Rating/Warning(s)/Note(s): Rating = K

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Prompt: January 22, 2010 "Write about a character who's just had the worst night's sleep ever. What happened to cause it? What are the results?"

I awoke with a jolt, nearly falling from the make shift bed I created out of the waiting rooms chairs. I rolled my head along my shoulders trying to ease the tension that had built up over the last twenty four hours. My body, stiff and sore, protested as I stood to stretch. With anxious eyes I looked to the nurses' station, convincing myself that if something new developed, surely one of them would have gotten me.

Unconsciously, my thumb twirls at the gold band on my hand as a nurse heads towards me.

"She's asking for you," she says, her smile showing the relief I feel.

I mumble a thank you and head to the room that held my wife. Slowly I open the door, afraid of what I could find inside.

"There's your daddy," Alice coos to the pink bundle in her arms and I can't help the smile that forms on my face. "I think we scared him," Alice continues.

I nodded as I move to her side, my eyes only seek hers. I need to know that I wasn't dreaming.

When I reach her side, I kiss her forehead, relief flooding my veins as my lips touch the familiar soft skin.

"Jazz?" she asked softly, pulling away to look up at me. "I promised I'd be okay."

I nodded again, unable to find the words I wanted to say. I almost lost her. I almost lost the one thing in the world that kept me sane.

A little whimper steals my attention from Alice as I look down upon the baby in her arms. Alice holds it up to me. "I think she wants her daddy," she teases.

I take the small bundle from my wife's arms. I cuddle her close to my chest as I place a gentle kiss to her forehead. A perfect replica of us now snuggled into my arms. A hope for the future and the life I still have.