"Wake up Adam." Kim was suddenly punching him and screeching as she grabbed her phone. It had been a long time, thankfully since he had been woken up like this and in the past it was usually because one of the kids was spewing or it was a call to pick up Gus from his latest misdemeanour. This morning it wasn't vomit, it was a face-time call from Polly and as it was barely 6am Kim nearly dropped the phone trying to answer it. Every time Polly or Sam called lately Kim almost had a conniption. It was amusing how jumpy she was and Adam hung shit on her constantly.
"What?" Adam sat bolt upright. "What's wrong?"
"It's Sam." She showed him the screen quickly before answering it and the squealing got louder when she saw them and Adam winced when Kim grabbed his arm, pinching his skin in the process.
"Hey sorry about the early morning wake up call but…" he had turned the phone around so that they could see Polly over his shoulder. It was the baby snuggled into her arms that set Kim off "…Polly wanted to say good morning."
"Oh my god." Kim's hands flew to her face as the tears just flowed unchecked and she was beside herself.
"Hi Mom and Dad." Sam zoomed in on the tiny sleeping baby safely tucked up in her mother's arms. "Say hi to your Granddaughter."
"I knew it." Adam wasn't that far behind Kim in the emotional stakes, who was momentarily speechless. "Didn't I tell you it was a girl?"
"She's beautiful. Are you both okay?" Kim managed to gather her thoughts first.
"Yes. I'm tired but she is great. She's had a go at feeding a few times and she seems to know what she is doing. I don't, I've got no idea."
"And, what's do we call our beautiful grand daughter?"
"Charlotte Abigail Ruzek Hollister."
"It's beautiful, she's beautiful. It's a beautiful name, oh I love her already." Kim was gushing and crying as she was squeezing the life out of Adam's arm.
"So do we. Sam is a little smitten. I think he's going to be worse than Dad when it comes to her bringing boys home."
"Not possible." Adam laughed. If Sam was going to be protective imagine what her Pops was going to be like, Al and Voight had nothing Adam in the grandfather stakes. "You look good Sweet Pea, you look happy."
"I am. I am glad she's here and safe and healthy and I am glad its over." They gave them all the details. She weighed in at 7lbs 8oz and she was 20.5 inches long.
"When did this all happen?"
"About two hours ago. She was born at 356am; I went into labour yesterday morning so it's been a long twenty-four hours. We just wanted to call you and Sam's parents then I am going to try and sleep for a bit. Can you come in soon, around lunchtime?" Polly also told them that she was going to let Gus know, Sam was happy to leave it up to his parents to tell his family but Polly and Gus were like two peas in a pod and she wanted to be the one to tell her brother.
"We will see you then, we can't wait and Polly, we love you and Sam and are so happy for you both. Kiss Charlotte for us." Kim was high as a kite while Adam just sat and smiled.
"I love you too. I can't wait for you to meet her, she's just perfect." Sam promised to send them some photos as soon as they had talked to his parents and they had taken plenty of them already.
"Oh my god Adam, she's beautiful. That's our granddaughter. Our beautiful girl gave us a granddaughter." His wife was a blubbering mess and Adam thought she had never looked more beautiful.
"She did." He hugged Kim to his chest. "We did good baby."
"We did hey?"
"You know what though?" Kim was barely paying any attention to him; she was on cloud nine. "I think you are hands down the hottest grandmother I have ever met."
"Trust you to try your luck." Kim tried to push his hands away but he was very persistent. He did think she was the hottest grandmother going around and he was going to show her. He had never got bored with having sex with his wife and felt that all the big moments in life needed to be celebrate with a screw.
"I am not just trying, I am the luckiest guy around and I am about to get even luckier."
"Grandparents don't have sex."
His hands were under the sheets. "Bullshit. These grandparents do. I want to celebrate."
Kim allowed him access to her neck and she squealed when he managed to get his hands under her tank top; her feeble attempt at protesting was over. "Most people celebrate with champagne."
"It's 6am, too early to drink and I promise we will have champagne later. I want to pop my cork right here though."
"You know, you are one hot Grandfather." Kim sighed as Adam started kissing his way down her chest.
Adam rolled on top of Kim pining her to the bed and she wrapped her legs around his waist. "It's a day of firsts. Imagine telling Charlotte that the first thing we did when she was born was celebrate with a screw."
"Shut up Adam." Kim sucked on his bottom lip. "Focus."
They reversed roles for the next phone call. "Hi Jolene. Sam's got something to show you." Polly turned the camera around and showed Sam cuddling Charlotte and waited for the scream. It took her just a second.
"You've had the baby? When? Oh my god."
"Where's Dad?"
Jolene screamed at her husband to come quickly and then again to hurry him up when it was obvious Sam wasn't going to give any details until they were both there. "Grandma and Grandpa we'd like you to meet Charlotte Abigail Ruzek Hollister." He waved her little hand at the screen.
"Oh, it's a girl. Oh she's beautiful. Everything went well? Is Polly ok? Details, I need details." Jolene, despite this being grandchild number three was over the moon. Sam was her baby and having him back had been all she had hoped for and now she was ecstatic that he was so happy and settled, coupled with the fact it was their first granddaughter Jolene was over the moon and Polly's tie to Chicago and her family was strong, so the likelihood that Sam would move away again kept diminishing. Little Charlotte Hollister had no idea the chaos she was creating; she was blissfully unaware as she slept in her Dad's arms and recovered from her long journey to get here.
"Slow down Mom. They are both great. They are perfect." Polly was still holding the phone but sat up next to Sam so she could see his parents. "7lb 8oz of pure beauty. Right now she is two hours old and she's stolen our hearts completely."
"I can't wait to meet her."
"Polly's just about to have a sleep. We've been up all night, so after lunch yeah?" Holding the family back was going to be like trying to hold back the tide and he couldn't blame them, he wanted to share her with the world too because she was perfect.
"Of course. Get some rest Polly. Congratulations and thank you."
"Thank you? For what?"
"For Charlotte, she's perfect."
Polly called Gus quickly. They wanted to get this over and done with so Polly could have a rest. Charlotte had just been fed again and was just drifting off the sleep in her father's arms. "This better be good Pol, I got home an hour ago. I've been up all night." He grumbled sleepily.
"So have I and I think it's good. Would you be terribly disappointed if I told you you had a niece?"
"Don't tease me Pol. It's 630am."
"I can send you a photo. We think she's beautiful."
That woke him up. "Are you shitting me? You've had the baby? I have a niece?"
"I did, a couple of hours ago. You do, you are now officially Uncle Gus."
"Wow." He was a bit blown away and a surprisingly emotional. He didn't expect to be so affected by it. His sister having a baby was all a bit surreal. "And you are both good?"
"We are."
"Is she nameless?"
"Charlotte Abigail."
They got a couple of hours sleep but even that was a challenge because they just wanted to sit and stare at Charlotte. The constant coming and going of the midwives to check on them both was a little over the top but Sam was delighted that they both kept getting a clean bill of health. Even the visit by the Paediatrician was welcomed once he declared her a perfectly healthy newborn and that they were welcome to take her home later that day if they felt ready.
Sam was completely smitten and kept thanking Polly for his daughter. "You made her too. I didn't do this by myself."
"Nah, but you did all the hard work." He was completely in awe of Polly and what she went through; it was brutal. He could tell how tired she was right now and they'd only had about two hours sleep but Polly was desperate for their families to meet Charlotte.
"I want another one."
"Not right now I hope?"
"No, but I don't want you to get a vasectomy."
Like he was seriously going to consider doing that? No way in hell was he getting anything snipped just yet. They so weren't done with one; he'd have a whole tribe with this woman. "I wasn't going too."
"I was a little insane wasn't I?" Polly couldn't remember a lot about what she'd said but she knew that it was probably ugly. She had a mouth on her like a sewer some days and in stressful situations she always let rip. Giving birth was the hardest thing she'd ever done and the most stressful but the moment Charlotte was in her arms it was extraordinary.
"Can't say I blame you, that was rough Baby. I didn't like it."
"What?"
"Seeing you in so much pain, it's not a pleasant thing to watch and I couldn't do anything to help you and watching her come out of you, while I am so glad that I did it, I wouldn't swap that moment for the world but it wasn't beautiful to watch. I think I have PTSD."
"Make you think twice about not bothering with the condom?"
"Nope. We chose perfect time because that little swimmer that held all this DNA was one in a million. I mean look at her, that right there is perfection." He pointed to Charlotte who was currently attempting to feed. "My daughter is like seriously the cutest baby in the world. We nailed this baby thing."
How Adam managed to keep Kim away from the hospital until lunchtime was a miracle in its self. It also cost him a small fortune because if she couldn't see her grand daughter yet then by god she was going to shop for her. Polly and Sam's refusal to find out what they were having had left Kim frustrated despite not knowing what her two babies were. Now she had all this stuff she needed to buy and apparently that needed to start today.
"You do remember how quickly they grow don't you? She's not going to need all this shit." He moaned as Kim held up yet another 'cute' dress for his opinion. Although his opinion wasn't really required, he was meant to just agree. On the odd occasion he would categorically state that his grand daughter was not wearing that 'shit' and Kim always put it back. She honestly just did it to make sure he was paying attention and not 'zoning' out, as was his want to do.
"Shut up Adam."
The only thing that could end this torture was the message from Polly telling them that they were awake and waiting for them to come in. Kim reefed the pile of clothes from his arms, slammed them on the counter and demanded that he get this card out to pay for them.
"Slow down." He tried to grab her hand as she almost sprinted from the car to the hospital. He'd barely stopped the car before she was trying to climb out. "God Kim, rein it in."
"Phooey to you. Don't you want to see them? Don't you want to meet Charlotte?"
"Yes, yes I do. I would like you in one piece though."
It was agony waiting to get her hands on Charlotte as Polly was feeding her when they arrived. "Hey folks. Come in." Polly beckoned them. Adam baulked a little when he peered at her, he really had no interest in seeing his daughter's breasts so he had a quick look and then joined Sam sitting in the two chairs by the window. Kim was in there up to her armpits though as he expected. "Oh she is so precious. She looks like Sam."
"Well that's disappointing." Adam moaned. "Means we can't steal her and pretend she's ours."
"No.." Sam chuckled and he looked at Adam. "…but I get it." Adam just nodded at him, he understood.
"I told you Polly that you could only date Sam if he was cute because I wanted beautiful grandchildren. I hope you haven't let me down?" It had been a long running joke between the two of them and Adam weighed in constantly on Polly's boyfriends and his opinion on whether they would produce the desired result.
Adam was not surprised when Kim burst into tears as Polly handed her Charlotte for the first time. "Oh my god, she's so tiny. I forgot how tiny they are." He thought Kim looked beautiful, she was so happy and he always thought she was a perfect Mom and now seeing her as a grandmother was surreal but just made his heart swell, he honestly didn't think he could love her anymore but it seems that he could and that made him feel good. Adam patted his knee as Kim bought her over to him and she sat so he could wrap one arm around her waist and stroked his grand daughters hand softly.
"You did good Sweet Pea." They were completely besotted. "She is beautiful." It was like Polly and Sam no longer existed as Kim and Adam just fell head over heels in love with their granddaughter. Sam took some photos of them and Kim reluctantly gave her to Adam for a cuddle. She was so small in his arms and Polly actually cried when she saw the tears in her Dad's eyes.
"You know, Sam delivered her."
"Fuck Man, how the hell did you do that?" Adam physically cringed. "And why?"
"Closed my eyes for most of it." He laughed. "But seriously it was pretty awesome and we like that the first touch she felt wasn't that of a stranger. That made it worth it." Adam was still cringing but of course Kim thought that was beautiful and she cried, but she'd been in tears most of the day so that wasn't anything new.
Before long Adam had her stretched out on his thighs and had unwrapped her to 'check her out' and Sam was right beside him leaving Polly and Kim to watch on. All along they had both declared that this was going to be a girl and now they had her it was pure heaven for Polly to watch her two favourite men with her little girl.
"Oh my god." He bent down and whispered quietly to his newborn granddaughter. "You are flawless. I'm in love with you. If your Mom and Dad tell you you can't have a unicorn, you tell me and I'll get you your unicorn. You and me Baby Girl, you and me."
Charlotte let out a sudden squawk as Adam was wrapping her back up. "Hey now Darlin' none of that for Pops." He cooed. It reminded Kim of how precious he was with their two babies. Over time she had forgotten how gentle he was, how meticulous he was with them and how much he adored this time. At each stage in their lives he was such a good Dad, he didn't always get it right and he was the first to admit that but he tried and if Sam was half as good her grand daughter was one lucky little lady.
They felt even more obsolete when Sam's parents turned up and all four of them were huddling around the little baby girl and commenting on her perfection. Sam sat up next to Polly, slipped an arm around her shoulder as they watched Charlotte's grandparents fall in love with her as much as they had. "Oh she's so beautiful, so beautiful. She's like a cherub." Jolene gushed. She adored her grandsons but Charlotte was a whole other kettle of fish. Phil was quiet but when he held her and he was smitten.
Sam had gone home briefly to fit the car seat, although they were staying overnight when Gus and Olivia came in to see them. Gus would have come earlier but Olivia was desperate to see the baby as well so he waited until he could pick her up from work. "What are you doing to my niece?" He pushed open the door and barged in and found Polly sitting on the bed with Charlotte stretched out in front of her screaming her lungs out as Polly was trying to change her diaper.
"Maybe she's shy and doesn't want to show off her girly bits." Charlotte was thrashing her legs about jerkily as Polly was endeavouring to get her dressed again.
"And long may that continue." He leant on the bed and gingerly reached out and touched her hand. "Pity you didn't keep yours to yourself."
"Well they are trashed now I can tell you." Polly grimaced a little. She was yet to be convinced that it would ever feel the same again and swore that it was not made for that purpose. "Poor Sam."
"Poor me what?" He came through the door at that precise moment. "What am I feeling poorly about?"
"That Charlotte trashed Pol's girly bits." Gus was quick off the mark in true Ruzek fashion. He didn't just look like his Dad, he was his Dad re-incarnated.
"Fuck you two are insane. That's what you are talking about?" He turned to Olivia and laughed as he greeted Polly with a kiss followed by his daughter. "Get out now, I'm trapped but you can save yourself."
Polly managed to wrangle Charlotte into some clothes and wrapped her up and handed her to her brother. "There you go Uncle Gus." Olivia perched up next to him and stroked the little girls fingers, smiling as the curled and uncurled them with each of her strokes.
"Well done Sis. I think I am in love." Gus was a little besotted.
"I want one." Olivia suddenly declared and Gus looked like he had swallowed a bug. "Maybe we can steal her."
"You want one, make your own." Sam was oblivious to Gus's slight freak-out but Polly saw it. "It's pretty easy, the making part that is and not to mention fun."
Gus just chose to ignore Olivia's announcement. He was freaked out enough at the thought of being an Uncle, he was so far from ready to be a Dad it wasn't funny. Polly actually felt a little sorry for Olivia, Gus had one foot out the door, and she'd noticed all the signs lately so this may have been the final nail in the coffin. What better way to scare off a man-whore like her brother than declaring you want a baby? She sighed; it was a pity because Polly really liked Olivia.
"Is it brutal?"
"It's fucking horrific man." Not quite the words Polly would have used but she had to admit she wasn't quite ready to declare it as a walk in the park either or a beautiful experience and Sam's graphic description of what it was like watching Charlotte come into the world did seem a little horrifying. Life changing yes, but hardly beautiful. "And you were right, she did abuse me, quite a lot really."
"You know how Mom reckons Dad said dumb shit when she had us, Sam said dumb shit."
"There is not a lot else you can do, so you fill the awkward silences with stuff. You know 'how's the weather' just doesn't cut it in these situations. But, bloody hell Gus this is spectacular. He pointed to Charlotte who was still tightly wrapped up in her Uncle's arms and didn't look like she was going anywhere anytime soon. "I mean look at her."
