Note: The information from the doctor is all gleaned from WebMD, the House website, and Wikkipedia. If it's wrong, you have my sincerest apologies.
Four hours later, Roger and Mimi lay contently together on the sterile white sheets of the hospital bed. Between them, they cradled a tiny bundle of blankets containing their newborn son. Although he'd only opened them once or twice, they already saw that he had his mother's large coffee-brown eyes; the eyes that had inspired his father's chef d'oeuvre. The child also had the beginnings of Roger's sandy-blonde hair and a dimple in his tiny chin.
For the time being, he seemed like a healthy, bouncing baby boy. He'd cried immediately after the delivery nurse cleaned out his mouth, showing off strong lungs (a rock star's lung?) and all vital signs seemed normal. His weight, at five and a half pounds was on the low side, the doctor admitted, but he'd already taken a bottle of formula, so it seemed that that was sure to improve. Fifteen minutes earlier, however, the doctor had been in to talk to Roger and Mimi about their son's long term health.
"As you know," he said, marking something on a clipboard, "We won't be able to get a definitive negative test result until he's almost six months old. Until then, he'll most likely test positive for HIV whether he'll actually contract it or not."
The new parents sat somberly through the entire consultation. From the moment they'd found out Mimi was pregnant, they'd known what was at stake. This wasn't news to them. Their friends, especially Mark, had tried to hide their frustration at the news, but it still showed. Risking passing their disease to a child was irresponsible and they weren't exactly financially stable at the time. At least now they were getting by and had health insurance.
"In the mean time," the doctor continued, "we can start him on a course of anti-virals not dissimilar to AZT. Fortunately, the C-section also significantly reduces your son's risk of contraction. Obviously, breastfeeding is out of the question." Then the doctor smiled warmly, looking at them, "Above all, you're the new parents of an apparently healthy baby boy. Take him home and enjoy it. Whether or not he contracts HIV is more or less out of your power. All you can do now is keep him healthy, make sure he has his meds and wait and see. And even then, HIV isn't the death sentence it used to be; people are living longer and healthier lives all the time."
At that, both parents had to wipe their eyes. This doctor sounded like Paul. If their son did have HIV, they would teach him to live with his life with it. If he didn't have it, all the better. Even without having it himself, this boy would be seeing enough of its affects on his family. They'd thanked the doctor and been left with their beautiful child.
Pulling his wife closer, Roger said, "You did brilliantly, Momma." Between them, the infant's face twitched in his sleep.
"Thanks Papi, but I couldn't have done it without you," she said, smiling tiredly.
Grinning, Roger kidded, "Well yeah, baby, that's usually how it works out, genetically speaking."
Mimi elbowed him gently in the ribs, "That's not what I meant, Roger Davis, and you know it."
"Yeah," he chuckled. "He's perfect, isn't he? I always thought babies were sort of funny looking. All scrunchy and red and stuff, but I guess you never really appreciate it till you're holding your own."
"He is," Mimi agreed. "Are we ready for him to meet his aunts and uncles?"
"I'd say so. Lemme go get them. I'll bet they're dying to know." And with that, Roger hopped off the bed and rushed out into the waiting room, where their friends were anxiously awaiting the news.
A/N- I'm sorry this has been so short and fluffy. I swear it picks up in other chapters. This isn't gonna be your mama's future-kid's story.
In the meantime…. I need some help. You may have noticed that I've yet to give a name to our little friend. The naming will sort of be a thing in the next chapter.
I know that the name will be something Angel Davis. I need anyone who wants to help to review and vote on a first name. The options are as follows…
A-) Kaiden- mighty one. Celtic
B-) Keegan- little fierce one. Gaelic
C-) Kai- sea, willow tree. Hawaiian, Navajo Indian.
D-) Kaleb- Bold. Hebrew.
Darn it…. I had another one in mind, but I can't remember what it was. I was sort of looking for offbeat names and I went with mostly 'K' names because I didn't want the initials to really spell anything. (You see a think with that in the next chapter. Roger is pretty adamant against names starting with 'N')
So if you could just leave a little vote in the review, it would be much appreciated.