Hello all! In case you haven't noticed, I LOVE the idea of this couple as parents. I can't get enough! Thank you SO much to all those who reviewed! Enjoy!
She was so tiny. So, so, so tiny. Her little fingers curling around Jack's. The little cooing sounds she was making made both him and Katherine forget about the long nights and many tantrums they had been promised. It had been less than four hours and both were already completely enamored with little Elizabeth Ruth Kelly.
"She's even more beautiful than you, Ace. It mus' be because she's got a little bit of me in 'er." Jack winked down at his wife, still lying in bed having just awoken from a long long nap, she saw the twinkle in his eyes that showed that he was joking, but she didn't have the energy to do more than roll her eyes at him.
She couldn't disagree. Katherine had been so focused on all the possible problems, complications, and requirements during the pregnancy that she hadn't spent much time thinking about how amazing it would be to hold the warm little bundle that was her daughter in her arms. But now that Katherine was completely confined to bed she could do little more than sleep and admire the new addition to their family.
Her and Jack both knew that by this time tomorrow she would be going stir-crazy from spending so long without doing anything, but it was necessary for her health, and although she was dreading the arguments she knew would be coming about the topic she was having a hard time worrying about it that much. What would come would come, and she was too sleepy to make too big of a deal about it.
At least she had was still at home. She had spent a few days trying to convince Jack that giving birth in a hospital would give her a great chance to observe the practices and cleanliness of such establishments, but Jack had thrown a glare at her and reminded her that this was his baby too, and there was no way he was going to compromise her, or the child's, health just so that she could get a scoop. She hadn't put up much of a fight after that.
Little Elizabeth had yet to meet anyone besides her proud parents and the midwife that had delivered her, but it had been almost five hours, and both Jack and Katherine knew that soon the peace would be disturbed by the babble and shouts of a dozen Newsies anxious to see both Elizabeth and her parents. The only reason they had stayed away for so long was because, when Katherine had started going into labor late that night, Jack had sent Davie to make sure the process wouldn't be disturbed or interrupted until everything was over, and they knew it was safe. The boys respected this decision, and didn't put up much of fight, instead taking to nervously fiddling or waiting by the door, all of them too keyed up to come anywhere close to sleep. But now that the new family had had ample time to adjust (In the opinion of the Newsies. Jack thoroughly believed that he would never fully adjust to his new situation.) it was time to go meet the new addition.
Davie approached the door to the apartment with a slight hesitation and knocked lightly, before turning it and finding it open, and stepping into the kitchen. He could hear no audible sounds and took it as a good sign, thinking that if something had gone very wrong there would at least be some crying. Still, the worry and anxiety turning his brain into goo didn't completely leave until he saw the couple in the bedroom.
A small bundle lay in Katherine's arms, the baby he assumed, and Jack sat by the bed, his hands cupping the his kid's head and running through his wife's limp hair. It was their expressions, though, that really reassured Davie. Although both had dark circles under their eyes they were glowing with happiness and joy, such a deep contentedness etched into their faces that it was easy to forget all the hell they had both endured.
It was only after Davie had been standing in the doorway for almost ten minutes that Jack saw him and motioned for him to come farther into the room. Katherine smiled at him sleepily as he approached and he leaned down to give her a quick kiss on the cheek, patting Jack a few times on the back, before devoting his full attention to the baby. Big brown eyes stared back at him, almost a perfect copy of Jacks, the small amount of hair she had the exact color of his mothers.
Davie had had more experience with babies than most of the Newsies, considering how much younger Les was then him, but he was still nervous when Jack lifted the baby into his arms, calling her Elizabeth. The baby whined a little, fussing at the movement, before burrowing into Davies chest and promptly falling back asleep.
It was so hard to believe that Jack and Katherine were parents. It had taken him almost the entire pregnancy to get used to the idea that it was coming, and now that it had actually happened his brain was warped into a weird state of disbelief and suspicion, as if this wasn't some strange dream that he would wake up from if he only pinched himself hard enough.
"She's beautiful." He whispered to his friends, desperately trying not to wake her up.
"Ain't she? It must 'er mother." Jacks reply came back in the same whispered tone, and Davie grinned, acknowledging the truth in the statement.
"I don't know, she's got your eyes." Although Katherine's response wasn't directed to him he nodded. He didn't think Jack had ever grinned more than he did in that moment. If he wasn't careful his face was going to be sore in a few hours.
"Can I go get the boys? They been dying to make sure everythings ok and to see you guys and the baby." Both men looked towards Katherine, knowing that it should be up to her whether or not she was well enough for the extra stimulus, and she nodded without a moment of hesitation.
Davie replaced Elizabeth in her fathers arms before giving one last smile to the new parents and heading out the door to get their friends.
Katherine lay in bed watching as her daughter was passed from person to person, all the Newsies making cooing noises at the baby and trying to keep her from crying. Elizabeth just stared up at them, taking everything in, occasionally reaching up to tug on a shirt color, or pull someones hair.
As Katherine watched her husband carry around their daughter, showing her off to their friends, hearing them laugh when she made a startled grab at Crutchie's cap, pulling it clean off his head, she was filled with an overwhelming love for everyone in the room.
She wondered sadly whether or not her father would come to meet Elizabeth. Her and Jack had gone to his office when they had learned that Katherine was pregnant, and they had asked Davie to drop him a letter when Katherine went into labor, but he had been apathetic and showed no sign that he would put forward an effort to be a part of their lives. It had saddened Katherine slightly, but looking around at their friends all crowded into their bedroom, and seeing her husband send her a smile across the chaos she knew that these people, who had stayed up all night waiting for news, who were passing her daughter around with a reverence she hadn't known possible, these people were her real family.
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readingsloth