Thanks for the suggestions of the baby's name. Since I received three for the name Robert, I went with it…

Chapter Twenty-Three

The Hospital

"Good morning," Bobby says to the receptionist.

"Good morning."

"As you can see she is going to have a baby."

The woman smiles, "Yes I can see that, your name?"

"Bobby." Alex pokes him. "Oh you mean her name, its Alex, Alex Eames."

"You guys are too early. We have you scheduled to come in at nine AM."

"We tried to tell that to the baby but you know how kids are? He wouldn't listen," Alex says.

The receptionist smiles as she asks, "How long?"

"Since eleven this evening," She pauses due to a contraction, "Is Doctor Paulsen here?"

"No not yet. Let's get you into a room."

Marcia arrives and Alex is prepared for the surgery. An epidural is injected and quickly she starts to feel numb from the rib cage down. A nurse gives her some chalky stuff, called Bictra, which neutralizes her stomach acids. After a catheter and IV are set in place Alex is wheeled into the operating room. Bobby is very quiet but he never lets go of her hand.

Alex asks, "Are you alright?"

"Me, don't worry about me I'm fine. Are you alright?"

"Bobby they could cut my legs off and I wouldn't feel a thing."

"Jokes she makes jokes now."

A nurse hands Bobby a surgical gown and mask and he suits up.

There is a barrier set up and as the surgery starts, Bobby is sitting next to Alex close to her head. Alex whispers to him, "You can look if you want."

"What makes you think I want to look?"

"Because I know you, go ahead."

He shakes his head, "No it's alright."

Marcia says, "If you want to look you can, you're tall enough you should be able to see right over the barrier."

He stands up slowly but never lets' go of her hand. "You should see this." He looks at Alex and she smiles at him. "Oh my God this is amazing."

Marcia places her hand underneath the baby's head and forms a cradle. Bobby asks, "What is that?"

"The uterus," Marcia says as she pushes the top of the uterus and elevates the head out of the pelvis. The baby's shoulders and body follow.

Alex catches her doctor's eye. "You should see what he does to our M.E."

Marcia smiles, "It's alright."

A second later, their son is born. She gently lays him down on Alex's stomach and then she hands Bobby the scissors to cut the cord, "Here Bobby."

Marcia holds him up for Alex to see. Alex can only smile at her son. She is not able hold him because her arms are held down by straps, quickly a nurse whisks him away for care. The nurse cleans the baby and then she wraps him in a blanket and places him in the "warmer" to keep his body temperature steady.

Bobby sits back down as Marcia stitches Alex back up. Alex starts to shake. "Why is she shaking like that?"

"You guys know that I tell you everything."

They both nod their heads. "Medical science has no explanation for that."

The baby weighed in at 8 pounds, 9 ounces and measured 21 ¾ inches long. Born on March 6th at five forty-six am.

"He's a lot smaller than I thought he would be." He then lightly kisses her forehead. "Go to sleep you look tired."

"I will if you will."

"I'm not tired besides, I have phone calls to make. I can call people now right?"

"Yes."

"Who should I call first, your Mom?"

"Yes and then she will call everyone else."

An Hour Later

Alex is out of recovery and in her room, she is trying to sleep but the bed is uncomfortable. Bobby walks in, "Why aren't you sleeping?"

"I'm trying, but already I want to go home." They turn their heads toward the door when the nurse wheels the baby's bassinet into the room. She picks him up and hands him to Alex. "Let me guess, he's hungry."

The nurse smiles, "He can stay in here all day with you. If you put him back in the bassinet and he starts to cry and you're alone please don't get out of the bed to get him, push the buzzer."

"I will thank you."

"Well I called everyone. Considering they already knew the day, they all still were surprised by the news."

"Did you call your Mom?"

"No. I will drive up tomorrow afternoon and pick her up."

"Bobby?"

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Invite your Mom to stay with us for a couple of weeks, my sister has her own family and my Mom is not able to pick up a baby because of the weakness in her arm and as Marcia suggested the more help the better, besides I think it would be good for her, what do you think?"

He smiles, "You're amazing, you know that?"

She waves for him to bend down and they kiss. He sits down on the bed and lightly caresses his son's head, "Hey little guy, we'd better come up with a name soon, I'm getting use to calling him little guy."

Alex says, "How about, Robert?"

"Oh that's original."

"I like your name, don't you?"

"Sure I do, how about Alexander?"

"Back at ya, that's original."

The baby has finished suckling, "Bobby can you change his diaper?" Bobby picks him up and lays him gently on the bed. "I've never done this before."

"The one thing to remember when you change a boy is to cover up his penis with one of those baby wipes or he'll squirt you, happened to me when I changed my nephew the first time."

"He's so small. My hand is the same size as his body." He slowly and carefully removes the diaper. "Don't forget the wipe." He laughs. "Hey I did it."

"I never doubted that you couldn't," she pauses, "Robert."

"What?"

"Robert Alexander, what do you think of that?"

"Robert Alexander, I like it, but you realize his initials with be RAG."

"You would think of that."

They hear familiar voices out in the hall. He moves away from the bed. "Where are you going?"

He points, "Over here, why?"

"Don't you take a back seat to my family, sit here next to me," she points to the chair next to the bed.

A Few Hours Later

"Good morning Alex, you did well."

"So did you."

Marcia looks around the room, "Where's Bobby?"

"I sent him home to get some sleep."

The doctor pulls up the bandage to check the stitching. "I want you to remember do not get out of this bed by yourself, please call for help. You may be a little wobbly."

"I will."

"Are you feeling any pain?"

"It's very dull."

"Good."

"Marcia I want to apologize again for Bobby."

"Don't you dare, he's adorable and curious and I like him. I have to tell you though after all the C-sections that I have performed he is the only Dad who ever looked over of the barrier."

The Next Afternoon

Carmel Ridge

He knocks on her door, and then enters, "Mom."

"Bobby, how nice, a visit in the middle of the week, you look tired."

He kisses her cheek. "Well, you're a grandma."

She hugs him. "Oh how wonderful."

"I had a talk with the Doctor and I told him that I want you to come for a visit. Maybe a week of two, Alex says that she could use the help and between you and her Mom…. Anyway there will plenty for you to do."

"Are you sure that you want me there?"

"Oh Jesus, not again, why do you do this to me?" He sits down in the chair and puts his face in his hands. "Yes I want you there, you're my Mom and you have just as much right to visit your grandson as the Eames family, now let's start packing."

The Hospital

Alex is asleep and so is the baby. "You haven't told me his name," Frances says.

"It took months but we finally agreed on Robert Alexander."

"I like that name." As she peeks in the bassinet, he starts to move his body and then his arms start to move. "Any second now and he will cry," Frances says. "May I pick him up?"

"Of course," Bobby says.

She picks him up and sits down in a chair next to the bed. "He's so beautiful. It has been years and years since I have held a baby. I forgot how precious it feels." She lightly kisses his forehead. Frances looks up at her son. She can see a tear in his eye and she smiles, Robby starts to squeak and Alex opens her eyes when she hears him.

"How long did you sleep?"

"About two hours, with help from a nurse I put him back in the bassinet and we both had a nap."

"Hi Frances, it's good to see you."

"He is beautiful, how are you?"

"A little sore but I'm not feeling much pain any more."

Frances stands up and places the baby in Alex's arms. "I think he needs you now."

"Have you agreed to stay with us for a while, we could use the help."

"Yes I would love to help. Thank you."

Bobby winks at Alex and she smiles.

Frances visits for two weeks and she was very helpful. She enjoyed every minute of her stay. The family visiting every day starts to fade.

Four Weeks Later

"Bobby, I was thinking."

"About what?" he says.

"Maybe taking some extra time off to stay home with the baby, what do you think?"

"I'll tell you exactly what I think, it's your decision and whatever you decide I will support you."

"I love my job but I keep having this thought about a babysitter telling me about his first word or she'll say Oh Alex he took his first step today, I want to see that for myself, stupid huh?"

He takes a hold of her hand. "No not at all."

Six Weeks Later

Alex wakes and notices the time six AM. Robby is in a cradle at the edge of their bed. She grabs Bobby's arm and shakes him. "Bobby, wake up."

"What?" He opens his eyes and takes a quick look at the clock.

"Did you get up with the baby at 2 AM?"

He answers, "No, why?"

"Because I didn't either," Alex jabs him. "Look, please."

"Oh he's fine. He probably slept through the night." Bobby slowly crawls down the bed to peek, "He's awake now, any second he'll start," and he does, after a clean diaper Bobby carries him down stairs to give him his bottle while Alex takes a shower.

Alex descends the stairs and the smell of coffee fills the air. Bobby is sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee and looking through the paper. Robby is fidgeting in his carry all.

"Oh that coffee smells good." She sits down and puts two pieces of bread into the toaster. "Bobby I was wondering. Would it be alright if I changed the bedroom?"

He answers her but continues to read the paper, "Into what?"

"It is a nicely decorated room………….for a guy."

He keeps looking through the paper, "You want to redecorate the room, go right ahead, it's fine with…………."

She sees a look on his face that she hasn't seen for months, he looks very pale, "My God Bobby what's the matter?"

He lays the paper in front of her, "Look at the date." She looks down at the paper, "April 19, yeah, so………………Holy shit!"

"Holy shit is right, it's been a year." He sits back in the chair. "After everything that had happened to me I was sure it was going to be the worse twelve months of my life but it has turned out to be the best." He takes a hold of her hand. "She's rotting in prison and I'm sitting in my house with my family, what's that ole saying, who could ask for anything more."

They embrace and Robby makes sounds in his seat. They break the hug and smile at him.

Later In the Week

"Alex, where are you?"

She peeks out from the couch. "Here."

Bobby walks over to her quickly, "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine. I just sat down for a minute, about an hour ago and fell asleep."

"Where's the baby?"

"I sent him to the store for some milk."

"She's back…………Very funny."

They hear a squeak on the monitor and a few seconds later the cry. Alex gets up from the couch. "Bobby, please get the baby and I'll warm up the bottle.

"Sure," Bobby quickly makes his way up the stairs. The baby is still in a cradle in their bedroom. "Hey little guy, oh man how come every time I come to get you, you have a surprise for me." He picks the boy up from the cradle and lays him on the changing table. "You know when you were younger the odor wasn't so bad."

The baby wiggles as he takes the diaper off. One thing that Alex has told him repeatedly is to cover the baby's penis when you change his diaper and of course, Bobby forgets. "You couldn't have done that a minute ago. Well Mommy always reminds me but I forgot again." He diapers the boy. "I guess Mommy wants you in these clothes now." He puts the boy in a fresh sleeper.

He carries the boy downstairs and Alex extends her arms to take him, Bobby says, "I'll do it, why don't you go take a nice long soak in the tub."

She hands him the bottle and then puts her hands on his face and kisses him. "Have I told lately how much I love you?"

He sits down on the couch and clicks on the television. "Let's check out the news, my boss, Captain Ross, will be on tonight, was he in a bad mood today and for once it wasn't because of me. Man I miss Deakins, oh well, no more talk about work today."

Alex finds Bobby and the baby on the couch. The baby is asleep in his carryall. Dad is light rubbing Robby's legs and toes and he is pretty close to sleep himself.

She can't help but smiles at the sight.

Bobby has changed, both in his outlook of life, and attitude toward his job. His passion for truth and justice is still high, but his passion for Alex and their son is higher. She loves him even more than before. The things that were important to him aren't so important anymore and she and the baby have taken its place.

Alex sits down on the other side of her son and then she suddenly realizes something. Aloud she says, not knowing that Bobby is awake, "Oh no!"

With his eyes still closed he says, "Oh no what?"

"We forgot something, something very important."

He sits up and looks around the room wondering if it was something, he was to do. He looks over at her. "What? What did we forget?"

She reaches over her son and takes a hold of Bobby's hand, "We forgot to get married."

A sigh of relief comes from him as he sits back in the couch and closes his eyes. "Oh is that all."

THE END

I have to admit, putting The End on this story is a little sad. I had such a great time writing it, but the story will continue…………….I am working on a Wedding Story, should be coming soon………

Thanks to all of you for your comments, being my first fic, I didn't know what to expect but you guys have been great…a special thanks to you seasoned writers………..