Glen Gordon Caron created the characters. They are not mine. This is for entertainment purposes only, not for profit.

Sweet Baby

Part VII

The next morning, David and Maddie arrive home.

David opens the door for Maddie who is holding little David. Maddie walks in the door followed by David who is carrying all of Maddie and the baby's things.

Mrs. Hayes is coming down the stairs. "Welcome home." She looks and smiles at David. "Good morning David."

David: "Good morning."

Maddie: "Hello grandma."

David: "I'm goanna put this stuff upstairs."

David heads upstairs. Maddie and Mrs. Hayes follow him up with their eyes.

Maddie looks at her mom. "Where's dad?"

Mrs. Hayes: "He went for his morning walk." She looks at her watch. "I told him to be back by now."

On cue, Mr. Hayes walks through the front door.

He looks at Mrs. Hayes, "Sorry I didn't realize how long it would take to come back." He then turns his attention to Maddie and the baby. He kisses Maddie on the forehead and looks down at little David. "So, how do you like your new home?"

Mrs. Hayes looks around. "What's not to like?"

Mr. Hayes looks around and then to Maddie. "Where's David?"

Maddie: "He took our bags upstairs."

Mr. Hayes: "I was wanting to speak to him."

David coming down the stairs, "Did I hear my name?"

Mr. Hayes: "Good morning."

Maddie: "David, maybe you should go and check on the office make sure that everyone's okay and there hasn't been any major property damage."

David: "Alright, I'll go check on the kids."

David kisses Maddie on the cheek and leaves.


Later that night: David comes home, shuts the front door rubbing his head as he goes upstairs. He enters the nursery to check on little David and finds Mrs. Hayes rocking little David in the rocking chair.

Mrs. Hayes looks up and sees David. "I didn't expect to see you back here tonight."

David: "Well, I wanted to check on the little guy."

Little David starts to cry loudly.

Mrs. Hayes: "We should take him downstairs before he wakes Maddie. She has some bottles prepared. I bet he's hungry."

Mrs. Hayes hands little David to David and they both head downstairs.

Mrs. Hayes: "I think he may be hungry."

David: "Maddie has some bottles in the frige, so I can feed him too."

Mrs. Hayes: "You two have a set. I'll go get the bottle."

David is sitting on the couch with little David. Mrs. Hayes comes in with a bottle and gives it to David.

Maddie is coming down the stairs. "What's all the commotion?"

Mrs. Hayes: "The baby was hungry, we came down here so we wouldn't wake you."

David is feeding little David when Mr. Hayes comes down.

Mr. Hayes: "What's going on?" He sees David feeding the baby. "David, I didn't expect to see you again tonight."

Maddie and David look at each other. Maddie realizes that she has to tell them.

Maddie: "David, could you take the baby upstairs?"

David: "Okie Doke. You know if we're not going to call him David, we had better come up with something other than the baby."

Maddie glares at David.

David: "I'll work on it." He heads upstairs singing. "The upper room."

Maddie looks at her parents. "I think we need to have a chat."

The three of them go to the living room and take a set.

Maddie looks at her parents. "I don't know exactly where to start."

Mrs. Hayes: "Well how about starting at the beginning."

Mr. Hayes: "Does this have anything to do with David?"

Maddie: "Yes it does."

Mr. Hayes grumbles a little. "What did he do?"

Mrs. Hayes: "Alex."

Maddie: "He didn't do anything, well anything bad."

Mr. Hayes: "Maddie, I've got a feeling that David is not going home tonight. I can't say that I'm pleased with that, but I do like the fact that he's in the same house with his son."

Maddie: "Daddy. David and I got married a week ago."

Mrs. Hayes: "You what?"

Mr. Hayes: "Oh, boy."

Maddie: "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I didn't know how to tell you. I guess I wasn't even sure that I wanted to tell you."

Mr. Hayes: "Maddie, I don't understand. Why would you be so worried about telling us you married the father of your child?"

Mrs. Hayes: "We're happy for you Maddie."

Maddie goes over and hugs both of her parents.

Mr. Hayes: "I better go upstairs. I believe I owe someone an apology, once again."

Maddie: "Don't worry about David. What do you mean once again?"

Mr. Hayes ignores the question. "No, I was pretty tough on him. I said some things...I need to make it right."

Mr. Hayes goes upstairs.

Mrs. Hayes hugs Maddie. "Congratulations Maddie. You shouldn't have waited so long to tell us."

Maddie: "I know."

Mrs. Hayes: "Your father has been so worried about you. He was worried David was going to leave."

Maddie: "He's not going to leave. Although, I wouldn't blame him if he did."

They head upstairs after Mr. Hayes.

Upstairs, Mr. Hayes walks in the nursery to see David holding little David.

Mr. Hayes: "Well, it looks like I owe you another apology."

David turns to see Mr. Hayes.

Mr. Hayes: "Maddie just told us the news."

David: "No apology necessary, Mr. Hayes."

Mr. Hayes: "Well, I must say that I am very pleased."

Mrs. Hayes: "And so am I." She and Maddie walk in.

Mrs. Hayes gives David a hug. "Welcome to the family." She looks at little David. "May I hold my grandson?"

David: "Why certainly Mrs. Hayes."

David gives Mrs. Hayes the baby. "I need a shower. Goodnight."

Maddie says to her parents. "I'll be right back."

Maddie walks out the door after David. "David, wait."

David turns around to see Maddie coming down the hall.

Maddie: "I really am sorry about all of this."

David hugs Maddie. "Don't worry about it. Everything seems to be working out for the best."

Maddie: "My dad said something about apologizing to you again. What did he apologize to you about before?"

David kisses Maddie softly. "We'll talk about it later."

The next morning David gets up early and heads to the office.

Later that evening, when David comes home Mr. Hayes is having a drink in the living room.

Mr. Hayes: "Everything okay at the office?"

David turns to Mr. Hayes. "Yeah, everyone seems to be behaving themselves."

Mr. Hayes: "Let me fix you a drink."

Mr. Hayes pours David a drink and motions for him to sit down.

Mr. Hayes: "David, I'm trying real hard to figure all this out."

David: "What's that?"

Mr. Hayes: "What is going on with Maddie."

David: "I don't know. When you figure it out, would you share it with me?"

Mr. Hayes: "My daughter leaves her life and moves back in to her old bedroom. She goes home and marries a man she is not sure is the father of her child without telling her parents. The baby is born, she has us fly out here, makes the father of the baby tell us who the father is and then days later she announces that she married the father a week ago."

David: "I would say that accurately sums things up to this point."

David takes a big swig of drink.

Mr. Hayes: "That is so unlike Maddie. Running away from problems, avoiding situations, suddenly deciding to get married."

David: "A year ago I would have agreed with you."

Mr. Hayes: "And now?"

David: "And now I don't know what to think."

David takes another swig finishing the drink off.

Mr. Hayes: "I think it has a lot to do with you."

David: "I know it does... Mr. Hayes, I really think this is a conversation you should be having with Maddie. You're asking questions that I've been asking myself for months. I know you want answers, so do I. I'm sorry I don't have them."

Mr. Hayes: "Tell me about the other man."

David: "Other man?"

Mr. Hayes: "When we were on the plane you said that there was another man, Maddie wasn't sure if you were the father."

David: "He is not an issue anymore. Look, I'm really tired. You want to know about the other man; about the things Maddie has done the past year. You really need to talk to her."

Mr. Hayes: "Sounds like you need to talk to her too."

David gets up "Good night." He walks up the stairs.

David opens the bedroom door to see Maddie sitting in chair nursing the baby.

Maddie: "How are things at the office?"

David: "Just fine."

Maddie: "No fires or floods?"

David chuckles. "No."

David: "Why don't we call him Dave?"

Maddie: "Dave?"

David: "It's too confusing calling us both David. One of us has to be called something else and I don't like 'the baby' too much."

Maddie: "Okay Dave it is."

They look at each other for a moment.

David: "I'm going to go take a shower."

Maddie: "Okay."

David looks to the camera. "What's with all these showers?"

Maddie finishes nursing Dave and takes him to the nursery.

While she is in the nursery, Mr. Hayes walks in.

Mr. Hayes: "Maddie, could we talk?"

Maddie: "What do you want to talk about?"

Mr. Hayes: "You and David."

Maddie: "What about me and David?"

Mr. Hayes: "I just had a talk with David."

Maddie: "You did?"

Mr. Hayes: "I wanted to talk to him because I had some things I wanted to clear up. I had some questions for him, unfortunately he didn't have any answers."

Maddie: "David without answers? Now there's a first." She thinks of the times David would ramble off answers. " Delaware, no, all of the above, the sum of three angles is an isosceles triangle."

Mr. Hayes: "He suggested that if I wanted answers, I should ask you."

Maddie: "I'm not sure I want to talk about this."

Mr. Hayes: "Maddie, I just want to know what is going on here?"

Maddie: "What do you mean?"

Mr. Hayes: "I worry about you. I've been worried about you for the past nine months. The way you came home, the way you left, marrying David without letting your mother and I know until a week after the fact."

Maddie: "I don't mean to worry you. There is really nothing to be worried about."

Mr. Hayes: "I have a feeling that David is at the root all of these problems. Don't get me wrong. I like David and I believe he loves you. The fact is. He's just as confused about all this as I am. I truly believe that he didn't know how to answer my questions. I know from experience, unanswered questions can put undo strain on a marriage."

Maddie nods and hugs her dad. "Good night."

Maddie turns the baby monitor on and leaves the nursery to go back into the bedroom. When she enters the bedroom she hears the shower is still running. "I really don't feel like doing this tonight." Maddie gets into bed and closes her eyes.

David comes out of the shower rubbing his wet head with a towel. He stops when he sees Maddie laying in the bed and smiles. He drops his towel and gets into bed beside Maddie. Sleep quickly overcomes him.

The clock reads 1:15 and we hear Dave crying.

David: "I'll go check on him."

David goes into the nursery picks Dave up. David tries to comfort him to no avail.

Maddie comes in, "He's probably hungry. Go on back to bed."

David hands the baby to Maddie and Maddie sits down with him.

David sits next to Maddie. "Did you have a talk with your dad."

Maddie: "Yes, not that it's any of your business."

David: "Why did you say that?"

Maddie: "Because that's between my father and myself. We may be married David, but that doesn't mean that you should know everything about my life."

David bites his tongue not wanting to fight with Dave right there. He gets up and walks out.

Maddie finishes nursing Dave, who is fast asleep. She puts him in his crib and walks out to find David.

David isn't in the bedroom, so she goes downstairs to look for him.

She finds him in the living room watching television.

Maddie: "You coming to bed?"

David: "No." David looks at Maddie. "We need to talk."

Maddie: "It's late and I'm tired."

David: "I want to know what you were trying to tell me upstairs."

Maddie: "I'm tired and I don't want to discuss what my father and I talked about with you."

David: "Why? Your father tried to have the same discussion with me earlier. The only reason he talked with you is that I couldn't give him any answers. It's not like you were talking about some family secret. You were talking about us."

Maddie: "Fine. You know what his questions were. I didn't have any answers for him."

David: "How about some answers for me?"

Maddie shouts. "Can't we just forget this and move on?"

David shouts back. "No we can't forget this, because this, whatever this is, is still going on."

Maddie: "What do you mean? We got married. I'm not running away."

David: "Yes you are."

Maddie: "Am not."

David: "Are to."

Maddie: "Am not!"

David: "Are to!"

Maddie: "Go to hell Addison."

All the shouting woke Mr. and Mrs. Hayes. They come out on the balcony to see what was going on. They have never experienced a David and Maddie banter and they found it a little unnerving.

David is still shouting. "I don't get this. Why can't we sit down and have a conversation without it turning into a shouting match and you getting defensive?"

Maddie: "You think I'm being defensive?"

David: "You are doing everything to avoid the subject."

Maddie: "I am not. I'm being honest. I told you I don't have answers for the questions you have."

David: "Maddie, you have reasons for the things you do. I just want to know what they are. Why did you not want to tell your parents about us? It is a simple question."

Mrs. Hayes nudges Mr. Hayes and they return to their room.

Maddie puts her face in her hands.

David: "Well?"

Maddie looks up: "Look, I told you. I was worried about how they would react. I haven't been the most responsible person this past year."

David: "So you think marrying me was irresponsible?"

Maddie: "Don't put words in my mouth. I didn't say that. I do think the way we did it was a bit unorthodox."

David: "It was your idea."

Maddie: "I know. I made it out of duress from Sam."

David: "What are you saying? Do you want out?"

Maddie: "No. You asked the question. I answered it as best as I could."

David: "One more question."

Maddie: "What?"

David: "Are you happy?"

Maddie: "I have a baby, I'm married, and I own a successful business. What is there not to be happy about?"

David: "That is not what I asked you."

Maddie: "Yes, I'm happy."

David: "Well, that's all I need to know, for now. You want to go back to bed?"

Maddie: "Yes!"

David walks over to Maddie and kisses her. He takes her hand in his and they go back upstairs.
Dave wakes them up two more times that night.

The next morning Maddie wakes, checks on Dave and goes downstairs where her mother is fixing breakfast and her father is drinking coffee and reading the paper.

Maddie: "Good morning."

Mr. and Mrs. Hayes: "Good morning."

Maddie gets a glass and goes to the refrigerator and pours herself a glass of juice. She then sits down at the table next to her father.

Mr. Hayes: "So, does that happen often?"

Maddie: "Excuse me?"

Mr. Hayes: "We heard you and David fighting last night."

Maddie: "That wasn't a fight."

Mr. Hayes: "Well, what do you call it? It sure sounded like a fight to us."

Maddie: "It was a banter, a disagreement. Don't worry about it daddy. Everything is fine now."

Mr. Hayes: "I am worried about it. I worry about my grandson. If these 'banters' happen a lot, how is it going to affect him?"

Maddie: "We didn't argue in front of Dave. We came down stairs."

Mr. Hayes: "We heard you."

Maddie: "Okay next time we will go into the garage. Listen daddy, I know you're worried, but this is just what David and I do. We banter. We do it very well. We've almost turned it into an art form. We've been doing it since the moment we met. Everything is okay afterwards."

David comes in with Dave and gives Maddie a kiss. "I think he wants your undivided attention."

Maddie takes Dave and walks out of the room.

David turns to Mr. and Mrs. Hayes. "Good morning."

Mrs. Hayes: "Good morning David."

Mr. Hayes: "Well, I had better go up and finish packing."

David: "Ya'll aren't leaving already are you?"

Mr. Hayes: "Yeah, I've got to get back to work. Besides I think you and Maddie can handle things here."

Mr. Hayes walks out and heads upstairs.

David is eating breakfast. "This is very good Mrs. Hayes."

Mrs. Hayes: "Well thank you David."

Maddie comes in. "You had better enjoy it Addison. Don't count on me to cook breakfast for you."

David: "That's a relief."

Mrs. Hayes laughs.