Epilogue
“Push, baby, push. You’re doing so great. I see her head,” Lucas mumbled in a terrified whisper.
“Arrrgggggg...” Amy grunted as she used her last remaining strength and gave a final push. She collapsed back against the bed and then heard the sweetest sound imaginable.
The first cry of her beautiful baby girl.
Suddenly the doctor was placing their child on top of her chest and she was looking into the scrunched up face of her daughter throwing her very first temper tantrum.
“She definitely has her daddy’s temperament,” Lucas laughed as he rubbed their daughter from head to toe making sure for himself that she was okay in every way. “I think she’s hungry and letting us all know,” he chuckled.
Even exhausted Amy looked from her husband to her baby girl and felt pride and happiness as her family was growing. She could see the love and pride shining in Lucas’s eyes and it was the most beautiful thing in the world.
“Jasmine would like to have her father hold her now,” Amy said to Lucas. He gently picked her up and held her closely to his chest. The tiny movement of her breathing was the most amazing feeling in the world. The night before, he’d been feeling her kick from the inside of Amy’s stomach. Now he was holding her in his arms.
The doctors quickly cleaned her up and then the three of them transferred rooms. They were there no more than a few minutes when there was a knock at the door.
“Can we come in?” said the subdued voice of her normally booming father-in-law.
“Come in, come in, Dad, meet your very first granddaughter, Jasmine Katherine Anderson,” Lucas said proudly.
Joseph gently took his granddaughter from his son and a tear streamed down his cheek. Things hadn’t turned out badly at all, he thought to himself. He was in a hospital, holding his brand new baby granddaughter and his son was happily married.
His son should be thanking his old father, but Joseph knew better than to ask for any praise for all he’d done to get those kids together. His beautiful granddaughter was all the thanks he needed.
“You two have done really well here,” Joseph said as he smiled from Amy to Lucas. “She’s the most beautiful baby I’ve ever seen in my life,” he continued on.
He reluctantly handed the baby girl to his Katherine and watched a glow come to her face as she sat in the rocker and held the precious gift to her chest and hummed her a lullaby. “We almost got a Christmas baby,” Joseph laughed. It was December twenty third. They all agreed that Jasmine was the perfect gift for the whole family.
“Guess we’ll have to work on giving Jasmine a little brother born on Christmas next year,” Lucas said as he looked at his wife hungrily. She was still the most beautiful thing in the world, even after the hard labor she’d endured.
“Now son, I sure want a ton of grand babies running around that empty old mansion, but you may not want to scare your wife off. It never is a good thing to talk about child number two, when she is still feeling the pain from the first one,” he winked at Amy.
“The pain’s already forgotten Dad. I love this baby girl more than anything in the world and want to make many siblings for her because I love your son so much and that love needs to be shared with the wonderful children I know we will make.” Joseph’s heart enlarged just a bit more at how much he loved his new daughter. He’d asked her to call him dad because he knew she didn’t have one. He truly loved her like she was one of his own kids. Since she was married to his son, she was his family now. He still loved to hear her say it though. He bent down and kissed her cheek.
There was another knock on the door and then Amy’s smile broke out into a huge smile as Tom stepped through the doorway carrying a huge teddy bear, balloons and a large bag of chocolates.
“Tom, I’m so glad you finally got here,” Amy said to her best friend.
“There was an accident on the freeway or I would’ve been here an hour ago,” Tom said as he bent down and kissed her on the cheek.
“Come and meet your God Daughter,” Amy said. Tom’s eyes instantly filled with tears as he took the precious bundle into his arms.
“She’s perfect Amy, just like her mom,” he told her while trying to get his emotions under control. They all visited for about an hour and Amy’s heart was nearly bursting with how much love she had for the people in the room with her.
“You did so good Amy. I’m so very proud of you. We’ll leave you kids alone now,” Joseph said as he helped his wife to her feet.
Katherine walked over to the bed and passed her granddaughter to her mother, where she immediately started to root around for some food. That gave all the people in the room a laugh.
“I love you too mom. I’m so glad you both were here,” Amy choked up. Katherine brushed a kiss across her cheeks and then hand in hand walked out of the room with her husband.
The two of them turned the corner and Joseph’s eyes twinkled. “Well Katherine, one son down, two to go. I like being a grandpa and I’m getting greedy now. I want new babies every year for the next ten years or so,” he stated as if he would indeed get his wish.
“Now Joseph, I admit this turned out really well, but you will not be doing any more meddling in your sons’ lives. They can find their own mates and find their own way,” she said sternly to her husband, even though she knew it was a futile battle.
Joseph just wrapped his arm around his wife and whistled a tune as they headed for their car. He already had the perfect bride picked out for his middle child, Alex…