Page 124 of Julian

“It’s okay, baby,” Kiara said softly as she lifted a hand to touch his cheek. “It’s okay.”

Julian bent close, his head near Kiara’s as they looked at their son. He had a lot of dark hair, which was pressed wetly against his head.

After several minutes, the doctor said, “Do you want to cut the cord, Julian?”

He glanced at Kiara. “Can I?”

“Of course.”

Feeling a bit overwhelmed, Julian moved closer to the doctor and took the scissors she held out to him. He followed the directions and soon the cord was cut.

Over the next several minutes, the doctor continued to work on Kiara, while the nurse carried the baby to a nearby infant warming bed.

“Go with him,” Kiara said as she watched the woman move away from them.

Before he did as she instructed, he turned his attention fully on Kiara and bent down to rest his forehead on hers. “You did so great. I can’t even begin to tell you how amazing you are.”

Emotions were flowing through him in a way that Julian had never experienced before. He felt closer to Kiara than he’d ever felt to another person, and in that moment, he knew that he wanted to keep that closeness.

Though she looked exhausted, she managed a smile for him. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”

Julian appreciated her saying that, but he knew that she would have been strong enough to do it on her own. He was just glad he’d come to his senses, so she hadn’t had to.

Straightening, he went to where the nurse was taking care of the baby and stared down at his son. Hisson.He never would have imagined himself having this moment.

Wanting to capture it, Julian pulled out his phone and took several pictures of the baby while the nurse completed the post-birth routine on him. Once he was all wrapped up, she made like she was going to hand him to Julian.

“Uhhhh.” He took a step back. “I’ve never held a baby before.”

“Then it’s about time you start, Daddy.”

Returning his phone to his pocket, he allowed the nurse to place the baby in his arms. She guided him back to the bed where Kiara waited, her eyes shining as she smiled at them.

“Here’s your mommy, little guy,” he said, shifting close to give the baby to Kiara.

She took him with more ease than Julian had and bent to kiss the knit cap that now covered his head. “Welcome to the world, baby.”

“Did you decide on a name for him?”

Kiara looked up at him and smiled. “His name is Theodore Julian Burke.”

Julian stared at her. “You’re naming him after me?”

“Yes. Unless you’d rather that I didn’t.”

“No, that’s fine,” Julian said. “I just… I never thought you’d consider that.”

“I thought we could call him Theo or TJ.”

“I like TJ,” Julian said, pulling out his phone again. “Can I take a picture to send to Angela?”

She nodded, but before he could do that, the nurse came and offered to take a picture of the three of them.

“Do you want me to let the family know he’s here?” Julian asked. “Or did you want to wait?”

“You can let them know,” she said. “And maybe let Lucy know, too.”

When the nurse mentioned she was going to help Kiara get the baby latched on to nurse, Julian excused himself from the room. He wasn’t sure that Kiara would be comfortable with him being around while that was going on.