A/N: Hi all :D

I'm sorry it's been awhile again :( I've had so much work to do the last few weeks that I haven't had time to do any writing at all (hence the reason Tenuous Fighter hasn't been updated lately either D: ) but, I'm going home with my room-mate tomorrow for my very first thanksgiving (!) and that includes lots of very long car rides, so I hope to get a couple of chapters of both written (though I don't know if I'll be able to post them until the weekend)

Anyway...

This chapter took a surprising turn even for me, but I kind of like it anyway, so I hope you guys do too!

Thanks for being patient with me!

xoloveJBox

xxx

Chapter Seven

The hours seemed to go past quicker than Kyle could blink, and before he knew it, Heath was heading home to pick up the car seat, so that he could leave with the baby. He was still no closer to giving her a name, but he and his brothers had been alternating between calling her 'Princess' and 'Little Miss Braxton' in the absence of anything else.

For hours, there'd been something Kyle knew he had to do something, but he had been putting it off. But now, as the time to leave was drawing nearer, he knew he didn't really have much choice. He let out a sigh and begrudgingly slipped his finger from his daughter's tiny grip, pushing himself to standing.

"Do you mind staying with her for a few minutes?" he asked Brax and Ricky, who had stayed around after Casey and Bianca went back to the house to prepare the final touches to the baby's things, like putting sheets in the crib, and making sure bottles were clean, ready for milk.

"Yeah, sure," Ricky agreed with a warm smile, and Kyle nodded in thanks, heading towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Brax questioned with a slightly confused look on his face.

"To see Phoebe." Kyle answered simply, hoping his brother wouldn't ask for elaboration, because honestly, Kyle wasn't sure he could give any.

Thankfully, Brax didn't press the issue, and Kyle was grateful. He wasn't even really sure what he was going to say, but he did know that he'd been given a gift, and he couldn't just leave with her without at least speaking to Phoebe.

As he walked down the corridor, he realised that he had no idea what room Phoebe was in, so he peered through the doors of them all. He was more than a little confused to see that she wasn't in any of them, so he made his way to the nurses' station.

"Excuse me," he started, and the nurse there, a white-haired, petite woman who seemed to ooze a motherly-or maybe even grandmotherly- tenderness "Can you tell me where I can find Phoebe Nicholson?"

The woman seemed to stop and think for a moment before giving him a sympathetic smile.

"Miss Nicholson discharged herself about an hour ago, sweetheart." She explained softly "But she knew you'd swing by eventually," She continued eagerly, setting down the chart she'd been writing on and searching through a drawer for a few minutes. Kyle could only stand there, wondering how Phoebe could just leave without even seeing their daughter, even if she didn't want to raise the child. Eventually, the woman let out a quiet 'aha!' and pulled out a white envelope and handed it to him. Kyle blinked dazedly at his name written in Phoebe's familiar, curly script.

"She wanted us to give that to you." The woman finished before shooting him another warm smile and going back to work.

Kyle wasn't sure how long he stood there, staring at the envelope in his hand, but he only came back to reality when Heath gave him a playful nudge, startling him.

"Alright, Jumpy," Heath chuckled, amused at the similarity to the nickname he usually gave his immediate younger brother- 'Grumpy.' "You ready to take the princess home?"

"Yeah," Kyle answered, a nervous knot starting to twist in his stomach.

"What's that?" Heath asked, nodding towards the note, still unopened in Kyle's hand.

"Nothing important." Kyle replied, sounding more convinced than he felt as he stuffed it into his pocket. He certainly hoped it was true, because he had no intention of reading it straight away.

The closer they got back to the room that held his daughter, the more anxious Kyle got, and he started to wonder if maybe Phoebe was right-maybe he wasn't ready?

But, as worried as he had been one second; the next, it was gone. He knew he was lucky enough to have a lot of people who were more than willing to help him, no matter how useless he was or how difficult things might get, and he was more grateful for them than he knew how to explain.

When the two of them entered, Kyle's eyes instinctively searched out the pink bundle, which was in Brax's arms rather than in the crib where he'd left her.

"Sorry," Brax grinned "Couldn't resist."

"Going soft, are we Brax?" Heath joked with a mischievous grin as he placed the car seat on the counter.

"You wish," Brax scoffed playfully as he stood "Alright little Miss," he said to his niece "back to dad you go."

Kyle took the opportunity to unwrap her from the hospital blankets, and he was immediately struck by just how tiny she really was. It made him all the more aware of everyone's eyes on him as he placed her in the car seat, and he turned to them before covering her with the blanket Bianca had sent back with Heath.

"Is she strapped in properly?" he asked, paranoid about her falling out the moment he tried to move.

"She looks golden to me," Brax answered casually, and Kyle felt a slight flare of frustration.

"Can someone just check for me please?" he asked, a little bit more harshly than he'd intended. Ricky rolled her eyes but stepped forward anyway.

"Your daddy's bossy today, isn't he?" she cooed as she made sure the straps were tight enough and the clasps closed properly.

"You're good to go," she confirmed, and Kyle was admittedly relieved that he hadn't made a mistake you.

When they were all ready, Kyle grabbed the car-seat, and never before in his life had he handled something with such care. As they walked out of the hospital, Brax couldn't help but notice that he'd never seen his brother smile so much in all the time that he'd known him.

Kyle spent the whole drive home in the back of Heath's truck, despite the fact that the front passenger seat was empty, with his hand tracing the lines of his daughter's tiny limbs. It was so hard for him to believe that she could be so perfect, and yet, twenty four hours ago, she was still inside of another being. The thought kept him pretty occupied as they drove, and it seemed like no time has passed before they were pulling up.

Inside, they were greeted by a large pink banner that proclaimed 'Welcome Home!' and large grins from Bianca, Casey and, surprising to Kyle, Tamara. His relationship with her had been rocky at best for a while, and he had no idea how his daughter was going to play into that. But, he pushed the thought from his head, leaving it for another time. For now, he was too tired, and too overwhelmed to add that to his pile.

"Can I get her out?" Casey asked, looking down at the baby, and Kyle nodded.

"Go for it."

"Err, Kyle," Casey groaned, wrinkling his nose once the little girl was out of the car-seat, looking away from the bundle in his arms "I think the Princess has left you a present."

It took Kyle a second to know what Casey meant, and the look it elicited on his face was enough to have his older two brothers snickering at him. Through his chuckles, Brax pulled out the changing mat and lay it on the floor as Kyle took his baby from Casey and kicked over the box of nappies and wipes. He lowered himself slowly to the ground, carefully placing the little girl down too, and tried to work out where to start.

"What are you doing to the poor kid, you goose?" Heath demanded as he watched Kyle fumble awkwardly with the baby's clothes, eliciting grumbles from the small child when she was fussed with.

"This isn't exactly something I have a lot of experience with Heath." Kyle retorted, feeling himself get more flustered as his daughter protested. It certainly didn't help when Heath rolled his eyes and nudged him aside.

"Move out the way." He instructed, pointing a finger at Kyle. "And take notes, little brother, because this is the only time I'm going to be changing your daughter's nappy while you're around.

Kyle watched intently as Heath changed the nappy and puts the little girl's clothes back on, committing every step to memory because, despite his limited knowledge, he did know that there would be plenty more nappies to change.

"There we go sweetheart." Heath announced as he finished, picking her up gently "That's better, ey? Uncle Heath to the rescue."

Kyle spent the rest of the day fussing over things, and almost as soon as Bianca or Ricky convinced him that whatever he was dealing with was fine, he'd find something else, so in the end they simply left him to it. He was hyper vigilant, and every single sound, no matter how small, that came from the baby had him snapping to her side, and Heath teased him about it every single time. If it wasn't so obvious that Kyle was nervous out of his mind, Brax might have joined him. Casey seemed to be alternating between helping Heath wind up their brother, and cooing over his niece.

Throughout the afternoon, Heath made sure to keep an eye on Bianca. Phoebe's pregnancy had been so suddenly dropped on them that he wasn't sure his wife had fully had chance to come to terms with what having a baby around might feel like, and there had not really been any way for him to know how Bianca would react until they were actually faced with Kyle's baby. But, if she was feeling anything but joy over the new addition to their already fairly extensive family, she was doing a good job at hiding it. She was busy helping Kyle know what to do, at his side the moment he looked like he needed a reassuring hand or a few words of experienced encouragement, and he looked almost panicked when night crept up on them, and Heath and Bianca bade everyone goodnight, ready to head next door.

"Don't worry mate, the little peanut's asleep," Heath started comfortingly before a wicked grin spread across his face "and by the time she wakes up for her next feed, you'll probably have started lactat-ow!" He quickly disappeared out the door, pulled away by Bianca with a sharp grip on his ear.

"Seriously Kyle, you'll be fine," Ricky promised with a warm smile "and we're all here, if you need us."

"But try not to need us." Brax yawned jokingly before he and Ricky went to bed themselves.

Kyle blew out a breath. Until almost everyone had left, he hadn't realised how crowded their house had seemed all day. Casey was the only one who remained, sitting on the couch, cradling the baby in his arms.

"I never really got to do this with Rocco." Casey mumbled quietly, catching Kyle slightly off-guard.

"Why not?" he asked as he slumped down next to them.

"Well, at first it was because Heath wouldn't let me see him." He explained, his eyes never leaving the little girl's face as he spoke "He was mad at me because of what happened with Dad, which I can understand. Then I guess I was just scared that I'd hurt him."

Kyle's voice was firm with certainty when he answered "You couldn't do that Case."

"I never thought I could shoot someone either, but that happened." Casey retorted, and Kyle found that he didn't know what to say to that, so he stayed silent and let his brother finish "And then, I was in the desert when he died."

"I'm sorry I took that from you Casey. You didn't get to say goodbye, and that was my fault." Kyle told him sincerely. It was something they'd never really talked about before, and Kyle didn't know whether he was just tired, or if it was sentimentality now that he had his own child that made him feel like he had to say it now.

"No one got to say goodbye Kyle, but thanks." Casey answered softly, before letting out a breath and standing up "Now, we are not nearly drunk enough for this sappy conversation, so I'm going to go to bed, before we end up putting a chick flick on and talking about our feelings."

Kyle let out a hearty laugh as his brother passed the tiny pink bundle into his arms.

"I think I'm going to head up now too," he replied amusedly "it's been a long day."
"It has," Casey agreed with a grin "but a good one."

When Kyle was sure that he'd gathered up everything he needed for the night, Casey helped him carry everything upstairs and into Kyle's- and now the baby's- room before tossing a sleepy 'goodnight' over his shoulder as he wandered out to his own room. Kyle quickly changed his daughter on the bed before carefully lowering her into the cot, thankful that the movement didn't stir her enough to wake her up. When he was sure she was still settled, Kyle set to getting himself ready for bed.

He started out by digging around in his hands into his pockets, fishing out the contents to make sure they didn't end up in the washing machine. He was momentarily surprised by the envelope that he pulled out, but quickly remembered. It seemed like a lifetime ago that the nurse had handed it to him. He turned the crumpled paper over in his hands a few times, contemplating opening it, but in the end, he decided against it. Instead, he stood it up against the lamp on his bedside table. It had been a long day, and Phoebe had made her choice. He'd read it when he was good and ready.

For now, he was looking forward to climbing into bed, listening to the sounds of his angel's gentle breathing.

A/N: Baby Braxton's name will be revealed in the next chapter! :D