"I can't believe this little sweetie is almost a year old."

Hilary smiled down at the baby in her arms. She was loosely wrapped in a fluffy pink blanket, mouth sucking away at a pacifier as she slept. Her mother had just managed to get her to that state after a bit of fussing and fighting. Once she had given in and nursed, however, it took just a matter of moments for the baby to fall asleep. She had one fist against her right cheek, the other arm down by her side.

"It feels like just yesterday she was born," Dorothy agreed, giggling softly as she gazed at her sleeping granddaughter. "Look at how big she's gotten!"

Hilary couldn't take her eyes away from the baby. She was still small for her age, in both height and weight, but she had certainly gotten bigger from the day she was born.

"So pretty," Hilary breathed, gently stroking the girl's dark hair.

"I still remember the day she was born," Dorothy sighed wistfully.

"I'll never be able to forget it," Hilary laughed softly, shaking her head. "I spent 13 hours in labor with her before they had to cut her out. And I was so worried she wasn't going to make it! After all that twisting around and getting herself tangled…"

"But look at how well it all turned out," Dorothy crooned, beaming at the sleeping Haley. "She's a happy, healthy little girl!"

"Everything I went through was worth it," Hilary confirmed, her smile returning. "So worth it. Haley was the last little piece of our family! All of that pain and fear…she was worth it."

"It's amazing the pull they have on you, isn't it?" Dorothy breathed. "I was in labor with you for 32 hours.''

"32?!" Hilary shrieked. "I thought 12 and 13 was bad! You have beaten all my records combined, Mom."

"You were also one of the biggest babies they had ever delivered," Dorothy sighed. "9 pounds, 10 ounces. But as soon as I saw you…I just couldn't stay mad! Sure I was exhausted and beyond sore, but you were just the most beautiful thing I had ever seen!"

"I am, ain't I?" Hilary giggled.

"Where do you get off taking 32 hours to be born?"

Hilary and Dorothy both looked up and found Tyson leaned over the railing, a teasing smile on his face.

"Mom!" Hilary groaned, dramatically throwing her head back. "Don't let it slip out so casually! Now Tyson's never dropping it…"

"Hey, if anything, you should be grateful she said it out loud," Tyson huffed. "Now I realize the labors our children put you through weren't all that bad. And speaking of our children, the kids are fast asleep upstairs," Tyson informed his wife, coming down the stairs and re-entering the living room.

"Good," Hilary sighed. "How bad was the fight for the top bunk?"

"Could've been worse," Tyson replied, sounding impressed. "As soon as I let it slip that I always slept on the bottom, Tyler crawled right in and gave up the top bunk to Christy. I didn't even have to separate anyone!"

"Good to know," Hilary giggled.

"It's so sweet how much those two love sleeping in your old room," Dorothy said to her son-in-law.

"They love exploring in there," Tyson chuckled, sitting down beside Hilary. "They do the same thing in Hilary's room back at your house! I think they find it hard to believe their parents were kids like them once."

"Soon Haley will be old enough to go exploring in there too," Hilary laughed. "Not sure how we're going to be able to divide a bunk bed amongst three kids!"

"Easy: we bring in an inflatable mattress," Tyson quipped.

"Right, because that won't cause any fights about who gets to sleep where," Hilary scoffed.

"Nah, Hal is easy going!" Tyson chirped, glancing down at the baby. "Oh, you finally got her to fall asleep."

"Yeah, finally," Hilary repeated, smirking at her husband.

"Hilary and I were just saying we can't believe she's almost a year old already," Dorothy commented.

"Isn't it crazy?" Tyson chuckled. "Our little baby is growing up!"

"But she's still a baby," Hilary was quick to add, cheeks flushing.

"Yeah, she's still a baby," Tyson confirmed, smirking at his wife.

"But she does so much now!" Dorothy giggled. "She was pointing things out to me before. It was adorable! She's such a smart little girl."

"I always knew she'd be a genius," Tyson scoffed. "I said it from the day she was born!"

"Although I'm still not sure how you figured that with a newborn," Hilary replied with a smirk.

Haley mumbled unhappily in her sleep and began to squirm in her mother's arms, her little arms moving as she twisted her head to the side.

"Aw, she doesn't like you questioning her intelligence!" Tyson teased.

"Oh no," Hilary groaned, ignoring Tyson's little joke. "It took me forever to get her to sleep!"

"It's okay, we can keep her that way," Tyson assured, taking the baby from his wife. He held her close to his chest as he got to his feet, slowly pacing back and forth as he gazed down at the little girl in his arms. The gentle movement settled the baby down, who stilled her arms and resumed sucking on her pacifier instead of making agitated noises.

"You're so good at that, Tyson," Dorothy marveled, obviously impressed by her son in law's aptitude at soothing the baby.

"Of course he is," Hilary replied softly. "Tyson is the sweetest, kindest, gentlest man I've ever known. And that makes him the best father I've ever known, too."

Tyson smiled and nodded his head. "That's what Hilary and I hope we do for our own kids. We hope we're teaching them right from wrong and raising them to be good people. Just like my Grandpa did for me."

Dorothy smiled sheepishly at her son in law, her eyes shimmering with what Tyson assumed were tears. "That old crook is so lucky to have you as his grandson. And…I'm so lucky to have this beautiful little girl as my granddaughter!"

The older woman got to her feet and leaned in to get a better look at the baby in her son in law's arms. Haley was still peacefully sleeping, showing no signs of being disturbed like before.

"Maybe you two should get her into bed before she starts fussing again," Dorothy suggested. "I'll stay down here and prepare some tea for all of us."

"That sounds great, thank you Dorothy!" Hilary breathed. "Come on, Tyson."

She led her husband up the stairs and into the guest bedroom that they called their room whenever they stayed over at Dorothy's. In the corner was a white lace basinet with a pink ribbon tied around it; Haley's bed.

Hilary gently removed Haley from her husband's arms, leaving the fluffy pink blanket behind, and laid the baby down in the basinet. She stroked the girl's dark chocolate hair for a few moments, and then moved on to gently rubbing the baby's coral-shirt covered chest.

"Pretty baby," Hilary murmured, not wanting to take her eyes off of the little girl.

"Uh, Hils…do you want me to put her blanket over her?"

Hilary stood upright, a blush overtaking her face. "Oh…right. Yeah, we should. I don't want her to get cold, after all."

Tyson smirked and stepped forward, stretching the fluffy pink blanket over his daughter. She let out a soft sigh and turned her head to the side, her forehead hitting the foot of her beloved Teddy.

"There we go," Tyson murmured, taking a small step back. "Perfect!"

Hilary sighed and showed off a little smile. "Yeah, she is."

Tyson smirked and wrapped an arm around his wife's shoulder. "You think we're doing a good job with her?"

The brunette beamed up at him. "I do. I really do. She's going to be just as good of a kid as Tyler and Christy are. She's already so sweet."

Tyson craned his neck to kiss the top of his wife's head. "Just like her mommy."

He let go of Hilary and walked over to the dresser, leaving the flustered woman in his wake. He switched on the baby monitors and picked one up, throwing another impish smirk at his wife as he walked out of the room.

"Hey!" Hilary hissed, charging after her husband. "You can't just walk out of here after that!"