CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
(chapter title – Baby Mine, part 2)
Ella had been in labor for twelve hours and could feel sweat and tears streaming down her cheeks and face as she continued to hold Tomas' hand.
"The head's out! Keep pushing!" Dr. Nichols encouraged Ella. Ella took a deep breath and pushed some more.
Ten minutes later, Ella held her little girl in her arms. She was 7 pounds, 10 ounces and was 17.6 inches long. Tomas felt tears in his eyes as he cut the cord of his daughter.
"What's her name?" a nurse inquired.
"Helena Grace Horowitz." Tomas told the nurse, looking down at Ella and Helena.
Ella, Tomas and Helena were now in the birthing suite. Tomas was holding his daughter for the first time while Ella got ready to nurse Helena.
"Okay, I'm ready." Ella told Tomas as he handed her Helena. He watched the baby latch on and suckle loudly.
"She's beautiful. Congratulations you two!" Cassidy whispered as she entered the room, Grantaire and Bridget close behind her.
"Thanks mom. Where's Anthos?" Ella asked.
"Your dad is watching him," Grantaire whispered as he came over to the side of the hospital bed. "May I?"
Ella nodded, gently burped Helena and handed her to Grantaire. Helena opened her eyes and yawned.
"She's precious!" Grantaire whispered as he continued to hold Helena.
"I think we should leave the new family now. Helena was born not that long ago and I'm sure the new parents will want to be with her." Cassidy told her sister and brother-in-law. They nodded as Grantaire handed Helena back to Ella and exited the room.
Ella hummed something as she watched her baby finish her nursing. Ella ran a finger up and down Helena's arm.
"I think she's asleep. Honey, could you put her in the incubator, please?" Ella whispered to Tomas. He nodded and carefully took Helena from Ella and placed her in the incubator. Helena would be staying in the nursery that night so Ella and Tomas could get some sleep.
The following day, the family got the okay to go home. Ella situated herself and Helena in the spare bedroom at Tomas' house. She sang Helena a lullaby before putting her in her crib and turned off the light.
"Do you need or want anything?" Tomas asked as Ella sat next to him on the couch. She shook her head as she leaned against him. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her neck. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm really tired. I know that she'll be up at all hours of the night, so I'm gonna take a nap in your room, okay?" Ella told Tomas. He nodded and watched her stand up and go to his room, closing the door behind her.
Tomas' mother came home just as Helena was up for her first feeding of the night. She peered in the extra bedroom and saw Ella tending to Helena.
"Where's Tomas?" Mrs. Horowitz wanted to know.
"He's at the store, getting more diapers. We ran out." Ella told Mrs. Horowitz.
Just then, Tomas came back into the house, carrying three large bags of diapers in his arms. He went straight for the nursery and helped Ella change Helena.
"What does she need yet tonight?" Tomas asked.
"She needs to be fed, burped, rocked and sung to." Ella answered, her voice heavy with sleep. Tomas saw his mother standing in the doorway and ushered her into the room.
"Mom, would you like to hold your granddaughter?" Tomas asked.
"No, thank you." Mrs. Horowitz told her son.
"We're going to need your help when both of us go back to work and school." Tomas told his mother.
"Have Ella's parents help. I am up to my ears in work. I don't have time to take care of a baby." She growled, exiting the room. Ella sat in an armchair next to the window and put her head in her hands. Tomas came up next to her and gently rubbed her shoulders. She looked up and smiled at Tomas. He kissed her forehead and led her out of the room.
"Should we talk about wedding plans?" Tomas asked, getting out his booklet of everything they needed for the wedding.
"Sure." Ella said, getting the monitor and a bottle of water.
They had everything they needed, except a DJ, a wedding date and a seating chart. Cassidy, Bridget and Evanna had been helping the couple with everything else.
"Who's your Maid of Honor going to be?" Tomas asked.
"Sara. What about your Best Man?" Ella asked.
"Kevin." Tomas answered without hesitation.
Ella took care of Helena that night, with Tomas' help. Helena was up at midnight, two, three, six and seven. Ella didn't get to sleep until 7:30 and slept for most of the day.
Tomas was singing to Helena when Kevin entered the room. He saw Tomas changing Helena and walked over to him.
"Am I the only one in this house who hasn't held my niece yet?" Kevin whispered, his tone joking. Tomas smiled and had his little brother sit in the rocking chair. Before he placed Helena in Kevin's arms, Tomas had his little brother put hand sanitizer on his hands.
"Mind her head." Tomas instructed as he handed Helena to Kevin.
"Wow. She's so tiny!" Kevin whispered loudly.
"She'll get bigger." Tomas assured his brother.
Kevin rocked Helena for a while before she started fussing. Tomas gently and carefully took Helena from Kevin.
"Shh, sweetie, it's okay." Tomas soothed as he took Helena to the nursery where Ella was waiting to take her.
"Hi honey," Ella greeted her daughter as Tomas handed her to Ella. She guided the baby to her breast, but Helena refused. She started crying softly. "Shh. It's okay. What do you need?"
Ella carefully stood up and brought Helena to the changing table. Her diaper was clean, but Ella changed it anyway. While she was on the changing table, Ella gently rubbed Helena's stomach. That only made her cry out more.
"Tomas, what do I do?" Ella asked, holding her baby to her chest. She walked Helena around the room and sang song after song, lullaby after lullaby. Nothing worked.
"Let me take her," Tomas told Ella. He carefully took Helena from Ella and held her against his bare skin, "shh, sweetie. It's okay."
Helena calmed down when Tomas sat in the rocking chair with her. He supported her head with one hand and her bottom with the other. Ella smiled at her husband and daughter before going to Tomas' room to go to bed.
She felt Tomas join her a while later and take her in his arms. He kissed her neck and held her closer to him. Ella rested her head on Tomas' chest and fell asleep listening to the sound of his heartbeat.
Three weeks later
"My Infant and Baby teacher called last night. She wants us to bring Helena to class." Ella told Tomas as she changed Helena.
"Okay. After class, do you want me to bring her home?" Tomas asked.
"Who would watch her? Your mom and my parents are at work, Kevin's at school, along with my siblings." Ella reminded her fiancée.
"I could take her back to my dorm after class." Tomas told Ella as they made their way to their first class – English Literature with Professor Tower. Professor Tower was not pleased when Ella, Tomas and Helena entered the room and took seats towards the back.
"Sara hasn't seen her yet." Ella whispered as other students filed in for class.
While Ella had been expecting Helena, she managed to get all of the assignments done for all of her classes. Tomas had helped her when he could.
What seemed like a lifetime, it was the final class of the day. Ella and Tomas sat in their usual spots with Helena's car seat between them. Tomas looked down at the baby and smiled when he saw she was sleeping.
"Class, we have a very special guest with us. Ella and Tomas, could you bring that cutie-pie up front, please?" the teacher asked. Ella and Tomas smiled and went to the front of the class. Ella held Helena in her arms.
The class went 'aww' in unison, making Ella and Tomas laugh. Ella adjusted Helena in her arms as Tomas looked lovingly at them.
"Three weeks ago over Spring Break, we welcomed Helena Grace Horowitz into the world. Ella was in labor for twelve hours and did an amazing job. Helena weighed 7 pounds, 10 ounces and was 17.6 inches long. She's such a good and sweet baby. She barely cries, except if she needs or wants something. Our doctor says that only two people at a time are allowed to hold her." Tomas told the class, once in a while looking over at Ella.
"May I hold her?" the teacher asked. Ella nodded and smiled as the teacher put hand sanitizer on. Ella carefully handed Helena to her and adjusted Helena's blanket. The teacher looked at Tomas. "She looks like you."
The rest of the class held Helena while the teacher talked. Ella followed Helena as she was passed from person to person. She was about to be passed to Meg when Helena woke up and started crying.
"She's probably tired. I'll take her." Ella told Meg. Meg nodded and carefully handed Helena to Ella. Ella rocked Helena in her arms as Tomas came over. He kissed Ella's temple as the two of them walked back to the front of the class.
Before they knew it, classes were over for the summer. Helena was now three-months-old and looked more like Tomas with each passing day.
"Do we have everything for my parents place?" Ella asked as she strapped Helena in her car seat. At the moment, Helena was fast asleep.
"I think so. Are you sure you're up for this?" Tomas asked as he got in the driver's seat.
"It's been three months. I have to talk to him sometime." Ella told her fiancée, squeezing his hand. Tomas brought her hand to his lips and gently kissed it. Ella smiled and sang along with the radio as she and Tomas headed to her parents place.
They reached the farmhouse twenty minutes later. Cassidy, Anton, Ryan, Cosette, Jace and Felicity all came out to greet Ella and Tomas.
"Where's dad?" Ella asked as she carefully hugged Cassidy.
"He's in his study on a conference call. He should be done pretty soon." Cassidy answered as she carefully took Helena from Ella.
They all went back into the house, the children asking if they could hold Helena.
"Not right now. She's going to go down for a nap then I'll need to feed her." Ella whispered to her siblings as she put Helena in her pack-and-play and sang softly to her.
Since the kids kept waking Helena up, Ella took her to a quiet room and sat down on the rocking chair.
Marius happened to be walking by when he peeked into the room.
"Mind if I come in?" Marius whispered. Ella smiled and motioned him inside. He looked over Ella's shoulder at the most beautiful little baby. "Is this Helena?"
"Yeah. The kids kept waking her up, so we came in here," Ella whispered as she continued to rock Helena. "Do you think we could talk?"
Marius nodded and closed the door so the he and Ella could have some privacy. Ella nursed Helena as they talked.
"I didn't like the way you talked to me when Tomas and I told you we were expecting Helena. What the hell was wrong with you?" Ella asked, extremely irritated.
"I was thinking more about myself than you. I'm sorry for the way I acted. Can you forgive me?" Marius asked. Ella stood up and gently thumped Helena's back. She let out a little squeak as Ella handed her to Marius.
"Well, Tomas and I are getting married next year. I was hoping you would give me away." Ella whispered, adjusting Helena's posture in Marius' arms.
"I would love to!" Marius whispered loudly, making Ella laugh. He then looked at the baby in his arms, "she's so precious! Hello!"
Ella smiled at the two of them. Helena began fussing, but Marius comforted her.
"Shh, shh. It's all right, sweetheart. Don't fuss. You're okay." Marius soothed, but Helena continued fussing.
"Dad, I'll take her. She's either hungry, tired or needs to be changed." Ella told her dad, carefully taking Helena from him.
She put Helena in her crib and turned on the mobile above Helena's head. A soothing melody of 'Music of the Night' filled the room. Ella turned on the monitor as she and Marius exited the room.
"There you are. I was worried that you ran away." Tomas teased as he kissed Ella's forehead. Ella smiled and rested against him.
"Where's Helena? I wanna play with her!" Felicity told Ella.
"Honey, she's sleeping right now. Also, she's too little for you to play with right now." Ella told her youngest sister. Felicity frowned and went to play with Cosette.
The following day, Ella decided to give Helena a bath while Tomas, Cassidy and Marius took the children to the park then out to lunch. Bridget, Grantaire and Anthos met them at the park, along with Enjolras, Eponine and Jolene.
"Hey!" Sara whispered as she entered the house. Ella smiled and poked her head out from the nursery.
"Hey. I'm about to give your goddaughter a bath. Want to help me?" Ella asked, picking up Helena.
"Of course I would!" Sara squeaked. Ella had Sara find Helena's Tinker Belle tub while Ella got the supplies that Helena would need. "Can you hold Helena for a moment? I need to use the bathroom."
"Sure thing." Sara told her best friend as Helena was handed to her. Sara made funny faces at Helena, who didn't enjoy them very much. Ella returned a short while later and carefully took Helena from Sara.
Together, the girls bathed Helena, who throughout her bath, had a worried look on her face.
"What's wrong, baby?" Ella asked as she poured water over Helena's stomach, which Helena didn't like. Ella took that as her cue to finish up. She turned to Sara, "how would you like to change her while I clean up here?"
"Really? Thanks!" Sara said, hugging her best friend. She then carefully picked up Helena and took her to the nursery as Ella cleaned up the kitchen.
A few minutes later, Ella entered the nursery and saw Sara sitting in the rocking chair, Helena in her arms.
"Hey. Thanks, Sar. I'll take it from here." Ella whispered as she carefully took Helena.
Sara stood up and exited the room, leaving mother and baby alone. She went into the kitchen and made herself a snack when Tomas entered the house with Felicity. She was crying and her left knee was bleeding.
"Oh, sweetie! What happened?" Sara asked as she put her food away.
"She was running and tripped. Can you watch her while I get a band-aid?" Tomas told Sara. She nodded and pulled Felicity into a hug.
Tomas arrived two minutes later with a band-aid and some anti-bacterial cream. He rubbed it on her knee before putting the band-aid on.
"I'll go play with the kids if you want to see Ella," Sara told Tomas. He nodded and thanked her before looking around the house. "she's in the nursery with Helena."
"Thanks. Have fun out there!" Tomas told Sara as he headed for the nursery. He smiled when he saw Ella fast asleep in the pink squishy armchair in the corner of the room. Helena was in her crib, also fast asleep.
Tomas carefully picked Ella up and put her in the master bedroom, pulling the blankets over her. He then kissed her forehead before exiting the room, turning off the light behind him.
As the two of them got ready for bed that night, Tomas counted down the days until their wedding and the beginning of their new life together.