"Hi gorgeous. Hang on, let me put her down".
He laid her down on the bed and swaddled her and then put her back in the isolette.
"How are you feeling?"
"Very strange".
He pushed the button for the nurse.
"Can I help you?"
"My wife is awake, can you send the nurse please?"
"Yes sir".
"Jonathan, what happened?"
"Well, you had an infection and you had a reaction to some medicine, so you took a little nap, that's all."
"How long did I sleep?"
"Almost a day, but that's ok".
"I want to hold my baby".
"Let's let the nurse check you out first, ok?"
He grabbed her hand and kissed it.
"You gave us quite the scare, darling".
"I'm sorry".
"It's ok. You're ok, that's all that matters".
She puckered her lips for a kiss and he happily gave her several.
"Your dad's here, want me to call him?"
She nodded.
He leaned over and grabbed the phone and called him.
"Hi, Jennifer's awake and can't wait to see you".
"On my way".
The nurse came and checked her out.
"I'm going to push some saline through your IV, that should help you wake up some."
"Can I eat something?"
"Maybe in a little bit when you've woken up some. You can hold your baby though".
"Yes, please".
The nurse picked up the baby and handed her to Jennifer.
"Darling, while you were sleeping, Susan and I made it so that you and the baby did skin to skin".
"Oh good, I wanted to do that".
She looked at the nurse.
"Can I breastfeed her?"
"You can try".
She held her and just stared at her for a few minutes.
"You are so beautiful. So, so, beautiful".
"That's because she looks just like you".
He leaned over and kissed her.
"You think so? I think she has your eyes".
"I think she has your eyes. I think she has your everything".
"Rule number one. We love our daddy with all our heart, punkin. All our heart".
"Darling, we need to pick a name".
"Well, I kind of already picked one. I've been working on a secret project and I hope you don't get mad."
"Why would I get mad?"
"Well, normally I would have done this with you, but I really wanted to do it for you".
"What is it?"
"I had Stanley research as much as he could, and see what he could find out about your birth family."
"I see. What did he find out?"
"A lot, actually. I brought the paperwork with me. Can you bring my bag over here?"
He got up and got her bag and put it on the bed.
She dug out the folder and opened the envelope.
"Ok, so I wanted her to have family names. But I wanted her to have a name that nobody else had. And I wanted your family to be represented and my family to be represented. So, he found out your parent's names and then he found out their parent's names and their parents names. But more importantly, he found out what happened. Now, you don't have to read this if you don't want to. But the gist is that your mom and your grandmother's middle name was Joanna. My mom's first name and my grandmother's first name was Jane. So, I was thinking what if we did part of your grandmother's middle name with part of my grandmother's first name, and I came up with Jana. And then I decided I wanted you to be represented somehow, and I also wanted me to be represented. So that led me to Jana Charlotte, since your middle name is Charles. Your mom's first name was Charlotte. My middle name and my mom's middle name is Suzanne. So, I arrived at Jana Charlotte Suzanne Hart, and I thought we could call her Jana".
"I love that, and I love that you did this. This is incredible".
She handed him the folder.
"What did you come up with for a boy?"
"Well, your father's name was Jason Christopher and your grandfather's name on his side was James Connor. So, I had figured we would carry on the J.C. tradition and he could either have been Jonathan Charles Hart, Jr., or he could have been Jennings Carter Edwards Hart, and we would have called him Jay".
"I love that too".
She held the baby and talked to her while Jonathan read the report from Stanley.
"Did you read all of this?"
"Just their names. I didn't read the part about what happened to your family because I figured it wasn't my place".
"Darling, they are your family too, technically. You could have read it. Hell, I wouldn't have it without you. I wouldn't have any of this without you".
She leaned her head on his shoulder as he read the report.
"Well, it seems as if I had a sister. My parents and my sister and I were in a car accident. I was buckled into my car seat, but my parents and my sister weren't buckled. I was the only one who survived. My grandparents on both sides were already passed away, so to the orphanage I went".
She leaned up and kissed him.
"You are not what happened to you. You are you in spite of it and you are my favorite person in the whole world, besides our daughter".
"Darling, I'm telling you right now, you, Jana, and Max, are all the family I need".
He kissed her a few times.
Jana started to whimper.
"You better get used to seeing Daddy kiss Mommy princess. It's his favorite thing to do".
Just then, Max and Stephen came in.
"Hi, Pa!"
"Well, you look so much better than when I saw you a few hours ago".
"I feel better".
He pulled up a chair and sat next to her.
"Pa, this is your granddaughter".
She handed Jana to Stephen.
"Well hello there, sweet girl. You are so pretty".
He looked at Jennifer.
"Does she have a name yet?"
"She does. Jennifer can explain that".
"Ok, so I knew that I wanted it to start with a J, and I wanted his family to be represented somehow, our family to be represented somehow. And then I wanted him to be represented and for me to be represented. So, I had an employee at Jonathan's firm investigate him and his birth family, in secret. And I discovered that Jonathan's mother and maternal grandmother both had the middle name Joanna. So, since I wanted it to be unique, I took the first two letters of Grandma Jane's first name and the last two letters of his grandmother's middle name and came up with Jana. I wanted mom to be in there somewhere and I wanted me to be in there somewhere, so that was easy. Suzanne. His mom's first name was Charlotte and Jonathan's middle name is Charles, the male form of Charlotte, so…Charlotte. She is Jana Charlotte Suzanne Hart".
"What a beautiful name for a beautiful girl. Good job, sweetheart".
"Max, we didn't get to put you in there, but we still love you just as much and you are definitely her granddad".
"That's ok, Mrs. H. Elmer Maxwell doesn't leave much to work with".
Jennifer and Jonathan cracked up and were laughing so hard they could hardly breathe.
Stephen chimed in.
"Can someone tell me what's going on?"
After they stopped laughing, they looked at Max.
"We weren't laughing at you Max, honest. Pa, throughout my pregnancy, instead of tossing around possible baby names, we got on a kick where we tossed around impossible names. I would try to find ones that I knew he would hate, and he did the same for me. And Elmer was one of them. So, I guess you were represented after all, Max".
"Now you know why I go by Max".
Stephen looked at the baby.
"Mommy and Daddy are nuts, you know. Absolutely nuts".
He looked at Jennifer.
"Did you pick a boy name the same way?"
"Yes. Jonathan's dad and grandfather were Jason Christopher and James Conner. So I figured we would either go Jonathan Charles Hart, Jr. or we would go Jennings, after you, and Carter after Mom's dad and he would have been Jennings Carter Edwards Hart, and we would have called him Jay".
Stephen looked at the baby.
"One thing you need to know about your mommy is that she loves tradition. You are probably going to be her favorite tradition".
The nurse came and filled out the paperwork for the birth certificate.
"So she was born on November 18 at 5:02 a.m. She weighed 5 pounds 10 ounces and was 20 inches long. Does she have a name?"
"Jana-j-a-n-a Charlotte Suzanne Hart".
She finished asking them questions and then left.
The baby started to really cry, so Stephen gave her back to Jennifer.
She draped a blanket over her chest and tried to get the baby to breastfeed. After a couple tries, she latched on and started to eat.
"Darling, can you hand me that horseshoe shaped pillow, please?"
They wedged the boppy under the baby and Jennifer leaned back and let her eat.
"Ok darling, Jonathan, sweetpea, I'm going to head back to my hotel. I'll come see you tomorrow".
"Thanks, Pa. We love you".
"I love you too".
He kissed her cheek and shook hands with Jonathan.
"Pa, what do you want Jana to call you?"
"Well, I have a name in mind. But I'm going to defer to Max and let him pick first".
"I already picked, Mr. Edwards. I'm Pops".
"Wonderful. I will be Poppy".
"Poppy, I like that".
Max stayed a little longer and then said his goodbyes.
"I'll be back tomorrow."
"Say goodnight Pops, see you tomorrow".
He shook her foot and kissed Jennifer on the cheek.
"Mr. H., you coming home tonight?"
"No, I'm staying here with Jennifer and Jana. Would you mind going and picking us up a meal from La Scala?"
"Certainly".
"Chicken Scaloppini with extra artichokes for me, Max, with a garden salad on the side. Lemon Pecan dressing".
"And Chicken Parmesan for me, Max".
"I'll be right back".
Jennifer took the drape off after he left and laid it next to her.
"Darling, do you want her to go to the nursery tonight, or stay in here?"
"I want her in here."
"Good, me too".
She finished feeding her and then pushed the button for the nurse.
When the nurse came in, she handed the baby to Jonathan.
"Hi. Do you mind helping me get up and go to the bathroom?"
"Certainly. Let me get everything you will need in the bathroom".
She showed her how to use everything and then helped her walk in there.
"I feel swollen".
"I was part of your delivery team. You didn't swell as much as you stretched. Sitting on Ice packs will help that".
The nurse helped her up and she poked her head out at Jonathan.
"Darling are you ok if I take a shower?"
"Sure. She's fast asleep".
"I won't be long, I promise".
She took a quick shower and then came out and put her pajamas on.
The nurse brought her an ice pack to sit on and helped her into bed.
"Are you in any pain?"
"Not really. I feel sore more than anything".
"Good, good".
"I'm absolutely starving".
"Max should be here soon".
She climbed into bed and he handed her the baby and then got up to change into his pajamas.
As soon as Jana was back in Jennifer's arms, she opened her eyes.
"Oh darling, her eyes are beautiful".
"Are they brown like yours?
"No, they aren't. And they aren't blue like yours either. They are sort of a greenish-gray".
"Does your dad have green eyes?"
"No, he has brown, like me".
Just then, Max came in.
"Max! Jana has your eyes!"
"That's impossible, Mrs. H. My eyes are like a greenish-gray. Ain't nobody else on earth has my eyes".
"Well, your grandchild does. Don't believe me, come see for yourself".
He held the baby while Jonathan and Jennifer ate and talked to her some.
"Now, here's what you need to know. When Mommy says no, go ask Daddy. He'll probably say yes. But if he don't, come see Pops. I'll always say yes".
"Excuse me, when mommy says no, that's final".
"Like I said, come ask Pops".
He kept talking to her about various things and Jennifer was tickled to watch them together.
After they were done eating, Max handed the baby back to Jennifer and told them all goodnight.
"Night Max".
"Night Max".
Jennifer and Jonathan just stared at Jana and talked to her about all kinds of things till she cried to eat again.
Jennifer fed her and got her back to sleep, and then swaddled her and Jonathan put her in the Isolette.
They got comfy in bed as much as they could.
"Darling, I hope you are ok with me having Stanley investigate your family".
"Of course I'm ok. I have looked several times myself and I tried to get the nuns to tell me, but they wouldn't. Stanley is amazing, he found out information that I've been after for years, and I love you for thinking about it. Our daughter's name is so special because we did this".
"I had him do something else too".
"What's that?"
"Well, I wanted to make sure that we weren't overlapping, and it was just you and me and your family and my family represented. So, I had him investigate Elliott. Darling, did you know his real name is Albert Elliott?"
"Yikes".
"I know. And I made sure that none of the names in his family were in our daughter's name".
"Great job, Mommy".
He kissed her a few times.
"Darling, it's important to me to know what happened. Can you tell me?"
"Well, it's like I said. She was born and then you passed out, and then your heartrate started to drop. Fast. So they kicked me out, sent in lots of people and then Susan came to the hallway. And she had me consent to your surgery and she said that you probably had an infection in the uterus. So they let me kiss you goodbye and tell you that I love you, and then they whisked you away. I guess it was a couple hours later that they came and told me you were ok. She said you had an infection like she thought and she cleaned it out. She didn't have to do a hysterectomy like she thought but because of this, you and I might not ever be able to have another child. And she said you had a reaction to penicillin, and can't ever take that again, and that's why you slept so long, because they gave you a sleep medicine to help you recover. So, as soon as they let me, I came in here and held your hand and told you that I loved you and that you needed to come back to us, because I don't have a clue of what to do with a girl without you. And they said the first 24 hours were critical. And it scared me to death. There's not much I can't handle, you know that. But thinking of a life without you hits me in the gut. I don't like that. We just found each other, we can't lose each other yet. And then your dad got here, so I walked him down to see Jana and then we came back and sat with you all day".
"I'm so lucky to have you. And I might be a little biased, but I think we made one absolutely gorgeous daughter".
"I agree".
He kissed her and held her till she fell asleep, and then fell asleep himself.
They slept till Jana woke up, and she fed her again, and changed her diaper and then they all went back to sleep.
***The next morning***
Jonathan got up and went to get them breakfast.
When he came back, Jennifer was feeding Jana.
"Hi gorgeous".
"Hi handsome".
"Hi princess, wanna switch?"
"Jonathan!"
"Glad to see you retained your sense of humor, darling".
They ate when Jana was back in the isolette asleep.
Right after they finished, Susan came in.
"Well, you look much better today than you did last night".
"I feel better too".
"Ok, so the serious things-you have an allergy to penicillin. I cannot tell you what to do, but I can tell you this. When we gave you some in the OR, your heart stopped. I cannot recommend that you take it ever again".
"I won't".
"How are you feeling, otherwise?"
"I'm fine. I slept on an ice pack all night and that really helped".
"Good, good. How is she feeding?"
"Perfect. She latches on and goes to town every time".
"Good. Try to switch boobs each time if you can".
"Will that prevent sagging?"
"Um, no. But it will make it so that you sag evenly".
"Got it".
She checked the baby out and declared her to be perfect.
"Does she have a name?"
"Jana. Jana Charlotte Suzanne Hart".
"Beautiful".
"Ok, I will discharge you this afternoon, provided you are still doing well and she passes the seatbelt test. And I want to see her in two weeks, and you in 4".
"Got it".
Jennifer got up and walked around some and packed up their things.
Jonathan called Deanne to tell her that everything was ok and that they were going home.
"No press, please. So far, nobody has caught wind of it".
"You got it, Mr. H."
Jana passed her seatbelt test with flying colors, so they were discharged around 5.
After they got all their stuff together and everyone was in the car, he turned to look at her.
"Where do you want to go now?"
"Home".
"You got it".
He drove them home and Max came and helped them all inside.
Jennifer got settled into the recliner with the baby.
Jonathan left a few things for the baby downstairs and took the rest upstairs and then came back down to the living room.
"Can I get you anything?"
"No, darling. For the first time in a long time, everything is absolutely, positively perfect".
He leaned down and kissed her.
"I agree".
"I love you, Mr. Hart".
"I love you, too Mrs. Hart".