11:00 28th February 2013 Dingle District Hospital, Dingle Peninsula, County Kerry, Ireland
Aaron and Cain were back at the hospital with a car seat and other paraphernalia needed to take Evie home. They'd spent the morning readying the house for not only the baby's homecoming, but also the extra three Dingles that were on their way over. Aaron had expected Cain to kick off when he told him he'd called Lisa and that she, Belle and Marlon had decided to come, but he actually seemed quite relieved at this news.
He'd been very quiet all morning, brooding darkly as he'd gone about his work. Aaron thought it was best to leave him to it, so he'd gone for a stroll around the area whilst Cain put together a flat pack bed they'd found in the garage and made the spare room a bit more liveable. There was farmland surrounding the house, as far as the eye could see, apart from to the back, where there was a little pebble beach one could only access through a little gate at the bottom of Chas's garden. He remembered his mum telling him excitedly about the cottage she'd found not long after moving to the area. She'd told him it needed work, but it could be brilliant with some imagination. And he saw the appeal; quiet, remote, picturesque – perfect for bringing a child up. He could just picture little Evie toddling around the beach in a couple of years, picking up pebbles, paddling in the water. He vaguely remembered doing similar things with his mum when he was little. He just prayed that she'd wake up soon and be able to finally enjoy being a mother.
They were currently being given advice on caring for Evie from a busty midwife called Clara, who was showing them how to wrap her up the correct way. Aaron could see Cain twitching with impatience.
"Listen love, I've just spent the last few months taking care of my grandson, I think I know how to wrap a baby up right" he huffed.
Clara didn't bat an eyelid at his rudeness, "Grandson, get away with you, you don't look old enough" she flirted with him, disconcerting Cain and making Aaron grin in amusement. She moved towards a special bag on the side and pulled out a bottle of milk, "now we've expressed some milk from Sandy, should be enough here for the next day or so, but don't worry about giving little Evie a bit of formula if you run out".
Aaron scrunched his face up at the thought of them taking milk from his mum whilst she was unconscious. As much as he knew it was for the best in the long run, it felt a bit like they were violating her doing something like that without her permission.
The midwife picked Evie up out of her crib and brought her over. She started fussing a bit at being disturbed. "There, there pet," Clara shushed her, "you're going home, you lucky little mite".
She handed the baby over to Cain, who bobbed her up and down to try to quieten her. But the movement turned her fussing into full on bawling. He looked at Aaron, who had no suggestions as to how to calm her.
Clara smiled, "she's got a set of lungs on her for such a little thing".
"You should meet her mother, then you'll understand" Cain joked.
"Funny you should say that" Clara smiled at them conspiratorially and, taking Evie back, motioned for them to follow her.
Cain and Aaron shrugged at each other and followed, Aaron carrying the bags, Cain carrying the car seat. They stopped in the corridor outside Chas's room. They saw through the window that she was still unconscious, still on a ventilator and still hooked up to several monitors.
"Watch this, it's the strangest thing" Clara said, before taking the now screaming baby into the room. As she got near to the bed, Evie stopped crying straight away and calmed down completely. Clara sat perched on the edge of the bed and the two men watched as Evie closed her little eyes and brought her hand up to her mouth to suck on her fingers.
"Susan, who did the night shift says she was sat here most of the night. Couldn't calm her any other way" Clara whispered to them, "half the staff think it's the whirring of the ventilator that soothes her. The other half, including myself, thinks she just knows she's with her mammy. Sandy's stats always seem to improve when she's around as well".
Although Aaron thought this was pretty amazing, it didn't inspire him to think the next few days were going to be easy sailing. "Let's hope she can use her special psychic powers to realise we're also related, or we're not going to have a moment's peace' he joked.
"Ah, you'll be fine, she just needs to be fed, changed, burped and loved, and I can sense you're both plenty equipped to deal with that". She passed Evie to Cain who put her in her car seat. As he did so, he noticed that Evie was sucking her two little fingers, curling her other two fingers around her nose. He gave a small laugh before picking up the car seat and following Aaron out of the room.
Aaron was packing the car up and fixing the car seat in securely when Cain got a call on his mobile. He sighed as he saw who was ringing and indicated to Aaron he needed to take it, walking away from him as he answered.
"Charity"
"Cain. What the hell's going on? I thought you were sorting it?"
"I am. I was…"
"Well it doesn't sound like it. It sounds like you've managed to get the whole family on her side. I suppose you've heard about the meeting this morning?"
"Aaron might've mentioned it, yeah"
"Did he mention that Debs has been in tears ever since?"
"No…"
"No, course he didn't. Because no one gives a stuff about how this is affecting her now do they? Now precious Chas is in a bit of bother"
"A bit of…right, I'll ring you back in two minutes" Cain spat down the phone and hung up before Charity could reply. He stormed back into the hospital and up to Chas's room. Once there, he called Charity back, but this time via a video call.
He watched his ex's face materialise on the screen. She looked confused.
"What the hell do you think you're playing at?" she asked.
"Just shut up a minute and let me show you summat" he told her, then turned the phone around so that it was pointing towards Chas. He scanned it up and down so that Charity could get a good look at all of the equipment she was hooked up to, all of the marks and bruises and bandages covering her. Then he turned the screen back around to find a very different Charity staring back at him. The penny seemed to have dropped.
"She's going to be okay though isn't she?" Charity asked meekly.
"Do you care?"
"Of course I care. She's my…"
"Exactly" Cain interrupted, "but she was mine before she was any of yours. Any of yours. And noone, especially not you is going to tell me what to do on this".
Charity nodded, "I'll have a word with Debs. Keep me updated will you?"
Cain returned the nod and hung up. He took one last look at his sister and made his way back to his waiting niece and nephew, satisfied that he'd done the right thing.