Disclaimer: I don't own Malcolm in the Middle and never will. No copyright infringement intended.
Two days after the birth of their sixth child, Lois and Hal were still in disbelief they had a daughter after five sons. They also had yet to name her because the only names they thought of had been for boys. To say they had been surprised about everything (the pregnancy included) had been an understatement. However, both were thrilled about this surprise. They wouldn't have minded another son, but they were done for sure now (Six children were definitely enough) and their little girl just completed their family in a way it hadn't been before. Now they were leaving having babies up to Francis and the other older boys (hopefully, later rather than sooner for Reese and Malcolm). Now that Lois and the baby were being discharged from the hospital, they really needed to come up with something to put on the birth certificate.
Lois thumbed through the baby name book again and tried to find a name that would fit. Nothing seemed to pop out at her until she stopped in the "L's" again. She smiled. "Hal, I got it!"
He tore his eyes away from his new daughter and waited for his wife to tell him what she name she had decided to give him. "And?"
"Laura Kelly." Lois didn't know why she liked the name, but every time she looked through the book her eye kept straying to Laura. Kelly was just something she liked.
Hal looked back down at Laura. "Hey, are you Laura? Is that your name?" They both smiled when the baby responded by gurgling.
"Alright, let's go. I'm sick of this place." Lois just wanted to go home and relax (as much as they could with a newborn in the house) with her family. She wondered if Francis and Piama had finally shown up or was even on their way. They had their own newborn, a seven week old daughter named Veronica. Piama had been nearly two months ahead of Lois in her own pregnancy. It was a little weird to the family that Lois and Hal were having another baby after becoming grandparents, but all of them had just shrugged it off and decided to work with the situation.
"Me too." Hal reluctantly set Laura down into her car seat and the three departed the hospital after signing the birth certificate. When they arrived home, only Piama was there and she was rocking Veronica to sleep.
"When'd you guys get here?" Lois questioned. She couldn't wait to hold her first grandchild, still surprised by how much she loved visiting the new family of three. Then again, she could give Veronica back to her parents when she didn't feel like playing with the baby anymore.
"Hey. Um, about an hour or so ago. Francis took everyone out to dinner." She had decided not to go because she was tired and didn't feel like getting dressed.
"At least it'll be quiet for a little while. How's my granddaughter?" Lois beamed at her daughter-in-law and the baby. She and Piama had bonded a little during their pregnancies and it had helped their relationship when Piama went to her for advice.
"We're good. How's my new sister-in-law?" Piama nearly sighed in relief when her daughter's eyes closed and she set the newborn down in the bassinet they had brought with them.
"She's good too. Why don't you get some sleep? You need it. Lois and I will watch Veronica. What's one more baby?" He was planning on spoiling both of them rotten. Hal couldn't help it. It was his prerogative to spoil his granddaughter, especially the first one, and the new baby. He was going to make sure that Dewey (who was used to it, unfortunately) and Jamie weren't jealous, however.
Piama shook her head. "Thanks for the offer, but I napped on the way here. I'm fine. Can I hold her?" Her arms were a little tired from holding Veronica, but she wouldn't mind holding Lois and Hal's daughter for a few minutes.
"Of course." Lois unstrapped Laura from the car seat and carefully scooped her out before handing her to Piama. The two bonded for a little while before Laura started crying because she was hungry and Lois took her back to feed her.
Less than an hour and a half later, rest of the Wilkerson family came home. Francis handed a pizza to his parents, aware they probably wouldn't want to cook. "Thanks, Kiddo." Hal pulled his eldest in for a hug and kissed the top of his head.
That night, once everybody went to bed, Lois and Hal settled into their bedroom to try and get some sleep. Laura slept in a bassinet next to her mother. "Can you believe this, Hal? After five boys, we have a daughter." When the doctor informed them that the baby was a girl, her mouth had actually dropped open in shock. Hal had cried.
"I know. I love the boys and I wouldn't change any of them for the world but I think Laura is what we've been missing for a long time." Hal kissed Lois when his wife turned around to face him.
"I love you." Lois was feeling particularly sappy lately and she kinda hated it, honestly. It was nice for the time being, though.
"I love you, too." Hal kissed her again and the two went to sleep for as long as they could until Laura woke them up crying.
Lois was eating lunch the next day when Hal walked into the kitchen with the baby in his arms. "I just changed her diaper."
"Okay?" Lois was confused as to why he was telling her what had just happened. He had only mentioned one diaper change the night before and that was to inform her she didn't have to get up to change it.
"I keep expecting to get pissed on and it hasn't happened yet. It's weird."
She laughed. "We're going to have to get used to a lot of different things now, Hal. Like Barbies." Her nose crinkled up at the thought. Lois was thinking that Laura might turn out to be a tomboy, however, since she was going to grow up with five older brothers. It was probably inevitable.
"I didn't even think of that." Hal wasn't sure what life with a daughter was going to be like, but he was excited to find out the other changes.
The Wilkersons were going to have to get used to the differences a daughter brought, but they were definitely thrilled about them. Now that three of their six children were out of the house, maybe life wouldn't be as chaotic as it always was.
Yeah right. Life was always going to be chaotic for the Wilkersons. Nothing would ever change that.