Unexpected – Chapter Twenty-Nine
"Ugh" Mac groaned as she made her way into the kitchen, kissing her sons head as she walked past his high chair, propped herself up on a bar stool and placed her head on the bench.
"Big night?" Dick laughed, she hadn't been home when he had gone to sleep but she had been snoring her head off when he had taken his beach bum baby for a morning swim
"Just Shh and put whatever you are cooking right now on a plate, it smells so good"
"Dude" she peeked up at his outrage "It's bacon. How much did you drink last night?"
"I literally had one and a half glasses of wine" she wasn't lying, she had gone out with Veronica and Claire for a girls night out – she had felt pretty dodgy and only nursed her wine
"Can you remember when you were pregnant and we walked past a steak house and you practically drooled and I had to drag you away? It's funny how when you feel your worst your hot vegan bod turns into a caveman" he paused for a moment "It makes sense. Bacon is the number one cure for everything. Skin your knee – eat some bacon. Get the wind knocked out of you – eat some bacon. Arm falls off – eat some bacon."
"Dick" she warned with a grumble
"Hung-over like mummy – eat some bacon" Mac left her head against the cool marble bench top – trying to get him to stop would only spur him on more – instead she tried to block his voice out, thinking about the last time she had felt this horrible - her eyes opened as wide as they possibly could.
X-x-x-x-x-x
Mac had been overthinking all day, and now her eyes refused to shut – a problem that Dick didn't share – "Dick, can you remember our biggest fight?"
"When I used the rough sponge on your good frying pan?" he mumbled half into his pillow
"Not that one"
"When I took your underage brother to a bar and there just happened to be a mud wrestling match?"
"No, but next guess you are going to want to be really sure it is the right answer because right now you are just reminding me of all the dumb things you've done"
"When you found out that you were pregnant with Noah and ran away to Veronica's"
"Yep. I'd never seen you so seriously angry at me, you looked so scared"
"I was so scangry. What about it?" she remained silent, knowing his eyes were closed, counting the seconds until he cracked on – his reaction time was slower when he was sleepy – she usually found it hilarious "Maaac" he rolled over to face her – a massive grin on his face "Is there something that you want to tell me?"
"I don't know" she looked away from him and up to the roof
"Are you pregnant?" she could hear his excitement and it wasn't surprising – he had been making it pretty clear since Noah's birthday that he wanted another baby and the sooner the better.
"I haven't taken a test, I'm just feeling a bit off and it feels really similar to how I was feeling when we found out that I was pregnant with Noah"
"Do you have any tests laying around?" his excitement was overwhelming, she didn't even know where her body was at, but his body was jumping over her and out of bed, heading in the direction of the bathroom. She could hear him pulling draws out and couldn't help but smile "MAC"
"Shh. I'm coming. You'll wake Noah" she sighed and rolled out of bed
"I found one" he beamed as her bare feet hit the cold bathroom tiles. He handed her the box but instead of ripping it open she held it still in her hands. He watched her in great anticipation "Aren't you going to…you know…pee on it?"
"I don't know if I have enough pee in me" before she had even finished her sentence he had left the room at an incredibly fast pace. Mac finally opened the box, gulping as she read the instructions
"I didn't know how much you needed" Dick returned to the room with a literal jug of water "I spilled a fair bit but I can get you more if you need it"
"That's plenty babe" he watched her drink as much water as she could handle. She could feel his frustration as she continued reading the instructions "I'm not a water filter, you cant just pour it in and then expect it to pour right out" he pouted "go and do something else – go check on Noah, or make me a sandwich…. make it both – I'll do the test and come and find you"
"No. I can stay" he was like a child being told he couldn't have an ice cream before dinner; she gave him a look "Fine. I'll be sitting just out in the bedroom…with a sandwich" It was like déjà vu, Dick had tried to watch her pee and was now sitting anxiously on their bed, the only difference was that Dick didn't look as panicked as he had the first time – at least one of them was calm. Mac peed on the stick, took a deep inhale, pulled up her pants and opened the bathroom door "Can I come in?" he asked, already half in the door "Do we know yet?" she could finally see the nervousness in his body language – she showed him the timer on her phone, worried that if she opened her mouth to speak that she would vomit or cry or both. Dick closed the toilet lid and sat down – he grabbed Mac's arm and sat her down on his lap, gently kissing her head as they waited for the minutes to pass.
"Did you end up making me a sandwich?" she asked as the timer went off on the other side of the bathroom. For a moment they just looked at each other – a gentle smile on each of their faces – Mac gradually worked up the courage to stand up and walk over to the test, Dick stayed back.
"So?" he asked her after a moment
"Two lines" she murmured "I'm preg…"
"YOUR PREGNANT" he lunged at her and wrapped his arms around her torso – his face at stomach level "There is a baby in there" she grinned as he rolled her pyjama top up and placed his lips on her bare stomach "Hello" he contemplated for a moment "When do the ears develop?" he shrugged his shoulder "I don't care… Hey baby, I'm your dad…and if I'm not, your mum has a lot of explaining to do" he disconnected from her waist and exited the bathroom
"Where are you going?" she followed him out of the room, secretly just wanting to be wrapped up with his body
"We've got to tell Noah"
"Dude. You wake him up I kill you" it had taken an hour to get him to sleep that night and he only wanted Mac "He is one-and-a-half he doesn't really care yet, he certainly isn't going to be mad if you tell him in the morning"
"Then who can I tell?"
"Um no-one" he looked at her like a confused puppy dog "We don't even know how far along I am or if the test is lying and what if something happens"
"Nothing is going to happen, the Casablancas foetus are strong" she chuckled
"You can't guarantee that, so we aren't going to tell people until we are at least twelve weeks along. Okay?" his frown turned into a smile
"We are having a baby" he was awestruck and then he was excitable jumping on the bed
"You are crazy," she laughed at the foot of the bed, watching the grin on his face each time his feet made contact with the mattress
"Get up here" he said stopping for a moment to catch his breath " Don't jump too hard though, you've got precious cargo in that golden uterus of yours"
Kumquat
"It's okay honey, we are nearly home" she lent over the passenger side seat to hold the foot of her fussy little boy as they drove home from Wallace and Claire's housewarming dinner
"So" Dick carefully intersected into conversation "Are you still mad at me?"
"I don't really want to talk about it Dick" when she was angry with him his nickname was said more as an insult, he guessed it was helpful that his name was a reliable insult "But yes, I am mad"
"I didn't think it was such a big deal"
"It was Wallace and Claire's night and you just couldn't keep your big mouth shut could you?"
"Geez, I'm sorry Mac! I was just excited, we are going to be having babies at the same time, it's exciting and I just couldn't hold it in anymore. I was only two weeks early"
Passion Fruit
Dick held her hand as they walked into the examination room at the obstetricians office, she officially had the pregnancy glow that she was promised, as of right now she hadn't been feeling it at all. "Come on then, take your pants off and get on the table" he smirked and then opened his mouth
"Didn't think you'd have to say it twice today did you?" mocking the joke that she anticipated with a smile as she unbuttoned her jeans and sat down on the table
"Hello Cindy" the peppy nurse walked into the room. Mac examined her – there was something about the constant grin on the young woman's face that calmed her down "Twelve weeks now, how are you feeling?" she looked up from the file
"She is tired but she is throwing up less" Dick stated before Mac could even open her mouth – both women in the room laughed "Sorry"
"All common symptoms. Now how about we listen to the heart beat?" the cool gel hit Mac's stomach and she was transported back to two years ago when she heard her little boy's heartbeat for the first time "So there are the little toes – looks like there are ten of those – and ten little fingers, and let me see – yep dads nose" she smiled looking up at the couple who looked intently at the screen, before getting back to work "Hmm" the room went silent as she took away the wand and stood up
"Is everything okay?" Mac asked, a nervous smile forming on her lips
"I'm just going to get someone who knows how to use this machine properly" Mac wasn't buying it, something was going on, she didn't verbalise these feelings because she didn't want to dash the hopes of her partner who was looking unaffected by the nurses poor excuse to leave the room. A doctor entered, skipping pleasantries and moving to sit on the chair next to her, not bothering to pick up the wand that the nurse had abandoned he felt around her abdomen – it wasn't until this point that Dick tensed up, she could feel it without even looking up at him, her focus was on the discomfort of the doctors hands and the stinging sensation in her eyes where tears threated to spill.
"Cindy, you can sit up and get dressed. I will be back in a moment" the look on his face gave her the answer – she remembered this man giving her an ultrasound when she was six months pregnant with Noah, a cheeky grin on his face as he watched her first baby turning to moon those trying to get a peek at him – now his face was stone cold, trying to remain professional, she wondered if he remembered that ultrasound now.
"It's okay Mac, it's going to be okay" she didn't try and correct his words because she knew that they weren't for her, his eyes remained on the door as she jumped back into her jeans and sat where she had been cautiously waiting to hear her babies heartbeat
"Cindy. Dick" their usual doctor walked into the room, he shared the same grim look as the other doctor "I'm sorry that I couldn't be with you earlier. I've been updated by Nurse Stephanie and Dr Hank..." he sat down next to her and placed a hand on her knee "I'm very sorry to inform you that we were unable to find a heartbeat. Through measurements and abdominal examination it would seem that your baby stopped growing around two weeks ago…" the rest of the words spun past her, as she consumed herself in her own thoughts, it wasn't until Dick squeezed her hand that she tuned back into her doctors words "…I personally would recommend a D&C, due to the stage of pregnancy. However this is a decision that you two will need to make together" the room was silent for a moment "This is a lot of information for you both to take in, I want you to go home, get some rest, absorb this information and make an informed decision when you are ready."
X-x-x-x-x-x
This was the hospital that they took their baby boy home from just over a year before this moment, the feeling was completely different, and the silence was unbearable. She was wrapped in Dick's sweats, her hand wrapped in his. They had gone home from the obstetrician and Mac had slept – Dick took care of Noah as Mac spent the next 24 hours sleeping, the second day Dick had dropped Noah to Natalie and they spent the day wrapped in each others arms – no words. On the third day they spoke, they surveyed their options and made a decision. After three days she had decided that she couldn't wait for their baby to naturally pass. Dick had been her rock, he had done everything she asked and everything she didn't ask – Mac had no clue if he had slept or how he had been coping in the last three days, she knew that he was being brave for her but her exhausted body mentally and physically could not bring itself to ask the questions. They had decided not to tell their friends about the baby until after the procedure had occurred. He watched with a gentle smile as they prepped her to go into the operating theatre, he commented on her cute butt when she put on the hospital crown, he kissed her forehead and waved as they took her to the theatre, and then he sat down and sobbed as he waited for it all to be over.
X-x-x-x-x-x
"Hi guys, sorry to do this over text but we wanted to let you know that we lost the baby. We are doing okay, Mac is a trooper. Don't know what to say, this is shit…"
X-x-x-x-x-x
It was funny how her trouble-making baby could sense that she needed silence, that she needed stillness and complied with that. He lay in bed in her arms and it was all she ever needed. Dick was overbearingly bringing food in ever hour on the hour. He wanted to talk and she didn't want to. "What can I do?" he sat on the end of the bed, holding her foot, a small smile on his face as he watched his son bury into her side
"I just want my mum" she wiped a tear from under her eyes, Noah's little eyes looked up at her
X-x-x-x-x-x
"How are you doing today?" the peppy nurse walked into the examination room, Wallace was glad that the person who was going to show him his baby seemed to love her job.
"Pretty nervous" Wallace had looked to Claire to fill the silence, but the way that she bit her bottom lip – the last few days had been nerve-racking for the first time parents. Miscarriage had always been something that was in the back of his mind, every baby book he had read listed off symptoms which he could quite easily attribute to his baby-mama's symptoms, but it hadn't been till it had hit so close to home that Wallace and Claire had began to really panic – however neither wanted to say it out loud.
"All the more reason to have a look at your baby" the nurse gestured for Claire to lay down and started the process – squeezing the gel onto her exposed stomach and pressing the wand down – Wallace didn't realise that he was holding his breath until the sound of their babies heartbeat filled the room and then they cried.
Meyer Lemon
"Have you spoken to her?" Wallace asked as he took a sip of his tea
"I went around last night to deliver some food, we lay in bed for awhile, we didn't talk about it" Veronica said, half of her attention on her friend and the other half on her daughters who were running in and out of the room "She wants things to go back to normal again, we are going to take the girls around tomorrow night"
"Did they know about the baby?" Wallace was now very aware of the girl's presence
"We hadn't told them yet. We are going to take around pizza, do you and Claire want to come as well?"
"I don't know. Would that be too much? I just don't want to upset Mac. Every time I mention Mac, Claire literally tears up – I don't know if Mac needs that right now."
X-x-x-x-x-x
"MaaaaaaMaaaaa" Noah sobbed as Dick brought him into the house, trying to soothe him as he clutched him to his chest "Mamaaaa"
"What happened?" A panicked Mac scooped her son out of Dick's arms
"He fell off the scooter" he watched the panic drain out of her and anger replace it
"It's okay baby, mama has got you" she stormed into the kitchen with Dick following her, she attempted to get the first-aid box off of the top of the fridge – however her height and the fact that she had a hysterical one year old in her arms meant that she was only successful in pushing it further out of reach. As she huffed and looked around for a solution, with ease Dick reached up and retrieved the box – placing it on the bench as she tried to pry their son off her chest "I told you that he didn't need a scooter" she exclaimed as she dabbed away the blood on his little knees "I know honey" it was funny how her disposition completely changed depending on who she was talking to "but you got it anyway. You promised me you would always watch him on it"
"I WAS watching him" she turned and looked at him "I watched him scoot off the grass and onto the driveway and then I watched him lose his footing and fly off it" the look she gave him was poison "It all happened so quickly, I couldn't have stopped it"
"There you go" she kissed the Band-Aid on Noah's knee "That must have really hurt" she scooped him back into her arms "Let's have an icy-pole and a cuddle, will that make you feel better?" he nodded his puffy red face
"Can I do anything?" Dick asked from behind her
"It's fine. I've got this covered," she said in a tone as cold as the icy pole in her hand.
Honeydew Melon
"I'm just going to go and grab a wrench" Sam said as he stepped away from the non-performing lawn mower that Dick had wanted to replace but Mac had insisted that they should check if it was saveable before spending more money. In an attempt to look like he was actually helping, Dick stepped from his position at the handles of the machine to the motor that his father-in-law had just diagnosed and began to tinker.
"Yep, just what I though. Motor Broke"
"No you sicko. I will not give you a motor boat, my dad will be back any minute"
"Motor BROKE." He enunciated "And you think I'm the sicko" she snorted and he had never been happier in his whole life.
"Oh" she continued to laugh "Innocent mistake"
"There is nothing innocent about a motor boat" his grin was so big that he thought it was going to eject itself from his face "Although now that you mention it, I could really do with a motor boating" he stepped closer to the banana lounge that she was laying on
"NO" she screamed in a fit of giggles as he jumped onto her body – arms and legs flailing everywhere as he tried to get his face to her cleavage "I'm going to wet my pants" she squeaked as tears rolled down her cheeks "Just do it" she laughed as his head finally made contact with her chest and he completed required motor boating actions. His sheepish grin popped up over her head and pecked her lips. And then he moved back down to her chest and rested his head down – she didn't complain or resist and he didn't try to get further, it was just nice to be physically and emotionally connected to her again. He hoped that this moment would never end. He nuzzled in deeper, but was wary of the fragility of her body "I love you"
"I love you too" she had no idea how long he had craved those words
"I've missed this. I've missed us"
"What do you mean?"
"It just hasn't been the same since…" he paused and bit down on his lip "the baby" he sighed. He wished he hadn't spoken, wished he could force the words back down his own throat. The comfort of her touch had made him forget that this was far from his Cindy Mackenzie who he told the contents of his whole world, this was the Cindy Mackenzie that he had to censor himself around – or at least for now she was. As quick as she had welcomed his embrace, he felt her body withdraw
"I need to go check on Noah" he quickly peeled himself off of her to let her go, nothing he could say now would get her back on the banana lounge – back in his arms. He watched her rush up the stairs – trying to get away from him as fast as humanly possible. He was so angry with himself. He screamed in frustration and punched the banana lounge. The pain – at least momentarily – averting his focus.
"You're okay Dick" Dick didn't know how much his father-in-law had seen but let Sam wrap a supportive arm around his shoulder.
X-x-x-x-x-x
"So let me get this straight," Wallace said as he jumped into bed next to Claire, resting a hand out of instinct onto her stomach "You wont let us find out the sex of the baby because you want it to be a surprise but you want to try every single urban legend to see what gender the baby is?"
"Well the lady at the butcher said that I was hanging low which apparently means a boy and then there was another customer there who said that she thought that I was having a girl because I had acne"
"Bitch"
"I know" Claire met his intense look "It's like the second the second line appears on the pee stick, everyone has the right to comment on your body. But anyway it made me curious so I googled it"
"Of course you did" Wallace laughed, this was the woman who ten seconds after a question was asked – whether directed at her or not – would say 'don't worry I will Google it'
"Now you haven't married me so we cant do 'the ring swing'" she mocked " and I'm pretty sure I don't want to pee into or onto anything until we have another baby" she looked him up and down "Now this one is called 'A little extra padding' and it says that if the partner has put on weight you are more likely to be having a girl" she gazed at him for a moment as he waited for the answer "Your looking good babe"
"Another point for boy" he couldn't hide his grin. Claire lifted up her shirt and his happy look turned to puzzled
"So this line" she pointed to the dark brown line crawling up her protruding stomach "apparently if it goes past the bellybutton we are having a boy and if it doesn't then it's a girl. I can't bend that way right now, look" he inspected her stomach for a moment
"It's hard to tell. It kind of faintly goes just past your belly button but that could just be a shadow?"
"One for the uncertain column" she went back to her phone and began to scroll, she pulled her feet out from underneath the blanket "feel my feet and tell me if they are cold"
"This is crazy" he said as he leaned over and grabbed her feet "They seem pretty warm right now but I can tell you for a fact that they are usually pretty cold, especially when they find their way onto my legs in the middle of the night"
"Cold feet means boy" Claire looked down at her phone again and then proceeded to unbutton her shirt and pull him towards her, he went to kiss her "No. I need you to look at my boobs"
"Don't need to ask me twice"
"Which boob is bigger?"
"This is getting really weird" she gave him an impatient look "Rightie" Claire beamed up at him "What?" she bit her lip as a smile spread across his mouth
"I think we are having a boy"
Length of a stalk of rhubarb
"What do you want from me?"
" I want you to yell, I want you to scream – fuck, I'll take any form of communication"
"So I'm not grieving right?" You want me to break down? Is that what you want? Unfortunately I'm raising an 18 month old so I don't get that luxury"
"You've already broken down. You think I'm not going to notice it if you don't verbalise it but its in everything you have done in the last six months – every time I mention the baby or when Noah was a baby or trying again" he had only made that mistake once "You find any excuse to leave the room, I seem to be irritating you more than usual, every time I touch you, you physically recoil – we haven't had sex since…"
"So this is about you being horny?" they often used the word horny as a joke but it was like poison on her lips
"NO!" he said exasperated "I don't know what to do, you are the most important person in my whole world – I don't function when you don't function and I don't know how to fix this. I tried to be the helicopter that was always there just in case you wanted to talk. I tried leaving you alone, but that seemed to make you angrier and it made me anxious. I tried to help more around the house and with Noah but you didn't want me to" he could go on and on but it hurt him recounting it and Mac not reacting was not helping at all – little did he know, she just couldn't find the words " If this is the roughest year of our relationship that's okay – we can have one shit year – but I cant do this forever Mac, I cant be the only one rowing this boat. We all deserve so much more than that – you, Noah and me. Just tell me where you are at? Are you in this?" Mac looked at the ground "well I guess that's my answer then" he wasn't giving up on her, he never would, nothing was changing he needed to do something drastic to save them and so he turned to walk away
"I didn't want the baby" she sighed as the weight finally lifted off of her shoulders "I wasn't ready. Noah had only just started sleeping through the night; he wasn't constantly attached to me, our routines were set. Having another baby added that all back into the mix again but this time round I had a one-year old who is still very demanding. I spent practically every minute of being pregnant worrying or remembering horrible parts of pregnancy that I would have to go through again. But you were so excited, you wanted that baby so badly – Every time you thought about the baby your face lit up to the point that I knew exactly when you were thinking about it. So I internalized it, I let all of that negative energy fester inside of me and then the baby was gone. I'd wished away our baby and it was gone. And the worst part was that for a split second I was relieved. Relieved because I could stop worrying, I could stop being so disgusted in myself. Then I was sad for you because you had been so excited and I thought about all of the reasons why you were so excited and it hurt. Noah would've been a big brother, I imagined this baby laying on my chest and wrapping its tiny fist around my thumb, all the firsts and it was my fault"
"Cind…" he carefully thought of his next words "why didn't you tell me?"
"I was scared to tell you that I wasn't ready for a baby because I didn't want to disappoint you and when I found out that I was pregnant I figured that you were invested enough for both of us." They stood in silence for a moment, standing at opposite ends of the kitchen bench "Do you hate me?" Dick looked at her perplexed for a moment before walking towards her and drawing her into his arms – for the first time in a long time she didn't tense at his touch "Never. I could never hate you" they stood in each other's arms for a while longer, silence and comfort engulfing the both of them. There were things that they were going to need to talk about, problems that they needed to resolve to move forward, but right now that wasn't important.
Mini Watermelon
"Hey" Wallace said finding Mac in his kitchen away from the loudness of the baby shower being hosted in the other room. Dick had reminded her several times throughout the preparation phase that she didn't need to go if she didn't feel like it.
"Hey" she softly replied, "is that my friend Wallace? Can we talk now or should we wait till we have a chaperone?" she jokingly mocked the fact that in the past seven months she had not seen Wallace alone
"I think we can go chaperone-less" he smiled, making his way further into the kitchen "How are you?"
"I'm getting there" she smiled "I seriously can't believe that you are about to have a baby, I can't wait to meet the little Fennel"
"Really?" she gave him a questioning look, but he couldn't say the words and she sighed knowing exactly what he was thinking
"I can be happy about your baby"
"We were meant to be having babies together, I didn't know how to talk to you – how do you talk to your best friend about how excited you are to hold your baby when they don't get to hold their own? I felt so horrible that I wasn't there for you – I'm so sorry that I wasn't there, but I want you to know that I think about it all the time"
"I'll admit that it isn't going to be the easiest, but you are my best friend – I feel like I've been waiting for this baby since I met Claire" she watched Wallace laugh "No seriously, I've turned into your mum. You are going to make an excellent dad and I can't wait to watch and to laugh"
X-x-x-x-x-x
"Not so fast little miss" Dick said grabbing Mac's arm as she attempted to stand up from the couch "Dr Lisa said we need to share one thing we appreciate about each other at the end of every day, and other than appreciating my ass this morning in the shower I don't believe you've said anything"
"I don't think you've said anything either" she smiled as she sat down next to him and cuddled into his side
"I appreciate your smile. I appreciate that you do it even when you don't feel like smiling, I like that it fills your whole face. It reminds me that I'm okay when I'm feeling my worst" she kissed his lips "Okay your turn. I know that I'm fantastic but try to only share one" he smirked
"I appreciate that you never gave up on me" despite being in therapy for the last three months, this was the first time that she had finally voiced the words that filled her mind every single time he looked her way, checked in with her or even brushed up against her just so she knew that he was there "I appreciate that you are always there when I need you. And while this year has been the worst, the only reason I survived was because I knew that you loved me – even if I didn't want you to"
I Carried a Watermelon
Wallace spent all night anxiously anticipating the arrival of his first baby. He felt useless – like nothing in the birthing class had prepared him for the moment where the doctors had to break his partners waters, or when the epidural was placed in her back, or the fact that there was nothing he could do to take the pain away other than to hold her hand and encourage her. He jumped at the opportunity to get the ice chips, not because he wanted to be out of the room – he didn't want to miss a second of this – but because he so desperately wanted to help, the woman that he loved was about to bring a tiny human made from their conjoined genes and love into this world – something that he had longed for when his friends started having babies but craved when he finally met her – his one. She had refused a wheelchair to the birthing suite – and he was pretty sure that she was amazing. She pushed for what seemed like hours, perhaps it had been minutes – this day had moved past in slow motion, they had savoured their last moments as a childless couple and shared their wishes for the future and now their future was here. The doctor asked Claire that she really needed to push now and all Wallace wanted to do was tell him that that was all she had been doing – but Claire dug deeper, groaning louder than he had ever heard as she Vulcan gripped his hands. It was at that moment that he heard the perfect cries of his newborn baby "It's a boy" the doctor announced with a grin as Wallace found Claire's eyes – they knowingly smiled at each other, this was it. The baby was swiftly placed on her chest and after a moment of taking him in she looked up "He is the most gorgeous thing in the whole world"
"Does this little guy have a name?" the doctor asked as nurses scurried around them
"Theodore" he looked down at her warily for confirmation
"Theodore William Fennel" she beamed "Hello Teddy"
One and a half years later
"Are you ready?" he asked down to the little boy in his arms, who nodded up anxiously to his father "Okay" he smiled and kissed the boys forehead "Lets go and find mum" they walked up the hallway, the congratulations balloon dragging behind and stealing the young boys attention. He found his mums face as they stepped into the hospital room. She was exhausted - this baby hadn't wanted to come out – but elated at the bundle of blankets in her arms. "Found Mum"
"There are my boys" she smiled as her son was placed on the floor and scrambled to be next to her "Come and meet your baby sister" the little boy sat perched at his mothers feet, looking intently at the delicate features of the tiny baby that was occupying his mums arms
"What's its name?" he asked, his eyes not moving from the baby
"Her name is Charlotte Grace Mackenzie Casablancas"
