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“He’s beautiful, Minnie. Our son, he’s perfect, just like I knew he’d be. You did so well, baby. I’m so proud of you. I love you.”

I rest my head on the side of the bed, holding my wife’s hand as I drift into a peaceful sleep, knowing the two loves of my life are safe.

CECILIA

I wake up to blinding sunlight and something heavy on my arm. I’m disoriented, and my head is pounding and feels tight. My entire body hurts like I’ve been run over by a train. Where am I? What happened?

I blink a few times as sound and vision come back to me. First a beeping, then a white and beige room. I look around, noticing the monitor to my left and balloons, flowers, and gifts littering every surface of the room.

Hospital. I’m in a hospital. Why?

I try to lift my right arm, but it feels glued to the bed. When I look down, I find my husband’s head leaning on it. I smile at his huge form sitting in a too small chair beside me, holding on to me even in his sleep.

I love this man.

I bring my left hand down to rest over my belly out of habit, wanting to cradle my son, but something’s wrong. When my hand settles, I wince at the pain, then realize my stomach is no longer big and round.

Panic spreads inside of me as I rip the cover off me and lift my gown. It hurts to move, but I need to see. A big bandage covers the lower part of my abdomen, and everything comes back to me.

The truck, the car crash. My baby.

“Oh, God! Oh, no. Please, please, not my baby...”

Silas wakes up at the sound of my cries. “Hi, baby,” he says, smiling.

How can he be smiling right now? How can he be happy when my baby is gone? Our baby.

Tears run down my face while I look frantically around the room for a crib. A sign that he’s here, something. Anything. But I come up empty .

I look back down at my stomach and press down on it roughly, crying at the pain when I put too much pressure. It feels like my stomach was ripped open. “No, no, no... please, no.”

Silas jumps from his seat in a hurry, grabbing my wrists. “Baby, stop! You’ll hurt yourself. He’s okay! He’s safe.”

I stop trying to fight out of his hold and look up into my husband’s eyes. “He’s okay?” It comes out strained and sounds nothing like me.

“Yeah, he’s okay. I was just with him an hour ago. He’s just down the hall in the NICU. He needs a little help and monitoring for now, but I promise you, he’s doing so well,” he tells me, gliding his thumbs back and forth over my pulse lines.

The fear drains from my body instantly as I take in his words. He’s safe. My baby is safe. “Oh, thank God!” I throw my head back to the bed and instantly regret it, my head throbbing twice as much. “Ow...” I squeeze my eyes shut, hoping it will lessen the pain.

“How are you feeling?” Silas asks from above me. I open my eyes and look at his beautiful face filled with worry.

“Everything hurts...”

“I’ll get a nurse, see if they can give you something for the pain. Do you remember what happened?” He strokes the side of my face.

I nod my head slightly. “There was a car accident. A truck came out of nowhere. I wasn’t paying attention, and then it was just there.”

“It doesn’t matter if you weren’t paying attention. From what the police report says, the truck’s brakes stopped working and he ran a red light. It wasn’t your fault. You did nothing wrong. You were so strong through it all, only a few tiny cuts and scars, but that’s it.”

I bring my arms up, needing to feel him in my arms. He leans in, keeping his weight off my sore body, and wraps his arms behind my back as I sit up slightly. I hear him sniffle into the crook of my neck, emotions getting the best of him.

“I was so scared, Minnie. I thought I’d lost you... I thought I’d never get to see you again, or hear your beautiful voice... I thought I lost both of you...” He sounds completely shattered, heartbroken even though I’m right here in his arms.

But I get it, because the thought of losing him crushes my soul.

“Shh, it’s okay. I’m right here, I’m not going anywhere.” I pull back and take his face between my palms. “I could never leave you, Silas. You’re my forever.” I bring my lips to his and lay a delicate kiss filled with love on his lips.

We rest our foreheads together, breathing each other in, needing to feel each other. When we finally pull apart and I open my eyes, I take in all the gifts around the room. “Who are they all from?”

“Everyone. The girls, my family, the team, friends. Even some from fans, we made the news again.” He laughs sarcastically, which makes me giggle.

It seems New Years is our day where everything happens. The good and the bad. But the best part of that day is that the two most important men in my life, the two men I love the most in this world, were born.

“I named him,” Silas says quietly.

“You did?” I frown. We hadn’t chosen a name yet because none really spoke to us.

He nods, then bites his lip. He’s nervous, afraid I won’t like it. “Dante.”

“Dante?” It’s cute, I like it. But it wasn’t on our list. I wonder what made him choose it.

“It means everlasting. Eternal, Minnie. Just like our love,” he whispers, cupping my cheek in one hand.

“Oh, Silas.” I capture his lips to mine. A promise of eternal love through our kiss.

Dante.