Changes Ch 16
Toby was sitting with CJ on the bed the next
morning when Sam came in.
“Sorry to bother you. But Leo didn’t think Toby
should be alone today.” Sam said. “I just wanted to
let you know I’m here and I’ll be in the waiting room
on the floor.”
“Thanks Sam.” Toby said.
Toby turned back to CJ. “It’s going to be fine. You
are both going to be fine.”
“I still don’t know if I made the right decision.”
“You did.”
The orderlies came in to take CJ to the OR to have a
C-section.
“Here Toby.” CJ said pulling her engagement ring and
wedding band off her finger and handing them to him.
“Keep these until this over with.”
He took them from her. “I love you.” He whispered
bending to kiss her.
“Love you too.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Toby was sitting in the waiting room with Sam. He
glanced at the clock on the wall.
“I swear that clock is going backwards.” He said,
rolling the rings he held in his hand.
“It’s not been that long.” Sam said.
“Please don’t try to placate me.”
“Okay. What’s in your hand?”
“What?”
“What are you holding in your hand?”
“CJ’s engagement ring and wedding band. She handed
them to me when they came to take her to the OR.”
“Cause she can’t wear them while she’s under the
anesthetic?”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“She’s going to be okay, and so is the baby.”
“I just wish they would get it over with.”
“It’s not been as long as you think it has.”
“Yeah.”
“What are you going to name her?”
“We narrowed it to three names. We’re waiting till
she’s born to decide.”
“What were the names?”
“Rachel Elizabeth, Marina Diane, and Meghan Rebecca.”
“I like all of them.”
“So did we.”
“Toby.” Dr. Santos said as she came into the waiting
room.
“How are they?”
“Claudia is in recovery. She made it through the
procedure just fine. Dr. Phillips expects her
heartbeat to return to normal in the next 72 hours.
You have a four pound twelve ounce daughter, who is in
the nursery now. Would you like to see her?”
“Yeah.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Would you like a drink of water, Claudia?” CJ heard
the nurse in recovery ask her as she woke up.
“Yeah.” She said softly. The nurse held the straw
to CJ’s lips and she drank some of the water. “Are
you feeling nauseous?”
“No. How is my baby?”
“She’s in the nursery.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Toby was sitting in CJ’s room when they brought her
back. After she had gotten back into the bed, she
asked. “Have you seen her?”
“Yeah.”
“She’s okay?”
“She’s just fine. There’s nothing wrong. She’s very
small, but she’s healthy. Oh, and she’s very
beautiful just like her mother.”
“I want to see her.”
“The nurse told me they’ll bring her here in about
half an hour.”
“Okay, and she’s fine?”
“Yes, she’s fine.”
“What did they tell you about me?”
“You’re going to be fine too.”
“Have you decided what you think we should name her?”
“Yeah.”
“What?”
“I want to wait and see if you agree with me.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CJ looked up when the door opened. She saw the nurse
wheeling the crib into the room.
“I understand this is the first time you’ve seen your
daughter Mrs. Ziegler.”
“Yes.” CJ replied softly.
“You can keep her in here for an hour.” The nurse
said as she placed the baby in CJ’s arms.
“Oh, Toby, you were right she is so tiny. Look at
her fingers. Hi, little one I’m your mommy.”
“She’s already met her daddy.” Toby said watching
his wife and daughter with tears in his eyes.
“We can’t keep calling her she or her.”
“No, what do you want to name her?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was about six o’clock that night when Sam, Josh,
and Leo walked into the room.
“Hey, Claudia Jean.” Josh said.
“You’ve got the baby with you.” Sam said.
“Let me look at her.” Leo said bending over CJ and
the baby. “She’s beautiful.”
“Yeah she is.” Josh and Sam agreed.
“What is her name?” Leo asked.
“Meghan Rebecca Ziegler.” Toby replied.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Toby sat down on the bed next to CJ, after Leo and
the others had left.
“She really is beautiful, isn’t she?” CJ said.
“Yeah, she is.” Toby agreed.
“Have you held her yet?”
“No, I just saw her through the nursery window. And
she was in the incubator when I went into the
nursery.”
“What was she doing in an incubator?”
“They put her in the incubator for a few minutes.
She’s fine.”
“Would you like to hold your daughter?”
“Yeah, I would.”
CJ handed Meghan to Toby. As he was holding Meghan,
CJ laid her head against his shoulder.
“It amazes me how tiny she is.” Toby said.
“I know, it does me too. I was thinking that her
feet should be bigger.”
“I noticed the look on your face when you were
looking at her feet for the first time. She did kick
you a lot.”
“They definitely felt bigger. I’m going to be
shocked if she doesn’t turn out to be a soccer
player.”
Toby laughed and kissed CJ’s forehead. A few minutes
later a nurse came in to take Meghan to the nursery
for the night.
“You should go home and get some rest.” CJ said to
Toby a little while later.
“No, I’m staying with you.”
“You’ve been here two weeks. You need to rest.”
“I’m not leaving, and that’s final.”
“Okay.”
“You know I forgot something earlier today.” Toby
said.
“What?” CJ asked.
“To give these back to you.” Toby replied and took
her engagement ring and wedding band from his pocket.
“Yeah you did.”
“While you were in surgery, I was holding these in my
hand. I couldn’t help but think of when I put them on
your finger the first time.” Toby said as he put both
rings back on her finger. He then brought her hand to
his lips and kissed it.
“Well they are back where they belong now.”
“Yes they are. I love you CJ.”
“I love you too.” CJ replied and kissed him. She
then laid her head back on his shoulder again.
“You like to do that don’t you?” Toby said.
“Do what?” CJ asked.
“Lay your head on my shoulder.”
“Yeah, I do. I like being close to you.”
Toby tightened his arm around her and gently pulled
her closer to him. “That better?” He asked.
“Yeah.”
“You should go to sleep. It’s been a long day.” Toby
said and kissed the top of CJ’s head.
“I am tired.”
“Go to sleep. I’ll be right here when you wake up.”
to be continued...