Disclaimer: I don't own anything here (except for Al) and am just doing this for fun and to pass the long months until Season 4.
Al emerged from the bathroom, wearing a fresh hospital gown. She had a towel around her shoulders and her blonde curls were plastered to her head. The nurse made sure she was steady on her feet, and then left to look in on other patients, promising to check back in an hour.
Al gathered up some pillows and put them on the couch next to Tim. She gingerly sat down next to him, fitting nicely against his side. He put his arm around her shoulders and she settled into his chest, resting her head right next to Nick. Tim kissed her forehead.
"You're beautiful," he told her.
She lifted her head and looked at him, her face scrunched up in obvious disagreement. "Yeah, real beautiful in a hospital gown after giving birth. It's a great look."
"Are you arguing with me in front of our son?"
She shook her head and settled back onto his chest. "Nope, just stating a different opinion. We can reasonably disagree, can't we?"
"Yeah. I just don't want to fight in front of him. Ever."
Al put her hand on top of his. "I can't promise you we won't ever fight in front of him, but I can definitely promise we won't fight the way your parents did."
Tim squeezed her against him, not trusting himself to speak right away. "How are you feeling?"
"Exhausted." She sighed.
"Try to sleep for a bit. I can help you to the bed, if you want."
"Nope. If your chest is good enough for our son, it's good enough for me."
Tim smiled and pressed his head against hers. He didn't want to fall asleep himself, since he was afraid he might drop the baby. Al dozed for maybe thirty minutes, waking up just before the nurse came back.
"Would you like me to take a picture of you?" she asked.
"That would be great. The camera's in my jacket pocket over there," said Tim.
Al looked up at him. "When did you get the camera?"
Tim shrugged. "When I got the stopwatch."
Al didn't say anything, but she didn't have to. Tim knew that she was happy, that she loved him and their baby more than anything, that she was touched that he'd thought ahead and planned for once in his life.
The nurse took a few pictures and then helped Al to the bathroom. Tim wasn't really sure what was going on, but Al had made it clear that he didn't have to know all the details of what happened to her. That it was a messy process and it was probably like sausage, better if you didn't know what all went into it. Apparently Stephen had had some issues with her after she had the baby. Tim rolled his eyes and pushed the thoughts of Al's ex-husband out of his head.
When Al returned, she opted to lay down in the bed. Tim handed Nicky over to her, then took a seat next to the bed, so he could keep one hand on his wife and one on his son. As soon as he was returned to his mother, Nick woke up and his little hands and head started moving around, pressing against her and soon, he was eating.
"It's such a relief that he seems to be a good eater. Doesn't always happen that way. Avery didn't do so well at the start – it was a real struggle."
Tim smiled and watched his son proudly. To be honest, he'd had some apprehensions about the whole breastfeeding thing, but Six had talked some sense into him. (See it as one of nature's miracles and don't think much more of it after that.)
"Hey, now that he's done eating, think we could get a good look at him?" The skin-to-skin holding was great, but Tim hadn't even gotten a good look at the kid's face yet.
Al carefully held Nick up and they both looked at him.
"Who do you think he looks more like?" Tim asked.
"He looks like....a newborn baby. They all kind of look alike, with their squished up faces and coneheads. Although, does look like he has your lips."
"And your hair. The poor kid."
"His hair will change. Might get darker or lighter, or straighter."
"I doubt it could get curlier," said Tim with a grin. He reached out to take off Nick's hat.
"Please leave it on."
"So he stays warm?"
"Yeah, that's one reason. The other reason is that his pointy head freaks me out a little."
Tim breathed an exaggerated sigh of relief. "Good. I was afraid I was the only one who felt that way....Are his eyes going to change color too?"
"Probably. They usually tend to darken up as the get more melanin."
"Too bad. I like that color – reminds me of yours."
Al tipped the baby to the side slightly to get him into a direct beam of light from the bedside lamp. "Actually, looks like he's got an eye from each of us – one blue, one green."
"No way!" Tim leaned over and looked at Nicky more closely. Sure enough, his eyes were definitely two different colors.
"Yeah, it's a Collette thing. Ed and Scott have the same thing, although Ed usually wears tinted glasses since he doesn't like people staring at him."
"They're the Middle Kids, right?" Tim loved Al's large, crazy family, with its designations for the eight children: the two eldest were the Big Kids, the next two were the Middle Kids, and the last four were the Little Kids. He'd heard stories and there was no doubt the Little Kids had had the most fun, especially the year that the four of them were all in high school together. Tim couldn't imagine having four kids within four years.
"Yeah. The Middle Kids. Charlie and I were always so jealous of their eyes. Junior year, we got a pair of cosmetic colored lenses and each wore one for a while, until he got an eye infection and Mom took them away."
Tim grinned. He loved those sorts of stories. Al rested Nick back on her chest and closed her eyes. Tim leaned back a little and just listened to the music, which was still playing. He recognized his favorite of Al's beloved German pop songs and realized that he'd never figured out why she liked that sort of music so much.
"Hey Al?" he asked quietly, in case she was sleeping.
She opened her eyes. "Yeah?"
"Why do you like German pop music so much?"
"I don't know. I guess partly because I like the language and partly because it's always got a catchy tune. And it reminds me of the year in college that I spent studying in Berlin."
Tim nodded. "I wonder what Nicky is going to like."
Al smiled. "Beer, football, and girls, if he's anything like his father."
"I don't want him to be too much like me."
Al grabbed his hand and squeezed it. "Stop it. I'd be proud if he was like you."
Tim shrugged. "I'd prefer it if he was smart like you."
"First of all, as you often say, I'm the dumbest smart person you know. Second, you're not stupid, you were just lazy and not interested in school."
Tim sighed and shook his head. "I was seriously lucky to get out of high school in one piece, without any DUIs or baby mommas."
He looked down, took a deep breath, and then met Al's eye. "The funny thing is, back then....all this....having a kid, seemed like the worst thing in the world. But now....I couldn't imagine anywhere I'd rather be or anything I'd rather be doing."
"Timing is everything. You grew up okay, Riggins. I think I'll keep you."
"Oh you think so, do you?" He matched her playful grin and then leaned down and kissed her.
Shortly after the kiss, Al's eyes closed and she dozed off. Tim got up and stretched. He walked around the room a little to get his muscles moving. He was starting to feel tired, but knew he was still too wired to sleep. He picked up his camera and put it in his shirt pocket. Then he found his cell phone and texted Six and Coach Taylor. He thought about texting Billy, but he didn't want to interrupt his and Mindy's weekend away.
The nurse came in and Tim stopped her. "Do you think, maybe you could just let her sleep a few more minutes? She's completely exhausted."
The nurse wavered, then checked her watch. "I suppose I could check on a couple of others and then get back here before the shift change."
"Thanks. I really appreciate it." Tim smiled at her, relieved that she didn't seem to be a former rally girl, cheerleader, or Dillon High School graduate.
Tim sat down on the couch and closed his eyes. He meant to only rest them for a minute, but he woke up some time later, disoriented and confused. He pulled out his cell phone and saw that he'd only been asleep for overan hour.
He went back over to the bed and put his hand on Al's forehead, smoothing the curls off her face. He knew this part of his job was officially over, but he couldn't help it. Her forehead felt clammy. Her eyelids fluttered as they opened. She smiled at him sleepily, then struggled to sit up.
Tim took Nicky off her chest, so she could have both arms to help herself up. Al tossed back the blanket and swung her legs around to put her feet on the floor as she sat up. She waited a few seconds before she stood up, swayed slightly then sat back down.
"Timmy, I really don't feel right." He could hear the alarm in her voice. He looked at where she'd been laying and could see blood. He pushed the call button on the wall while urging Al to lay back down. She did and he could see how pale she'd become.
"Al, I know you can bleed, but are you supposed to bleed that much?" He was trying to keep the panic out of his voice, but wasn't sure he was succeeding.
"I don't know. I didn't realize it was that much.....why is it so cold in here? Can you give the blanket back?"
Tim covered her with the blanket then headed for the door to find help.
"Don't leave me," she said. He turned back and the sight of her, tiny and alone in the big bed, nearly drew him straight over like a magnet.
"Al, I have to find someone to help you. I promise, I'll be right back."
He didn't wait for her consent, he just turned and walked out the door as fast as his long legs would carry him. He nearly jogged to the nurses' station, where a few nurses were going through charts and chatting away.
"Please, I need your help – my wife isn't doing good. I think she's going to pass out."
Two of the nurses dropped what they were doing and followed Tim back to the room while the third picked up the phone to page a doctor. Tim got back to Al first, but she was unconscious.
One nurse told him to step aside, go sit down across the room, while the other was all action, assessing Al and moving through practiced procedures. Tim backed away but couldn't sit down, he just looked on helplessly. The doctor soon arrived and began barking orders and calling for a transfer. It was all a blur of activity and soon Al was being taken out of the room, which went from buzzing with activity to deathly quiet as Tim stood, holding his son. Alone, scared, and clueless.