CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT
Martha cried a little as the nurse placed the baby in her arms for the first time. Jack was still sitting up behind Martha, so he rested his hands under Martha's so that they could hold her together. They were both in awe at the tiny child in their arms.
"She's so tiny," Martha sighed softly.
"She's beautiful," Jack exclaimed as he reached out and touched his daughter's tiny fingers. He couldn't believe that she was finally there with them.
Martha smiled down at her baby; who was still squirming around and wailing her little lungs out. "Look what we done Jack," she started. "Look what we made. She's amazing," Martha continued.
"I know," Jack smiled. He looked down at their little girl; examining her features closely. She had dark hair; just like him and Martha. And she had Martha's gorgeous blue eyes.
They sat for a few more minutes, just watching and smiling at her, when the nurse walked up to the bed. "I'm sorry to ruin the happy moment, but we need to take her away, so she can be checked out and cleaned up a bit," she told them. "And, we need to move you, Martha, to a new room, and also get you changed and cleaned up a bit," she explained.
Martha was a bit reluctant at first, but she finally passed her baby over to the nurse. The nurse started to walk away but then turned back. "Jack, why don't you come with me, and then once we've finished with the baby, you can take her back to Martha's new room," she suggested.
"Okay," Jack agreed as he hopped off the bed. He then turned to face Martha. "You did great," he said as he leant down and kissed her on the lips. "I love you," he told her as he walked out; following the nurse.
Martha sighed as she fell back onto the bed. She'd never felt so happy or content in her life.
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THE NEXT MORNING
Tony walked around the room like he was walking on air. He was absolutely thrilled. He and Beth were waiting for Matilda and Lucas to finish getting ready, so that they could get to the hospital and see his first grandchild.
Lucas and Matilda rushed out into the living room. "Are we all ready?" Tony asked.
"Yep," everyone nodded. Matilda and Lucas rushed out the door and headed for the car. Tony turned and looked at Beth. "Let's go and see our granddaughter," he said to her as he took her hand.
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Jack was sitting up on the bed next to Martha; the baby was lying in a crib next to them. Alf and Ric were in the room with them; they'd arrived about twenty minutes before. Martha swore that she saw tears in her grandad's eyes when he first saw the baby.
"So, did you ring my brothers?" Martha asked Alf.
"Yeah," he nodded. "I called them before we came here. And I called your mother aswell. They were all thrilled," Alf answered.
"And Auntie Morag will be getting here from the city this afternoon," Ric added.
"Good," Martha smiled. She then turned her head and looked at her daughter. She was wearing a little white jumpsuit and a tiny pink beanie hat; and wrapped up in a pink blanket. She was sleeping soundly. She was gorgeous.
Martha looked around the room; it had brightened up a lot over the last couple of hours. Alf and Ric had brought some flowers with them when they'd arrived. Nurse Julie had come in with flowers earlier that morning. Rachel had come in with some flowers from herself, Dan and Leah. Leah had even sent in some of her famous home made chocolates. And they'd also received a huge bouquet of flowers and a big balloon from Jack's colleagues at the police station.
They were all sitting in silence when they heard a soft knock at the door. It creaked open and Tony and Beth walked in; closely followed by Lucas and Matilda.
They all said a quick hello before Tony rushed quickly over to the baby crib. "Oh my goodness," he smiled. "Look at her, she's gorgeous," he sighed. The others walked up beside him and took a peek at the sleeping baby.
"Aww, she's so tiny," Matilda cooed.
Beth smiled and walked over to Martha; giving her a quick hug. "You've done well," she said. "She's beautiful," Beth exclaimed.
"Well, now that you guys are here, Martha and Jack can finally tell us what they've decided to call her," Ric began. "They wanted to wait until you were all here first," he said.
"Alright, well hit us with it then," Lucas exclaimed.
Martha and Jack looked at each other and smiled. "We thought a lot about names over the last few months, and we finally came up with something that we both like," Jack told them.
Martha took her turn and started to speak. "So, we've decided to name her Laila Katelyn-Rae Holden," she announced.
"Oh, that's beautiful," Beth told them.
"Yeah, well I've always liked the name Laila. And we decided on Katelyn; after Jack's mum. And Rae; after my dad," Martha explained.
"I think it's perfect," Tony smiled. Lucas, Matilda and Ric nodded their heads in agreement.
"It's lovely," Alf moved towards the crib. "Little Laila," he chuckled as he looked down at his great granddaughter.
Jack and Martha looked at each other again and smiled. Jack leaned down and kissed her on the cheek.
Tony moved back over to the crib. "Can I hold her," he asked.
"Of course you can," Martha laughed. "You don't need to ask," she added.
Tony gently moved his hands under her and lifted her up; trying his hardest not to wake her. He cradled her safely in his arms. He lowered his head and softly placed a kiss on her forehead.
For the next half and hour they all sat in the room; talking quietly. After a while Nurse Julie walked in. "Sorry to break up the celebrations but Martha needs to feed the baby, so it would probably be best if you left her and gave her a bit of privacy," she explained.
"Yeah, no problem," Tony said. Beth; who was now holding the baby, handed her over to Martha. Jack hoped off the bed and started to move away.
"Where are you going?" Martha asked him.
"I thought you'd want to be alone," Jack answered.
"You're a bit clueless aren't you?" Martha started to laugh. "You can stay, you idiot. It's nothing you haven't seen before," she smiled.
"Right," Jack nodded sheepishly. "I knew that," he added.
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"She is amazing," Tasha exclaimed as she held Laila in her arms.
"Yeah, you've done a good job," Robbie told her.
Robbie and Tasha had popped in for a visit. Tasha had been anxious all morning; she wanted to get in and see the baby. Sally, Colleen and Cassie had dropped in about half an hour before, and Flynn had stopped in to say a quick hello before he headed home after his all night shift.
Martha was alone with Tasha and Robbie at the moment. She had told Jack to go home and have a shower and have a sleep if he needed to. She knew that he was exhausted, but she also knew that he wouldn't stay away for very long. She knew he'd come back as soon as he showered and ate something. He wouldn't sleep.
"Alright you hog," Robbie said to Tasha. "Stop being greedy and hand her over to Uncle Rob," he laughed.
Tasha smiled and gently placed her in Robbie's arms. "She's so small, and weighs like a feather," he exclaimed. He then started softly poking at her. "Wake up baby," he whispered.
"Robbie," Tasha scolded with a laugh. "Don't wake her up. Martha needs her rest," she said.
"Sorry," Robbie poked his tongue out at Tasha.
Martha laughed at them. They'd make great parents one day.
"Kit and Kim said that they'll come and visit you this afternoon. They knew that everybody else would rush in, so they thought it would be best if they waited a bit," Tasha explained to Martha.
"That's alright," Martha yawned.
She was so tired. She'd hardly slept at all and she knew that she probably wouldn't get much sleep today either. People would be stopping for visits all day. But Martha was kind of glad that she wasn't sleeping. She wanted to watch Laila. She didn't want to miss anything.
She's so beautiful, Martha thought to herself. And she's all mine.
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PLEASE REVIEW.
So, I hope you all like the name that I chose. I've actually had that name picked out since I started this fic. I'm kind of guessing that Katelyn is short for Kate (Jack's mum), so that's why I picked that. And Rae was Martha's dad's name (except I spelt it with an 'E' instead of a 'Y'. And I love the name Laila.
Anyhoo. I hoped you liked that chapter.