Thank you all so much for your feedback.

RoutineRiot: I'm glad that you enjoyed the scene in the baby store- I thought that this fic was long due for a lighter moment.

Chapter Six:
A Lucky Man

"You and Weiss did what?" Vaughn asked.

"Is that ok?" Sydney replied on the other end of the line. "I thought it would be something less for you to worry about. If you don't want it all, then we can just return it."

"No, it's fine," Vaughn, said. "Thank you."

"Well, it is all at my place for whenever you want it."

"Um, I'll come by tomorrow- is that ok?"

"Yup. I'll see you then."

"Yeah, see you." Vaughn placed the phone back into the receiver. As grateful as he was for what Sydney and Weiss had done, it had left him feeling unsettled.

He was about to head into the bathroom when his phone rang again. he gave a wry smile, wondering jus what Sydney had forgotten to tell him during their conversation.

"Hey Syd—"

"Agent Vaughn, this is Dr Emery."

Vaughn stomach clenched. 'Hand up,' a voice in his head screamed. 'Just hang up.'

"Agent Vaughn? Are you there?"

"Yes," his reply was barely audible.

"It's a girl," Dr Emery said. "You have a daughter."

Closing his eyes Vaughn tried to find it in himself to respond but was unable to. He almost felt winded by the news.

"Agent Vaughn?" Dr Emery was saying. "Is everything alright?"

Without a word, Vaughn placed the phone back in the receiver, and then lifted it off the hook to prevent any further calls.

A girl. A little baby girl. He had a daughter. A real live person who was now going to be relying on him. A real live person whom he had created with…

Turning abruptly on his heel, Vaughn headed into the kitchen. He needed a drink.

Hours later Vaughn had been steadily making his way through a bottle of Jack Daniels. Getting trashed wasn't something that he enjoyed to do, but if he were drunk then he wouldn't be able to drive. And if he couldn't drive then there was no way that he could go to the hospital to collect her. That was a task that he wanted to wait until tomorrow to face. He would be more ready then.

Suddenly, Vaughn felt an almost irrational fear seize him. What if he couldn't? Did he really expect that he would be able to walk into that hospital, take that baby in his arms and then bring her home? Who was he trying to kid?

Standing up, Vaughn made his way over to the phone, his steps somewhat unsteady.

'…I just want to make sure that you know that that deal goes both ways…'

Completely oblivious to the time, Vaughn began to dial the familiar number, wondering whether Sydney had been including drunken calls in their little deal.

"Hello?" her voice was distinctly groggy.

"It's me," Vaughn replied.

"Vaughn? What…what's going on?"

Vaughn did not reply, unsure of what exactly he was going to say next. Was it fair of him to dump all of his problems on her? She had said that she would be his friend, but was he exploiting that?

"Vaughn." She no longer sounded groggy, only concerned. "Talk to me. What has happened?"

"I…" his breath caught in his throat. "It's a girl," he managed to say and then hung up the phone.

"Ah," Lauren sighed and then stepped inside from the hotel's balcony. "Have I told you thank you yet?"

Vaughn chuckled as he sat up in the bed. "Only about ten thousand times since we left L.A."

Lauren smiled. "Well, I am forever grateful. Everything was just getting to be a little too much- my mother especially."

"Well, you can't blame her for being a tad over-excited," Vaughn replied. "After all, her only daughter is getting married in less than four weeks."

"A tad over-excited?" Lauren repeated, sitting down on the bed. "What planet have you been living on, Michael? Had it not been for her insistence we could have had a long engagement and had plenty of time to plan this wedding. Are you telling me that the insanity of the past couple of months haven't bothered you?"

Vaughn grinned. "Well, maybe a little. But as long as we both make it to the altar then it will all be worth it."

"You make a good point," she said, stretching out her legs. "But I still cannot wait until the wedding is over and we can go back to being normal- without mum on our backs."

"You think that will stop after the wedding?" Vaughn snorted. "Because I get the feeling that your mother- and mine- will be on our back's more than ever."

Lauren's brow furrowed. "Why?"

Vaughn leaned in closer. "Grandchildren," he whispered.

"Oh god," Lauren looked horrified. "They will, won't they?"

Looking at her expression, Vaughn couldn't help but laugh. "Come here," he said, pulling her into his arms. "You know, there is a way that we could stop them."

"Michael!" Lauren slapped him jokingly. "You're on their side, aren't you?"

"Maybe just a little bit," Vaughn replied, pressing his lips onto the top of her head. "I know that this sounds so completely corny, but when I look at you, I can't wait for the day when I can call you the mother of my child."

For a second Lauren's face was blank, but soon widened into a smile. "One day, Michael. I promise you, one day."

Sydney was jolted from her sleep by the loud ringing of her phone. Looking at the time, 1.54am, she groaned, reaching across for the receiver.

"Hello."

"It's me," came Vaughn's dull reply.

"Vaughn? What…" Sydney was about to question him about the time, but stopped. If he was calling at her at this hour, it had to be important. "What's going on?"

He gave no reply, and to Sydney, his silence was speaking in volumes.

"Vaughn," she said, sitting up. "Talk to me. What has happened?"

"I…it's a girl." With that his end of the line went dead.

For a few seconds it was all Sydney could do to just sit there and digest what Vaughn had told her. So the moment had finally arrived.

But then, shaking herself out of her stupor, Sydney threw off her covers. Vaughn's call had obviously been some sort of cry for help. She had to get over there.

Throwing on some clothes, Sydney sat on the edge of the bed to pull some shoes on when there was a soft tap on her bedroom door. Nadia.

"Sydney. I heard your phone. Is everything ok?"

"It was Vaughn," Sydney replied.

Nadia's eyes widened slightly. "The baby?"

Sydney nodded. "I'm going to see him now." Standing up, she grabbed her bag and headed out of the room.

Nadia followed her to the front door. "Is there anything that I can do?"

"Actually, there is. Could you please call Weiss- he'd want to know," Sydney said. "Tell him I'm heading over now and I'll keep him posted."

"Ok," Nadia replied as Sydney opened the door. "Hey Syd."

Sydney turned back around. "Yeah?"

"He may not feel like it, but Vaughn is a lucky man with the friends he's got."

The smell of liquor assaulted Sydney's senses as soon as Vaughn opened his door.

"How much have you had?" she asked, not even saying hello.

"Not enough," Vaughn mumbled.

"Yeah, well I think that I am going to dispute that," Sydney said and then pointed to the couch. "Sit. I'll make you some coffee."

"No coffee," Vaughn said, throwing his arms up. "I am a new father. I am celebrating. You can't celebrate with coffee."

"Why do I get the feeling that any celebratory mood disappeared with that bottle of Jack," Sydney said, noting the empty bottle on the coffee table. "And whatever else you have ingested tonight."

Vaughn just looked at her. "Well?"

"Well what?"

"Aren't you going to congratulate me?"

Sydney sighed. "Congratulations," she said. "When was she born?"

"At exactly 5.47pm this evening," Vaughn replied, wishing that he had another drink in hand.

"And what does she look like?"

Vaughn shrugged. "How should I know/"

Sydney's eyes narrowed. "You haven't been to the hospital?"

Vaughn paused before answering. The look on Sydney's face told him one thing. She was about to blow. "No," he replied.

"Vaughn," her tone was surprisingly restrained. "You can't keep trying to ignore the fact that this baby exists."

"I'm not…I just couldn't tonight. Tomorrow."

"Yeah and it had better be first thing! Because there is an innocent little girl, who had absolutely no say in this matter, laying alone in a hospital waiting for somebody to love her. You said that you wanted to give this a shot. It's time that you lived up to your word."

"Sydney, I—"

"No," Sydney cut him off. "No more tonight. Go and get some sleep. You've got a big day tomorrow."

The smell of bacon and eggs woke Vaughn up in the morning. His head throbbing, he slowly made his way out of bed and out to the kitchen.

"Syd?" he blinked, seeing who was standing behind the stove.

"Morning," she said, and then pointed to a couple of aspirin and glass of water sitting on the bench. "How's the head?"

Vaughn didn't move. "You stayed the night?"

"Yeah, your couch is actually pretty comfy." She paused. "Don't look so dumbfounded. I had an inkling that you wouldn't want to be alone this morning."

Vaughn fought the urge to wrap her in a hug. "Thanks."

"Oh, I called Weiss. He's bringing over the cot and stuff. We should have it set up before you get back from the hospital." She stopped, flipping an egg. "And speaking of which, you want us gone when you get back?"

"Um…yeah," Vaughn replied. "I don't mind to be ungrateful—"

"It's ok," Sydney broke in. "I completely understand."

'You always do,' Vaughn thought.

"Now," Sydney was saying. "Sit yourself down. One nice, big and greasy breakfast coming up."

As Vaughn followed Dr Emery down the hospital's hallway, he could feel trepidation intensifying with each step. He was absolutely terrified- he wasn't going to deny that fact. What he wasn't sure about was what exactly was scaring him so much. Was it the idea of actually having to take a newborn home- alone, or was it that he had no idea what he would feel when he looked at her for the first time.

In front of him, Dr Emery pushed open a door and then gestured for Vaughn to enter the room. "She is in here, Agent Vaughn."

Taking a second to draw in a deep breath, Vaughn stepped through the doorway. As he approached the hospital cot, he became acutely aware of the sound of his own breaths.

But then all sound ceased to exist as Vaughn took the final step, looked down and laid eyes on his daughter for the first time.