“It’s a girl!” Tommy told Kristin through his tears.

“We made a girl?” Kristin asked as she tried to push herself up to see her daughter.

“She’s perfect,” Tommy told her just as the nurse held her up for Kristin to see.

It felt like an eternity before the nurse laid his baby daughter on Kristin’s chest. Tommy’s smile reached from ear to ear as she immediately stopped crying when Kristin stroked her cheek and cooed at her softly.

“Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?” Kristin asked as tears slipped down her cheeks.

“Only one,” Tommy told her as he sat down beside her and kissed the top of her head.

She tore her eyes away from her daughter only long enough to smile up at him and give him a kiss. She had been exhausted just a few minutes earlier, so exhausted she thought she couldn’t push for another second, but now as he looked down at her he knew the sparkle in her eyes was from more than just her tears.

“Hi Jenilea,” Kristin said lovingly as she looked back down at their daughter.

“Kate,” Tommy said.

“What?” Kristin asked him as she looked up at him again. “I thought we agreed on Jenilea.”

“We did,” Tommy told her as she relaxed and looked back down at their daughter and he rested his head on top of hers. “Jenilea Kate.”

“That’s beautiful!” Kristin replied with a sigh.

Tommy couldn’t believe she was finally here. He had been waiting for so long and now here she was, his daughter, safely snuggled up in Kristin’s arms. As he gazed down at her tiny little face he couldn’t believe she was really his.

“Do you want to hold her?” Kristin asked, waking him from his daydream.

All he could do was smile as he stood up, took his tiny daughter into his arms and held her close to his heart.

“She’s so little,” he said, still not able to believe this was really his daughter he was holding in his arms.

“Most babies are,” Kristin teased him.

Tommy’s heart filled with joy as he watched Jenilea yawn and poke her little hands out of her blanket. He had held plenty of babies before but had always been happy to give them back when his turn was over, or when they started to cry. This was different. If given the chance he would gladly hold his daughter close to him forever and never put her down.

“I’ve never seen you look like that before,” Kristin told him as he sat back down beside her.

“Like what?” he asked as she put her arm around him.

“Like even if everything you own was taken away from you, as long as you had her in your arms, your life would be complete,” she explained.

A tear slipped down Tommy’s cheek as he realized that what she had just said summed up exactly how he was feeling. He loved Kristin with all of his heart but something about this little miracle in his arms was different.

“Give me my baby back,” Kristin said with a teasing smile.

Tommy obliged and gently laid Jenilea in Kristin’s arms.

“You do know I was kidding,” she told him.

“I know,” Tommy told her. “I like watching you with her.”

He looked down at his wife and realized that he was more in love with her than ever before. There was something about this tiny bundle of blankets, their little girl, that made him feel so close to her.

“Something feels different,” Tommy said as he put his arm around Kristin.

“Well nothing is kicking me in the ribs anymore,” Kristin said with a smile and a shrug of her shoulders. “But I don’t think that’s what you’re talking about.”

“Something about you,” Tommy told her. “About us.”

“What do you mean?” Kristin asked as she tucked Jenilea’s hand back inside her blanket.

“I feel like,” Tommy tried to explain. “I don’t know how to explain it. It’s like, somehow, I feel closer to you. More in love with you than I was before.”

“Well I can’t blame you for that,” Kristin joked. “I am pretty incredible.”

“No argument,” Tommy laughed.

“Maybe it’s because, now that we have Jenilea, a part of us will always be together,” Kristin replied.

“What do you mean?” Tommy asked.

“Even after we are gone everybody will be able to look at her and see tangible proof of our love.” Kristin explained.

“Proof to the world that we love each other,” Tommy said as he smiled down at their little girl. “I like the sound of that.”

“Ok, ok, break it up,” Mrs. Yancey said as she came into the room. “I want to see my little grandbaby!”

“Granddaughter,” Kristin informed her. “Jenilea Kate Ballantine.”

“Oh she’s beautiful,” she exclaimed as she stroked her granddaughter’s tiny cheek.

“Do you want to hold her Mama?” Kristin asked.

“Kristi Dawn I’m ashamed of you!” Mrs. Yancey replied as she took Jenilea into her arms and kissed her forehead. “That is not something you need to ask.”

Tommy smiled at the picture Kristin’s mother and his daughter created. The look on her face epitomized that of a loving grandmother.

“Hi sweet child,” Mrs. Yancey cooed at little Jenilea. “I’m your Nana.”

“Nana?” Kristin repeated.

“I’m too young to be a grandma,” her mother scolded her. “You should know that.”

“Ok,” Kristin replied with a giggle. “Have it your way!”

Tommy and Kristin shared a smile as Mrs. Yancey sat down in the rocking chair in the corner of the room and began talking to her granddaughter.

“You are the most beautiful little girl in the entire world,” she said softly. “You look just like your Mama and she looks just like her daddy. He would have loved to meet you, did you know that? He’d hold you in his arms and sing to you while he rocked you to sleep.”

Kristin rested her head against Tommy’s arm as Mrs. Yancey began singing to their little girl.

In the morning when you rise
I bless the sun, I bless the skies
I bless your lips, I bless your eyes
My blessing goes with you

In the nighttime when you sleep
Oh I bless you while a watch I keep
As you lie in slumber deep
My blessing goes with you

This is my prayer for you
There for you, ever true
Each, every day for you
In everything you do