Happy Birthday: A Novel

Mike leaned over April, still holding the baby, and put him on her chest. She touched him and looked up at Mike, and both of them were crying and smiling at the same time.

“Sam,” April said, whispering his name.

“I knew it was a boy,” Mike said, looking at him proudly through tears of joy. They hadn’t weighed him yet, but he was a big baby. The nurse was guessing nine pounds, and he had almost delivered himself. April was saying it hadn’t been bad at all, as Mike rolled his eyes. It hadn’t looked easy to him, but it hadn’t been as awful as he had feared, and the miracle of one human being coming out of another had totally amazed him as he watched their son being born.

The nurse had left the room for a minute, as the doctor delivered the placenta and cut the cord, and she looked at April when she got back. “There’s a mess of people out there asking for April Wyatt. Is that you?” She smiled her big wide motherly smile that had reassured them both.

“It was,” April said happily, holding her baby, as Mike looked proudly at them both. “I’m April Steinman now. I got married last Saturday,” she told the nurse, who laughed warmly.

“Well, that’s a good thing. After we clean you up a little, do you want them to come in?”

She looked at Mike to be sure it was all right with him, and he nodded, knowing that this was the happiest day of his life, even if he had been terrified of it before, and he had never loved April more. He was fine about having her family come in. They were his family now too. And so was Sam. Forever.

“Okay,” April said. She had started shaking, and they covered her with a warm blanket. They had taken her feet out of the stirrups, and the nurse told them the shaking was normal and would stop soon.

And a minute later her whole family came in. Her father and Maddie, Annie and Heather, and her mother and Jack. The room was full of people, exclaiming about the baby, talking to April and Mike, and wanting to see Sam. April looked blissful as she held the baby, and Mike was standing close to her, telling her how much he loved her, as everyone congratulated them. Valerie was looking at the baby with tears in her eyes and holding Jack’s hand. And suddenly Mike realized that everything was all right. This was a whole other life from anything he had known as a child, among people who loved each other, the baby, and even him. And little Sam was the most welcome baby in the world.

The others left after a few minutes, and he and April kissed, and then she leaned down and kissed their baby and whispered, “Happy birthday, Sam.”

There had been no way of knowing all those months before, but the worst birthday for some of them had turned out to be the best birthday after all.

About the Author

DANIELLE STEEL has been hailed as one of the world’s most popular authors, with over 590 million copies of her novels sold. Her many international bestsellers include 44 Charles Street, Legacy, Family Ties, Big Girl, Southern Lights, Matters of the Heart, One Day at a Time, A Good Woman, and other highly acclaimed novels. She is also the author of His Bright Light, the story of her son Nick Traina’s life and death.

Visit the Danielle Steel website at daniellesteel.com.