While Parker slept on her temporary hospital bed, physically and emotionally exhausted from her earlier ordeal, Eliot cuddled little Helena against his chest. It still hadn't quite sunk in yet that this tiny little bundle now clothed and wrapped in a proper blanket was actually his. His daughter. She yawned and squeaked, glassily gazing up at him for a moment before she nuzzled back into the blanket, and he was entranced enough to miss Nate's return to the room.
"Changes your whole life, doesn't it?" Nate's quiet voice startled him and he berated himself for losing his normal awareness. "I mean, for nine months you know that it's going to happen. You see the direct evidence right in front of you every day. Yet it's all so different when you actually hold her, then you truly know that everything has changed." Nate sat beside him and peeked over his shoulder at Helena.
Eliot offered her to Nate, "You want to hold her?" he asked. Nate declined and Eliot was kind of relieved- this was the first time that he'd been able to hold his daughter since he'd briefly handled her immediately after birth. Helena was jostled as he moved and scrunched up her little face in response to the disturbance.
"Well, she's certainly yours- she has your frown!" Nate chuckled and Eliot sent him a mild glare, sending the other man into fresh laughter.
Parker stirred at the noise, "What's so funny?" she asked, voice thick with sleep and exhaustion. Her eyes blinked open as Helena decided to join in with a whimper that turned into a cry. "Bring her over and let me feed her," Parker demanded and Eliot was happy to comply. Nate made his excuses and hurried out of the room to give them privacy.
Helena was handed over to her mother and Parker worked out how to nurse her. Eliot stayed out of her way, knowing that his hands would only add to the confusion, and waited until Helena had started to feed. Only then did he slide into the spot Parker made for him on the bed and pull them both into his arms. He stared curiously at the sight, "Does that hurt?" The baby made little grunting noises as she nursed and he felt happiness warm his chest.
She thought for a moment as he took the opportunity to stroke the side of Helena's face. "Not hurt exactly," Parker tried to explain, nose wrinkled as she sought to put the feeling into words, "it feels… odd, not like when play with them while we have sex. But also right somehow." Eliot was glad no one was in the room with them- Parker still hadn't exactly learned how to be discreet about their sex life.
"Makes sense that it feels right. You're doing what nature meant for you to do," he explained and pressed a kiss to her temple. Helena had nursed her fill and fallen asleep as they were talking, and Eliot simply watched their daughter along with Parker until she nodded off too, leaning against his chest and her head tucked up under his chin. He luxuriated in the feeling of peace which settled into the silent room and closed his eyes, breathing in the mixed scents of Parker's shampoo and Helena's baby powder. Minutes passed and he let them slip by uncounted, allowing his family both beside him the three standing outside of the room to lull him into a light doze.
A while later, he heard Nate greet the doctor and brought himself fully awake, fully aware that Nate had spoken louder than normal to give him a little warning. Eliot figured that the man must have peeked into the room at some point but not come so close as to have awakened him. Sometimes it amazed him just how far these four had wormed their way into his heart and managed to embed themselves on his instinct. He lightly shook Parker to wake her, "Doctor's coming in," he whispered as he bent his head to kiss her properly before he slid off the bed. Helena slept on peacefully.
Eliot listened to the doctor prattle on, telling them that Parker was perfectly healthy as was Helena. Despite her insane demand to deliver on a roof, she hadn't managed to do any harm, though the little doctor did scold her lightly for her decision. Parker looked entirely unimpressed with his shaking finger. They both were relieved when he cleared them to leave and congratulated them on becoming parents. The entire group descended on the checkout desk en masse and signed Parker and Helena out, receiving several pamphlets for new parents along with the hospital paperwork. Eliot made sure to tuck those into a jacket pocket to read later- he wouldn't turn down potential advice until he'd had a chance to evaluate its usefulness.
"We'll meet you all back at the house, okay?" he asked the others as he helped Parker into the truck and fumbled to get Helena strapped into the baby seat one of them, he suspected Sophie, had procured while they were held in the hospital. He received various acknowledgements in return, though Nate did promise to stop by a store and pick up 'supplies', whatever that meant. He really couldn't concentrate as he was still trying to get the tiny plastic buckle on the baby seat to snap together correctly. Helena wasn't exactly appreciative of his efforts either and started to cry, and then wail. Eliot leaned his forehead against the door frame and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath to force away the tension and building irritation. He could do this. If he could take out a death squad with only his shoelaces, then a baby seat shouldn't be this difficult! Patience reinforced, he finally got the fiddly pieces to fit right and snap together. Helena quieted down as she exhausted herself, the doctor had warned them that she'd likely sleep more right now to recover her energy after being born, but that she'd bounce back quickly.
The drive home didn't take too long, despite being the end of a workday, and he wondered if Hardison had a hand in it from Nate's car. When Parker called him, he'd been across town at the little farmer's market he liked; he'd wanted to cook breakfast for everyone and needed fresh ingredients as Nate's eggs should have been thrown out a month ago. Traffic lights were the least of his worries at the time and he was still a little surprised that he hadn't been pulled over for some of the stunts he'd pulled to make the twenty minute drive in five minutes. He glanced over to check and Parker was dozing, so he finished the drive in peaceful silence.
Even having to stop at the store, Nate's car beat them to the house as Eliot had driven below the speed limit to be extra careful. Parker perked up when she heard the crunch of the gravel in their driveway and gathered herself. "I'll get Helena," she announced and Eliot was more than happy to let her wrangle with the evil baby seat. Expecting to hear her curse the thing, and privately looking forward to watching the struggle, he was dismayed to see it easily unsnap under her nimble fingers without a single problem.
They both trooped inside to find that Nate and Hardison had taken over their sofa while Sophie was unpacking supplies on the counter. "What is all that?" Eliot grumpily asked as he couldn't readily identify some of the things.
"Well, since she came before you were ready, we figured that we could help out a bit," Nate explained. "We got enough diapers to see you through a few days, a couple of pacifiers, I grabbed a few packs of burp cloths, and Hardison insisted on getting the noise thing."
Hardison puffed up with offense. "It isn't a noise thing! It's a heartbeat replicator to help her sleep- sounds like Parker's heartbeat that she's been used to hearing. All the online blogs are raving about it," he sat back with his arms crossed in a so there expression. Eliot simply raised an eyebrow in disbelief. It didn't sound all that impressive, but if it helped Helena, he'd take it and be grateful.
Speaking of, he turned to face Parker as a foul odor drifted to his nose and saw her expression change to one of horror as they both stared at Helena. "I think we're going to need one of those diapers," Eliot called over to Sophie as Parker moved to lay the baby down on the coffee table. Nate, being more experienced, was quicker and tossed a baby blanket over the polished wood so that she would have something soft to lie on. Sophie brought over a diaper and wipes, and everyone crowded around to watch.
"Oh my god, is that for real?!" a disgusted Hardison yelped as the diaper was opened. "That's like biological warfare!" he backed off quickly, gagging.
Sophie delicately covered her nose and backed away, coughing. "Heavens, that's strong!"
Nate simply wrinkled up his nose a bit and remained, petting the little tufts of Helena's hair.
"You big babies! It's just poo," Parker scolded as she managed to get the black tarry mess wiped from Helena's bottom, using up far more than a handful of wipes in the process, and Eliot held the plastic shopping bag for her to drop them into. He'd already wrapped up the diaper to try and contain the stink- he'd smelled corpses five days dead which hadn't been nearly as offensive as what came out of the back end of his daughter! "Now, how does this thing go on?" Parker was holding up the tiny newborn diaper and turning it every which way to see how it could possibly be put into place.
Nate gently took it from her, turned it right side up, and demonstrated. "This part goes under her, the back, and this comes around between her legs to become the front. The tabs on the back are sometimes tricky- you have to be careful with the adhesive or it'll flip around on you and stick to itself, but it should pull around and stick right here in the front. Same for the other side, and there- fresh diaper," he sat back with a flourish of his hands, and Eliot leaned in to study how the diaper should look. He planned to share the duties with Parker and didn't want to try and figure this out at three in the morning.
"Thanks, man," Eliot called over to Nate as Parker finished scooping all the soiled materials into the bag and tied it closed. He imagined that Helena's face looked rather relieved to have that over as he picked her up for a cuddle. She began to whine and Parker took her, tossing him the plastic bag to throw in the garbage can. He turned away as Parker, completely disregarding everyone in the room, popped open her shirt to feed Helena.
"Parker, honey, perhaps you shouldn't do that out here," Sophie gently scolded as the guys all found something else to look at on the other side of the room.
Parker gave her a baffled look. "Why wouldn't I want to feed her here? It's not like I'm stripping or anything, and I can legally do this in public if I wanted to," she scoffed. Eliot nearly laughed at her nonchalance. Hardison was the least bothered by her lack of modesty, likely from being the person most often around when she decided to change clothes. Nate was slightly smiling, likely at memories, even as he intently studied the reproduction Manet on their wall. Parker had the original safely tucked away in their vault. Sophie appeared to be absolutely scandalized by Parker's actions.
Eliot sidled over to whisper in her ear, "Let her be- it's her right as a mother." He left the still-shocked Sophie to go grab a small fleece blanket to help Parker drape for privacy. Once she was somewhat covered, everyone slowly returned to their seats.
"So… I bet you're looking forward to getting back to jobs and out of the van, aren't you?" Hardison visibly cast about for a conversation to break the silence.
Her eyes lit up as Parker nodded eagerly. "I can't wait! I've kept up with my yoga and I'm more than ready to break into somewhere… hey, how about the Tiffany's store? Their security is just good enough to be fun!" Eliot took Helena as she finished nursing to allow Parker to put herself back together, and fumbled with one of the burp cloths. He eventually got it situated against his shoulder and then tried to burp Helena, who didn't appear to appreciate his efforts.
"Try rubbing," Nate suggested and Eliot looked askance at him, quite confused. "Instead of patting her back, try rubbing circles." Comprehension dawned and Helena quieted almost immediately.
A few minutes later, though, he discovered that he hadn't placed the cloth just right as she erupted and managed to make a mess of his shirt along with the cloth. He handed her off to Parker to change her little outfit and grumbled to himself as he stalked to their bedroom for a clean shirt. She'd just nursed a few minutes ago, how could milk smell so sour already? He dumped his soiled shirt in the hamper and dragged on a fresh tank, rationalizing that if he had to change again then at least it would only be the undershirt and not it plus his usual layers. By the time he returned to the living room Helena was being cuddled by Sophie, clothed in a fresh yellow outfit, and Nate was messing around in the kitchen. He headed over to survey the possible damage.
Nate saw him coming and explained, "Figured that I could make dinner, nothing fancy, just sandwiches so that you didn't have to worry about that too." Eliot was touched by the thought, even though he dearly wished to rescue his expensive knife that Nate was mishandling, and dug out their serving platter from under the oven where Parker liked to store it. This was despite the fact that they had a perfectly good spot for it in the cabinet, where it belonged.
"Food!" Parker chirped happily as she spied the pile of sandwiches. She filched half a ham sandwich before the platter made it to the coffee table and ravenously crammed half of it in her mouth. Eliot frowned at her lack of manners and she crossed her eyes at him in return. He supposed that she had every right to be hungry given the day she'd had, the day they'd all had, he mentally revised as even Hardison set into the sandwiches with gusto. Nate pulled him aside to point out one item left in the bag.
"I also made sure to get Parker a pump," he said quietly, looking ill at ease with the subject. Eliot thought for a moment and then realized that he was talking about a breast pump, some of which he'd seen in the stores while shopping with Parker but hadn't considered. "Unless she wants to get up every few hours to nurse, she can… well, you know." Nate made vague gestures with his hands and Eliot barely withheld a snort of amusement. The man could handle Parker breastfeeding right in front of him, but talking about a pump which served the same purpose embarrassed him. Well, no one ever accused Nate of being consistent.
"Thank you and I don't just mean for that," Eliot scratched at his head as he tried to find the right words to express his gratitude. "You all have been unbelievably supportive through all of this, even allowing Parker to stay behind with you on jobs even when I know she was driving you up the wall," they both shared a chuckle. "And then all of this with the house, it's just so much…"
Nate cut in, "We've become a family, and this is what families do for each other. I remember when Maggie and I started out- we were alone in LA, on the other side of the country from her parents, and we had a rough start with no one around for support. You and Parker didn't plan for this to happen, but it did, and we're all just trying to help out as much as we can to make it easier on you. You can come to me any time you need help, advice, or just to talk; I know that Maggie is planning to call Parker and offer her the same help," he explained.
"Thank you," Eliot could only repeat as the level of gratitude he was feeling couldn't be put into words. Nate seemed to know, and simply nodded in return. As it was getting late, Nate prompted Sophie to collect her belongings so that they could head home, and Hardison took the opportunity to say goodbye to Helena before he handed her back to Parker. Finally, silence in the house.
Parker was looking drowsy again and Eliot figured that now would be a good time for bed. "Hey, Nate bought you one of those pump things, it's in the bag by the toaster. If you'll fill up a bottle and leave it in the fridge, I'll get her next feeding, okay?"
"Thanks, you are sweet," Parker kissed him as she walked by and Eliot playfully growled at her for the insult; he wasn't sweet! She took care of things in the kitchen while Eliot carried Helena into her nursery. The beautiful wooden crib had taken him three hours to put together, not counting all the time he'd spent chasing Parker down for stealing his tools while he worked. He smirked as he remembered what happened the last time he 'caught' her. Helena fussed a bit as he laid her down and pulled up the little baby blanket that Sophie had found in a tiny specialty shop. He didn't want to know how much the thing cost as he'd been absolutely astounded at how overpriced baby items were; just because they had millions tucked away didn't mean that he wanted to be gouged! He rubbed Helena's back and she settled back to sleep while he gave in to the urge to just stand and watch her. She was so tiny and so perfect, absolutely beautiful. He'd helped make her, had helped deliver her, and still couldn't resist reaching out to gently touch her and assure himself that she was really here.
Two lithe arms wound around his waist from behind and he could feel Parker's familiar body press against his. "We're going to be the best parents in the world," she firmly stated, her breath tickling the side of his neck as she peeked over his shoulder at their daughter.
Eliot pulled her around for a proper hug and they shared a deep kiss. This was a topic they'd already discussed several times in previous months and he knew it by heart. "We will be. We have each other for support, and all the help we could want is next door. She'll be the most spoiled little princess with those three doting on her," he made the same vow in return that he always did. They both knew what they'd craved while growing up, and were determined to make sure that Helena had it all. They would also be each other's balance when it came to things like rewards or discipline- not fully trusting that they would know the appropriate response. But most of all, they had three others to depend on; an extended family of sorts just waiting no, demanding, to be involved in their life. It felt good, the contentment, love, and pride which swelled in his chest, and Eliot treasured the feelings as they went to bed for a few hours' sleep before Helena woke for another feeding. He'd happily drag himself out of bed when that happened because I'm a dad, he thought with a smile.
A/N: As Village was to cover the pregnancy and their reactions, this is where I planned to end it and there will be no encores. I hope you've all enjoyed the journey, and to all who read it- I invite you to review. Reviews make my muse insanely happy and even something as simple as "I liked this" lets me know that my hard work hasn't been in vain :) Thank you to all who have reviewed as I posted; your kind words and support made me smile as I worked to write another chapter. I must also thank Brina- without her inspiration this story would never have happened, and she's the best friend I could ask for. Wench can sweet-talk me into writing almost anything ;)