Birthday Present

Errands today. What fun. Back to the birth hospital to show off the girl and thank the staff there. Which is impossible, really, as our debt to them is beyond fortunes or words. Even so, they all gathered around Ella and poked and prodded until she woke up and “needed to be held.” It was a great celebration. Oh, and also at that hospital, to turn in the paperwork that makes our kids real. Names and everything! Then on to our humble abode to grab some gear, open some great gifts (some from complete strangers!), and feed the girl (naturally).

It was mid-afternoon, and we were riding a wave of guilt since we had not yet been by to see Will. So when the phone rang from Children’s Hospital, the wife went ashen and made me answer it. It was our genetics counselor. “We got the detailed genetics analysis back, and everything is normal.” Ah, relief. The wife sobbed so deeply and so hard that I wondered for a second if they could be tears of joy, but they were even better than that. Such amazingly good news, and cause for some celebration. We danced around the apartment, loaded up the car again to head into the city, and lit up both cell phones calling our family with this incredible news. What a relief.