Stone Cold by Stassi Evers

in the warming bed and left the room to find her.
    “Daddy! I found you!” Eden was much happier than when she was taken to the playroom.
    “Hello pretty lady. I missed you.”
    “I missed you too. Where’s mommy?”
    Darin picked her up and thanked the nurse for taking care of her. He walked back to Evelyn’s room listening to everything Eden had done while her brother was being born.
    “Where’s mommy?”
    “Mommy’s sleeping but let’s take a look at your new baby brother.” Darin held her up so she could see the baby who was sound asleep in the warming bed beside Evelyn.
    Eden stared at the baby for the longest time. She was smiling and reached her hand out and touched his cheek. The baby made a gurgling sound and she looked at Darin and giggled for a second before returning her gaze to her baby brother.
    “He’s my baby,” she whispered, her eyes still fixed on the new arrival.
    “He’s your brother,” explained Darin.
    “He’s MY baby!” Eden declared with a much louder voice while sternly pointing a finger at her father.
    For the moment, Darin had given up the fight and let Eden have the last word. It was clear she hadn’t been affected by the events leading up to her brother’s birth and had surprisingly staked a claim of ownership over him. He guessed her possessiveness would subside once the novelty of having another child around to have to share things with wore off.
    Evelyn woke up when she heard Eden’s little outburst.
    Groggily she asked, “What do you think of your new baby brother?”
    “I l ike him. I want to play with him. He’s mine,” Eden whispered again as she touched one of his hands that had come free from the blanket.
    Her next question surprised them both.
    “Who is he? I’m Eden, who is he?” she wanted to know.
    Darin paused for a moment. He and Evelyn had discussed names and had come to a standoff for boys names. She suggested Darin Jr. but he wanted to give him a name that was all his own. A name that would fit the man Darin hoped his son would become - something strong and powerful.
    He had a name in mind that had belonged to a childhood friend he’d grown up with in Ireland.
    E arly in the pregnancy, Darin remembered Evelyn had asked him to choose this baby’s name because she’d chosen Eden’s.
    With that mem ory, he turned to Evelyn and said, “You asked me to name this baby, do you remember?”
    “Yes of course I do, and I meant it and still do,” she said as she smiled and touched his hand.
    “Alright then.”
    With his eyes locked with his wife’s, Darin responded to Eden’s question.
    “His name is Conall , Conall Reese Stone.”
    “Conall.” Eden repeated the name softly. “Conall.”
     
    *****
     
    “Conall Reese Stone? Are the parents of Conall Reese Stone here?” A police officer bellowed to the people waiting in the lobby.
    Darin was jolted out of memory lane and stood instantly to alert the police officer that Conall’s father was present.
    “I’m his father. Can I see him now?”
    “Yeah , they’re ready for you – follow me.”
    He followed the officer through a set of doors, down a long corridor to another set of doors and into a room where Conall was sitting at a table.
    Without a word, Conall stood and Darin walked over and gave him a huge hug. To his surprise, Conall hugged him back with an even bigger embrace. Their relationship had been strained a bit lately and he was expecting things to get worse after the way he angrily demanded Conall come out of his room to face the police. Instead, Conall seemed relieved that his father was there.
    “We have a lot to talk about but first what are they going to do with you? Do you get to come home?” asked Darin.
    Before Conall could answer, a man who introduced himself as the lead investigator on the case emerged from a corner in the room and spoke on his behalf.
    “Your son can le ave with you tonight but there’s some paperwork that needs to be filled out first. He’ll be