Four months later.

Victoria.

"I thought we were getting a boy," Mack remarked, puzzled by the newborn wrapped in a pink blanket with a pink knitted cap upon his red head. I took the tiny creature from the nurse and told Mack, "They dress newborns in opposite gender clothing to confuse the mother giving them up, so they aren't able to identify the baby." I told him this never lifting my gaze from my newborn son.

Charles was gone.

So Mack had come with me.

Jonas had planned to, but the day before he had been sent out.

Since Mack was stuck here for court he came with me.

The nurse smiled at us both, "He's a healthy baby boy. Have you two decided what you are naming your new son yet?"

He wasn't heavy. Being early I was not surprised. And he was sleeping which surprised me, as he was four hours old.

Without correcting the nurse, Mack informed her, "We're naming him Hector."

She made that 'awww' face.

Then she patted Mack's arm, "I'll leave you two alone with Hector for now. Call me if you need anything."

I nodded that I would while I stared intently as the newborn in my arms. Then I looked up at Mack, "Do you realize you have held both of Charles and my newborns before him?"

Mack thought about that for a minute and then held out his hands, "Divine Intervention. They need to be held by a higher authority first."

I made a frown, but handed Mack my sleeping son. With the care of a father he took the infant and never woke him. The sleeping child did not so much as move in the transfer. Mack held him close to his chest and rocked the baby. It was obvious he wanted another baby, or a son, or both.

"Look at that, he knows he's safe in my arms and continues to sleep. It was the same with both Bob's newborns."

I'm sure it was.

Mack rubbed his tiny hand and rocked my baby, softy humming some unknown tune to him.

Eventually Mack gave me my son back. Announcing that his middle name should be MacDonald. I told him to take that up with Charles. And then I asked, "Do you think he'll remember his birth mother at all?"

Mack made a face.

"No. You're his mother. He may mistake me for his father, with my being the first man he sees." I sent another scathing look at him and he took a seat in the chair, in the little private waiting room the hospital had given us. Then I looked back down to my son, "No you won't. Your father will be home soon, and he will love you forever and ever. That's just your uncle over there." As an afterthought I added, "You'll get to see your grandfather and brothers today."

Mack helpfully added, "Gabriel is his uncle too."

That was true.

"We're raising them as brothers, we've had this talk with Gabriel and he decided he wanted to be a brother, not a uncle. He told us he was too young to be a uncle," I so informed Mack, still watching my sleeping son.

Mack laughed at that.

Then he asked, "So do I get to give him the gun safety course too? The younger the better."

I did glance up at him, "Hopefully Charles will be home for that. Plus, I think Hector needs to get a little older." We had to gun-proof the house again, and Dad's house, and Sarah's house. Until Hector could be taught about them.

"Can I teach him to swim?"

"Get your own son," I smiled at Mack, then looked down again at mine.

"Fine, but I'm teaching him to sight a weapon. I am much better at it then Charles. And I'm better at repelling. I'll teach him that too," Mack declared from his chair. Inspiration struck him and he reached in the Army Camo Green diaper bag, a gift from the guys on B Team. Mack extracted a bottle, "I want to feed him first. Hand him over. You can change his first diaper."

Later that night…

We made it home an hour late. We would have been back sooner, but someone had cut Mack off on our trip around St. Louis and woke Hector up, so he chased them down for a good four miles. Only my declaring he was scaring the baby made him stop.

When we made it home he pulled into Dad's driveway, where apparently half the base waited to great the newest baby to the Logistical Unit. They were all crammed in the nice house.

Mack, all fatherly, grabbed the diaper bag and then told me, "Ryan's spotted us."

Which was no big surprise. When we had reached the one-minute late mark he had called me, and every five minutes after that he called. No sooner had I gotten his new grandson from his baby car seat, did he appear beside me, kiss my temple, and then demand to hold his new grandson.

The only good thing was that Ryan in no way was letting anyone else hold the precious bundle. So I handed Hector over, wrapped in a blue blanket Kim had gotten for him. With a smile reminiscent of Ryan's youth he looked down at the alert boy. Who looked at Ryan as if he were suddenly adjusting to things outside the womb.

"Don't let anyone hold him," I added, handing Dad a bottle from the bag.

He took the bottle, declared, "Don't worry" and was sprinting into the house with my newborn. Leaving me there with Mack. Who wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me close. "Told you everything would be fine. You have your Army Family back now."

I gave him a glare.

Mack drug me up the walk, likely in a hurry to get inside and eat whatever food was left over from A, B, and C Team, plus wives and various other peoples. Just as my angels ran past Ryan and toward us, dressed in an ensemble not seen since the last Rambo movie.

Everything would be fine?