Author's note: This is a pre-series flashback fic to when Laurie was born. I hope you enjoy it!
Red Forman was sitting alone in the hospital waiting room. It was the middle of the night and his body leaned forward in the seat with his head in his hands. He was forced away from his wife's side an hour ago and he had been a wreck ever since. It had quite possibly been the longest day of his life. He thought he would never experience longer days than when he was in Korea, but that was when he only had himself to take care of.
Red and Kitty had been married for three years when they found out she was expecting their first child. It wasn't something they had planned; however, they hadn't exactly been careful either. Kitty was over the moon from the beginning. It took longer for Red to warm up to the idea. He stressed over his ability to provide for his wife and new baby. Kitty would have to quit her job at the hospital and stay home. Adjusting to life without two incomes wouldn't be easy. Red really wasn't sure what all a baby would need, but he knew it would be expensive. As time passed, he found himself getting more and more excited. It was difficult not to, especially when you start to notice all the changes happening to your wife. Kitty had never looked more beautiful to him.
Red stood up from the chair and started to pace. Was it normal for these things to take this long? He couldn't help but worry that something was wrong. Kitty was everything to him, and he couldn't bear the thought of losing her. Red was a tough man that prided himself on being emotionless. Kitty was the only person in the world that could bring all those emotions out in him. All the stress and worrying for her was overwhelming, and he felt himself losing control. Luckily, he heard a soft female voice behind him that pulled him from the bottomless pit of worry he was currently experiencing.
"Mr. Forman."
The voice startled him at first, but he quickly turned around to face her. She was a young nurse, probably fresh out of school. He walked towards her as he spoke.
"How's my wife?"
"Mrs. Forman is doing just fine. "
Red sighed with relief. He then asked the next question weighing on his mind. It almost didn't seem real to him. "How's the baby?"
"Perfect." He let out another sigh followed by a smile. She loved this part of her job. Seeing the look of relief and happiness on the new father's face made her grin from ear to ear. "Would you like to see them?"
He was surprised at her question. He assumed he would only get to look at the baby through the window of the nursery. Apparently, Kitty working at the hospital and having the other nurses as friends allowed her to bend the rules a bit. Red nervously followed the young nurse through the swinging door and down the hall towards his wife's room. All of the negative feelings from earlier had changed to excitement now that he knew everything was okay. His wife and child were doing well and that was all he could have hoped for.
When they reached the nurse's station, the young nurse stopped and gave a point towards the end of the hall. She gave him one more grin before she spoke. "Room 385."
He continued walking until he reached the door. The door was cracked slightly so he gently pushed it open. As he quietly poked his head in, his eyes were met with quite possibly the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. Kitty was sitting up in the bed as she gazed down at the small pink bundle in her arms.
Pink.
They had a daughter.
His wife was so entranced by their child she didn't even notice him walk in. He was speechless for a moment but once he found his voice he spoke up in a softly.
"Hey."
Her eyes met his and the love she saw in them almost took her breath away. Tears instantly began to form in her eyes as she spoke to her husband.
"Hi, honey. Come meet your daughter."
He walked to his wife's bedside to take his first glance at his baby girl. The nurse was right, everything about her was perfect. He felt those overwhelming emotions hit him again as he tried to keep his composure. It was apparent that Kitty was no longer the only person that could bring those feelings to the surface.
"Oh, Kitty…" he was barely able to choke out the words. Without looking at him she knew exactly what her husband was feeling. She had been feeling the same way ever since the doctor put their baby in her arms. She understood completely.
"I know…" tears were rolling down her cheeks as she looked up at him. He couldn't help himself as he gently put his hand behind her head and pulled her to him for a kiss. As they pulled apart, Red kept his hand on the back of her head as he looked deep into her eyes.
"Thank you, sweetheart. She's beautiful"
She looked back at him and smiled through her tears. She then used her free hand to wipe the tears from her face and started to giggle as she looked back at her daughter. "We did good, didn't we?"
Red let out a small chuckle as well and gave a flirty response to his wife. "Well…what else would you expect?"
"Oh, Red…" She giggled again, more loudly than before.
"Has she opened her eyes yet?"
"They were open briefly when they first gave her to me. She didn't have them open for very long though. The nurse said the baby gets wore out too and not to be surprised if she is asleep for a while." Kitty paused for a minute before realizing the true meaning behind Red's question. "They're blue, honey."
Red smiled at her, happy with the response. Kitty had mentioned that most babies have blue eyes when their born and they often change color as they age. However, he had no doubt that his daughter's would remain blue. He could already see traces of Kitty in her little face and was sure she would grow up to look just like her mother. The couple was lost in silence for a while. The new parents could not take their eyes off their daughter. Finally, Kitty broke the silence.
"Red, sweetheart, do you want to hold her?"
He had never actually held a baby before and had no idea what to expect. He gave his wife a nervous look and cleared his throat before he spoke "Oh…uh…I don't know, Kitty. She's so tiny. What if I break her?"
Kitty let out a small giggle and reassured him. "You're not going to break her, honey. She's not as fragile as she looks. Come here…put your arms out." Red hesitated at first, but he didn't want to disappoint his wife. Kitty started to shift the weight of the baby into her husband's arms. She could tell he was nervous so she gave him encouragement. "You're doing great. Just watch her head."
Red carefully moved his arms away from Kitty's and stood next to the bed. His nervousness quickly faded away as he looked at his little girl. Holding her felt like the most natural thing in the world. Red Forman never cried, but he fought back tears as he felt his daughter snuggle into him. It was like she already knew who he was.
The sight of her husband and daughter together was almost too much to handle. A new wave of tears escaped down her face. Kitty could tell their daughter had her husband wrapped around her little finger already. Just by the way he held her she could already tell he was going to be an amazing father. Red continued to smile at his little girl when a thought popped into his head.
"What should we name her, Kitty?" They had yet to settle on a name, mostly because they weren't sure if they were having a boy or a girl. In the months prior, Kitty had thrown out a variety of names to Red; however, he never gave much of an opinion. Kitty decided to share some of her favorites with him.
"Well, I have a few that I like." Red shifted his gaze from his daughter to his wife, urging her to continue. "I like Kimberly…Laurie…Elizabeth." Red took a moment to put each name together with Forman in his head. Kimberly and Elizabeth didn't seem to flow as well with their last name. He spoke the third name out loud for his wife to hear.
"Laurie…Laurie Forman…I like it."
"Me too." Kitty was pleased with her husband's choice. She was worried that he wouldn't like any of the names she picked. "Do you have any ideas for a middle name, honey?"
Red thought for a moment while looking at his daughter. She already reminded him so much of his wife and it gave him an idea. "Why don't we give her your middle name…Anne. It sounds good together. Laurie Anne Forman." He paused and looked back up at his wife. "What do you think?"
"I love it." Kitty softly laid her head back on the propped up pillow. All the adrenaline had started to leave her body and the exhaustion was setting in. She felt her eyes getting heavy as she continued to watch her husband and Laurie. Red lifted his head again to gaze at his wife. With all of the excitement of meeting his new daughter he had forgot to ask how Kitty was doing. He noticed a change in her demeanor.
"How are you feeling, sweetie?" There was worry in his voice.
"I'm okay. Just tired."
He was concerned. "Are you hurting, at all?"
"I'm a little sore. I definitely feel much better than earlier." She added with a chuckle.
He didn't return the laugh. Kitty had been incredibly stubborn while she was in labor and refused any pain medication. She was determined to be conscious so she could be the first person to hold her baby. Watching his wife go through so much pain was not easy for Red Forman. He tried to be supportive of her, but ended up just feeling like a helpless idiot when she would yell at him. So when she asked him to go get her ice chips he was more than willing to leave the room. While he was gone, he found a pinball machine, and ended up staying gone longer than necessary. Once he was back in the room everything happened so fast that he wasn't with her fifteen minutes before the doctor was kicking him out again.
"I'm sorry I was gone for so long, Kitty."
"Well, Red, it's hospital policy. It's not your fault the doctor kicked you out."
"No, Kitty. I mean when you asked me to go get ice."
"Oh…yeah. I just figured you were tired of being yelled at. I'm sorry I was so hateful, honey. I know you were trying to take my mind off how I was feeling."
"No, Kitty. You have nothing to apologize for. You had every right to yell at me, that wasn't the problem." He sighed and paused for a moment, trying to find the perfect words to make her understand. He began to ramble. "It was killing me to watch you go through so much pain…especially when it is my fault that you were in that pain in the first place… I didn't handle myself very well…you deserve so much better than…"
Kitty couldn't take it anymore. Even though at the time she was frustrated with him, deep down she understood. She interrupted his ramble "Red, honey, you were wonderful." She looked deep into his eyes and reached out for him. He stepped closer to her and placed his free hand on top of hers. "You hadn't left my side all day. You needed a break. It's okay."
"I know…but…"
The conversation was interrupted when a different nurse came through the door pushing a small nursery crib.
"I'm sorry to interrupt…"
The couple tore their eyes from one another and made eye contact with the young woman entering the room.
"We thought you might want to put her down and try to rest before you have to feed her again."
"She's already eaten?" Red asked curiously. He almost felt left out that Kitty hadn't mentioned it to him.
"Yeah, I tried." Kitty smiled and let go of Red's hand to reach out and touch her daughter. "We're still figuring everything out, aren't we sweetie?" She smiled at her daughter then looked up to make eye contact with the nurse as she spoke. "Thank you, Betty. For everything."
Kitty and Betty had worked together at the hospital for a few years and had become fairly close friends. Typically, babies were taken to the nursery after they were born. Kitty was lucky that Betty had been on shift that night. She was willing to bend the rules for Kitty and allow the young couple a little more time with their baby before taking her to the nursery.
"You're welcome, Kitty. Ya know, my shift ends at seven and I have the next two days off work…"
"Who comes in after you?"
Betty rolled her eyes as she spoke. "Joan and Frances. You know they are very adamant about hospital policy."
Kitty couldn't hide the look of disappointment on her face. She knew she was going to be in the hospital the next few days and without Betty there she knew she wouldn't get to spend as much quality time with her daughter as she would like. She couldn't wait to get home.
As both ladies continued to talk, Red sat down in a nearby chair with his daughter. He already decided that no one was going to tell him to put his little girl down. Not unless Kitty wanted to hold her.
Kitty spoke up again. "Is it okay if Red stays until 6:30 and we keep Laurie in here with us until then? " She looked at her friend with hopeful eyes. "Please."
Betty smiled at the new mother. "Sure Kitty. I'll be back around 6:30. Call for me if you need anything." She started to walk toward the door before turning back around and smiling at her friend again. "Laurie is a pretty name. I'm happy for the two of you."
"Thanks, Betty." Kitty returned her friends smile. Betty softly closed the door as she left. Kitty leaned back against the pillow again and turned her head towards he husband and daughter. They were quite for a while as she took in her new favorite sight. She was sure she could watch them together all day. Red was the first to break the silence.
"I don't want to leave you, Kitty. It won't feel right being at home without you there."
Kitty smiled at her husband, "That's really sweet, honey, but there is no way Joan and Frances are going to allow that. Besides, you would never get any sleep here anyways. When Betty comes back for Laurie at 6:30 you can go home and sleep a while and then come back later if you want. You're going to have to go back to work tomorrow anyway so you need to make sure you catch up on your rest."
It was 3:30 in the morning and the couple had been awake for twenty plus hours at this point. Red was able to take two days off of work, but would have to go back the following day.
"Okay, Kitty." He was starting to feel guilty about keeping their daughter away from her mother for so long. "Do you want to hold her again?"
"You go ahead, honey. I'm going to try to sleep for a little bit while you're here." She had no doubts that Red could take care of Laurie. Neither one of them had much experience with infants, but after seeing him with their daughter she knew he would do everything possible to keep her safe and happy. Kitty's eyes began to get heavier as she spoke to her husband. "Make sure you wake me up if she starts crying…if I don't wake up on my own." She wanted to hold Laurie again, but she knew that Red would have to leave soon and she didn't want to deprive him of time spent with his daughter.
Just as Red was about to respond he looked up and noticed his wife's eyes were already closed. He was thankful because she needed all the rest possible. In the coming weeks she was sure to be sleep deprived and he wanted to help make the transition as easy as possible for her.
Red felt a movement in his arms and looked back down to see Laurie letting out a big yawn. She moved around for a few seconds then surprised her Daddy by opening her eyes. Their eyes met for the first time and he found himself grinning from ear to ear. Red couldn't believe the amount of love he felt for her. It wasn't the manliest thought; however, making eye contact for the first time with the child you made with the love of your life was enough to bring out emotions in any man.
His voice cracked slightly when he spoke to her. "Hi Laurie...Hi Kitten." Red wasn't really sure where that nick-name came from. He had probably heard it somewhere before or maybe because she reminded him so much of her mother. Either way he thought it was fitting for her.
As Red gazed lovingly at his daughter, he had never been more thankful that Kitty bumped into his butt while he was mooning the crowd at that USO dance. Their relationship survived a war, three years of marriage, and now they were setting out on a new adventure of expanding their family. With a beautiful wife and little girl to take care of, Red couldn't imagine being any happier.
The End
