Tina Kennard with hair plastered onto her forehead and skin pale from the exertion of delivery and her high fever was exhausted.  She blinked twice trying desperately to hold her eyes open, but she just couldn’t do it.  Her eyes curtained and she drifted off again.

One of the maternity nurses had found a quiet and private place for Bette to sit with Angelica.  The new mother sat in a rocker holding her newborn.  Little Angelica.  She was thrilled that Tina had agreed to the name that hadn’t been her favorite.  It meant everything to Bette.  Tears welled in her eyes again as she thought about being in the delivery room and Tina’s weak voice communicating her wish.  “Angelica.”  “What, baby?”  “That’s what I want to name her.  Angelica.”  That name had been in the Porter family for generations and it added an extra layer to her connection with their child for Bette.  Angelica Porter-Kennard. 

Bette looked down at their baby and counted her fingers again.  “Ten.  Ten little digits here.”  She tugged lightly at Angelica’s foot.  “And ten down here.  Aren’t you perfect?  Aren’t you my perfect, Angelica?  I love you.”

She held the baby against her and wished that Tina was with them to share the family moment.  They had planned their first ritual days ago.  Bette had rummaged through her CD collection and found the song, played it for Tina, and Tee had agreed that the first song their daughter should hear would be a song of hope and solidarity with friends and family nearby.  Bette knew they’d have that moment soon, just not now.

The door opened and Bette’s sister, Kit, Shane, Jenny, Carmen, Dana, and Alice entered.  All of her family was there.  Everyone but Tina was there to greet the new addition.

“They kept us outside until visiting hours…”  Kit began, then she laid eyes on the new one.  “Oh, my goodness.”

Bette smiled up at her friends and the look of being in love was abundant on her face.

Shane looked around the room.  “Where’s Tina?”

Bette shook her head.  “She’s…she’s in ICU.”

“What?  Why?”  Alice’s eyes enlarged as did everyone else’s.

“Uh…the delivery went wrong.  She’ll be okay.  She has to rest.  An infection…She’s going to be fine.”  Bette hoped that she sounded sincere.