That night had brought no change. Mark had come back twenty minutes after Allie had sent him out to report that the doctors were hard asses; in other words, Daniel Matthew Cohen was under lockdown, and there was no way his parents were going to see him until the doctors deemed it appropriate. Allie, exhausted and upset, fell asleep on Roger, who had spent the entire day sitting on the side of her bed. Roger welcomed it, and had fallen asleep shortly after her. Mark and Mallory were cozily sitting on the couch, staring at Allie and Roger.

"She goes through so much." Mark commented, as Mallory nuzzled onto his shoulder.

"Yeah. I think she had it roughest out of all of us." Mallory agreed. "I guess that's why she always acted out as a teen. I mean, she was crazy!" Mark looked at her.

"How so?" Mallory started laughing.

"Oh, where do I begin? I mean, don't get me wrong, she was smart. Brilliant, if you will. She had almost every prestigious college in the country on our doorstep after getting wind of her SAT scores. She missed like, 10 points, that was all." Mark's eyebrows raised. That was impressive. "But of course, she didn't want anything to do with it. She turned down full scholarships for Yale, Harvard, NYU, Stanford…it was amazing. I was so jealous. And confused. I never understood why she did it, until she came in one night and told me always to follow my dream. Never let anyone tell me what to do or how to live my life. And then she left the next morning for Juliard. I guess that's not really relevant, but, she was so smart." Mark nodded.

"I always thought so." Mallory sat up and looked at Mark.

"So, why won't they let you see Daniel?" She asked confused and curious. That stung Mark a little. He was anxious to see and hold his son, and the doctors were keeping him away.

"I don't really know. As soon as they finish the tests, they should tell us, but…I wanna see him."

"I understand, he's your child!" Mark rubbed his temple. "How is that anyways? Realizing you're a parent?" Mark sat up.

"Oh my god! I'm a parent!" He realized quite loudly. Allie stirred, and opened her eyes.

"What are you yelling about?" She mumbled tiredly, propping her head up on her elbow. Mallory laughed.

"Mark just realized he's responsible for another life." She answered, standing up and wandering around the room. Allie gave a small laugh.

"Yeah, big thing to realize. What time is it?" She asked, looking around the dark room. Mark looked at his watch.

"Uh…4 AM." He replied, stretching out on the small couch. Allie sighed and sat up.

"I can't go back to sleep." She swung her legs around to the floor, and stood up for the first time in over 24 hours. "Wow, this is weird." She stated, balancing herself as she walked across the room. "And a little painful." After all, she did just have a baby!

"Do you want a wheelchair?" Mallory asked, pulling out her compact and fixing her makeup. Allie laughed and shook her head.

"No fucking way!" She replied, grabbing her clothes from the bag Mallory had brought from home. She quickly dressed out of her hospital gown and into sweatpants and a T-shirt. She slowly walked over to Mark and sat on the arm of the couch. "So, do you know where they're keeping Daniel?" She asked, shaking him from his mild sleep.

"Oh, um, yeah." He mumbled sleepily. Allie's face lit up.

"Wanna go see him?" Mark opened his eyes.

"Al, we can't just like break in and get him." Allie rolled her eyes.

"I just want to see him! Come on," She slid onto his lap. "Please Marky? I'll be your best friend!" Mark sighed and nodded.

"Ok, I'll bring you." Allie squealed quietly and kissed him on the cheek.

"Yay! I love you, I want to have your child!" She cried, jumping up and pulling him up as well. Her cries caused Roger to sit up.

"What's going on?" Allie went to him.

"Roger, go back to sleep. Me and Mark are just going to go see our baby." Roger shrugged and rolled over, drifting into heavy sleep almost instantly.

"What about me?" Mallory pouted. "Can't I come?" Allie and Mark exchanged glances, and decided it would be best if she didn't.

"Nah, Mal. we'll be back soon." The redhead frowned and threw herself onto the couch.

"Fine, I'll just be here! Waiting…"

0o0o0o0o0o0

Mark and Allie crept along the empty hall discreetly, with Mark leading.

"It's just down this hallway and to the right…" He whispered, pulling her along the corridor. A doctor happened to pass them with a concerned air.

"Should you be up this early?" He asked, unaware of what they were in for. Allie smiled sweetly and put on a deeper Southern accent than Mark was used to.

"Sorry sir! You see, I just had a baby, and my baby just fell asleep, and I was cravin' some Jell-O. I thought that maybe the cafeteria was open or somethin'. Do you know if it is?" The doctor nodded.

"Well sure, sweetie! It's just down that hall there. Congratulations!"

"Why thank you! Have a good mornin'!" She replied, and she and Mark ran off again. "Are we almost there?" She asked impatiently. Mark nodded and pulled her down one more hall.

"Here." He stopped in front of a large glass window, behind which several babies were hooked up to machines. "He's right there." Mark pointed, to a small bed, giving host to an even smaller baby, resting underneath a deep blue blanket.

"He's so…tiny." Allie said breathlessly. Mark placed his arms around her.

"I know."

"Do you think he's ok?" Mark nodded.

"Of course. I'm sure he's fine." He reassured, though he was equally as worried. Allie sighed, but didn't take her eyes from her baby boy.

"I wish I could hold him." Allie said softly, placing her hand on the glass. Daniel wiggled a little, which caused Allie to gasp. "Did you see that? He moved! What if he's uncomfortable? Isn't anyone going to check on him?"

"Shh…he's fine Al. He's fine, and we're going to see him and hold him soon. It's just tests." Mark's voice was weak and shaky. Allie turned around to face him.

"You don't seem very hopeful." Mark sighed.

"That's because I'm just as worried as you are, Al." She flashed him a feeble smile and hugged him tightly.

"It's nice to know I'm not alone." She whispered quietly into Mark's chest. Mark nodded and stroked her hair, as tears fell silently down his face. Allie looked up as he took a shallow breath.

"Mark, are you crying?" He shook his head.

"No, of course not." He wiped his face. Allie chuckled.

"Oh, Mark! Don't cry! Daniel's…he's gonna be ok." She soothed as he pulled away from her.

"How do you know? Look at him! He's hooked to a machine! The doctors won't tell us anything…you don't know he's going to be ok! You just hope he will." Mark slammed his fist against the glass and slid down the wall, onto the floor. Allie situated herself next to him.

"Gee, you're kind of sounding like a father." She said, rubbing his shoulder. Mark allowed himself a small laugh.

"I guess I am." He admitted, shaking out his fist. "It feels good." Allie laughed as well.

"I would hope so!" She rubbed her forehead. "It feels good to be a mom too." Mark turned to her.

"I think you'll be a good mom." She smiled.

"I think you'll be a good dad."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

A/N: Sorry this is short. Just to warn you, I might not be updating for a while. I've got a huge report due, a gazillion tests, and songs and lines to memorize…so I'm taking a brief hiatus. It will be short, I promise! Maybe a week or two…Sorry! I love you all, and reviews might just inspire me to procrastinate my homework again…lol. If you review, I will worship you and add your picture to my rent shrine!