Chapter 83: Epilogue

No mother went into labor anticipating leaving the hospital without her child, but that was exactly what Liam and I did. Mark wasn't strong enough to leave the NICU when I was released and wouldn't be for another twenty-seven days.

It seemed the first week everything was touch and go. He lost weight, which everyone swore was normal, but when it was my baby, nothing was normal. Seeing the PICC lines and incubators was stressful, but all I could do was spend time with him and pray he kept getting stronger, which was exactly what Mark did.

His daddy had to go back to New York for a couple days after I was released, and Hayden went home to her life and son, but I got by. I spent a ton of time at the hospital, taking every chance they gave me to hold my precious baby boy and nuzzle him against my flesh. I cried the day he started to nurse, and there was no one there to share the victory with me, but Liam had seen all the accomplishments since then.