Phew, I've - well, at this point, we've - waited a long time for this chapter. Paggers and Shadow, thank you so much for your kindess. I-Am-A-Philip, your reviews are always so sweet and endearing, I hope that whatever is going on in your world gets calmer soon. I am so happy to be even the tiniest pinprick bright spot for you. I hope that this chapter is everything you guys were hoping for. Thank you so much for the support, I can't wait to see your thoughts on this one!

The rest of our week in New Orleans passed in a blur of drinking and celebrating and spoiling each other. We spent our days exploring and falling in love with the city - and more in love with each other - and the evenings with me slathering John with aftersun lotion, he finally felt up for more and I savoured every opportunity.

We were both ready to get home and back to real life. It was our first full day back in New York and we were both still weary from traveling. John lie on the couch after his shower, playing on his phone, in only his underwear. I sat on his backside and rubbed away the peeling layer of skin from his shoulders, picking at it. He was darker now, nothing in comparison to me, but the red sunburn had faded away into brown leaving him sunkissed and tan except for the pale sock line on his ankle and the chunk of skin on his right wrist where he kept his camera strap wrapped over, both amused me.

"What are you doing?" he asked, wiggling underneath me as I tore off more of the dead and peeling skin.

"I'm peeling you like a snake." I tore away more of the dead skin.

"You're so gross. Why are you doing that? That's gross. I'm gross. Stop," he whined.

"It's weirdly satisfying." I lie down on top of him and watched him scroll Instagram for a while, picking at the skin further down his arm, lips occasionally pressing a lazy kiss to his neck.

"Do you want me to move? I don't want to hurt you." I offered.

"No, you're comfy. I love having you close. Like my blanket."

I napped without realizing it, he rocked side to side to rouse me, a sense of urgency, "'Lex, phone! Your phone, babe."

I reached out for my ringing phone, still staying on top of him, it was Eliza, "hey, Betsey, what's up?"

"Alex, what are you doing right now?" her voice was all business.

"We're just at home, why?" I yawned and stretched, wrapping an arm around John's neck and nuzzling back into him.

"I need you guys to come to Kings County Hospital down in Brooklyn," she pulled the phone away and mumbled something to someone else, "we've got a baby that needs placement, he's six months old... Weirdest thing he looks just like John."

I bolted up, stumbling off of him, "on our way! You're the best! Holy shit, uh, wow, te amo, we love you!"

I hung up, and stepped into my loafers, "baby! Baby, John, we have to go meet our baby!'

He bounded up and fled to the bedroom to get dressed, "holy shit!"

"Rápido vamos!" I snapped my fingers, "vamos! Got a baby, come on!"

He reappeared from the bedroom, hopping on one foot, yanking on his converse and pecked a kiss on my cheek, "time to meet our baby."

We hailed a cab for the quickest route and beamed at each other, holding hands for the duration of the half hour taxi ride. The ride stretched on in my mind, just eager to finally be there, to be a dad, a long time coming. At the hospital I called Eliza and she gave us the room number. We took the elevator and found the room, she held a baby, an IV taped against his foot, he was so small, a little plume of curls almost the colour of John's, wrapped in a blanket.

"Hey, you guys." Eliza smiled.

"Hi, Betsey." I returned her smile and stared at the baby.

"Wanna hold him?" She asked us.

John nodded, his eyes filling with tears. She passed him the baby.

"What's his name?" he kissed the baby's forehead, tears spilling over his cheeks.

I traced the baby's nose, he was beautiful.

Eliza looked at me and shook her head, unbelieving of life's irony, "Philip."

"No kidding?" I chuckled.

"Nope," she giggled, "wanna come get some paperwork done with me?"

I followed her into a small room where another woman sat over paperwork, she stood to greet me and she and Eliza explained the foster to adoption process.

I signed a book's worth of paper and we went back to the hospital room where John sat and he handed the baby… Philip, to me to go sign his share of paperwork. I sat in the rocking chair. Philip was freed from the IV now.

"Alright, give it to me, straight, Betsey. What's he up against?"

She tucked the swaddled blanket around his face and squeezed his shoulder, "it wasn't good. Neighbours called the cops because they heard him screaming and crying. Found mom overdosed, she didn't make it, no dad, no next of kin, should be pretty open and shut. His blood work is clean but he's small, only in the twentieth percentile. Doctors say he will be just fine with enough love and food. Had him on fluids all day, but you can take him home tonight."

"Jesus, life moves fast, we only got home last night."

"God works in mysterious ways."

"Everything happens for a reason." I agreed.

"It's crazy how much he looks like John."

"Insane. He even has little freckles." I shook my head and the baby shifted in my arms, opened his little mouth and squeezed his eyes and shrieked.

"No, no, shh, you're okay, baby, shh, I've got you."

He cried and I rocked him gently, trying to calm him.

"He cries a lot, Alex. We don't think he's ever been cared for. It's how he communicates, he'll acclimate once he bonds and feels safe. It's like he's a newborn. Lots of crying, lots of sleeping. He's a little bit behind developmentally, but we're all sure he'll catch up. He's scrappy."

He calmed down and John came back, "alright, signed our lives away," he rubbed Philip's head.

"Alright, let me show you how to fix his bottles, just a couple things to go over, help you feel more confident." The nurse took me into a room off the nursery and showed me the formula to water ratio and a couple of other things like swaddling and diapering.

I went back into the room with John and Philip, the lights were dimmed and Eliza sat on the edge of the bed, talking to John, "time to take our baby home,"

"How?" He asked.

"We've got a carrier for you." Eliza reassured him.

I blew out a breath. We strapped him into the carrier and Eliza hugged us both and gave us a bag with cans of formula to get us through the night and next few days.

"I'm so happy for you, Alex," her eyes were shimmering.

"Come see us soon." John put a hand on her arm.

"Remember, skin to skin, couple days alone with him. Come as soon as he cries and he'll bond quicker. Talk to him all the time so he gets used to you. Home visit will be set up in a week."

John held the carrier and I held his hand as we walked into the night. Philip cried when we were confronted by the noise of the street. John held the carrier up and let me get him out.

I held the baby close and we got on the subway. It was noisy, he fussed and John and I worked quickly to hush him.

"This is our baby." John sighed, a dopey grin on his face.

We got to our door and I unlocked it, "our baby."

"Welcome home, baby." John grinned.

He was crying again, I sighed, already hating the desperation in the sound and wanting to do anything in my power to make it stop, "I'll make him a bottle."

I fixed the bottle like the nurse had shown me, making note of the time - it was just after eleven at night - and brought it back to John.

"Wanna go snuggle up in bed with him?" John asked.

I smiled, "sure, let's go."

I shed my shirt and John handed me the baby and the bottle and tucked the blankets around us before taking off his own shirt. I unswaddled Philip worked one handed to remove his onesie, leaving him diapered only and held him against my chest, his little body was so warm. He made snuffling sounds as he ate and looked up into my eyes. John climbed in bed next to us and I leaned into his side, he stared at the baby.

I looked up at John, he was crying again.

"You okay, querido?"

"I just... it's everything, our dreams all came true… watching you with him, I can't… I just…"

"I know." I kissed him, tears pricking my own eyes.

"No one knows yet," he remarked.

I swayed side to side, watching Philip eat, "wanna call Laf? Bet they're up."

"No. Tonight's all for us."

Philip emptied the bottle and kept staring at me, "you want him?"

John nodded and I handed Philip to him, he held him on his stomach against his chest and patted his back, Philip grabbed a tangle of John's hair and pulled. John smiled and liberated his hair as Philip fell asleep.

"This is my baby. This is our baby." He whispered, grin crinkling his eyes.

"Our baby."

He leaned around Philip's head and kissed me. I kissed him back, tasting his lip. Philip smacked his mouth and moved his hand up higher on John's chest, grasping and scratching. John giggled against my mouth. We broke our kiss and I rubbed the baby's back.

"Look at his little fingernails." John cooed.

I brushed a curl behind John's ear, "I love you," I said to both of them.

We both fell asleep sitting up, Philip on John's chest, only waking to his cries.

"I'm up," John panted, "oh, baby, you're okay, daddy's gotcha. Daddy's gotcha, baby."

I rubbed Philip's back and got out of bed, "get him a bottle."

I brought back the bottle, 2:30 in the morning and handed it to John.

"Diaper." He told me.

I went back to the kitchen and got a diaper out of the bag from the hospital and stopped by the nursery to get the basket for diaper changes and returned to the bedroom. We changed him on the bed, he moved so much, never ceasing his shrieking and flailed about, red in the face, eyes squeezed shut, little hands fisted.

"Oh, baby, it's okay." I whispered to him, his breathing came in quick, little gasps.

"Take him? I gotta pee." John picked up the dirty diaper.

I held Philip and settled back in bed, looking down over at him, he stared into my eyes, I stared right back, "hi, baby, I'm so excited I get to be your papi, me and your daddy have wanted you so long, so bad. I'm so sorry things were so bad for you, things were bad for me once, too, but your daddy's really good about helping put pieces back together, me and him, we'll put yours back together, too."

He reached up and patted against my chin, running his little hand over the scruff of hair. I kissed his little fingers and John returned.

"How are my guys?" He leaned against the doorframe and sauntered into the bedroom.

"We're better, diaper helped. You want to feed him? I got to last time."

He nodded, little grin creeping on his face and took the baby from me and popped the bottle in his mouth, "there you go, what was your papi telling you? He's gonna tell you all sorts of things, make you fall in love with him, it's impossible not to love your papi, I love him so much. We both love you already with all our hearts."

I lay my head on John's hip and stared up at them, Philip's little feet kicked while he ate, I ran my finger over them, noting the little purple spot where the IV'd been. I fell back asleep on John's leg, knees tucked up to my chest.