Chapter 26

After surgery, Liv had been taken to recovery for about an hour. She was in some pain and quite uncomfortable, but that was the farthest thing from her mind. All she cared about was seeing her daughter again.

Dr. Matthews came to check on Olivia in recovery and made sure everything was okay. She wanted to make sure Olivia hadn't reacted badly to the anesthesia and checked her incision. When she felt everything was fine, she had Olivia moved back to her room in the maternity ward.

Brian had gone to get himself of a cup of coffee, after the long night he needed the caffeine. He didn't want to miss a moment with his daughter because he was drowsy. When he had returned to recovery and seen Olivia had been moved, he headed back up to her room.

He walked in to find Olivia alone in her room. She had been drifting off when she heard the door open and opened her eyes as Brian walked in.

"Maybe you should try to get some rest?" Brian suggested.

"Not until I see my baby." Olivia refused to let the exhaustion take over until she saw her daughter, again.

A few more minutes of Olivia fighting sleep went by before Audrey came into the room, rolling in the clear, plastic basinet that held her baby girl. Olivia could hardly contain her excitement as she saw the infant again.

Audrey unwrapped the swaddled newborn. "With our new moms and babies, we like to start with skin to skin contact. So, if it's okay, I'm just going to lay her on your chest. The sound of the mother's heart beat is soothing and it creates a strong bond." The nurse explained. She moved Olivia's gown down slightly and picked up the baby out of her bassinet. She put the baby on Liv's chest and pulled her gown back over the two of them for some warmth. "And now I will leave you two to get acquainted with one and other."

Olivia didn't even answer the nurse; she hadn't even heard the nurse speaking to her. As soon as her daughter had been placed on her bare chest, nothing else mattered to the new mommy. It was liked the world around her had stopped, everyone and everything had disappeared and all that remained were herself and her daughter.

The little girl had weighed in at 8 pounds 4 ounces and she was 22 inches long. She had all ten fingers and toes.

Olivia removed her hat, to reveal a head of dark brown hair. She ran her hand over the soft brown locks, staring at the alert little girl lying against her, taking in all her little features. She had soft, chocolate colored brown eyes that resembled her mothers, a cute button nose and full pink lips. She was absolutely adorable.

While mother and daughter bonded, Brian took his phone out and snapped a few candid photos of the pair. It was one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen, the two loves of his life meeting for the first time.

Olivia moved her gaze for the first time from her baby to Brian. They just smiled at each other, both of them sharing a feeling of pure joy.

"She so perfect, Liv." Brian ran a finger over the baby's cheek, her soft skin warm to the touch.

"She is the most beautiful thing I have ever laid eyes on." Olivia told Brian. "And I already love her so much."

"I love both of you so much." Brian kissed the baby on the top of her head, and then kissed her mommy.

"Bri, there's an extra blanket in my hospital bag, could you get it for me and lay it over her? I don't want her getting too cold." Olivia's maternal instincts were already on high alert.

"Sure." Brian grabbed the hospital bag sitting in the corner of the room. He pulled out the blanket and put the bag back in its spot. "Here we go." He laid the pink and white chevron patterned blanket over the baby.

Brian pulled the chair sitting in the far corner of the room up to the side of Liv's bed and sat down. He took a few more pictures of his daughter and put his phone away. He began to run his fingers through her soft tresses. Olivia cupped her hand around the baby's back.

They stayed like that, silent and content, for half an hour. No words needed to be exchanged, nobody needed to move, everything was perfect just the way it was.

"Penelope." Brian suddenly broke the silence with those 4 syllables.

"Huh?" Olivia was confused.

He nodded towards his now sleeping daughter. "Penelope."

"Really?" Olivia was surprised by Brian's offer.

"Yeah. I know how much you like the name and I think she looks like a Penelope, it suits her." Brian had watched Olivia go through 13 hours of labor and major surgery to bring their daughter into the world, he felt she deserved to be able to choose her name.

"It's perfect." A smile formed across Olivia's face. "Hi, Penelope." She stroked the sleeping baby's cheek, the tears welling up in her eyes once again.

"Now what are we going to do for a middle name?" Brian asked.

Olivia sniffled a little. "Well I know you really like Harper and I think it fits really well with Penelope." Olivia suggested.

"I must say, that sounds pretty good to me." Brian agreed.

It was so surreal for both of them to think that they were parents. They had a daughter. A daughter names Penelope.

For it Olivia it meant the world. She never thought she would have the opportunity to experience motherhood. But here she was holding her newborn daughter she had just named, looking forward to the rest of the little girl's life. Everything from her first steps to her first words to her first day of school and so many more milestones she and Brian would get to be a part of.

"Have you let anyone know yet?" Olivia asked Brian.

"No not yet, I wanted to wait until you got to see her and we named her." Brian told her.

"Can you get a few pictures on my phone and send them to the squad. I'm sure they're all waiting to hear from us." Olivia was so excited to share her beautiful little girl with the team.

Brian grabbed Olivia's iPhone out of her overnight bag. He took a few pictures of his daughter and tried to take a picture of Olivia and the little girl together.

"Hey, no photo ops right now. I look like a hot mess." Olivia couldn't even imagine what she looked like after being awake for nearly 36 straight hours.

"You look absolutely gorgeous." Brian thought his girlfriend was glowing, radiating with pure love for her daughter.

"Ha! Nice try. Stick to sending pictures of the baby for now." Olivia smirked at Brian.

Brian snapped a few more pictures of his daughter. He started a group message that included Fin, Amanda, Nick, and Cragen. He chose the picture he like the best and sent it to them with a message that read:

Penelope Harper

Born May 21st

8 pounds 4 ounces

22 inches long

"There we go. I sent the picture to the team." Brian placed the phone back in the bag and took his seat by the bed.

"Penelope Harper Cassidy." Olivia said her daughter's full name just so she could hear it out loud. It was just as perfect as her little girl.