Thank you for all the nice reviews and thanks again to Vicky for being my beta reader!

1253 h, 1254 h, 1255 h

Danny carefully smoothed his already sweaty hands over the shirt of his dress whites before he brought his belt back into the correct position and then he checked his watch again.

13:02 h seriously? Danny double checked is watch as he couldn't believe that it only took him 7 minutes to put on the uniform and do his hair. It felt like the hundredth time of that day, a frustrated sigh escaping his lips. From the moment he'd woken this morning, everything felt as if time had stood still.

The breakfast, his walk on the fight deck with Halsey, the final briefing and the shower he had taken before lunch everything felt like it was going in slow motion.

1 hour 37 minutes if everything goes smoothly and then I'll meet him… Danny smile proudly at his own reflection in the mirror. "I'm a dad." He said out loud and even though he knew that it was true he couldn't help but shake his head in disbelieve. "I have a son." A shaking breath escaped his lips and then he suddenly felt a mixture of nervousness and happiness creeping up his spine as he realized that he didn't know a thing about his son.

Who does he look like more?

What colour eyes does he have?

What is his hair color? Blond or Dark?

Is he healthy?

Will he know I'm his Dad or will I be a stranger to him?

All those questions were floating around in his head and it made him even more nervous when he realized that he had no idea how to hold him. Besides the many tips he'd got from the Master Chief, the Captain and Tex about always supporting his head he didn't know a thing about how to hold a baby.

What if i do something wrong?

What if he starts to cry and I can't make him stop?

What will Kara think about him then?

What if she thinks I can't be a good father to our son?

He realized that his last question was ridiculous but couldn't stop wondering about it. He took a few deep breath as he tried to calm himself down, but when he noticed that it wasn't working he started to pace up and down in the small cabin that he still shared with Tex. Tex had left him alone around an hour ago to take Halsey out on to the flight deck so Danny would have some private time to prepare himself for his homecoming. Back then Danny thought it was a good idea, but right now he wished that at least Halsey would be here to distract him from his thoughts.

A couple of minutes had passed already and Danny was still pacing up and down the cabin as he tried to figure out a way to distract himself, but everything he could think off was either off limits or already packed in his duffle bag. But then his eyes landed on the book that was still sitting next to his pillow. It was the baby book that Debbie had given him right before he had left St. Louis. He had flipped through it whenever he had a chance and he even bookmarked the chapter about "How to hold a baby" but in between briefings and saving the humanity in China he never really had a chance to get past the "First days" chapter.

Maybe this will help and calm me down…

Danny sat down on to the edge of his bed and picked up the book. For a moment he simply stared at the woman holding the baby on cover of the book. He wondered if Frankie would smile like that when Kara was holding him and then he took deep breath and opened the book right where he had stopped. For the next couple of minutes Danny spend catching up on what developments or as the book has called it "milestones" he had already missed while being away from his family. Even though he knew that Debbie had filled in for him, he felt kind of guilty for not being there to support Kara during all those sleepless nights she must have had during the first weeks after Frankie was born.

Your baby at two months old

Drum roll please... It's the moment you've been waiting for since you met your tiny little baby all those weeks ago. This month all your efforts will be rewarded with a beaming, toothless baby smile – not wind, but a perfect little smile.

The feeling of guilt was now mixed some sort of frustration as he realized that he probably had although missed Frankie's first smile.

Your baby at three months old

Between two and three months your baby will discover their hands, maybe staring at them in fascination and trying to bring them towards their mouth. Efforts to control their hands may not be quite successful yet, but it's a great spectator sport.

Grasping and unclasping

Your baby was born with a grasping reflex, but they don't yet know how to let go of things – which is why long-haired mums better be prepared for some painful moments. Around now you may notice them unclasping their fists and trying to wave them.

Danny instantly thought about Kara's beautiful long dark hair.

I hope she hasn't cut it off…. he smiled to himself as he remembered how incredibly sexy she looked when she had let it down.

After he was done with reading the third months Danny felt like he had pretty good image about his son's developments but there was still the problem about holding him. He took a deep breath as he turned the sites of the book until he had reached the bookmarked site. He stopped himself for a moment as he picked up the photos that he used as a bookmark to look at them. The first one was him and Kara after they got married standing in front of the St. Louis County Courts Building, smiling at each other as their hands were joined Kara's belly. He closed his eyes for a few seconds as he allowed his mind to drift back to the day that they got married. He still remembered the nervous feeling he had the whole day and he still could hear Kara's voice when she finally said "I do". His eyes were still closed as he reached for the other photo and picked it up. It was an ultrasound image of their son, taken a day before he had to leave. Danny opened his eyes and stared at the blurry image with a smile on his lips. But instead of remembering that moment his mind went back to the first time when he saw his son on the blurry screen of Doctor Scott's ultrasound machine. The strong heartbeat still echoed through his head and the pure joy that he filled when he saw their miracle for the first time. It was something that he never wanted to forget.

"I'll see you soon." Danny whispered before he placed a soft kiss onto the picture.

How to correctly hold the baby

* Carrying the baby on the chest

* Kidney-bean position

* Carrying the baby "on a tray"

* On the chair

* Other carrying options

Just by reading the headlines of the various positions Danny has gotten the feeling that even though he would read it he would still feel like he doesn't know a thing about holding a baby.

10 minutes later he had read the chapter twice and it was like he had foreseen it, he felt like he had to become a rocket scientist just to be able to hold his son.

I have to ask Kara so she can teach me… Danny picked up the photo of their wedding day and then closed the book and tossed behind himself.

Seriously Green, what kind of father asks his wife to show him how to hold his own son? He rolled his eyes at his idea about asking Kara but then he answered his own question as he looked their wedding photo again.

The kind of father who loves his family.

He looked back at the photo in his hands and within a second his eyes were fixed on Kara's beautiful smile and he once again realized that with everything that had happened in the past year that came out pretty good. He might have lost his own family due to this virus, but it had brought him the one thing he didn't realize he wanted so badly, a family of his own. He realized that without that damn virus, he would have never set a foot on to the Nathan James and that would have never been able to meet the love of his life. His eyes were still fixed on to the picture in his hand as his mind slowly drifted off to the day that he had fallen for her. It took him long until he had completely lost track of time as he remembered the moment she had walked into the officer's mess and introduced herself to him. He still couldn't really remember anything that had been said during that briefing because he was way too busy looking at the beautiful young Lieutenant sitting across the table from him. They way her beautiful hazel eyes sparkled when she talked about her work. He noticed the bun on the back of her head and he remembered that he wondered how she would look with her hair down. He could still hear Frankie's teasing after each briefing, meal or work out session where she had showed up. He remembered the many moments when they saw each other at the crew's lounge and those times when they hung out together without Frankie or Burk by their sides. And then there was that one night when he couldn't sleep and decided to head for the crew lounge to watch a movie. He could feel how surprised he was when he saw her sitting on the couch watch TV. It was the night when he insisted on walking her back to her cabin after the movie.

"Danny you don't have to do this." Kara blushed when Danny opened the door of the crew lounge for her. "It's a ship and It's not like there are any creepy parks I have to walk through…" Kara tried her best to convince him that she would make it back to her cabin in one piece without him. "You never know what's behind the corner, Kara." Danny pointed out as they both looked into each other's eyes. It was then when Kara realized that Danny must have felt the same way for her as she felt for him. "Fine." Kara took a deep breath as she realized that she couldn't win this one and then she followed him out of the crew's lounge. They both walked down the dim lighted p-ways until they arrived at Kara's cabin. "See nothing happened." Kara's voice was low but Danny could hear a triumphal hint in her voice. "Because I was with you." Danny replied and Kara just shook her head with a smile on her lips. Gosh, he so sweet…. They both felt like the time stood still as suddenly they both stared into each other's eyes. "I think I should go." Kara's voice was barely above a whisper as she reached for the handle of the door. "Yeah, so good night." Danny replied thinking that Kara would push the door open and get inside but she didn't. It was then when Danny made a step forward and then without thinking he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled in for kiss. He was surprised when Kara kissed him back as she wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him closer.

"Hey earth to Green." Tex voice and Halsey's wet nose on his hand ripped him out of his thoughts. "Sorry Tex, I was miles away, what is it?" Danny replied

"We make port in 5, it's time to finally meet your boy." Tex said, smiling to himself. He remembered how he'd felt the first time he'd met Kat.