The Stolen Child

She's Early

"NOEMI!" I heard Cass scream. I shot up out of bed and looked at the clock. It said one twenty-eight AM. I threw the covers off of me and sprinted down the hall. Cass was hunched over the bed, Todd standing behind her rubbing her back.

"Hospital, now!" She grimaced.

"What's wrong?" I asked from the doorway. Cass wasn't due for another month.

"I think she's coming. We need to get to the hospital, now." Todd said calmly as he helped Cass to a standing position.

"Okay. I'll get the car." I ran to my room and quickly threw on some clothes and shoes before running back towards Cass and Todd's room.

"What do you need?" I stood in front of their room and yelled down to Cass as Todd helped her slowly navigate the stairs.

"Clothes!" She called back. I grabbed a large purse from off the floor and stuffed a change of clothes in it for Cass. I ran back to my room and grabbed the baby bag I had prepared. It had everything in it we would need for the baby after delivery. I had it all ready to go. I told Cass to get a hospital bag ready, but she never listens. She's such a procrastinator. She had a month left, she said there was no rush to get a bag ready. I quickly scanned the bag before running back into her room and yanked the phone charger out of the wall, tossing it in the bag before sprinting down the stairs. I grabbed my car keys and started my SUV remotely before tossing the bags in the back.

Todd helped Cass into the back before climbing in beside her. I smiled as I watched him rub her shoulder while tucking her head into his body. She was breathing heavily while holding her large stomach. I pulled out of the garage and flew down the street to the hospital.

"It's a girl!" The doctor said as she held the baby up for us to see. I stood on one side of Cass while Todd stood on the other. She wrapped the child in a bright white blanket and brought her over to me. I was beaming as I held my daughter for the first time.

"Hi baby." I cooed to her as she cried in my arms. I held her up for Cass to see. She grinned as Todd helped wipe the sweat from her forehead.

"Do you want to hold her?" I asked Cass as I lowered her down.

"No. Not right now." Cass placed her hand on my arm, squeezing it. I understood immediately. We had discussed what our birth plan would be like. Cass didn't want to hold her or have much contact with her for a while after her birth. She was afraid that she would build up such a connection that it would be hard to let her go, even though she knew the child wasn't hers. I was completely understanding of what she feared experiencing and wanted to support her in any choice she made.

I handed my child back to the nurse who was waiting with outstretched arms. I watched as they examined my daughter on the table next to the bed.

"You did amazing, Cass." I beamed at her.

"Thanks. I'm kind of glad it's over though." She chuckled.

"Can I get you anything?" I asked, looking between both her and Todd. This was a first for both of them, and I know Todd was beyond scared, even though he hid it well. It was nice he was so supportive of Cass. She really bagged a great guy.

"No. We're fine." Todd answered, his hand caressing Cass' hair as he looked lovingly into her eyes.

I sighed heavily as I watched Cass and Todd together. I missed Brody so much, and was so unbelievably sad that he had missed the entire pregnancy, including the birth of our only child. He had missed everything. He promised he wouldn't miss a thing, and he missed it all. Anger boiled over inside of me and I couldn't help but clench my jaw as I fought hard to hold back the tears. My hands were balled up so tightly that my nails dug painfully into my palms.

"She may be early, but she's perfect." The doctor turned to us. "We're going to wheel her down and get her cleaned up and do the hearing test. We'll be back quickly with bottles. Do you have any milk?" Her eyes darted between Cass and I.

"No." Cass shook her head. She hadn't planned on breast feeding. She was going to pump and provide the milk while I bottle fed her.

"It's okay, I have the pump!" I quickly dug through the diaper bag, presenting the pump and placing it next to Cass. "I'll go grab something to eat." I gestured towards the pump.

"Cass, Todd." Tears began streaming down my face now. "Thank you so much. You have made my dreams come true and I don't think I could ever repay you."

—--

"Alright, paper work is done." I walked in Cass' room, beaming with pride. I had just filled out all of the newborn paperwork and written up the newborn announcement. "We should be able to leave soon."

"Good." Cass sighed, throwing her head back into the pillow. "I'm so ready to get out of here."

"What, you don't like being tended to twenty four hours a day?"

"Gosh no!" She rolled her eyes. "I can't sleep at night. There's always some nurse walking in to check my blood pressure or draw blood in the middle of the night. The food is terrible and…"

"Really? Because I saw that steak they brought you last night and it looked pretty good." I giggled.

"Well, it's nothing like yours. I'm ready for real food."

"It shouldn't be much longer. The doctor said both you and the baby looked good."

"NAME!" Cass shot up in bed. "What's her name?"

"Sasha." I smiled, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "Sasha Lynn Knight."

"Awe!! You named her after me!" Cass squealed. Cass's name was Cassondra Lynn, and now Sasha had her middle name to honor the woman who helped give her life.

"I thought it was perfect. Not only to honor you, but the L would also double for Luke. The two people who helped me get my baby.

"Awe, how sweet. Have you told Luke yet?"

"Yep. I texted him photos yesterday." I pulled out my phone and showed her the numerous photos of Sasha I had already accumulated.

Just then, the nurse walked in the room, cradling Sasha in her arms.

"Here you go mama." She gently handed her to me.

"Thank you." I ran my finger lovingly across the top of the blanket, tracing Sasha's soft pink skin as she slept soundly in my arms.

"Here are some formula samples, diaper samples and a bunch of coupons. There's a little booklet in there to help with some problems that can come up, like nursing or colic. Take advantage of some of those coupons!" She handed me a large, blue bag filled with random things.

"Thank you." I set the bag down on the chair beside Cass' bed.

"Alright, let auntie see her!" Cass stuck out her arms, wiggling her fingers as she begged to see her new niece.

"I can't believe she's already three days old." She rocked Sasha in her arms, smiling down at the precious girl.

"I know." I said with a hint of sadness.

Brody was on my mind and it really dampened this amazing moment in my life. I had to choose Sasha's name without him. We had never talked about children or naming them as we both were sure we would never have children. I wasn't sure what names he liked or didn't like. I was praying he would love her name. I had already thought about having it legally changed if he didn't, but I had no idea when he would be home and wasn't about to change her name after a month or longer. I felt bad for being so angry at him for missing all of this. I knew that he was working, and if he could be home, he would have been, but he had promised he wouldn't miss anything.

"Let's get this pretty girl in some pretty clothes." I tried to discard the thoughts in my mind. I dug through the diaper bag, finding a blush pink onesie and a pair of white bloomers with gorgeous pink, brown and red flowers on it. I matched the outfit with a cute pink headband with a large white flower on the front and some blush pink infant moccasins. Cass gently lay Sasha down on the bed and began unwrapping her from her warm blanket. We both grinned as she wrinkled her tiny features in disgust at being disturbed.

"I'm sorry bub." I cooed as I gently slipped her out of her hospital clothes.

"Woah!" Cass reeled backwards, pinching her fingers over her nose. "I'm glad that's your job." She laughed as she watched me change the dirty diaper before putting the new outfit on Sasha.

She began to fuss as I swaddled her in a plush pink blanket Cass had purchased her. I grabbed a bottle from the bag, and cradled my child as I fed her.

"You're getting the hang of this mom thing pretty quickly." Cass said as she climbed out of bed, digging through the bag I had quickly packed for her a few nights ago.

"Thanks." I grinned. "I was so worried I wouldn't be any good at it."

"It's natural." She said as she pulled the clothes from the bag. "Oh, you brought my favorite jeans.

"You don't mind if I'm not perfect, do you." I baby talked to Sasha. She cooed as she sucked forcefully on the bottle.

"No!" Cass sighed from behind me. I turned and a smile instantly spread across my face. Cass had slid into her jeans, and was desperately trying to button them. "I only need like two more inches!" She whined. I pulled the hair tie out of my hair and handed it to her.

"Thank you." She grumpily mumbled. I rocked Sasha as I watched Cass wrap my hair tie around the button of her jeans, and through the hole, looping it back over the button. "I guess that will have to do."

"At least you can leave in real jeans and not the maternity ones!" I tried to show her the silver lining.

"I guess." She flopped down on the bed. "When do I leave?"

"Now, baby."

We both jumped as we heard Todd's voice from the doorway.

"Doc says you're good to go." He walked over to Cass, planting a kiss on her soft red lips.

"Yep. You all are good to go." The doctor walked in behind Todd. She handed me a red folder. "This has all of your discharge paperwork and some pamphlets for Sasha." She ran her hand over Sash's tiny head. "She's so adorable. Congratulations everyone." She said before leaving the room.

"How about a nice dinner date for my beautiful girl?" Todd grinned widely at Cass.

"Oh, I don't know. I look terrible." She attempted to fix herself as she stood up from the bed.

"You look beautiful." Todd wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing the back of her neck sweetly.

"Okay." She giggled.

I placed Sasha down on the bed, turning to get her car seat ready.

"What can I help with?" Cass asked, bouncing over to me.

"Nothing. I got this. You guys get going!" I said, placing Sasha down in her car seat.

"You sure?"

"Yes! Now go!" I giggled as I shooed her out the door. I watched as Todd held her hand, carefully leading her down the hallway. Sasha fussed in her seat, pulling my attention away from Cass and Todd.

"Oh, my sweet little girl." I cooed, getting a bottle for her.

"Man, you're heavy." I joked as I lifted the car seat and started our journey home.