Meadow567: I think you're onto something, lol. And I'm glad I kept you in suspense about Maddie. I wanted my readers to get scared, lol. Thanks for reviewing. And about Lost...I agree with everything you said, lol. This weeks episode looks good. I'm excited.

Nelliebly413672: There are more cute father/daughter moments to come! And more with the team and baby too. Thanks for the review, and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Emador: Glad you liked it, thanks for reviewing. This is another cute one, at least I think so. Hope you enjoy.

A/N: Sorry I couldn't get this up sooner, I had a rough week. My power went out about an hour after I posted the last chapter, and it was out for a week. We got a massive snowstorm, you probably saw it on the news. That's Buffalo weather for you. My family was literally living at a neighbors house for the week. Once I got power again, I had so much homework to do it wasn't funny. Anyway, I'm finally posting this. Hope you enjoy, please review!

Chapter 23

A couple hours later, Jack came back to the hospital and Maddie was feeding the baby.

"Hey," Jack said walking in, giving Maddie a quick kiss, then kissing the baby's forehead. "How's my little girl doing?"

"She's good. The doctor said that if she keeps eating the way is, she'll be okay to go home before New Year's."

"Good. I can't wait to have my little angel at home."

They were both quiet for a minute, watching the baby. Once Izzy was done eating, Maddie started rubbing the baby's back to burp her.

"Did you ever think we'd get the baby as a Christmas present?" Maddie asked.

"Never. Speaking of which, I still have a little something for you," Jack said, getting a wrapped gift from one of her drawers. He had put it in there earlier. Maddie handed Izzy to Jack and took the gift. She opened it and started laughing.

"Oh my God. Jack this is great!" It was Maddie's all time favorite game, Candyland.

"I thought you would like it."

"Yeah. I can play with Izzy once she's a little older."

"We can play right now if you want," Jack suggested.

"Okay, but first, can you get me an ice cream sandwich from the cafeteria? I really want one."

"I thought the cravings were only a pregnancy thing," Jack commented, smiling.

"Well, apparently not. Please?"

"Sure." Jack handed Maddie the baby and went to get the ice cream.

Jack was waiting for the elevator, and the doors finally opened, revealing four people Jack was very surprised to see. It was Maddie's mom, grandmother, and sister.

"Hi," a very surprised Jack, said.

"Hi Jack. Fancy seeing you here," Rachel joked.

"Yeah," Jack started, still surprised everyone was there.

"Hi Jack! How are you?" Maddie's grandmother asked, clearly happy to see him.

"I'm good. Surprised that all of you are here though."

"After you called last night, we wanted to get here as soon as possible," said Mrs. Reynolds.

"Is Maddie okay?" asked Rachel.

"Yeah, she's doing great actually. She's in her room right now."

"Is the baby okay?" asked Mrs. Reynolds.

"Yeah. A little small, but she's fine." They had wanted to hear all the details about what happened and Jack explained everything.

"Where's my great-granddaughter?" Maddie's grandmother finally asked.

"The baby might be sleeping by now, but I'll take you to Maddie's room." Jack led the way to Maddie's room, and then asked about Mr. Reynolds.

"He's here. Just parking the car." No sooner did Mrs. Reynolds answer him then Mr. Reynolds called them from down the hallway.

"Hi Mr. Reynolds," Jack said politely.

"Hi Jack," he replied in a serious but sort of nice tone.

"This is her room," Jack said, as everyone was standing outside the door.

"Can I talk to you for a minute, Jack?" Mr. Reynolds asked.

"Sure," Jack said, as he stepped away from the door and let the other three go in. Jack and Mr. Reynolds went downstairs to get Maddie's ice cream and there was an awkward silence at first, until Jack spoke up.

"Look Mr. Reynolds, I-"

"No Jack, listen to me," Mr. Reynolds interrupted. "First of all, it's Mark. If you're going to be marrying my daughter, there's no reason to call me by my last name." He paused for a minute before continuing. "Second, I'm sorry for being a jerk about everything. There was no need for me to act the way I did. I should have given you a chance and shouldn't have been so hard on you and Maddie."

Jack was so taken aback by the apology, he barely knew what to say. Luckily, he didn't need to say anything.

"I wasn't happy about Maddie getting pregnant, but I think I was just trying to hold onto her being my little girl forever."

"Mr. Reynolds, I swear on my life that I will take good care of Maddie and never hurt her. I love her more than anything in the world. Well, with the exception of my daughter. And I will never, ever do anything to hurt her."

"I know, Jack. I do trust you. I realize that Maddie loves you, and that's good enough for me. I'm sorry I didn't give you a chance."

"It's alright. But I know Maddie really wants you to be there for her and the baby. She hates fighting with you," Jack said and her dad nodded.

"I know. And me fighting with her is about to change. I don't want to lose my oldest daughter by acting the way I have the past several months." Jack was glad he agreed but still surprised Maddie's dad was holding a civil conversation with him.

They talked for a few more minutes as they got the ice cream and made their way up the elevator to Maddie's floor.

"Look who I found," Jack said, walking in Maddie's room, with her father close behind.

"Hi dad," Maddie said, surprised to see him. Her mother didn't mention that he was there.

"Hi sweetie. Where's my little granddaughter?"

"Right over there. She's sleeping." Her dad went over to see the baby. "Her name is Isabelle."

"She's beautiful."

"Thank you," Maddie said, though trying to make as little conversation with her father as possible.

"Maddie, I'm sorry for acting the way I did. I should have treated you like my daughter that I love, and I didn't."

"It's okay dad."

"No, it's not. I'm really sorry, and I truly want nothing more than you and Jack to be happy together." Maddie looked at Jack, who nodded.

"Thanks dad. That means a lot," said Maddie.

"What's her middle name Maddie?" Rachel asked.

"Rose," Maddie said, looking at her grandmother, who smiled at hearing this. Naming her after you was actually Jack's idea," Maddie said to her grandmother, who looked like she couldn't have been happier. Maddie and Jack talked with her family for a while, and an hour later, they left to have lunch. Maddie and Jack started playing Candyland when there was a knock at the door.

"Come on in," Jack said. The door opened and in filed his family. Mr. and Mrs. O'Callahan and Jack's sister, Erin all came in the room.

"Hi guys," Mrs. O'Callahan said.

"Hi," Maddie and Jack said, surprised to see them.

"I can't believe you flew out today," Maddie said.

"We couldn't wait to see you," said Mary. "And the baby of course."

"Is it a boy or a girl?" asked Erin.

"A girl. Isabelle," said Jack.

"Aww, that's so cute."

"She's right over there. You can go see her." The three walked over to see the baby. After chatting with Jack and Maddie for a few minutes, Maddie's family came back in. The two families had never met, and Jack and Maddie started the introductions. Everyone got along quite well and they were all talking for the next couple hours until the baby woke up. There was then a line to hold her, and Izzy was passed around for the next hour. She started getting fussy, and Jack took her to calm her down. Almost instantly, she was quiet.

"You're pretty good with her. I'm impressed," said Mr. O'Callahan.

"She likes her daddy," said Maddie.

The two families ended up bringing Christmas dinner and baby gifts to Maddie's room. After dinner, Jack's family gave them a stroller and carrier for the baby, and Maddie's family gave them a playpen and baby swing. Both families each got other little baby things, and once the gifts were given, the two families went to their hotels and promised to visit the next day before they left.

Maddie fed Izzy and they both fell asleep almost right away. Jack left after they fell asleep, kissing them both before he left. He couldn't have been happier with the way Christmas turned out.

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December 26, 1979

The next morning, Maddie woke up and saw Jack sitting next to her bed, watching her.

"Did you even leave last night?" she asked.

"Yeah. But I came back bright and early."

"I can see that. It's only ten after eight," Maddie said, smiling.

"I need to make the most of my time before practice."

"You have practice today?" Maddie asked, surprised. She had thought Herb would have given them another day off.

"Well, it's an optional skate today. I think I'm going to go though. At least for a little bit."

"Good idea. You could use time away from here."

"When are you and Izzy coming home?"

"Hopefully really soon. I miss the guys."

"Not me?"

"How can I miss you when you're up here all the time?"

"Well, I miss you. I miss waking up next to you," Jack said, lowering his face closer to Maddie's.

"Lucky for me, I still get to wake up next to you everyday. Every morning you're here when I wake up."

"I love watching you sleep," Jack said, kissing her softly.

"I'm so sore," Maddie said once they broke their kiss. "These hospital pillows aren't too comfortable." Jack motioned for Maddie to lean forward. He sat sideways on the bed beside her and started massaging her neck. "That feels good," Maddie said.

Jack continued to massage her shoulders for a few minutes and then began kissing her neck. Maddie was completely relaxed now, and they both were enjoying a mini make-out session when the baby started crying.

"I think she wants our attention," Maddie said, as Jack pulled away from her.

"I'll get her," Jack said. "But she better not pull this every time we try to have alone time."

"Jack, for one, we don't get alone time anymore. At least not when the baby's around. For two, she's just a baby and doesn't know any better."

"I think she does know better," Jack said, then began talking to Isabelle in a baby voice. "You do know better don't you. I think you do. You just want all of the attention. Well, you know what? If you keep this up, you won't have any brothers or sisters someday." Jack smiled at the baby and then looked at Maddie, and regretted what he had just said. Seeing Maddie face, he remembered that they might not be able to have any more kids. "I'm sorry. I forgot-"

"Don't worry about it," Maddie said smiling, though Jack thought it was fake. "Besides, the doctor didn't say it was impossible."

"He said it would be a miracle," Jack said, still feeling bad.

"Anything can happen," Maddie said optimistically. "But if not, then it isn't meant to be. I'm going to look on the bright side."

"What's that?" Jack asked, rocking Izzy.

"I won't need my tubes tied in five years when we have five kids."

"You're a funny one, Maddie," Jack said sarcastically, though smiling at what she was implying about him. "Yeah, you're mommy's funny," Jack told Isabelle, smiling at her.

Later that morning, Jack and Maddie's parents both came back to visit before they left. Everyone was sad to go, because they wanted to spend more time with Jack, Maddie, and Izzy, but Maddie reminded them that the Olympics were only a month and a half away, and they would all see each other again them. Jack also promised to send pictures of the baby.

After lunch, Maddie got more visitors. Maddie was holding Izzy while Jack was flipping through the channels on Maddie's TV when Buzz, Mac, Laura, and Gail stopped by.

"Hey Maddie. How are you doing?" asked Laura.

"Hey," Maddie said, happy to see everyone. "I'm good."

"The baby is adorable," said Gail. Both Laura and Gail walked over to Maddie, admiring the baby.

"Awww," they both said as the baby yawned.

"This is Isabelle," said Maddie.

"She is the cutest little thing, said Gail.

"Yeah, isn't she cute?" Laura asked Mac and Buzz.

"Yeah," both guys agreed, even though they weren't nearly as impressed as their girlfriends.

"How's parenthood?" asked Mac.

"Great," both Jack and Maddie answered.

"What's the best part?" asked Buzz.

"Diapers," Maddie said, though she was joking. Buzz looked horrified. "I was kidding," she told him.

"I know," he said, unconvincingly. "What's your favorite part, OC?"

"I don't have a favorite part yet. I do love her though. She's perfect."

"You say that now," said Mac. "You just wait."

"Yeah, wait til she starts crying in the middle of the night," added Buzz.

"It beats having to go buy ice cream," Jack shot back, laughing.

"What if she wants ice cream?" asked Buzz, seriously. Everyone looked at him, thinking he must be joking. They finally realized that he wasn't.

"I hope you don't plan on having kids," Jack told Gail. "He'll end up really messing them up."

"She can't eat ice cream yet," Maddie told Buzz.

"She doesn't even eat baby food yet," said Jack.

Gail and Laura both held Izzy for a few minutes, then Buzz asked to hold her.

"Umm, okay," Maddie answered hesitantly.

"He'll be fine," Jack assured her.

"Support her head," Maddie warned, as Buzz took the baby. He started talking to Izzy as he was holding her.

"Why are you talking to her?" Mac asked. "She can't understand you."

"Babies still need to be talked to. How do you think they learn how to talk? They also understand a lot more than you think," Laura said.

"I can tell someone never had younger siblings," commented Gail, about Mac.

"I do, but I was practically a baby myself when they were born. They're only three years younger than me."

"They're twins?" Gail asked, assuming that's why Mac was using 'they.'

"Yeah. Twins actually run in my family."

"Mine too," said Laura.

"Wonderful," Mac muttered, half under his breath. Everyone heard him and laughed. "Wait. You don't have any twin siblings," he added.

"I know, but there are five sets of twins in my family. My mom has a twin sister, and they're mom has twin brothers, and my cousin has twin daughters. On my dad's side, my dad has twin sisters, and my grandpa has a twin sister."

"Seriously?" Mac asked surprised. "I never knew that all those family members were twins."

"They are."

"You should have told me that earlier. It should have been your disclaimer when we met. 'Caution - I make babies in twos'." Everyone laughed at Mac.

"What's wrong with twins?" asked Laura. Mac looked at her wide eyed.

"There's two of them! At once."

"Aw baby, it's okay. That's why God gave you two hands," Laura said, wrapping her arm around him. Mac rolled his eyes in response.

A little while later, the four friends left and Jack hung out with Maddie for a while. The baby had gone back to the nursery to sleep, and they were watching a movie, however Jack was bored.

"I'm bored," he announced.

"Go home then. I'm watching this movie."

"Can't I go get the baby?"

"She's sleeping."

"But I'm bored," Jack half whined.

"You can get her later," Maddie promised.

"I'm holding you to that," Jack said, and shut up so Maddie could watch the movie.

The next day, Maddie was quite ready to leave the hospital. She was getting sick of sitting in a bed and not doing anything. Luckily the next day she was leaving. Even though she had visitors almost constantly, Maddie missed being at practices with the guys.

Just before dinner time, Jack came up to see her and Izzy. Maddie was surprised when Rizzo, Bah, and Jimmy came in with him. She was even more surprised to see Phil and Rammer.

"Hey guys," she greeted everyone, Jack walking over to give her a kiss. "I didn't expect to see all of you today."

"We missed you at practice today," Rizzo said.

"And we really needed you there too," added Bah.

"Why? What happened?"

"Jannie had a little accident."

"Is he okay?" Maddie asked.

"He hurt his ankle, but Doc said it was just twisted and he should be fine by tomorrow."

"How did it happen?" Maddie wondered, thinking it happened during practice. Bah began laughing so Rizzo explained what happened.

"He tripped over a chair in his room and twisted it sideways when he fell." Maddie started laughing.

"He got hurt falling over a chair? At least he's okay."

"Yeah. It was more funny than anything," Jimmy said. Jimmy, Rizzo, and Bah each took a turn holding Izzy, and Jack took her after. Phil and Rammer didn't want to hold her. Maddie wondered why they were even there. Not that she didn't appreciate them coming, because she did, but they weren't too involved in any of the conversations going on either. Phil finally started talking to Maddie.

"How come there hasn't been any nurses in to check on you today?"

"Last time we were here, a nurse came in a few times," Rammer added.

"I don't know, they come in every so often," Maddie said, wondering why they cared.

"Are the same ones here today?" Phil asked.

"A few are the same."

"Well the one last time seemed to be a really good nurse," said Rammer.

"That must have been Jessica. I like her. She's here today."

"Oh. I'll be right back. I'm gonna go get a drink," Phil said, leaving the room. Rammer followed close behind.

"Me too."

"Why are they even here?" Maddie asked after they left.

"I don't know. When we said we were coming up here, they asked to tag along," said Rizzo. A few minutes later, Phil and Rammer came back.

"Guess what I'm doing tomorrow," said Phil walking in the room with a smile. He didn't wait for anyone to guess though. "I've got a date."

"With who?" asked Jack.

"Jessica," Rammer answered, mumbling. He looked a little jealous.

"The nurse?" asked Maddie in disbelief.

"Yeah. And it's gonna be a good time."

"Oh my God. I can't believe you asked my nurse out. At least I'm leaving tomorrow and she won't think I have awful friends."

"No, Jessica's different. I really like her," said Phil. Everyone laughed.

"Maybe at least until you sleep with her," said Jack.

"Wasn't Nicole different too? Or how about Stephanie?" asked Jimmy. Rammer continued this.

"And Kristin. And Michelle. They were 'different' too right?" Phil just laughed.

"Yeah," he agreed.

"You're unbelievable," said Maddie, shaking her head.

A little while later, the guys said their good-byes and left, leaving Maddie alone with Jack and Isabelle. Again, Jack waited for Maddie to fall asleep, then he kissed them good night and left too.

The next evening, Maddie was finally able to leave the hospital. After practice that day, Herb, Craig, Doc, and Velta paid her a surprise visit, and shortly after dinner, Jack came to pick them up. He strapped Isabelle into the carrier and handed Maddie a camera to take pictures along the way. The doctors and nurses on the floor all wished them luck with the baby and Maddie was wheeled out to the car.

When Jack and Maddie got back to the dorms, Jack carried the baby upstairs and explained where they were going along the way. Maddie just laughed because the sight of Jack holding a conversation with a newborn was very amusing.

"And here we are. Your wonderful home for the next few months. Maddie, take a picture," Jack told her. Jack them handed Maddie the carrier and took the camera from her. He opened the door and let Maddie in first. Maddie got inside and saw a small makeshift nursery for Isabelle. She turned around to thank Jack, and he took a picture of her expression.

"Thank you!" she said, setting the carrier on the ground and then giving Jack a hug. "I love it. It's beautiful. When did you have time for this?"

"Today, after practice. That's why I was a little late."

"I love it," Maddie said again, tears coming to her eyes. "You're amazing."

"So I've heard," Jack said. They shared a kiss, and then were interrupted by the baby starting to cry a little.

"Hey, it's okay," Maddie said, walking over to the carrier. "Shhh," she said, picking up Isabelle and kissing her forehead. Izzy stopped crying almost immediately. "Let's see what your daddy made for you."

Maddie walked through the room and looked at everything that was set up. Izzy's crib and swing, and everything else made the corner crowded and the room look even smaller than it was, but it was perfect. Jack even put up pink wallpaper near the crib and made a sign that said, "Welcome home, Izzy!"

It was starting to get late, and Maddie was really tired, so after feeding Izzy, Jack put her down in her crib. He watched his beautiful little baby for a few minutes. She looked so peaceful sleeping and Jack just watched her little chest rise and fall with her breathing. He couldn't believe that he wasn't happy about having the baby first, because Izzy was perfect and he wouldn't trade her for anything.

Jack walked over to the bed and crawled in beside Maddie.

"Our little angel's asleep," he said, kissing Maddie's head.

"She's perfect, isn't she?"

"I couldn't have asked for a more perfect baby."

"Me either," Maddie said, rolling on her side so she was facing Jack. She draped her arm across his chest and snuggled close to him, getting comfortable. Jack softly stoked Maddie's shoulder as she started to fall asleep.

"Maddie?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah," she answered, with her eyes closed.

"Do you think we'll be good parents?"

"Yeah," Maddie said, almost sounding like she wasn't really paying attention to the question.

"Are you sure? I mean, what if we can't handle having a kid, and we're not good at it?"

"It'll be fine," Maddie said, again not really listening to him.

"Well, you'll be a great mom, but I don't think I'll be that good of a dad."

"Uh huh," Maddie mumbled. Jack didn't seem to notice that Maddie wasn't listening. It was more like he was just talking himself through his doubts.

"I know I'm not the type to admit it, but I'm actually a little nervous and scared. Until we brought her home, it didn't quite sink in that Izzy is ours forever. Not that I regret having her, I don't mean that at all. But, it's just so weird to think that we'll need to do everything right from now on. We can't mess up, because this is a person we're talking about." Jack continued to ramble on. "Ya know, Izzy did get me wrapped around her finger real fast though. The first time I saw that cute little face, I couldn't resist her. And the guys told me that I was a softie with you. That baby has me ten times worse. And every time I hear her cry, I just want her to not be sad and stop. I just want her to always be happy and what if we can't make her happy all the time. What if we can't fix something. You must be a little scared too, right?" Jack asked, looking down at Maddie, who was fast asleep.

Maddie sleeping provided Jack with the reassurance he needed, and he kissed the top of her head and closed his eyes, falling asleep almost immediately.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed it. Please hit that little button and tell me what you thought!