Author's Note: Hey everyone! First things first...yes, there is a reason why you didn't see a certain someone in the last chapter. Don't worry...just go with the flow.

I'd like to take a moment to dedicate this chapter to the real Nurse Helens, the real Dr. Maynards, and all of the infants and parents that really do have to go through the daily experience of the NICU. I did a lot of research on this subject and often found myself moved to tears while reading about the strength, love, devotion, and heartbreak that happens, especially if those tiny miracles are released back into God's hands. It truly is inspiring.

And so to everyone who has ever had to go through that, known someone who has, or might be going through it now, this is for you. God Bless.
~JP

True North
By Jaclyn Parker

"Miracles occur naturally as expressions of love. The real miracle is the love that inspires them. In this sense everything that comes from love is a miracle."
~Marie Lloyd
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As Jack strolled into the NICU, he waved to several of the nurses before heading straight back to Emmy's bassinet.

The baby lay sleeping on her back, her tiny chest moving up and down with each breath with her angelic face scrunched up and her perfect rosebud mouth making a quivering motion every few seconds.

"Morning, Emmy. How's Daddy's angel doing today?"

"She's doing great, Mr. Snyder."

Jack looked up to see one of the NICU interns standing close by and smiling at him and Emmy.

"Morning, Lauren. How was her night?" Jack said, smiling back at her.

"Like I said, she did great. No apnea episodes and her oxygen levels are completely steady." Lauren said, showing Jack the chart she held in her hands. "Plus, we have a surprise for you."

Jack looked up from reading his daughter's statistics with interest and couldn't help but chuckle at the young nursing intern's eager face.

Lauren practically bounced on her toes as she prepared to tell him. Little Emma Rose Snyder and her family had quickly become one of the NICU's favorites. Not only was she a beautiful and pleasant baby but everyone who came to stay with her, went out of their way to get to know the entire staff and most of the other families. Especially, Jack. In fact, in the entire two and a half weeks that Emmy had been in their care this was the first night that Jack hadn't slept either in the NICU or down a couple floors in Carly's private suite. Of course, what Lauren didn't know was that the only reason he had been away from the hospital last night was Lee being on duty and swearing up and down that if anything changed, he would call Jack immediately.

"All the interns fought over who got to tell you the good news and I won." Lauren said and Jack chuckled again, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Well?" He prompted, grinning at her expectantly and Lauren found herself blushing.

At twenty-one years old, Lauren was somewhat embarrassed to admit that she had developed a slight crush on Detective Jack Snyder. It was just a fun little secret thing; she had no delusions that he even saw her as anything but one of the nice interns that helped care for his daughter. Plus, she saw the way his face got when he talked about Emmy's mother and there was no way in hell she could compete with that kind of love. But she couldn't help it. Not only was he genuinely a nice guy…he was totally hot!

"Lauren?" Jack's voice broke into her thoughts and she blushed harder.

"Oh, right!" Lauren giggled and grinned down at a still sleeping Emmy. "You get to bottle feed her today!"

"What?" Jack gasped, looking down at Emmy too and then back up to Lauren in disbelief. "But…Dr. Maynard said that it would probably be another week at least because of the reflux that happened the last time they tried taking the feeding tube out."

"Well he thought so but, a little after you left yesterday evening, he was making rounds and saw that Emmy was sucking on her fist, which means that the natural reflex is fully active. We weaned her off the feeding tube again overnight and early this morning, so she's all ready to try the bottle when she wakes up for her mid-morning feeding."

Jack shook his head, unable to believe his ears. With no change in Carly's condition and no explanations for her still being in the coma, Jack was in need of some good news. But this…this was beyond good.

"How come no one called me?" Jack asked, thinking specifically of Lee.

"Dr. Maynard said that this was a common action that could be misleading. He wanted to make sure that Emmy's vitals stayed within the levels that they needed to be in case he had to re-tube her before you got here." Lauren said and then tilted her head with a small frown. "I think Dr. Reynolds actually wanted to call you but if I remember correctly, Dr. Maynard said something about telling Nurse Hudson if he did. I don't think Dr. Reynolds put much of a fight after that."

Jack couldn't help but laugh at knowing that though his friend, the Junior Chief of Medicine, had wanted to call him even he wasn't about to incur the wrath of Nurse Helen Hudson when it came to the well being of one of her patients and their family.

Lauren saw the elation on Jack's face and couldn't help but feel warm all over. It was because of moments like this that she had decided to become a pediatric nurse.

"Nurse Hudson is in a quick meeting with the director of the Mommies Milk program but she'll be here in a little while. But until then, how would you like to just relax and hold your daughter?"

"Oh yeah." Jack said, grinning at her and she laughed.

"Well you know where the wash station is and there should be new sets of individually wrapped scrubs in the cabinet by the sink."

Jack didn't think he had ever moved that fast in his life but even so, by the time he returned freshly washed and dressed in blue scrubs, Lauren had swaddled Emmy and was waiting patiently.

Jack settled into the rocker by Emmy's bassinet and immediately Lauren leaned down to place her very small charge in his arms.

Jack had only been allowed to hold her starting about a week ago, via the process called kangaroo care where the infant is dressed only in a diaper and hat against bare skin of the parent under a shirt or hospital gown. Awkward and very scary at first, having to lay this incredibly tiny being on his bare chest, it became one of Jack's favorite activities when he was with Emmy. But this was the first time that she was in his arms with no extra tubes attached to her body. Having only needed an IV line for the first couple of weeks, there were only two wires that were carefully threaded through the bottom of the blanket; one was for the pulse ox machine that was attached to her left big toe and the other was for the single monitor machine that read her breathing patterns attached by sticker to her little chest.

But as he held her in his arms, as always, those wires seemed to disappear and it was just him and his newest baby girl.

Jack looked up to thank Laurenn but the young intern had slipped away, giving him the moment alone with his daughter. He smiled and then looked back down at the precious bundle in his arms. Jack smiled as he watched her eyelashes flutter against her cheeks and then open slowly to reveal a pair of seemingly unfocused blue eyes.

"Hi, Emmy. You waking up already for Daddy?" Jack said, softly.

The baby in his arms blinked a few times, scrunched up her nose and then letting out a small yawn, immediately closed her eyes again and snuggled deeper into her receiving blanket.

Jack laughed and began rocking again. "I guess not."

Taking his index finger he gently lifted the pink hat that covered Emmy's head and stroked the soft light brown peach fuzz that lay under it. Then replacing the hat, he drew his finger down the middle of her forehead to the tip of her tiny nose. Sliding it down over her left cheek then across her little pink lips he smiled as they twitched, allowing him a glimpse at the miniature dimples at either side of her mouth. Jack shook his head as it hit him once again that, other than the color of her hair, how much she reminded him of Carly.

The sound of his name being called broke Jack out of his silent reverie. Looking up he saw a handsome African American male heading his way with a small blue bundle in his arms.

"Hey, Grant, what's up?"

"Not much. Me and Superman here, saw you sitting alone with his girl and he got a little jealous."

Jack grinned and craned his neck as Grant proudly bent slightly to show off his son who, despite his father's words, was as fast asleep as Emmy.

"Superman, huh?" Jack said, settling back down again and raising his eyebrow.

"Yeah, well…I just can't bring myself to call him…that." Grant said, sighing and shaking his head.

"Rissa still not budging on the name thing?" Jack asked, still slowly rocking a content Emma in his arms.

"Nah, not an inch. I swear, Jack, I know that the show is fascinating and, if I didn't think my head would explode if I watched it, I would probably be as into it as my wife. But saddling the kid with that as a name…it's just cruel."

Jack just laughed and shook his head. "I don't know. I don't think it's that bad."

"Yeah, well, you wouldn't be saying that if you were kicked out of your master bedroom because of a stupid show every Wednesday night."

Jack laughed again and with a low chuckle of his own, Grant pulled up a chair to sit down next to him.

Grant Martin and his wife Marissa had welcomed their son at 31 weeks in the middle of June due to a car accident and he had unfortunately had a very rough go of it at first. But by the time Emma had been admitted to the NICU, Sawyer Jacob Martin was a bright eyed 35 week old boy whose parents were very helpful in getting Jack and the kids adjusted to the NICU process. In fact, during the nights they both sat by their babies' incubators, Jack and Grant had bonded a lot over their love of the Chicago Bears, bass fishing, and their absolute terror of almost losing their youngest children.

"We wondered about you last night." Grant said, shifting Sawyer in his arms and bouncing gently when the baby made a disgruntled noise at being moved. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, I just realized I needed to spend some quality time with my kids. With everything going on, I don't want them to think that I'm not there for them." Jack said, frowning at the memory of how surprised J.J., Parker, and Sage had been when he told them he was taking them out to dinner.

He knew that he was devoting a lot of time to the hospital and while Margo had easily allowed him emergency personal leave from the station, no one had given him emergency leave of being a father to the kids that already waited patiently at home.

"They coming in soon? Superman likes to flirt with Sage." Grant asked and Jack smiled, but shook his head.

"Maybe later. I finally convinced them to go take some time off from worrying. So Holden and Lee took the J.J. and Parker to the movies while Molly and Lily took the girls to the mall for some quality shopping. Since Sage didn't want to go back to overnight camp, her cousins decided to stay home too. We luckily got them enrolled in the second session for a popular local day camp but on weekends, when they're not there, it's harder to keep their minds off of the situation."

Grant nodded and smiled, before flicking a glance to Jack. "How's Carly doing? Any change?"

Jack held Emma closer and sighed, pressing a quick kiss to her small forehead before answering.

"No...nothing. They scheduled her for another MRI but at this point they are just adjusting the levels of the cocktail and monitoring her closely. Lee's put in a call to Australia to a colleague of his to come take a look at her. He's supposedly one of the best neurologists in the world, but he can't get here until the first week in August."

"Well, that's only…what…another week and a half away?" Grant said and at Jack's nod, he clasped a hand on his shoulder. "It'll be fine. I know it."

Jack smiled and shrugged. "Yeah, it's just…every day, I miss her that much more, ya know?"

"Yeah, man, I know. I know you do." Grant said simply, not able to say anything more than that to comfort his friend.

Jack sighed and then took a good look at the baby in Grant's arms. "Hey, you know…Sawyer's looking really good. Has he put on weight?"

"Yeah, he has. Actually, he's doing so well that Dr. Maynard told us this morning that we can take him home the day after tomorrow." Grant said, unable to stop grinning like the cat that ate the canary.

A wave of jealousy swept over Jack for a nanosecond before he shook it off. He had learned quickly that in the NICU, one parent's dream coming true just gave way to more hope being spread around. Grinning also, Jack reached over a hand to offer the other man his congratulations.

"Grant, that's amazing. I'm so happy for you and Rissa."

"Thanks, man. We're all ecstatic. Isn't that right, Superman?" Grant said, bending his face to talk to his son.

The tiny infant wiggled a moment, sighed, and then promptly let out a familiar noise from the other end.

Jack laughed and looked down into Emmy's sleeping face, before back to an amused Grant.

"Sounds like he's thrilled."

"Yeah, well, he just knows that when we go home he is not gonna be 'King of the Nursery' anymore." Grant said and then exchanged a look with Jack that clearly read that neither man bought it. Sawyer was the first child for Grant and Rissa and was in clear danger of being completely spoiled by every member of their entire family once they got him home.

Jack caught something out of the corner of his eye and nodded his head in that direction.

"Hey, speaking of which, did the O'Hara's get to take Tommy home last night?"

Grant looked over at the empty incubator that only yesterday had held another tiny infant and then with a frown, turned away again.

"No." Grant said softly, shaking his head and not meeting Jack's eyes.

Jack didn't say anything more, just felt a cold chill run through his veins, and both fathers unconsciously held their precious bundles closer to them. Before either one could speak again, Helen appeared.

"Okay, boys, chat time is over. Jack, you have a baby to feed and Grant…" Helen said and sniffing the air, gave him a look. "Sawyer smells a little ripe."

"Yes ma'am." Grant chuckled and nodded to Jack. "Catch ya later, man. And good luck today!"

"Thanks, Grant. Tell Rissa I better see her before you guys take Superman home." Jack said and Grant smiled at Jack's use of his nickname for his son.

"Will do."

Helen watched him go and then nodded down towards the baby in Jack's arms. "You ready to try this?"

"A little nervous but, yeah, more than ready." Jack said, grinning. Helen smiled as she reached down to gently rub Emmy's cheek, who was already starting to awaken. The baby jerked a little but soon opened her eyes fully and after a moment, must have realized her stomach was empty because she started to cry. It wasn't the loud piercing cry normally associated with infants but it definitely got her point across.

Helen gently showed him how to hold Emmy so that her head was raised slightly and her body was turned more towards his chest. This tended to put less stress on the premature baby's digestive system while creating a more secure feeling for both the parent and infant. Adjusting himself so that his arm was propped up on a pillow and he was in a comfortable position, Jack reached out to take the small thin bottle Helen handed to him and listened as she began to instruct him.

"Okay, Jack, now tilt the bottle so that the nipple is completely filled with milk. This helps get rid of air bubbles in the bottle. Now, be careful to hold the bottle this way throughout the entire feeding." Helen said and Jack nodded as he followed her directions.

"Good, very good. Now don't be surprised or worried if Emmy doesn't take to the bottle right away. It might take her a few tries to get used to the feeling since her sucking reflex is relatively new to her. She won't understand, at first, why she suddenly has a mouth full of milk. In fact, it might scare her and cause her to spit up."

Sure enough, as soon as Emmy sucked her first sip, back out it came accompanied by a very angry wail. Helen showed Jack how to clean her up and then they tried again. Fifteen minutes later, Jack's heart felt like it was going to explode as he listened to his daughter's frustrated cries, especially since he knew how she felt.

"It's alright, Jack." Helen said, sensing his mood. She placed a calming hand on his as it wiped up Emmy's spit up once again and looked into his face. "Relax and she'll relax. This is new to both of you and if she doesn't get it today, she'll get it tomorrow or the next day. Okay?"

Jack sighed and then nodded. "Okay."

"Good, now let's try one more time and then we'll give her, and you, a break." Helen said and Jack gently guided the bottle into Emmy's open mouth.

At first it looked like it was going to be another failed attempt, but Helen reached down and firmly caressed Emmy's cheek like she had earlier when she was waking up.

"Come on, Emmy. Stop being so stubborn for your dad. You think your mommy would be happy with such behavior?" She said softly.

As if hearing and understanding her, Emmy suddenly looked up straight into Jack's eyes and not a moment later, a sucking noise was being made. Jack's eyes widened and he watched in fascination as the tiny tentative sucks became stronger and greedier.

"She's…she's…" Jack said, his eyes welling up with proud tears.

"Hungry." Helen finished for him and he laughed, startling the baby in his arms. Emmy paused and Jack tensed, fearing that he had ruined the progress that she had made. But he needn't have worried as she started up again just as quickly as she stopped.

"Okay, Jack. Now all you have to do it burp her every ½ ounce or so and Emmy will do the rest. She'll let you know when she's full, probably by falling asleep mid-suck. Don't be surprised if she only takes about 2 or 3 ounces this time around. Soon she'll be downing bottles 4 to 6 ounces at a time and you won't be able to keep up."

Standing straight again, Helen patted him on the shoulder. "By the way, good job, Daddy."

Jack grinned back and with a wink she moved away to go check on another of her tiny charges.

About ten minutes and two burps later, Jack looked up when he heard a familiar female voice. Smiling, he saw the woman walking in his direction from the area of the hand washing station.

"I guess if you're the wife of the Chief of Medicine you are allowed in any part of the hospital huh?" He said as Kim Hughes approached.

"Hi there, Stranger. In fact, it was Bob who told me that he saw you heading this way earlier." Kim said, coming over to brush a kiss to his cheek.

"Yep, I was just in time to feed this little angel her first bottle ever." Jack said, jerking his head to indicate the infant in his arms.

"Oh, Jack, she is just breathtaking." Kim said, running a gentle finger over the baby's rounded cheek.

Jack smiled down at his daughter who was still drinking contentedly.

"Yeah, I think we'll keep her." He said, the pride dripping from his voice.

"She reminds me so much of Sage." Kim said and Jack searched Emmy's features closely.

"Yeah, I don't know. Carly swore up and down that Sage looked like me when she was born but with Emmy…every time I look at her I see Carly." Jack said and Kim glanced at him, before smiling softly.

"You know what? I think you might be right about that." Kim said and nodded. "Speaking of Carly, are the rest of the kids down with her now?"

"No, Sage is doing a girl's day at the mall while the boys are seeing that new science fiction/horror movie with Holden and Lee." Jack said and seeing that she had managed another ½ ounce, he gently lifted Emmy to burp her. When he was done he began the process over again and to his delight, Emmy began drinking again smoothly after only one unsuccessful attempt.

"New sci-fi movie, huh? I think Casey likes those things. What is this one called?" Kim said, making a funny face at Emmy who was staring in her direction with surprisingly alert eyes.

"Um, it's called The Empty House. I don't know what it's about but I do know that the only reason Holden agreed to go because Julianne Moore is in it." Jack said, rolling his eyes. "He's had a thing for her ever since I can remember."

"Hmm," Kim murmured, frowning slightly. "Julianne Moore? Is she that blonde with the accent?"

"No, she's got red hair. Um, she was nominated for an Oscar, I think, for that movie…um, The Hours?" Jack looked and saw that Kim was still confused. "Uh, she played Jodie Foster's role in the sequel to Silence of the Lambs. I know cause Carly made me go see it with her on one of our secret dates back when…never mind."

Jack trailed off, not wanting to mention Julia Lindsey in front of Kim since she had nearly killed Barbara, even though it was years ago. Thankfully Kim seemed not to notice and finally just shrugged.

"Nope, not ringing a bell. Maybe Bob will know. He's better at putting faces with names than I am." She said and then nudged Jack.

He looked down to see that Emma's eyes were starting to drift closed and even though when he moved the bottle she started to drink again, she was obviously about to conk out again. Jack lifted her to carefully burp her once more before letting her fall back asleep as he started to rock her.

"If the kids are out, who's with Carly?" Kim asked, reaching down to take the bottle from Jack so he could hold Emmy more comfortably.

"Um, Emma is. As a matter of fact, she sits with Carly every Tuesday and Thursday mornings, reading to her." Jack said, smiling softly as he thought of his beloved aunt. The woman had always put on a face that she didn't like really like Carly, but he knew that the woman he loved had been assimilated as a Snyder in Emma's eyes long ago despite all their ups and downs.

"She does?" Kim said, her eyes widening. Sometimes, even after all these years of being one of her best friends, Emma Snyder still surprised her.

"Yup." Jack nodded and looked up at Kim, grinning. "I think today's reading is from the altar of Danielle Steele; her latest book."

"Oh, really? Hmm, in that case, maybe I'll just go sit with her and listen in." Kim said, giving him a grin and then bent down to kiss the top of his head. "Hang in there, Jack. You're all in our prayers."

"Thanks, Kim." Jack said, meaning it sincerely. After dropping a light kiss on the sleeping Emmy's hat covered head, Kim slipped back out to the hospital halls.

Alone once again, Jack smiled down at his daughter.

"You know, I can't wait to tell your mom about how well you did today. She's going to be just as proud of you as I am."

His voice caught in his throat and he quickly blinked back the tears that threatened to fall. Rocking gently, Jack watched Emmy sleep for a few moments then shifted to get more comfortable.

As he lay his head back against the rocking chair, Jack's eyes caught sight of the empty incubator where little Tommy O'Hara used to lie. He sent up a silent prayer for the O'Hara family and lifted Emmy so that she was lying on his chest, her tiny puffs of breath tickling his neck.

He knew that he would soon have to place Emmy back in her bassinet since exposure to outside still needed to be limited. But for that moment, he just closed his eyes and thought about the tiny miracle that had been gifted to them as he felt her little heartbeat against his.