A/N: Hey. Sorry I haven't updated sooner. . But it's only been a
week! I'm very impressed with myself for getting it up THIS soon! O man
these past few episodes have been phenomenal! All I keep saying every time
I see Syd and Vaughn together is ABOUT BLOODY TIME! The two of them . . .
SOOO CUTE! Hey I had them get together 7 episodes ago! HA! And can you
believe FRANCIE IS EVIL!?? AH!! IT'S A FRANCIE DOUBLE! And where is Will!?
O man o man! They finally got together! Evil Francie has issues . . .
Vaughn . . . way too sweet! I loved when that guy followed Sydney into the
tent and instead of finding a half dressed her he found a smiley faced
Vaughn! HA! Sooo good!
Ok now that you have dealt with my incessant ramblings . . .
Here is chapter 5. I know it has been a long time coming since hand written I have out to chapter 8. I wrote this BEFORE Christmas Vaca! HA! O well. Here you go. Thanks to all my reviewers (I would love to make it to the triple digits by the very end, since the most I've ever gotten is 64! Help me get there!!!)
Remember I own nothing, and by nothing I mean NOTHING! All the songs by Billy Joel or the Movies are what I was listening too or watching when I wrote this!
CHAPTER 5 - BEING HOME
The door creaked open and Sydney glanced up from the bundle in her arms to see Francie and Will smiling at her. "Come in! Come in!" She called out to them in a hushed voice.
Francie and Will took a tentative step forward to look at the sleeping boy. "He's so gorgeous!" Francie spoke softly as she touched Danny's tiny fist. "He looks just like Mike."
"I know." Sydney smiled. "I hope he has Mike's eyes too, but I think they are turning brown." Sydney gazed at the beautiful boy in front of her.
"Where is Mike?" Will asked as he kissed Sydney's cheek softly.
"He went to call my dad. We tried him earlier but he was still in his meeting."
"So," Francie sat down in a chair next to Sydney's bed. "What shall we call this gorgeous little boy?"
"Danny." Sydney smiled widely. "Daniel William. After the two reasons Mike and I entered the CIA, and subsequently met, Danny and Mike's dad."
"That's absolutely precious!" Francie smiled as the door opened and Vaughn appeared. "Hey!" Francie jumped up and gave him a large hug. "You're a Daddy!"
"Yeah, I am." He smiled as Will shook his hand.
"Ok, well we should get going." Will said as he kissed Sydney's cheek again and laid a hand on Danny's head.
"Bye." Sydney called as they left.
"So, Mommy," Vaughn smiled as he walked over to Sydney and kissed his son's head softly. "How are you feeling?"
"Tired." She smiled weakly. Vaughn reached down and picked up his son. "Did you reach my dad?"
"Yeah. He's on his way. And my mom's gonna stop by tomorrow."
"I'm only here for two days or so right?"
"Right." He placed his son in the hospital bassinet and sat down next to Sydney on her bed.
"I was lucky I was where I was."
"What do you mean?"
"My mom. She knew right away that I was in labor and she talked me through the breathing exercises as well as called you. If I had been in your office, or at home . . . I was just lucky."
"Yeah. I didn't think I'd ever be thankful for her being around, but, I was today." He kissed Sydney's temple.
The door flung open and Jack walked briskly in. "Daddy!" Sydney smiled as he approached her swiftly.
"Hey, sweetheart. Mike." Jack walked over and kissed Sydney's cheek.
Vaughn walked to the bassinet and picked up Danny, walking him back to Jack and placing the blue bundle in his arms. "Jack Bristow, meet Daniel Vaughn, your grandson."
Jack smiled at the boy and looked at Sydney with a slightly raised eyebrow. "Daniel?"
"Mm-hmm. Daniel William. After . . ."
"Daniel Hecht and William Vaughn." Jack cut in swiftly.
"Yeah." Sydney smiled at her father's knowledge. "Yeah."
On Monday, Sydney was given the OK to go home. Vaughn, who had been staying with Weiss, came to pick her up early that morning. He had wanted to stay in the hospital room with her but she told him under no circumstances, she needed him to be awake when he drove them home, and it was much easier to sleep in Weiss's spare bedroom rather than on an uncomfortable hospital chair.
They all piled into the car, Danny sleeping in his carrier in the back seat. As they began their trek, Sydney turned to Vaughn, "Mike?"
"Hmm?"
"Can we stop by the CIA before we head home?" He looked at her questioningly. "I just . . . She doesn't deserve it, I know that, but . . ."
"I know." Vaughn smiled softly at her. "Yeah, we can."
"Thank you." she smiled as she turned to look at her sleeping son.
They entered Headquarters and immediately ran into Weiss. "Hey!" He called as he ran over to them, embracing Sydney. "How are you?"
"I'm ok."
Weiss shook Vaughn's hand and looked down into the carrier that Vaughn was holding. He smiled as he looked upon the sleeping infant, snuggled in the blue pj set Jack had given them, but instead of the matching cap, a Kings Logo cap was placed on his head. "Already molding him to love the Kings?"
"Like I'd let him love any other team!" Vaughn joked.
"I'll see you guys later." Weiss called, shaking his head in disbelief as he continued on his way.
The three made their way down to the holding cells. They had called ahead was holding a set of keys as they neared the cell. Irena looked up at the sound of the bars being raised and saw Sydney and Vaughn as they stopped in front of her cell. Sydney took the cell from Vaughn and placed it on the floor and removed the tiny infant. Vaughn unlocked the door and the three of them slowly entered the cell.
"Don't think that this is going to happen any other time. I just want to thank you for your help on Saturday and I figured this was the best way to do so." Sydney walked towards her mother, Daniel lying in her arms, cuddling up to her chest. "This is Danny."
Irena stepped closer to them and ran her hand down Danny's back. He blinked his eyes open and Irena smiled at the sight of them, their new baby blue shinning back at her, slowly dulling to a brown. "He's beautiful." She smiled at Sydney and Vaughn. "Thank you for this."
Sydney nodded and then turned and walked out, Vaughn Locking the door behind them.
They left the cells and walked to the car. "Thank you." Sydney smiled up at Vaughn.
"No problem. She did a good thing on Saturday and now she knows we appreciated that."
They walked into their front door and Sydney took a deep breath. She walked to their bedroom and slipped the sleeping baby into the bassinet lying in the corner of their room. She flipped on the special baby monitor and pointed it towards her son. Grabbing the other part of the monitor, she walked back down stairs to find Vaughn on the phone. "Of course. No, that will be fine. Ok. We'll see you tomorrow." He hung up and turned to face his wife. "Dixon and Marshall are going to stop by tomorrow, if that's ok."
"That's fine." She yawned as she sat down on the couch. Vaughn sat down next to her and pulled her close.
"Good to be home?"
"*Great* to be home." She corrected as he laughed. "I love you."
"I love you too." He smiled and kissed her softly. "Movie?"
"Movie." She agreed, nodding her head as Vaughn stood.
"Which one do you . . ." He held up tow movies but was cut off by the sounds od a screaming infant.
"Paris." She called as she stood and walked up to soothe her son. She returned a moment later, child in hand, and sat down on the couch as she proceeded to feed him.
Vaughn pushed in the movie and sat down next to her, placing an arm around her shoulder and slowly stroking her arm. "So you going to turn our son into a Gene Kelly fan?" He joked as An American in Paris jumped on to the screen.
"Hey, if you get to turn him into the biggest Kings fan alive, then I'm adding the love of a good movie to his personality." She smiled as Vaughn kissed her.
"Yeah?" He smiled as his son was burped. "Come here." He took Danny from Sydney and held him close as Sydney leaned against him.
The three sat in silence as they watched Gene Kelly dance, a smile spreading across Sydney's face. "Hey." She whispered. "We're a family."
Vaughn smiled and kissed her forehead. "Yeah, we are."
Sydney woke the next morning to find that it was already 8:00. She was shocked to find she wasn't woken earlier since she was sure her son was probably starving. She sat up to find herself completely alone. She wandered down stairs to find Vaughn sitting cross legged on the couch. Danny sat in his lap as they watched Sports Center. "See, and that's the Coyotes. We don't like them. Uncle Will does but we know that eh Kings are better." Sydney smiled as Vaughn talked his son through the report on the NHL Drafts. "One day, you're going to be up there getting drafted for the Kings." Vaughn smiled and brushed his hand over the top of his son's head.
"Jumping the gun a bit aren't we?" Sydney asked as she entered the room and sat down next to them, kissing Vaughn lightly.
"Never too soon to start." Vaughn smiled.
"He's not even a week old!" She joked. "How long have you been up?"
"A couple of hours."
"He must be starving!" She cried sympathetically. "You should have woken me."
"Syd, you put two bottles in the fridge yesterday for cases just like that, remember? I fed him, he's fine, I am his father, you know."
She smiled. "Ok, I get it." She leaned up against him, bringing her feet up under her. Vaughn wrapped an arm around her as she took one of Danny's hands in her own. She leaned over and kissed her son's temple gently. "What time are Dixon and Marshall getting here?"
"Um, around noon."
"Good. I have plenty of time to shower then. I need to wash my hair." Vaughn laughed lightly. She yawned loudly and Vaughn stroked her hair.
"You can go back to bed, you know."
"Nah, I'm fine. Just need coffee. Did you make some?"
"Yeah."
"Thank God!"
Vaughn laughed as she jumped up and walked briskly into the kitchen. "What's with the sudden need for coffee?"
"You're kidding, right?" Sydney emerged from the kitchen, cup in hand. "For the past 9, count um, *9* months, I haven't been allowed to drink coffee because its "not good for the baby when in the womb". Well you know what? The baby is currently sitting in your lap right now so . . ." She took a long sip. "Mm. Coffee."
Vaughn could barely contain his laughter as Sydney sat back down with him. "So what else are you looking forward to doing again?"
"Um, let's see. Well, I can't drink yet while I'm breastfeeding, but, OH! I know! I can't wait to wear my jeans again! And all my other clothes! Especially my blue sweater! That's what I'm really looking forward to!"
Vaughn smiled and kissed her. "All very good things."
"Really? Why do I sense that you think you know something better?"
"Well, I'm thinking more along the lines of sleeping with your husband again but . . ."
"You're just thinking like a guy." She smiled cutting him off. "No, I'm definitely looking forward to that again." Danny began to fuss softly in Vaughn's arms. "Oh, what's wrong baby?" Sydney took him from his father and held him close. "What time did you feed him?"
"Uh . . . 5:30 or so."
"Yeah, that's what I thought. My baby's hungry." She kissed Danny's soft forehead before beginning to feed him. "Ok, let's see. It's 8:15 now and I need to shower as well as probably get a few more bottles ready so we can feed him while Dixon and Marshall are here. Plus he needs to be changed. And the bouncy seat your mom gave us should be brought out so he can sit while they are here. Anything else need to be done before they arrive?"
"Yeah." He laughed.
"What?"
"I'd like to shower too, you know!"
Sydney smiled and kissed him quickly. "Ok. But me first." Danny finished up and Sydney handed him to his father to be burped. "Ok, I'm gonna go shower. Then when I get out I'll change him and get the bottles ready while you shower. Sound good?" Vaughn nodded and she kissed his quickly again before heading towards the stairs.
"See Danny, that Mommy of yours? She's a real take charge lady." Vaughn smiled at his son. "But I love her anyways. Besides, she likes the Kings, too. So she can't be too bad right?" Sydney smiled as she heard Vaughn talking to Danny.
She stepped out of the shower, pink all over, her hair fresh and her whole body tingling. She dressed in a comfortable pair of tan cotton pants and a relaxed white shirt. She brushed her hair and clipped the sides back. She looked like she could have just come from a day at the beach. She walked into her bedroom and proceeded out to the hallway. She was about to descend the stairs when she heard Vaughn's murmurs from the nursery.
"Now, I'm thinking the Kings onesy that your Uncle Eric bought you, huh? Yes, I'm sure that's a good choice. Now." He began to dress his son. "When we got to a game, we'll have to make sure you have a Kings sweatshirt to match Mommy and myself."
"And his cap will fit perfectly." Sydney smiled from the doorway.
"Hey. He needed to be changed, so I did it. You can cross that one off the list." He picked up his son and handed him to his mother. "You feel better?" She nodded. "Ok, I'm going to go shower. You do the bottles and when I'm done, I'll help you clean up the place some more. I already got out the seat. It's in the living room."
"Ok." Vaughn kissed her and walked towards their room. "Your Daddy's a little nuts, huh? Don't worry, you'll get used to it."
Vaughn stepped out of their room and was met with the sound of music. He walked down the stairs to find the living room picked up and the electric swing set up in the corner. The music coming from the stereo was light and happy and he recognized it as Billy Joel's Greatest Hits. He walked into the kitchen to find Sydney washing dishes as Danny sat on the table in his bouncy seat. Vaughn smiled at his son as Sydney hummed along to the music, her back to him. They lyrics began and Sydney sang along, swaying her hips to the beat.
"What's the matter with the clothes I'm wearing? Can't you tell that your tie's too wide. Maybe I should buy some old tab collars. Welcome back to the age of jive. Where have you been hidin' out lately, honey? You can't dress trashy till you spend a lot of money. Everybody's talkin' bout the new sound, funny but it's still rock and roll to me." As she continues to sing, she turned to check on her son, only to stop short when she saw Vaughn leaning against the wall. She gave him an embarrassed smile.
"Please, don't let my presence stop you." He smiled and kissed her.
"Ha, ha, very funny. Your son has good takes in music." She smiled as Danny looked up at her quietly.
"He's a Vaughn. All Vaughn men have good taste in music." He grinned.
"I don't know. There are some CD's out there that I'd like to get rid of."
"Hey, don't mock my CD's." He smiled and took a seat, turning Danny to face him. "I have a great collection."
"Uh-huh, sure. Because Seal is just the greatest of all time." She smiled. Vaughn grasped her hand and pulled her down to sit on his lap. She leaned her forehead against his temple as he wrapped an arm around her, his other hand holding Danny's. "Did you see his eyes?"
"What about them?"
"They're turning brown."
"Like yours."
"Except, if you look really closely, something's happening to them."
"What?"
"They're being speckled with bright green." She smiled at Vaughn and kissed him. "The same color green as yours."
He kissed her slowly. "Hmmm. What time is it?"
"Almost 10:30." She said looking at her watch.
"Good."
She laughed lightly. "Why is that good?"
"Because as much as I love Dixon and Marshall, I want you to myself for a little bit longer."
She smiled and met his lips again. She pulled back slowly and watched her son. "I can't wait to give him a bath."
Vaughn laughed at the sudden statement. "Why?"
"Because! I love baths, always have, and I just know he will too. That and have you seen some of the bath toys they have for children these days!? I mean they are so cool! They have these crayons that you can write on the side of the tub with and oh, they are just so cool!"
Vaughn couldn't help but laugh. "He can't even hold his head up yet, Syd, let alone a crayon."
She smacked his arm lightly. "I know that! Ok, well." She stood up and went back to the sink. She began to finish putting away the last of the dishes. "You said they're coming around noon, right?" She waited for Vaughn's response and was about to turn around to look at him when he grasped her from behind.
As she had walked to the sink, the song had changed and Vaughn quickly turned Danny back towards the sink area and walked to her. He spun her in his arms and began to dance with her as the song played. He held her close, her left hand in his right, their union lying on his chest as his left hand rested on the small of her back. He leaned into her and sang along softly in her ear. "She's got a way about her. I don't know what it is.
But I know that I can't live without her. She's got a way of pleasin'. I don't know why it is
But there doesn't have to be a reason anywhere. She's got a smile that heals me. I don't know what it is. But I have to laugh when she reveals me. She's got a way of talkin'
I don't know why it is. But it lifts me up when we are walkin' anywhere."
Sydney smiled into his chest and leaned back too look into his eyes. She leaned in slowly and kissed him long but gently. "I love you so much, you know that?"
"Yeah, I do." He smiled. They both stood holding each other and looked at their son who had drifted off to sleep. "Look at him sleeping. He is just so peaceful."
"Yeah. He's not worried about anything."
Vaughn pulled back and looked into her eyes, searchingly. "Are you worried about something?"
"No. Just amazed at how peaceful and carefree he is. It's been a long while since I have been able to really not worry, you know? Between SD-6, you, the wedding, Sark and then him, it's just been a long time." Vaughn nodded.
"I know." They stood watching their son for a while, slightly swaying as the music played in the background. Sydney's eyes drifted shut as she leaned against Vaughn. He could feel her breathing slow as they stood and he carefully picked her up and walked over to the couch, placing her down peacefully. It was only 10:40 and he reasoned with himself that he could let her sleep for at least an hour. He went back into the kitchen and picked up Danny in his bouncy seat and brought it into the living room. He sat the seat on the table and then sat back down in the big chair, facing the couch and table. He pulled out a book and read as his family slept peacefully before him.
Sydney slept quietly and peacefully for close to 45 minutes before she was awoken by the cries of her screaming, hungry son. She opened her eyes to find Vaughn trying to soothe his son as he lifted him from the seat. "Here." She called as she sat up and held out her hands.
"It's ok, Syd, I can give him a bottle."
"No, don't waste the bottles. We don't know how long Dixon and Marshall will be here and your son is always hungry. I'll just feed him now."
"You sure? 'Cuz you could still sleep some more."
"No, I'm fine." Vaughn nodded and handed her, her son. As he began to straighten back up, Sydney grabbed him around his neck and pulled him down to meet her lips. "Thank you for letting me sleep."
"My pleasure." He smiled.
At 12:00, Sydney and Vaughn sat together on the couch, watching TV as Danny sat peacefully in Sydney's lap, sucking on a pacifier. The doorbell rang and Vaughn rose quickly to answer it as Sydney shut off the TV and slowly gathered Danny in her arms and stood as Dixon, Diane, Desiree and Marshall all stepped into the house.
"Hi!" Diane called as she rushed to Sydney and kissed her cheek. "He's so beautiful!"
"Thank you. How are you guys?" Sydney smiled as Desiree came up and Sydney kissed her cheek as well as receiving a kiss from Dixon.
"We're great." Dixon told her as they al walked into the living room and sat down.
"And you Marshall?" Sydney asked as Marshall sat down, a nervous grin on his face.
"I'm, I'm fine." He whispered.
Sydney smiled. "I'm glad you could come."
They sat and chatted throughout the afternoon only being interrupted around 4:00 by a screaming Danny, demanding to be fed. "Excuse me." Sydney smiled apologetically as she rose and retrieved a bottle from the kitchen.
"Oh, its ok, Syd. We should be going anyway. It's a good drive and we don't want to detain you for too long." Dixon smiled.
"Ok." She handed Danny to Vaughn and gave him the bottle. "Thank you again for coming. I've missed you."
"It was our pleasure." Diane assured her.
"Oh! I almost forgot!" Marshall walked over to the door and picker up a gift bag he had placed there. "This is for you."
"Thank you. You didn't have to give us anything." Sydney insisted as she took the bag.
"Well, this is just something I thought of and figured it would be a neat thing for you and Danny." Marshall replied nervously as Sydney opened the gift and removed a large round object. "See." Marshall began to explain. "When the sensor picks up that the baby's crying, this lights up here and spins around showing the different scenes from Winnie the Pooh, since that's what Dixon said was your nursery theme." Sydney nodded and Marshall let out a sigh of relief. "And the music starts. It plays Braham's Lullaby and several other soft classical pieces. And it shut off when he falls asleep. You can program it to do all sorts of stuff too." He smiled as he showed her the booklet he had made for her.
Sydney smiled and hugged him "Thank you, so much!"
After they all left, Sydney sat back down on the couch as Vaughn burped their son. "So," he turned to her and smiled. "Did you have fun with your friends?"
"Yes." She smiled. "Mocking me is not allowed." She smiled as she took her son and brought him to the electric swing in the corner. She set him in and turned it on.
"I am not mocking you." Vaughn insisted as she gave the baby a pacifier.
"You are too. That's ok, I'm just gonna remember this next time you get together with Eric." Sydney smiled and sat down on the couch.
"Blackmail? You're using blackmail?" Vaughn laughed.
"Maybe." She smiled mischievously.
Vaughn took the baby monitor and turned it towards the swing and grabbed the other monitor. "See, I don't think so." He said as he advanced towards her.
"NO!" She cried as she laughed. "You stay away!"
"Take it back!" Vaughn cried as she backed down the hallway.
"Never!" She cried as she ran up the stairs, Vaughn in close pursuit, laughing as he ran after her.
Sydney ran into the bedroom and quickly backed to the wall. Vaughn ran in and placed the monitor on the dresser. Sydney laughed as Vaughn glared at her. "You surrender?"
"No." She laughed.
"Face the consequences then." Vaughn lunged over the bed towards her as she ran towards the door. Vaughn grabbed her around the waist and pilled her to the bed. She screamed out in fake fright. Vaughn fell down next to her and pulled her close, kissing her fiercely. "You give up yet?" He kissed her again.
"No. Never." She breathed in between kisses. Vaughn slid his hand up her shirt, still kissing her. "Not. Gonna. Work." She breathed as she pulled him closer to her. Despite her want for him, she pulled away. "Mike, we can't. Not yet. It has to be in at least two months."
Vaughn breathed deeply and sighed. "Uh, I know." She smiled apologetically and kissed him softly.
"I'm sorry. You know I want to . . ."
"I know." He sighed again. "Two months?" She nodded. "Ok. Ok. But I swear, in two months . . ." He kissed her fiercely.
"Mmm." She smiled widely as she pulled back. "I can't wait." She leaned in to kiss him again when a high pitched wail rang through the monitor. She pulled back and leaned her forehead against him. She let out a long sigh. "Your son is up and very unhappy."
"Oh? Why is he just *my* son?" Vaughn questioned as they walked down the stairs.
"Because he is being loud and disruptive and extremely unhappy. Didn't you know that's the rule?" She joked as she walked over to the swing and picked up the screaming infant. "What's wrong baby? Huh?" She bounced her son lightly in her arms.
"Here's the problem." Vaughn picked up the pacifier sitting on the floor and ran into the kitchen to return a moment later with another one. He walked to Sydney and gave his screaming son the pacifier.
"Your son has quite a set of lungs." Sydney smiled as the three sat down on the couch.
"Don't look at me. Your dad's got quite a loud voice. He got that from *your* side." He smiled and her and kissed her forehead.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Wanna watch a movie?" She smiled at him.
"Depends on which one."
"I dunno. You pick." Vaughn stood and walked over to the TV.
"Let's see . . . Espionage or Espionage free?"
"Doesn't matter."
"Ok . . . Talented Mr. Rippley or . . ." He searched the movies again. "Oh! Tootsie!" He smiled and slipped it in before returning to sit next to Sydney. He leaned against the end of the couch as Sydney put Danny in his bouncy seat that was lying on the table, and leaned against Vaughn He placed an arm around her and laughed lightly.
"What?" She asked.
"Who would have thought 4 years ago that we'd be sitting here, Sloane in jail, SD-6 gone, watching a movie as our son falls asleep in front of us?"
"I never would have. But I'm so glad it happened."
"Me too. It's perfect." He kissed her forehead and settled down as the movie began.
A/N: Wow. Finally done. Oh, by the way, since I started this BEFORE the Counteragent, All the stuff after that.obviously didn't happen! In other words, Francie still is the good Francie, not Evil Francie, her and Will never happened and so on and so forth. Confused? Read "THROUGH IT ALL" and "WAITING FOR THE PERFECT MOMENT" to get caught up to speed. Those are the prequels to this one. For those of you who know what's going on (cuz you've been following me) thanks for reading, and please review! This chapter is for Jennifer who is basically my best friend! (Though how we will ever meet it beyond me since she's in California and I'm in New Hampshire with about 176437 feet of snow!) Please read and review . . . I love you all! - Secret Agent Girl
Ok now that you have dealt with my incessant ramblings . . .
Here is chapter 5. I know it has been a long time coming since hand written I have out to chapter 8. I wrote this BEFORE Christmas Vaca! HA! O well. Here you go. Thanks to all my reviewers (I would love to make it to the triple digits by the very end, since the most I've ever gotten is 64! Help me get there!!!)
Remember I own nothing, and by nothing I mean NOTHING! All the songs by Billy Joel or the Movies are what I was listening too or watching when I wrote this!
CHAPTER 5 - BEING HOME
The door creaked open and Sydney glanced up from the bundle in her arms to see Francie and Will smiling at her. "Come in! Come in!" She called out to them in a hushed voice.
Francie and Will took a tentative step forward to look at the sleeping boy. "He's so gorgeous!" Francie spoke softly as she touched Danny's tiny fist. "He looks just like Mike."
"I know." Sydney smiled. "I hope he has Mike's eyes too, but I think they are turning brown." Sydney gazed at the beautiful boy in front of her.
"Where is Mike?" Will asked as he kissed Sydney's cheek softly.
"He went to call my dad. We tried him earlier but he was still in his meeting."
"So," Francie sat down in a chair next to Sydney's bed. "What shall we call this gorgeous little boy?"
"Danny." Sydney smiled widely. "Daniel William. After the two reasons Mike and I entered the CIA, and subsequently met, Danny and Mike's dad."
"That's absolutely precious!" Francie smiled as the door opened and Vaughn appeared. "Hey!" Francie jumped up and gave him a large hug. "You're a Daddy!"
"Yeah, I am." He smiled as Will shook his hand.
"Ok, well we should get going." Will said as he kissed Sydney's cheek again and laid a hand on Danny's head.
"Bye." Sydney called as they left.
"So, Mommy," Vaughn smiled as he walked over to Sydney and kissed his son's head softly. "How are you feeling?"
"Tired." She smiled weakly. Vaughn reached down and picked up his son. "Did you reach my dad?"
"Yeah. He's on his way. And my mom's gonna stop by tomorrow."
"I'm only here for two days or so right?"
"Right." He placed his son in the hospital bassinet and sat down next to Sydney on her bed.
"I was lucky I was where I was."
"What do you mean?"
"My mom. She knew right away that I was in labor and she talked me through the breathing exercises as well as called you. If I had been in your office, or at home . . . I was just lucky."
"Yeah. I didn't think I'd ever be thankful for her being around, but, I was today." He kissed Sydney's temple.
The door flung open and Jack walked briskly in. "Daddy!" Sydney smiled as he approached her swiftly.
"Hey, sweetheart. Mike." Jack walked over and kissed Sydney's cheek.
Vaughn walked to the bassinet and picked up Danny, walking him back to Jack and placing the blue bundle in his arms. "Jack Bristow, meet Daniel Vaughn, your grandson."
Jack smiled at the boy and looked at Sydney with a slightly raised eyebrow. "Daniel?"
"Mm-hmm. Daniel William. After . . ."
"Daniel Hecht and William Vaughn." Jack cut in swiftly.
"Yeah." Sydney smiled at her father's knowledge. "Yeah."
On Monday, Sydney was given the OK to go home. Vaughn, who had been staying with Weiss, came to pick her up early that morning. He had wanted to stay in the hospital room with her but she told him under no circumstances, she needed him to be awake when he drove them home, and it was much easier to sleep in Weiss's spare bedroom rather than on an uncomfortable hospital chair.
They all piled into the car, Danny sleeping in his carrier in the back seat. As they began their trek, Sydney turned to Vaughn, "Mike?"
"Hmm?"
"Can we stop by the CIA before we head home?" He looked at her questioningly. "I just . . . She doesn't deserve it, I know that, but . . ."
"I know." Vaughn smiled softly at her. "Yeah, we can."
"Thank you." she smiled as she turned to look at her sleeping son.
They entered Headquarters and immediately ran into Weiss. "Hey!" He called as he ran over to them, embracing Sydney. "How are you?"
"I'm ok."
Weiss shook Vaughn's hand and looked down into the carrier that Vaughn was holding. He smiled as he looked upon the sleeping infant, snuggled in the blue pj set Jack had given them, but instead of the matching cap, a Kings Logo cap was placed on his head. "Already molding him to love the Kings?"
"Like I'd let him love any other team!" Vaughn joked.
"I'll see you guys later." Weiss called, shaking his head in disbelief as he continued on his way.
The three made their way down to the holding cells. They had called ahead was holding a set of keys as they neared the cell. Irena looked up at the sound of the bars being raised and saw Sydney and Vaughn as they stopped in front of her cell. Sydney took the cell from Vaughn and placed it on the floor and removed the tiny infant. Vaughn unlocked the door and the three of them slowly entered the cell.
"Don't think that this is going to happen any other time. I just want to thank you for your help on Saturday and I figured this was the best way to do so." Sydney walked towards her mother, Daniel lying in her arms, cuddling up to her chest. "This is Danny."
Irena stepped closer to them and ran her hand down Danny's back. He blinked his eyes open and Irena smiled at the sight of them, their new baby blue shinning back at her, slowly dulling to a brown. "He's beautiful." She smiled at Sydney and Vaughn. "Thank you for this."
Sydney nodded and then turned and walked out, Vaughn Locking the door behind them.
They left the cells and walked to the car. "Thank you." Sydney smiled up at Vaughn.
"No problem. She did a good thing on Saturday and now she knows we appreciated that."
They walked into their front door and Sydney took a deep breath. She walked to their bedroom and slipped the sleeping baby into the bassinet lying in the corner of their room. She flipped on the special baby monitor and pointed it towards her son. Grabbing the other part of the monitor, she walked back down stairs to find Vaughn on the phone. "Of course. No, that will be fine. Ok. We'll see you tomorrow." He hung up and turned to face his wife. "Dixon and Marshall are going to stop by tomorrow, if that's ok."
"That's fine." She yawned as she sat down on the couch. Vaughn sat down next to her and pulled her close.
"Good to be home?"
"*Great* to be home." She corrected as he laughed. "I love you."
"I love you too." He smiled and kissed her softly. "Movie?"
"Movie." She agreed, nodding her head as Vaughn stood.
"Which one do you . . ." He held up tow movies but was cut off by the sounds od a screaming infant.
"Paris." She called as she stood and walked up to soothe her son. She returned a moment later, child in hand, and sat down on the couch as she proceeded to feed him.
Vaughn pushed in the movie and sat down next to her, placing an arm around her shoulder and slowly stroking her arm. "So you going to turn our son into a Gene Kelly fan?" He joked as An American in Paris jumped on to the screen.
"Hey, if you get to turn him into the biggest Kings fan alive, then I'm adding the love of a good movie to his personality." She smiled as Vaughn kissed her.
"Yeah?" He smiled as his son was burped. "Come here." He took Danny from Sydney and held him close as Sydney leaned against him.
The three sat in silence as they watched Gene Kelly dance, a smile spreading across Sydney's face. "Hey." She whispered. "We're a family."
Vaughn smiled and kissed her forehead. "Yeah, we are."
Sydney woke the next morning to find that it was already 8:00. She was shocked to find she wasn't woken earlier since she was sure her son was probably starving. She sat up to find herself completely alone. She wandered down stairs to find Vaughn sitting cross legged on the couch. Danny sat in his lap as they watched Sports Center. "See, and that's the Coyotes. We don't like them. Uncle Will does but we know that eh Kings are better." Sydney smiled as Vaughn talked his son through the report on the NHL Drafts. "One day, you're going to be up there getting drafted for the Kings." Vaughn smiled and brushed his hand over the top of his son's head.
"Jumping the gun a bit aren't we?" Sydney asked as she entered the room and sat down next to them, kissing Vaughn lightly.
"Never too soon to start." Vaughn smiled.
"He's not even a week old!" She joked. "How long have you been up?"
"A couple of hours."
"He must be starving!" She cried sympathetically. "You should have woken me."
"Syd, you put two bottles in the fridge yesterday for cases just like that, remember? I fed him, he's fine, I am his father, you know."
She smiled. "Ok, I get it." She leaned up against him, bringing her feet up under her. Vaughn wrapped an arm around her as she took one of Danny's hands in her own. She leaned over and kissed her son's temple gently. "What time are Dixon and Marshall getting here?"
"Um, around noon."
"Good. I have plenty of time to shower then. I need to wash my hair." Vaughn laughed lightly. She yawned loudly and Vaughn stroked her hair.
"You can go back to bed, you know."
"Nah, I'm fine. Just need coffee. Did you make some?"
"Yeah."
"Thank God!"
Vaughn laughed as she jumped up and walked briskly into the kitchen. "What's with the sudden need for coffee?"
"You're kidding, right?" Sydney emerged from the kitchen, cup in hand. "For the past 9, count um, *9* months, I haven't been allowed to drink coffee because its "not good for the baby when in the womb". Well you know what? The baby is currently sitting in your lap right now so . . ." She took a long sip. "Mm. Coffee."
Vaughn could barely contain his laughter as Sydney sat back down with him. "So what else are you looking forward to doing again?"
"Um, let's see. Well, I can't drink yet while I'm breastfeeding, but, OH! I know! I can't wait to wear my jeans again! And all my other clothes! Especially my blue sweater! That's what I'm really looking forward to!"
Vaughn smiled and kissed her. "All very good things."
"Really? Why do I sense that you think you know something better?"
"Well, I'm thinking more along the lines of sleeping with your husband again but . . ."
"You're just thinking like a guy." She smiled cutting him off. "No, I'm definitely looking forward to that again." Danny began to fuss softly in Vaughn's arms. "Oh, what's wrong baby?" Sydney took him from his father and held him close. "What time did you feed him?"
"Uh . . . 5:30 or so."
"Yeah, that's what I thought. My baby's hungry." She kissed Danny's soft forehead before beginning to feed him. "Ok, let's see. It's 8:15 now and I need to shower as well as probably get a few more bottles ready so we can feed him while Dixon and Marshall are here. Plus he needs to be changed. And the bouncy seat your mom gave us should be brought out so he can sit while they are here. Anything else need to be done before they arrive?"
"Yeah." He laughed.
"What?"
"I'd like to shower too, you know!"
Sydney smiled and kissed him quickly. "Ok. But me first." Danny finished up and Sydney handed him to his father to be burped. "Ok, I'm gonna go shower. Then when I get out I'll change him and get the bottles ready while you shower. Sound good?" Vaughn nodded and she kissed his quickly again before heading towards the stairs.
"See Danny, that Mommy of yours? She's a real take charge lady." Vaughn smiled at his son. "But I love her anyways. Besides, she likes the Kings, too. So she can't be too bad right?" Sydney smiled as she heard Vaughn talking to Danny.
She stepped out of the shower, pink all over, her hair fresh and her whole body tingling. She dressed in a comfortable pair of tan cotton pants and a relaxed white shirt. She brushed her hair and clipped the sides back. She looked like she could have just come from a day at the beach. She walked into her bedroom and proceeded out to the hallway. She was about to descend the stairs when she heard Vaughn's murmurs from the nursery.
"Now, I'm thinking the Kings onesy that your Uncle Eric bought you, huh? Yes, I'm sure that's a good choice. Now." He began to dress his son. "When we got to a game, we'll have to make sure you have a Kings sweatshirt to match Mommy and myself."
"And his cap will fit perfectly." Sydney smiled from the doorway.
"Hey. He needed to be changed, so I did it. You can cross that one off the list." He picked up his son and handed him to his mother. "You feel better?" She nodded. "Ok, I'm going to go shower. You do the bottles and when I'm done, I'll help you clean up the place some more. I already got out the seat. It's in the living room."
"Ok." Vaughn kissed her and walked towards their room. "Your Daddy's a little nuts, huh? Don't worry, you'll get used to it."
Vaughn stepped out of their room and was met with the sound of music. He walked down the stairs to find the living room picked up and the electric swing set up in the corner. The music coming from the stereo was light and happy and he recognized it as Billy Joel's Greatest Hits. He walked into the kitchen to find Sydney washing dishes as Danny sat on the table in his bouncy seat. Vaughn smiled at his son as Sydney hummed along to the music, her back to him. They lyrics began and Sydney sang along, swaying her hips to the beat.
"What's the matter with the clothes I'm wearing? Can't you tell that your tie's too wide. Maybe I should buy some old tab collars. Welcome back to the age of jive. Where have you been hidin' out lately, honey? You can't dress trashy till you spend a lot of money. Everybody's talkin' bout the new sound, funny but it's still rock and roll to me." As she continues to sing, she turned to check on her son, only to stop short when she saw Vaughn leaning against the wall. She gave him an embarrassed smile.
"Please, don't let my presence stop you." He smiled and kissed her.
"Ha, ha, very funny. Your son has good takes in music." She smiled as Danny looked up at her quietly.
"He's a Vaughn. All Vaughn men have good taste in music." He grinned.
"I don't know. There are some CD's out there that I'd like to get rid of."
"Hey, don't mock my CD's." He smiled and took a seat, turning Danny to face him. "I have a great collection."
"Uh-huh, sure. Because Seal is just the greatest of all time." She smiled. Vaughn grasped her hand and pulled her down to sit on his lap. She leaned her forehead against his temple as he wrapped an arm around her, his other hand holding Danny's. "Did you see his eyes?"
"What about them?"
"They're turning brown."
"Like yours."
"Except, if you look really closely, something's happening to them."
"What?"
"They're being speckled with bright green." She smiled at Vaughn and kissed him. "The same color green as yours."
He kissed her slowly. "Hmmm. What time is it?"
"Almost 10:30." She said looking at her watch.
"Good."
She laughed lightly. "Why is that good?"
"Because as much as I love Dixon and Marshall, I want you to myself for a little bit longer."
She smiled and met his lips again. She pulled back slowly and watched her son. "I can't wait to give him a bath."
Vaughn laughed at the sudden statement. "Why?"
"Because! I love baths, always have, and I just know he will too. That and have you seen some of the bath toys they have for children these days!? I mean they are so cool! They have these crayons that you can write on the side of the tub with and oh, they are just so cool!"
Vaughn couldn't help but laugh. "He can't even hold his head up yet, Syd, let alone a crayon."
She smacked his arm lightly. "I know that! Ok, well." She stood up and went back to the sink. She began to finish putting away the last of the dishes. "You said they're coming around noon, right?" She waited for Vaughn's response and was about to turn around to look at him when he grasped her from behind.
As she had walked to the sink, the song had changed and Vaughn quickly turned Danny back towards the sink area and walked to her. He spun her in his arms and began to dance with her as the song played. He held her close, her left hand in his right, their union lying on his chest as his left hand rested on the small of her back. He leaned into her and sang along softly in her ear. "She's got a way about her. I don't know what it is.
But I know that I can't live without her. She's got a way of pleasin'. I don't know why it is
But there doesn't have to be a reason anywhere. She's got a smile that heals me. I don't know what it is. But I have to laugh when she reveals me. She's got a way of talkin'
I don't know why it is. But it lifts me up when we are walkin' anywhere."
Sydney smiled into his chest and leaned back too look into his eyes. She leaned in slowly and kissed him long but gently. "I love you so much, you know that?"
"Yeah, I do." He smiled. They both stood holding each other and looked at their son who had drifted off to sleep. "Look at him sleeping. He is just so peaceful."
"Yeah. He's not worried about anything."
Vaughn pulled back and looked into her eyes, searchingly. "Are you worried about something?"
"No. Just amazed at how peaceful and carefree he is. It's been a long while since I have been able to really not worry, you know? Between SD-6, you, the wedding, Sark and then him, it's just been a long time." Vaughn nodded.
"I know." They stood watching their son for a while, slightly swaying as the music played in the background. Sydney's eyes drifted shut as she leaned against Vaughn. He could feel her breathing slow as they stood and he carefully picked her up and walked over to the couch, placing her down peacefully. It was only 10:40 and he reasoned with himself that he could let her sleep for at least an hour. He went back into the kitchen and picked up Danny in his bouncy seat and brought it into the living room. He sat the seat on the table and then sat back down in the big chair, facing the couch and table. He pulled out a book and read as his family slept peacefully before him.
Sydney slept quietly and peacefully for close to 45 minutes before she was awoken by the cries of her screaming, hungry son. She opened her eyes to find Vaughn trying to soothe his son as he lifted him from the seat. "Here." She called as she sat up and held out her hands.
"It's ok, Syd, I can give him a bottle."
"No, don't waste the bottles. We don't know how long Dixon and Marshall will be here and your son is always hungry. I'll just feed him now."
"You sure? 'Cuz you could still sleep some more."
"No, I'm fine." Vaughn nodded and handed her, her son. As he began to straighten back up, Sydney grabbed him around his neck and pulled him down to meet her lips. "Thank you for letting me sleep."
"My pleasure." He smiled.
At 12:00, Sydney and Vaughn sat together on the couch, watching TV as Danny sat peacefully in Sydney's lap, sucking on a pacifier. The doorbell rang and Vaughn rose quickly to answer it as Sydney shut off the TV and slowly gathered Danny in her arms and stood as Dixon, Diane, Desiree and Marshall all stepped into the house.
"Hi!" Diane called as she rushed to Sydney and kissed her cheek. "He's so beautiful!"
"Thank you. How are you guys?" Sydney smiled as Desiree came up and Sydney kissed her cheek as well as receiving a kiss from Dixon.
"We're great." Dixon told her as they al walked into the living room and sat down.
"And you Marshall?" Sydney asked as Marshall sat down, a nervous grin on his face.
"I'm, I'm fine." He whispered.
Sydney smiled. "I'm glad you could come."
They sat and chatted throughout the afternoon only being interrupted around 4:00 by a screaming Danny, demanding to be fed. "Excuse me." Sydney smiled apologetically as she rose and retrieved a bottle from the kitchen.
"Oh, its ok, Syd. We should be going anyway. It's a good drive and we don't want to detain you for too long." Dixon smiled.
"Ok." She handed Danny to Vaughn and gave him the bottle. "Thank you again for coming. I've missed you."
"It was our pleasure." Diane assured her.
"Oh! I almost forgot!" Marshall walked over to the door and picker up a gift bag he had placed there. "This is for you."
"Thank you. You didn't have to give us anything." Sydney insisted as she took the bag.
"Well, this is just something I thought of and figured it would be a neat thing for you and Danny." Marshall replied nervously as Sydney opened the gift and removed a large round object. "See." Marshall began to explain. "When the sensor picks up that the baby's crying, this lights up here and spins around showing the different scenes from Winnie the Pooh, since that's what Dixon said was your nursery theme." Sydney nodded and Marshall let out a sigh of relief. "And the music starts. It plays Braham's Lullaby and several other soft classical pieces. And it shut off when he falls asleep. You can program it to do all sorts of stuff too." He smiled as he showed her the booklet he had made for her.
Sydney smiled and hugged him "Thank you, so much!"
After they all left, Sydney sat back down on the couch as Vaughn burped their son. "So," he turned to her and smiled. "Did you have fun with your friends?"
"Yes." She smiled. "Mocking me is not allowed." She smiled as she took her son and brought him to the electric swing in the corner. She set him in and turned it on.
"I am not mocking you." Vaughn insisted as she gave the baby a pacifier.
"You are too. That's ok, I'm just gonna remember this next time you get together with Eric." Sydney smiled and sat down on the couch.
"Blackmail? You're using blackmail?" Vaughn laughed.
"Maybe." She smiled mischievously.
Vaughn took the baby monitor and turned it towards the swing and grabbed the other monitor. "See, I don't think so." He said as he advanced towards her.
"NO!" She cried as she laughed. "You stay away!"
"Take it back!" Vaughn cried as she backed down the hallway.
"Never!" She cried as she ran up the stairs, Vaughn in close pursuit, laughing as he ran after her.
Sydney ran into the bedroom and quickly backed to the wall. Vaughn ran in and placed the monitor on the dresser. Sydney laughed as Vaughn glared at her. "You surrender?"
"No." She laughed.
"Face the consequences then." Vaughn lunged over the bed towards her as she ran towards the door. Vaughn grabbed her around the waist and pilled her to the bed. She screamed out in fake fright. Vaughn fell down next to her and pulled her close, kissing her fiercely. "You give up yet?" He kissed her again.
"No. Never." She breathed in between kisses. Vaughn slid his hand up her shirt, still kissing her. "Not. Gonna. Work." She breathed as she pulled him closer to her. Despite her want for him, she pulled away. "Mike, we can't. Not yet. It has to be in at least two months."
Vaughn breathed deeply and sighed. "Uh, I know." She smiled apologetically and kissed him softly.
"I'm sorry. You know I want to . . ."
"I know." He sighed again. "Two months?" She nodded. "Ok. Ok. But I swear, in two months . . ." He kissed her fiercely.
"Mmm." She smiled widely as she pulled back. "I can't wait." She leaned in to kiss him again when a high pitched wail rang through the monitor. She pulled back and leaned her forehead against him. She let out a long sigh. "Your son is up and very unhappy."
"Oh? Why is he just *my* son?" Vaughn questioned as they walked down the stairs.
"Because he is being loud and disruptive and extremely unhappy. Didn't you know that's the rule?" She joked as she walked over to the swing and picked up the screaming infant. "What's wrong baby? Huh?" She bounced her son lightly in her arms.
"Here's the problem." Vaughn picked up the pacifier sitting on the floor and ran into the kitchen to return a moment later with another one. He walked to Sydney and gave his screaming son the pacifier.
"Your son has quite a set of lungs." Sydney smiled as the three sat down on the couch.
"Don't look at me. Your dad's got quite a loud voice. He got that from *your* side." He smiled and her and kissed her forehead.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Wanna watch a movie?" She smiled at him.
"Depends on which one."
"I dunno. You pick." Vaughn stood and walked over to the TV.
"Let's see . . . Espionage or Espionage free?"
"Doesn't matter."
"Ok . . . Talented Mr. Rippley or . . ." He searched the movies again. "Oh! Tootsie!" He smiled and slipped it in before returning to sit next to Sydney. He leaned against the end of the couch as Sydney put Danny in his bouncy seat that was lying on the table, and leaned against Vaughn He placed an arm around her and laughed lightly.
"What?" She asked.
"Who would have thought 4 years ago that we'd be sitting here, Sloane in jail, SD-6 gone, watching a movie as our son falls asleep in front of us?"
"I never would have. But I'm so glad it happened."
"Me too. It's perfect." He kissed her forehead and settled down as the movie began.
A/N: Wow. Finally done. Oh, by the way, since I started this BEFORE the Counteragent, All the stuff after that.obviously didn't happen! In other words, Francie still is the good Francie, not Evil Francie, her and Will never happened and so on and so forth. Confused? Read "THROUGH IT ALL" and "WAITING FOR THE PERFECT MOMENT" to get caught up to speed. Those are the prequels to this one. For those of you who know what's going on (cuz you've been following me) thanks for reading, and please review! This chapter is for Jennifer who is basically my best friend! (Though how we will ever meet it beyond me since she's in California and I'm in New Hampshire with about 176437 feet of snow!) Please read and review . . . I love you all! - Secret Agent Girl