Kate's POV

When they first handed me my baby, I was entranced by how gorgeous she was. She was perfect, perfect beyond belief. I couldn't find a single flaw in her if I tried. She was so tiny and delicate. Her skin was lightly tanned and felt so soft and warm when I touched it. She already had hair - a little patch of golden hair on the top of her head. Her face was adorable - slightly rounded and with dimples. Her big brown eyes were darkly lashed and stared up at me wonderingly. She was perfection, wrapped up in a pretty pink blanket.

"She's beautiful," I said, holding her tightly and smiling down at her.
"She is," Domingo said, kneeling down next to me.

"I love her," I said, kissing her on the forehead and telling her, "I love you."
"I love both of you," Domingo said, smiling.

"Can we come in?" came my mom's voice from outside the door. She'd gone to tell the others that we'd had a girl and stayed with them while things settled down in here a little more. I guess her mom instincts told her that her daughter (and her granddaughter) were ready for them. I wondered if I'd ever get that mom intuition. I thought so. How could I not know everything about my baby?

"Yeah, come see our new addition," I called as they all walked in. My mom and dad walked in together, smiling proudly. Becca and Austin followed, both of them were smiling too. But Becca had a strange light in her eyes that I couldn't quite understand. I couldn't tell what it was. Longing or amazement? Or maybe those were tears.

"She's so beautiful," my mom said as they all stood around us.
"Stunning," my dad agreed.

"They're right. She looks nothing like you. You lucked out there," Austin said with a huge smile. I knew that he didn't intend for it to be an insult. Austin was just incapable of sentiment.
"Shut up Austin," Becca said, swatting him, her eyes locked on us, "She looks just like her mother . . . and her father."

"Thanks guys," I said, smiling. I knew that both were compliments even if Austin's didn't sound like one.
"Can I hold her?" my mom asked.

I didn't want to let her go, but I knew that I'd get her back soon enough. Besides, it would just hurt my mom's feelings if I said no. I mean, who would say no?
"Sure," I said, as she leaned over to scoop her out of my arms, lifting my angel away from me. I was about to, paranoidly, tell her to be careful but realized there was no need. She'd had three kids; she knew what she was doing.

"We called Alex," my dad said, "He said he was coming up." My older brother had taken a bit of time to get used to the idea of me being pregnant, just like Austin, but he'd come around eventually. Last time we saw him, Easter, he'd been pretty okay with the whole thing . . . Austin had gotten extremely used to the idea. He'd even seemed excited about being an uncle. I was glad - I didn't like when we fought, at least not for real. Bantering was different.

"Cool," I said, aware that I didn't sound like a mother, "When will I be able to take her home?"
"We talked to the doctor," he said, "They said tomorrow."

I nodded and my eyes flicked back up to my baby. I could only distantly hear Domingo and my dad talking about something and Becca whisper something to Austin. I was in my own little world, watching my mother cradle my baby in her arms. She was lightly rocking her, her face bent above her, crooning softly to her. I wanted to hold my baby so badly - being away from her didn't feel right. I needed her to be in my arms, to know that she was with me and that she was safe. And in that instant, for once in my life, I understood why my mom was such a pain in the ass sometimes. How she would bug me to be careful about things I thought silly, but now I got it. She just wanted me to be safe because she loved me as much as I loved my baby. I couldn't even imagine letting my baby out of my sight . . . let alone letting her go to school or go to the mall or go out on dates . . . How did my mother manage that? How did anyone manage that?

"Hey, are you going to let her grandfather hold her?" my dad asked.
My mom smiled and carefully handed her to my dad. He smiled down at his granddaughter and spoke softly to her.

"Me next," Becca called.
"I think her uncle should get to hold her next," Austin said.

"I think her own father should get to hold her," I chimed in.
"No, Kate, it's all right. They can hold her first. I can wait. It's fine," he said but I knew he was lieing. He was doing that considerate thing again. I loved the guy to death but when he put others before himself it pissed me off. Sometimes. Other times it was hot. But right now it was annoying. He wanted to hold his baby, I could tell, and he deserved to.

"Not it's not. Someone give this man his daughter," I commanded.
My dad laughed and walked over to the other side of the bed. Domingo got up and took his daughter from her grandfather. He held her and stared at her with the kind of love he'd only ever looked at me with. It made me smile. He loved her as much as I did - as much as I loved him and as much as he loved me.

I didn't feel the least bit of panic when Domingo held her. He was her father, not to mention extremely cautious and protective of everyone he cared about. I knew he wouldn't let anything bad happen to her. He would protect her.

We were talking and Domingo was holding the baby when someone knocked on the door.
"Hello? Domingo? Kate?" came a familiar voice from outside.

"Come in," Domingo called as Yori, Domingo's younger sister, twirled into the room. She reminded me a lot of Domingo - well looks wise. Big brown eyes, dark hair, tan skin. Her spiky brown hair looked perfect and she was dressed nicely.

"Hi everyone. Where's my new neice?" she asked excitedly, dancing over to Domingo. She gave him a half hug from the side without disturbing the baby. She peered up at the her.
"She's so beautiful!" she exclaimed, "Can I hold her?"

"Hey, first come, first served," Austin objected.
"Damn - I mean darn. No need to ruin the baby all ready," she corrected herself, laughing. Domingo laughed too and walked over to Austin and handed him the baby carefully. He gave her to him easily enough, but the look in his eyes told me he was just as reluctant to give her up as I'd been.

"Support her head," I warned Austin. He didn't have a lot of experience with babies - well neither did I really. But I'd spent the last nine months trying to learn as much as possible.
"I know how to hold a baby," he snapped at me before looking down at her and losing the aggression. He smiled down at his niece.

"She's so little . . ." he mumbled wonderingly, as if he couldn't believe that someone could be so tiny.
"Most babies are," Becca said, but she was practically beaming. Probably proud that her boyfriend could hold a baby correctly. If they were smart though they wouldn't go barreling down that road too soon. I had no regrets about having my baby, especially after I'd seen her and held her. But those two weren't ready for a baby, in my eyes at least.

"Mom and dad are on their way," Yori told Domingo, "Dad had to get off from work."
"When will they be here?" Domingo wondered.

"They just called before I came in. Said they had just left. Probably little less then an hour," she guessed.
"Great," he said.

"Now can I hold her?" Becca whined.
"Okay, okay," Austin said, handing my angel to Becca. I started to worry that all this moving around would upset her.

Becca seemed a little more experience with babies then Austin. She'd used to do a lot of babysitting for the neighborhood kids, I remembered. But she'd stopped that once her and Austin were dating. I guess she didn't want anything cutting into their time together. The lovey-dovey-ness would disgust me if I didn't feel the same way about Domingo, and now about my baby.

"What are you going to name her?" Yori wondered.
"Well . . . " I said, "Domingo and I narrowed it down to two girls names the other day . . . I think I know which one fits her best but I wonder if he thinks the same."

"Which one did you pick?" Domingo wondered.
"Luna," I said with a smile.

He smiled too. "My thoughts exactly. She looks like more of a Luna then an Alyce."
"So Luna?" Austin asked.

"Yes," I said, "Luna Lyn Persipnei." Persipnei was Domingo's last name. We weren't married but we would be someday and our baby should at least have a traditional last name. Karodarus was of course a famous last name, but I always like Persipnei. It was so ringy. Per-seph-ini. I liked the way her full name sounded. Luna Lyn Persipnei.

My Luna.