Ainsley slowly opened her eyes, hearing Sam talking quietly. She glanced around, then her eyes landed on him sitting in a chair to her right with Gracie in his arms. Sam glanced up from Gracie and smiled at Ainsley.
"Hey."
"Hi." Ainsley brought a hand up and rubbed her eyes. "Is she awake?"
"Kinda." Sam replied, moving over to the bed. He sat down next to Ainsley and she took Gracie from him. Sam slid an arm around Ainsley's shoulders and she leaned against him, both their eyes glued to their daughter.
"What time is it?"
"About noon."
"Have you slept?"
"About an hour."
"Sam, go home and get some sleep."Ainsley said. "You look like you're dead."
"That's a wonderful thing to say." he smirked.
"Well it's true."
"I'm not leaving. I'm fine."
"Sam..." There was a knock on the door before Ainsley could go any further and Josh's head poked around the corner.
"We're not interrupting anything are we?"
"Just Ainsley yelling at me." Sam replied. "Come on in."
Josh was shoved aside as Donna and CJ rushed into the room.
"Let me see her!" Donna exclaimed.
"You'd think they never seen a baby before." Toby muttered.
"Move Spanky!" CJ moved to shove Sam off the bed but he quickly jumped out of the way.
"Damn, they become savage-like." Josh said, watching the women coo over the newborn. "Congratulations guys."
"Thanks." Sam grinned.
"Can we see her too or will you scratch our eyes out?" Toby asked.
"In a minute." CJ said. "I just got here."
"So did the rest of us."
"Well you can wait. I'm more important because Gracie knows how much her Aunt CJ loves her and how Uncle Toby is a mean, grumpy old man."
Josh and Sam snickered and Toby shot them both a withering look.
"She is adorable!" Donna cooed. "Oh I want one."
Sam nudged Josh and gave him a grin, making Josh glare at him.
"Can I have her Ainsley?"
"No!" Sam exclaimed. "She's mine!"
"Relax Sam, I was just kidding." Donna smirked. "Jeez."
"Sam's become a little bit attached." Ainsley teased.
"Damn right I have."
"Pansy." Josh muttered under his breath. "Can we please see her?"
"Wait your turn!" Donna scolded.
"Come on Donna! We got to go back to work in a few minutes."
"You have a meeting on the Hill in a few minutes. I can stay."
"Exactly. So hand her over."
Donna scowled and motioned for Josh to come over.
"Oh God..." he muttered. "She looks like Sam."
Toby walked over and cringed.
"Another Sam."
"Shut up guys." he mumbled.
"I mean she's cute." Josh said.
"But she has to get it from Ainsley." Toby added.
"Haha." Sam said sarcastically.
"Oh come on. We're just teasing you. Leo and the President said they'd stop by later on. They're in the Sit. Room." Josh said.
---------------------TWW-----------------
"I wish you'd go home."
"I'm fine Ainsley."
"No you're not. You look about ready to die."
"I've slept for a little bit in the chair."
"That's got to be uncomfortable. Sam, you don't have to stay here with me. Go home and get a few hours of sleep, then come back." Ainsley said quietly. They were sitting together on the bed, Sam had his arms wrapped around Ainsley, her head resting on his shoulder.
"Ainse, I'm fine."
"When was the last time you ate?"
"When I went home and changed I ate some cereal."
"Oh cereal. Real nice. You should've stayed there and gotten some sleep. Was my mother there?"
"Yeah but she totally ignored me until I told her about Gracie. She said she'd come up later." Sam said. "Donna and CJ seemed really happy that she's here."
"Yeah." Ainsley smiled. "I'm really happy she's here too."
"Me too. I can't believe she's here at all."
"I know. It feels like we found out yesterday that I was pregnant."
"And now it's over."
"Well it's not over. Now we have to raise her."
"She's never leaving the house." Sam said. "I'm saying that right now."
"Sam," Ainsley laughed softly and he smiled.
"I mean, she keeps those good looks of hers and I'm gonna have to sit outside the house with a shotgun." he said.
"Stop. You still have another sixteen years with her before some boys comes and sweeps her off her feet."
There was a small whimper and the couple looked at each other.
"Guess someone is awake." Sam said, moving off the bed. He walked over to the bassinet and smiled as he leaned over, seeing Gracie's bright blue eyes watching him. "Hey..."
"Bring her over here." Ainsley said. Sam gave her a look as he leaned down and picked Gracie up. He sat back down next to Ainsley, who took Gracie from him. "Oh she is so beautiful."
"Just like her mom."
Ainsley looked up at Sam and leaned over, kissing her softly. From the doorway, Leo, Jed, Abbey, Charlie, and Zoey watched with smiles on their faces.
"Well would you look at that," Leo smirked. "Sam's a dad."
"Never thought I'd see the day." Jed joked. Sam and Ainsley pulled away from each other and Sam went to stand up but Jed waved a hand at him. "Congratulations."
"Thank you sir."
"Now let me see her."
Everyone laughed as the group moved over to the bed.
"Oh my God!" Zoey exclaimed. "She is adorable. Ainsley, can I hold her?"
"Yeah." she nodded.
"I think I asked first." Jed said, taking Gracie from Ainsley. "Don't need you getting any ideas."
"Dad!"
"Oh Jed, leave her alone." Abbey said. "She's beautiful Ainsley."
"Thank you."
"Hey, I had some contribution too." Sam piped up.
"Seems like more contribution than Ainsley." Leo said. "She looks just like Sam."
"Sam wasn't in labor for sixteen hours." Ainsley said.
"That's right." Abbey said. "So Ainsley gets the compliments."
"They always gang up on me." Sam muttered. "Donna and CJ did too."
"Oh poor Sam." Zoey teased.
"At least one of them is on my side." he smirked, then noticed Charlie still standing by the door. "Hey Charlie."
"Hey Sam. Congratulations." he said.
"I just said hi because you were pretty quiet and about ten feet away."
"I'm not good with kids."
"Come over here." Sam waved him over and Charlie stood behind Zoey, peering over her shoulder at the baby now in her arms.
"She is just too cute." she smiled.
"I think we're gonna have to pry Gracie away from Zoey." Sam whispered to Ainsley, who smiled and nodded.