A/N: Ha HA! Another update! I'm glad everyone liked Ackerly's name. I certainly like it, though it was a giant pain in the butt most of the time. But that is no matter now. Now we have chapter! Everyone enjoy!
Disclaimer: These mosquitoes are killing me! I'm so over them.
The flight was a little surprising to Ezra and Priestly. They were nervous about how Ackerly would react to the noises of the plane, especially at take off and landing. But he wasn't bothered a bit by those. No, what he had a problem with was the voice of the captain speaking through the intercom. They weren't really sure what it was about it that bothered Ackerly so much. They just knew he didn't like it.
Thankfully, the captain hadn't needed to address the cabin very often, and Ackerly was pretty quiet for the most part, only fussing when he was tired, hungry, or needed a diaper change. Priestly was tickled to tell Jen that his flight was much more pleasant than she'd predicted.
After a blessedly uneventful flight, Ezra and Priestly got off the plane and made their way through the terminal, looking for their family who would be picking them up. As they neared the front entrance, they spotted a large banner being held up by a small group of people.
"Welcome home!" they all cheered, and the boys were welcomed into the open arms of Ezra's parents and Priestly's girlfriend.
"Let me see him!" Mary and Tish demanded simultaneously. With a chuckle, the new daddy lowered his arms from his chest, reclining Ackerly in the crook of his arm so his new family could see him.
"Aww! He's so adorable! Tish cooed over the baby. She put her finger in the palm of Ackerly's hand, letting his tiny fingers grasp her much larger one. "I can't believe how cute he is."
"Is it alright if I hold him?" Mary asked her son.
"Actually, the midwife who delivered him said it would be better if I were the only person to really interact with him for a while," Ezra explained gently. "Since I adopted him without having spent much time with him before he was born, he needs to learn who I am before learning who anybody else is. Bo's the only other one that can really be involved with Ackerly right now since he'll be a major fixture in Ackerly's life, but even he only gets limited involvement for right now."
Though she was disappointed at not being allowed to hold her grandchild yet, Mary understood the importance of Ackerly bonding with Ezra first. "Can I at least give him a kiss?" she asked. "He's my first grandchild, after all."
"Yeah, of course," agreed Ezra with a small grin. He held Ackerly out a little so Mary could get to him more easily. "Little touches here and there are alright, but for the first few months, I need to be the only one to interact with him."
"That's fine," John said in understanding. He slowly approached his son and the tiny baby. "Hey there, Ackerly. I'm your granddaddy. I'm glad to finally meet you." John also planted a small kiss on his grandson's forehead before backing away.
"You guys ready to get back home?" Tish spoke up, keys dangling from her fingertips.
"You have no idea," groaned Priestly. "Get us out of this airport."
"We kinda need our luggage first, Bo," joked Ezra, lifting Ackerly up to nestle back into his shoulder. "I'd rather like to take my belongings back home with me." Once the boys had their luggage, they followed their family out to the airport parking lot and were pleasantly surprised to the see the Causemobile waiting for them.
"What?" Tish chuckled defensively when the boys turned questioning eyes to her. "Nobody else had a car that could seat so many people. So Trucker volunteered the Causemobile."
"Your mom and I certainly had a good laugh when we first saw it," John laughed.
"I guess it's kind of a good thing I didn't have a carseat for Ackerly," mused Ezra. "There's no way we'd be able to buckle it in."
"Eh, he'll be alright till we get home," Priestly dismissed. "The drive to your apartment is shorter than either of the other trips we've had today. As long as you hold him closely and Tish drives carefully, we'll be just fine."
"I don't doubt that a bit." An uneventful drive and a bottle later, Ezra and Ackerly were finally home. "Alright, baby boy. Let's go meet the rest of your family. You're gonna love'em." The others volunteered to carry in the bags so all Ezra had to carry was Ackerly.
When the door was opened, a shout greeted them. "Welcome home!" their Beach City Grill family welcomed the homecomers. Standing in the middle of the living room were Trucker, Piper, Jen, Noah and Julia, and Mr. Julius and Lucille. All had huge smiles on their faces as they clapped for their newest family member.
"Thank you, guys," Ezra said gleefully. He never got over the amazing things this group of people did for him. It truly touched his heart. Jen stepped away from the group to hug her boyfriend. "Thank you so much, Jen," he whispered as he wrapped his free arm around his girlfriend. "I've missed you."
"I've missed you too, Ez," Jen replied just as softly. There were tears in both their eyes as they pulled away from each other. "Alright, let me see the little man again. I haven't seen him in a week."
"Alright, everyone get close if you want to see the newest Hale." Ezra resettled Ackerly so he was facing more outward, giving everyone a better view of him. "Ackerly James, meet your family."
"He's so precious, Ez," Piper gasped. Next to her, Julia peeked over Piper's shoulder from her dad's arms.
"He's cute, Ezra," the little girl said sweetly. "Will his skin get darker? It's kinda light right now, isn't it?"
"Yep," Ezra answered her innocent question. "His skin is lighter right now because he hasn't been in the sun enough for it to get very dark. But it'll get darker as he grows up." After a while of visiting and catching up after the boys' long trip, Ezra was ready to go to bed. "Well, I hate to throw everybody out, but I need to put little man here to bed."
"You mean you need to put yourself to bed," Jen joked with a grin.
"You're darn right. Today's been busy! I'm exhausted!" With a wake of laughter following him. Ezra carried his son through the apartment to the nursery. "Ready to see your new bedroom, little man?" he asked in a soft voice. When he opened the door, his jaw dropped. "Oh wow."
The previously bare nursery was now a beautiful underwater world. The walls were painted a deep blue to look like the ocean, and there were fish, seashells, and coral giving life to the mural. There was a clock on the wall shaped like a fish, looking as though it were swimming with the other animals surrounding it. On the chest of drawers was a lamp with a dolphin base, and there were sea creature stuffed animals scattered about the room. The floor had cream colored carpeting to look like the sea floor. On one wall was the crib Ezra had bought, and on the other was a day bed. Both had blue sheets. The rocking chair beside the crib had been painted a kelp green, as had the frame of the day bed. The windows were covered by matching blue curtains, blending in perfectly with the walls. But Ezra's favorite fixture was the seashell mobile hanging over the crib.
"Surprise," a few voices sang behind him. Whirling around, Ezra found his family standing behind him, pleased smiles on their faces.
"You guys did this?" he asked in wonder. "I- this is... I don't even know what to say."
"Piper did a great job, didn't she?" Priestly spoke up, nudging the artist standing next to him. Ezra's wide eyes turned back to her.
"Well, I didn't do all of it by myself," Piper denied bashfully. "Pretty much everyone pitched in in some way or another, whether it was decorating or financing the project. It's from all of us."
"I painted the rocking chair and bed," Julia volunteered proudly.
"You did a magnificent job, Jules." Ezra pulled her to him in a hug. "I love it, guys. It's amazing. Look what your awesome new family did for you, Ackerly." His huge eyes scanned the room again, taking in all the details he could. "I can't thank you guys enough for this. I'm beyond amazed."
"We're just glad you like it," Trucker said honestly. "That's good enough for us."
"Alright, we better go so Ez can get to bed," said Jen. Once everyone had gone, leaving Priestly and the Hales in Ezra's apartment, the others decided to turn in as well. "Goodnight, sweetheart," Mary wished her son. "Come get us if you need anything."
"Night, Mom, Dad. Hopefully, we'll all get at least a little sleep tonight." This drew a chuckle from the others. "Sweet dreams." Minutes later, the father and son were left alone. Despite how tired he was, Ezra decided he wanted some skin to skin time with Ackerly. With the busyness of the day, there hadn't been any time for them to have skin to skin time, and Ezra wanted to do that before going to bed. So after taking his shirt off, he undressed Ackerly down to his diaper and settled the both of them into the rocking chair. Humming his favorite hymn, Ezra rocked the chair back and forth, lulling himself and his child into sleep. Before succumbing to slumber, Ezra pressed a kiss to the crown of his baby's head. "Welcome home, Ackerly."
A/N: Man, I should do that with my own bedroom. How awesome would that be? Unfortunately, we only have one more chapter of Ten Inch Love Story. I've enjoyed this story so much, and I'm glad all of yall have too. See you guys tomorrow for the final chapter. Don't forget to review!