“Ow.”
I tensed. “Are you okay?”
Aideen nodded but continued to wince. “It hurts a little, but it’s okay. Branna said that some pain was normal.”
I pressed my face to the side of hers, and we both looked down as our son fed for the first time. I heard a little click but didn’t look up. I heard some movement, then the sound of a shutter caught my attention. I looked up and saw Branna smiling apologetically as she tucked her phone into her trouser pocket.
“Sorry, it was too perfect of a moment not to capture.”
I smiled and looked back down at my son.
“How is everythin’?” Branna whispered.
Aideen smiled. “Perfect.”
“Branna,” I murmured. “He latched on.”
“Brilliant,” she beamed as she moved closer. “Are ye’ feelin’ okay, Aideen?”
Aideen silently bobbed her head. I looked down at the baby and noticed he unlatched and smacked his lips together a few times, before just lying on his mom’s chest in a baby drunk daze.
“Your colostrum must taste good.” I chuckled. “Look at him.”
Aideen brush a fiver over his nose. “I love ‘im so much.”
“Me too, babydoll.”
“Put ‘im in his Moses basket,” Branna instructed me, “and we’ll get ‘er out of the pool. I want her dried and into warm clothes as soon as possible. I don’t want ‘er to catch a bug; she’s very vulnerable right now.”
I sprang into action as I climbed out of the birthing pool. I very carefully placed our son in his bassinet that was by Aideen’s side of the bed. I walked back to the pool, and with Branna’s help, we got Aideen up and out of the birthing pool. She could walk, but she was tender, so I supported most of her weigh to ease some of her discomfort. Branna went and got a basin of hot water and both of us washed Aideen down with a sponge. It was only brief, but it made Aideen feel better. She rested against me when I wrapped a large towel around her and gently rubbed her dry.
I quickly dried off, then pulled on clean boxers and a pair of sweatpants. Aideen lay on the bed so Branna could thoroughly check her vagina for any signs of tearing, and I was glad to hear that there was none. Aideen groaned as she stepped into an unflattering pair of granny panties that had a large maxi pad attached to it, and it made me chuckle. After that, I helped her into a fresh pair of loose pyjamas. I got her a hair tie and held her hips as she tied her hair up into a bun that sat on top of her head. Each action was so simple, so mundane, but I found it incredibly sexy, and I had no idea why.
I could only put down to her strength. She had just pushed a human being out of her body, and while she was exhausted, she looked like she could take on the world. I was blown away by her. She wanted to rest for a while, so I helped her up onto our bed and tucked her in. I heard voices outside, so I opened the bedroom door and saw my brothers, their girlfriends, Aideen’s brothers, and her dad lingering in the hallway. I laughed and shook my head.
I looked at Aideen. “Are you up for some visitors?”
She blinked. “Who’s ’ere?”
“Your father, all your brothers, all my brothers, and all of the girls.”
A smile stretched across Aideen’s face as she bobbed her head. “Of course, they can come in. They’ve waited to see ‘im as long as we have.”
I left the room, walked down the hallway and into the living room where everyone had moved to. The men were either sat down or leaning against a wall. All the women were huddled together, wide smiles on their faces as they spoke a mile a minute.
“Kane!” Bronagh squealed when she caught sight of me. “Congratulations!”
She rushed at me and threw her body at me. I caught her just as her chest collided with mine, and I was carefully of her pregnant belly as I set her gently on the ground. I gave her a warm hug, but she did not release me, and it was then I realised that she was crying. She was always crying, my little bumble bee. Her hormones tortured her.
“Do you ever stop with the waterworks?”
“No,” she replied on a sob.
I laughed, and so did my brothers. Dominic was thoroughly amused by her. I looked at him and found his eyes on Bronagh, and there was so much warmth and love in his gaze that I found myself giving Bronagh another squeeze because I was thankful she was the person to make my brother so happy.
“You’re a daddy!”
“I’m a daddy.”
When she released me, she leaned up on her tiptoes and gave me a big, wet kiss on the cheek.