Re: Visiting the Hospital
Louis watched Cris comfort Sam, watched Sam protest that she wanted to stay where she was, watched his frail sister not quite meet his eye. He hadn't forgotten what Cris had said. He knew Sam wasn't happy that they hadn't spoken much since things went south at Thanksgiving. He would try to rectify that now, even if a small part of him still rebelled, defensively, against it. He usually found it easier to accept that he was wrong than to defend why, even if he was tired, tired of hearing about how he got things wrong with Sam. He didn't know when he had things right. But Cris was also right that she was young and he probably expected too much from her, especially considering her current state and the baby. He would try to be better, to make things better. It was the least he could do.
He didn't know Cris felt uncomfortable in this gaggle of people who cared about him and Sam and the baby, and not because he was so much an idiot that he would claim sanctimoniously not to see color. It simply never occurred to him. Why would it? He had no personal experience with it, and his own worries for the baby were all around whether Neil would ever come back to try to claim her from Sam. It was a nightmare scenario Louis didn't even want to consider. He could win, if it came down to that. More important than that, he thought it would do something for Cris' peace of mind, if the baby looked like him. Past experience and what relatives would think didn't even cross his mind.
When Daniel leaned over to whisper in Sam's ear, he was actually glad. If anything, that showed something had changed since Thanksgiving, though what was up for debate.
He made sure to give Sam a quick kiss on the forehead before they moved away. All in all, he was just grateful she was still here.
And he kept an eye on Daniel, on his edginess. That might get worse as they moved deeper into the hospital, and make no mistake, he was aware of it. "They had best be taking good care of my niece here," he said, as they stepped into the elevator, determined to lighten the mood.