Despite being red and wailing angrily, he was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen and for the first time in my life, I was unashamed of the tears that were running down my face.
"Don't worry, you won't hurt him," the doctor said upon seeing my hesitation.
I cut the umbilical cord and turned to my wife with a bright smile. "He is perfect, love. Our son is just perfect." My voice was hoarse with emotion.
"He is?" She let out a small sob of happiness. "We have our son, Matthew Ethan St-John."
I stood beside her again as the nurse cleaned the baby. I kissed her lips tenderly. "He is absolutely perfect. Thank you for such a beautiful gift."
"You were right, everything went well."
"Of course I was, I'm always right," I replied gently, stroking her hair.
"If it's what you'd like to think."
The nurse came and placed the baby in Ava’s arms.
She looked down at her little bundle in awe. "I can't believe we made something so beautiful and so perfect." She carefully took our son's little hand in hers.
I sat on a chair by the bed, snaking one arm behind her shoulders and resting the other one on our son. "You made him perfect, Ava. You can only create perfection."
She looked at me with a small smile. "I thought nothing was perfect."
"You're the exception to the rule. You're perfect to me."
"You're a dad." Her voice was breaking with emotion.
"And you're a mum." I took a deep breath. "I can't believe I almost missed out on this life. It's a good thing I realized this before it was too late."
“We never made a mistake,” she added, looking down at Matthew. “We were destined to be together.”
“Not being together would have been the gravest mistake of all,” I agreed, shivering at the thought of living a life without her.
"I love you, Ava."
"I love you too, Hugo, my stubborn man."