Early Evening, St Martin's Hospital Maternity Wing, Ang and Alec, Closed.
The pain might have been intense, but, as she held out her arms for the crying bundle, there wasn't even a vague memory of the pain left. All there was was sheer joy, enough to make tears fill her eyes and trickle gently down her face, as she stared at the tiny little man in her arms. He looked just like his father, and Ang smiled as he looked up at her, and seeming to recognise the rhythm of her heart beat, he settled down, stopping the crying and blinking at her almost dazedly. "Hello my son, welcome to the world."
Alec had been there for the pain, brushing back sweaty hair from her face, silently allowing her to squeeze and hold his hand through the worst, but now he was standing back, hanging on the edges. Mainly to be out of the way, from the moment of birth to the passing of the little life to Ang had been rather chaotic, partly because he was afraid. He was keenly aware of the fact that his life had just suddenly, irreversibly, changed forever... and he didn't know what do next.
He saw Ang whispering to the little blue wrapped bundle, he twisted the silver band on his finger anxiously. A nurse smiled and waved him closer, he chewed his lip nervously.
Ang looked up, and adjusting her hold of the baby reached out one hand towards Alec. "Oh love, you look terrified, don't you want to hold him?"
She shifted slightly in the bed, wanting a hug, and feeling uncomfortable and damp where the sheets, and her clothes, needed changing, but her smile was warm and loving, "He won't bite, I promise."
"Come on Dad, we won't let you drop him." One of the nurses grinned at him, and carried on, "And while you're holding him, we can get Mum a bit more comfortable, with fresh sheets and maybe a change of clothes?"
She looked at Ang and smiled softly, "I bet you'd like that right?"
Ang nodded, still smiling at Alec, hand outstretched.
Oh Christ, what had he done? That thought had come to him often throughout Ang's pregnancy and it came back again now. Nothing you can change, now go! He took a deep breath and moved closer, hands resting on the guard rail, almost but not quite clamping down on it, as he looked at Ang and then slowly leaned closer to look at the little bundle in her arms.
Ang laid her free hand over one of his, and looked down again at the perfect, if a little red and wrinkled, face in the blanket. The skintone, the hair, even the shape of the nose, all said Alec. There was absolutely no doubt about who's child this was. And Ang looked back up, "Why don't you take him for a minute or two, you'll be fine. I really do need to change, I'm soggy in places that want to be dry."
She smiled, and used her free hand to move his arms. "There, now, you know how to do this Alec, I saw you with Gabi's baby last summer. Don't be silly."
It seemed to happen incredibly fast. One minute he was looking down into a small, wrinkled face and the next it was in his arms, warm, heavy, and definitely real. A nurse touched his elbow, coaxing him back so she could get to Ang... he barely noticed.
A little fist had come free, was curling next to a chubby cheek. The little guy looked up at him, little lips moving, gaze tired, almost dazed. Alec couldn't help himself, touching the center of the tiny little hand, smiling as miniature fingers closed around his single digit. "Rough day, huh?" he whispered. The baby blinked, and he smiled again.
One of the nurses whispered in Ang's ear, and pointed, Ang looked over at Alec, and then grinned at the nurse, nodding. It took very little time for the nurses to get her a clean shirt from her bag, help her to get changed, and then shift her over to get the sheets, including the plastic undersheet, off the bed. Nobody wanted to say a word in case they disturbed the moment and distracted Alec from his son. Fresh sheets were placed on the bed, and the two nurses helped Ang to get back into a comfortable, settled position. One of them passed over the camera from the bag, and Ang somehow managed to twist enough to get a quick snap of this incredibly precious moment.
Alec looked up at the flash, frowning good naturedly as Ang grinned at him from behind the camera. He'd have made a smart remark, but the baby shifted and his attention was pulled back.
Ang took another photo, just for good measure, besides, she wasn't Andras, and not that good with a camera. Handing it back to one of the nurses, she relaxed back against the pillows, exhausted, but incredibly happy. Looking back over at Alec, she smiled, "Why don't you come sit down hun?"
He came closer, cradling the baby close as he moved and as he settled carefully next to her. He leaned back slightly so she could be closer to her, their, son. He looked up finally, turning his head to look at her, gaze soft and loving. He kissed her forehead and whispered, "Congratulations."
"To you too," she couldn't help but grin up at him, "you helped after all, at the start, all the way through, and at the really hard part." One hand rested gently on the blanket, "Now comes the long haul, are you still up for it?"
He looked between her and the baby in his arms, sounding sure, if not quite looking it, when he said, "For better or worse."
"I love you Alec, more and more each day," Ang winced as she shifted, turning slightly so she could stretch up and kiss him lightly, "and I'm sorry if I hurt you, or your hand. I hope I didn't swear too much?"
She smiled, and relaxed back against him, watching the baby wave his tiny hand in the air. She was incredibly happy, and could feel the potential for tears building, but she blinked them back, and yawned tiredly.
"Like a sailor," he teased gently. He knew she was fading, and he knew the nurses would like to take the baby, do whatever it was they did with newborns, but he wanted to wait until Ang had fallen asleep before they were removed.
Ang watched as the baby closed his eyes, and the little hand descended, laying flat on his blanket covered chest, he was asleep, and about thirty seconds later, so was she.
A nurse fluttered over, smiling at Alec as she reached to take the baby. "Why don't you come with me, Daddy, while we get Mommy set up in her room." He hesitated a moment, but relented. He'd follow the nurse, watching carefully while his son was weighed, measured, and tested while the other nurses got Ang in her room.
Ang didn't even notice them going, but she did wake up when the nurse shook her shoulder gently, and then grumbled all the way to the room about the fact that they'd just walked off with her baby. The nurses took it in good humour, it wasn't something they hadn't heard before after all, and this was an english woman, unused to their procedures. Still, they settled Ang quickly, and made sure she was comfortable, before one of them headed off to try and hurry the baby back to it's mother, before she came looking for it.
Father and son (with nurse) were already on their way back. Alec had tipped the nurse off that the mother in question wasn't one they wanted to keep waiting. They entered, the little one wrapped back up in a clean blanket, this one white with blue bunnies, and resting in a little plastic baby bed on wheels (as Alec saw it anyway), pushed by the nurse. Alec was close behind, having not once let the little one out of his sight.
Ang had been about to call the nurse, but before she could even reach the call button, the door was opening and there they were. She sighed in relief, and reached for the baby without thinking about it. Her stomach muscles protested, and she groaned, laying back with a frustrated look on her face.
The nurse brought the bed closer, smiled, and let herself out. Alec stepped up to take the little man out for Ang, knowing she'd want him. To just hold him, yes, but to make sure he hadn't been switched during testing. He knew that worried her.
"Still yours," he teased, as he gently turned the baby over to her.
"I trust you, but," she unwrapped the baby, handling him confidently and surely, and only once reassured that he was indeed hers, did she wrap him back up again, "you know I hate hospitals, did they give you any idea of how long I have to stay?"
The baby seemed completely unfazed by the inspection, and she settled him against her. He started to turn towards her, and she realized he was searching for a breast. She frowned slightly as she tried to remember all the instructions, it was so different now, but somehow, she got him latched on and then, well, she couldn't help the wonder filled look that went straight to Alec before zipping back down to the baby.
There was a similar look on Alec's face. They were alone now and well, it was starting to sink in. His, hers, theirs...a little living, breathing piece of them. He watched the feeding a little dazedly, but drifted closer to touch the top of the dark fuzz covered head.
Ang couldn't help it, she was feeling decidedly happy, but soft tears slowly trickled down her face. She didn't dare to move too far though, in case her little man fell off. She just kept looking from her number 1 guy, to the new man in her life, and smiled right through, until the little man fell back asleep and dropped off anyway. Ang lifted him to her shoulder, and attempted to sit up a little further, wincing as she tried to do something that had been so easy (well, relatively anyway) just a few hours ago, and now was really hard.
Alec brushed at her cheeks, wiping away the last of her tears, then pulled up a chair so he could keep close by her side. He noticed the wince and asked, "Something I can do?"
"I need to sit up a bit more, to get him winded? Only my stomach feels like it's been pummelled and the muscles don't work properly!" It might have been descending to a wail by the end, but it was a quiet one, and accompanied by a grin. "Help me up? I promise to work on getting my body back under control, because I can't be doing with being this helpless."
He smiled, "You can wait on that. I'd say you've earned yourself a bit of break." He waited until she shifted the baby and then helped her get more upright, offering a pillow to prop behind her.
"Thanks," she settled back against the pillow, and started rubbing the baby's back, gentle motions, but with a hint of firmness, and just occasionally she patted him on the back as well. There was a loud burp, which made her smile, and she shifted him slightly against her shoulder.
There was a little, tired squirm from the baby as he settled and Alec wanted to go, "Yeah, I know the feeling little guy." But maybe it was too soon for the bonding. Instead he sat back in the chair and looked at her with a small, distant, still almost dazed smile.
Ang looked over, and smiled, "I know this sounds weird, but, I need a hug, a nice long slow one. And a glass of water, please?"
He tipped his head, "Which first?"
"Both together?" She smiled, "If you brought me the glass of water you could sit here with us and hold him, and what are we going to call him? While I drink the water? That way I get both at once."
Alec poured a glass of water from the pitcher provided, smirking lightly to himself. So many questions...so many that he had himself. He brought the glass over and settled in at her other side, an Ang sandwich. "Have you thought of anything?"
Ang sipped at the water, then looked at him, "No, I was thinking that we'd discuss it when we could see what he looked like. So we don't pick something he doesn't look like?" She took another sip of the water and shifted slightly against Alec, making herself more comfortable.
Alec shifted his arm, to let it slide under her shoulders as he turned a little to look down at the soft, sleeping face in Ang's arms. He tipped his head, for the first time really taking in how the features were so much like his own, only smaller and slightly off where Ang's genes had won the battle against his.
"Isn't he beautiful? We did good huh?" It was a quiet whisper, accompanied by a smile, and then she yawned, and sipped at the water again. Dammit, if she was going to do nothing but sleep, well, that could be a problem, at least, it could if the baby wanted to be awake.
"Perfect," he said quietly. Slowly his gaze shifted from the baby's face to Ang's, "Thank you, Ang."
"Oh Alec, no, I should thank-you, because it was one hell of a brave decision on your part to do this, and you know I would never have done it without your say so." She looked up, the words might have been quiet, but they were heart-felt, she just couldn't quite stop the yawn that followed them. "I love you, for everything, for marrying me, for our son, for taking all those chances that could, so easily have gone wrong, and most of all? For being you, and for loving me."
She swallowed the rest of the water, and then snuggled in just that bit closer, a careful, slowly carried out manoeuvre, because parts of her ached that really had not ever ached like this before.
He nuzzled in against her hair, then brushed a kiss to her temple.
With a slight sigh, she slipped into sleep, the glass tipping in her suddenly lax grip, although the baby remained safely resting against her. It was hardly surprising she was tired, and with the baby asleep, and snuggled up against Alec, now was the best time to nap. She was safe, warm, and at least mostly comfortable.
Alec caught the glass before it dumped into his lap and set it on the nearby table. He smiled down at them as he settled back into place and smiled down at his, his, family.