“Any more thoughts on a name?”
“I’m too tired to think about it right now. Let’s give ourselves a few more days to recover, and then we’ll have a brainstorm.”
After a shallow bath to avoid getting my incision wet, I climbed into my bed, where Liam was already waiting for me.
He pulled my back into his front, and we both fell asleep with our son sleeping in his crib beside me.
I woke with a start hours later to an empty bed and an empty crib. Pulling my robe around me, I realised my boobs were full and leaking as I stood, It was almost five in the morning. We went to bed at nine, which meant I’d missed at least two feeds, possibly three.
I pad barefooted down to the nursery, following the sound of Liam’s voice.
He was standing in the middle of the room in just his boxers, his arms cradling our son as he swayed gently.
“And when you’re a little bit bigger and your mum is feeling better, we’ll take you there to meet them.” I leant on the doorframe as Liam talked to the baby.
“But you’ve got lots of family here, too. You’ve already met all of the crazy Carters, you’ve got big Uncle Luke, who will take on the world for you. Then, there is Archie, who’s your Pops, and Mai, who’s your nanna.” He was quiet for just a few seconds, but then he continued, “Oh, and there is Aunt Sash, who’s not technically a Carter, but she may be someday, if your uncle Luke finally grows some balls. She’s the craziest of them all, but don’t hold it against her, because again, she’s loyal and will guard you with her life.”
He put the now empty bottle down. “Ya know what, little man? I’m actually digging that name. I think it might work. Carter Delaney, how does that sound, bud? We need to run it by your mum when she finally wakes from her coma, but I think we could be on to a winner.”
“It’s perfect. Luke and Grandad will be chuffed to bits,” I whispered, finally stepping into the room. “How about Daniel as a middle name?” I added. It was only fair to give his family some recognition, too.
“He’d be stoked, but he’s already getting Delaney as a surname, so we don’t have to.”
“No, I like it. Carter Daniel Delaney. It’s perfect.”
He pulled me in and, with Carter between us, kissed me hard on the mouth.
“You’re perfect, even with leaky boobs.”
“You say the sweetest things.”
“What can I say, it’s a gift.” He winked as he said it, and I wondered right then how on earth we were gonna make it another five weeks without touching each other.
2011
Life was good. Carter was a happy healthy little boy. Despite being born early, he met all of his milestones with flying colours. He was walking at ten months, and at three, he could hold a conversation with any grown-up. He usually picked random strangers in the supermarket for this, and he wanted to know everything about everyone.
“You lost? Where’s you mum?” he asked a really, really short lady doing her shopping one day. Another time, he was in the trolley as I unloaded my groceries onto the belt and asked the teenage boy on the till, “Oh no, who did that to your face? Does it hurt?”
When I looked up, the poor kid who had the biggest spot on his chin was the colour of the bottle of tomato sauce he was packing into my bag. Although, I thought I beat him and managed to go a shade brighter.
He told the man covered in tattoos in the newsagents, “Your mum’s gonna be mad when she sees all that purple on you.” Purple, being ink, or texter, or crayon, because for some reason, Carter had decided that anything he could draw with was a purple. A blue purple, a red purple and even a purple purple, but every writing device was a purple.
Everyone, from the bakers to the girls at the hair salon and the lady in the dry cleaners, all knew Carter, and he lapped up the attention.
He had just about every adult in his life wrapped around his finger, none more so than Luke, who constantly spoiled him and had made it his life’s mission—without much success—to convert him from a United supporter to an Arsenal follower.
Liam’s business had gone from strength to strength during one of the worst economic downturns in history and had expanded into avenues with varying degrees of success.
He still travelled a lot, but for the longer trips, we usually went with him. By the time Carter turned two, he had spent time in Australia, Canada, America, and South Africa.
It was because of all the travelling and my underlying fear of being sick again that we put off having another baby. I said we, but really, it was me. Liam had been on my case since before Carter turned one to start trying for another one, but I wanted some time to enjoy just him and us for a little while. It was good for us to spend the last few years getting to know each other better and learning to become parents.