4 PM
Mark hovered outside the door to the hospital gift shop, holding a cup of steaming, flavorless hospital coffee. He had spent the past hour and a half trying to track down his free spirited Maureen after she stormed out of Jen's private room. He had almost given up, thinking that she had returned to the loft to pout with a large bowl of ice cream. But he had found her, and now she was inside the gift shop, a small smile positioned on her face.
He leaned up against the glass slightly, not quite ready to go in yet. He figured that maybe he needed a little time to reflect on the events of the past few months, or better yet, past few years. Mark knew Maureen was still hurting slightly over her first miscarriage in February. She had told him several times that she felt responsible, because 'if she hadn't tried to kill herself, they'd have a newborn baby already'.
Maureen's bi weekly visits to her therapist since February seemed to be improving her morale somewhat, and she often had a smile on her face at all times. She had to give up her anti-depressants for the duration of her second pregnancy, but her mood seemed to remain the same, and the old Maureen had started coming through since.
Mark watched her from outside as she flounced from display to display, her strawberry blonde curls bouncing against her shoulders. She glanced up from the balloon display and noticed Mark watching her from the window. Maureen smiled even wider and blew him a small kiss, which Mark pretended to catch as he laughed.
She quickly joined him outside with a laugh. "You're such a peeping Tom, Mark," she giggled as they walked down the hall and away from the gift shop together.
"Am not," Mark teased back, wrapping an arm loosely around her waist. "I spent the last two hours tracking you down."
"Well, then you're a very loyal peeping Tom," she added with a smile. "I'm sorry I ran out before. I don't know why I did, exactly."
"It's understandable." They turned the corner. "I made a few phone calls and called everything off. We'll be getting part of our money back for the reception dinner and what not. They seemed pretty understanding about everything. I think the prospect of a woman going into labor in the middle of the toast made them almost shit their pants."
Maureen let out another laugh. "I can't believe you just said that. That's something Roger would say. You guys are rubbing off on each other again."
"I know," Mark grinned. "They're offering the place to us again at half price, so whenever we're ready to reschedule, we can."
"That's something we'll have to think about, but the sooner the better sounds good to me. I think your mother already hates me," Maureen sighed.
"She doesn't hate you."
"Well she doesn't seem to like me too much," she giggled again. "She called my cell phone before and seemed a little frazzled."
"She's the mother of the groom," Mark reminded her. "Well, that's not really an excuse, because she's always frazzled, but some events really get her going."
"Hu-llo! Aunt Mo! Uncle Mark! " Abby had appeared at the end of the hall, tugging tightly on Collins' hand. "C'mon, Uncle Collins!"
"Okay, okay, but you have to be quiet," he reprimanded her gently with a smile. She giggled and slipped out of his grasp, flying down the hall and straight into Mark's awaiting arms.
"Uncle Mark, when can I see Mommy and Daddy?" She peered up at him with her blue eyes, so reminiscent of Roger himself.
"Well, why don't we go and find out?" Mark suggested, placing her small hand in his. "Your mom might just be ready to have your new little brother right now."
"Cool!" she squealed as they edged towards the elevators. "Can I hold him?"
Maureen smiled and ran her fingers through Abby's blonde pigtails. "I'm sure once he comes you'll be able to hold him."
"Daddy said it's like holding a sack of potatoes."
Maureen cracked a smile as she, Mark, and Collins all shared a suggestive glance. "Well, I guess…so."
"That's Roger for you," Collins whispered under his breath.
"You can say that again," Mark smiled wistfully as they all boarded the elevator, Abby pressing the button in with fascination.
"Roger, please!" Jen moaned. "Shut up!" She braced herself for another contraction as Roger pushed her hair back off her sweaty forehead. "Now is not a good time to give me the life history of Jimi Hendrix!"
"I'm just trying to get your mind of it," he replied apologetically. "You can do this, I know you can." He kissed her temple and watched as the monitor peaked, signaling another contraction.
"Come on Jen, you're doing great!" the doctor encouraged. "You're crowning. Give me another good push."
"Fine," she grumbled. "I'm trying!"
"Good, that was a good one. One more and he should be out!"
"Did you hear that, Jen? One more and he's out, okay?"
Jen shot Roger a nasty glare. "I don't think he stuttered, and yes, I understand English, so I heard him!"
Roger whistled and just squeezed her hand. "Okay."
"Here we go again, Jen. Push one two three—"
"Are you sure it's okay for him to come out? Because he can gladly stay in there for a few more weeks and that's fine with me!" she begged painfully, squeezing her eyes shut tight. "I don't think I'm ready for this. I'm so out of practice! Ow!"
"…Eight, nine, ten, great! He's out!" The doctor lifted the crying baby boy up and placed him on Jen's stomach while he suctioned.
"Mommy, are you okay?" Abby's voice drifted in through the open doorway, although she remained out of sight. "Did it hurt?"
"I'm okay, baby," Jen called over. "I'm okay." She ran her hand over the baby's head and looked up at Roger. "That wasn't so bad. A hell of a lot easier then when I had Abby."
"That was…well, it looked painful," Roger admitted casually. The baby's hand gripped his finger tightly as it yawned. "But hey, little guy. You're not so small after all."
A nurse allowed Roger to cut the cord while the doctor cleaned Jen up somewhat. She then lifted the baby up and performed the Apgar scale, as well as documenting the height and weight.
"He looks good, Jen," the doctor told her as he hovered around. "I want to keep him overnight for observation in the NICU just to be on the safe side, but if all goes well, we can move him to the regular nursery tomorrow morning."
Jen nodded. "That's fine."
The nurse smiled as she brought the baby back over to Jen, resting him on her stomach once again. "Six pounds, eleven ounces. Twenty inches long. Nine on the Apgar. Have we got a name for him yet?"
Jen glanced at Roger. "What do you think? Are we still going with Ryan?"
Roger nodded and grinned, kissing the top of Jen's forehead. "How about Ryan James? We could call him Jimmy as a nickname, or Jimi, like Hendrix. "
"Ryan James," Jen told the nurse, who jotted it down. "Ryan James Davis." She leaned over and kissed Roger with a smile. "Go get Abby. I want her to meet her little brother."
Roger nodded. "Should I lead that troops in too?"
"Sure, why not," she replied tiredly, but with a smile.
Roger poked his head out into the hallway with a grin. Abby came bounding towards him, and he picked her up, twirling her around. "Ready to go meet your little brother, princess?"
"Yup! I've been waiting and waiting," she told him seriously. "Uncle Mark just wouldn't let me in." She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him loosely.
"Mean old Uncle Mark," Roger teased him with a laugh.
Mark laughed and helped Maureen out of the chair. "Yeah, mean old grumpy Uncle Mark. How's Jen doing?" Mark, Maureen, and Collins entered the room first, followed by Roger and Abby, who almost couldn't contain her squeals of excitement.
"You can ask me that yourself," Jen smiled at them, overhearing. Ryan was safely cradled in her arms, wrapped in a pale blue blanket. "But I'm good. He's good."
Maureen cautiously sat down in the chair and smiled, cooing at the baby. "How was it?" The baby let out a small yawn and everyone gave a collective 'Aww'.
"Hard. I was tired a lot, but it was easier on me, since I had Abby already. But I guess it wasn't too bad," she answered. "Abby, come here."
"Okay." Roger set Abby down on the ground and she walked over to the bed. "Can I touch him? I'm not gonna break him, I swear."
Everyone laughed at this. "Yeah, you can touch him," Roger answered. "But just be gentle."
Abby stuck out her hand and rested it on her baby brother's stomach. "He looks like Daddy, Mommy. Is he gonna be a guitar player like Daddy?"
Roger smiled and rested his hand on Abby's shoulder. "I don't know. Maybe one day."
Jen laughed when Abby started making funny faces at the baby. "What are you doing?"
"Trying to make him laugh! Ooh, can I hold him! Can I please?"
Roger grinned. "Sure." He helped her up onto the bed next to Jen. He then picked up Ryan in his arms and gently positioned him in Abby's, helping her support the head.
"He's just like a sack of potatoes," she laughed. "Was I this little?"
"A sack of potatoes? Where did you hear that?" Jen questioned with a small smile.
Roger grinned and shrugged his shoulders. "No idea, honest."
"Leave it to Roger to compare a baby to a sack of potatoes," Maureen sighed, rolling her eyes with her dramatic flair.
"Hey, that's enough out of you Aunt Maureen!" Roger shot back with a laugh.
"Hey Ryan, your father's a real jerk!" Maureen smiled, running her hand over the baby's stomach.
Jen shook her head. "I think we all need a Collins intervention."
"I agree," Collins chuckled. "Mind if I hold him for a minute?"
Jen shook her head as Roger helped take the baby out of Abby's arms. "Not at all. But don't take offense if I kick all of you out of here in a few minutes."
"We understand, sweetie," Maureen smiled. "Want us to look after Abby tonight?"
"Oh please Mom!" Abby begged, hopping off the bed. "Please!"
"Hey, do Uncle Collins and Uncle Logan get in on this action tonight?" Collins teased, lowering his arms slightly with Ryan so Abby could peek up at him.
"Duh," Abby mimicked. "Uncle Mark, please!"
"Sure," Mark agreed.
Roger grinned and kissed Jen. "Please Uncle Mark, please!"
"Shut up," Mark retorted. "Hey, where is Logan tonight anyway?"
"He's at the pub tonight. His dad came in to town so they're talking over some renovations of the bar that they need to do," Collins answered. "He said he probably wouldn't get out until late tonight and that he'd stop by first thing in the morning."
"Do you think if we all uh, stopped by for dinner, he'd maybe give us a free meal?"
"No," Collins replied sarcastically. "You were only planning on having your wedding reception there."
"Ha, spoken like a true smart ass!" Maureen teased. "Totally took one for the team."
Mark gripped her around the waist. "That's enough out of you, Miss Johnson."
Mark, Maureen, and Collins ended up leaving the hospital by cab around seven with Abby in tow. After planning on getting in a quick meal at Logan's pub and restaurant downtown, Mark and Collins promised Jen that they would have Abby in bed by nine and no later, although Maureen seemed to want to bend this rule slightly so she could give Abby and herself a manicure and pedicure. Maureen had begged Mark to let her, using the excuse that she wouldn't be able to see her toes for much longer. Although Mark did slightly feel bad, the smell of nail polish tended to give him and Collins a headache, and after drinking too much at the pub, neither one wanted to deal with that.
Sandra, who had gotten Jen and Roger to the hospital in the first place, managed to miss the birth of her newest grandson by ten minutes. She had run back to the loft to pick up Jerry, Roger's stepfather, and Joey, Roger's twenty-one year old brother. However, she made it just as the pediatrician was finishing up with the baby and held Ryan for the very first time, passing him along to Jerry and Joey in turn.
By eight, Sandra, Jerry, and Joey had left and checked into a hotel downtown for the night with the promise of bringing breakfast in the morning. Ryan would be spending the night in the NICU for observation as just a precaution and was taken shortly after Jen finished nursing him.
Since Roger had run downstairs to the cafeteria to pick up something to eat, Jen was left in an empty room with the television muted. She had managed to dose on and off for the past hour or so, but couldn't seem to fall asleep all the way just yet. She had to admit that she was terrified tonight when giving birth to Ryan. In the final moments, Jen was worried that Roger would take one look at the baby and back out, claiming that because it wasn't his son, he didn't want to have anything to do with it. And he would have been right. Ryan wasn't his son. He was Travis' son, but one look into Roger's eyes after the baby was born told Jen otherwise. She knew that from that moment on, Roger was Ryan's father, and he proved that tonight from when he cut the cord to when he rocked him back to sleep when he became fussy before the nurse took him to the NICU.
Jen rested her head back against the pillow just as Roger strolled back in through the door. "Where the hell did you go for that food? Australia?" she joked tiredly, stifling a yawn.
"This little hospital deli on the corner or something," Roger answered back, kissing her hello. "I told the lady that my girlfriend had our baby and she gave me everything for free."
She laughed. "How is he?"
"He's good. I was just in there and held him for a little bit. The nurses are going to formula feed him for the night so you can get some rest."
"I need it too, but I can't fall asleep."
He grinned and sat down next to her. "Mark called me and wanted to know who's going to take Abby to her tumbling class tomorrow night because he and Mo are having dinner at Mark's parent's house with Cindy and her husband. It's a short notice thing."
"You take her," Jen told him. "Hopefully Ryan and I will be out of her the day after tomorrow anyway."
"You did real good tonight, baby. I'm proud of you."
"Gee thanks," she laughed. "But can I get some sleep now? I think I'm finally able to fall asleep. It's kicking in."
"How long do you think I can stay here before they kick me out?"
"I guess we'll just have to find out," Jen replied as she snuggled up against him. "You did good tonight Roger."
"You did better." He kissed her a final time before they both managed to fall asleep for the night.
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