Author's Note: Well at least this one only took a month to get up! Hope you guys like it! Writing post-finale Niles and CC makes me incredibly nervous. One chapter after this and we're done!
Chapter 5 – Jonah & Eve
She sighs gratefully as she pulls into their driveway, looking forward to a relaxing night of taking a bubble bath, putting her feet up, and having her sexy husband massage every muscle in her tired, aching body.
She's had a long day at work, with actors demanding ridiculous salaries and directors wanting to change the 'creative direction' of the show, whatever the hell that meant – she wasn't paying these people to think. Not to mention Maxwell surpasses his old record for how useless he can be by leaving shortly after lunch due to some 'family emergency' Nanny Fine has called about.
CC rolls her eyes as she gets out of the car. Nanny Fine's idea of a family emergency is one of the twins having the hiccups, or Loehmann's having a sale and not being able to find a babysitter, so really she isn't worried…
That is, until she gets to her front door and hears the sound of babies crying from inside. She weights the benefits of turning around and heading for the nearest hotel, but her feet really do hurt and there's a couch right inside, plus she did make that pesky "for better or worse" vow, so she takes a deep breath and enters the house.
"Honey, I'm home," she deadpans as she sees that Niles has two red-faced, chubby, screaming Sheffield babies in each of his arms, the room littered with various toys, clothing, and other paraphernalia that generally goes along with infants.
"Oh, good, you're here. We have to watch Jonah and Eve," Her husband replies.
"I can see that. And I can hear that," She replies as she removes her shoes and takes a deep cleansing breath, "and I don't remember agreeing to this so I'm not sure who this 'we' is you're talking about?"
"Please, just take one of them. They won't stop crying, I can't put them down, I have no free hands to feed them…please, Babcock! I'm desperate!" Niles pleads, and she almost feels sorry for him.
"Make it worth my while," What? She said 'almost.'
Niles sighs. "Foot massages. Three times a day. For the rest of the pregnancy. I'll even come to work during your lunch breaks."
"Deal," she beams at him, "now give me whichever one is being less of a pain in the ass."
"So nice to see your maternal instincts are kicking in this early," He remarks dryly as he hands her the boy baby.
To both their surprise, the twins immediately begin to settle down.
"I guess over at Hotel Sheffield they're not used to having to share the spotlight with one person holding the both of them," She surmises as she sits down on their couch, letting Jonah curl up on her chest and the small swell of her abdomen.
Niles sits down next to her, cradling Eve in his arms, letting her grab onto his fingers. "Have I told you lately how grateful I am there's only one in there?"
"You're so old and decrepit, I'm surprised you were even able to rise to the challenge of putting one in there," She winks at him as she rubs the baby's back. "Anyway, to what do we owe the displeasure of the company of Nanny Fine's spawn?"
"Again, you're just really wowing me with how motherly you've become," Niles says with a smirk. "It seems Sylvia contracted a bout of food poisoning so they're keeping her at the hospital so she doesn't get dehydrated. She'll be fine, but Mrs. Sheffield was naturally concerned."
"You know, I'm actually surprised Sylvia doesn't get food poisoning more often," CC muses. The baby in her arms sighs contently.
"I think he likes you," Niles smiles warmly at her and the boy.
"I think he's just happy to have a woman holding him who doesn't sound like Janice on Friends," she says, and the baby girl in Niles' arms lets out a perfectly timed belly laugh.
"Look at that! They both like you! Don't you, baby girl? Yes you do, yes you do! You like your Aunt CC," Niles coos to Eve.
"Uncle Niles sounds like an idiot, doesn't he, Eve?" CC asks the baby girl, cursing herself inwardly for sporting the same saccharine tone her husband used.
"It's hard to resist, isn't it?" Niles asks knowingly.
"We will not be talking to our child like a couple of cracked out Disney characters," She states, a note of determination in her voice.
Niles laughs and she braces herself for the onslaught of parenting advice he's sure to bestow upon her from all the books he's taken to reading lately, "You say that now, but the moment he or she is born, you'll be singing a different tune. And that tune will probably be a Disney song."
"Don't hold your breath, Dopey."
"You'll see. Five months ago you wouldn't have even considered watching the Sheffield children. You would have walked in, saw me holding them, and turned around and went to the nearest hotel," She bites back a grin at how well her husband knows her, "and now look at you. You adore them!"
"I like them just fine," She corrects him. "They're actually not that bad when they're not crying, even when they're getting in the way of the relaxing night I had planned with my husband. Plus you promised me foot massages."
"That I did," Niles winks and pats her legs, "and now that these two have settled down and I have a free hand, I will go get their bottles ready so we can feed them, put them to bed, and I'll make good on my word."
"You bet your ass you will," CC calls to his retreating form. "I've got that man wrapped around my little finger, don't I, Jonah?"
The baby yawns and curls up even more against her chest, his chubby hand yanking on her shirt for something to hold onto. Unwilling to chance the threading on her favorite silk maternity blouse being pulled, she substitutes her shirt with her finger in his hand. He grasps her finger tightly and his eyes grow heavy. She begins rubbing his back again, for lack of anything else to do, plus he seems to like it. Soon, his eyes flutter shut, and she feels a boost in her confidence in her own abilities to keep a child alive.
Niles returns, balancing two bottles in one hand and a babbling baby Eve in the other. Instead of returning to the couch, he stops dead in his tracks, his mouth falling open, and CC wonders if she's done something wrong with the kid.
"What? He seems okay to me?" She asks, looking down at the baby in her arms confusedly.
"No, it's not that," Niles shakes his head. "He's fine. It's just…god, you're so beautiful. And seeing you hold a baby, I just, I cannot wait until it's our own child."
She tears up at the unexpected compliment. Damn hormones.
"You're growing soft in your old age," She manages through a watery laugh-sob.
"Evidently not," He remarks pointedly, glancing at her abdomen.
She rolls her eyes, fighting back a grin. She looks back down at Jonah, noting he's fallen asleep at last.
"Hey, Niles, this one's out cold."
"Oh, in that case, I can put him in his car seat if you'll just hold Eve for a second?"
CC takes one look at the squealing, drooling little girl in Niles' arms and decides she'd rather stick with the quiet, reserved Jonah for now.
"That's alright, just point me to where the car seat is and I'll do it while you shove a bottle in Fran Junior's mouth."
Niles laughs and does just that.
She's busy fastening the straps in Jonah's car seat when Niles sighs, and she can tell he's gearing up for their near daily argument.
"Out with it, Butler Boy."
"I was just thinking about us taking care of the twins. Doesn't this make you want to find out what we're having? At all?"
She rolls her eyes to Jonah. He's sleeping, he'll never tell.
"For what feels like the millionth time, no, Niles, we're not finding out the gender."
"Why not?" Niles pouts. "Don't you want to know if we're having a mellow little boy like Jonah or if we, too, will have a prima donna on our hands like Eve?"
The bottle slips away from Eve's mouth for a moment and she lets out a wail as if the world is ending. The apple didn't fall far from the Fine family tree with that one.
"No," CC starts as she finishes tucking Jonah in and sits back down next to her husband, "I want it to be a surprise, Niles."
"Yes, but why? You plan everything. I figured you of all people would want to know everything possible before diving into this adventure called parenthood."
"Exactly, Niles. I always have a well thought out plan for every aspect of my life. I guess I just want one more surprise, that's all," CC explains as she curls up to him.
"One more surprise?" He asks.
"Yes, well, I certainly didn't see you coming, did I?" She elbows him gently in the ribs, of course referring to their whirlwind romance that started with what she affectionately refers to as The Proposal Heard 'Round the World.
"That's true," Niles admits.
"And I certainly did not expect to end up getting married over Nanny Fine's dilating cervix, and then finding out 5 minutes later that we would be expecting our own little bundle of joy in 9 months," She continues.
"To hear you talk about our wedding day," Niles jokingly wipes a fake tear out of his eye, "I swear it's like you're reciting a Shakespearean love sonnet."
"Shut up, you know I loved our ridiculous wedding. It was so unexpected and chaotic and, I guess, so very us. I wouldn't trade it for anything," She squeezes his hand in reassurance.
"So you want one more surprise before we settle into boring married life?" He asks.
CC laughs, "I sincerely doubt we will ever settle into anything remotely boring, but yes, I'd like one more surprise. This is probably the only time we're going to do this anyway, so we may as well make it a surprise."
"I guess I see your point," Niles acquiesces. "A surprise would be nice!"
"I'm always right," CC murmurs, her eyes growing heavy as she rests her head on his chest, watching as he finishes feeding and burping Eve.
He settles the baby into his arms, allowing her to once again grab onto his fingers. She observes him bonding with the little girl, and her mind can't help but drift to visions of what their own little girl would look and be like. She doesn't know if it's pure vanity or just motherly instinct when she envisions a miniature version of herself. The mischievous glint in the child's eyes is clearly all Niles though. And the dimples. She imagines how wickedly smart and funny their daughter would be, how her mouth would probably get her into trouble, yet she'd have them both wrapped around her pinky finger from the moment they laid eyes on her. Especially Niles. She thinks of tea parties and dollhouses and fairytales and how Niles would always, always agree to "just one more" bedtime story.
A flutter in her abdomen startles her from her daydreaming, and she can't help but wonder if it's a sign.
"Hey, Niles?" She lifts her head up, her chin still resting on his chest.
"Yeah, Babs?" He asks distractedly, still playing with Eve.
"It's a girl."
Now she has his attention.
His eyes widen and his cheeks redden as he turns to look her in the eye.
"What? You mean-You mean to tell me that-You wicked witch! You told me you didn't find out at your last appointment! What was all that talk about surprises and-"
She cuts him off with another watery laugh, her damned hormones kicking in again, "No, no! I didn't find out! I just…have a feeling, that's all."
"A feeling?" Niles asks.
"I know it sounds stupid and I'm probably not even right but—"
"You're always right," Niles smiles, tears forming in his eyes and they're a mess, the two of them.
At least she can blame the hormones.