Please forgive me for the delay in posting this. Real life really got in the way. Now it is complete, though, so I hope you enjoy. Thank you for being patient and for all those who reviewed this little story. Your words meant so much to me. I'm sorry if I never responded to your review as I did try to get to everyone. Thank you again. Well, on with the show, and I hope you enjoy.
Hours later when his heart had slowed down and the adrenaline had stopped pumping, Harm thought that maybe one day he would be able to look back on this day and at least smile, but he wasn't sure he'd ever be able to laugh about it. Well, maybe when he was eighty something and couldn't remember it all as well as he did right then, maybe then he would chuckle about it.
As he held a small bundle in his arms and watched his wife sleep peacefully, he raised his eyes and a simple prayer upward thanking whatever God was above him for their safety. He sat there quietly rocking the small one he held tightly, looking over the tiny features of his little miracle. That's exactly what this baby was, a miracle. The doctors had given them little to no chance of ever conceiving their own child, but they continued to defy the odds. And here he was, holding his own little baby, his and Mac's, that is. He knew he couldn't have done any of this without her. He knew he wouldn't have wanted to have a child with anyone else.
As his thoughts drifted to Mac, he glanced up at her still sleeping form and noticed the scratches along her arm and one on her face. He shook his head still in somewhat disbelief over what had transpired just a few hours earlier. As Mac had been going through the final stages of labor, the storm winds outside had picked up tremendously unbeknownst to them. The trees had been bending more and more as each gust of wind ripped through the almost wind tunnel formed by the hospital buildings. One tree in particular must have been planted just outside their hospital window. As the winds bent it closer to the ground, the unsteady roots began to be pulled from the ground.
The doctor told Mac to give one final push and as she did, she let out a yell as the tree came through the window of the room sending glass and water across the room straight toward Mac. Luckily the doctor was able to catch the baby as Harm threw his body across Mac in an attempt to protect her from the flying glass. Most of it missed them but one or two smaller pieces found their way to Mac's arm and cheek. Dr. Sawyer had managed to keep the baby safe wrapped in blankets and then handed off to the nurse, Lisa, so she could finish tending to Mac who was bleeding in more than one place. Amy managed to call out to get some more nurses to help in cleaning up the mess and Mac. Lisa chose to remove the baby from the situation and head to the nursery once she told Harm and Mac where she was going promising to come back as soon as everything was okay and Mac had been moved to another room.
Luckily none of the cuts had been anything more than superficial, so no stitches were required. As soon as Dr. Sawyer had removed the placenta and completed the cleanup, she ordered the nurses to "find a drier, cleaner, glass-free room for Mrs. Rabb." Amy had already started that process and within ten minutes had Mac ready to go down the hall. Harm had collected all their bags and hurriedly followed Amy and another nurse down the hall not wanting to be away from Mac for a moment longer than necessary. He was concerned about the baby, but his main objective was to have Mac safe so she would be able to see their bundle of joy. They ended up having to wait another thirty minutes for Lisa to bring the baby back to them as she wanted to complete all the measurements and tests while she was in the nursery with the baby.
Finally almost an hour after their baby was born; they were holding a small pink faced thing. Mac cried tears of joy as soon as Lisa wheeled the bassinette through the door. Harm was close enough to his own tears but managed to fight them back not wanting to seem overly emotional in front of the ladies. Lisa carefully picked the baby up out of the bassinette and showed Harm how best to hold and handle the infant. He was nervous about holding his baby for the first time but tried to seem confident in front of Lisa. He carefully carried the small one over to Mac and placed it in her waiting arms.
"I didn't even get to check for fingers and toes," she chuckled as she took the baby carefully from Harm.
"They're all there," Lisa reassured them. "Ten fingers, ten toes, and no problems with the Apgar test. If you have any problems or notice any breathing problems, please make sure you page the nurse, and I'll come right back. I'll be back in a couple of hours to check on you if you don't need anything else. Enjoy your little miracle," she said as she exited the room.
Mac barely heard her as she sat up in her bed and laid her baby in front of her on the bed. She carefully began to unwrap the blankets swaddling the infant needing to see for herself that the baby was perfect just as the nurse had said. She breathed a sigh of relief as she counted fingers and toes and saw everything was perfect. She quickly swaddled the infant and sat back with the baby close to her breast. As she looked down, she noticed small blue eyes peering up at her watching her face intently.
"What about the hair?" Harm suddenly asked quietly as he hadn't seen the color as the nurse had placed a cap on the baby's head for warmth.
Mac removed the cap carefully and smiled. "Beautiful, dark, and full," she murmured calmly with a smile. She leaned her own head down to place a kiss on the infant's hair before sniffing and drinking in that delicate newborn smell. It was like nothing she'd ever experienced before, holding and smelling her own little child. The feelings welling up inside her almost seemed to take over her body as tears formed in her eyes.
"Hey, what are those about?" Harm asked gently as he sat beside her on the bed noticing the tears.
"I'm just so happy. I never thought this day would come," she spoke almost in a whisper looking up at him with a watery smile.
"I know me too," he admitted returning her smile. "So, this little one needs a name."
Harm was brought out of his reverie as a quiet knock sounded at the door. "Come in," he called quietly to whoever waited outside before glancing in Mac's direction as she stirred at the noise.
A moment later the door pushed open quietly and Mattie and Chloe stepped through grinning from ear to ear. "Hey, Dad," Mattie whispered first. "Is it okay if come in?"
"Come on in, girls," Mac spoke from the bed as she pushed herself up to a sitting position. She smiled at the girls as they almost tiptoed in not wanting to disturb anyone. As they came further in the room, Harm stood from the rocking chair and joined Mac on the bed where he returned the infant to her waiting arms.
"So, this is our new sibling?" Chloe finally asked. "What'd we get?"
"Yeah, what'd we get?" Mattie echoed her question, "A brother or a sister?"
"Girls," Mac started to reply, "meet your new little sister, Kenzie Rose Rabb."
"Ohh, she's beautiful," Mattie sighed looking down at her sister. "Can I hold her?" she asked holding out her arms.
"Of course," Mac responded handing her over carefully. "Make sure you support her head and neck," she warned as Mattie gently took her and cradled her sister in her arms.
"Hi, I'm your sister, Matilda," she began to coo over her, "but you can call me Mattie. In fact, you better, because only Dad calls me Matilda when I'm in trouble," she smiled up at Harm innocently. Harm smiled back at trying not laugh at her antics.
Chloe tried to peer over Mattie's shoulder to get a look at the small infant. "Hey, don't hog her. I want to hold her too," she reminded Mattie.
Mattie turned slightly toward Chloe so she could get a better look at their sister. "Of course you can hold her," she agreed, "as soon as I'm done."
Chloe pouted at the statement and then smiled as Kenzie seemed to be watching the two interact. "Hey, she's looking at us."
"That's right, girls," Harm spoke up. "Kenzie will be looking up to you two, so you better set a good example for her," he warned playfully. Watching his girls interact, he leaned back on Mac's bed and placed an arm around her shoulder. "Happy, Mrs. Rabb?" he whispered in her ear as he leaned over to kiss her gently on the head.
"I've never been happier, Mr. Rabb," she responded looking up at him with a serene smile on her lips. "I have everything I ever dreamed of, a good job, a good man, lots of comfortable shoes, and now…" she trailed off as Harm leaned forward and placed a tender kiss on her lips.
"A new birthday to celebrate in our family," he finished for her as he pulled back and turned to watch their growing family. "I think I'm going to be outnumbered for awhile," he said motioning at all the girls in the room.
"Yeah, I'm afraid so," Mac agreed smiling and nodding her head as she watched Mattie finally give up her little sister to Chloe.
"So, when can we start trying for a boy?" Harm asked with a mischievous gleam in his eye.
Mac reached over to swat at him and stopped as she saw the gleam. Smiling she responded with a kiss to his lips. "In about six weeks, according to the doctor," she smiled with her own mischievous gleam.
Harm's only response was to wrap his arms tightly around his wife and pull her closer to him as he sighed deeply and contentedly. He could live with what he had right there in that room, his beautiful, amazing, wonderful girls. This was more than he ever dreamed he'd have, and he knew Mac felt the same way.