Probably just going to be a series of short stories after this -Continuing with the same story, but about random days, like Lucas's Birthday, after a case, Christmas & holidays, his first day of school, Toby and Happy's concerns as first time parents, that kind of stuff. The big main plot is done now (the adoption and Paige's pregnancy). Probably aren't going to be any huge changes/additions to the stories, just a couple of chapters throughout their journey.
Also, Not sure how much I like this chapter, but I felt like I couldn't skip this.
The whole team was at the garage.
Happy and Lucas were working on the finishing touches of the robot and taking it for test runs. It was almost as tall as Lucas. Toby was watching and trying to help out, although he was getting in the way more than anything.
"Daddy stop touching it!" said Lucas as he stomped his foot. He was losing patience with his dad who was only trying to help, but kept doing all the wrong things. Happy thought it was funny when he got mad at Toby and tried to muffle her laughter.
Walter and Ralph were working on this year's science fair project which had been put in the back room for fear of Lucas trying to touch it, mostly on Ralph's part.
Paige was watching from a distance as she read her book and Sylvester was lost in the numbers on his white board again.
"Uh oh." Said Paige as she froze. No one heard her.
"Um, guys?" she tried again, but no one responded.
She sat up properly and grabbed the remote that was closest to her and threw it across the garage, it almost hit Toby.
"What?" He turned around to see Paige sitting up.
"I'm in labour. My water just broke…all over this couch." She said
Toby rushed over with Happy and Lucas following him. "Walter! Get over here!" yelled Happy.
Walter and Ralph both came rushing in "What? Is everything alright?" asked Walter
"You're about to be a daddy. Miss Dineen's water just broke. You should probably head to the hospital with her." Said Toby as he was helping Paige stand up.
"Right now? Are you sure? Where are my keys!?" Stammered Walter as he went to her side.
Happy handed him his keys. "Maybe you should drive, Happy. You'll get us there faster. Toby, come too. You're a doctor." He said with an almost panicked voice.
"Walter, she's fine. You can drive, you've still got time. Everything's alright." Said Toby trying to calm Walter down.
"No no, someone else should drive." He said with a panic stricken face.
Happy rolled her eyes and agreed. Toby decided he'd take another car and bring Ralph, Lucas and Sylvester to the hospital in a bit once they had gotten Paige settled and they could wait in the waiting room.
Once they left, Toby decided he should clean up the mess on the couch. While he went to grab some cleaning supplies in the kitchen Lucas jumped on the couch.
"Awe Luke! No! Get off there!" he said as he walked back into the room. "Oh god. Ew. Okay, let's to get you in a shower." He was trying to find the fine line between if it was really funny or gross.
"Why?" Asked Lucas.
"Because you're pants are wet, and that's not water." Toby didn't really feel like it was an easy thing to explain to a 3 year old.
"Why? What is it?" he asked again.
"Because, when someone has a baby- You know what never mind, just hop in the bath." He said as he took the boy's shirt off and turned the water on for him.
He went to find some clean clothes they had stored in the garage for him and brought them back to the washroom to change him into once he was done.
Once that was taken care of Toby got back to cleaning the couch. He got a call saying they had made it to the hospital and that it would be another few hours. Happy wanted some company so Toby brought the others over to meet her there.
-At the Hospital-
"Hi Happy, Is my mom okay?" Asked Ralph walking into the waiting room
"Yeah buddy, everything's good. Your little sister should be here in a few hours. We can't go in until after the baby's born though."
Ralph nodded in agreement and took a seat playing on his iPad next to Happy.
Sylvester decided he would stay back at the garage. He didn't like hospitals because of the germs, but he also hadn't been back to one since he lost Megan. Toby decided that he'd go pick Sylvester up later on after the waiting was over, so he could come meet the baby for a bit and then head back out with them.
Lucas climbed onto the other chair next to Happy as Toby sat on the other side of the boy.
"Aunt Paige is having a baby now?" Lucas asked
"Yup, you'll meet the baby in a few hours. She's going to be Ralph's little sister. And Walter is her dad." Replied Toby.
"I wasn't born to you guys but you're my parents." He was stating facts, trying to figure it all out.
"You're adopted. It's like how I call Walter dad sometimes. He's not my biological dad, but he is my parent. He's a better dad than my real dad most of the time." Said Ralph interjecting. "Sometimes the best parents aren't the ones who are biologically your parents." Ralph said and continued to play his game.
"Oh. Okay." Said Lucas. He was just trying to makes sense of it all. He knew that Happy and Toby were his parents, his mom and dad. He was a genius, he could figure a lot of stuff out, it was just easier to ask questions sometimes to get clarification. He went over to Ralph and watched him play the game on his iPad.
Happy leaned over to Toby, "Why's he in different clothes?"
"Oh yeah, um, he jumped on the couch covered in amniotic fluid before I was able to clean it up. I gave him a bath." Responded Toby trying to hold back a laugh.
Happy burst out laughing. "Oh god, that kid."
"He was asking questions about it, so I just kind of changed the subject, he's a little young to know all about the birds and the bees." Said Toby with a grin.
Lucas overheard them talking and jumped back over to his seat between his parents.
"What if I want a baby brother or sister, like Ralph?" He asked innocently.
"Dude, you're 3, you're practically still a baby yourself." Said Toby messing up the boy's hair.
"Hey! I'm not a baby." He said crossing his arms.
"Says the kid pouting." Toby made a pouting face.
Lucas stopped and started laughing. "But Ralph gets a baby sibling."
"Buddy, we're not getting another kid. We're happy with you." Responded happy looking over at him
"But you and daddy can get a baby brother or sister for me."
"We're not getting a baby, just so you can be a big brother." Said Toby making a face at the boy. He continued "Adopting takes a really long time, it took us a long time to get you. We don't want to go through all of that again, besides it means you'd have to share us with another kid. And babies take a lot of time and work, and we'd miss out on time with you." He smiled at Lucas.
"You'll have Walter and Paige's baby to play with, you'll get to be a big cousin to their baby." Said Happy.
"I still want a brother or sister. Can you have a baby like Walter and Aunt Paige, so I can have a sibling?" He said crossing his arms again.
Happy and Toby looked at each other not knowing what to tell the boy.
Happy got off her chair and crouched down in front of him. "Buddy, me and daddy can't have a baby like Walter and Paige did. It's one of the reasons we adopted you. We're happy with you, and you have a really big family as it is with your aunts and uncles and cousins. We don't need to have another kid. I'm sorry, but we're not going to."
"Okay, Fine. Can we get a puppy?" he asked with a smile.
Toby and Happy laughed and she shook her head. "We'll talk about it later, okay?" she smiled at him.
"I think we have enough of Ferret Bueller for now." Said Toby with a smile.
"Puppies are hard work. They're as much work as a baby." Said Ralph jumping in to their conversation.
"Weren't you asking your mom for a dog last week?" asked Toby eyeing the boy suspiciously.
"Yes. She said they were as much work as a baby, and she couldn't do both. I told her we could trade the baby for a puppy as a joke, but she didn't think it was funny." He stated, never looking up from his game.
Toby and Happy laughed again. They loved the two young geniuses and their awkward sense of humor.
-A few hours later-
After a little while Walter walked into the waiting room
"We have a healthy baby girl!"
The friends got up to congratulate him.
"Can I see mom and the baby now please?" Asked Ralph
Walter agreed and they followed him into the room. Toby was carrying Lucas in his arms. The boy had fallen asleep on him.
Ralph got to hold his baby sister first. "She's so tiny." He said
"Her name's Isabelle" Said Paige.
Walter was watching intently. He knew he could trust Ralph, but he was already so protective of his daughter he didn't want to take his eyes off her.
"Want your turn now Happy?" Said Ralph
"I'll pass for now." She said
"Well I want to hold my niece, take this one and I'll hold the baby" Said Toby as they shifted to put Lucas in Happy's arms.
"Man she's so tiny! We didn't get this with Luke, I forgot they came this small." He smiled
The baby started to fuss and let out a few whines. Walter was right next to Toby looking over his shoulder.
"What did you do?" he asked.
"Nothing, she's just fussy. It's been a long day, right kid?" he smiled at the baby trying to cradle her.
"Maybe shift her to your shoulder?" Said Walter "Or here, let me try."
"Walter, calm down, she's just fussy." Said Toby
Paige and Happy exchanged a glance. Watching them try to figure out how to calm the tiny baby was slightly amusing.
"See, told you, she's fine. I did rotations in the NICU, I know a little bit about newborns." Said Toby as the baby stopped fussing. "That's enough baby for me though. Here" he said passing the baby back to Walter, he was still getting used to even holding a baby. It was something he didn't have much experience doing.
"Happy, do you want to hold her now?" Asked Paige as she watched Walter hold the baby slightly awkwardly.
"I guess, take this one, Doc." She said shifting to give Lucas back to Toby.
She held the baby girl in her arms in amazement. "She's gorgeous." She said looking up at Walter and Paige.
"You're a natural, Happy. You don't look half as awkward with her as these two did." Said Paige laughing and pointing at Toby and Walter.
"It's not exactly rocket science. That's a bad expression. Rocket science is easy compared to babies for us." They all let out a small laugh.
Lucas woke up just then
"Hey buddy, that's your new cousin, Isabelle" Said Toby pointing to the baby in Happy's arms.
He put Lucas down so he could go get a better look.
"Whoa. She's little." He said looking at the baby.
Happy nodded with a smile.
The baby started to cry again "Yeah, okay, here you go." She said in a rushed tone and passed the baby back to Paige.
"She's loud." Said Lucas. He wasn't a fan of loud noises. He voluntarily wore ear protectors when he and Happy were banging on metal in the garage. He got mad when Toby had the music in the car too loud and he hated when alarms would go off.
"That's what babies do. They cry a lot." Said Toby picking him back up.
"I don't want a sibling anymore. Can we just get a quiet pet?" he asked innocently.
Happy and Toby laughed "We said we'll think about it." Said Toby with a smile.
Toby decided to go pick up Sylvester so he could come meet the baby. He took Lucas and Happy with him, they wanted to give the new family a little time alone. Once they were at the garage Cabe had arrived and decided to take Sly with him to meet the baby, instead of Happy and Toby going back. It was easier than bringing an –almost- 3 year old back into the hospital. He was a good kid, but he was very active, and restless sometimes when he got a little bored.
-A little while later-
Cabe and Sylvester headed out to the hospital and slowly entered the room.
"Hey Sylvester!" Said Ralph.
"Thank you for coming to the hospital to meet her, I know how difficult it must be for you." said Paige with a sweet smile. She was holding the baby. "Do you want to hold her?" she asked.
Isabelle was sleeping. And Sylvester nodded his head.
She passed the baby to him and he starred at her in awe. "Congrats guys, she's beautiful!" he said looking up at Walter Cabe also congratulated them on their daughter.
"Does the kid have a name?" Asked Cabe.
"Isabelle Megan O'Brien." Said Walter with a smile.
"She's perfect Walt, Megan would be so proud of you. Of course you too Paige." Said Sylvester looking back down at the baby with a smile.
Walter smiled and placed his arm around Paige. He missed his sister, but he loved his memories of her, he thought naming his daughter after her would be a good way to honor her.