28. Bertie
BERTIE
“Stop crying,” I beg Rosie. “You’re making me cry.”
She rocks my son in her arms. “I can’t help it. He’s so freaking cute.”
Daire stands beside her, his hand hovering softly against her waist. “I’d be happy to give you one.”
“Shut up,” she says playfully. “We have Sammy. Give it a few years.”
“Are you sure you want to wait that long?” He teases and she glowers at him.
Luke comes out of the bathroom and takes in Rosie’s tears as well as mine. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” I dry my eyes with the bed sheet since I can’t reach a tissue. “It’s Rosie’s fault.”
“It is,” she sniffles. “He’s just so cute and my bestie is a mom now.”
Luke looks like he doesn’t know quite what to do with our emotional selves. I’m not sure I can blame him.
He adjusts the bottom of his t-shirt and as sad as I am to see his chest disappear, I’m sure he’s relieved to finally have clothes to change into.
Daire and Rosie also brought us food which I’m grateful for since the hospital food turned out awful and I barely touched it before they arrived. Luke unpacks the bag of food and gives me mine before he settles back into the chair beside me with his own meal.
“We have to move to Nashville,” Rosie tells her husband. “Sammy and this little one need to grow up together.”
“We’re not that far,” he sighs, but when he grabs his phone out of his pocket and focuses on the screen I can’t help but wonder if he’s looking at real estate.
“Speaking of,” Rosie looks our way, “does this little one have a name yet?”
I shake my head. “Not yet.” I feel my face warm with embarrassment.
I know baby names can be a big deal to other girls, with many picking out names when they’re young, but it was never something I thought about.
I feel like I should’ve prioritized it more in my pregnancy, but I was so overwhelmed with the idea of being a mom and taking care of a child that picking a name kept falling to the bottom of the list.
“That’s okay,” Rosie says. “You have time.”
I nearly choke on my tongue. The nurse mentioned I’d be released in the morning, but the baby needs a name first, so the countdown is on.
“Luke says he has a plan for the name.”
Bouncing the baby in her arms, she levels my … whatever he is to me, with an inquisitive look. “Care to share with the class?”
He shakes his head. “No, this is for Bertie.”
“Interesting,” she muses.
“Can I hold the baby now?” Daire asks.
“No.” She holds the baby closer to her chest. “Go sit on the couch and look pretty.”
He rolls his eyes at her antics but does as she says. It’s been hilarious watching the playboy become totally whipped by my best friend over the past year.
“I hope I didn’t mess up your day yesterday.”
Rosie levels me with a glare scorching enough to strike me from this earth. “You didn’t mess up anything. I can’t believe you’d think that.”
“Besides,” Daire adds, “it’s not like you squatted on the dancefloor and gave birth right there.”
Luke chokes on his breakfast sandwich.
“Oh, God.” I cover my face. “I feel like I practically did.”
“Who cares. All that matters is that this little one is here now.” Rosie traces her finger over the baby’s nose.
I’ve really got to figure out a name for him. Calling my son the baby is embarrassing. It’s going to be a blast explaining to him as he gets older that not only did I deliver him in the car, but we didn’t have a name yet either.
I’ve only eaten a few bites of my own sandwich when he starts to fuss with hunger.
Sighing, I open my arms, “He’s always hungry, I swear.
” Rosie passes him to me, and I quickly settle him against my breast. Rosie surprises me when she picks up the sandwich and holds it out so I can take a bite.
I smile in appreciation after I’ve chewed and swallowed. “Thank you.”
“Mama’s gotta eat too.” She rubs my shoulder affectionately. “I’m so happy for you.”
“I was so scared.” I say it like a confession, but I think everyone in this room knows how terrified I was for this. “But I’m happy.”
I swear out of the corner of my eye I see Luke’s shoulders ease from their tensed position.
Rosie helps me finish eating and takes the baby from me once he’s fed and burps him, giving him some more snuggles before she reluctantly passes him to Daire.
Daire’s smile is blinding as he holds the baby. “I want like ten of these.”
Rosie sounds like she chokes on her own saliva. “You’ve got to stop saying that.”
He shrugs, still looking at the baby. “I like being a dad.”
She shakes her head and looks at me, mouthing, “Never. Not ten.”
I give a tired laugh in response.
They stay for another thirty or so minutes before they say their goodbyes and leave. Then it’s just the three of us again. It’s strange, this realization that I’m never going to be alone again. I’m always going to have this little person around.
Luke stands and goes over to his bag. He returns to my side and plops down a shoebox sized thing in front of me. I’m so taken by surprise that it takes me a moment to realize that it’s a miniature toy capsule machine.
“What is this?” I ask, nearly choking in surprise.
“How we’re going to pick the baby’s name. Seems appropriate, right?”
“This is insane but also the cutest thing ever.” Great, there I go crying again. My hormones are a wreck.
Luke’s eyes widen in worry. “Why are you crying? Was this a bad idea?”
“No.” I sniffle, wiping my nose on the back of the hand. “It’s perfect.”
He exhales a sigh of relief. “Good.” He pulls a coin out of his pocket and holds it out for me. “I wrote down all five names we narrowed it down to and since we couldn’t pick, I thought we’d let fate decide if you’re okay with that.”
Nodding, I take the offered coin from him. My heart begins to race slightly.
I slide it into the slot and turn. A ball comes bouncing out and Luke catches it before it can go across the room. He hands it to me. My breath catches as I grasp the plastic little ball.
I can’t believe he thought of this. It’s unconventional, but it seems like the perfect way to choose the name since we’re undecided.
Before I pop the lid off, he asks, “Are there any of the names you’ll be disappointed to find in there?”
I shake my head. “No, I like all of the ones we narrowed it down to.”
He nods. “All right, let’s see what it is.”
My heart races a little faster. Popping the plastic yellow lid off, I grab the folded piece of paper.
“Do you want to open it?” I ask him.
“No, this is for you.” He stands at my side, his hand on my shoulder where his thumb rubs in slow circles against the spot where my pulse races.
Unfolding the paper, I smile when I see the name. “It’s perfect.”
“Yeah,” he kisses the side of my head. “It is.”