Chapter 126 Tommy Meets Emma
CAITLYN'S POV
We had been home from the hospital for five days when Tommy called. Jason was in the shower and I was feeding Emma so I answered his phone.
"Hey Tommy," I said.
"Caitlyn," Tommy said. He sounded excited. "How are you? How is the baby? When can I come meet her?"
"We are good," I said. "Tired but good. You can come meet her anytime. We are home all day."
"Can I come today?" Tommy asked. "Like right now? I have been dying to meet her. The whole crew has."
"Sure," I said. "Come on over. But just you first okay? I am not ready for the whole crew yet."
"Deal," Tommy said. "I will be there in twenty minutes."
He hung up and I looked down at Emma. She was almost done eating. Her eyes were closing. Getting sleepy.
"Uncle Tommy is coming to meet you," I whispered. "He is going to love you so much."
Jason came out of the shower wrapped in a towel.
"Who was on the phone?" he asked.
"Tommy," I said. "He is coming over to meet Emma. In like twenty minutes."
"Twenty minutes?" Jason said. "We need to clean up. The place is a mess."
"It is fine," I said. "Tommy will not care. He just wants to meet the baby."
"Still," Jason said. "Let me at least pick up a little."
He got dressed and started cleaning. Picking up burp cloths and baby blankets. Organizing the bottles. Making everything look presentable. I just watched him and smiled. He was such a good dad. So attentive. So caring.
Twenty minutes later there was a knock on the door. Jason opened it and Tommy rushed in carrying a huge teddy bear and a bag of gifts.
"Where is she?" Tommy asked. "Where is my niece?"
"She is right here," I said. I was holding Emma. She had just woken up from her nap.
Tommy walked over slowly. Like he was afraid he might scare her. He looked down at Emma and his whole face changed. Got soft. Emotional.
"Oh my god," Tommy said. His voice cracked. "She is so tiny. So perfect."
"You want to hold her?" I asked.
"Can I?" Tommy asked. "I do not want to hurt her."
"You will not hurt her," I said. "Just support her head. Here."
I stood up and carefully placed Emma in Tommy's arms. He took her like she was made of glass. Held her so gently. Looked down at her with so much love.
"Hi Emma," Tommy said. His voice was barely a whisper. "I am your uncle Tommy. I am going to spoil you rotten."
Emma looked up at him with her big dark eyes. Tommy made a sound that was half laugh half sob.
"She is looking at me," Tommy said. "Does she know who I am?"
"I think she does," Jason said. He was standing next to Tommy. "I think she knows you are family."
"I am family," Tommy said. He had tears running down his face now. "I am your uncle Emma. I am always going to be here for you. Always going to protect you."
"Tommy are you crying?" Jason asked. He sounded amused.
"No," Tommy said. But he was obviously crying. "I just have something in my eye."
"Sure you do," Jason said.
"Shut up," Tommy said. But he was smiling. "This is a big moment. I am allowed to be emotional."
Tommy sat down on the couch still holding Emma. Just staring at her. Jason sat next to him and I sat on the other side. We all just looked at Emma. At this perfect little person who had changed everything.
"She looks like you Jason," Tommy said. "Got your nose. Your chin."
"She has Caitlyn's eyes though," Jason said. "And her mouth."
"She is perfect," Tommy said. "A perfect mix of both of you."
"She is perfect," I agreed.
"How are you guys doing?" Tommy asked. "Is it hard? Are you getting any sleep?"
"It is really hard," Jason said honestly. "We are not sleeping much. She is up every two hours. Sometimes more. We are exhausted."
"But it is worth it," I added. "Every sleepless night. Every hard moment. It is worth it for her."
"I believe it," Tommy said. "Look at her. How could she not be worth it?"
Emma started making little sounds. Not crying but fussing a little. Tommy looked panicked.
"Did I do something wrong?" he asked. "Is she okay?"
"She is fine," I said. "She probably needs to eat soon. Or be changed."
"Oh," Tommy said. "Should I give her back?"
"You can keep holding her," I said. "Unless you want to change her diaper."
"I am good," Tommy said quickly. "I will just hold her."
We all laughed. Emma kept fussing so I took her back and checked her diaper. It was wet so I changed her. Tommy watched the whole thing like it was the most interesting thing he had ever seen.
"Is it always that complicated?" Tommy asked. "All those wipes and creams and stuff?"
"You get used to it," Jason said. "First few times took us forever. Now we can do it in like two minutes."
"I do not know how you do it," Tommy said. "Take care of a tiny person. Keep her alive. Make sure she has everything she needs."
"We are figuring it out as we go," I said. "Some days are better than others. But we are managing."
"You are doing more than managing," Tommy said. "You are doing great. Look at her. She is healthy and happy and obviously loved."
"She is loved," Jason said. "So loved. By us and by everyone in our lives."
"Speaking of which," Tommy said. "The crew wants to come meet her. They have been bugging me nonstop. Asking when they can visit."
"Soon," I said. "Maybe in a week or two. When we are more settled."
"They are going to spoil her," Tommy said. "All of them. She is going to have like twenty uncles who buy her everything she wants."
"That is okay," Jason said. "She deserves to be spoiled. Deserves to have people who love her."
"She has that," Tommy said. "She has a whole family who loves her. Who will always be there for her."
Emma finished eating and I burped her. She let out a big burp and Tommy laughed.
"That was impressive," he said. "For such a tiny person."
"Everything she does is impressive to us," I said. "We are biased."
"You are allowed to be biased," Tommy said. "She is your daughter."
We sat there for another hour. Tommy held Emma. Asked questions about taking care of her. Told us stories about when Jason was younger. Made us laugh. Made us feel normal.
When he finally left he hugged us both tight.
"Thank you for letting me meet her," he said. "This was one of the best days of my life."
"Thank you for being here," Jason said. "For being part of our family."
"Always," Tommy said. "I am always going to be here. For all of you."
After he left Jason and I sat on the couch with Emma between us. We were both smiling.
"That was nice," I said. "Seeing Tommy with her. Seeing how much he loves her already."
"It was," Jason said. "Emma is lucky. She has so many people who care about her. Who want to be part of her life."?
"She is lucky
," I said. "And so are we. We have this amazing family. This support system. People who show up for us."
"We are lucky," Jason said. "Really lucky."