Page 43 of Text Me A Kiss

Epilogue

The sound of a new, young, human baby bawling filled the small room, and it was the most beautiful sound in the world.

“It’s a she.” My arms held my swathed baby girl close, my heart pounding with a tenderness that I had never known could feel so strong. “It’s a she.” Gently, instinctively, my body rocked back and forth and I hummed through the exhaustion and tear tracks that had left salty trails down my cheeks.

“She’s beautiful. You’re both so beautiful.” Graham leaned in and hugged us both so carefully.

“Here.” I moved my arms just slightly away from my body, holding the tiny bundle that was our newborn baby toward her father. “Hold her.”

The man who so often laughed boisterously, swung me off my feet with his strong arms, and shot absolutely withering looks at people who didn’t get things done took our baby girl in his arms, tears glistening in the corners of his eyes. “Sh, sh, shhh,” he crooned, swaying back and forth.

“What do we name her?” How could we possibly give something so special and magical something as mundane as a name? Was it possible to find one that would encompass the love we felt together?

Even our little, wonderful, baby girl paused while Graham thought, her strong little lungs renewing their vocal marking of the world just as he started to speak. “Anna. After your mother?”

“Anna.” The word was a drop of honey, a bright and distant star, and a basket of new and old memories all rolled into the perfect name. “Anna. I love that name. And I love you.”

We shared a kiss, and I couldn’t help but smile. Then, I couldn’t stop smiling.

With Graham and my daughter Anna in my life, I didn’t think I’d be able to stop smiling.