A/N: I wrote this months ago and it was published elsewhere. The standard disclaimers apply.
The past few hours felt like a blur. He had always though it was silly when people said that, but as Oliver juggled the car seat into his left hand and slipped his key into the door to Kyle's suite, he really had no memory of the drive over and only a vague notion of everything that had happened in the earth-shattering hours since he had learned that he was a father. The father of an 8 week-old baby girl.
A daughter, Oliver tried to finally wrap his mind around the idea. Sierra Rose. My daughter.
He drew in a deep breath as the key turned in the lock, then released it before swinging the door open. In a few seconds there would be a lot of questions and he wasn't sure that he would have the answers. The truth was that Oliver had no idea when he rushed down to the prison that he would be leaving with a baby in his arms! He honestly had never thought this far ahead.
Resting the carrier on the ground beside the couch, he checked to make sure that the baby was still sleeping, then made his way to the bedroom door.
"Kyle? Are you here?"
Following the sound of running water, he pushed open the door to the en suite bathroom and paused at the sight of Kyle hunched over with his face buried in the sink while the water poured full force over his head. As he sensed Oliver's presence, Kyle jerked upwards, sharply rapping his head against the raised spout.
"Ow!" He grabbed the top of his head as he spun towards Oliver, spraying water from his soaked hair. "Oliver! Are you okay? Where's the baby? Is she all right? What happ…"
"Whoa! Hold on! One thing at a time," Stepping forward, Oliver snagged a towel from the rack nearby and draped it over Kyle's sopping wet hair. As he began smoothing one end of the towel across his boyfriend's face, Oliver touched a finger to Kyle's lips, halting the barrage of questions he could see waiting to burst out.
"First of all, I'm fine and Sierra is fine. Allison Perkins is in jail and Mitch Laurence is in the prison infirmary. Now, let me have a quick look at your head and then I'll tell you the longer version."
"Ollie, My head is fine!" Kyle grabbed for Oliver's hands, halting the ministrations. He drew his lover into a tight embrace, wordlessly expressing the tension and fear that had consumed him for the past three hours as he awaited word about the kidnapped baby. The talking heads on the news had offered little information about the standoff at the prison and Kyle had been reluctant to call Oliver's cell phone for fear of interrupting him in some crucial moment.
Kyle buried his face into the curve of Oliver's neck and, for a few moments, the men just stood, arms tightly wrapped around each other, swaying gently as they drew strength from each other. Finally, Oliver drew back and placed a soft kiss on Kyle's lips. Kyle leaned into the kiss, parting his lips to deepen the contact, a low moan rumbling in his chest.
The sound seemed to snap Oliver out of his daze and he pulled back, suddenly remembering how much he needed to explain. He was unable to resist another quick peck on Kyle's lips before he turned, walked back into the bedroom and drew Kyle down to sit with him on the bed.
The expression on Kyle's face made it clear that he had many questions, but the past few months had taught him a lot about reading Oliver's moods and he could tell that his boyfriend was psyching himself up for something major, so Kyle waited silently for Oliver to meet his eyes and for the fidgeting to convert itself into words.
Finally, Oliver released a deep sigh, then lifted his gaze to Kyle's face.
"I don't know where to start, Kyle. So much has happened. I guess the most important thing is Sierra. I told Schuyler that… I showed him the DNA test results. That was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. The look on his face when he realised that the baby isn't his... It felt like I was tearing his heart out. Like I was ending his world."
Leaning forward, Kyle cupped his hand against the side of Oliver's face, his thumb brushing away the single tear that had begun to make its way down his boyfriend's cheek.
"Oliver, none of this is your fault. You are not the bad guy in all of this; you did what had to be done. You couldn't let him go on thinking that Sierra was his daughter."
"I know, but that didn't make it any easier. Damn Stacy!" Oliver sprang to his feet, but before he could say anything further a thin wail from the living room stopped him in his tracks. His eyes met Kyle's and he watched as his boyfriend's mouth dropped open in a way that would have been comical under any other circumstances.
"I guess there's something else I need to tell you," he said sheepishly, cracking a tentative smile and moving towards the living room.
"I bet," came Kyle's characteristically dry reply.
...
"So the bottom line is that we… I..."
"We, Ollie," Kyle interrupted. "No matter what, it's always, we."
Oliver smiled, then reached his right hand across the sofa, over the baby that now lay quietly between them, and laced his fingers through Kyle's. "We have a baby to… to… Well, I'm not exactly sure what we're supposed to do with her!"
"Well, she's ours to love, to take care of, to protect, to give a home and family. To fight with when she gets older, to give an allowance and ground and… do I need to go on?" Kyle's eyes held Oliver's. He gave a reassuring squeeze to the fingers wrapped around his own, then slipped off the sofa and swung his body around until he was perched on the coffee table directly in front of Oliver. He reached out and placed his free hand over Oliver's, which had been rhythmically rubbing against his trousers the entire time that he had spent recounting the events of the afternoon. Stilling the nervous movement with a soothing stroke, Kyle again looked deep into Oliver's eyes.
"Oliver, I know this is crazy and sudden and neither of us has a lot of experience with a baby, but we can do this. I really believe that, together, we can give Sierra Rose what she needs. We can be what she needs: two loving parents."
For several long moments Oliver's only response was an unbroken stare. Then, just when Kyle was beginning to steel himself for another fight over their fitness, as gay men, to raise a child, a slow smile began to form on his lover's lips.
"I love you so much, Kyle Lewis," Oliver said softly, leaning forward to press his lips against the familiar comfort of Kyle's.
"And I love you, Oliver Fish," Kyle murmured against his lips before his questing tongue delved forward to deepen the kiss. Usually, it did not take long for either man to get lost in a moment of physical and emotional closeness, but this time both were grounded by a hyperawareness of the baby lying nearby. Almost in unison, they drew back from the kiss and looked at Sierra.
"Now would be a good time to make one of your lists," Kyle broke the momentary silence. "I know you said that Joplin promised to drop the baby's stuff off, but he's probably got a lot on his mind right now and it's getting late. I think that a trip to the mall is in order. There was only the one bottle of formula tucked into her carrier and soon she'll be hungry again. We also need changing supplies: diapers and wipes, baby powder, oil…"
"Are you… Are you sure we can do this?" Oliver's eyes moved between Kyle's face and that of the baby.
"Oliver, what's the alternative? Do you want to hand her over to Gigi and Rex? Have them raise your child?" Kyle felt Oliver's hand jerk possessively towards the baby in response to that suggestion. He smiled, holding Oliver's eyes and slowly leaning forward to press a kiss against his furrowed brow. "We both know that that's not an option. We can do it, babe. I promise."
"Okay, then let's do this!" Oliver released his grip on Kyle then bounded to his feet in a sudden burst of energy. "You drive. I'll get her bundled up while you grab your keys and we'll make a list on the way."
He reached down and lifted his daughter, awkwardly juggling her until she was cradled in his arms. "You hear that Miss Sierra? You've got a new home and not one, but two dads who are going to take such good care of you. You, baby girl, are one lucky kid. Don't ever let anyone tell you anything different."
Oliver stared at the solemn blue eyes gazing up into his. This was going to be the ultimate "fake it till you make it," but as he looked at his daughter, he knew that making it was the only option. In the few short hours since he had found out that she was his, so much had changed, but there were now two certainties in his life. His eyes moved from one of those certainties to meet the gaze of the other.
"I'm ready. Let's go."