Happy birthday, Liz! I hope you enjoy this!
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my words.
She had one hand curled around his finger and the other curled up by her chest, moving ever so slightly with each tiny breath she took. A perfect six pound, eighteen inch mixture of him and Jules lay before Sam, swaddled comfortably in pink.
As he watched his new little girl fidget in the little hospital bassinet, he picked out each distinct feature of her little self. Her eyes; the shape and the color, were all Braddock while her tiny lips, perfectly structured chin, and little ears all belonged to her mother.
"Hey, little one, come here," Sam whispered as he placed on hand under his new daughter's head and the other under her body, lifting the baby to his chest. He bounced her gently as he carried her around the room in attempt to keep her quiet so Jules could get some rest.
"Want to hear a story? Huh? Well, you're a little too young for princesses and princes – actually you'll be too young for princes until you're thirty – but I guess we could go for something else. Little Red Riding Hood?" Sam asked, babbling as he let himself adjust to talking to an infant, "No, wolves eating grandma is too scary for me, let alone you," he laughed.
He shifted his daughter, positioning her so he could see her tiny face while still keeping the baby curled against him, "Maybe a real story?"
The baby in his arms cooed, snuggling closer to her father's chest and resting her tiny chin on her equally miniscule fist.
Sam kissed the top of her head and whispered, "I know the perfect one."
Cradling baby Sadie closer to him, Sam sat down on a comfortable chair in the corner of the hospital room closest to his wife's bed. He leaned back, letting the baby nestle against his chest. Her little head rested on his heart, each light beat comforting her.
"Once upon a time," he began, rubbing his hand lightly over the newborn's back, "Your overly confident Daddy thought it was a good idea to flirt with a very beautiful sniper, who shot his attempt down almost immediately and then she almost shot him – but forget I mentioned that part of the story, you're too little to know that."
Sam laughed, scratching the back of his neck, "But none of that stopped him. Daddy knew from the beginning that your mommy was the one for him. He knew that from the minute he laid eyes on her. So he contemplated the question for a little bit, wondering how she would react and how his feelings would affect their job and one day, he pulled her aside before shift and asked her if she wanted to get dinner with him after work. Do you know what Mommy said? Mommy said no."
"Oh, but we ended up hanging out after shift, didn't we?"
Sam looked up from their daughter and saw Jules smirking at him. Baby in arms, he lightly stood up from the chair and quickly kissed his wife.
"We did," he laughed as he gradually sat down on the right side of her bed. Securing Sadie in one arm, he wrapped his free arm around his wife and pulled her closer.
Jules leaned into her husband, the two of them supporting their daughter together before they continued.
"We started spending a lot of time together after that," Jules smiled, "And before long, Mommy and Daddy were in love but we couldn't tell anyone; not Uncle Greg, Uncle Ed, Uncle Wordy, or even Uncle Spike!"
"Eventually, we had to choose the job or each other," Sam said, frowning, "So Mommy and I broke up for a long time."
"But our love for each other never went away."
"No, it didn't. And eventually, we realized that we should have chosen each other in the first place."
At that moment, both Jules and Sam turned towards each other, their eyes meeting. Grinning at each other, Jules laid her head on Sam's shoulder.
"When Daddy and I's bosses found out, they had to decide whether or not it was okay for us to be together. If they had said no, Daddy was gonna quit the SRU so we could stay together but lucky for us, they let us be together."
"And now," Sam smiled, kissing their daughter's tiny forehead, "We have you."
Using the back of her finger, Jules lightly stroked her daughter's tiny pink cheek. The baby was happy and peaceful, sleeping in her father's arms. She looked exactly like him when she slept, so calm and perfect.
"You know, it was never just a burrito."
