Alex turned, surprised to see Tess there, although he didn't know why. Claire would have done anything to be with Tess if the situation were reversed. "Hey. Sit." She pulled a chair up next to Claire. "Where's Nick?"
"Meg came with me; he stayed with the babies." She hadn't pictured going anywhere the day her little girls were born, but Claire needed her.
"Are they okay?"
Tess nodded. "Two little girls. Small, but perfect. Identical." She watched her sister. "What about Claire?"
"Tired, but she'll be okay. They like the baby's chances...I think he'll be okay. After all, he's Claire's and my son...gotta be stubborn, right?"
Tess managed a smile as her sister spoke. "Alex."
"I'm here, Claire," he whispered. "Tess is too."
"Baby."
"He's okay. He's sleeping."
"Meg's keeping an eye out for him," Tess reassured her.
"Charlotte?"
"Nick's watching her." Tess looked up and Alex nodded. "She's at home with her cousins."
"Babies..."
"Yeah." She anticipated her sister's next question. "They're okay, I'm okay, Charlotte's a bit spooked but as soon as she sees her mum and dad again, she'll be fine too."
"Home..."
"Not yet, Claire. Soon. You and the baby will both come home soon..." Alex whispered to her as she fell asleep again.
True to his word, Alex brought Claire and the baby home, sooner than the doctor had initially predicted. He got Claire and the baby settled with Tess and the twins before going upstairs. "Charlotte?"
Almost before he got the word out, the sleepy little girl ran to him, almost knocking him down. "Daddy!"
He picked her up, hugging her. "Your mum's home. Your baby brother too." She looked excited when he mentioned her mother's return, not so much when he mentioned her baby brother. "What?"
"He made Mum sick."
"No, he didn't." He sat down, holding her on his lap. "Your mum just needed her rest. Your brother's really little. Your mum and me are going to need some help watching over him."
"Do you watch over Uncle Nick?"
He paused. "Not as much as your mum watches over Auntie Tess."
Nick smiled, joining them. "That's the truth. But you're going to be a great big sister, like your mum, like your dad's a pretty good big brother." Alex smiled, standing back up. "Just don't try to run his life or fight him every ten seconds." Alex gave Nick a look, but smiled and went downstairs with him.
"Mum!" Charlotte ran to her mother and Alex helped her sit on the other half of Claire's lap. Charlotte had expected someone who looked like her cousins. Her little brother was tiny, almost unseen in the blue blanket surrounding him.
"There you are," Claire gave her a one-sided hug. "I missed you." Charlotte kissed her cheek, but kept trying to open the blanket to see her brother. "Wait." Claire moved the blanket so that it was still warming the baby but Charlotte and Nick could see the new addition, neither meeting him before.
The baby was tiny with brown hair. Charlotte made a face, not sure she liked him, until he openedthe blue eyes thathe'd gotten from their mother at her. Charlotte smiled. "Hi, baby." The others smiled, watching.
"What'd you name him?" Nick asked, not knowing if they'd been able to pick out a name yet. Charlotte's name had been awhile in coming.
"John Harrison Ryan," Alex said, standing behind his wife,watching his children.
Tess looked at them. "Jack." Claire nodded and Tess smiled.
"What about you guys?" Alex asked, sitting in the chair next to his family.
"Ruth McLeod Ryan," Tess said proudly, leaving the other one up to Nick, whose idea it had been.
"Marion Louise Ryan," Nick said, trying to hide a smile.
Claire tried not to laugh, loving the idea, remembering when she'd found out Alex's middle name. "Well, we wanted her named after her aunt and uncle. I suggested Alexandra," Tess said. She had suggested Alexandra, but she'd liked the idea of Marion better. "We'll call her Mary."
Alex put Charlotte down for her nap and joined Claire for one of his own. She moved against him and he wrapped his arm around her, secure with each other. "Marion..." He muttered.
She leaned up and kissed his cheek. "It's cute."
"Why on earth would parents do that to a kid?" She smiled. "Tired?"
"Yeah. You?"
"Yeah." He kissed her neck. "It's good to have you home."
"Good to be home." She looked at him. "What?"
"I almost lost you and Jack both."
"It couldn't have been helped, Alex, and we're here. Everyone's okay. Charlotte's in her bed having a nap, Jack's in his crib, doing the same, and you're up worrying. If I've learned anything, it's that we need to sleep while they're sleeping."
He kissed her forehead. "You were in the hospital three months with Charlotte, a month with Jack..."
"You're not going to lose me. C'mon. We'll get some sleep." She lay her head on his chest, letting the sounds of his heart beating and him breathing lull her to sleep as he rested his head on top of hers, trying to close his eyes.