And Baby Makes Three
Disclaimer: All characters but the baby belong to ABC. Don't sue.
Rating: PG for utter schmoop.
"You know, it's been nine months."
Janet Latekka looked at her husband as if he was had grown another head. "Yeah… I do believe I am the one carrying this child, and am well aware of how long it's been. Why?"
Eddie came over to where his wife was lounging on the couch and sat next to her. He put one arm around her shoulders and the other hand rested on her stomach, as had been his habit since she told him she was pregnant all those months ago. "Well, it's just that we've done almost everything we need to get ready to bring this little guy or girl home. We've decorated the nursery, stocked up on all essential baby raising things, and have a whole hoard of potential baby-sitters on speed-dial. There's just one little thing that we've forgotten."
Janet looked up at him, a smirk curling on her lips. She was pretty sure she knew what he was going to say, but wanted to hear it anyway. "Oh, yeah and what is that?"
"A name, my dear. In a couple of days, we're gonna have to give them something to write on that birth certificate and we have come up with nothing."
Janet struggled to scoot up and turn to look at Eddie, but her protruding stomach prevented her from getting very far. Instead she settled for turning her body slightly towards him. "Excuse me? I have come up with plenty. You've just rejected everything I've come up with. As I recall, you were the one that said, 'I can't come up with a name until I've seen him. We'll just wait until they're born.' Why are you suddenly so worried about this now?"
Eddie stared at his hand on her stomach, gently rubbing back and forth, a thoughtful expression on his face. "I don't know. I just got to thinking that what if one day our kid asks how we came up with their name. I don't want to tell them that their old man was just too lazy to think about it and came up with it on the spur of the moment. I want them to feel special and have their name be special too."
Janet reached out and turned Eddie's face towards hers. "Baby, this kid is gonna feel all kinds of special, spur of the moment name or no. He or she is going to be loved so much that they aren't really gonna care when or where we came up with the name." Janet's smile turned into a bit of a grimace. "Besides, it's a little too late to be worrying about it now."
"Why, we've still got a couple of days."
"I don't think our little one is gonna wait that long. I'm pretty sure this little discomfort I've been feeling are contractions."
Eddie's eyes widened so fast it was almost comical. "What! Why didn't you say anything?! Oh, we've gotta go. I'll go get the bag, you just stay there."
Janet shook her head in amusement as her husband rushed around the house in a near panic. She pushed herself up and grabbed her jacket and his and took the keys off the hook. She gently put her hand on her stomach and smiled. "Ok, baby Latekka, let's go bring you into this world."
Ten hours and a hell of a lot of pain and cussing later, Janet lay sleeping in her hospital bed, having conked out after holding her little baby girl in her arms for only a few minutes. Eddie was sitting in a chair beside the bed, holding his angel in his arms so reverently like she was the greatest treasure in the entire world. And it turns out that to him she was.
As he stared at the little pink face of the newest member of Knight's Ridge, he couldn't help but marvel at how far he had come in his life. If someone had told him three years ago that he would be sitting here now, with a new baby and a beautiful wife sleeping beside him, he would have laughed in their face. He never thought he would settle down, and he certainly never thought he could be this happy. But Janet had changed all that. She made him happier than he ever thought possible. First by dating his sorry ass, then by marrying him, and finally by giving him this treasure.
He remembered how happy he was when she told him she was pregnant. They had been trying for a few months and when it finally happened it was better than he had imagined. They told all their friends together and the next nine months flew by in a flash. Now, though, after all the rushing and impatience, their little girl was finally here with them. And in this quiet moment his daughter opened her eyes for the first time, revealing the bluest eyes he had ever seen, and he knew. "Hey sweetie. I'm your daddy. So I've been thinking for a while that you need a name, and I think that I've found the perfect one. How about Charlotte? Huh? How does that sound to you?"
"I think it sounds perfect." Eddie turned at the sound of his wife's tired voice.
"Hey there sleepy head. How you feeling?" Eddie gently cradled Charlotte and then passed her into her mother's waiting arms.
"I'm wonderful. The drugs haven't really worn off yet. So Charlotte, huh? What made you come up with that?"
Eddie sat on the edge of the bed and leaned down and kissed Janet's forehead. He gently ran a long finger down his daughter's face and smiled. "It was my mother's name. When she opened her eyes a minute ago, I was just struck by how much those eyes looked like my mom's. It just seemed to fit."
"Well, I love it. It's perfect. How bout you, pretty girl? What do you think of it?"
As if she understood exactly what her mom was saying, Charlotte smiled and blinked those baby blues. Janet laughed and leaned into her husband. "Well, I think we have a keeper."
Eddie settled more firmly on the bed, leaning against the headboard, pulling Janet close to him. "Yeah, I think we're gonna keep her." With that, Eddie and Janet just sat together, no words were needed; they just enjoyed the new life in their arms and the new life ahead of them.
