THE BABY WAS born at two o’clock in the morning. Tilly sat in the emergency room cubicle in her robe and slippers, her hair in curlers, glaring at the disheveled man across from her who was sitting up, pale-faced, on the examination table thanking the doctor for his new son.
“It’s a boy!” he exclaimed when the doctor moved out of sight. “And Dana’s fine! I can see her as soon as they bring her out of the recovery room!”
“You saw her already,” she muttered at him and cocked an eyebrow at his red face. “Just before you fainted...”
“I never!” he said. “I tripped over that gown they made me wear in the delivery room!”
“The one that only came to your knees?” she asked knowingly. “Dana was laughing so hard, she didn’t even have to push. The baby just popped right out.”
“I’ve had a hectic night,” he began defensively.
“Sure, denying that it was labor pains, right up until her water broke. ‘It’s just false labor, sweetheart, you’re only eight months and three weeks along,’ you said. And there we were, rushing her to the hospital because you were afraid to wait for an ambulance, me in my nightgown, too! And then we no sooner get her into the delivery room when you see the baby coming out and faint dead away!”
He glared at her. “I didn’t faint, I tripped...!”
She opened her mouth to argue just as a nurse peeked around the corner. “Mr. Grant, your wife is asking for you.”
“I’ll be right there.”
“Are you feeling all right now?” she asked.
“I tripped,” he said firmly.
The nurse and Tilly exchanged amused glances, but he didn’t see them. “Yes, sir, I know you did, but we can’t overlook any fall in a hospital.”
“Sure. I knew that.”
He followed the nurse down the hall until she stopped at a private room and stood aside to let him enter.
Dana was sitting up in bed with their son in her arms, tears of pure joy in her eyes as she watched the nurse stuff Hank into a gown and mask.
“Hospital rules,” he muttered.
“Yes, sir, but all for baby’s protection, and we know you don’t mind,” she replied with a grin.
He chuckled. “Of course not.”
She tied the last tie and left him with his small family.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
He nodded. “Just a little shaky, and I did not faint,” he added.
“Of course you didn’t, darling,” she agreed. “Come see what I’ve got.”
She pulled back the flannel and exposed a perfect little boy. His eyes weren’t even open just yet, and he looked tiny.
“He’s going to grow, isn’t he?” Hank asked worriedly.
“Of course he is!”
He touched the tiny head, fascinated. The baby was smaller than he’d expected, so fragile, so new. Tears stung his eyes as he looked at his very own son.
Seconds later, the tiny mouth opened and began to cry. Dana chuckled as she fumbled with the gown and got it off one shoulder, exposing a firm, swollen breast. While Hank watched, spellbound, she guided the tiny mouth to a hard nipple and caught her breath as he began to suckle.
Flushed, she looked up to find an expression of pure wonder on her husband’s face.
“I know we talked about bottle feeding,” she began.
“Forget we said a word,” he replied. He stood over her, his eyes so full of love that they sparkled with it. “I hope you can do that for a year or so, because I love watching it.”
She laughed a little self-consciously. “I love feeling it,” she confessed, stroking the tiny head. “Oh, Hank, we’ve got a baby,” she breathed ecstatically. “A real, live, healthy little boy!”
He nodded. He was too choked for speech.
“I love you.”
He took a steadying breath. “I love you, honey,” he replied. His eyes searched hers hungrily. “With all my heart.”
“My paper husband,” she murmured.
“Remembering?” he teased. “Me, too. But I feel pretty flesh and blood right now.”
“You look it, too.” She drew him down and kissed him through the mask. “Have you forgotten what day it is?”
He frowned. “Well, in all the excitement...”
“It’s your birthday!”
His eyebrows arched. “It is?”
“Yes, it is.” She grinned at him. “Like your present?” she added, nodding toward the baby feeding at her breast.
“I love it,” he returned. “Do I get one of these every year?” he teased.
“I won’t make any promises, but we’ll see.”
“That’s a deal.”
Tilly joined them minutes later, still in her gown and robe with her hair in curlers.
“Good Lord, haven’t you gone home yet?” Hank asked, aghast.
She gave him an amused grin. “How?”
“You could...” He pursed his lips. “No money for a cab, and you can’t drive.”
“Got it.”
He looked sheepish. “I’ll drive you home right now.” He bent and kissed Dana and his child. “I’ll be back as soon as I drop off Tilly. Anything you want me to bring you?”
She nodded. “Strawberry ice cream.”
“I’ll be back in a flash!”
And he was. For years afterward, the small hospital staff talked about the day young Donald Mandel Grant was born, when his proud dad satisfied Dana’s craving for strawberry ice cream by having a truckload of the most expensive made delivered to the hospital. Dana said that it was a shame their baby was too young to enjoy it, but Hank promised that he wouldn’t miss out. Hank had just purchased an ice cream company, and he was waiting for their son’s first birthday party with pure glee!