A/N: Thanks for reading. Enjoy!
"Babe, do you need more ice for your water?", Sawyer asks Olivia. She peers down into her glass and shakes her head. "I can get you more if you need it."
"I've got plenty but thank you." Olivia picks her glass back up only to turn and find Sawyer standing behind her. "Is something wrong?"
"I was only double checking on the water. I'll let you get back to your chat with Ana." He walks back into the kitchen where Christian's feeding Oliver lunch. Olivia shifts back around towards me and smiles.
"He means well.", she says. "I guess with my due date only a week away he's going to keep watching me like a hawk."
"Of course, but like you said, he means well. It's also sweet to watch.", I reply, rubbing my own burgeoning stomach. "Someone who doesn't truly know Sawyer might only see this this tough guy on the outside when he's a big hearted and caring guy on the inside."
"He tried putting the changing table together for two hours last night. At one point, he thought he had it complete, but he found a stray piece which turned out to vital. That meant he had to take the entire thing apart and start over. Even so, he wasn't upset about it." She glances once more towards the kitchen. "His dad is always on his mind but even more lately with the birth on the horizon."
"Understandable. I know there's nothing more that Sawyer would like than for his dad to be here and hold his grandchild, but he's here in spirit and looking down with pride." The somberness in the room is broken when Christian staggers out of the kitchen with a giggling Oliver in his arms and an even more hysterical Sawyer behind him. The cause for the giggles, a large splatter of food on Christian's light blue dress shirt. "You've got a little something on your shirt."
"You don't say.", Christian huffs. "My shirt is nothing compared to the kitchen. It was a mess."
"I'll help clean it.", I say.
"No need. I've already got it under control, but I'm going to go and change shirts before we head for our appointment." Christian and I considered follow Sawyer and Olivia's lead by not finding out the gender of baby number two, but we both realized we needed to know. We are going to do our best and keep the news to ourselves for a while. "Sawyer, Olivia, are you sure you're going to be ok with this little guy?"
"Oliver's in good hands.", Olivia answers. "Besides, Gail's here just in case we need backup."
"Ana, Christian, you said you wanted to find out the baby's gender, correct?", Dr. Barrett asks before continuing with my exam. I look up at Christian who's eagerly nodding his head. "It looks as though Daddy has his mind made up. How about Mommy?" Christian sits down in the chair next to the exam table and waits on my answer.
"We don't have to find out. It can be a surprise.", Christian says, rubbing my hand with his.
"I want to know.", I assure both Christian and Dr. Barrett. She smiles and continues the exam. "Should we pick out blue or pink clothes?"
"You should pick out..." Dr. Barrett pauses. "Pink. It's a girl. Congratulations."
"Thank you.", Christian says with his voice cracking. He's smiling despite the steady stream of tears.
"Yes. Thank you.", I add.
"You're most welcome. I'll go and get your next appointment set up.", Dr. Barrett tells us before leaving the room.
"A little girl.", Christian whispers, gently rubbing my stomach. "Hi Princess. It's your Mommy and Daddy. You're already very loved, and we can't wait to meet you. It might seem too soon, but I'm already going to warn you there will be no dating until you're thirty."
"No dating until she's thirty? I'm shocked.", I giggle.
"Princess, Mommy likes to make jokes."
"I met with Glen and Patrick Matlock this afternoon.", Mia announces. Christian and I along wiht Oliver stopped by Mia's on our way home from dinner. "Mr. Matlock already knew I was going to stop by, his son was in shock. I could see he was nervous the second he saw me. It was only when his dad told him to apologize that he spoke."
"How did the apology go?", Christian asks.
"It wasn't fake. I could feel the remorse. He said the guys who were with him were some guys who had reps at school for being adventurous. Wanting to shake things up, he started hanging out with them, a decision he now regrets. He's come to realize those guys don't want to be his friend. My heart ached for that kid. Fortunately, Mr. Matlock is going to start taking Patrick to a therapist who can help him deal with all that's been going on."
"That's good.", I say. "Talking to an outsider is sometimes helpful."
"He's also going to be helping me a few afternoons after school. It was his idea." Oliver crawls over to Mia's bookself and tries to pull a book off the bottom shelf but is stopped by Christian who's quick to react.
"No, no. You don't bother Aunt Mia's books. Let's get you some toys out of your diaper bag.", Christian says to Oliver. I silently envision Christian with Oliver and his sister. I snap back to reality when I see Mia watching me.
"You said you went to the doctor earlier today. Did you find out whether you're having a boy or a girl?", Mia inquires.
"We had the choice to find out, but we opted to not and have it be a surprise." Mia tilts her head and seems to be trying to decipher if I'm telling her the truth.
"Where did you say Nicholas is tonight?", Christian asks Mia. She told us when we first arrived that Nicolas is out with some friends, but Christian's obviously trying to stop her from asking any further questions about the doctors appointment.
"His friend David is getting married next week so they're having guys night with some other friends. Nicholas said they're going to play laser tag which isn't at all what I thought they'd be doing."
"You thought they'd go to a strip club, didn't you?"
"It was a thought. I trust Nicholas and know he'd never cheat, but I'm also kind of relieved they're not going to see women taking their clothes off." Christian's phone beeps with a text, and he soon breaks into a grin.
"Sawyer and Olivia are on their way to the hospital."
"I love you to the moon and back.", I hear Sawyer cooing as Christian opens the door of Olivia's hospital room. We got the news last night but decided to hold off until this morning to visit the new little family which now includes Joshua Alan Sawyer.
"Hi.", Olivia smiles when she sees us. Seated in the chair next to her is Sawyer whose eyes are glued to the swaddled up baby. "Meet Joshua Alan Sawyer." Sawyer finally looks up with admiration illuminating on his face.
"He's precious. Congratulations.", Christian says.
"Thanks.", Sawyer replies. "I once thought Jason Taylor was the toughest person I know, but he has nothing on Olivia. She's fierce. We had talked about names, but it was Olivia who suggested Alan as part of the name."
"I'm sure your dad is rejoicing over his name being carried on through this little guy.", I say while Sawyer gently places the baby in Olivia's arms. "I'm so happy for you guys."
"Even though we didn't have a name, we've had one decision made for a while. The godparents. You and Christian played a part in Luke and I meeting, and you've been amazing ever since. That's why we'd like for you to be Joshua's godparents."
"We'd like that very much.", Christian nods.