Author's Notes: Hi, there! This is the final chapter of this story. I've actually quite excited that I've finished my first fic. It has been a pleasure writing this, although there were a few difficult spots. A big, big thanks to everyone, who has bothered to review. I have already a few ideas, so I might write another fic soon.

Chapter 4

"Ha, that's third time in a row I've won," John couldn't help bragging. Mr. Standish had proved to be a rather bad player.

"Well, it has been many years since I've last played cards," Mr. Standish attempted to defend himself.

"Oh, really? It does kinda show."

It was 5 am. in the morning. The men had started playing a few hours back, then at one point they had gone to grab coffees and sandwiches from the cafeteria, and after that they had tried to sleep, but to no avail. So, at a loss of anything better to do, they had started to play again. It was a bit awkward, in the beginning they spoke almost nothing since they really didn't have that many topics they could speak about without starting to fight. Gradually, though, John had started making his usual sarcastic comments, and had been quite surprised when Mr. Standish hadn't gotten offended.

Mr. Standish had made a point of observing John more closely, trying to see what was under his exterior. He had noticed that although John behaved as he always did and tried to look cool, he kept throwing very nervous glances to the direction of the delivery room.

Mr. Standish had always hoped that Claire would eventually fall in love with someone who was good enough for her and who would treat her like a rose. John wasn't that kind of person, and he probably never would be, but now Mr. Standish realised that he had judged John a bit too strictly, and had never even tried to find out what the guy really was like. He understood that it would be better to start doing that soon, because him not approving of John had already created a rift between him and Claire, and he wanted to repair that before it was too late. Since he couldn't pick a man for his daughter, he should try to get along with the man she had picked.

He expected that he and John would never get along brilliantly, but they had perhaps started to have some kind of understanding for each other. From this moment on, they would probably at least tolerate each other.

Suddenly the same plump nurse they had seen earlier and a bit younger, black midwife came out of the delivery room, smiling. There was a baby screaming somewhere in the background.

"Alright, gentlemen, we're all ready here," the nurse said.

The men looked up, both looking quite dumbstruck. After a few seconds John seemed to collect himself, and jumped up, looking excited.

"You mean I can go ther now," he confirmed.

Mr. Standish decided to stay in the corridor for a little while longer. He was, of course, eager to see his first grandchild, but he felt he should let John to see him or her first.

After a few minutes, though, Mr. Standish rose from his seat and went to see Claire and the baby himself. When he reached the doorway, he first saw Claire sitting in a bed, looking very exhausted but smiling happily. She was dressed in some unattractive hospital outfit, her hair was a mess and her eyes were red and puffy, but to her father, she still looked like a little princess. When have all the years gone by so quickly? he thought. He could clearly remember the day he had seen his baby daughter for the first time, and now she was a mother herself.

When Mr. Standish turned his gaze away from Claire, he saw that the nurse had just given the baby to John. John looked rather nervous, he seemed to be afraid he would drop it. At first he looked like he didn't have a clue of what to do, but soon he started to smile.

"Hi, there, little fellow, how ya doin'?" he started to talk to the baby. "Pleased to meet you, I'm your daddy."

Claire looked quite amused at that. Mr. Standish suddenly remembered, that he still hadn't heard, if the child was a boy or a girl.

"So, which one is it?" he asked.

"A boy. Go on, have a look at him, he's so cute," Claire answered, smiling.

Mr. Standish walked closer to John, who was still holding the baby. The boy was completely wrapped in ugly hospital-clothing and blankets, but he could make out a small, reddish face with brown eyes and a small tuft of red hair. The hair was certainly from their side of the family, while the eyes were like John's.

Mr. Standish smiled. Although he had been quite horrified when Claire had gotten pregnant at such a young age, now that he had seen his grandson, he thought that maybe it wasn't such a bad thing after all. Claire would be a good mother, and she wasn't the type who would leave her studies unfinished. And John... well, Mr. Standish had never imagined that he would be a good father, but now he saw John smiling to his son, he thought that perhaps there might be some people who would be worse at it. And besides, it would be really nice to have a grandchild.

Suddenly the boy started kicking and screaming.

"Shit, what did I do?" John asked the nurse, looking a little scared. The nurse started laughing.

"Oh, I think he just needs changing, that's all. Give him to me."

John gave the boy to the nurse, yet again looking like he was afraid he would drop him. Then he sat on a chair next to Claire's bed.

"So, did you have a rough time?" he asked her, sounding a bit worried.

"Yes, it was horrible! I thought it would never end. But it was worth it!" Claire answered. Then she looked at her dad, then at John, then at her dad again. She seemed to notice that something was different.

"Wait a minute, you two haven't started to fight yet. You're not even glaring at each other."

The two men glanced at one another. Mr. Standish was the first one to speak.

"Well, perhaps me and John could try to get along better, because it would be easier for you."

"Really?" Claire sounded astonished and surprised.

"Yeah, maybe the old fart isn't as annoying as I thought he was," admitted John. "Though he is one hell of a bad card player!"

Mr. Standish didn't seem to be offended by this, which startled Claire quite a bit. She figured something had probably happened to make her dad and John change their outlooks, but she was far too tired to ask about it right then.

Soon the nurse brought the baby back and gave him to Claire for a couple of minutes, but then she noticed how tired Claire looked. She took the boy back, although Claire protested a bit, and told the men they had to leave.

"When can I come back?" John asked.

"There's a visiting hour at 6 pm," the nurse answered.

"Ok, I'll be here then."

"Don't forget to call everyone!" Claire exclaimed, although she was already starting to doze off.

"No, I won't. I'll be sure to call Andy, Allison and Brian that I'm a fuckin' daddy now!"

Despite being tired, Claire laughed at that, although she tried to look at John sternly.

"You know, you should really re-consider that swearing. I don't want my son's first word to be a swear-word."

"Well maybe I can try. But now that nurse looks like she's really gonna kick us off, so bye and have a good rest."

"Yes, I'll do that. I feel like I could sleep a year!"

"Bye Claire. I'll call your mother to tell her the good news," Mr. Standish said. Then the men left the hospital.

Once they were outside, they nodded to each other and left to different directions. John started to walk towards his old, green car, lighting a cigarette on the way. Mr. Standish headed for his gray BMW. The sun was just rising in the sky, giving light for a new day.

The end

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