Two Months Later

"He's perfect," Tom whispered in awe, reaching a hand out to cup his son's tiny head. The little boy turned his face toward his father's voice, and Tom melted. He had a head full of wispy black hair, and his eyes were bright, ocean blue. He was a little squishy and wrinkly from birth, but he was absolutely, positively perfect.

Eight pounds, 11 ounces, and 21 inches of perfection.

"He is," Rachel agreed.

She was exhausted, worn out from the 26 hours of labor she'd just gone through to bring their son into the world.

"You are perfect," Tom added, leaning over and kissing her on the forehead. "You are amazing. I am in awe of you and everything you just did to give us our son."

Rachel smiled up at her husband, and then turned her attention back to their son when he let out a loud squeal. She laughed, reaching one finger up to brush over his face, across his tiny lips. Tom helped her sit up before sliding in behind her, holding her tightly to his chest. She leaned her head back against his shoulder, smiling as he helped her lower the hospital gown so that they could encourage the baby to nurse. Noah latched on immediately, suckling from her breast while staring up at his mother, his eyes wide open.

"Hi, Noah," she whispered, and the baby reached out, grasping her finger in a deceptively tight grip for someone so small.

"Noah Alexander Chandler," Tom whispered. "Welcome to the world. It's a little messy right now, but your mother and I are working hard to help fix it. "

"You are so loved," Rachel said, and in that moment, everything was perfect. She was leaning back on her husband, loving the feeling of his warm, steady body behind her, while she held their brand new baby in her arms and nourished him with her body.

Within the hour, Jed would be bringing the older kids by, and their whole family would be together, alive and thriving.

It had been a long, hard road to arrive here.

They had gone through so much over the past year.

So much pain. So much sorrow. So much fear, and uncertainty, and loss.

But she had also gained so much.

A family. A husband. Two children, and now a third, a brand new baby to welcome into the world that was slowly healing.

Noah squealed again, detaching from her breast accidentally, and brought Rachel's attention back to him, back to the present. She helped him re-latch, and sighed in contentment as Tom ran his fingers through her hair, kissing her forehead and her temple and her eyelids and whatever else he could reach.

"There's still so much to do," she whispered as she watched her son feed. "To make this into the kind of world I want our children to grow up in."

Tom smiled and held her closer.

"Rachel," he whispered, closing his eyes and reveling in the love he felt for her and their new baby. "You did it. We did it. Let's enjoy the moment."

Rachel smiled and nodded, relaxing back into him, and enjoyed the moment.

The End.