Chapter 34 – Liam
Molly’s delivery was nothing short of chaotic. By the time we made it to the hospital in Great Falls, she was already eight centimeters dilated. When the doctor informed her it was too late for an epidural, I genuinely thought she was going to rip his head off.
She barely made it through check-in and into the delivery room before it was time to push.
I held her hand through every contraction, just like I promised I would. I did whatever I could to ease the pain—ran my hands through her hair, rubbed her back, whispered encouragement—anything that might help. I had never seen someone so strong or so brave in my life.
Everyone agreed he looked just like me, which terrified me slightly if I’m being honest. I hoped he grew up to have more of my good qualities than my bad ones.
Holding him for the first time was an experience I will never be able to explain. It was like the world around me stopped spinning, the world only focused on this tiny baby that could easily fit in the palm of my hands.
Watching them lay him on Molly’s chest was just as emotional. The second they did, something shifted in her. She went straight into mom mode—checking him over, holding him close, whispering to him like she was already promising to protect him for the rest of his life.
And I knew she would.
Once he finally arrived, it felt like I could breathe again. He was healthy. Molly was healthy.
For the first time in what felt like forever, everything was right in the world again.
Now, instead of a sterile hospital room, I was standing on the back porch of Molly and my house, holding our son close to my chest as he napped.
Molly was inside, finally getting a much-deserved nap after being up every few hours last night nursing the chunky boy.
I walked down the porch steps slowly, careful not to make too much movement and wake him. I learned pretty quickly that a tired baby is a cranky baby.
The early spring sun warmed my back as I wandered around the yard, showing the little nugget pressed against my chest his new home—his forever home.
“This,” I whispered, nodding toward the coop, “is where your momma’s chickens sleep at night. I have no idea why she loves those wild animals so much, but we keep them around because she says so.”
I shifted him slightly and looked toward the greenhouse. “And that’s where your momma keeps her garden. She’s pretty good at it. Grows a mean tomato and cabbage. One day you’ll get to eat them… just not anytime soon.”
I glanced down at him with a small grin. “Everything you need right now is currently sitting in your momma’s chest. I’m eagerly waiting to get access to that again someday—but I guess I can share for now.”
A quiet laugh rumbled out of me.
After a few more slow steps, I made my way back inside, deciding that was enough sun for now.
“This is where your momma does all her baking,” I continued as I walked through the kitchen. “Honestly, I’m surprised you didn’t come out as one giant lemon bar with how many of those she craved while you were in her belly.”
I made my way down the hall and into the nursery.
I stopped in front of the watercolor paintings my mom had done—each one hanging perfectly in a row along the wall.
Beneath them sat a cushioned rocking chair.
I picked up the book Molly had bought—the one she told me the quote in my mom’s painting had come from.
Settling into the chair, I opened it and began to read softly while our son slept peacefully against my chest.
“I’ll love you forever, I’ll like you for always, as long as I’m living, my baby you’ll be.”