A/N: Happy reading!
Taking his focus off of his daughter for a moment as she laid on her mother's chest with her head cushioned on her breast and her little nails scratching against her skin, Aaron turned his attention to Emily as he squeezed onto the hospital bed with her and Adeline and a smile crossed his lips as he watched her look down at her in wonder. He could tell that she was exhausted and he wasn't surprised after all that she had been through over the past thirteen hours, but the euphoria that she was experiencing was undeniable as she held their baby girl close and brushed her fingers against the wisps of hair sticking out from beneath her hat. She had lost her heart to her already. He was unable to resist the urge to press a kiss to the side of her head when she sighed and made herself more comfortable against the pillows and when she turned her head in his direction he felt his love for her deepen. 'We made her…' She whispered, brushing her fingers against Adeline's spine. 'I don't know how we did it, but we did.'
He chuckled and let his fingers caress the outside of her arm as he gazed down at their little girl again, nothing but love for her in his eyes as he brought his free hand to her face and stroked her cheek with the back of his palm. Her face was still a little bruised and swollen from when the doctor had had to use forceps to help speed things up, but he had reassured them that it was nothing to worry about and it would go down soon. Even with all the bruising she was still one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen. Just as he had said she was going to be, she was the spitting image of Emily and not just with her dark hair and rich brown eyes. She had gained her ears, her bow-shaped lips, her complexion and her perfectly sloping nose. There was no doubt in his mind that she was going to share her sassiness and sarcastic nature as she grew up also and that was something he was both dreading and looking forward to all at the same time. There was never going to be a dull moment, he could already tell.
His cell phone vibrating in his jacket pocket brought him out of his thoughts after a while and he sighed to himself as he stopped caressing Adeline's cheek to reach for it, a small smile appearing on his face when he saw that it was a text from JJ. She was just about to set off for the hospital with Jack and apparently he was beyond excited to meet his baby sister. He sent her a quick text in response, telling her that he would come out to meet them both at reception if she texted him when they arrived, and tucked his phone back into his pocket before smoothing a hand over Emily's hair in a soothing fashion. 'JJ says that she and Jack are leaving now and I don't think they'll be too long, so we should probably get this little one dressed before they get here.' He suggested as they went back to looking down at Adeline and she cuddled closer to her mother, Emily murmuring softly in response as she brushed two delicate kisses against their daughter's forehead before sighing and lifting her gaze to him once again.
'Could you dress her for me? I'm just exhausted and it hurts to move too much.' She admitted.
'Yeah, of course,' He reassured her with a kiss to her temple. 'You need to rest. Which bag are her diapers and clothes in?'
'The one on the chair. The brown one.' She told him while beginning to ease their baby girl out from underneath her hospital gown, Adeline whimpering at the loss of her warmth before she allowed Aaron to cradle her in his arms and she felt her heart flutter at the sound of him shushing her while he bounced her comfortingly in his arms.
'Daddy isn't that bad, I promise…' He whispered before lowering his head so that he could graze his nose against hers.
Once she had settled somewhat in his arms and was staring up at him, he rose from the bed and walked around to the chair before moving the bag and sitting down. He then went into the bag for a diaper and the Minnie Mouse sleepsuit that JJ had bought for them before settling her in his lap and beginning to dress her so that she was warm. It took minutes for him to get the diaper and sleepsuit on her and when he cradled her in his arms again he was unable to keep himself from kissing her forehead. She was probably tired of being kissed and fawned all over by now. He and Emily hadn't stopped kissing her or stroking her face since her birth an hour ago, but they just couldn't help themselves. They had waited so long for her and things hadn't exactly been smooth sailing for them once Emily had entered her third trimester, so when the midwife had told them that she was healthy they had been ecstatic. They just wanted to make the most of every single moment with her and they were going to do that.
Looking over at the bed again a couple of minutes later, he smiled at seeing Emily watching the two of them. 'Thank you so much for her.'
'You don't have to thank me. You had as much of a part in creating her as I did.' She reminded him.
'Em, compared to what you've had to put up with over the past couple of months I've done nothing,' He shook his head as he stood from the chair with Adeline nestled in his arms and began to make his way over to the bed again, his gaze remaining fixed on her as he sat himself down on the edge of the bed and looked at her for a second. 'You had to share your body with her for nine months and she controlled every aspect of your life pretty much. I remember you being so sick for the first couple months, but you never complained. She never stopped kicking and rolling around when she found her feet either and I know that that started to drive you mad in the end, but you just got on with it and I can't tell you how proud I am of you. You were amazing the entire way through this pregnancy and you handled everything so much better than I thought you were going to. Seriously, after tonight I love you more than I ever have before and I can already tell that you're going to make the most wonderful mother.'
'I do worry sometimes…' She sighed. 'I don't know how to be a mother. I didn't have the best role model growing up.'
He eased one arm out from beneath their daughter and laid it on her leg through the blanket before stroking it softly as he looked her in the eye and saw the uncertainty there. 'How can you say that you don't know how to be a mother when you've been a mother to Jack for the past year almost?' He frowned. 'He loves you. Sometimes, I think he might love you more than he loves me. I never expected anything from you when we started dating. I was fully prepared to take care of everything, but the first time Jack had a nightmare after you moved in you were the one that took care of him. I remember you holding him and getting him back to sleep. He was so comfortable with you and that was something that I hadn't seen from him since Haley was murdered, so that made me realise just how special you are and how much he trusted you. I honestly think you're amazing with him. I can't think of another woman more suited to being his and Adeline's mother and I'm not just saying all this because I have to.'
'You think I'll be all right then?' She smiled.
'You're going to be incredible,' He nodded. 'But if you do need some help then I'm here.'
'I love you.' She reached out to rest a hand on his cheek and brushed her thumb gently across his skin before he turned his head to kiss her palm.
'I love you too,' He sighed before his phone vibrated in the pocket of his jacket once again. 'That'll be JJ saying that she and Jack are here, so I'll just go and meet them.'
He stood from the bed once again and lowered Adeline back into her arms before brushing her fringe out of her eyes when she tilted her head back and gazed up at him. 'You going to be all right on your own until I get back?' He asked while drawing the back of his forefinger down her cheek, causing her eyes to flutter closed at his touch.
'We're going to be fine.' She promised him.
Resting his hand on the bed to steady himself, he leaned down to kiss her tenderly before pressing a kiss to Adeline's temple. 'Back in a minute.'
He then walked away from the bed and across the room so that he could step out into the corridor and he ran a hand through his hair as he headed toward the reception, his eyes lighting up when he saw JJ and Jack standing at the desk and his little boy began running towards him with a balloon that read "It's a Girl!" clutched in his hand. 'Hey, buddy,' He grinned as he picked him up and balanced him on his hip, his lips finding the side of his head through his hair as he wrapped both arms around his neck. 'Listen, daddy is going to go and take you in to see Adeline and Emmy, but I need you to be very quiet and very careful because they're both exhausted and need to rest.'
'I promise, daddy,' Jack said while brushing his fingers against the hairs at the nape of his neck. 'Can I give Emmy my balloon?'
'Yeah, I think she'd love that,' He chuckled before turning his attention to JJ when she began to walk up to the two of them. 'Thank you so much for having him tonight.'
She shook her head. 'He was as good as gold as usual and Henry loves having him around. I'd love to stay and come and see Emily, but I should probably get home so Will doesn't have to put Henry to bed by himself. He's not exactly a big fan of bedtime at the moment. Give her my love and tell her I said congratulations though, would you?'
'Of course.' He smiled.
'Thanks. I'll let you get back. Night-night, Jack.' She ran a hand over the little boy's hair.
'Night-night, JJ.' Jack waved before cuddling closer to Aaron.
The two of them then watched JJ turn around and walk back to the elevator before Aaron turned his attention to his son and shared a smile with him, kissing his temple. 'Ready to go and see Emmy and Adeline? We've been trying to keep Addie up so that you can have a cuddle with her, but she's sleepy and so we'd better get a move on.'
'Hurry, daddy!' Jack gasped.
Tightening his hold of his son and drawing him closer to him, Aaron turned and carried him back down the corridor that led to the delivery suite that Emily was staying in. He opened the door carefully once they were standing outside and Emily looked up the moment he entered the room with him, nothing but happiness in her eyes as she held Adeline close and watched him close the door behind them. 'Hi…' She whispered so not to startle Adeline who had just settled down in her arms as Aaron approached the bed with him. 'You know, Jack, this little lady can barely keep her eyes open, but she's been so excited to meet her big brother that she just hasn't gone to sleep yet.'
'Really?' Jack asked as Aaron sat himself down on the edge of the bed and brought him to sit in his lap.
'Yeah,' She nodded, moving over slightly before making herself comfortable against the pillows again. 'Would you like to come and meet her?'
Even though it was obvious that he was slightly nervous, he wriggled himself out of his dad's embrace before crawling carefully up the bed and sitting down beside Emily. He made himself comfortable and cuddled against her before she moved her arms a little so that he didn't have to strain to see Adeline, a wide smile breaking out across his face as he looked at her and brought his hand up so that he could stroke the back of one of her tiny hands. 'Hi, Addie…' He whispered as she blinked up at him and he took her hand in his own. 'I'm Jack. I'm your big brother and I'm the one who's been giving you kisses and cuddles. You're a little too small to come and play soccer with me and my friends yet, but Emmy says that you're going to be great at it when you're older because you had so much practice at kicking when you were inside her belly.'
Emily looked over at Aaron for a second and giggled before turning her head in Jack's direction and kissing the side of his head. 'Do you want to have a cuddle with her?'
'Can I? Please, please, please?' He begged.
'Just put your arms like mine and then you can.' She instructed him.
Once he had done as she had asked, she eased Adeline into his arms and shushed her when she began to whimper at the movement before cradling the back of her head in her hand while she snuggled into Jack's warmth. She made sure to support his arms with her own just in case they grew tired and he accidentally let go, her heart full of love for both him and her beautiful baby girl as she held them both close and watched them stare at each other for the first time. 'Emmy, she looks like you only tiny!' He laughed, his delight evident on his face when he tilted his head back against her shoulder and looked up into her eyes. 'Me and daddy were right! I knew we were right!'
'Goodness, you were!' She gasped which only made him laugh more. 'Are you happy she's finally here?'
'Yeah, I am,' He reassured her while turning his attention back to his little sister as he pulled her closer to him. 'She's the most beautiful baby sister in the world.'
With tears in her eyes and a lump in her throat, Emily looked over at Aaron once more before sighing when he reached out to rest a hand on her cheek beneath her hair. 'Hormones again?' He smirked as he brushed the tear that escaped her eye from her skin and felt the love he had for her deepen when she gave him a tearful little smile.
'Yeah, they're going to be the death of me.' She scoffed.
Deep down though, she knew that this had nothing whatsoever to do with her hormones.
No, this was purely to do with the fact that she finally had everything she had ever dreamed of.
She had a man that loved her for who she was and not what he wanted her to be, she had two beautiful children whom she adored and she was part of a proper family.
Which, in her opinion, was the most beautiful feeling in all the world.
A/N: Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed and I'd love it if you left a review! See you soon :)