You're Beautiful To Me

When we get to the hospital the paramedics have already given me my injections so I'm ready for surgery and I feel out of it, everything from the neck down feeling like it's not there anymore. "Frankie" I call out panicked and he grabs my hand but I can't hold his back, my co ordination severely compromised. "Don't leave me" I beg, terrified that he won't be allowed in with me. "Never baby, I'll be right here the whole time." They rush me inside, Frank walking beside me, never breaking his grip on my hand and I'm rushed up to the operating room ready for me where the doctor and nurses are waiting. "Baby I gotta let go to put these scrubs on ok but I'm right here and I'll keep talking the whole time, just keep breathing baby everything is just fine" he tells me, continuing to talk while they set up their equipment and he pulls the scrubs on over his clothes. Once they're ready Frank takes my hand in his and squeezes gently while his other hand cards through my hair and the doctor says "Ok, we're starting now." I feel a hot sensation in my stomach but no pain and I relax back, keeping my eyes locked on Franks. "You're so incredible baby, can't believe I'm so lucky to have you. Thank you so much for giving me our special little girl. Love you so much" he tells me softly and I say "Is she ok? Can you see her?" And Frank takes a step down and leans around the dividing sheet that's blocking my view. "Oh..." He exclaims, trailing off and when he looks back at me he has tears in his eyes as he says "She's perfect baby" right before I hear a scream and then crying. A wide smile stretches across my face at the sound of my baby girl crying for the first time and the doctor says "You want to cut the cord dad?" Franks eyes widen and he nods, letting go of my hand and walking around where I can't see. A minute later the nurse brings the baby up and lays her on my bare chest, her little face immediately rubbing against my skin as he little hands are curled into fists and I gasp, shocked at how tiny she is. "Wow" I whisper to myself as I slowly bring one arm up to touch her back. Frank comes over and beams down at us before leaning in and kissing my forehead and saying "Thank you so much baby." We smile at each other as we both start to cry and the nurse comes over to take her again, leaving the room with her to perform some tests while the doctor stitches me up. Once I'm cleaned up and helped into a hospital gown the baby is brought back in, her little blue eyes staring around at everything and the nurse hands her to Frank. He carefully sits in the chair beside the bed and grabs the bottle of formula the nurse brought in and brings it to her mouth, her little eyes slipping closed as she suckles on the bottle. Frank and I watch amazed as she eats until her movements stop and she's asleep, her little chest rising and falling beneath the blanket she's wrapped in. I hold my hands out and Frank gently stands up and lays her in my arms and I cuddle her to my chest, letting her sleep. "She's so beautiful" I whisper and Frank leans in to kiss me on the lips before saying "She gets that from you baby." We share another smile before I say "What should we name her? We never really decided on anything." Frank stares at her for a second before saying "What are you thinking?" "Annabelle? And I was thinking Linda for her middle name cause..." "Wow, really?" "Yeah, I know you miss your mom and I'd really like it if we could have part of her name as..." "Thank you thank you thank you" he cuts me off, kissing me inbetween words and I giggle at the action, the baby stirring against my chest and making a small noise. "So Annabelle Linda Iero?" I nod and he smiles and says "I love it baby." "Really?" I ask, a huge smile spread across my face and he nods before kissing me again. A few minutes later the nurse comes in and we tell her the name, watching as she writes it down on the little tag before she attaches it to Annabelle's tiny wrist. After she leaves again Frank takes her from my arms and lays her in her bassinet before sitting beside me again and squeezing my hand. "Uh, we should probably tell people, no one knows yet cause it happened so fast" I tell him and he chuckles before saying "Yeah, you're probably right."

While Frank is outside calling everyone I relax back against the pillows and close my eyes, feeling exhausted and now that the injections from before are wearing off I'm starting to feel the pain of what I've just been through. I'm almost asleep when Annabelle starts to cry and I spend a few minutes trying to get off the bed before stumbling the few steps over to her, wincing in pain at every movement and picking her up, cradling her to my chest and quietly shushing her. "Hey little Anna, no need to cry. Daddy's right here with you" I whisper to her as I gently rock her side to side and her cries die down to a little hiccup and she just stares up at me wide eyed. "There you go precious, no need for all that noise now is there?" I continue to say as I bounce her gently and she makes a small almost shriek like she's agreeing with me and I chuckle down at her. "You're just so damn cute aren't you? You know your other daddy wants to be a tough daddy and have rules but I think once he looks into your big beautiful eyes he's gonna let you have whatever you want cause those beautiful eyes have the power to melt anyone's heart and you're gonna be so spoiled baby." She makes a soft gurgling sound and kicks her little legs out and I chuckle again, like she knows what I'm telling her. "Wow" I hear and when I lift my head to look over I see Frank and Mikey standing in the doorway. I smile over at them and Frank says "You're wrong by the way, I'm totally gonna be the tough dad." Annabelle makes another little noise and kicks her legs again and I laugh as I say "I think she disagrees Frankie." Mikey laughs too as he comes over and looks down at her, smiling wide as he reaches down and touches her tiny hand that she's worked out of the blanket, her little fingers curling around his finger as she stares at him wide eyed. "This is uncle Mikey baby girl. He's gonna spoil you rotten too." "I sure am" he says as I gently hand her to him for a cuddle. "She's so light and tiny." "I know" I tell him as we share a smile and Frank comes over to help me back into bed as Mikey settles in the chair just staring down at her until she falls asleep again.

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