A/N: Ahhhh a little tiny bit of heart stopping moments to break up the cute! Here's more cute because it's all I think I can write these days which is really going to be a problem for the drama I have planned out in my head...

4 Weeks Old

Lots of things made Blake Moran nervous but few things caused him to show it. He could sit with powerful heads of state and members of royalty but somehow holding a four pound, eight ounce little girl was what was keeping him up at night.

He was never crazy about babies. They were somehow so fragile yet powerful at the same time. They could melt the most stone cold hearts and make the softest people into the strongest fighters.

Layla Grayson McCord was now a month old and though he had seen her in person twice and over video chats numerous times, he had never actually held her. He had commented on how cute she was and heard all about her feedings and health issues but he hadn't actually touched her.

Today that was going to change.

In preparation for the Vanity Fair piece that would take place soon, Daisy organized a meeting with the Secretary and included Matt and Blake to keep them in the loop. She figured Matt would bring potential answers for any potentially heavy hitting questions and Blake would be there to assist anyway so it was important for him to know what was going on.

The goal was to have the meeting at the office, allow Elizabeth to get back for just a moment but she quickly nixed that idea after a call from Henry regarding his concern for her returning to work just yet. Then the meeting moved to the McCord home but Elizabeth made the decision last night to move the meeting to the hospital so Daisy, Matt, and Blake could meet Layla.

Blake wasn't sure if he got any sleep last night. What if he broke her? What if she broke him? He wasn't a fan of babies and that was certainly going to show today. Whether he wanted to admit it or not, he had to get over this fear and nervousness - after all he would soon be doing much of his work related travel with a baby in tow.

Elizabeth told them to keep the meeting casual. Sure they were all co-workers but this wasn't a typical meeting, this was simply friends getting together to discuss how to support one of their friends after having a baby. Though it wasn't to gameplan some dinners or a date night out for them, it was to help one of the most powerful women in the world game plan an interview with a major publication.

He slipped on his loafers just as his phone rang. If it was Matt calling, they must be outside. "Hey Matt, what's up?"

"We're downstairs dude." Matt replied.

"Ok I'll be right down." Blake told them as he grabbed his keys off the table near the door and walked out. He locked the door behind him and headed down the multiple flights of stairs.

He took a deep breath before he got in the waiting motorcade, once he got in there was no going back. It was now or never.

"Hey, Blake!" Daisy greeted him.

"Hi guys." He answered nervously.

"You ok dude? You don't look so good…" Matt quickly observed from Blake's nervous face and demeanor.

"No ok, I'm not." The words seemed harsh but were delivered in a much more nervous than harsh manner.

"What's up?" Daisy asked obviously concerned.

"Babies just… they make me nervous." He figured honesty was the best policy in this situation.

"What?" Daisy almost laughed. "She's just a baby! She's not going to make you get the ambassador to Libya on the phone and then fire you when the ambassador is busy."

"No, no, I get it man. They freak me out too. They just sleep and poop and cry and you have to worry about not breaking them." Matt empathized with the obviously nervous Blake.

"Guys, she's just a baby. So long as you don't drop her, you'll be fine!" Sure Daisy didn't have children of her own but she had always loved babies. Understanding why these two were nervous was nearly impossible for her.

"I would really rather not hold her…" Blake told them slowly and nervously.

"Good luck with that." Daisy quipped.

"She's so little! What if I'm holding her and she just slips!" Blake was trying to justify his fear but it wasn't going to work.

"They don't just 'slip…' Plus she weighs less than a bag of apples. If you can hold a five pound bag of apples without dropping them, I think you'll be fine." If Daisy could have eye rolled any harder she would have.

"Yea but if you drop the apples they're still good." Matt tried to justify from the back seat.

"You're not going to drop her!" Daisy was clearly annoyed but reassured the men. "She's literally going to lay in your arms asleep."

"That's a lot easier said than done." Blake said slightly under his breath.

His comment was met with an eye roll from Daisy and all parties were happy that their doors were opened before anyone could respond. They all got out of the SUV and headed into the hospital. Once they reached the elevator, Daisy quickly hit the up button as Blake nervously tapped his foot.

"Are you going to be ok?" Daisy asked half jokingly.

"No ok, babies scare me. There I said it!" He whispered to her.

Blake was incredibly thankful that the elevator doors opened before she could say anything else. He quickly stepped on and found his way to a back corner as Daisy hit the button for the correct floor and smirked at him.

"Do you think we can get away with not holding her if we say we're sick?" Matt asked.

"One, not funny, you better not be sick and two, no. You know Elizabeth is going to make each of you hold her." Daisy answered.

"I think the Secretary would agree that I am in no way capable of holding a baby that small and that's the angle I'm going to go with." Blake told the group.

"Yea, good luck." Daisy said with a slight laugh.

The elevator dinged and the doors opened while both of the nervous men in the back took a nervous breath in that they would hold this entire meeting. The trio walked through the halls to the nurses station at the NICU.

"We're looking for…" Daisy began to the nurse on the computer in the middle of the station.

"McCord?" The nurse asked with a smile. "They were expecting you!"

"They?" Blake asked.

"Yea, mom and baby!" The nurse answered just as chipper as before.

For some reason hearing the words 'mom and baby' made Blake even more nervous. What did Layla know? Was she expecting him too? All of these wild thoughts raced around in his head, ones that were absolutely ridiculous honestly but this is what nervousness did to him.

He hadn't realized that he had been following the three people in front of him and now they were face to face with a door with a large window where he could easily see the Secretary and one of his biggest fears.

"Hey guys!" Elizabeth happily greeted them as Daisy walked in the door with the boys closely behind her.

Elizabeth hugged each of them, happy to see her staff again. They weren't much for hugging on her team but had seen a softer side of her over the last month.

"Good morning ma'am!" Daisy greeted Elizabeth. "Oh my gosh look at how big she's getting!" Daisy gushed as she turned her attention quickly to Layla in her incubator.

"She has gained a pound since she was born which is great! She's awake a little bit more now too and she's showing a ton of her personality!" Elizabeth was never able to stop herself from bragging about her children, especially when they were this little. Everything they did deserved an award in her eyes.

"Oh wow!" Daisy replied.

"Do you want to hold her?" Elizabeth was always more than happy to show off her babies.

"I'd love to!" Daisy happily replied.

Elizabeth picked up Layla as Daisy sat down in one of the waiting chairs. She carefully placed Layla in Daisy's arms and watched with pride as Daisy lovingly looked down at her.

Matt, clearly more comfortable with babies than Blake, went up to where Daisy was sitting and crouched down next to Layla. "She's so cute!" He slipped his finger near her hand and watched in amazement as she slow wrapped her entire hand around his index finger.

His heart immediately melted. "Ok this is the cutest thing I have ever seen!" He told the room. "Look at her! She's just holding my finger!" It was almost like he had never interacted with an infant before and the women in the room found his reaction a little more amusing than Blake did.

Blake looked behind him, this was the perfect time to slip out the door and never look back. He could move to Europe, start over under an assumed name… no one would ever have to know that he left his old life behind just because he had to interact with a baby.

"Can I hold her?" He heard Matt ask. Great. Now the one person who felt at least somewhat similarly to him had caved.

As a quick hand off took place and Matt was now standing with a very small baby in his arms, Elizabeth turned her attention to Daisy to discuss details of the upcoming interview while Matt walked over towards Blake.

"Dude, she's so cute!" Matt told him as he was standing just mere inches from Blake.

"Yes, very cute." Blake was trying to look anywhere but at the baby in Matt's arms.

"Ooooh watch out she's going to touch you! Ahhhhh!" Matt joked moving Layla even closer to Blake.

Blake quickly moved away. "Stop."

"She's not scary." Matt tried to tell him.

"I know she is not but…" Blake began.

"Look if you put your finger here…" Matt cut him off and put his finger just under her palm. "She'll hold your finger and it is so freaking cute!"

Blake, obviously uncomfortable, took the risk and put his index finger where Matt's was. Just as she had done earlier, Layla wrapped her hand around his finger.

"Ok that's enough." Blake quickly pulled his finger away, startling Layla in the process and leading to her letting out a little cry.

The sound of Layla's crying caused Elizabeth's attention to immediately turn to her daughter. She immediately got up and walked over to her, opening her arms to allow Matt to hand her to Elizabeth.

"Oh what's wrong baby girl?" Elizabeth lovingly asked while bouncing Layla lightly in her arms before lifting her head up to her lips and placing a soft kiss on her forehead.

As Elizabeth continued to bounce Layla, she saw the look of sheer terror on Blake and Matt's faces. "You guys ok?" She asked them.

"Yea!" Matt responded like he didn't just feel like he had done something terribly wrong.

Blake didn't respond. "Blake?" She asked him.

"Yes ma'am." He forced his attention to his boss and acted like nothing was wrong.

"You guys sure you're ok?"

"Oh yea! We're fine!" Matt nonchalantly replied.

"Ok…" She turned back around slowly, going back to the chair she was in before to pick up her conversation with Daisy.

"Dude, what the heck?" Matt turned to Blake and whispered.

"I don't know! I just freaked out." He whispered.

Blake couldn't wrap his head around what the other people in the room were talking about. His mind was racing and his heart wasn't far behind. As they discussed details of questions, statements, and Layla's recent milestones, Blake's mind went elsewhere.

He really wasn't sure if he was cut out for this. He wasn't sure if he could work so closely with a baby in stressful situations. While Elizabeth had told him they hired a nanny who would be traveling with her to take care of Layla, what if something happened to the nanny? What if something happened to Elizabeth while they were all traveling and Blake assumed the temporary responsibility of caring for a baby?

"Blake!" Elizabeth calling his name pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Yes ma'am?" He answered as soon as he turned around.

"Here, come sit down." She got up from her chair and motioned to him. He wasn't sure whether he should move or not, he chose to move.

He sat down and watched as Elizabeth stood bouncing Layla a bit more. "Do you want to hold her?" Elizabeth asked him.

"N…" He began.

"Yes!" Daisy cut him off.

He shot her a look that could cut through steel. He quickly moved his arms the way he had seen the others before him do as Elizabeth bent down and placed Layla in his arms.

He imagined all the things that might be scarier than this but he couldn't think of anything at the moment. Somehow, as he looked down at the sleeping infant in his arms, he couldn't believe the wave of calmness that came over him. He looked down and smiled, just as Layla returned it with a gummy smile.

"I'm holding a baby!" He said aloud a little star struck.

"Welcome to adulthood, you're gonna hate it!" Elizabeth joked while Blake's attention remained on the peacefully sleeping little girl in his arms.