Chapter 20
1010 Words
"Tess?"
RIIING
"TESS?"
The drawn out high pitched noise fades from my ears as Troy's gruff one sounds from beside
me.
I groan, not wanting to wake up, but open my eyes anyway.
A disheveled Troy stands beside me, smiling when he sees I've opened my eyes.
If he's smiling...
"The baby?"
Troy's smile practically doubles as he plants a kiss on my forehead.
"Tarzan got out in time. He's being reoxygenated and they had to put him in the incubator since
he's so small, but you're okay and the doctor says we can go visit the baby later today."
The news makes me smile and I'm glad we caught the problem just in time.
Tarzan is okay.
Excited to see him, I fiddle with my hospital bracelet.
"How long have I been out?"
"Since the surgery? About... Five hours. You're doing really well."
I nod. It sounds to me like I've gotten enough rest. Hell, Kate Middleton was up right after she
gave birth. Why can't I be? Maybe because I had a C section, but that shouldn't stop me.
"I want to go see him now."
Troy tries to argue and make a deal for later, but I promise to ride in the wheelchair.
Eventually he agrees and we don't bother telling the doctor where we're going since she's not
even in the room.
After going down a floors walking down a long white hallway, we come to a large piece of glass
that overlooks a hoard of babies. There's a line of twenty incubaters in the back, then nearly
fourty bassinets, and a couple doctors and volunteers either feeding or rocking the babies who
need it.
"That's him. Second incubater from the right," Troy points out.
It's hard to see, but the little creature has pinkish red skin and hardly moves at all.
That could just be the lighting from the incubator though.
"He's so small."
Troy nods and gulps nervously, causing me to frown at him in confusion. I hope he's not backing
out now. He better not have cold feet.
"When the doctor finally got him out, they were stiching you up and untangling Tarzan. He was
a little blotchy and blue in the face, I-I just..."
Troy shakes his head and stares at the floor with a sad face.
"I was really worried," he finishes letting a tear fall.
I nod and hold my arms out for a hug. It's a bit strange since I'm so low in the wheelchair, but it's
comforting all the same.
"Oh!"
Pulling back, I look at Troy with curiosity.
"You told the doctor his name right?"
He nods and the smile returns to his face. Looking back at... Our child, he clears his throat and
gives me the full name.
"Tarzan George Morreti."
I smile at the middle name he chose and thank God it's not too weird. The first name I picked is
already strange.
"Why George," I ask curiously.
Troy smiles and looks down at me smugly.
"George, George, George of the jungle!"
I face palm at the similarities between George and Tarzan.
"I think that's your first bad dad joke," I say mockingly.
He grins back and rolls his eyes before freezing suddenly. He looks down at me slowly and in
the softest voice, he whispers,
"I'm a dad..."
I laugh a little. "Did you just figure that out?"
Troy doesn't acknowledge my words, but seems to ponder on the information a little bit more.
"And you're a mother."
It's my turn to be shocked as I look up at my boyfriend. We talked about how'd I accept the baby
as my own considering I carried him, but I don't think I've heard those words come from him
before.
I'm a mom. He's a dad.
We have a baby.
..........................................................
The doctor ended up coming down to nag at me for leaving the room without permission.
She said I still needed a check-up, so I was brought back to the room after asking Troy to stay
with Tarzan. I don't want our baby to be alone.
"I'll be right back. No moving," the doctor says in a warning tone. I nod with a small smile and
wonder what she'd do if I disappeared again.
She'd know right where to look, so she might just be mad.
Opting to stay in the room like she said, I scan the space in boredom before my eyes land on a
folder.
Jackpot.
I lean over the bed and luckily,I just reach it.
Shuffling it on to my lap, I open it and get a look at the birth certificate.
I gasp a little at the picture taken at the top.
Troy was right. Tarzan already looked half dead when he was born. I cry at the blue in his little
newborn face before reminding myself everything is okay.
Tarzan is well and alive.
I smile as I read the certificate.
Tarzan George Morreti.
It's safe to say he's going to win the name contest if there ever is one. Reading the birth parents
names, I frown a little when I see mine written next to Troy's.
I get that I birthed Tarzan, but I'm not his biological mother.
The doctor walks in and instead of being ashamed of snooping, I question her.
"Why is my name on here? Shouldn't the woman who... Donated... Her egg be on here?"
The doctor looks at me in confusion. She's the one who got me pregnant with the stuff in the first
place. Shouldn't she know this?
"No. You're name goes on it because it's your baby. You had an insemination. Your husband
changed it last minute from the egg donor, to just trying your egg. It worked, so Tarzan is
biologically your son."
My heart stops for a minute and I think back to the day of getting pregnant.
Troy had pulled the doctor aside to talk with her. He had...
My...
Is this why Jasmine had no problem leaving or never visiting the baby?
I was tricked.
Tarzan is mine...
- Writer
