Oni gently took the baby and reminded Alexis to cut the cord. He grabbed the sanitized scissors and completed the task, tying string around both ends while Oni cleaned away his birth fluids.
Alexis leaned down and kissed me. He looked into my eyes with eyes full of tears. I had never seen him with tears in his eyes. "You have given me a gift more precious than anything in this universe, a gift even more valuable than my immortal life."
My heart melted, and I reached up and stroked his face. Oni had wrapped the baby in a blanket and presented him to me. He had stopped crying and was looking up at the world around him.
"You are here," Alexis said, staring down at his son. "Did I not tell you how big this world is, my son? And you have yet to see it in its entirety. I will show you the cor
