Around twelve noon on the next day, Murdock returned to the hospital. He had decided to come every day and look after his family until they were allowed to come home. On the third day, when he prepared to take his family home and Stella smiled at him to greet him he noticed that the color of her eyes had lost their blueish shine and were dark-brown now, making them look a lot more like his own eyes. He picked up the baby, carefully hugged her and kissed her forehead, ruffled her hair with the tip of his nose and said, "Happy birthday, my little star. You're three days old today. And guess what – we're goin' home today, you and Mommy and me."

Carefully, he put the baby back into the crib to reach for Belinda's "over-night-bag", and although he kept looking lovingly at Stella's face he felt Belinda's gaze fixed on him, felt her hand creeping up his biceps to his shoulder and knew she was smiling in the delighted way she always did when he was pulling one of his antics. When their eyes finally met, the pilot and his wife smiled at each other.

"Well, every birthday is worth mentionin', isn't it?" Murdock said when Stella uttered a small sound that suggested that breakfast was too long ago for the baby. The parents looked at her before they returned their attention to each other for another long moment.

"You're right, handsome Captain," Belinda agreed, sat up and pulled her husband close to kiss him. Then, she opened the top buttons of her hospital gown to uncover her bosom. She rested their daughter in her arm and started feeding the baby. As soon as Stella felt the nipple against her lips, she started drinking.

"I could be jealous, now," Murdock grinned, putting his elbow on his knee and his chin on his fist.

"What for?" his wife asked, smiling back.

"Well, she gets fed, and I don't." The pilot pulled a melodramatic face.

"Why don't you go down to the cafeteria and get something there?" Belinda suggested.

"Sounds like a good idea. Can I get you something, too?"

"I'd like a hoagie. Ham and cheese on mayo and a wheat roll, if they still carry them. If not, I'll wait for lunch coming up." Murdock smiled at her, kissed his daughter's forehead and went to the cafeteria on the base floor.

It took some time until Murdock could convince the elderly lunch lady behind the counter to fix up one more submarine sandwich with ham, cheese, and mayo on a wheat roll for his wife. He knew those were her favorites. When she was feeling down, he could always cheer her up with a couple of those sandwiches – made with lots of love, of course. Murdock smiled and searched his pockets for his wallet, watching the lunch lady wrapping the submarine sandwich into paper foil.

For himself, since he wasn't just hungry but starved, the pilot bought four foot-long chili dogs and a stick of chewing gum to clean his teeth afterwards. He was done with the first hot dog as he left the cafeteria; when he got back to Belinda's room which was located in the 1st floor, there was only one left. He stifled a belch before he knocked on the door and waited for Belinda saying, "Come in, please." He put the sandwich onto her bedside table and a piece of gum into his mouth before he kissed her.

"Enjoy," the pilot said when Belinda handed him the baby to eat her sandwich.

"Certainly will," she assured him.

"Well?" he asked after a few minutes while he held Stella in his arms, rocking her gently. The sight of her made his heart swell as if it could rub out most of the horror of the ugly things he had seen – not all of it, but most. Holding his baby girl in his arms could even compare with the rush washing through him when he was up in the air with a plane or a helicopter at his will.

"Not bad," Belinda pointed out through a mouthful of soft wheat bread, ham, cheese and mayonnaise. "But nothing compared to yours, handsome Captain. Not even close. Yours are still the best ham-and-cheese-on-mayo hoagies in the world."

"Thanks." The pilot put Stella's head against his shoulder and carefully patted her back with his fingers to make her belch, the way he had seen his wife do before. Then, he wiped the baby girl's mouth with a towel and put her back into her bed.

To the pilot's disappointment, the doctors announced that Belinda and Stella had to stay longer at the hospital because they had discovered that Belinda's blood values had changed for worse. So they wanted to check, considering the short time since the labor. Murdock gulped back his fears when he heard this.

"Sorry, little star," he said and kissed the baby's cheek. "We can't go home now. Mommy isn't feeling good. But I promise we will go home one of these days as soon as Mommy is feeling better."