Chapter 96 Meeting Eleanor

Chapter 96 Meeting Eleanor


Harper held Eleanor for the first time in the harsh fluorescent light of the delivery room, and nothing in her life had prepared her for the overwhelming rush of love and terror that followed.

"She's so small," Harper whispered, touching her daughter's tiny hand. Eleanor's fingers wrapped around Harper's pinkie automatically, a reflex but also a promise. "Sebastian, look how small she is."

Sebastian leaned over them both, his face wet with tears. "She's perfect. Harper, she's absolutely perfect."

Eleanor's eyes opened briefly, unfocused and searching. Dark blue, though the nurse had said all babies were born with blue eyes. She had a shock of dark hair, matted against her head from birth. Sebastian's coloring, Harper thought. Sebastian's chin too, that stubborn set to it even at four minutes old.

"Seven pounds, three ounces," the nurse announced, wrapping Eleanor in a hospital blanket. "Twenty inches long. All her counts look great. You've got a healthy baby girl."

A girl. They had a daughter. The ultrasound had refused to reveal the gender, legs stubbornly crossed at every appointment. Harper had convinced herself it was a boy, had been referring to the baby as he in her head. But looking at Eleanor now, she couldn't imagine anything else.

"Hi, Eleanor," Sebastian said softly, touching her cheek. "I'm your dad. That terrifying thought right there."

Eleanor made a small sound, not quite a cry. More like a question. Who are these people? Why is it so cold? Where did the warm dark place go?

"We've got you," Harper said, pulling her closer. "We're your parents and we have no idea what we're doing but we love you so much already."

The nurse showed Harper how to nurse, positioning Eleanor against her breast. The baby rooted around for a moment, then latched on with surprising strength.

"Natural," the nurse said approvingly. "Some babies take days to figure this out. She's a pro already."

The sensation was strange, uncomfortable but also deeply right. Harper watched Eleanor's tiny face, the way her eyes closed in concentration, the small sounds she made while eating. This person who'd been inside her for nine months was suddenly real, separate, her own being.

"How are you feeling?" Sebastian asked, sitting beside the bed.

"Exhausted. Terrified. Like my entire body was torn apart." Harper smiled despite the pain. "But also happier than I've ever been. Is that normal?"

"I think everything about this is normal." Sebastian touched Eleanor's head gently. "She has your nose."

"She has your stubborn chin."

"God help us if she has both our stubborn streaks."

Eleanor finished nursing and fell asleep against Harper's chest, milk drunk and peaceful. Harper didn't want to put her down, wanted to hold her forever, protect her from everything the world might throw at her.

"You should sleep," the nurse said. "I can take her to the nursery for a few hours so you can rest."

"No." The word came out sharper than Harper intended. "Sorry. I just, I want her here. With me."

"That's fine too. Dad can hold her while you sleep."

Sebastian took Eleanor carefully, cradling her against his chest like she might break. "I've got her. Sleep, Harper. Doctor's orders."

But Harper couldn't sleep. She watched Sebastian with their daughter, the way he looked at Eleanor with wonder and terror in equal measure. The way he talked to her in a low voice, telling her about the world she'd just entered, the family waiting to meet her, the hotel that had brought her parents together.

"Your great great aunt Eleanor ran a hotel," Sebastian was saying. "The Adriatic. That's where your mom and I met. Well, where we signed a contract to get married, which is a weird way to start a relationship but here we are. You're named after her. Eleanor Grace. Ellie for short, maybe, when you're older. But right now you're just Eleanor. Our Eleanor."

Harper felt tears sliding down her cheeks. Hormones, probably, but also overwhelming love for this man who'd started as a business arrangement and become everything.

A knock at the door. Claire peeked in, her face already wet with tears. "Can I meet her?"

"Come in," Harper said. "Come meet your niece."

Claire approached slowly, reverently, like Eleanor was something precious and breakable. Which she was. Sebastian stood, passing the baby to his sister.

"Oh," Claire breathed. "Oh, she's beautiful. She's absolutely beautiful."

"Eleanor Grace Colton," Sebastian said. "Born at 4:37 AM. Seven pounds, three ounces."

Claire held Eleanor like an expert, years of babysitting cousins showing. "Hi, Eleanor. I'm your Aunt Claire. I'm going to spoil you rotten and teach you all the embarrassing stories about your parents."

"Please don't," Sebastian said.

"Especially the one about the contract marriage and the five million dollars and how your dad tried to demolish your mom's hotel."

"Definitely don't tell her that one until she's at least twelve."

They laughed, quiet in the hospital room, passing Eleanor between them. Harper watched her daughter being held by people who loved her, who would protect her, who would be part of her village. Family, chosen and blood, ready to catch this tiny person.

Jessie arrived an hour later, six months pregnant herself, crying at the sight of the baby. "She's so small. How are they so small? Mine are going to be huge compared to her."

"You're having twins. They'll be small too." Harper took Eleanor from Claire, needing to hold her again. The instinct to keep her close was overwhelming. "Want to hold her?"

Jessie took Eleanor carefully. "Hi, baby. You and my kids are going to be best friends. We've already planned playdates for the next eighteen years."

"She's four hours old and you're planning her social calendar," Sebastian said.

"Never too early to start networking."

They stayed for another hour, cooing over Eleanor, taking pictures, arguing about who she looked like. Then the nurses shooed everyone out, saying Harper needed rest.

Alone with Sebastian and Eleanor, Harper finally felt herself relax slightly. The terror was still there, the overwhelming responsibility of keeping this tiny human alive. But underneath it was joy, pure and simple.

"We did it," she said.

"You did it. I just held your hand and tried not to pass out."

"We did it together." Harper looked at Eleanor, sleeping peacefully in the bassinet beside her bed. "We made her. This perfect person who didn't exist nine months ago."

"Best thing we ever did." Sebastian sat on the bed beside Harper, arm around her shoulders. "Better than the hotel, better than anything. She's everything."

"I'm terrified of screwing this up."

"Me too. But we'll screw it up together." He kissed her forehead. "And we'll love her through all of it."

Eleanor stirred, making small sounds. Harper picked her up immediately, the instinct automatic.

"She's probably hungry again," the nurse said, checking on them. "Newborns eat every two hours or so."

Harper positioned Eleanor to nurse, wincing slightly at the discomfort. "This is my life now. Feeding every two hours, forever."

"For a few months, anyway. Then she'll sleep longer stretches."

"Months. Great."

But watching Eleanor nurse, her tiny hand against Harper's breast, Harper didn't care about the exhaustion ahead. This was worth it. All of it.

Sebastian's phone buzzed. A text from the hotel manager. Everything was fine, the gala had continued after they left, everyone understood. The Adriatic was thriving.

"The hotel's okay," he said. "You can stop worrying."

"I wasn't worried about the hotel. I was worried about her." Harper touched Eleanor's cheek. "What if she stops breathing? What if something's wrong and we don't notice?"

"The nurses are checking her constantly. She's fine."

"But what about when we go home? When it's just us?"

Sebastian took her hand. "Then we figure it out. We watch her, we call the pediatrician with every weird thing, we probably overreact to everything. But we'll keep her safe."

Eleanor finished nursing and fell asleep again. Harper burped her carefully, then just held her, not ready to put her down.

"I can't believe she's ours," Harper whispered. "That we get to keep her."

"For the rest of our lives."

"That's terrifying."

"That's everything."

They sat together in the quiet hospital room, their daughter between them, the world outside continuing but feeling very far away. This moment, this perfect exhausted moment, was all that mattered.

"What do we do now?" Harper asked.

"Now we go home in a couple days. We figure out diapers and sleep schedules and how to function on three hours of sleep. We introduce her to the world." Sebastian looked at Eleanor, his face soft with love. "We start the rest of our lives."

"With her."

"With her."

Eleanor opened her eyes briefly, looking between her parents with that unfocused newborn gaze. Harper felt her heart expand impossibly larger.

"Welcome to the family, Eleanor Grace," she whispered. "We're going to do our best for you. Promise."

Sebastian's hand covered Harper's on Eleanor's back. "What Mom said. Times infinity."

And their daughter slept, peaceful and perfect, completely unaware that she'd just changed two people's entire world.

Forever.

In the best possible way.

Their family was complete.

And the adventure was just beginning.