Re: Visiting the Hospital
"Well enough. If you are, I am." This was a true answer, offered sotto voce and with a keen look and barely-readable sympathetic smile. The tip of his head was toward her as hers was to him in that moment, and Cris was right to think it was a private aside in a larger set of people and conversation. He did not pursue the topic, however, and not because Cris came over to grip Sam's neck in a way that made Daniel think of playful dogs with a favorite toy. Cris' long face put that internal metaphor to bed quickly, however. When Sam looked for an answer about the baby from Cris, Daniel's eyes flicked from her face to the man, following her gaze and flashing back down again before Sam turned her head back around.
Daniel didn't mind people lying to him. It was normal to the point of masquerading as affection, and Daniel habitually lied without thinking just to see how people would react, to gauge their opinions of him and their surroundings, even out of boredom or curiosity. Secrets and concealment were a natural part of every relationship in Daniel's life, and he did not equate trust with truth. If Sam wanted to pretend that grin was real, then Daniel would oblige, but he would make sure that she knew he knew. This was because the people Daniel really liked, the ones to whom he instinctively responded, were always ten times more honest than he was. He liked guileless, impetuous, thoughtless, straight-forward, even stupid people (though not all of those in one person), almost as if they were genetic curiosities and worthy of his notice. Sam was one such person because she wore her emotions so close to the surface.
Daniel was ready to believe the baby was doing well, however. His scale of what amounted to good health was a couple centuries off. He looked surprised and pleased at the news the child was putting on weight, and smiled at Cris in a guileless expression of his own that was quite rare and unthinking. "Good news." Daniel accepted Cris as a father because he had been most present in that role, most willing to accept it, and far better suited than Fucking Neil, worthy of undying scorn. The child could be white as milk and Daniel wouldn't think twice about it. Largely because in his antique little moral structure, largely subconscious, Sam and Cris were not married, so the child's looks were not expected to be a combination of those two. Daniel was a bastard himself, and enjoyed the overall prospect.
He let Louis take the lead for baby visiting. Daniel thought that right. Louis was the one who brought them here, the one most prepared (with all the presents and the carpooling) and, frankly, Louis was the more motherly of the three visitors. "I'll go after Iris." It was the first time Daniel had so much as acknowledged the woman, and he said it without looking in her direction.