“Technically, they survived the trip better than I did.”
Anna smiled.
Caleb placed the socks carefully on the hospital table.
Then he looked at his daughter again.
“Has she really been watching the door?”
Anna’s expression changed.
“That’s what everybody keeps saying.”
“Everybody?”
“Your daughter has already developed a reputation.”
Caleb raised an eyebrow.
Anna explained.
After the delivery, the baby had spent much of the night tucked against her.
But whenever a cart rolled past, whenever shoes squeaked outside the room, whenever a low male voice carried from the hallway, the baby’s head seemed to turn toward the sound.
At first Anna thought she was imagining it.
Then the nurse noticed.
Later another nurse noticed too.
“They started joking that she was waiting for somebody,” Anna said.
Caleb’s eyes filled again.
“Don’t tell me that.”
“Why?”
“Because I’ve only got so many tears in me before I have to turn in my vest.”
Anna smiled.
Then she said, “I think she knew your voice.”
Caleb looked at her.
“She’s a few hours old.”
“You’ve talked to her every night for months.”
“Mostly about broken trucks and your terrible taste in television.”
“You also told her when you got home.
Every single night.”
Caleb looked down at the baby.
The thought was almost too much to accept.
He knew babies could hear sounds before birth.
Anna had read him articles about it.
She had laughed when their daughter kicked under his palm while he talked.
But Caleb had treated those moments like private magic, something belonging only to the couch, the warm living room lamp and the strange wonder of feeling a child move beneath his wife’s skin.
He had never considered that the baby might actually remember him.
Anna reached over and touched the back of his hand.
“When you spoke just now, she turned faster than she did for anyone else.”
Caleb’s eyes stayed on his daughter.
“Maybe she just likes ugly voices.”
“Then she’ll love your whole motorcycle club.”
He laughed quietly.
The sound woke the baby enough for her face to tighten.
Caleb panicked immediately.
“What did I do?”
Anna’s smile widened.
“Congratulations.
You’re a father.
You made a noise near a sleeping baby and now you’re terrified.”
The newborn began to fuss.
Caleb pulled his hand back.
“Should I get the nurse?”
“Caleb.”
“Is she hungry? Is she cold? Why is her face doing that?”
“Her face is doing what newborn faces do.”
“That seems medically questionable.”
