A sequel to 'An Important Shopping Expedition'

~~~~~~

 It was basically the middle of night when Charlotte went into labor. She and Merel both got up and dressed, and Merel drove to the hospital as quickly as she possibly could without being pulled over for speeding.

 Once they arrived, Charlotte spent hours in labor with Merel by her side, holding her hand and telling her that everything would be okay. Later on, Charlotte would be impressed by how calm and supportive Merel had been at the time when she knew she had to be panicking on the inside the entire time.

 Their baby daughter was born just as the sun had finished rising. Everyone was exhausted by then, but Charlotte and Merel both wanted to be able to hold their baby as soon as they could.

 "I haven't even held her yet, and I love her already," Charlotte said to Merel.

 "Me, too. But I have a feeling we'll love her even more when we get to properly meet her," said Merel. "Why don't get some sleep, Charlotte? You look exhausted."

 "Well, so do you."

 "I am exhausted, but you're the one who just went through hours of labor. Our new little girl will still be here when you wake up, I promise."

 Charlotte protested for a little while longer before nodding off to sleep. While she was asleep, Merel was allowed to bring the baby to Charlotte's room. She sat down in the chair and looked down at the sleeping baby. This was much different form all the screaming she had done when she was first born a few hours earlier. But it didn't make a difference to Merel, because crying or sleeping, she would have been enchanted by this baby either way.

 "Hey, little girl," she whispered. "I'm your Mommy Merel. And that pretty lady sleeping over there is Mama Charlotte. We've been excited to meet you, and we're happy you're here. You're gonna get a lot of love."

 "Is that her?"

 Charlotte had woken up, and was looking at the baby in Merel's arms.

 "Yeah. Hey, sweetie, that's Mama Charlotte. There you go." Merel gently placed her in Charlotte's arms.

 Merel smiled as she watched Charlotte holding their baby and whispering to her. But suddenly all the tiredness from earlier came back to her, and she nodded off to sleep herself.

 When she woke up, Charlotte was still holding their daughter.

 "She's like a little angel," Charlotte said. "I told you Angelica would be a perfect name for her."

 Merel sighed. "Do you really want to name her Angelica?"

 "Yes, I do. You can call her Angie for short. Oh, come on, you know you kind of like the idea."

 Merel smiled. "So, Angelica Wessels-Bechtold, newest member of both families?"

 Charlotte smiled back. "Exactly. Our little angel."