"Jack, he's not eating," Sam pouts.
"That's probably because you feed him an hour ago," Jack replies barely glancing at the baby.
"He's tiny. He should eat all the time until he gets bigger," she protests jokingly.
"Well, as far as I can see, all he's done since being born is eat and sleep and poop."
"That's what babies do," Sam defends glaring at the man that would dare to insult her baby, and to think she thought that she might love him!
Jack laughs, "That's what I'm saying. He's doing his job, and you have nothing to worry about."
Just then there is a huge noise outside of the cabin. Jack goes to the kitchen window to look out. "It's a snow plow."
"Do they usually clear things out this quickly? It's not even been a whole day," Sam says in amazement.
"It usually takes them a couple of days to get this far out of town. It hasn't even stopped snowing yet," he says in amazement.
Then there is a knocking at the door. Jack opens to see a rather frantic Jacob Carter. "Where is she? Where is Sam?" he demands.
Jack steps out of Jacob's way, so that Jacob can see his daughter's blond head bobbing above the head of the couch, "Sam your Dad's here," he says. The words are unnecessary, but they are Jack's attempt to get Sam to cover her breasts up before Jacob rushes over to her.
Jack's failed attempt.
"Sam, are you okay?" Jacob bursts, "Daniel told me that you were having a baby in the middle of no where! Why was he the one to tell me? Why didn't you call me? Why didn't you call 911? Or George? Why the hell did you come up to this cabin in the first place when you knew that you could have a baby any minute?"
"Well, I still had a month left. Besides, the snow this late in the year was a bit of a surprise. It was no big deal though. I sort of preferred the home birth. If I have another baby I'll probably do it the same way."
"If you have another baby you are actually going to plan to have your baby in the middle of the wilderness?" Jacob says in an incredulous voice.
"Well, I might do it in my own home, but there was nothing wrong with the way that my son was born," she replies with a raise of the eyebrows which just dares her father to contradict her.
"I brought the ambulance. It's going to take them a while to get down that god forsaken driveway of Jack's," Jacob says glaring at the other man as if Jack had made the driveway that length just to vex Jacob.
"I don't think we really need an ambulance. I really appreciate you coming to rescue me, Dad, but it was unnecessary. We're fine. I'm not even sure that I want to leave. He's very small, and I don't want him outside in the cold with his little lungs…"
"Oh you're going," Jack says with his arms crossed. She is about to argue against what she takes as a mandate form the man, but he shakes his head, "Your father moved heaven and Earth to make sure this little guy got to a doctor. That's love, Sammy, and you're going to accept it."
"You shouldn't have done it though. You should have just called. I would have told you that these poor men didn't have to drive in this bad whether to get here." It's only then that Sam notices her father's pants are wet from the snow way up to her waist. "Or that you would have to risk yourself rushing here, Dad," she scolds, "The roads must be horrible a long way off. You shouldn't have come!"
"They wouldn't come get you until I showed up and scared the pants off of them in person," Jacob replies.
"Oh my foolish Daddy," she says giving him a little bit of a side hug, which is the best she can manage with the infant, who had decided after all, he did want some dinner while he was in the area.
"I'm going to go get some things together Sam," Jack says walking past the little scene. He's seen it dozens of times in the half day since the baby was born, but it has never stopped being beautiful to him.
Jacob grabs Jack hand as he goes past, "Thanks for taking good care of my little girl," he says sincerely.
"Of course," Jack says.
Meanwhile, Caleb has finished his meal. Before Sam can move to burp him, her father has ceased the little boy up in his own arms, and is eagerly burping him while cooing to the child, "You look just like your grandfather, don't you little man?"
Sam doesn't argue with him, but in the hours since her son's birth it has not escaped her notice that the little boy looks a great deal more like his own father than hers.
-0-
Sam has never ridden in an ambulance before, and it is to her a strange experience. From what she saw on television she had always pictured such rides to be full of EMT's yelling at each other and rushing around. Perhaps if the people inside of the machine were in a worst state that would be the case today as well. As it is, she calmly sits on the table with her baby in her arms making small talk.
She finds herself more worried about how they are going to get back to the cabin (Jack not having been able to get his truck out despite the snow plowing) than about whether or not her child is going to be okay.
Yet, she loves her father all the more for his overreaction.
-0-
The test results have all come back fine on her little angle. The nurses keep trying to come in and wheel him away in his little bed so that Sam can "get some rest." She reacts like a mother bear to the suggestion, and they always end up going away. She feels a little bad about it. After all, the poor women are just trying to do their jobs, but she also doesn't see why someone who has been waiting around for motherhood the whole long time of a pregnancy should be continually pestered to postpone the beginning of motherhood a bit more.
They birth certificate forms are before her. She knows that it should be easy, but she can't bring herself to do it.
"What's wrong? Didn't you remember to think of a middle name?" Jack asks.
"That's not the part that I am having trouble with," she says with a sigh.
Jack's brow furrows as he looks the form over trying to identify the part that might be tripping her up.
Then he sees it. "Father's name?"
Sam nods. "I guess I should tell the truth, but…"
"Oh Sam. I hope you weren't thinking you were going to hurt my feelings by not lying on an official document?"
She shrugs.
"Or are we back to wishing that something else went on that line."
She nods.
"My dear Samantha, there is nothing on Earth you could write on a piece of paper that would make that child any less mine."