Thank you all so much for your incredible feedback. It was a pretty crucial chapter, and I am just glad that you all were happy with it. Again, thank you all so much for your kind words and support. I wouldn't be here without it :)

RoutineRiot: There are 7 chapters left, including this one.

"Hey Syd."

"Yeah?"

"I think that this little one," Vaughn gently stroked the side of their daughter's cheek, "looks like an Emily. How about you?"

Sydney held his gaze for a few seconds before breaking into a grin. "I think she does. It's perfect." She was silent for a second, as a look of almost inspiration came across her face. "But how about we spell it with an 'ie' in stead of an 'y'? The French way- to make sure that she has some of where her dad came form in her."

Vaughn smiled. "I love it," he said, his eyes falling upon the sleeping baby. "Well then, Emilie Georgina Vaughn, I think it's time that we welcome you to the world."

"Ok," Will stretched out his legs. "I went to my grandmother's house and I packed an assassin aardvark, a banana blowing bubbles, a cryptic cryogenics coordinator, a dodgy dude in dungarees and a umm…an elephant."

"Oh come on, Will." Francie laughed. "That's pathetic!"

"Yeah," Nat nudged him with her elbow. "You're supposed to be the writer here."

"Come up with something else." Amy demanded. "Something other than what a six year old would say."

However, Will did not get a chance to redeem himself. The game came to an abrupt end as Vaughn walked around the corner.

"Michael!" Juliette was up and by his side in a flash.

"Hey maman." The grin of Vaughn's face was purely ecstatic. "She's a girl," he announced to the expectant group. "We have a daughter. A perfect, healthy, beautiful little girl."

"Oh, congratulations!" Juliette exclaimed, pulling him into a fierce hug.

"What's her name?" Jack asked, coming up behind Juliette.

"Emilie," Vaughn replied, stepping back from the embrace. "Emilie Georgina." He turned to look at all of his friends. "Have you guys seriously been here all this time?"

"Yup." Francie replied.

"We had quite the rave going." Weiss added, with a grin.

Juliette laughed softly. "Yes, it was a real party." She turned back to Vaughn. "When can we see them?"

"They're both asleep at the moment," Vaughn replied. "It's been a bit of a long night," he said, stifling a yawn.

"Just a bit," Juliette smiled, putting an arm around him. "How about we go get some coffee and after to can introduce Jack and I to this granddaughter of ours."

Vaughn poked his head into the hospital suite and saw that Sydney was now awake.

"Hey," he said softly. "We've got some visitors." He stepped in, with Jack and Juliette following closely behind.

"Sydney." Juliette rushed across, wrapping her in a tight hug. After giving her a kiss on the cheek, she straightened up. "Right. Where is she?"

"Right here, maman," Vaughn replied as he gently lifted Emilie out of the hospital cot. In a second, Juliette was by his side, arms outstretched.

Sydney smiled, turning her attention to Jack, who was standing just in the doorway, looking a little awkward. "Hey dad."

He gave her a small smile back as he walked across the room to give her a quick hug. "Congratulations, sweetheart," he whispered into her ear.

"Oh, she is just a little darling," Juliette gushed as she cradled her granddaughter in her arms. "Hey Emilie. It's you Grandmère…she is so beautiful," she murmured, glancing up. "You know, I've got a feeling that she looks like you, Sydney."

"That's what I said," Vaughn put in, with a quick grin in Sydney's direction. "But Syd wouldn't have a bar of it."

"Well, she does have your chin," Sydney protested.

Jack, who had walked over to Juliette's side, spoke up. "They're right, Sydney. Emilie is the spitting image of you when you were born."

"Really?"

Jack nodded. "It's quite uncanny actually."

"Well then I guess that settles it," Vaughn said triumphantly as he sat down on the edge of the bed. "You can't deny it when your own father is saying it, Syd."

"Fine," Sydney threw up her hands. "I concede defeat. For now."

"Well, whoever she takes after she is just the most precious little thing." Juliette said. "Your Grandpa Jack and I are going to spoil you rotten." She looked up at Jack. "Do you want to have a hold?"

Jack nodded and Juliette placed Emilie into his arms. After a few seconds, he turned to Sydney. "Is she named after who I think she is?"

"Yeah," Sydney said, a wistful smile playing on her face. "It just seemed right."

"It is," Jack said simply.

The flowers started arriving mid-afternoon. There were bunches from Vaughn's family, Keely, Dixon, as well as from both Abrams College and Ken Olin High, and more.

"This is ridiculous," Sydney laughed as a nurse brought in another bouquet, this time from Aunt Trish. "Are florists even open on New Years Day?"

Vaughn shrugged. "I've got no idea…" he trailed off as he started to laugh.

"What?"

He looked up from the card that accompanied Trish's flowers. "Listen to this…A new beautiful life, born when the stars were perfectly aligned. Sydney and Vaughn, everything points to Emilie being destined for greatness. Congratulations and thank you for bringing this new spirit into the world." He shook his head. "She just keeps getting more and more crazy."

"Knock, knock," Francie's voice came from the doorway. "How are we all doing?" she asked as she walked in, with Will following close behind.

"We're doing pretty great," Sydney replied.

Francie grinned as she pulled Sydney into a hug. "I can't believe you're a mum, Syd."

"You can't?" Sydney laughed and Francie made her way over the to cot beside the bed.

"She is so cute," Francie cooed. "Oh, you are going to be a real heartbreaker when you grow up, Emilie."

"Yeah," Will snorted. "If Aunty Francie has anything to do with it."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Francie demanded indignantly.

"Well," Will said with a sly grin, "you did break mine."

"Oh please," Francie gave him a small shove. "Pull the other one, why don't you?"

Will chuckled as he walked over beside Francie. "You know, Syd, Emilie looks like y—"

"Stop," Sydney demanded as Vaughn cracked up.

"I believe that is another point for me," he said, smugly.

"You keep rubbing this in, Vaughn," Sydney said sweetly, "and I will make it my mission in life to make sure that Emilie never experiences the game of hockey."

Vaughn grinned. "I'd like to see you try. Emilie's a Vaughn remember? Hockey is in her blood."

"And I'm a Bristow," Sydney shot back. "And that name is the definition of determination."

"Ok, ok." Vaughn relented. "Point taken. No more rubbing in."

Will glanced at Francie. "Do you have any idea what they're talking about?"

"Be nice to Francie, because she makes the world's best soufflé. She can get a little crazy, but trust me, the soufflé is worth it," Weiss said to Emilie as he cradled her in his arms. "If you get into trouble with the law, Craig will be able to help you out. I'm sure that he's got connections down at the station.
Now, Ainz and me. If your mum and dad ever say no to you, just come to us. I'm sure that we'll be able to figure something out. Just as long as it doesn't result in us asking Craig for help."

"Hey Weiss," Vaughn said. "Do you think that you could hold off corrupting our daughter until, let's say, she's a month old?"

"Who said anything about corrupting?" Weiss replied. "I am simply providing some survival advice."

Sydney let out a snort of laughter. "Survival advice?"

Weiss nodded, as he looked back at Emilie. "If any guy ever gives you a hard time, just introduce him to your Grandpa and then tell him he owns a gun."

Vaughn looked at Sydney. "That's probably something we should keep in mind," je said. "Though, mentioning the gun is probably overkill. An introduction would probably suffice."

"I don't know," Sydney smiled. "It didn't scare you away."

"Are you guys going to get all soppy now?" Ainsley asked.

"Oh yeah, a little warning, Em." Weiss said. "Your parents can get quite sickening. Let's hope that you have been blessed with an iron stomach."

Later that night, Vaughn sat, watching Sydney as she slept. Even though this had been one of the longest days of his life, he did not feel the slightest bit tired. Instead, he just sat, marvelling at everything that had happened since he and Sydney arrived at the New Years Eve party.

He jumped up as Emilie started to fuss and picked her up before she could disturb Sydney.

"Hey, ssh," he soothed. "It's ok, Boo…oh god. Did you hear that? I told your mum that this would happen, but do you think she would listen to me? Sorry kid, but I have the feeling that you're going to be stuck with that name for a long time.Though it could be worse. Trust me. I'll introduce you to Uncle Weiss's sister one day." He paused, brushing a finger down Emilie's cheek. "You know, I have the feeling that things are going to be pretty great. I can't promise that your mum and I will get everything right, but we love you and we are never going to let anybody hurt you. That I promise."

"Vaughn?" He looked up at the sound of Sydney's sleepy voice. "What are you doing?"

"Me and Boo are having a bit of a chat."

Sydney raised her eyebrows. "You do realize that you just called Emilie 'Boo', don't you?"

Vaughn nodded. "Unfortunately, yes." He looked at Sydney pointedly. "And you do realize that I told you this would happen."

Sydney laughed softly. "Fine, if and when Emilie starts complaining about the nickname, just send her to me. I'll deal with it."

Vaughn grinned. "Sounds fair to me."

By Tuesday it was time for Sydney and Emilie to go home. And while Sydney was both excited and terrified by that fact, there was another thing that was concerning her.

"Vaughn, I feel awful. I should go and see Francie. Has anything been organized?"

"Syd, stop." Vaughn directed, his voice soothing. "Francie decided to postpone her birthday dinner. And I think she will forgive you for not seeing her today." He pointed to the bag on the bed. "Is that everything?"

Sydney nodded. "You put the flowers in the car?"

"Yup- along with the teddies and the balloons…" Vaughn trailed off. "If we keep getting stuff we're going to have to buy a bigger house."

Sydney just smiled as she picked up the capsule, with Emilie securely tucked in. "So, you ready to go home?"

Vaughn nodded, grabbed Sydney's bag and the three of them made their way out to the car park.

Already both Sydney and Vaughn were experiencing an overwhelming urge to protect their daughter. After securing the capsule into the car, Sydney climbed into the back seat. She wanted to be near Emilie, to watch over her during her first car ride.

Vaughn, on the other hand, as he pulled out onto the streets, found himself driving considerably slower than usual. Never before had he ever had such a precious cargo and he couldn't help but look upon the other drivers in the road and see reckless morons who posed a grave danger.

Once they got home, after a much longer than anticipated trip, the new family entered their house for the first time together. Thankfully, no welcoming surprise had been planned. Their friends had realized that the day would be overwhelming enough for Sydney and Vaughn.

Inside, Sydney placed Emilie, who was fast asleep, in the bassinet set up in their room and then looked at Vaughn, who was standing beside her.

"Well…what do we do now?"

Vaughn grinned as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I've got no idea," he said cheerily.

Sydney laughed softly. "And that makes two of us."

"Ah, we're in this together, Syd." Vaughn said. "I'm sure that we are going to be fine."

A content smile formed on Sydney's face. "I love you."

"And I love you," Vaughn said, as he bent down slightly to allow their lips to connect.