Thanks to all of you who reviewed. It's really encouraging to receive your reviews! And yes, in response to Invisible-Nobody, it is an expansion of the origin stated in A Ski Trip to Remember. I mean Archie of course. For those who are reading A Ski Trip to Remember, I'm sorry that I'm going to put it on hold for a while. Exams and the like have to be studied and accounted for. Meanwhile, I'm going to try and keep this going as I can. This chapter foreshadows something that is going to happen later.
Handsome
A wail pierced the still, tension-filled air. So he was brought forth into the world, screaming and kicking and wailing.
"How is he?" a frail voice said from the bed.
Dr. Reynolds smiled reassuringly at the mother. She lay on the bed, weak from fighting to bring her bundle of joy into the world. "He's perfectly fine," the doctor said, giving her a pat on the shoulder.
She barely nodded. A content smile rested on her face as she shut her eyes quietly. Just then, the doors to the room opened. A young man, hair thick with blond curls, stepped into the room. He walked over to his wife. Slipping into the chair silently made him unnoticeable.
"Are you alright?" he asked softly. "I-I'm sorry I couldn't come till just now. I was in a meeting, and then it ended late. Then there was a traffic jam, and -"
"It's alright, Scott," she whispered back. "I'm fine. How is our child?"
Scott pursed his lips. "He's fine."
There was a moment of silence. For all what was worth she could not figure out why such silence had lasped between them. There, he sat for two whole hours. She, on the other hand, slipped away to the land of dreams.
When she finally awoke, she realised he wasn't there anymore. A nurse, however, was in the room. She called to her with a simple request of seeing her newborn child.
Minutes later, the nurse returned with her child. The mother reached out to her child like any mother would do. The bundle was safely in her hand, and she took her first look at him. His hair was straight, just like hers. Yet his hair was platinum blond, just like his father's.
Her husband chose to return at that exact minute. He smiled for the first time in a while when his gaze fell upon the baby. "He's adorable, isn't he?"
He gently pried him away from his wife. After all, he was his father, too.
Suddenly, the baby's eyes flew open. Eyes wide with a deep blue unmatched by no one, he began to cry. Scott, startled, nearly dropped the baby.
"Cradle him, Scott."
The father hesistantly stared at his child. Then with some reluctance, he swung the child slowly, back and forth. The incessant crying grew louder.
"Here, you take him," he said quickly, pressing the child into his wife's hand.
His wife rolled her eyes and cradled him. Miraculously, he quietened down and fell asleep again.
Both fell silent again. Finally, the father spoke up. "He's a handsome boy, isn't he?" He looked away, as if in fear to gaze at his own son. Not knowing what to say, he murmured a repetition. "He's a handsome boy..."
His wife giggled. It seemed she didn't realise he was at a loss of words. "Stop it, Scott, you're going to make him egoistic when he grows up."
Scott gave her a barely perceptible smile.
"What should we call him?" he questioned slowly.
His mother thought for a while.
"I know! Let's call him... Neil."