That first meeting

I was 20 when I had my daughter. I thought I was going to give her up for adoption, what 20 year old wants to raise a child?
After hours of labor - when I looked at my daughter for the first time through a haze of exhaustion, I knew that I would never let her go.
They brought her to me, tightly wrapped in a white receiving blanket. Her eyes were puffy slits on her round pink face, her mouth was a rosebud made of pink sugar, her hair a misty brown swirl on her fragile little head. I reached for her and held that precious bundle for the first time - her snug and sleepy in my arms. She opened her eyes, pursed her lips and gazed at me, her mother, with calm acceptance. I felt the weight of responsibility settle in my arms - as light as newborn baby; as heavy as forever.
And I knew love for the first time ....