Welcome to the World

"You're doing great!"

"Hold it through!  Keep pushing!  Don't stop!"

Kami grimaced and grit her teeth, bearing down hard as she held back the screams of pain.  Only twice did she cry out, and the last one was when the head came through.

"There she is!  There she is!  Keep going!"

I held her leg back and helped her angle herself better, all the while watching intently and encouraging her to keep pushing.  "I can see her, Kami!  She's coming!"

"Here she comes!  Here she comes!"

In one moment what I was seeing went from a tuft of dark curly hair to a white, tucked-up baby girl.  The nurses cleaned her off immediately and for the first time, we all heard the tiny cries of my sister's daughter.

She is beautiful.  Dark, soft wisps of curly hair (like my wavy curls, not the tight coarse ones we expected), golden brown eyes, a perfect bow-shaped mouth, and soft pink skin covering her tiny body.  And oh, what an attitude!  Only 5 minutes out of her mother's womb and already she was telling us what to do.  When a nurse tried to clean her eyes and mouth from the excess gunk, little Marin shoved the hand away with both fists.  We weighed her in the bassinet-type scale, and when the nurse picked her up, Marin gave her a look of surprise, rolled over and grabbed the edge of the scale and clung for dear life!  We all laughed and tried to tug her away, but the nurse had to set her down and pry her tiny fists off the scale so she could get bundled up and handed to her mommy.

I watched my little niece get wrapped up in two warm blankets, then the nurse picked her up and turned to me.  "Would you like to take her to her mother?"

Would I?  Do I breathe oxygen?  I grinned and held Marin for the first time ever.  "Hi, sweetie!  I'm your Auntie Mira!"

She was upset at first, but after a moment she looked at me with very serious eyes.  This is an intelligent, a very intelligent, little girl.  I swear I saw understanding in her eyes, and she didn't fuss for me again.  While the nurses and doctor were stitching Kami up, every time my sister winced and sucked in a breath of pain, Marin would scrunch up her face and cry.  I looked up at Tristan and saw that he was also watching closely from across the room.

Marin is one of us.