Nikki quickly fell back to sleep and Harry had taken the sleeping Arthur out of her arms and put him back in the cot before resuming his place next to her bedside. There was a quiet knock on the door and he called out for them to come in. Sylvia pushed the door open slightly and Harry motioned for them to come into the room but to be quiet.

"How is she?" Leo whispered as he walked instantly over to Nikki and pressed a kiss onto her forehead, only he noticed that she smiled slightly and sighed in her sleep.

"She woke up for a few minutes when Arthur started crying but..."

"Arthur?" Sylvia interrupted and Harry nodded and smiled

"Nikki wanted to name him after our fathers" Harry explained and looked over the top of the cot at his sleeping son, his tiny chest rising and falling. "Arthur Leo Cunningham"

Sylvia let out a small sob and covered her mouth with her hand and Harry stood up and gathered her into his arms, comforting her like she had done for him not long ago. He looked over his mother's shoulders and saw Leo trying to inconspicuously wipe away his own tears. Harry smiled at Leo when the older man looked at him and nodded.

"So she's going to be okay?" Sylvia asked as she pulled away from her son and wiped her face.

"Well the doctors are hopeful" Harry nodded as he sat down again, Sylvia and Leo pulling two other chairs over to the bed "As I said, she woke up when Arthur cried, but not for long, just to name him and then she fell asleep again"

"What about Nikki feeding Arthur?" Leo asked as he glanced at the morphine drip. Harry shook his head.

"I haven't asked yet, but she's on morphine so I doubt it" he sighed and leant forward, resting his elbows on his knees "That was the one thing she was adamant about throughout this whole pregnancy, that she would breastfeed"

"There's still time" Sylvia told her son who just shrugged.

---

An hour later and Leo had persuaded Harry to go and get something to eat and drink, when he refused, Sylvia had practically dragged her terrified son out of the room and down to the canteen, causing much amusement for Leo.

There was a small groan from the bed and Leo turned from where he was staring absentmindedly at the wall and looked at Nikki who was opening her eyes. She turned her head from where Harry had been sitting and gave Leo a sleepy smile when she saw him.

"Hi" she said quietly when she saw him and Leo smiled at her "How are you?"

"How am I?" Leo asked incredulously "How are you?"

"I'm..fine" Nikki whispered causing them both to laugh slightly "Where's Arthur?"

"Asleep in his cot" Leo replied and Nikki glanced over and nodded.

"Thank you...so much..Leo" Nikki told him as she reached over and squeezed his hands "I couldn't have..done it...without you helping...me. When did you last deliver...a breech baby?"

"I haven't" Leo admitted quietly and Nikki raised an eyebrow in surprise "I just remembered some things from med school and.." he shrugged "I was terrified of doing something wrong"

"I wasn't" Nikki murmured as she got her breath back slightly "I trust you with..both our lives" she motioned towards her son "I remember..something I said" she then told him "I called you 'daddy' didn't I?"

Leo just nodded and gave her a small smile.

"Oh" she whispered and nodded slightly.

"Did you mean it?"

"Yes" Nikki replied and gave him a small smile as he grinned at her "Has Harry fed Arthur?"

Leo paused slightly and Nikki frowned.

"Leo?"

"Um..I think Harry should.."

"Tell me" Nikki interrupted, her voice getting stronger "Please" she begged and Leo gripped her hand.

"He won't feed properly"

"What?" Nikki whispered and instantly turned to her son "Give him to me"

"Nikki you're on morphine" Leo told her loudly as she tried to sit up, terrified that her newborn wasn't feeding properly.

"Get them to take me off it, then I can feed him" Nikki told him as she turned her head, her eyes filled with fear for her son.

"Nikki"

"Dad" Nikki sobbed and Leo leant down and hugged her gently, Nikki wrapping her arms around his neck and clinging to him as she cried, being careful of the drips. Everything from the past few hours just falling on her. Leo held her close while she cried into his chest and couldn't help but wonder if he would have had to do this with Cassie at one point. "You're not telling me to stop calling you 'dad'" Nikki whispered a few minutes later as she still clung to him.

"That's because I don't want you to" Leo choked out as tears rolled down his face, this started Nikki off as well. After a few minutes Leo moved away from her and they both chuckled at themselves.

"We're both as bad as each other" Nikki laughed and Leo grinned and nodded "You don't mind?"

"No" Leo shook his head and Nikki grinned and nodded.

"Please can you get a doctor so he can take this drip out. I want my son to feed properly" Nikki then told him forcibly and Leo knew there was no way Nikki would back down from this.

"Okay" he sighed and walked from the room, leaving Nikki alone with her son.

She lay back down on the bed in silence and just listened to her little boy's breathing and small noises he was making in his sleep. Her eyes filled with tears again as it suddenly hit her that she was a mummy, to Harry's son. She grinned to herself and wiped her face free of tears as the door opened and Leo walked back in with Dr Jones.

"It's nice to see you awake" the doctor told her and Nikki smiled and nodded, reaching over for Leo's hand as he sat down on the chair. Leo gave it to her and she squeezed it gently in thanks, but didn't let go. "How is the pain?"

"I can't feel any" Nikki replied with a frown "What happened?"

"You lost a lot of blood giving birth" Dr Jones explained "and there was a bit of damage but we were able to save your womb"

Nikki smiled when she heard this and nodded.

"and future children?" she asked and Leo was shocked that after everything she was still thinking of more.

"Shouldn't be a problem" the doctor shook his head and Nikki let out a relieved sigh.

"Thank you so much"

"You're very welcome. Now Professor Dalton has told me that you want to come off the morphine?"

"Arthur isn't feeding from the bottle" Nikki stated "I'm worried about him"

"As am I at the moment" Dr Jones told her and Nikki gripped Leo's hand "I think it is worth you trying to feed him but to do that you're going to have to come off the morphine, which will leave you in a lot of pain"

"I don't care. I want my son fed and well" Nikki told them, her eyes boring into his, daring him to say no.

"Okay" the doctor nodded and Nikki relaxed slightly "However you will have to wait a while until you feed him"

"Okay" Nikki replied and Dr Jones walked over and pulled on a pair of gloves before disconnecting the morphine from Nikki's arm. "What if he doesn't feed from me?"

"Then we'll try him on the bottle again, and if that doesn't work we'll have to think of something else"

Nikki just nodded and Dr Jones wrote something on the chart at the bottom of the bed before walking out of the room. Nikki then shifted slightly, trying to sit up and Leo jumped up to help her, moving the pillows so she was raised up a bit more rather than sitting up fully. There was a small cry from the cot and Nikki turned to Leo.

"Could you.."

Leo nodded and walked around to the cot to pick up his godson.

"Hello" he whispered as he did so and walked back over to the bed before placing the baby in his mother's arms. He then sat down again and smiled at the pair as Nikki cradled her son close and kissed him. "I'm so proud of you Nikki" Leo told her suddenly and Nikki smiled and nodded.

"Thank you...dad"

Leo bit his lip to stop himself crying again. He didn't think he had cried this much since his wife and daughter had died.

Nikki meanwhile couldn't take her eyes off the baby in her arms. She couldn't believe that she and Harry had created this tiny fragile being that was so dependent on them. Arthur looked up at her with his wide blue eyes and Nikki couldn't think she could ever love something as much as she loved this little boy.

"Where's Harry?" she asked suddenly, her eyes never leaving her son.

"Sylvia has dragged him off to eat and have a drink" Leo replied "He refused to leave but Sylvia can be very persuasive"

"You would know" Nikki mumbled as she turned to Leo to see a blush rise in his cheeks "So are you Uncle Leo or Grandpa Leo?"


Aww it's all fine and dandy...for now ;)

xxx