chapter 47

Welcome to the World.....

By four o'clock in the morning, Judith had officially decided that childbirth was a terrible idea.

A truly terrible idea.

The fact that it was too late to change her mind only made things worse.

"Liam."

He immediately looked up from beside the hospital bed.

"Yeah?"

"This is your fault."

Liam blinked.

The nurse laughed.

The doctor laughed.

Even Judith looked like she knew the accusation made no sense.

Unfortunately for Liam, logic wasn't particularly useful at that moment.

"I'm sorry."

"You should be."

Another contraction hit before she could continue.

Judith grabbed his hand so hard he was fairly certain she was testing the limits of human bone strength.

When it finally passed, she released him and took a slow breath.

Liam looked at his hand.

Then at her.

Then back at his hand.

"I think that's the third time you've almost broken my fingers."

"You'll survive."

The nurse nodded.

"You'll definitely survive."

Liam was beginning to suspect nobody in the room respected him.

A little after five in the morning, things started moving quickly.

The joking disappeared.

The atmosphere changed.

The nurses became more focused.

The doctor gave instructions.

Everyone knew they were close.

Very close.

Liam stayed by Judith's side the entire time.

He couldn't do much, but he wasn't leaving.

Not for a second.

At one point, Judith opened her eyes and found him staring at her.

"What?"

He shook his head.

"Nothing."

She narrowed her eyes.

"You're doing that thing."

"What thing?"

"The thing where you're worried and pretending you're not."

Liam let out a breath.

Even now she could read him far too easily.

"I'm fine."

"Liar."

He smiled despite himself.

"Focus on the baby."

"I can multitask."

That earned a laugh from one of the nurses.

Judith looked pleased with herself.

A little before six, the room became a blur of voices and movement.

Judith barely noticed any of it.

She was exhausted.

Completely exhausted.

But every time she felt like giving up, she remembered why she was here.

The baby.

Their baby.

The child she had spent months protecting.

The child she already loved more than words could describe.

Then she felt Liam's hand squeeze hers.

She looked toward him.

For once, he wasn't trying to make her laugh.

Wasn't trying to distract her.

He simply looked at her with complete confidence.

"You've got this."

Three simple words.

But somehow they helped.

A lot.

Judith nodded.

Then focused on the doctor again.

Several minutes later, everything happened at once.

A final push.

A burst of activity.

Then—

A cry.

A loud, healthy cry.

For a second, nobody moved.

Nobody spoke.

The sound filled the room.

Tiny.

Angry.

Perfect.

Judith felt tears immediately sting her eyes.

Across from her, Liam looked completely frozen.

The baby cried again.

And something inside him simply stopped working.

All the stress.

All the fear.

All the tension.

Gone.

Replaced by something he couldn't even describe.

The nurse smiled as she carefully lifted the baby.

"Congratulations."

Judith barely heard her.

She couldn't stop staring.

Their child.

Their baby.

Actually here.

Actually real.

After months of appointments, ultrasounds, planning, worrying, and waiting.

Here.

The nurse gently placed the baby into Judith's arms.

The moment she looked down, her entire world changed.

The baby had a tiny nose.

Tiny fingers.

A full head of dark hair.

And an extremely angry expression.

Judith laughed through her tears.

"She's already judging us."

The nurse smiled.

Liam finally found his voice.

"A girl?"

The doctor looked amused.

"Yes, Mr. Smith."

Apparently nobody had remembered to tell him during the chaos.

Judith laughed again.

And for the first time, Liam saw his daughter properly.

A daughter.

The realization hit him harder than he expected.

He moved closer to the bed.

Carefully.

Almost nervously.

As though he was afraid she might disappear if he moved too quickly.

Judith looked up.

The expression on his face nearly made her cry again.

Because she had never seen him look like this.

Never.

Not even once.

He looked completely overwhelmed.

"Do you want to hold her?"

Liam immediately looked terrified.

Which was honestly entertaining.

"I'll drop her."

"No, you won't."

"She's tiny."

"That's generally how babies work."

The nurse failed to hide her laughter.

A few minutes later, Liam found himself holding his daughter.

Very carefully.

Very awkwardly.

As though she were made of glass.

The baby immediately stopped crying.

The room went quiet.

Liam stared down at her.

The tiny fingers.

The tiny face.

The tiny person who somehow already owned his entire heart.

Without warning.

Without permission.

Without even opening her eyes.

Judith watched him silently.

Then smiled.

Because this was the moment.

The moment everything changed.

Not the marriage.

Not the divorce.

Not the reconciliation.

This.

This was the beginning of something entirely new.

About an hour later, the families were finally allowed inside.

The result was exactly as chaotic as expected.

Eleanor cried immediately.

Richard pretended he wasn't crying.

Nobody believed him.

Ava took approximately two hundred photographs within the first five minutes.

Julian stood beside the bed looking suspiciously emotional.

Then denied it when anyone pointed it out.

Victoria looked completely in love with her granddaughter.

The baby had barely existed for two hours and already had an army of people ready to spoil her.

Judith wasn't surprised.

Not even slightly.

Later that afternoon, after everyone had finally left, the room became quiet.

For the first time all day, it was just the three of them.

Judith rested against the pillows while the baby slept peacefully in her arms.

Liam sat beside her.

Neither spoke for a while.

They were too tired.

Too happy.

Too overwhelmed.

Finally, Liam broke the silence.

"We still haven't agreed on a name."

Judith laughed softly.

Trust him to think about that now.

"We have time."

"Good."

A pause.

"Because I'm rejecting all your terrible suggestions."

She looked offended.

"My suggestions were excellent."

"They absolutely were not."

The argument continued for several minutes.

Quiet.

Playful.

Normal.

And somewhere in the middle of it, Judith realized something.

For years she had imagined what happiness would look like.

She had always imagined something dramatic.

Something extraordinary.

Instead, it looked like this.

A sleeping baby.

A tired husband.

And a future that suddenly felt brighter than ever.