A Fresh Start
Chapter Two Hundred Eighty
Office MacKinley and Officer Burundi didn't handle Edmund for the next couple days which allowed him a few days to think about the conversation he had overheard. In that time, he convinced himself that the inspections they were talking about were bogus. When his rec. time came on the third day, he is waiting to be lead to the prison yard. He's not surprised when the doors open and he finds Officer MacKinley standing in front of him with Officer Burundi beside him. For the first time, he really looks the woman with Officer MacKinley. For several seconds, he stands there after his cell door has closed. "Move along." Officer MacKinley says, nudging Edmund to move.
Slowly Edmund walks in front of them. He wants to say something to the woman but can only think of cheap useless lines. Turning his head, he looks to the woman and says. "I'm surprised you're allowed to guard high security prisoners." Officer Burundi looks at him but doesn't reply. "I mean, the high security prisoners are the most dangerous. Not that I'm dangerous or anything. I didn't do anything to land me here. Isn't the warden afraid something will happen to you?"
"Silence and move along." Officer MacKinley snaps. Edmund looks at him as they reach the doors to the rec. yard.
Over the next hour, Edmund spends his time watching the two guards as they circle the yard. His curiosity is peeked as he watches them. There is a closeness to these guards that isn't with the other guards that escort him. As he watches them he walks the yard, never more than a few feet away from them, which puts both of them on guard. Officer Burundi watches as he moves around the yard and quietly asks. "What do you think he's doing?"
"I'm not sure." Officer MacKinley mumbles low enough so only she can hear.
"Do you think he's waiting for more information on the inspections?" She asks just as quietly.
"He might be. I wouldn't blame him if he's hesitant to accept that the inspections are real. Most of the guards are hesitant to believe they're real as well."
"I know."
"I heard that the A block guards completely failed their inspection."
"We're not supposes to discuss the results." Officer MacKinley asks, looking at her.
"I only know that because I overheard a couple of A block guards discussing the personnel changes coming to their section of the prison. It's only minimum security prisoners in A block."
"We're still not supposes to discuss it."
"Alright, so you haven't heard when their coming to us?" Officer Burundi asks, as Officer MacKinley glances in Edmund's direction. Edmund seems to be doing something else so he replies.
"I only know that each unit is being inspected in order. And none of us know the days in which the inspections occur. Now we have to stop talking about this." He says, glancing towards Edmund again.
The rest of his rec. time passes without either of his guards saying another thing until it's time to lead him back to his cell.
William and Ava both are focused on their son. "He's too beautiful." William says.
"He's so small." Ava replies, letting him clasp on to her finger. His tiny fingers barely closing around it.
"He's got a full head of hair at least."
"You didn't want a bald baby?" Ava asks, glancing up before her attention returns to her boy.
"No, a bald baby would've been fine." He replies as Ava smiles.
"I think your daddy is relieved you have hair." She whispers to her son as the nurse comes forward.
"I'm sorry ma'am but we need to take him." She says, as Ava looks at her. "We won't be long. But we need to weigh and measure him and do an initial exam before he's placed in the nursery."
"He's staying with us." Ava says, looking at the nurse.
"Most of the time yes, he will be with you."
"Ava, I'm sure he'll only be in the nursery at night so that you can rest." William says, looking at the nurse.
"Is there something wrong with him? He seems normal."
"He is normal. The exam is a base line for us to have as he grows. I promise it's nothing more than routine and there's no indication that there are problems." The nurse says, looking at William and then Ava.
"Okay." Ava says, relinquishing her son to the nurse. "While we're examining him, another nurse will be in to help you clean up and we will transfer to your room so you can get settled before we bring him back in.
"Okay." William says, smiling as the nurse nods and then leaves with the baby.
"I want him to stay with us all the time. He's so small and what if he needs…."
"He will be with us as much as possible but you are going to need to rest while you're in here and that is what the nursery is for. I'm sure the other nurses will watch over him as much as we will when he's with us." William says leaning in to kiss him.
There are several seconds of silence before Ava says. "I can't believe how perfect he is. And I think he looks exactly like you." William's quiet for a moment before she says. "Is something wrong?"
"I was just thinking about how much he's different than Will. I mean, now that I see him. I can't see how I ever believed that Will was my son."
"Our son resembles Richard too." Ava says, as he looks at him.
"Yes, I can see Richard in our son. But I see Richard in Will, more than I ever saw myself in Will to be honest." William pauses and then says. "I guess I always assumed that the differences that I noticed in Will were traits he got from Camille. I didn't know her so I don't know what traits would've been passed on to our child. But looking at my son, I can't deny that boy is mine."
"And you could've denied Will." Ava says, as he looks at her.
He quiet for a moment before he nods. "Yeah I could've denied him. And maybe if I had those years that Cassie suffered thinking her son was dead..."
"You had no reason to believe that Will wasn't your son. And the years that Cassie went thinking that her son was gone. She didn't really loose him. He was there just in a different way."
"It was the worst way. Living with the knowledge that your son was dead while you raised another woman's child. I'm understanding what my mother must have felt all those years of raising Richard."
She reaches for him and he lays his head on her shoulder. Turning her head, she lightly kisses his forehead. They are in that position when the nurse comes in to help Ava get cleaned up. Sitting up, he moves off the bed as Ava says. "Maybe you should go tell everyone that's he's here."
"You're sure you're okay." He asks, looking at her.
"I'll be fine." She says, glancing at the nurse.
"We'll take wonderful care of her, Mr. Winslow." The nurse says with a smile.
"Alright, I'll be back." He leans over and kisses her quickly before he walks out of the room.
Richard is just stepping off the elevator as William comes into the waiting room. "Well." Jeffrey asks, as he stands up.
"She delivered a healthy baby boy about ten minutes ago." William says with a huge grin on his face.
"Are they okay?" Sam asks.
"Both of them are fine. The nurse is in helping Ava get cleaned up while my son is getting his first exam by his doctor."
"Dr. Sedgwick is an awesome pediatrician." Cassie says.
"What's his name?" Richard asks.
"William Wesley Winslow." William says.
"See, I knew she wouldn't name him after me." Jeffrey says, looking at Sam.
"Ava picked out the name…." William stammers. "Well she picked out part of it. She wanted to name him after me. But I didn't want him to be burdened with the Winslow history." William says, looking at Richard. He nods. "And we considered Jeffrey but…."
"William, you don't have to explain." Sam says, nudging Jeffrey.
"No, you don't. I was just needling Sam." He says, smiling at her as she lifts one eyebrow.
"Ummm okay. So I'm going to go back and see how things are. If she's settled then I'll come back out here and get everyone."
"That's fine." Cassie says.
William turns to leave as Sam turns to Jeffrey. "Did you really have to say that, at that particular moment?" She asks, looking him.
"You were so confident that Ava would want to name their baby after me." Jeffrey says, as Sam looks at him. "I was teasing you."
"Tease me, when we're alone. Okay." She says, sitting down. He sits down beside her, tentatively taking her hand.
Several moments later, William returns. "They're ready." He says, as everyone stands up.
Leading the way to Ava's room. He waits till Jeffrey is beside him before he lays a hand on his shoulder to stop him from entering the room. Jeffrey moves over to the side while Richard, Cassie and Sam continue on into the room. Once the door's closed, William looks at Jeffrey and pauses. "If this is about the name. I didn't expect Ava to name her child after me. Honestly I didn't. She's only known about me for a short time and what I said in the lobby was nothing more than me needling my wife. She's already corrected me." Jeffrey says with a smile.
"I didn't want you think that I pushed Ava into naming him after me."
"Your first born son should be named after you."
"Jeffrey is Aiden's middle name, not his first."
"Yes, well it went better that way." Jeffrey lays his hand on William's shoulder. "Don't stress about the name. He's your son and I'm told there are more stressful decisions we have to make than whether to name our child after his grandfather. I was only needling Sam when I said something about it, I promise."
"Okay, do you want to see your grandson?"
"Seriously, I've just became a dad for the second time and you're asking me if I want to see my grandchild." Jeffrey asks, grinning at him. "Come on, we'll wade through this new father business together." Jeffrey says, opening the door. Letting William enter first.
Jeffrey is the first to hold his grandson. When he gives him to Sam, he's not exactly sure how to explain the feeling inside him. Richard and Cassie are next before the baby is given to Ava. Jeffrey and Sam leave about an hour later. Shortly after Jeffrey and Sam leave, the nurse comes in "I'm sorry to interrupt but we need to try and feed him."
"Of course." William says, as Richard gets up and Cassie brings Wes over to William. Taking the baby from her he goes to Ava while Cassie goes Richard and slips into her coat. He pulls her hair free before leaning in to lightly kiss the side of her head.
"We will keep Emma at the farm." Cassie says, turning to Ava and William.
"Thank you." Ava says.
"And I can send a note to have her come to the farm after school." Cassie says.
"I think I'm going to pick her up. Barring any unforeseen complications, Ava will likely be released in the morning or tomorrow afternoon." William says.
"Sure." Cassie says.
"Thank you for coming." Ava says.
"Don't thank us, you're family." Richard replies as Ava nods with a smile.
"We'll see you later." Cassie says.
"I'll walk with you to the elevator." William says, glancing at Ava. She nods and they leave together.
While William is walking Cassie and Richard to the elevator, Ava settles in with Wesley. The nurse comes back in when she sees William leave their room. "I'm sorry to interrupt a few...
"It's okay. I was actually getting a little tired." Ava admits, gazing into Wesley's face.
"He's a beautiful boy." The nurse says, as Ava smiles.
She looks up. "Yes, he is. He takes after his Daddy."
"I'm sure he's hungry too. And the notes on your chart say that you want to breast feed."
"That's correct." Ava says.
"Well then I guess we can get started." The nurse says, coming to the bed. "I can take him while you get ready." Ava looks at her for a moment before she hands her the baby. And with the nurse's instructions, Ava settles in to breast feed her boy.
Meanwhile, Richard, Cassie and William have stopped outside the nursery. William turns towards the windows, looking in on all the bassinets with little ones laying there for everyone to look in on. Some are asleep and some are awake. One or two look like they're very upset for some unknown reason. Cassie looks at William and Richard and then whispers to Richard. "I'll be downstairs." He nods.
When she walks away, he turns to William. "Are you okay?" Richard asks, after he's been watching his brother for several moments.
William looks at him with a small smile. "I've been thinking about Camille, Will and the son that I lost." He says, as Richard nods.
"You're going to be as good of a father to…." William glances at him when he pauses.
"We're going to call him Wesley or Wes." William says to Richard's unspoken question
"Alright, you're going to be as good of a father to Wes, as you would've been to Camille's son." Richard says, as William nods.
"That's not on my mind right now. I was thinking about when they first gave me Wes and I looked at him. And I can't help thinking, how did I ever accept that Will was mine and Camille's son?"
"The similarities are there." Richard says, before he looks at the babies in the nursery.
"They are, but when I saw Wes. I can't help but see the difference between him and Will. And it makes it quite obvious that Will is your son, yours and Cassie's. I've never seen Camille in Will. And I should've, shouldn't've I.
"It's too complicated of a situation. Without other evidence, we believe what we are told."
"Just like what my mother was told about me. I sometimes wonder if she wanted to harm you at any time during her life. Did she hate…."
"She loved me and she never made me feel unwanted." Richard says, looking at William for a moment before he continues. "I thought you would probably compare this baby to William and I don't want you to do that. The circumstances surrounding Will was out of our control."
"It's there Richard, the resemblance. But I when I look at William now, I see you more than I ever saw me. And all the things that I discounted as being traits of Camille, I realize now that they are manifestations of Cassie and you. And I'm sorry you both spent those years thinking your son was dead."
"He was right there with us, William."
"Yes, but he was the son you adopted. You thought the son that you and Cassie made had died." William pauses for a moment, glancing back into the nursery before he continues. "And I'm sorry I was an unknowing participant to that pain."
Richard lays a hand on his older brother's shoulder. "We were all unknowing participants to Edmund's manipulations. You have nothing to apologize for. So go back to your wife and enjoy your son and enjoy being Will and Rj's uncle."
"And don't forget future uncle to the new ones." William says with a smile.
"Yes, I'll never forget those miracles." Richard responds with smiles.
"I'm sure Cassie's ready to go home." William says, stepping away from the nursery.
"And Ava is probably wondering where you've gone." Richard says, turning away from the nursery. "We'll talk later." He says, as William nods. Richard continues onto the elevator alone while William returns to Ava and his son.
Edmund spends an hour in his cell, thinking about the information he overheard and he's come to the conclusion that maybe the inspections aren't bogus. Getting up, he walks to the door to his cell. Being a high security prisoner, the only person he's allowed contact with is his attorney. Opening the small window in his cell door, he calls out. "I want to speak to my lawyer."
Even though the guard on duty doesn't respond to his request. The audio and video system within the ward records everything and without the guard's acknowledgment, Edmund know that his attorney will be contacted. Edmund returns to his bunk. Laying down, he continues to reflect on the inspections and what possible changes could be made from them.
Two hours have passed before a guard appears at his door. "Stand." The guard says.
Turning his head, he looks at the guard and realizes it's not Officer MacKinley but Officer Burundi that's come this time. Slowly Edmund rises. He steps up to the door and slips his hands through. Feeling the metal of the cuffs close around his wrists. It's a feeling he detests every time he leaves his cell. He steps back and waits. A buzzing sound is heard and then a click before Officer Burundi pulls the cell door open. She stands to the side, waiting for Edmund to walk out of the cell. Once he's cleared, there's another buzzing and clicking sound before Officer Burundi says. "You're lawyer has arrived as you requested."
Edmund nods as he is lead down a corridor beside his cell. He looks around as though it's his first time being brought to this part of the prison. They stop at a non-descript door. Officer Burundi opens the door and allows Edmund to enter. They walk slowly to the table where Edmund's lawyer is waiting for him. Edmund stops beside the table. Allowing Officer Burundi to open his cuffs. Pulling the chair out, Edmund sits down as Officer Burundi steps back. Officer Burundi leaves them as Edmund settles back into his chair. The rooms recording devices have been turned off to completely insure Client/Attorney privilege.
"I'm not sure why I'm here, Mr. Winslow?"
"I'm not allowed outside contact in here…."
"So you sent for me to keep you company. I have other clients…."
"I have a reason for asking you here. I've heard rumors that there are inspections going on at this facility…."
"How can you...?"
"I walk through the common areas when being escorted to the rec. yard, prisoners talk and I happen to over hear them. So you're confirming that the Prince has ordered for inspections to be conducted here." Edmund asks, as he lawyer looks away. Edmund waits a moment before he continues. "That's all I needed to know."
"Wait, I didn't say anything."
"No, but silence can speak louder than words." Edmund says, getting up from the table.
"If you're planning something Mr. Winslow, I wouldn't. It's a useless gesture and will only serve to…."
The guard opens the door. "I'm ready to go back to my cell now." Edmund says, ignoring his attorney as he holds his wrists out. After the handcuffs are locked in place, he steps out of the room and the guard closes the door. His attorney sits there for several seconds before he slowly rises to leave.
Megan has just put the boys down. After leaving the hospital, Jeffrey took Sam to Company for dinner. Holding the door for her, Jeffrey lets Sam enter the house before him, closing the door behind them. "How is Ava?" Megan asks, getting up from the couch.
"She's fine. A beautiful baby boy. 8lb 3oz and 21 inches long." Sam says, taking off her coat and laying on the arm of the couch before she walks over to the play pen where her boys are sleeping.
"I just fed them the last bottle and they've been changed too. So you should be good for a few hours." Megan says, as Sam stands up.
"Thank you for watching them." Jeffrey says, hanging up his coat and then Sam's.
"You're welcome."
"We had fun." Megan says with a smile. "It reminded me of when my boys were little."
"Are you wanting another one?" Sam asks, glancing at her.
Megan doesn't reply before she turns to Jeffrey. "How does it feel to be a new dad and a grandpa with a week?"
"It's fine." Jeffrey says with a smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes that Sam notices.
"Well, I think it's time that I relieve Frank." She turns to Sam. They hug and then she steps back. "Anytime you need a baby sitter, I'm here."
"I know and thank you. Next time there will be more notice."
"Anytime, I'm here." She says, turning to Jeffrey. They hug before he helps her into her coat and then he opens the door for her. "Be careful going home."
"I will." She says before she steps out of the house. Shivering slightly as she carefully makes her way down the steps. Jeffrey and Sam stand at the door until she's in her car before Jeffrey closes the door.
"Are you okay?" She asks, turning to him.
"I'm fine, but I think I'm going to go change and then maybe we can watch a movie before the boys wake up again."
"She looks at him and then says. "We both should change." He turns for the stairs as she grabs the baby monitor on the table by the couch and follows him upstairs.
Ten minutes later, they are both downstairs again. Jeffrey is in the kitchen getting snacks and drinks for them while Sam picks out a movie to watch. Once he comes back into the room, they settle on the couch as Sam pushes play for the movie she picked out. He looks at her when the intro starts to play. "What?" She asks.
"A Disney movie?"
"I like Disney movies and we might as well get in the habit of watching kids programming."
He sits back and stares at the TV while she watches him. They're both not paying attention to the movie and after several minutes, Sam reaches for the remote and stops the movie. "Why did you do that?"
"Something is bothering you."
"I'm fine." He says, glancing at her before he turns his attention to the TV. "Can we watch…?"
"No, we're not watching the movie until you tell me what's bothering you."
"Why do you think something is bothering me?"
"I saw your smile when Megan asked you about being a father and grandpa in less than a week. You smiled but it didn't reach your eyes."
"I'm…."
"If you tell me you're fine again. I will go upstairs and you will be sleeping down here on this couch until they both go to pre-k. What's wrong?"
Sighing, he sits back and closes his eyes. "It hit me, okay?"
"What hit you?"
"That I'm a father and a grandfather. I mean I know I'm already a father. I have Ava. But she was grown by the time I found out about her. I wasn't there for the hard things. I never had to ground her for sneaking out or staying out past her curfew. I didn't get to intimidate her boyfriends. I missed all the things that, well that Josh and Billy both got to do with their kids. And here I am, I have two boys, well now three boys that are going to be looking to me for guidance and I don't even know if I can guide them. I had nothing to guide myself with." Jeffrey says all in one breathe.
"First, take a breath J. Actually take several." He looks at her and she smiles. "Do you really think I know what I'm doing, seriously?" She looks over at the playpen and then to him. "We both have very dysfunctional upbringings. You had your mother and no father…."
"This is supposes to help me, how?" He looks at her.
"Go with me, okay. You were raised by your mother. You didn't know your father. That's your side. On my side, I had both of my parents, although I only saw my mother secretly because my father did everything in his power to keep me from her and he did it only because she left him. She did nothing to us to warrant being kept from her children, but he knew it would eventually kill her and so he devised a plan to hurt her the only way he knew of and he didn't once stop to consider what his actions would do to his three children, and thus he died without two of his children being with him and a son that was… I don't have words to describe Jeremiah."
"What's your point?"
"I'm only saying that we both come into this at a disadvantage and I don't think that anyone has the perfect example of how to raise a child by looking at how they were raised." He looks at her. "We both see the better side of each other. And that is why we'll keep each other from making major mistakes. I happen to think you have a lot to teach these boys."
"Like what, playing a guitar."
She laughs, "Well, there is that. And that is incredibly sexy." She says, leaning in to kiss him. Pulling away, she continues. "But maybe we should wait to see if any of them are musically inclined." He looks at her. "You have to relax, J. If you let yourself worry about what could happen in the future, you're going to miss out on what's happening right in front of you. I know you're going to be a great Dad to our boys and a great grandpa to Wes." He opens his mouth to say something, but she silences him with her finger. "Kids don't learn everything from their parents. There were a lot of things that I learned from my grandparents, my aunts and uncles, even my older cousins, although some of those got me in trouble but still the point is that kids don't learn everything from just one person." She leans in and kisses him again. "As to the guitar, let me repeat. Girls find it very sexy."
"Great, you've already have them dating."
"Hey, they will always be my little babies." She pouts as he laughs.
Putting his arm around her, he draws her to him and kisses her. Leaning his fore head against hers, he says. "I love you so much, Mrs. O'Neill."
"I love you too, Mr. O'Neill. So you've calmed down enough to watch our movie."
"Yes, but can I make one rule."
"Only one." She asks, teasing him as he looks at her and she smiles.
"Can we have one night were we do something that doesn't involve Disney, or kids programming, or well, I don't know. But can we have one night that's only adult activities."
"You only want one night!"
"Sam." He huffs in frustration."
Smiling, she leans against him. "That will never be relegated to only one night a week, or only on holidays and special occasions."
"That's only because you find my guitar playing so sexy."
"Yes, I do." She says, kissing him again.
"It's a few moments before Jeffrey pulls back. We can watch the mov…." One of the boys start to whimper."
"That's another thing we're going to have to learn to take advantage of." Sam says, sighing as she moves to get up. Walking over to the play pen, she reaches down and picks up Aj. "Okay, little one." She says, holding him securely to her chest as she walks back to the couch.
"Does he need changing or feeding?"
"No, Megan said she has just done all that when we got here." Sam says, moving Aj to that he's laying over her heart. The moment he hears her heart, he settles down. "Oh, I think he was just missing his Momma." She says, gently rubbing his back.
Jeffrey scoots closer to them. Putting his arm around her, he draws her into his side, while he gently caresses Aj's hair. "He has the right idea." She looks at him. "I like listening to your heart beat."
She lays her head on his shoulder. "Me too." She murmurs
They sit there for several moments before he reaches for the remote and the intro begins again for the Princess and the Frog. "Do we have to watch a Princess movie?"
"The lesson applies to little boys too."
He looks at her and smirks. "I suppose it does."
"And when they are older, we'll watch one of the best boy movies ever made."
"What, Cars."
"That's a Pixar movie. No, I'm talking about Where the Red Fern Grows. I had the book read to me when I was a little girl and I bawled at the end of it. It was years later when I saw the movie and I cried at the end of it too."
"If it's so sad, why did you watch it?"
"Because, it has a wonderful story that I could identify with and because it teaches some valuable lessons to kids, just like Mary Poppins, Pollyanna and Pete's Dragon."
Turning his head, he kisses the side of hers before they settle back to watch the movie. About half way through it, HB begins to whimper. Getting up, Jeffrey gets him and brings him to the couch with his momma and his brother. And they all settle back to finish the movie.
Cassie is waiting for Richard in the lobby. He walks up to her and slips his arm around her waist. She leans into him. "Is William okay?"
"Yeah, just thinking about the past." Richard says, as they walk towards the doors.
"The past?" She asks, glancing at him.
"Yes, comparing Will and Wes. He's seeing the difference between them and wondering how was able to accept that Will was the son he had with Camille." Richard says, as they get closer to the door he releases here. "Stay here and I'll bring the car around."
"Okay." She says, as he leaves her standing in the lobby.
The door is partially open when William comes back to Ava's room. Leaning against the door jam, he watches while Ava is holding their son. She's so wrapped up in him, that she doesn't notice that he's watching her. Pushing the door open a little more, he comes into the room and that gets her attention. "Is everything okay?" He asks, sitting down beside her on the bed when she moves over.
"We're fine." She says, looking up and then turning her attention back to Wes. "I was able to feed him."
"You mean I missed it." William says, gently running his fingers over his son's head.
"There will be plenty of times for you to watch." Ava says, looking up again with a smile. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, we went by the nursery on the way out and I spent a little time talking with Richard about Will." He says, as she nods. "He said that none of us are responsible for what happened with Will. That we all were manipulated by Edmund."
"You were manipulated, but not just by Edmund. Everything with Will's adoptions falls on a lot of peoples shoulders."
"The catalyst was Edmund. Richard warned me about him after the election. But after Richard's death I let myself think that maybe Edmund could be different with Richard gone. That he could stop trying to get back at our father for his childhood and maybe live his own life. That's why I let him be Ambassador at Large for San Cristobel. And then he used Will to try and hold onto Cassie, I couldn't let him take it as far as Richard let him go in the past. I understand that Richard feels guilty about the way Edmund was treated, but there has to come a time when you have to own what you do."
"Let's not dwell on Edmund, okay." Ava says, looking down at their sleeping son.
"I would rather dwell on him." William says, looking down as well.
There are several moments of silence while they both watch their boy sleep but before long Ava is suppressing a yawn. "Here, give him to me." William says, as Ava tries fight sleep.
"I'm…."
"You're tired." He says, getting up. He lightly kisses her head before he takes William from her. "I'm going to put him down in his bassinet and we'll both hear him if he needs us." He says, taking the baby and laying him in the plastic bassinet that the nurse left after they examined him. He tucks him in tight and then goes back to the bed. "He's sleeping, all snuggled in his blankets. And you need to sleep too."
"So do you." Ava says, sliding down in the bed.
"I will, I promise." He says, leaning over and lightly kissing her forehead.
She rolls to her side before she mumbles. "Can you lay up here and hold me?" She falls asleep without hearing if he reply.
Moving to the other side of the bed, he lays down behind her and draws her back against his chest.
A couple hours later, the gentle squeak of the door wakes William. Sitting up, he sees the nurse come in. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."
"It's okay." William says softly as he gently leaves the bed. "Is he okay?"
"He's fine, but I can take him back to the nursery if you want to…."
"No, he can stay with us. What time is it?"
"It's close to eight pm. I'm supposes to tell you that visiting hours are over."
"She needs me here." William says, after he stretches as the nurse smiles.
"I'll have an orderly bring in a cot for you to sleep on."
"We were…." William says, nodding towards Ava's bed.
She shakes her head no. "Hospital regulations, I'll have the cot brought in."
"Okay." William glances at the bassinet. "Shouldn't he want to eat by now?"
"It varies from baby to baby, but newborns can breast feed every one and a half hours to every three hours."
"Okay."
"I'll go see about that cot and some covers for you."
"You really don't need to bring in a cot. The chair will be fine with a blanket and pillow."
"Mr. Winslow, you've got a newborn to take care of and trust me that recliner isn't anywhere close to being comfortable enough for you to get any amount of rest."
"Okay, the cot it is." William says with a smile. The nurse leaves and he turns his attention to his son. Going around the bed, he picks his boy up. Wrapping him in a blanket so that he stays warm, he carries him over to the recliner and sits down. That's how Ava finds him when an hour later, he begins to fuss waking her up.