Chapter 11

'Oh my God! He is soooo cute!' Hope squealed as she cradled the tiny baby in her arms.

Neal and Sara exchanged nervous looks. 'Well, don't go getting any ideas!' Neal warned his daughter as he touched the baby's head tenderly.

'Daaaad!' Hope whined, returning her eyes to little Michael Jedediah Jones.

Clinton got up from the comfortable spot he'd been occupying on the Caffrey couch and made his way over.

'You're a natural, Hope' he said to the young teen, frowning as Neal gave him a disapproving glare.

'What?' Jones asked, not sure what he'd said to elicit such a reaction from the usually relaxed Caffrey.

'Just wait until you have a teenage daughter' Neal responded as his eyes returned to the beautiful baby.

'We won't be gone long' Ivy said to Sara as the two women sat side by side.

Sara shooed her away. 'Ivy, enjoy... it's your first night out in six weeks. I promise we'll take really good care of him.'

'I know...' the woman answered sweetly. 'It's just that...'

Sara looked over at the new mom with a warm smile. 'Believe me, I get it. I remember the first date night Neal and I had after Hope was born. We were a wreck ... and she was with Peter and Elizabeth! But Neal and I kept checking in and I think we ended up talking about her the whole night.'

'Well, not the whole night' Neal said with a devilish grin.

Ivy Jones nodded. 'Well, the diapers are in the bag and there are two bottles of breast milk, although I'm sure he won't need two... I just fed him before coming over and...'

'Ivy, Ivy' Sara interrupted, hand on her friend's arm. 'You're covered. We've got this.'

Ivy nodded and stood. Suddenly, it was Clinton who was having trouble tearing himself away from his newborn son.

'Caffrey, you've got our cell phone numbers and the number of the restaurant is in the bag and here's the make and license plate of our car just in case...'

'Jones, we've got this. Don't worry. Go out and enjoy yourselves...and don't hurry back' Neal said as he ushered his friend out the door.

He watched as the couple drove away, turning to his wife who was cradling the little guy.

'New parents!' he exclaimed with a wide grin.

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'Here, let me try' Sara said as she reached out to take the screaming infant from Neal's arms.

She walked the length of the house, bopping up and down in the hopes of getting the baby to calm down. What had begun as soft moaning had grown to epic proportions over the past hour as his insistent cries had culminated to inconsolable screams.

'I don't get it. He was fine just a little while ago' Neal lamented, following in Sara's footsteps with the bottle of breast milk in his hands. 'Do you want to try feeding him again?'

Sara took the bottle from Neal's hand and attempted to place it in the baby's mouth, pulling back instantly as the crying intensified.

'Daaad' Liam called out as he appeared at the bottom of the staircase. 'I'm trying to finish my homework.'

Neal walked over to his son, glancing anxiously over his shoulder at Sara who was holding the crying infant. 'I know, buddy. We're doing our best, here. Try listening to some music, okay?'

Liam trudged back up the stairs towards his room. He couldn't quite believe that, at one point, he used to pray for a baby brother.

'Maybe, I could take him out for a car ride. That used to work with Liam' Neal suggested, rapidly running out of ideas.

'We don't have his car seat!' Sara reminded him as she continued with the odd little jig.

'Right' Neal mumbled as he continued to pace.

'You're sure there's no soother in there?' Sara asked as Neal rushed over to the diaper bag and began removing every single item therein for the third time.

'No' he declared, putting everything back. 'Let me try singing to him again' he volunteered as Sara rolled her eyes.

'What? It used to work with Hope' Neal reminded her as she handed little Michael over.

Sara glanced nervously at the clock. It was going on nine o'clock and with the warm summer weather, all the windows in the house were open; it was just a question of time before one of the neighbors started complaining about the loud wailing. She watched as Neal sang to the baby, his voice barely heard over the loud cries; he was giving him his full repertoire, from 'Twinkle, twinkle little star' to 'Hush little baby' – all the classics – and yet there was no sign that the little Jones man was winding down.

More than anything, Sara was worried that Clinton and Ivy would return and find their baby in such a state. They would be traumatized and would never want to go out again or worse yet, would never trust them with their little guy.

The sound of Neal's soft voice was being drowned out and Sara began to worry they would never find a way to calm the baby down.

'Let's try laying him on his tummy' she suggested as Neal came over to join her on the couch.

He placed the tiny infant on his stomach across his lap, rubbing his back gently to no avail: the baby was having none of it, his tiny legs kicking up as he continued to wail breathlessly.

'Nope...' Neal said with a wayward glance to his wife.

'Let me check his diaper again' Sara began as Neal gently turned the baby over.

Footsteps came bounding down the stairs and the harried babysitters looked up to find their daughter standing there, hands on her hips.

'Mom, this is ridiculous' Hope said, as she stood before her parents. 'Did you try the soother?'

'What soother?' Sara asked, eyes wide.

She watched as Hope walked over to the kitchen counter, returning with a blue soother in her hand.

'This one' Hope said with an eye roll. 'Ivy said he needed it to fall asleep.'

'What the...' Neal said with a sigh as he took the item from his daughter's hand and placed it gently on the baby's lips.

Little Michael immediately recognized the familiar item and latched on, his breathing irregular as he began sucking madly on the soother to Neal and Sara's relief.

'Why didn't you say anything before?' Sara asked, flustered.

'Mom, you were standing right there when Ivy told me about it' Hope complained. 'Did you guys really have two babies of your own?' she huffed before turning on her heels and returning from whence she'd come.

Calm gradually returned to the Caffrey house as Neal and Sara resumed normal breathing.

'Oh, my God! That was brutal' Neal exclaimed as he placed the baby between them on the couch. His little face was puffy from having cried and Sara gently wiped the tears off his cheeks as his eyes finally fluttered shut, his mouth madly sucking on the soother.

They fell back on the couch, totally exhausted. It had been a long time since they'd had to deal with a crying newborn and they were getting long in the tooth to be dealing with such a demanding task.

'It's hard to believe we've been through this twice before' Sara remarked as she turned to face Neal, head thrown back against the couch.

'I know. How did we ever do it?' Neal answered, running his hand through his hair.

'Well, for one thing, we were a lot younger' Sara whispered, not wanting to wake the snoozing baby.

Neal glanced down at little Michael. 'He is awfully cute, though' he said, running his hand down his tiny face.

Sara's face suddenly grew dark and Neal immediately knew what she was thinking. 'You realize that if we'd had little Hannah, she'd be about two months old now...' Sara said, suddenly sad.

Neal reached out to take her hand as he smiled wistfully at her. The baby they'd lost, a little girl, was never far from their minds, the loss still painfully raw after almost a year.

No words were necessary and after a moment of silence, their gazes returned to the little bundle of joy that lay between them.

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'He was no trouble at all' Sara lied as Clinton picked up the sleeping baby in his arms.

Neal gave her a stunned look – all this time, he'd thought he was the conman in their coupling.

'Anytime you two need to get away' Neal added. 'We'd love to have him.'

Ivy reached out, hugging Sara. 'Thanks guys. It was really nice to get away for a couple of hours.'

Sara and Neal stood out on their front porch, waving their friends off. It was a beautiful, warm night and they lingered for a moment, arms around each other, before stepping back into the house. They started tidying up, getting ready for bed. Having to deal with a screaming baby had taken its toll on them and even though it was just past ten o'clock, they were both ready to hit the sack.

'What's this?' Neal asked as he picked up a piece of paper that had been left lying by the phone in the kitchen.

Sara handed him his reading glasses which Neal proceeded to perch on the end of his nose.

'It's a message from the clinic. When did they call?' he said as he attempted to decipher his daughter's handwriting.

Sara's ears perked up. They'd been waiting for a few days now for the results from the sample Neal had brought in for testing.

'Hope!' he called up as he heard her bedroom door open in the distance.

'What?' she called down from the top of the stairs.

'When did the clinic call?' Neal asked, making his way to the bottom of the staircase.

'This aft' she answered, annoyed at being interrupted while she was listening to music.

Neal looked expectantly for her to continue. 'Well?' he finally said in response to her silence. 'What did they say?'

'The woman just said to tell you 'All clear' whatever that means' Hope answered before disappearing.

She returned to her room and didn't see the smile erupt on her dad's face.

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Neal lay on his back, watching Sara undress. It had been a long time coming. Two sperm tests and countless weeks later, they had finally gotten the long awaited green light. Neal couldn't wait to finally reap the benefits of the painful procedure and its aftermath. The weeks following the vasectomy had been rough. He had developed an infection and he'd been on antibiotics for weeks before it healed properly and the scab finally fell off. Everything seemed to be in working order since then although they were still using the god awful condoms. He reached over for the box in the bedside table, noting there were still two left in the box.

'Here' he said, handing them over to Sara. 'Do you want to do the honors?'

'With pleasure!' she said with a gleam in her eye as she headed towards the bathroom.

'Hurry back!' he called with that same naughty look as he felt himself start to relax.

Sara made her way to the washroom and took one last, dismissive look at the box of condoms before dumping it unceremoniously in the garbage can by the toilet. Finally, the ordeal was over. No more waiting. Starting now, they were finally free to engage in sex anytime they wanted, without the worry of an unwanted pregnancy.

She brushed her teeth and her hair and she applied a little bit of lipstick – even though it was bedtime. She gave herself a little spritz of the perfume Neal had given her for Christmas – his favorite scent. Not that he'd need any encouragement. She took one last look in the mirror - not bad for a 44 year old mother of two, she thought as she turned out the light and headed back to the boudoir and her husband's loving arms.

'You know I thought this day would never come' she said as she stepped into the bedroom, noticing Neal lying flat on his back, eyes closed.

She climbed onto the bed beside him and leaned in close to his face. 'Cute Caffrey...pretending to be asleep.'

She could hear the now familiar sound of soft snoring – something she'd become increasingly accustomed to as the years passed.

'Caffrey?' she repeated as he lay there, motionless, dead to the world.

She let herself fall onto her pillow and shook her head in dismay as she stifled a yawn. Being caregiver to a newborn baby sure took it out of you! She reached over to turn off the bedside lamp and curled up against Neal who was still blissfully asleep.

'Rain check...' she muttered before promptly nodding off.

La fin