A month later, Charlotte was standing above Parker's incubator, with her hands pressed against the glass. She blinked back tears and Cooper came up behind her. He brushed his lips against her cheek. "How is he?"

"He's more alert today, but his oxygen levels are low."

He rested his hand on her lower back and gently rubbed back and forth. "How are you?"

Her shoulders dropped a little and she leaned against him. "Not good."

He kissed the top of her head and pulled her closer. "He's getting stronger."

"I know, Coop, but all these wires…they just scare me, ok?"

He wrapped his around her back and she rested her head on his shoulder. He rubbed her arm gently as a few tears leaked out of her eyes. He was about to speak when there was a tap on his shoulder. He turned around and blinked. "Oh, hi, Dr. Harrison."

"How's Parker this morning?" She asked, stepping towards the incubator.

"His oxygen levels keep falling." Cooper said from behind her.

"He stopped breathing last night for a few minutes." Charlotte added.

Dr. Harrison palpated Parker's abdomen and checked his lungs. "He hasn't mastered breathing quite yet. It's still a new process for him." Charlotte exhaled and held onto Cooper's hand tightly. "I'm here to see if he'll tolerate a bottle."

Charlotte gasped. "I can feed him?"

"Let's try it. Whatever he doesn't get with the bottle, we'll feed it through the tube going into his stomach."

Charlotte swallowed and opened up the latch on the incubator. She scooped Parker up into her arms and slowly lowered into the rocking chair. Dr. Harrison left for a few minutes and then came back with a bottle. She handed it to Charlotte and Charlotte relaxed into the cushion. She looked down at Parker and smiled. "Do this for momma, Parks." She adjusted her son a little and moved some wires out of the way. She slipped the nipple into his mouth and his eyes shot open. "Hi there." He looked around and blinked. He sucked on the bottle and started choking. Charlotte's eyes widened and she took the bottle out of his mouth. She carefully burped him and rubbed his back. "What's happening?"

"Went down the wrong pipe. We'll let him rest and feed him through the port in his stomach." Dr. Harrison paused. "Let's weigh him first. See how he's doing." Charlotte handed Parker to the doctor and pushed herself up to her feet. They followed Dr. Harrison over to the scale which was a few feet away from the incubator. She adjusted Parker's blue hat and set him down. She calibrated the scale and waited a few seconds. "3 lbs, 7 oz." She paused. "Once his oxygen levels are higher, he's feeding from a bottle regularly, and he has predictable bowl movements, he'll be on his way home. I expect that'll be in about two to three weeks." She scooped Parker up and handed him back to Charlotte. The swaddled newborn opened his eyes and looked around.

"I hope his eyes stay that color." Charlotte pointed out as she smiled down at her son.

"They seem to be a mix between Cooper's blue eyes and your hazel eyes, so they might not change too much, but he's only ten weeks old and he was fifteen weeks early, so we'll just have to wait and see." The doctor explained.

"They're beautiful…"

"Don't refer to my son's eyes as beautiful." Cooper interjected.

Dr. Harrison laughed. "I'll leave you two alone." She smiled and walked out of the NICU.

Charlotte and Cooper walked back over to the incubator and she sat down on the rocking chair. "I think he's had enough stimulation for a while." She handed Parker to Cooper and he set the tiny baby back into the warm confines of his incubator.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Huh?"

"You're thinking about something. I can tell. What is it?"

She sighed. "I'm scared…"

"Charlotte, we've been over this…"

"No, not about that, well I'm still scared about that, but that's not what I'm talkin' about." She paused. "I'm ready to take him home, but he'll be our responsibility. I'm nervous I'm gonna screw 'im up and I don't know if I can take care of him the way he needs me to."

Cooper sat on the chair in front of her and lifted up her chin. "You'll be fine, great even. Stop worrying. This is my first time doing all this too, Char."

She nodded. "I guess that's true."

"We'll help each other. You'll be an old pro by the time he's been home for a week. You'll see."

She smiled. "I'm not my momma."

He shook his head. "No, you're not."

She blinked and yawned. "I'm starvin'."

"That's a first."

She laughed. "He needs his rest, and I need to eat."

"Cafeteria?"

She nodded. "I don't wanna go too far in case something happens."

He stood up and held out his hand. "He's gonna be fine."

"I actually sort of believe you this time."

He smiled and she waved away his hand. She pushed herself up and inched closer to him. She pushed her lips into his and kissed him deeply. He raised an eyebrow. "There was feeling behind that kiss."

"When he's home, Coop."

He sighed and bit his bottom lip. "Why'd you tease me like that, Char."

She laughed. "How can you be thinkin' about that when our son is fightin' for his life?"

"I haven't thought about it until you kissed me like that. Now, that's all I can think about."

"I can't."

"I know. I'm not asking you to. When Parker's home from the hospital, and he's stronger." He turned his attention to his son. One look at the way his son was struggling to breathe, and it turned him off. He swallowed and stuck his hand inside. He ran his fingers through Parker's hair and touched his nose. "Stay strong, Parks." He looked at Charlotte. "Ready?" She nodded and they walked out of the NICU.

Two weeks and four days later, Charlotte was standing above Parker's incubator. Her hand was on the glass as she watched him wiggle his legs a tiny bit. She smiled and jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Sorry, Char."

She turned her head around and exhaled. "You just startled me."

"Are you ready?"

She nodded and scooped Parker out of the incubator. He wasn't connected to anything now. She placed him in the infant seat that Cooper set on the chair and bucked him in. She covered him with a blanket with jungle animals on it, so just his head was visible. She ran her fingers through his brown hair and smiled. "You're goin' home today, Parks." He opened his eyes and curled his hands into tiny fists. "We've been waiting for this day for three months."

Cooper looked at her and rested his hand on her shoulder. "I told you he was going to be fine."

She nodded. "He's not out of the woods, Coop."

"I didn't say he was."

"You did."

He sighed. "This is a happy day, Char. Are we gonna ruin it by fighting about something that doesn't matter?"

She blinked slowly and straightened up. "No. I'm just nervous."

"I figured." He paused. "Just think. If you screw up, no one's gonna know except me."

"Was that s'posed to be helpful?"

He laughed. "In my head it was. You're going to be fine."

"You get his discharge papers?"

"That's where I was just now."

"So we're all set?"

"Dr. Harrison signed the papers and checked him out earlier while you were asleep. We're all set."

She swallowed and looked at Cooper. "Then let's go."

He picked up the carrier and rocked it gently to settle Parker down. "It's ok, Parks. You're ok." He leaned over and pressed a kiss to Charlotte's lips. "Ready to go, momma?"

She nodded. "It's surreal."

"Agreed. Bittersweet in a way. You've grown accustomed to this place, the people, the doctors. It's just gonna be us."

"He won't have people pokin' and proddin' him all day long. I'm sure he's happy 'bout that." She smiled and brushed her finger across Parker's cheek. "I'm tired of bein' in the hospital. Can we go home now?"

He nodded. "Ladies first." He kissed her again softly and she walked in front of him. She turned around and stopped. He raised an eyebrow. "Everything ok?"

"Just thinkin'."

"About?"

"About how many families we saw walk out of here without their babies."

"I know. The NICU is a scary place if you're on the inside."

She shrugged. "I just wanna go home." She paused. "Cooper?"

"Mmhmm?"

"Where is he gonna sleep?"

"He'll stay in our bedroom until we find a bigger place. He should be in our room anyway, at least until he's bigger and stronger. I ordered a bassinet and had Violet set it up for us. I had her pick up a few things for us too. I know you wanted Parker to have his own stuff, so I didn't bother asking Violet if Lucas had anything he wasn't using anymore."

She smiled. "At least one of us was thinkin'."

"You had a lot on your mind. I'm not saying I didn't, but you went through a lot more stuff than I did." He kissed her delicately on the lips. "Are you ok?"

She nodded. "Just fine. Let's go home."

"We keep saying that, but we don't get anywhere."

Charlotte laughed. "Shut up and let's go." He smiled and they walked to the elevator, the doctors and nurses from the NICU seeing them off.

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