! She's so tiny!" he whispered with excitement.

I walked over to him and peered down at the little girl in his arms. Her eyes were purple. "A gift from God." I looked at Aunt Jane and Uncle Benny. "Purple eyes are rare but normal. Don't worry."

I saw relief wash over their faces.

Skyler was still behind me, looking at her feet. I picked the baby up out of Artie's arms and walked over to her. "Here." I lifted the baby towards her. "You won't hurt her."

She looked up at me. I nodded and placed the baby into her arms. She smiled at the baby and bounced her. "What's her name?" she looked over at her aunt and uncle.

They looked at each other smiling. "Celeste," they said in unison.

Skyler smiled at them and Celeste. "My mother's name." She said as if to herself.