Chapter 4

Author's Note: Though you can picture her however you want, I always thought of Gabriella as looking like a chibi version of Mia. And this is the fluffiest chapter of them all, just to let you know. Okay, last chapter, thanks to all who have read this far!


After a few days, Mia was allowed to leave the hospital and bring Gabriella home just as the sun was setting. Upon arriving at the front porch, Diego opened the door and gently ushered his wife and daughter inside.

"Well, here we are, home sweet home," Diego said as he closed the door behind him. He turned to the baby snuggled in Mia's arms. "What do you think, baby kitten? Is it to your liking?"

Gabriella cooed happily and gave Diego the cutest little smile. Diego stared at his daughter lovingly and gently poked her tiny nose.

"I think she likes it." Mia smiled as she yawned. Diego immediately put his arm around his wife and led her into the living room.

"You must be exhausted, Kitten. You should sit down." He said as he helped his wife onto the couch. "Can I get you anything?"

"No thank you, Diego, I'm good," she answered. Mia found a pink rattle that was lying on the coffee table and shook it in front on Gabriella. The baby reached her arm towards it and laughed as her mother played with her. "Aww, who's my good baby girl?"

Diego fondly watched Mia and Gabriella bond before turning to the coffee maker. He hadn't had any coffee since Gabriella was born (three days ago; that was a new record for him.) He realized how badly he was craving the dark goodness and brewed himself a cup quickly. He poured some blend # 107 in a mug and sat next to Mia on the sofa. After taking a large swig from the mug, he put the coffee on his knee and wrapped his other arm around Mia. Her eyes widened a little bit when she saw what her husband was holding.

"Ah, Diego, be careful," she said a little nervously. "Don't get that coffee too close to Gabby."

"What? Come on, Kitten, you know me better than that" Diego replied, feigning a pained expression. "I have it far enough out of her reach. I'd never do anything that would put my daughter in danger."

At that moment, Gabby turned her attention away from the rattle and stared intently at Diego's coffee mug. She had a good view of the inside, so she was able to see the actual coffee. Gabby looked up at her father with the same serious expression on her face. Diego raised his eyebrow.

"Hmm, what's this?" he asked playfully. "Something got your attention, princess?" He took another swig from his mug and placed it back on his knee. Gabriella's eyes followed the mug the entire time.

Diego thought he had figured out what Gabby was captivated by, but he wanted to test his theory just to be sure. He raised the mug again, and Gabby's eyes looked upward. He placed the mug down, she looked down. He did this two more times before he met eyes with Mia, who looked stunned.

"Is she-" Mia began.

"Staring at the coffee?" Diego finished as he gave her his trade-marked grin. "It sure looks like it."

Gabby smiled once again, grunted, and started to stretch her arms towards the mug.

"Three days old and she's already got a taste for coffee," Mia said incredulously. "Those are some genes you have, Diego…"

"Ha!..." Diego laughed as he set the mug on the table. Gabby was still trying to reach for the mug with her very little hands. Diego smiled with pride and held his arms out towards her. "Can I hold her for a second, Kitten?"

Mia glanced at the mug warily. "As long as you don't give her any coffee…"

"Ha!... Of course not, I promise."

Mia complied and gave the baby to Diego. Gabriella's eyes went from the coffee to her father. The sight of her daddy made her forget all about the coffee, and she looked at him with complete adoration.

"What a smart girl you are," Diego said with all the love he could muster. "You have excellent taste, my baby kitten. You're a little too young now, but I promise that when you're a little older, you can have some of Daddy's coffee. And it's going to be the best coffee you'll have in your entire life. How does that sound?"

He poked Gabriella's nose again, which caused the baby to burst into giggles. Mia laughed too, finding Diego's words both sweet and odd at the same time. How many fathers made promises like that to their newborns anyway? Gabriella's giggles slowly died down and she grew quiet.

"Ohhhh, Diego, look…" Mia cooed. She brought Diego's attention to the fact that Gabriella's eyes were beginning to droop. Diego kissed Gabriella on the head.

"You've had a tiring last couple of days as well," he said to his sleepy baby girl. "The first days out of the womb are always the most exhausting."

"Come on, let's get her ready for bed."

Mia and Diego stood up at the same time and made their way to the nursery. Mia went into the corner and flipped on the Blue Badger nightlight (it was a medium-sized nightlight in the shape of the Blue Badger's head.)

"It's a good thing we bought most of the baby supplies before I went into labor," Mia said as she returned to Diego's side. "I may send you to the store tomorrow to buy more of the essentials though."

"That's fine with me, Kitten. Whatever you need."

Mia looked at Gabby and gently stroked her face. "And the next time you see Mr. Hoff, could you please apologize to him for me? I feel so bad that I abandoned him, even if it was an emergency. I didn't even get to say anything to him before I left."

Diego chuckled a bit. After childbirth and all of the trials that came with it (no pun intended,) Mia was still thinking about her client. "Kitten, I really don't think that's necessary. I'm sure he understands, he seemed like a pretty reasonable guy. But if you really want me to, I'll let him know," Gabriella yawned in Diego's arms as he was speaking. "But right now I think we should focus on putting this little one to bed."

Mia smiled and nodded. Diego placed Gabriella in the bassinet and Mia adjusted the baby blanket so Gabby would be more comfortable. Gabriella gurgled happily and started to slip into dreamland. Mia and Diego never took their eyes off of her.

"Sleep well, my little Gabriella." Mia whispered as she leaned down to kiss her baby.

"We love you, baby kitten." Diego added, also kissing Gabriella. And with that, Gabriella fell into a deep, sound sleep.

Mia and Diego just watched their baby for a few minutes. Suddenly, Mia felt Diego peck her on the cheek and wrap his arms around her from behind.

"And I love you, Mia." He whispered in Mia's ear. Mia leaned into him and nuzzled her head against his chest.

"I love you too, Diego," she said in reply. She nuzzled into him more deeply, but kept her eyes on Gabriella. "Could we just stay like this for awhile?" Diego nodded and kissed Mia on the head.

Diego held Mia tightly in his arms as they stared at their sleeping baby, the only light being the faint glow from the nightlight. Mia had overcome so many obstacles in her life. She had never truly experienced a "perfect moment." But right now, with her husband and daughter, Mia was pretty sure that this was the definition of a perfect moment. And she loved it; she never wanted it to end. Never had she felt so warm and peaceful. But she knew she would be all right when this moment eventually ended; her life was perfect now. And because it was perfect, she knew that she would have many more of these perfect moments with her sweet little family.

THE END


End Note: Annnnnd there you have it; a fluffy ending to a fluffy story. Any and all reviews are welcome. As my first multi-chaptered fic, I'm curious to know what you think. Thank you guys so much for reading ^_^