“Look, my Darling Dar! You did it! My two girls! I love you both so much!” I was crying like a baby and loved every second.
“She’s so precious, Bunny! So tiny, so lovely! And she’s all ours!” The nurses took her away for a few minutes to clean her up while other nurses helped clean up Dar. Then they brought her into a recovery room while I went out to give the big news to our families. I told them we had a new girl in the family, Lisa Nasrin, and there were more tears, more hugs and a lot of kisses. Then I took them back to Dar’s room, back to see her and to meet their granddaughter.
Yasmin held her daughter first and they spoke in rapid Farsi for a moment, a mother-daughter message that was way too fast for me to pick up with my limited knowledge of the language, then she hugged me while my Mom and Dad congratulated Dar and told her how much they loved her. Yasmin whispered in my ear how I was her son, and how proud she was of me. Jack hugged me and shook my hand. And then my parents hugged me half to death.
My mom, through her joyous tears, kissed my cheek and said “Another Lisa. Thank you, Mickey. For remembering your sister. She lives on in our memories and now in your daughter. I love you, I love Darejani, and I love our new Lisa Nasrin. Such a beautiful name.”
“It means Wild Rose. I think it fits her.” Just then the nurse brought Lisa in to meet everyone. First Dar held her again, crying as I held her, kissing her cheek. “She’s so beautiful, just like her mother” I said gently. She really did look like Dar. Same skin color, whisps of black hair but with the chubby cheeks of a baby, absolutely adorable. Then I held my daughter for the second time and I was in love. Absolutely head over heels in love, like I was with her mother, but different, of course. I rocked her gently, cooing softly to her and she calmed down as if she knew she was in the safest place she’d ever be.
“You’re so natural with her, Bunny” Dar said with tired smile. “You’re going to be such a wonderful daddy.”
I handed Lisa to Yasmin, who was in her glory, and as she and the other grandparents (yes, that means Jack too) got to know her, I kissed Dar many times, on her lips and her face and her hands. “Thank you, my Darling Dar, for bringing this sweetness into our lives. You’ll be an amazing mommy. And I love you more than ever. I didn’t think that was possible.”
Just then my father put his arm around my shoulders and kissed my cheek, then he leaned over and kissed Dar on her cheek. “I don’t think I’ve been this happy since you and your sister were born, Mick. And I know your mother is ecstatic. Naming her Lisa…it made her happier than I can remember seeing her, not for a long time. Remember, anything you need, anything, you call me. Though I expect your mother will be at your house every possible minute.” He kissed me again, then went to take his turn holding his granddaughter.
While the grandparents were all making a fuss over the newest member of the family, Dar and I had a couple of minutes to ourselves. I kissed her again and said “You’ve made me very happy, the happiest day besides our wedding day. I love you more than I can say.”
She smiled up at me, tired but also so happy. “I love you too, my Bunny. But I’m sorry about one thing.”
“What can you possibly be sorry for, my love?”
“We were going to have a very passionate evening, but I think that’s out of the question for a while.”
I grinned and kissed her once more. “Well, under the circumstances, I think I’ll give you a pass. But in about two months….you’re all mine!” We laughed together, drawing some attention from the others.
Dar whispered “I’ll mark it on my calendar. My sweet Bunny. My love.”
“My Darling Dar. My everything.”
Lisa Nasrin. The first in the next generation of Attars and Golds. There would be more to come.
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Thanks for reading this chapter. I’ve missed these two wonderful people. More will be coming. As always, your votes and comments are always appreciated.