Chapter 2- All This Beauty
"She doesn't really look like me, does she?" Cate didn't take her eyes away from the sleeping baby in the hospital crib next to her as she spoke to the nurse.
The older woman looked between the baby and Cate, thinking. "You can't usually see the resemblances until they're a bit older." She offered rather than agreeing.
"She has blonde hair." Cate noted. "I have brown hair. The, uh, the father, he has brown hair too."
"That's not unheard of. Her hair may darken as she gets older, or maybe it's genetic from a grandparent or someone." The nurse smiled. "Or she's just a very special baby."
Cate didn't reply, running a finger along the baby's soft hands. "She's so tiny."
"Baby's usually are." The nurse couldn't help but find herself slightly amused at Cate's comments. Cate was in complete awe of the baby, though to be perfectly honest, the nurse knew that Cate was too young to take care of a baby. "Have you picked a name yet?" She pushed her thoughts aside, changing the subject.
Cate shook her head, continuing to play with the baby's hand as she looked up at the nurse. "Nothing fits." She almost whined. "I've gone through the entire baby book at least three times."
The nurse knew this was true. Laverne had bought one from the hospital gift shop late the previous day, just hours after the baby had been born, and Cate had spent most of her time since then flipping through it.
Mary, the nurse, came over to the bed and sat on the edge, taking a hold of the book and flipping through it. She felt a strange connection to Cate, like she knew that Cate was going to be a good mom despite being only sixteen, and she figured that since Laverne and Abby had gone home for a few hours to rest, Cate could do with someone to help her.
"What about Emily?" She offered.
Cate shook her head no. "It doesn't fit her."
"Alexandra?"
Again Cate shook her head.
"Well do you have any preferences? Anything symbolic?"
Cate bit her lip, thinking as she looked at the baby. "She's my whole world." She whispered and Mary smiled.
A silence overcame them as Cate watched the baby sleep and Mary continued to flip through the book before looking up at Cate expectantly. "What about Lux? It's Latin for 'Light'. Blonde haired kid from two dark haired parents."
Cate starred at the baby, stroking it's hand gently. "Lux." She let the name roll off her tongue. "Lux Cassidy." She paused. "It's perfect. She's perfect." She whispered.
As if on cue, Lux began to cry, and Cate froze. "What do I do? I don't know what to do?" She stared at Lux, her eyes wide.
Mary picked up Lux and held her gently, calming her screams until they were just wails. She held out Lux towards Cate and Cate nervously accepted her as she was placed against her chest. "She's not stopping." Cate's voice was desperate.
"She's probably hungry. Do you want to try feeding her?" Cate had rejected the chance yesterday, too exhausted and in too much pain to do anything but sleep.
Nervously Cate agreed, wanting to do anything to ease her daughter's discomfort. Mary helped Cate guide Lux into position; Lux however, refused. "She's not doing it." Cate was close to crying, due to both frustration and exhaustion.
"Just give her time." Mary advised. "She's trying to adjust too."
Cate nodded, holding Lux in position as she almost begged her to feed. After a few tries, Lux eventually latched on and Cate watched, amazed, petrified and grateful.
After a few minutes, Lux finished and Cate looked up at Mary, unsure of what to do. "She needs to be burped. Shift her up so that her head is over your shoulder, and gently tap her back." Mary helped Cate do as she said however Cate simply handed Lux to Mary.
Cate shook her head, her eyes drooping. "I'm tired." She whispered.
Mary frowned, realizing what a big change a baby was going to do to this sixteen-year-old's life. She sighed, shifting Lux on her shoulder and burping her as Cate drifted to sleep, realizing she would need all the help she could get now, seeing as she wasn't going to be getting much at home.
Both Cate and Lux were fast asleep when Laverne and Abby arrived back at the hospital, bags of presents for Lux and clothes for Cate in their hands. Laverne had clearly accepted the fact that Cate was keeping Lux.
"There's my grandbaby." Laverne gushed over Lux, making sure to not wake her.
Cate stirred at their voices, looking around. "Hey." She smiled at Abby first before turning her attention to her mom. "Hi mom."
"We brought you a few changes of clothes-" Laverne started but was interrupted by Abby.
"And mom went crazy in the gift shop." Abby smirked, slouching in a chair in the corner and flipping through a magazine.
Cate pushed herself up in the bed, looking as Laverne showed her everything they had bought for Lux. "Look! How adorable will she look in this?"
Cate smiled in agreement before turning to Abby and raising an eyebrow. Abby shrugged and nodded, silently answering that yes their mother had been drinking.
"But we can't keep calling her 'baby'". Laverne was still talking. "I was thinking Georgia?"
Cate bit her lip sheepishly, looking up at her mother. "Actually... I, uh, I already picked a name." She paused. "Lux. Lux Elizabeth."
"Lux?" Laverne repeated, her face furrowed as if she hadn't heard her correctly. "What kind of name is Lux?"
"It's Latin." Cate found herself becoming defensive as she looked down at Lux. "It means 'light'".
"Lux." Laverne repeated once again, sighing. "Honestly, Cate. Couldn't you have at least discussed this with me first?"
Abby looked up, shrugging. "I like it."
Cate smiled appreciatively at her before turning back to her mother. "Well she is at least keeping our last name. I don't want people thinking you named her after bath wash. Lux Johnson. Honestly..."
Cate frowned confused before putting two and two together. Dewey Johnson. It made sense that Abby would suspect him as the father. They hung out in the past, he was a geek like herself, and everyone knew he had a crush on her. The last thing anyone would suspect would be that Nate Bazile, star football quarterback and the most popular guy in school, would have slept with Cate, let alone had a kid with her.
Cate nodded, whispering. "She's keeping my name..."
"Lux Elizabeth Cassidy." Laverne clarified and Cate nodded. "At least it flows nicely.
Cate nodded and smiled at Lux lovingly, watching as she slept. Mary came back in after a while and smiled at the group, watching as Laverne showed a tired Cate what else she had bought, oblivious to one daughter's exhaustion and another's boredom.
"The doctor will be in to check you and Lux over in a few minutes. Make sure you're doing okay." Mary smiled at Cate and Cate nodded gratefully, hoping Laverne would take that as a clue to leave. She didn't.
"Hello, Cate. How are we doing today?" Dr. Stevens smiled at Cate as he proceeded to check Cate over.
"Okay. Pretty tired."
Dr. Stevens laughed. "A new baby will do that to you. Do you have any pain? Discomfort?"
Cate shook her head. "Nothing usual." She replied, referring to the symptoms Dr. Stevens had run over with her yesterday.
"Okay then." He smiled down at Lux, gently unbuttoning her pink onesie. "Let's keep this little one out, shall we? Have you chosen a name yet?"
Cate nodded proudly, sitting cross-legged in the bed and watching Dr. Stevens begin to examine Lux. "Lux Elizabeth Cassidy."
Dr. Stevens smiled and nodded his approval. "Very unique. I like it."
Cate smiled, watching Dr. Stevens actions. He pulled out his stethoscope and placed it against Lux's chest, listening. He frowned, shifting the stethoscope around Lux's chest.
Cate noticed his expression and sat up straighter, beginning to panic. "What is it? What's wrong?"
Dr. Stevens frowned, talking quietly to Mary first before turning to Cate. "Lux has a murmur. We'd like to run some tests to find out what's causing it. There's no reason to be alarmed. It could be nothing, but we'd like to run some tests to make sure."
Before Cate could react, Lux was being wheeled out of the room, Dr. Stevens and Mary leaving the terrified young mother alone with her family.
