"Hello" Zoe softly spoke, smiling as Maisie, Oliver and Phoebe quietly entered the room, closely followed by Nick and Marie.
"Hi mum" They all whispered, under Nick's strict instructions to keep quiet. They all walked over to her and stood around the incubator, Phoebe taking a seat on her mum's lap, still sitting in her wheelchair.
"I want you to all meet your baby brother, Oscar" Zoe smiled, turning her head back onto the baby lying before her.
"Aww Oscar's a lovely name" Maisie exclaimed, intently watching her new baby brother.
"He is beautiful Zoe" Marie proudly smiled, glad to see her daughter bonding "I am so proud of you" She whispered, kissing Zoe on the cheek as she stood beside her.
"He's really small" Ollie commented. None of them had actually seen a baby as small as Oscar was; he looked like a little doll lying in his incubator.
"Why is he in this box?" Phoebe questioned, pointing to the incubator before her.
"Because he just needs a little bit of help breathing" Zoe told them "This box is like my tummy, it's protecting him until he's big enough" She explained.
"When you were born Phoebe you were in one of these for a few weeks" Nick added.
"Really" Phoebe exclaimed in surprise "Was I that small?" She asked. Not quite believing that she could have once been this tiny.
"Not quite as small as Oscar is, but you were still tiny" He told her.
Unlike, Phoebe and Oliver, Maisie knew exactly what this meant; she could see how small and fragile he was and the worry and pain painted on her mum and dad's faces said all that she needed to know "He will be OK though won't he?" She nervously asked.
"Of course he will" Nick quickly added, not wanting anyone to worry more than they already were "He's doing so well" He reassured them.
"Is he not coming home with us?" Phoebe asked.
"I'm afraid not sweetie" Zoe said, running her hand through her daughters hair "He's got to stay here for a bit longer" She told her.
"Are you coming home mum?" She asked, turning around to look at her.
"I'm going to stay here with Oscar for a little while" Zoe told her, much to Phoebe's disappointment.
"I want you to come home though mum" She begged, with a little tear forming in her eyes.
"Oscar needs me right now though baby, dad will go home with you though" She said, glancing over at Nick as she knew he would most likely want to stay here with her and Oscar. But they still had 3 other children to think about and his duty right now was being with them.
"OK" Phoebe eventually nodded in agreement.
"Come on then you 3, shall we leave mum and Oscar to get some rest now?" He suggested. It had been a long and exhausting 24 hours for all of them and nobody had really had much sleep yet.
The children all said their goodbyes to their new baby brother and mum before leaving the room, ushered out by Marie.
"Are you sure you're going to be OK without me?" Nick asked, extremely worried about leaving her and their son. He couldn't quite believe the miraculous change that he had seen in Zoe in the last hour. 1 hour ago and she couldn't even bare to think about her new son that lay fighting for his life, but now she was showing so much love and bonding towards the little boy before them.
"I'll be fine Nick honestly" She reassured him "I just need some sleep" She tiredly added.
"I can always stay in the on call room?" He suggested. He really didn't want to leave her; not tonight. They hadn't been apart since their marriage and a night apart would be strange for the both of them.
As much as Zoe wanted to say yes, she knew they had other responsibilities "But the kids need you" She said, turning her eyes to the door where they all stood outside peering in through the glass.
"They've got their grandma" He told her "I'm not leaving you" He decided, not giving her a choice in the matter. He could see it in her eyes that she wanted him to stay; so that was exactly what he was going to do.
He walked outside the room and spoke to Marie, saying goodnight to his children again for one another night. He walked back indoors and crouched down beside Zoe's wheelchair.
"He's beautiful isn't he" He commented, watching Zoe intently watch their son.
Zoe nodded slightly "Just like his daddy" She smiled, turning her head to Nick.
"Of course" Nick grinned at her "He can't go wrong in life then can he" He smugly replied.
"I do love you" She whispered, placing her hand on his cheek and leaning down to kiss him "and I'm sorry about all this" She mumbled against his lips.
Nick placed both his hands around her cheeks "Stop apologizing, this is not your fault" He firmly reminded her once again "He is so perfect" He whispered, resting his forehead against hers "and we are going to be just fine" He reassured her "We will get through this as a family, all 6 of us, I promise" He said, before kissing her one more time.