"Hey, buddy. I'm Tom. I'm gonna be your Daddy," Tom whispered to the tiny boy in his arms as he rocked him in the chair. "I love your Mama and you so much." He kissed his soft forehead and let his tears flow. How was it even possible to feel like this already?

Tom had paced the waiting room the whole eight hours that Julie had been laboring. It drove his parents and her's crazy. As soon as he heard that the little five pound three ounce boy had been born, they all started crying tears of happiness.

Now, he was all of six hours old and Tom could hold him forever. He didn't know how he would be able to go home to his own house and leave him.

Lane whimpered and opened his eyes and stared right at Tom. "Hi," Tom said with another kiss to his forehead.

Julie had been watching. She saw Tom's tears and the way he held him securely, but gently, against his chest. She could feel his love for her little boy and that filled her heart. Lane Thomas William Thatcher would have a loving father like he deserved.

…..

"Oh my gosh!" Beth shrieked.

"What?" Jack turned over and looked at her.

"Julie had Lane and I missed it! That's what the buzzing of my phone was about. I can't believe I missed it."

"It may be selfish, but I'm kind of glad you didn't look at your phone."

She nudged him with her hand and he laughed. "I am too. I just hope she won't be too mad at me."

"She will be fine. Just tell her you actually got to spend Valentine's Day with me and she will understand."

"It was nice."

"Nice? It was amazing, Beth."

"Yeah, it was. I just meant it was nice to have time with you, on a holiday."

They heard a meow and then Jazz jumped up on the bed, rubbing against Beth's foot. "Hi, Jazzy, you hungry? Where's Mozart?" As if on cue the little one climbed up and joined them, letting out a tiny meow. "There you are. Let's get you both some food." She slipped out of bed, threw her silky robe on, and left the room.

"Are you coming back?"

"I'm gonna make coffee. Then I'll come back," she yelled from the other room.

About five minutes later, she handed him a cup of coffee and then got dressed. "I thought you were coming back to bed," Jack mentioned, watching her pull a pair of black shorts up over her shapely legs and hips.

"You work tonight, right?"

"Yeah. Three to three."

"Ok, so I think I'm going to stay the night at my parents. Kind of help Julie. Is that ok with you?"

"I guess. I'll miss you."

"Well, I'll leave when you do and that way you'll be gone most of the time I will."

"Ok, so I'm confused."

"About what?" she wondered, throwing her curls in a ponytail.

"Why aren't you coming back to bed when neither of us are leaving until three?"

"I need to run out and get groceries, get gas, snacks for the drive, and a gift for Lane. I can't do that if I stay in bed all day." She sat next to him and smiled. "You look good." She ran her hand through his short hair and leaned down to kiss him. "Why don't you run errands with me? Then we can get lunch."

He appeared to think about it, but then in one quick move, he wrapped his arms around her and rolled her over himself and onto her side of the bed. "One hour and then I'll go with you," he whispered, gazing at her perfect, soft lips before claiming them. One hour sounded good.

…..

Beth was going to head to the hospital but before she arrived, she learned Julie and Lane had been released. Lane, even though tiny, was healthy so they went home to recover.

She arrived around seven PM at her parents house and grabbed her suitcase. When she walked in, Collin toddled over to her and hugged her knee. "Hi, honey bun," she squealed, picking him up and kissing him all over his face, making him giggle. "Goodness you are getting big."

She heard a baby cry off in the other room. Collin heard it too and pointed. "Ba."

"Baby? Yeah. Let's go find your Mom."

"Mama." He pointed to the living room so that's where she followed him as he walked. "Mama!"

"Hey, big boy. There you are! Hi, Beth."

"Hi." She hugged her sister and asked how she was.

"I'm good. How was your Valentine's?"

Beth blushed dark red and smiled. "It was great. Certainly different celebrating with a husband."

"Yes, certainly is," Vi agreed with a laugh.

….

Julie sighed as she finally succeeded in getting Lane latched on. It was not easy to breastfeed by herself. She had a nurse help in the hospital but now her mom had gone to take a nap and she was alone.

It was very weird to have Lane actually in her arms and not kicking her from the inside. A wonderful weird but weird. His tiny fingers and hands amazed her. His head was so small compared to what it felt like during birth.

She heard a knock on the door. "Julie, it's me."

"Come in, Beth."

"Julie, oh my goodness. He's so tiny." Beth sat next to Julie and kissed her nephew's head. "He's beautiful."

"Thank you. I agree. I've never felt so much love for one person before. Its amazing and scary at the same time. I just hope I am a good mom for him."

"Look at you, Jules. You're feeding him. Giving him exactly what he needs. You are a good mom."

Julie leaned her head on Beth's shoulder and cried. All the emotions that had been building just came pouring out. After a few minutes, she burped him and then switched sides.

"How was the birth? I'm sorry I wasn't there."

"Please don't be sorry. It was Valentine's Day. I assumed Jack must have had the night off."

"I know but I wanted to be here for you."

"You always have been but you're married now. I understand that Jack comes first. I won't ever expect anything less."

Beth kissed her temple and smiled. "I love you, Julie."

"I love you too. Ok, so honestly, I had an epidural so I didn't feel too much. Thank goodness, because up until that point…."

….

About thirty minutes later, Beth took Lane downstairs so Julie could sleep. She couldn't get enough of him. The need and desire to have a baby was out in full force as she cuddled on the couch with him against her chest.

"Hi, Beth," Grace said as she joined her on the couch. "You look like you're in your element."

"He's wonderful, Mom."

"He is." Grace tucked a stray curl behind Beth's ear and tweaked her chin. "Make you want one of your own?"

"Yeah. We can't right now though. It's not the right time."

"So you've talked about it?"

"I wanted a baby as soon as I'd held Collin," she said with a laugh. "Jack and I decided we would wait at least until I'm out of school and his job is more stable."

"That's very responsible."

"As much as I want one, I understand that it would be really hard at this point."

"Did you have a nice Valentine's?"

"Yes. He actually had the night off."

"That's good. Did you go out to eat?"

"No. We ordered in."

"You're happy, Beth?"

"Yeah. Did I tell you we got two cats? Jazzy and Mozart."

"Cute."

"It helps take a bit of the desire for a baby a little, but not all of it. I just want the next eighteen months to go fast."

"That reminds me of your father and me at the beginning of our marriage. I wanted a baby badly so he bought me a cat. I was already pregnant."

Beth laughed. "Well, I'm not pregnant but that would be funny."

….

When Jack got home at three am, the cats greeted him at the door, meowing and beckoning him to follow so they could be fed.

"Hang on," he told them, slipping a pizza on the counter that was to be his dinner/breakfast. He removed his gun belt, placing it on the counter too and locked the door.

Then he walked into the laundry room which was now the place for cat litter and food dishes. "Here you go," he said quietly, filling their dish. "Enjoy."

He wandered into the bedroom, immediately missing the sight of Beth beneath the covers on the bed. He grabbed a t-shirt and shorts and took a shower before texting Beth.

"U up?"

A few moments later, as he sat on the couch with his pizza, his phone dinged.

"Hi!"

"Hi, babe. I miss u," he told her. "Empty bed in empty apartment is not what I want."

She called him a moment later. "Hi, Jack."

"Hi."

"Its good to hear your voice."

"Yours too. I don't like this."

"Babe, what is it? Did something happen?"

"I can't talk about it but I really just want you in my arms."

He had been on two very difficult calls during his shift. The first one was sad but turned out well. Someone had reported a baby found outside the door of their business. When they arrived, the business owner had brought the child inside and taken care of it but they had nothing to feed it. So Jack and Wagner had taken the screaming newborn to the hospital for observation and food, knowing it was in good hands. The situation had bothered him, just because he couldn't imagine ever leaving a child of his own anywhere but in the care of its mother or a loving relative. He wasn't naïve enough to think there wasn't certain situations that a young mother might find herself in that warranted taking the huge risk that someone would care for her child if she was unable, but all the same, it hurt his heart.

"I'll be home this afternoon."

"I work at one."

The second call had involved a woman found in an alley, dead of apparent abuse. Seeing the situation before turning it over to the homicide detectives, made him temporarily start to rethink his line of work. Then he remembered that the reason he became a police officer was to help people and that need hadn't changed. He just needed to get better at distancing his emotions from the cases.

Right now, his emotions told him he needed his wife's comforting arms. Unfortunately, she was three hours away.

"Jack, I can leave now and be home by 6:30."

"I would love that, but I'm sure Julie could use your help."

"Yes, but she would understand."

"That's ok. I'll see you tomorrow morning. Give Lane a kiss from Uncle Jack."

"I will. I love you, Jack."

"I love you too, Beth."

….

Tom arrived about seven am to the Thatcher's, bringing muffins and sweet rolls from the bakery and another bouquet of flowers for Julie.

"Good morning, Tom," William greeted as he opened the door.

Tom's attention quickly drifted to the sound of Lane crying upstairs. "What's wrong, I wonder?"

"Probably needs to eat and a diaper change. Typical baby needs. Do I smell sweet rolls?"

"Yes, sir. Help yourself." He handed him the box and kept glancing toward the stairs. Finally Lane quieted and Beth walked down the stairs. "Beth!"

"Hi, Tom." She walked over and smiled, giving him a hug.

"Is Jack here?"

"No, he's working but he wanted me to say hi for him."

"Oh. Well, say hi back." Tom again glanced at the stairs. "Are they ok this morning?"

"Yes but Julie's exhausted and sore. She's feeding Lane and then she's going to take a bath. I'll bring Lane down as soon as he's full, ok?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

"And I'll let Julie know you're here."

"Thanks, Beth."

William watched his future son-in-law carefully. The poor man missed his soon-to-be son and fiancé very much. The longing in his eyes was unmistakable. It had to be frustrating to not live with them and see them the moment he woke up.

William grabbed a tray, two mugs of coffee, a plate with sweet rolls, and then headed upstairs to Grace.

About thirty minutes after arriving, Beth returned to the living room with a clean, freshly diapered Lane with a full tummy. "Okay, bud. Time to see Daddy."

Tom reached for him, his eyes immediately filling with tears. "Oh, gosh. I love him," he told her. He kissed his forehead and inhaled his baby smell.

She watched them as she sipped her coffee from the island. She imagined Jack would be the same way with their children. Loving, affectionate, strong but compassionate. He was with her and always had been so he would be with them too.

Julie came downstairs slowly after he bath and made herself a cup of decaf tea. Tom stood and walked over to her in the kitchen. "Morning, sweetie," she greeted, slipping the tea bag into the mug and dunking it. "Who you got there?" she teased.

"Only the most beautiful little boy I've ever seen." He reached for her and she walked into his arms. "I love you, Julie," he said, giving her a lingering kiss.
"How are you feeling?"

"Pretty good. The hot bath helped."

"Good. I'm glad."

William and Grace walked downstairs. "Good morning," Grace said with a smile. "We have something we would like to talk to you both about."