Erin paced across the waiting room for about the hundredth time, anxiously biting her thumbnail.
"You know, if you keep doing that you won't have a nail left on your thumb."
She turned at the sound of Jake's voice as he approached her from the doorway. "Sorry. I guess I'm just anxious. I hate waiting."
"I've noticed." Jake smiled gently as he pulled her to him, holding her close to his chest for a moment. "Come on. Let's sit down." he suggested, gently ushering her toward the chairs to sit down.
They'd been waiting in the hospital waiting room for about half an hour. Deborah had decided to have a c-section, which her and the doctors had scheduled for that day. She'd been admitted about 20 minutes ago, so they should be hearing from a doctor at any time. From what Erin had read online, a cesarean birth takes about 10-15 minutes, with about 45 minutes after to deliver the placenta and stitch up the incision. Considering they weren't really there for Erin's mom, in fact Deborah demanded no one go see her when it was all over, a doctor should go looking for Erin and Jake once the baby is clean.
Erin and Jake had sat back down in the chairs, Jake's hand rubbing Erin's back, when a doctor finally turned the corner and looked at them. The couple stood up instantly.
"I assume you're Erin Jones?" the doctor asked Erin.
"That's me. Is the baby okay?" Erin asked anxiously.
The doctor smiled. "He's just fine. We've got a small delivery room set aside if you want to come see him. We also need you to sign all the papers. His mother's already signed him over into your custody. He'll also need a name, but if you're not sure of what to name him, you've got a few days to decide." the doctor continued to explain as he lead the couple down the hall toward the room.
Once they entered, the doctor told them to make themselves at home and that the nurse would be by with the baby in a bit. Sure enough, they'd only just sat down when two nurses entered, one of them holding a bundle wrapped in a blue blanket.
Erin instantly stood back up, her eyes fixed on the small bundle. She couldn't see the baby yet past the blanket. But the nurse quickly approached her and gave her a kind smile, tilting the baby so Erin could see him.
He was so little. His head was about the same size as her palm, and his tiny fists were barely peaking out of the blanket. His skin was already russet tan like most the other Natives and he had just a sprinkling of soft, black hair on his head.
The nurse carefully held him out to Erin, who slowly took him into the cradle of her arms much like the nurse had, being sure to support his head. His face scrunched up, and he looked ready to start crying, which made Erin tense. She wasn't sure she could do this.
"Here, he's probably hungry." the nurse smiled understandingly, holding a bottle out to Erin. Erin carefully sat on the edge of the hospital bed before taking the bottle and holding it to the baby's lips. He greedily latched onto the teat of the bottle, gulping down the formula hungrily.
Jake sat on the edge of the bed next to her, his arm behind her back as he watched the infant eat. The baby peaked his eyes open, looking up at them with dark brown eyes. Jake smiled softly down at him. Even though he knew it wasn't his son, he could see himself raising the baby as his own.
"Here's the papers you need to sign and fill out. Take your time, though. He can leave with you whenever you're ready." the nurses both smiled at them before leaving the room to give them space.
Jake picked up one of the papers and the pen the nurse left. "So, what did you want to name him? We never really talked about that."
Erin glanced at him, but ultimately kept her eyes on her baby brother. "Well,…I've been tossing some names around in my head. What about…Nicholas Isaac Jones? He could go by Nick or Nicky."
"Hm. Nick." Jake leaned over and brushed his finger over the baby's chubby cheek. "What do you think?" he asked the baby in a quiet voice, "Are you a Nick or Nicky?"
The baby finished eating his milk and pulled away from the teat. His eyes scrunched up and his little mouth stretched in a small 'O' as he yawned and nestled his cheek into Erin's chest.
Erin and Jake chuckled.
"Alright. Nick it is." Jake grinned, writing the full name down on the birth certificate. They spent the next couple hours taking turns holding the baby and filling out the paperwork. Eventually the nurses came back and gave them some brief lessons on feeding, burping, changing diapers, and the like. A nurse went with Jake outside to the Explorer to prove he had the car seat set up properly, and then they were free to take Nicky home.
Erin jerked awake when she heard a loud cry from the room next door. She refrained from groaning as she carefully pulled away from Jake, who had his arm wrapped around her waist. The clock on the bedside table flashed 12:53 as she climbed out of their small bed and left his bedroom, going into the next room over and approaching the crib in the corner.
"Shh, it's okay, Nicky." she whispered, carefully slipping one hand under his head as she lifted him to her chest. She bounced him in her arms as she left the nursery and headed for the kitchen. His loud cries fell to whimpers, his head tossing back and forth against her shoulder.
She hummed quietly in Nick's ear, trying not to freak out. She'd only fed him a handful of times since they brought him home from the hospital earlier that day. She was still extremely nervous about messing something up or waking up Billy.
Very carefully, she held him with one hand and used the other to set up one bottle with the formula powder and water, popping the finished product in the microwave for a little bit. While it heated up, she rocked Nick against her chest, running her fingers over his downy, black hair. He continued to whimper, but at least he wasn't screaming.
Erin opened the microwave before it beeped, and took the bottle out. She tested the temperature of the milk against the back of the wrist of her hand holding the baby. It felt just like the nurses demonstrated, so she shifted Nick into the crook of her elbow before she began feeding him.
She shifted to lean back against the counter, her eyes fixed on the baby's chubby cheeks and big eyes as he worked on draining the bottle. Erin heard a creak and looked up to see Jake in the kitchen doorway, his hands braced on either side of the doorframe. He smiled when their eyes met.
"Did I wake you?" she whispered, her brows furrowing worriedly.
Jake shook his head as he entered the room. "Not really. I woke up the same time as you when he started crying."
"Sorry." she apologized, her eyes going back down to her brother.
"Nothin' to apologize for." Jake argued, moving to lean back against the counter beside her and moving his hand to the countertop behind her back. "He's a newborn baby, he needs to eat every hour, so he's going to cry. What, do you want him to not cry when he's hungry and then starve?"
Erin rolled her eyes subtly. "No." she mumbled. "But anyway, you can go back to sleep. I've got it."
"I know you do." Jake agreed. "I was just thinking…he's going to need to get up almost every hour, and we both have class around 10:00 in the morning. You don't have to wake up with him every time. I can do it a few times."
Erin eyed him in concern. "Jake,-"
"Erin, how many times do I have to tell you that you're not in this alone?" Jake asked rhetorically. "I want to help. Just accept it, babe. You're not getting out of it." he finished with a grin.
Erin smiled. "Well,…I guess so. At least we only have a week and a half until Spring Break, so we can kinda ease into it."
"Exactly." Jake nodded with a smile.
"Alright, fine." Erin relented with a smile. "Go back to bed. Nick's almost done, I'll be in bed in about five-ten minutes. The next time he cries, you can get up and feed him. Are you sure you remember-"
Jake swooped down and kissed her, moving his hand to her waist to pull her into his side. He pulled away a moment later and said, "Yes, I remember how to feed him, burp him, and change his diaper. I'll take care of him next time he wakes up while you sleep peacefully in our warm bed. Got it?"
Erin laughed quietly, leaning her head on his shoulder. "Okay, okay, fine. Thank you."
Jake kissed the top of her head. "You're welcome." He gently brushed his hand over the top of Nick's head before leaving the kitchen to head back to bed. Erin watched him leave with a smile still remaining on her face. She still couldn't quite believe how lucky she was.
When the bottle was empty, Erin placed a dishtowel over her shoulder and shifted Nick so his head was over the same shoulder. She only had to pat his back for about two minutes before he burped and then she could finally get him ready for bed.
Nick's eyes were already starting to droop as she entered the nursery again. Erin slowly rocked him and hummed a soft tune for a few minutes before he was down. She carefully placed him in the crib, backed away, and silently slipped out of the room. She only breathed a sigh of relief when she was back in Jake's room.
Jake looked asleep as she approached the bed, but when she laid down next to him he wrapped his arm snuggly around her middle. Erin smiled and allowed herself to easily drift off to sleep.
The thin walls allowed Jake to hear Nicky's whimpering before it became loud cries. So, he carefully climbed over Erin to get out of the bed and silently hurried into the next room and over to the crib. His big hands had never seemed so terrifying until they were handling that tiny bundle. Jake gently and slowly lifted Nick, his one hand cradling the baby's tiny head in his palm. He lifted the baby and cradled him gently to his bare, warm chest. He smiled when Nick snuggled closer and carried the baby to the kitchen.
It was easy for him to hold the little, 5lb baby in one hand, since his hand was almost as big as Nick's body. So he could imagine he had a much easier time than Erin setting the bottle up with one hand.
The milk still felt cool when he tested it against his arm, but he also knew from feeding Nick earlier that the warm temperature the milk was supposed to be felt cool-ish against his hot skin. Jake shifted Nick into the crook of his elbow before he offered him the bottle.
He chuckled when Nick latched onto the bottle, his tiny fingers scratching at the sides. Little tyke had the appetite of a wolf.
Jake leaned back against the counter as he watched the baby drink, his thoughts wandering. Only about two hours earlier, he'd entered the kitchen to the sight of his girlfriend feeding her baby brother. And even though it's her brother, Jake couldn't help but picture Erin in the same situation years down the road, getting up at midnight to feed their own son or daughter. Just the thought of Erin having his children got him hot and bothered, and he had to keep reminding himself that they needed to wait at least a few years. Until Nick was older, they were married, and preferably out of college with jobs. But it was still hard not to imagine, and it got his wolf excited.
When Nick finished drinking, a pungent smell hit Jake's nose and made his face scrunch up. He sighed in defeat, but quickly burped Nick before going back into the nursery and approaching the changing table. He gently placed Nick on the changing table and reached into one of the drawers to pull out a clothespin, which Erin had continuously teased him about. He pinched the clothespin over his nose before changing Nicky's diaper. He didn't mind changing diapers, but the smell really was awful for his sensitive nose.
When he was finished and Nick was wearing a fresh diaper and a clean onesie, Jake bounced him for a bit until he dozed off and then placed him back in his crib. Making sure the baby was still asleep, Jake returned to his room.
A smile tugged at his lips when he saw Erin curled up in his bed. He crossed the room and moved to the foot of the bed so he could crawl up toward his pillow without disturbing her too much. He lowered his body to the mattress, turning onto his side so he could wrap his arm over her waist and pull her in. He spooned in behind her, nestling his nose and mouth into the crook of her neck. Taking in a deep breath of her scent, his eyes closed in bliss.