Bringing Home Faith

Though her husband wasn't all surprised, Aimee was surprised, just a little, to see how immediately at ease she was at looking after her newborn daughter. She had zero experience looking after a child under six months old.

Visiting a friend with a newborn and holding the baby briefly didn't count.

Aimee and the baby were discharged from the hospital a little over twelve hours after she gave birth. Not that she would ever complain about that. Aimee hated hospitals. And if it wasn't as if she or the baby were ill and had to be there. Everyone knew that she would be taking it easy to allow herself to recover from childbirth. Horatio would make certain of that. Aimee was incredibly relieved that she didn't need snitches, she had what could called an "easy delivery." Aimee could put up with some soreness for a few weeks. For her daughter she would be willing to put up with racks of pain even once she got home, not that she wasn't glad that was not the case.

Kyle was in love with his baby sister the moment he saw her. Mom and dad wondered how long this would last and the bouts of jealousy would arrive.

The six-year-old beamed when he said "she got eyes like mine!"

Referring to the "Caine eyes."

Besides her brown hair, Faith looked much like her brother, who looked like Horatio. They had the same nose and lips. She shared a birthmark with her mom, a small bright red patch on her palm near her thumb on her left hand. If there was any color left on Aimee's birthmark it couldn't be seen by the time she was seven.

Horatio had Kyle in bed and was showing Faith her nursery at eight o'clock. She didn't mind taking the rest. She knew she needed it and plus Horatio insisted on it and there was no winning the argument with him if she was to try. She had given birth over twenty-four hours ago.

Aimee sighed happily, listening to Horatio talk to their baby through the baby monitor.

"And this is your room. We didn't know if you were a girl or boy so mommy picked out this color. We knew you would like animals, though. See, that's a giraffe, that's a lion and a tiger. That guy there is an elephant, your big brother loves those."

Horatio's either pointing to the wall stickers or the plush toys on the shelf, Aimee thought.

"And that's a bunny rabbit," she heard him say. "Bunnies don't live in the jungle but your aunt Calleigh bought that. You'll get to meet her and uncle Eric tomorrow. They're so excited to meet you but not as excited me and mommy.."

Aimee drifted off to a solid sleep before she could hear her husband say "but you're a bit too little to sleep in here all by yourself yet. You're gonna stay in Mommy and daddy's room for a while."

"You got to meet my sister!" Kyle said to Eric and Calleigh excitedly when he greeted them at the door. "She got eyes like me!" He said pointing to his own eye.

Both smiled at the boy's excitement.

Seeing such looks of joy on Horatio and Aimee 's faces after all they had been put through made the Delkos happy.

The Caines certainly deserved this.

"She's beautiful, H," Eric said, holding Faith. "Yeah, you're a pretty lil' girl. You know that?" He cooed to the baby.

"She is," Horatio said. "So, when you guys gonna have one?"