Chapter 28
Mitch Glover finished gently dripping the warm water onto his son’s head. The baby had absolutely no hair whatsoever, and joy coursed through him in a way he’d never felt before. The baby looked up at him with deep eyes mostly made of pupil, and nothing but love lived inside Mitch.
Everything inside his mind felt noisy, and he wanted to tell the baby how much he loved him.
The nurse at his side handed him a diaper, and Mitch put it on the little boy, being careful of his umbilical cord.
She handed him the onesie that he’d gotten out of the baby bag Lacy had packed, and it took Mitch a few minutes, but he managed to get the floppy infant’s arms and legs into the clothes.
How’s Lacy? he asked, using his phone, as he’d been gone from her side for about thirty minutes now, while they’d done tests on his son and then given him a bath.
The nurse took his phone and typed into it. She’s doing great. You can take him to see your parents, if you’d like, or we can take him back in there to see if he’ll nurse.
Mitch wanted to be able to introduce his son to his parents with a name, and he and Lacy had thought they were having a little girl. He typed out a quick Lacy, and the nurse led him through a maze of white, fluorescently lit halls to a different room, where Lacy now lay in a hospital bed.
Her face brightened as Mitch walked in, their little bundle of joy held tightly in his arms and close to his chest. She reached for him, and Mitch passed the baby to her, and then crowded in beside her and sort of behind her, so she could lean back into his chest. Her voice vibrated through her shoulder, and though Mitch couldn’t hear what she was saying to their son, it comforted him.
She looked up at him and signed with just one hand in slow, stilted ASL. Did you show him to your parents?
Mitch shook his head. He needs a name.
Lacy’s shoulders slumped, and she looked down at the baby again. Something strong, she said. The way your daddy is Cactus and stands sentinel over the family.
Mitch started tapping on his phone, because he’d learned early in life that there was hardly anything he couldn’t figure out on the internet. He hadn’t even been thinking about male names, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to go with something cowboy, something biblical, or something normal.
Mitch had been praying with everything he had since the moment he’d found out Lacy was pregnant the first time that their baby could hear and that he or she would be happy and healthy, even though they had to deal with him as their father.
He typed in his search and then started showing names to Lacy. Caleb—loyalty and courage. Ezra—helper and steadfast.
I like Brooks, he said. Feels rugged and strong.
Lane—quiet strength, he read, and then he saw Knox, and that rang a bell in his heart. He typed it onto a list, knowing that the names in the Glover family meant something and could be a little unusual. He saw Shepherd and Bridger, and liked the symbolism of both of those.
He showed his short list to Lacy, and it included Ezra, Knox, Griffin—a mythic guardian—Shepherd, and Bridger.
She considered the list while their beautiful boy slept in her arms. He didn’t seem too terribly concerned with eating, and Lacy looked good, with plenty of color in her face, as she studied his phone. She looked up and then pointed to Knox, and then Shepherd.
Those are my top two. You choose, she said.
Mitch looked at the phone, but she put her hand over it and he looked up again. She spoke slowly so he could read the words on her mouth—something she rarely made him do.
“I want him to have your name as his middle name.”
Mitch marveled at the perfect way in which Lacy loved him. He let his tears fall again as he looked at the list and tried out the names with his name in the middle.
Knox Mitchell Glover.
Shepherd Mitchell Glover.
Then he erased one and showed it to Lacy. She smiled and nodded, and Mitch tucked his phone into his back pocket and said, I’m going to take him out to meet my Momma and Daddy, but I’ll bring him right back.
Lacy hugged him close and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead. Her mouth moved as she said something to the baby, and then she passed him back to Mitch. He found his way out to the waiting room, where his momma stood only ten feet from the door, watching it.
“Cactus,” she said the moment she saw Mitch, and she started to cry too.
Mitch loved his momma so much, as she had sacrificed and sacrificed for the people around her. Daddy stood up too, both of their eyes wide, somewhat anxious, and yet also crinkled with happiness. Mitch passed the baby to his momma and then signed to Daddy, We named him Shepherd Mitchell Glover.
Daddy wiped his eyes and relayed the message to Momma, who leaned down and whispered something to the baby, and Daddy put his hand on Mitch’s arm, and when their eyes met, he nodded.
Behind him, Mitch turned and found Dr. Marsdon walking toward him with the delivery nurse. She had learned a few words of sign language, but not many—enough to say good news with her hands. And of course, her entire persona radiated it as well.
Still, his heartbeat thrashed against his ribs, though good news shouldn’t make him nervous. Dr. Marsdon smiled at the nurse next to her and then, with slow, stilted signs that were almost correct, she said, “Baby Shepherd is not deaf.”
A sob branched its way out of Mitch’s throat.
Had he just been spared his worst fear? He would have loved his son no matter what, and Mitch did not think he was any less than a hearing person, but it could not be denied that life was easier for those who could hear, and Mitch did not want his son to have to struggle the way he had.
He turned toward his daddy, who received him into his arms and held him tightly while Mitch’s gratitude overflowed and his emotions continued to pour out of him.