“He’s beautiful.” Emma began crying.
I turned and looked at her and then back at the baby. Besides my wife, I’d never seen anything so beautiful in my life. When I looked back down at Emma, I smiled as I reached down and wiped her tears from her face.
“You did it, Em. He’s breathtaking…like his mother.” I leaned over and kissed her lips gently. I whispered, “I love you, Em.”
She pulled me closer to her and deepened the kiss. As she let me go, she whispered back, “I love you more.”
I walked into the room and stopped immediately. Emma was in bed, holding our son. Seeing the two most important people in my life before my eyes, my heart couldn’t possibly swell up any more.
“Hey,” I said in a hushed voice.
As I walked up to the side of the hospital bed, Emma smiled big. “Hey back. He just finished eating, and he’s out like a light.”
I reached down and kissed her on the forehead and then kissed my son. “Have you given any more thought to his name?” I raised my eyebrow.
I knew Emma was torn between naming our son James or Jack. Jack was my favorite name, and I would love to see my son named after my beloved horse, but James was Emma’s father’s middle name. I could see the indecision on her face.
“You want to know what I think?” I asked.
She smiled. “Of course I do.”
“Once upon a time, a great man had faith in me. He trusted me to do right by his daughter and to love her and treat her like she deserved, being the princess that she was. He gave me a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to better myself, so I would be able to take care of that princess. If it weren’t for this great man, our son wouldn’t be here today. I think we owe it to him to name our first son after him—Charles James Mathews.”
Emma tried to contain the sob, but it escaped her lips, and the moment she closed her eyes, the tears began to slide down her face. I reached over and kissed them away. When I pulled back, she attempted to talk, but she began crying again. Her little body was bouncing up and down as she cried, so I quickly slipped my hands under the baby and picked him up. I held him to my chest as I walked around. I peered down at him. When I looked up, I saw Charles and Maria standing at the door. It wasn’t lost on me that Charles had quickly wiped a tear away before glancing down at Emma.
Maria walked up to me and asked, “May I?”
I chuckled. “Of course. He’s been waiting to meet his grandparents.”
I handed the baby to Maria. She sat down and began speaking baby talk to him as I sat down next to her. Charles was standing next to Emma, talking to her.
He turned around and looked at me, and then he cleared his throat. “Garrett, I heard what you said, and well…I couldn’t be more honored to have you as a son-in-law. Thank you so much for loving my daughter like you do.”
I tried desperately to hold back the tears building in my eyes. This had been an emotional day with the birth of my son and me wishing like hell that my father were here to hold him. With Emma’s dad saying what he had said, it had just about pushed me over the edge.
“Thank you, sir. I’ll love Emma until the day I die.”
He nodded his head and held out his hand. I placed my hand in his to shake it, but he pulled me in for a hug.
He whispered in my ear, “I know you will, and I know how hard this is for you. Your father would have been so proud of you, son.”
And there went the tears.
Charles pulled back and smiled at me as I quickly wiped away my tears.
He slapped his hands together and said, “Now, I don’t think you should call him Charles.”
Emma giggled and said, “What about Jim? It’s short for James.”
I nodded my head and looked at Maria.
She nodded her head and said, “I like it. It gives him his own name in a way.”
Maria stood and walked up to Charles. She placed Jim in his arms.
When I saw the tear slowly moving down his face, my heart stopped briefly. I glanced at Emma, who was now crying again. I walked over to her and leaned down before kissing her gently on the lips.
After Charles and Maria left, my father and mother came in.