Same Day-Afternoon
Children's Hospital, Sydney
EJ sat in the NICU waiting room at the expansive children's hospital, which was relievably second to none in the entire country, bouncing his four-year-old son Desmond on his lap as he enlightened him with all the fun they were going to have together as a family just as soon as they brought his newborn baby brother home. If it hadn't been for his two eldest children whom were totally dependent on him alone at the moment, he would surely be going insane by now.
Nicole and the baby ended up being flown to the hospital via helicopter and EJ had no choice but to make the drive since there was no one around who could care for the children. The three of them had arrived at the hospital just moments before, only to be informed that they would be unable to see either one of them immediately. Dr. Siegel had been called and was tending to the baby while Nicole was in the midst of a routine, post-delivery pelvic exam with one of his associates. The good news was they were able to confidently inform him there were no immediate concerns for Nicole's health. They were much more tight-lipped about the baby and would only say that they were "working on getting him stabilized." If he was this frustrated he could only imagine what Nicole was going through. He couldn't wait to get to her.
"Daddy, you were so awesome today," Belle said as she climbed on the chair next to his and started massaging his shoulders as she had witnessed her mother doing frequently at the end of a long day. "You made him breathe, didn't you? You saved his life."
"I had a lot of help today, sweetheart. I believe the real hero, or heroine I should say, today was you."
His little girl beamed. "Nuh-uh, I wouldn't know how to do what you did."
"Maybe not, but if you hadn't been so quick to call me I wouldn't have gotten there in time, and if you didn't call for the paramedics first it would have taken them much longer to arrive. You knew exactly what to do and in the correct order. I'm so proud of you."
Belle jumped over her brother and onto the free side of her father's lap landing on her knees, facing him. She threw her arms around his neck and pecked him on both cheeks, smiling brilliantly, just as Nicole would do. He suddenly felt overwhelmed with pride over the two beautiful children he and Nicole had created, and were now raising, together.
"Dez was awesome today too daddy," she commented, sending her father a secretive wink. "He was really brave and didn't cry or nothing."
"I was just going to say the same," EJ said smiling down at his own twin version of himself as he kissed the top of his head. "I am so impressed by the both of you."
"Mr. James?"
EJ's head immediately whipped around in the direction of the voice. It was Susan, the nurse who had been his main source of information since their arrival, who had come to deliver some news.
"You can follow me and I'll take you to see Sarah now."
"What about my son," he asked while simultaneously rising from his chair, still holding Alex while Belle voluntarily hopped to her feet and opted to take his hand.
"He's still being worked on," she informed him while leading them through a secure door which had required her to enter a code for passage. "But, I can give you a sneak peak just down the hall."
They paused at the several-feet-long plate-glass window which offered visitors the opportunity to see their new, tiny family members from a safe environment when actual visiting hours were restricted to all but the baby's parents. EJ immediately caught sight f Dr. Siegel and an associate who quickly disappeared out of the room after their arrival.
"You see Dr. Siegel, your mommy's doctor over there," he asked of both his children, dividing his attention equally between them for the duration of his question. "That's your baby brother that he's with right now."
"What are you gonna name him," Desmond inquired, wide-eyed.
"Well, that's what we need to go talk to your mommy about straight-away."
They opened the door to Nicole's room to find her nervously pacing back and forth beside her bed. However, when she saw her family come in, she was all smiles.
"Hi guys," she cried out excitedly as she carefully squatted down with wide, open arms that her children came running into. She hugged them tightly and alternated giving them kisses, one at a time, until she was satisified they were sufficiently covered in them, at least for now.
EJ knew she was only doing what a good mother would by putting her children first, but he could hardly wait to kiss her. He knelt down behind his children and bear-hugged the three of them and found a clear path to Nicole's lips to steal his kiss.
"Congratulations, sweetheart," he said beaming as he stared adoringly into her eyes. "We have a son."
"I know," she replied happily as tears began to gloss her eyes. "I want to see him."
"We got to see him through the big window mommy."
"You did," she replied, casting hopeful eyes at EJ although it was her son who had spoken.
"Yes. On the way back here the nurse showed us. Dr. Siegel was with him. I'll tell you what. He was the most handsome little fellow in that room by far, and already very popular with the ladies. I saw nothing but little pink hats all around him."
Nicole amazingly found herself laughing at a time when she was sick with worry over her baby boy. But that was EJ for you. He was always finding ways to make her smile.
"Hey, there they are! COngratulations mom and dad! And big brother and big sister!"
It was Dr. Siegel, dressed in your typical hospital-green scrubs with booties on his shoes and a mask pulled down under his chin.
Nicole was in no mood for formalities. "Can I see him?"
"Yes. Yes, of course you can. Ordinarily we don't allow children at this hour but we'll make an exception for this special occasion."
He led them down to the NICU and through another set of secure doors to the room playing house to roughly a dozen babies, about half of which had at least one parent present. Nicole instinctively knew which one was her son, and she hurriedly made her way toward his incubator without any form of direction from anyone. EJ quickly joined her upon seeing the distress in her eyes and stepped behind her, wrapping his arms around her for comfort.
"He's so small," she whispered with her head turned slightly back toward him. She didn't want to alarm Belle or Desmond by this observation, but Dr. Siegel happened to be close enough to hear.
"Believe it or not he's a whole five ounces heftier then he's expected to be. He weighed in at a very respectable two pounds, two ounces, or just under 1 kilo."
"And that's good, right?"
"Oh, that's excellent!"
"And that's a ventilator he's on?"
"Yes. I don't expect much of what we already discussed to change. We're probably looking at close to two months on the ventilator, plus another month or so after weaning him off to make sure his breathing is regulated and regular feedings are established."
Nicole nodded understandingly. "But he's going to make it, right?"
"Sarah, you know by principal I can't make that kind of a statement. I can tell you, as of now he's doing as well as can be expected but I've seen this go both ways. The best advice I can give you is call on your faith, think positively, and give this little boy a name."
"Can I hold him?"
"Not in your arms, not yet, but you can touch him, and stroke him gently. Most likely you can get him to grab a hold of your finger when he's awake."
"Hey there, handsome," Nicole cooed as she let her hand slide through one of the wide, round openings on the side of the incubator which allowed access to the baby. Her fingertips tingled triggered by the emotional impact from the moment they made contact with his silky smooth, life-assuringly warm skin. Although he'd appeared to be sleeping during the extent of her presence there, his mother's touch awoke him from his dormant state and sent his little arms and legs flailing in response.
"I'm gonna leave you all to get acquainted for a while. When I come back I want to know a name, got it?"
"Got it," Nicole assured him just as her little boy grabbed hold of one of the fingers she was dangling before him. "EJ, look."
"Boy, he's holding on strong. He doesn't want to let you go. Believe me, I know the feeling, little guy."
Nicole melted as he enveloped her in his arms from behind and kissed her just behind the ear but at this point, not even EJ could distract her from her newest little miracle and the task at hand.
"He's right, you know, We have to stop with all this 'handsome' and 'little guy' stuff and give him a real name.
"I'm well aware of that dear," EJ said as his own hand ventured inside the incubator to stroke the baby boy. "It's you who's been so indecisive. I like all the names we picked out."
"I know. I really like Julian, but Julian James? Ick!"
"I'm afraid I have to agree. And of course I liked Christian until you pointed out how close it is to someone else's name. Into the fire that one goes."
"OK, so that leaves us with Ian, Chandler, and Sawyer."
"I like all three."
"And all three sound good with James," Nicole stated matter-of-factly. "I think we have to take a family vote."
"You mean me and Dez get to help pick out his name, mommy?" Belle was now jumping in place at the prospect.
"Well, I don't see how else your daddy and I are going to decide, and since you two are such excellent decision-makers, I can't think of better people for the job."
"Ooh, oooh can I say mine first," Belle pleaded, grabbing onto Nicole's leg."
EJ stepped in. "We have to do this fairly now so let's go in order by age, from youngest to oldest. Desmond, what is your pick?"
"I don't remember what they are."
"Ian, Chandler, and Sawyer, dummy," Belle said with mock disgust. It had become a regular term of endearment for Desmond, courtesy of his sister.
"Sawyer," Desmond finally answered after a good minute of some serious contemplating.
"Me too," Belle chimed in eagerly, spinning in circles to further express her excitement.
"Me three," Nicole piped in, turning her head around slightly to cast an impish smile at EJ.
"Hey, I did say from youngest to oldest," he didn't hesitate to scold her for stepping out of line.
"Oh five months I've got on you, big deal."
"Four."
"No, five," Nicole said shaking her head insistently. "I'm September, you're February. That's-"
"Four. As in 'me four.' My vote is for Sawyer too."
"OK," Nicole replied, beaming. "Sawyer Ian James?"
EJ nodded in full agreement. "Sawyer Ian James it is."
"Sawyer Ian James, huh," The masked man on the other side of the glass from the nurse's station side snarked under his breath. "Don't you mean Sawyer Ian Black?"
He raised his cell phone to begin snapping pictures of the family who were completely oblivious to his presence since being preoccupied with their new family member. But he was smart enough to do the math. The baby was twenty-six weeks old, as his good buddy Victor Siegel had been so kind to fill him in on, which made it impossible for the little boy to be EJ's. And he had thought finding EJ, Nicole and the kids before anyone else did would guarantee he'd be set for life, but it was always good to have a back-up and little baby Black was sure to be all the assurance Jakob Chyka needed to get everything he asked for from Kristen DiMera.