AN: Yeah, you are looking really on an update- :-)
Chapter 49
Epilogue
Sitting on the rocking chair in the corner of the nursery with his little girl in his big arms Tom couldn't hold back his smile despite the late time of the day or should he say despite the early hours of the morning? Charlotte Chandler was looking with her bright blue eyes into his own and the feeling of being home went through his whole body.
It was a long way for him to come to this point in his life. After loosing Darien to the red flu and trying to survive the other threats in his life he couldn't imagine to slow down and living a normal life again. But with Sasha saying yes to marry him, Tom was able to finally slow down and quitting his job as CNO. He was now a professor at the new Naval Academy in St. Louis and taught Naval Warfare and other military stuff. He had normal working hours and was at home when his children came back from school and kindergarten. And most of the time he beat Sasha by making dinner as she still worked for Naval Intelligence. Well before she delivered a beautiful healthy little baby girl three months ago.
Little Charlotte stirred in his arms and was about to start crying, so Tom stood up and paced the room humming a lullaby his mother sang to him and his siblings. But Charlotte was stubborn as hell – like her mother – and giving Tom a hard fight by staying alert and eyes wide open. After some minutes pacing the room from one end to the other he sighed "So little one, you're giving me a hard time? Again? Not fair, absolutely not fair." He placed her up onto his chest so that she could see a little bit more. "How about we go downstairs and get you some milk?"
After feeding his little girl he spent some more time with her in his arms before he went upstairs again. Before taking Charlotte to her bed they went to Sam's room down the hall and peeked into the room. First he saw only a pile of blankets before his eyes moved to the bed. Sam was laying on his back all limbs stretched out and snored lightly while his head was hanging a little bit over the edge of the bed. Tom smiled at the sight of him and shook his head in disbelieve. How could someone sleep in this position? And not complaining about it in the morning? He always wondered how his son would make the best out of situations and stay positive all the time. Tom went over to his son and tried to put his head on his pillow again without waking him and not dropping his daughter to the ground. When he managed to do it without a catastrophe he picked up the blankets and tucked his son in. It was a rare moment for him to see his son so peaceful. Brushing some strands of hair out of his face Tom lingered a little longer and could see a lot of Darien looking back at him. Sam had his shade of hair color and nose but it was Darien's shade of eyes and cheekbones looking back at him. And when Sam smiled he could see Darien smiling at him.
"You would be so proud of him, darling" he whispered when his eyes fell on the photograph of his late wife and Sam's mother.
His next stop was Ashley's room. Her door was normally shut but this time it was open. She laid there in her cocoon of blankets and slept peacefully. When Tom turned around to walk out of her room, he heard her stir.
"What's up, Dad?" she asked sleepy.
"Hush, nothing sweetheart." Tom whispered. "Just checking on you. Go back to sleep."
"Mhmm. Will do. Night, Dad."
"Night, honey." He said and placed a kiss on her forehead.
He looked a little bit longer at her to make sure she went back to sleep and couldn't deny that Ashley reminded him of himself. She was strong and stubborn like he, and they had lots of fights about everything and nothing only to prove the other who would be more stubborn. After so many years she didn't trust easily, but when she took someone to her heart she was committed to this person. He was lucky to call her his daughter and he hoped that Charlotte would come after her.
He went out of the room and closed the door only to walk into the next room across the floor. He looked at the little boy with blonde hair sleeping in his dinosaur pyjamas. Killian Michael Chandler was born two years ago and was the spitting image of his father. Even his crooked smirk looked like Tom's when he tried to get away with something. And most times Sasha and he were helpless against this smile. Well, most times it was Sasha who was powerless. And not only his son but Tom himself used this trick against her, to get away from a punishment.
After checking in on him and seeing his son doesn't need anything he went back to the room where he started his journey and laid Charlotte back into her crib.
Flashback
Neither he or Sasha were prepared for this child. Both of them thought that their family planning was complete with his older kids and Killian. And this was fine for them, but when Sasha throw up almost every day for over a week he knew something was wrong. She came home from Asia some days before and both thought she got the stomach flu or something else. But then Sasha fainted some days later and lost her consciousness he went crazy. They were at a reception for the new president and Sasha wasn't feeling well after throwing up the days prior. But her new boss insisted she had to come. They had a lovely evening and Tom stood near the bar with Jeter and Mike when he heard a dull thud next to him before the gasp of his friends and others around him reached his ears. His head whipped around to find Sasha sitting on the ground. His heartbeat drummed in his ears, while no other sounds reached him, when he moved over to Sasha to help her up.
"Sasha, darling" he said and cupped her face into his hands. "What's wrong?" His eyes scanned her body. She looked shocked and he felt a bit shocked as well. "Are you okay?"
"I'm dizzy," she replied. "And I don't know what happened but I think I need to go to the doctor."
They made it to the hospital in no time and Tom wasn't leaving her side the whole time, making friends with the hospital staff right from the beginning.
"Will you stop pacing around?" Sasha asked him again. "You are making me nervous."
"Sorry, sweetheart." He replied and walked over to her and kissed her on her forehead. "Bad habit."
She chuckled despite feeling helpless to this whole situation. The doctor told her that she wasn't eating enough or drinking enough water. And that this would probably caused her fainting. But they got her blood sample to make sure it wasn't something else. So here they were occupying a hospital room and waiting for the doctor to return.
They sad in comfortable silence when the door swung open and the doctor came in. "Congratulation" he beamed at Sasha, who looked quizzical at him. "Your pregnant. Someone will bring you a prescription for vitamins and you should rest more often than usual and everything will be fine. Congratulations again." He looked at both of them, nodded his head and went out of the room.
Sasha and Tom looked at one another, then at the closing door before them and then at each other again.
"What..?" Tom asked, while Sasha spoke "WTF just happened?"
Tom shook his head in disbelieve and said: "He talked about you being pregnant. But he can't be serious, can he?"
Sasha looked at him "No, he can't. You know I'm taking the pill and we always are careful, despite the doctor said after Killian was born, that I won't be able to get pregnant again. So this has to be a mistake."
At that moment a nurse came in and handed her the prescription. "Congratulation." She beamed but her smile faded after seeing the two parents to be shocked face. "Is something wrong? Has the doctor not spoken to you?"
"Ahm, he mentioned something about being pregnant, but he can't be serious, can he?" Sasha asked again.
"Why not?" The nurse, Ruby, asked.
"Because I'm told that I can't get pregnant."
Ruby looked confused and grabbed the chart "It says, you are pregnant."
"Is it possible that the blood samples got confused somewhere?" Tom asked.
"Not likely." Ruby returned. "You know what, I'll get another doctor and perhaps they could do an ultrasound. How about that?"
"That'll be great." Tom replied.
After some minutes passed, Ruby returned with a nice looking elderly woman. "I'm Dr. Lucas and will perform an ultrasound."
Within minutes the ultrasound machine was set up. "Here it is. A strong heartbeat, your little bean has. It looks like you are three months pregnant. Everything looks normal. Please check in with you OBYN in the next four weeks and you'll be fine. Congratulation and you are free to go."
When both of the hospital staff left, Tom and Sasha looked at one another. There was disbelieve in their looks, but then joy and excitement took over and both grinned at the other. Tom went to Sasha's side, cupped her head into his hands and kissed the hell out of her. After they broke apart for much needed air, he said "We are having a baby! Thank you" and kissed her again.
End of flashback.
Tom looked at Charlotte once more and felt arms slide around his waist. "I knew I would find you here." He heard is wife's voice. "Everything alright?"
He turned around in his arms and snaked his arms around her frame. "Yeah, everything alright. Charlie and I got a little distracted and we went for a little walk around the house."
"I thought so. You checked on the other kids?"
"Yeah, they are all good."
"Good. Now come back to bed."
"Yes, ma'am."
With one last look over his shoulder to his daughter, Tom led Sasha out of the nursery and towards their room. Thanking all the gods there are in the universe to give him a second chance with the woman at his side.
AN: I'm so sorry for not posting anymore. I fell into a hiatus with writing stuff and couldn't figure out how I want to end this story. But I found some time and here is the epilogue. I never abandoned the fandom. I'm still here to read all your amazing stuff. Thank you all who has sticked to this story, for leaving comments and Direct Messages, for liking chapters and much more. Love you all.
