Filed to story: Submitting to My Bestie’s Daddy Read Online >>???
After a few sips, our son unlatched from the bottle, giving a big yawn and flailing his little arms around. I knew newborns usually weren’t that hungry when they were born, so I wasn’t surprised he didn’t eat much of it. I maneuvered him to my shoulder, beginning the long and arduous task of patting his back to make him burp. He struggled a bit, clearly not liking the position at first, but eventually, he settled, leaning into the crook of my neck.
Eventually, he let out a loud burp, almost like a hiccup.
“There we go,” Dr. Schmidt smiled, breezing into the room. “That should do it for his first feeding.”
“Thank you so much, Dr. Schmidt,” Gio got to his feet, offering his hand for her to shake. She laughed, bypassing his hand entirely as she patted him on the back like an old friend.
“No need for formalities, Daddy. We’ll be seeing a lot more of each other since I’m now the primary doctor for the baby, too.” She winked at his dumbfounded expression and turned on her heel, heading back to check on Elena one last time before she left.
“Did you know she was a pediatrician as well?” Gio asked with a frown.
I shrugged. I didn’t know that, but I was glad because it made everything simpler. I settled our baby back into my arms as he yawned, his little pink tongue flapping around. I hummed, rocking back and forth as Gio stepped behind me, taking a seat on the arm as he cuddled me close.
A little while later, they wheeled Elena in. We’d asked for her to be in the same room as us now that we were on friendly terms. I glanced at her where she lay in the hospital bed, looking utterly exhausted. The birth had taken a really long time, but even with her sweat-soaked hair clinging to her forehead and the hospital gown practically soaked with other fluids I didn’t want to name, I could honestly say she had never looked more beautiful.
I slowly got to my feet, making my way to her side.
“Thank you,” I told her, tearfully, my heart finally relinquishing all of the resentment it had built up toward her. She had given me the greatest gift anyone ever could–a son.
She nodded, a ghost of a smile playing at the corners of her lips.
There was a soft longing in her eyes as she gazed at us, and I knew how hard it must be. She’d told us all she had wanted was her own family, and I smiled, stepping closer to her and shifting the weight of our precious son into my other arm.
I leaned down, grasping her clammy and warm hand in mine.
“Elena.” Gio spoke up, and Elena met his eyes with a hesitant look, “thank you for protecting our son, for giving birth to him, and letting us have the family we always wanted.”
“Of course,” she laughed, a bit dryly as she gave us a relieved look. “I’m just glad everything worked out the way it should be. You two will be amazing parents to the little bean.”
I was startled as the nickname flew out of her mouth, the same one I had been calling him for all this time, and I melted against Gio’s chest. Stars aligned, and I beamed, gazing up at Gio with wide, pleading eyes.
He smiled, shaking his head as he nodded silently to my request. I knew what he would say if we were alone. ‘There’s no need to plead,’ he’d tell me with a mischievous smirk. ‘I’ll give you everything you want, amore.’
I stood on my tip-toes anyway, leaning up to press my lips against him, just a sweet peck before I turned back to Elena. Gio’s arms fell away from me as I stepped forward and sat on the edge of the hospital bed.
I leaned down, holding our baby out for Elena to be able to gaze at his sweet face. His eyes were closed, his little hands clasped in tight fists as he slept away. The birth must’ve exhausted him as much as it did Elena.
“We were hoping,” I said as I smiled kindly, “that you would stay in his life still, Elena.”
Her eyes widened, and she stared at me in sheer disbelief as I sent her a reassuring look. This was real, not a joke.
“I–” Tears flooded her eyes. “I would be honored.”
“No contract this time,” Gio stepped forward with a smile, “We want to keep you in the family, and of course, that means you will be able to have a connection with him as well. We thought about naming you godmother, but Dahlia already claimed that spot, so we hope you can settle with being his Aunt Elena.”
“Aunt Elena,” she repeated with a happy smile, brushing away the tears that spilled out of her eyes. “I love it. Thank you. Thank you so so much.”
“You get the fun part,” I teased her. “You get to spoil him to your heart’s content while we get to deal with the dirty diapers.”
“Score!” She laughed.
“And speaking of the godmother. We’d better let the family see him and let you get some rest,” Gio said softly.
“That would be great, actually.” She sighed in relief. “Who knew giving birth could be so exhausting?” she said sarcastically.
I giggled, getting to my feet as the nurses surrounded Elena, brushing her forehead with a cool washcloth. Her eyes fluttered closed, letting the nurses take care of her as she began to drift off into sleep.
We shut the door to the room quietly behind us, letting her get some well-needed sleep as we made our way to the waiting room. Our family was there, taking up a huge chunk of the room.
Alessandro’s foot was endlessly tapping the floor as he banged his fist on the nearby vending machine, a pack of chips stuck on the glass. Tallon was doing one of the kid puzzles set up on a nearby table, frowning in frustration as he dug into an old container filled with mismatched pieces.
Gabriele was leaning by the door, cool as a cucumber except for the furrow between his eyebrows, a clear sign of worry I had picked up over the last year and a half with him.
But best of all was Dahlia, who was sitting very quietly and properly in her seat, staring down at her lap as she tore apart the label of a water bottle into itty bitty pieces. There were several half-empty bottles beside her and a pile of confetti.
But she was the first to notice us standing at the entryway. She scrambled out of her seat, racing across the slippery floors and halting just in time to stop right in front of us.
“That’s my nephew-slash-godson!” she panted, her eyes gleaming.
Tallon, Alessandro, and Gabriele were quick on her tail, all of them surrounding us with varying expressions.
“He’s ugly,” Tallon said in surprise.
Alessandro smacked him on the back of the head, giving us a small smile as he said, “Don’t worry. He’s just an idiot.”
“I already called him a tomato, so no worries,” I giggled.
Gabriele leaned over to gaze at the sleeping baby, looking both horrified and fascinated by the mysterious creature.
“Do you want to hold him?” I offered him.
He reeled back as if I had just offered to have him decapitated. “Absolutely not!” he shouted, panic in his eyes. It was the most emotion I’d seen out of him that wasn’t anger, and it was a bit funny with how warily he gazed at our seven-pound child.
“I called dibs anyway!” Dahlia scooted him out of the way, holding out her arms, and I gave her a few pointers as I moved our son into her arms. She cooed at him, melting in happiness. A lone finger poked his chubby cheek, and I glanced at Alessandro with a grin.
He tilted his head, looking entirely unsure, like our baby might shatter into a million pieces if he put more than a feather’s weight into the poke.
“Having fun?” Gio smirked at him, and Alessandro blushed, coughing as he stepped away. But I could see he was already halfway won over by the baby.
“What’s my godson’s name?” Dahlia asked, her eyes shiny with emotion. “I’ve got to know what to have it engraved on all of his gifts in the future.”
I glanced at Gio, who met my eyes with a smile. We had agonized over the perfect name for him, going through book after book to find just the one that matched him.
And we had found it, one that completely resonated with both of us, the significance of the name symbolizing just how having our baby finally in our arms made us feel.
The sheer sunshine and warmth he gave to our lives, the bright hopeful future we wanted him to have–all of it was there in a single name.
I leaned over to press a soft kiss on my sleeping son’s forehead, just like Gio had done so many times for me.
“Welcome to the world,” I whispered to him, “Elio.”
*Olivia*
I hummed happily, the charcoal scratching on paper as my eyes flickered from the picture on my phone to the drawing I was sketching out with one hand. Trust the process, I reminded myself as I scrutinized all the little mistakes I saw building up.
