The clan had gathered in the courtyard only moments before the sun rose, and now woke with the last rays of the sun fading from the sky.
As one, they turned to hurry back to the infirmary. They wanted to see Elisa and officially greet their leader's child into the clan officially.
Goliath gently knocked on the door, and entered to find Peter and Diane in the room sitting together and talking in hushed tones. Liam was sitting next to Elisa's bed, his baby sister held in his arms under the careful watch of Skyler.
He smiled at everyone as he quietly made his way to his wife's side. She seemed to be sleeping, so he gently ran a taloned finger across her brow, ending with his palm cupping her cheek.
"Thank you, My Elisa," He whispered, touching his forehead to hers in the barest of touches.
"Mmmmm," Elisa hummed sleepily as she opened her eyes. As her eyes slowly focused on his face, she smiled slowly. "Hey, Big Guy."
Goliath knelt beside her bed, her hand still held in his. "Thank you," he said again. "Thank you for giving me a new daughter."
"Hey," Elisa reprimanded sleepily. "She's my daughter, too."
He chuckled. "No one looking at her would guess that she was not," He said, his eyes suspiciously bright with emotion. "She looks like you."
"Only in the skin tone," Elisa corrected. "Otherwise, she's all gargoyle."
"I think it's time to give the new parents a little bonding time," Skyler announced as the baby girl began to squirm and make noise. She efficiently scooped the baby up and placed her in her mother's arms. "Would you like me to come back with a bottle?"
Elisa nodded.
"Okay," Skyler said, "I'll be right back."
Diane came forward to gather up Liam. He would be staying at his grandparents' house for a few days, giving Elisa some much needed recovery time.
Liam trotted behind Skyler, asking her to show him how to make the bottle so that he could help make them at home.
Diane shook her head at the pair. "I'm not sure who's more entranced by the baby," She said. "Skyler or Liam."
Elisa chuckled.
Diane tilted her head in thought. "We weren't sure if you had ever settled on a name or not, so we've just been calling her 'The baby' all day."
"We weren't able to decide on anything," Elisa admitted. "It's hard to find something for such a special little girl."
"She is special," Diane said, patting Elisa's hand before exiting the room.
Peter walked to the bed and kissed his daughter on the forehead. "We'll take Liam off for a bit of spoiling now," He said. "Spend some time with this little one, and take some time to come up with just the right name." He places a hand on his infant granddaughter's small back and whispered, "Nu' tus payni. Nayeli."
Elisa blinked at her father. "What did you just say?"
Her father shrugged a little. "I told her goodbye and that I loved her."
"Oh," Elisa said. "Sorry. You just rarely use the Hopi language. It caught me off guard."
"Yeah," He said and grimaced. "Maybe I should have taught you more when you were growing up, but I wanted little to do with my past after I moved here, so I stopped for a long time. Now that I'm older and wiser, I feel like I may have cheated you kids out of some of your heritage."
"Hey," Elisa said, grabbing his hand before he could turn away. "You and mom were awesome parents. And we weren't cheated out of anything. Look at Beth! She got that love of the Native American culture from you. So…," Elisa's voice began to waver a little, "Thank you."
Peter looked at her teary eyed look and grinned. "Hormones still a little off?"
"Yeah," Elisa said on a sigh. "Maybe. But, honestly, the fact that mom did this three times makes her a superhero in my book."
"My book too," He admitted. "Get some rest, and we'll be back for a visit soon."
After Peter left, and Skyler returned with the small bottle, Elisa raised the head of her bed as much as she could to feed their daughter.
"If you need me," Skyler said, "I'm just going to be upstairs. Call my phone, and I'll come running."
"Thanks," Elisa said tiredly. "Go. Have some fun and put your feet up. You've been all over the place today, and as much as I appreciate it, you need to get some rest, too."
"Alright," Skyler answered. "Have a good night, you two." With a grin and a wave, Skyler was gone, closing the door quietly behind her.
Elisa held their daughter close, and in the quiet of the room, the baby drank greedily from the bottle. Goliath remained kneeling beside the bed, ready to help Elisa if needed.
"We really do need to figure out a name," Elisa said quietly. "And I know we had a few we were thinking about seriously, but… I think my dad accidentally gave us the perfect one, Goliath."
He looked into her face, and knew that he would deny her nothing this evening. She had gone through pain and a major surgery to bring their child into the world, and it was a gift that he would be unable to ever repay.
"What name would you like to give our daughter?" He asked quietly.
"It's something that my dad said. Something that would be reminiscent of her roots, or at least a piece of it." Elisa laid a cheek against the soft dark hair on their daughter's head and looked at her husband. "What about, Nayeli? It's a Hopi word that means 'I love you'."
Goliath smiled at Elisa, then laid his hand over hers on their daughter's back. "Nayeli. It is perfect. Every time she hears her name, she will remember that she is loved."
"Exactly," Elisa leaned over to kiss him then, causing the baby to give a squeak in protest. "Oops," She said with a laugh. Noticing that the small bottle was empty, Elisa attempted to shift Nayeli in order to burp her.
Goliath noticed her struggle and hurried to assist.
"Let me help," Goliath said, rising to his feet. He bent over to take the bundle from Elisa's arms, and tucked Nayeli against his shoulder. He patter her gently, as he had Liam many years ago.
Nayeli let out a burp that sounded as if it should come from a much bigger body, her small wings flaring as if the sound had frightened her.
Elisa laughed and watched at the light weight hospital blanket that she'd been wrapped in went sailing across the room in multiple pieces.
Goliath looked at her in surprise, then joined her in the laughter.