The following creative writing piece is a Haiku to Vignette, written by contributing writer Cadence Lantz:

Her body bundled

Big brown eyes filling with tears

Her fingers grip yours

He watched tentatively as the doctor carefully checked the newborn girl. Nerves chiseled away at his muscles, his chest burned with excited impatience, and his mind itched to bundle the baby in a blanket of love. Nine months wasn’t nearly long enough to prepare him for this– for parenthood. But when his wife was finally able to hold the little pearl, her tired eyes crinkling into a smile, he was overcome with joy. 

His daughter’s head was covered in pale blonde wisps, and her eyelids slowly opened to reveal a light brown. She was wrinkled, and ugly, and also the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Soon his daughter’s ravenous cries filled the room; her big brown eyes blinked with tears as her tiny hands reached for food. His breath caught in his throat. He wished his mother was here to see him. His wife. His daughter. For the first time in his life he wished he’d followed his father’s wishes, and that he’d never been disowned.

Before he could comprehend his own feelings, it was his turn to hold her. That breath finally escaped, and he too began to cry. Tears covered his cheeks as he lightly kissed her head, her nose, and her hands. He whispered “coos” and “ahhs”, let her tiny fingers encase his own, while his wife watched with a chuckle. He would be the father he’d never gotten, the husband his wife deserved, and provide his daughter all the love and happiness in the world.