The delivery was longer and more difficult than expected. James watched anxiously as nurses rushed around, their faces tense. When the baby finally arrived, Susy was pale and weak, barely able to keep her eyes open. “She needs rest,” the nurse assured him. “The baby’s doing fine.”
The delivery room smelled sharp and sterile, the soft beeping of monitors the only sound cutting through the stillness. Anna hesitated at the threshold, clutching the stuffed rabbit she’d brought as a gift for her baby sister. The nurse smiled kindly and bent down to her level.