One Niff and a Baby Part I
With the wedding over, life became quiet again, although now they all knew that there would be another ceremony in just a few weeks. Flint had said farewell to his family the day after the wedding, although he was pretty sure his cousin Leo would be back in the fall to stay, and that his mom would be on the phone almost daily as before; the difference now would be that she would be asking if there was a grandchild on the way yet. He expected the first call with that question to come in August, just in case he had been lucky on his first attempt. Married life was on the whole good, although he missed his short commute to work from the West Village; the Lexington Avenue subway line was much, much busier… He knew that he would be nagging Beats very soon as to why the Second Avenue line wasn't built yet. He had returned to work on the Tuesday, and ignored the more crude comments made by some of his colleagues, apart from reminding them all who his father-in-law was… As Izzy was on late shift that week, he headed to the Spotlight after work for dinner, where he was joined by Ethan and Beats. As they sat there and discussed their days, to the outsider it looked as if nothing had changed, apart from the gold band on Flint's finger. That was how all three of them wanted it to be…
Whilst Flint and Izzy were merely at the planning stage for their trip to Europe, one of his bird brothers had already packed their bags in preparation for their first transatlantic foray. As a reward to himself for winning Nationals again, Thad had decided that he deserved a proper holiday, and his choice of destination was quite obvious. He had talked to Sebastian, and he had been only too pleased to make the necessary calls; thus Thad would be spending a week in Paris in the company of François. As he had never been out of the United States before, it was all new to him, and French had never been his strong point at Dalton. Kurt had tried to help him out by giving him some one on one brush up lessons, but he had made limited progress, and he would just have to try and muddle through; after all, if need be he could use one of the translation apps that was installed on his phone. He knew what he wanted to see; the inevitable list of all of the tourist traps - but he was also keen to see some of the hidden parts of the city, and François had promised to help there.
Of course, he would not be heading to Europe alone, but no-one else would be able to see the person that would be at his side pretty much every hour of the day whilst he was away. He, Wes and David had all talked back in the day at Dalton about their hopes to one day see something of Europe, and for him and Wes, the French capital had always been high on the list, a place where they could immerse themselves in the culture, art and architecture of one of the greatest cities in the world. It would of course be a bittersweet trip for them now; it was a city that was synonymous with romance. Even if they were prevented from showing the love that they felt for each other by the conventions of the angel/mortal relationship, at least they would be with each other, and that was enough. They would see the historic buildings and the great artworks side by side, and if a hand happened to slip into another, then that was perfectly okay, and would be fairly unobvious to the casual observer.
The photos that Thad posted on Facebook whilst he was away might only have shown him, but all of his closest friends knew that Wes was there at his side, enjoying the trip every bit as much and taking in all that they could see. Wes also found himself meeting some French angels, and he conversed with them as best as he could with his own limited knowledge of their language. Thad could see them too, naturally, and he marvelled at just how many of them there were in the city, mixing with the crowds with no problem whatsoever. He was not in the least surprised to find them in clusters around Notre Dame and the Sacré-Cœur, having always thought that churches would be the natural gathering point for angels. He was more shocked however on the night that François took him to the Marais and walked him past the infamous bar of Sebastian's youthful indiscretions to find a crowd of angels gathered around the entrance. Wes later explained it to him, having spoken to one of those outside in halting French; they were the guardian angels of those inside; they had to watch over them, but obviously not in such an establishment. They therefore waited outside for their charges to emerge, and then they could resume their duties once more.
By the end of his week in Paris, Thad had fallen just a little in love with the city, and the whole way of life; it was more relaxed and open, and he could have sat for hours at one of the pavement cafés on the Left Bank, listening to the students debating the issues of the age, just as they had done for decades. The fact that the young people back home had begun to do the same sort of thing in their schools the year before, and had become more vocal had filled him with a kind of hope for the future of his own country; something he had not known for a few years. He hoped that 2020 might bring with it a change at the White House; for that, the powerful sentiments of that young generation would have to be translated into a willingness to get to the ballot box and vote; in so doing, he hoped they would create a real change in the society that they inhabited.
Thad arrived back in Ohio on the first day of July, and on switching his phone back on when he got to the airport in Columbus he received a piece of news that made him smile. It was a message from Mike Chang, who reported that Nick and Jeff had left their house in a tearing hurry at around 4am; he knew this as Jeff had called him and asked him to go and feed Caleb. They were on their way to the hospital that their surrogate had just been admitted to in the first stages of labour… The news was still fresh in his mind as he arrived back at Dalton. The Carmichaels had appeared almost the moment that his cab drew up outside his apartment door, both to welcome him back home, and to ask if he had heard the news from the West Village.
"Yes, I had a message from Mike appear the minute I switched my phone back on. I can just picture the two of them, running around in a flap. Jeff will be overexcited and a little hyper, whereas Nick will be stressed that he has forgotten something critical in his preparations."
"I still can't believe that two of the boys of your generation are going to be fathers," said Edith, shaking her head. "It seems like only yesterday that you were only just freshmen…"
Thad had to agree on that; he had to reflect on the even bigger irony that it was two of the younger members of his particular group that were about to experience the joys of being a parent…
It had taken Nick a few moments that morning to realise that his phone was ringing. Normally he turned it off at night, not wanting some telemarketer or robot dialler to disturb his sleep, but for the last few weeks it had lived on his bedside table, with the volume turned up to the maximum, and the vibrate function on. It still took his brain a lot of time to process what was happening and to answer it. When he heard the voice telling him that she was a nurse at the maternity department at the hospital, and that their surrogate had just been admitted as she was in labour, he was alert in seconds. He thanked her, whilst starting to shake Jeff violently at the same time; he had no choice but to be harsh as his husband was a very deep sleeper. The look of hurt and indignation that he was rewarded with evaporated in moments however when he repeated the words he had just been told. Jeff was almost at once out of the bed, throwing on clothes and getting ready to head to the hospital - and then he noticed that Nick hadn't moved an inch…
"I'm going to be a dad… We're so young Jeffie! What if we aren't ready? What if we get it wrong? What if…"
Nick was cut off as his husband firmly placed his hand over his mouth. "Yes, my love, we are young, but we might never be any more ready than we are now. Yes, we will make mistakes, just like every other parent in the history of the world ever, but we will have the benefit of all the help and advice in the world from our parents and our friends. Yes, it is scary; I am so frightened by all of this, but it is done now. We can't send it back now, saying we've changed our minds…"
Nick took a deep breath, and when his husband removed his hand, he replied, "I love it when you are the sensible one, Jeffie. I really do not know how I would manage without you."
"Muddle through, as I would without you, but together, we can achieve anything that we set our minds to. In Niff there is strength…"
"Right now I need to get out of bed, and then we need to go to the hospital. We have to be there to welcome our child into the world." Nick got out of bed, and began to dress quickly. As he did, he looked at his husband and started to laugh; then he pointed out that Jeff had put his shirt on back to front - and inside out…
As New York was a city that never slept, they managed to find a cab almost immediately to take them to the hospital. Once there, they eventually managed to find the delivery suites, but only after they had detoured via the Burns Department, having misread a sign in their hurry. As they doubled back, Nick had chided himself internally for not having come here before now to find things; a good expectant father would have done. As they walked up to the reception, the young woman at the desk looked at them warily for a moment, then realised who they had to be.
"I am surmising that you are the Sterling-Duvals? Your surrogate and her birthing partner are in Room 3/6; they found that allocation amusing for some reason…" She paused at the two young men in front of her just stared at each other, then grinned. "In any case, your child is on the way; the room is just down that corridor if you wish to go and join them."
As she pointed along the corridor, they all suddenly heard a string of expletives being uttered in an all too familiar voice. These were then followed by another list of words in another language that neither Nick or Jeff understood that well…
"Do we have to go in, Nicky? I mean, you are the biological dad, so maybe you should, but I might just stay outside and out of the way," said Jeff, the colour draining from his cheeks.
"I think I might too, as it happens," said Nick quietly, half to Jeff and half to the receptionist. "After all, she does have someone in there with her, and as you say, I would just get in the way."
The receptionist smiled, and replied "Don't worry, it isn't compulsory for fathers to be in the room. I would take it though that you want them to know you are here?" As the two young men nodded in unison, she shook her head, then called the nurse in the room, so that she could inform the mother-to-be that the fathers had arrived…
They were still sitting in the corridor outside Room 3/6 several hours later, their ears still assailed every so often by screams of pain that would make Jeff jump, and cause Nick to lose his train of thought for a good few seconds. This was an issue as he had been forced to bring his work laptop with him, and was currently working his way through the usual amount of E-mails and reports. His employer did not believe in the idea of paternity leave, and had barely been able to hide his distaste at the very idea of Nick and his husband having a child at all. Nick knew therefore that he would never agree to the idea of him taking time off for the birth without booking it in advance. Even the fact that he was working in the hospital corridor would earn him no brownie points, as he had missed the sacrosanct Monday meeting. He would just deal with whatever fallout came along though; the birth of his child was more important than anything else right now. As for Jeff, he had brought a sketch pad and was drawing little doodles just to keep his mind busy and his hands occupied; the longer things were going on the more tense he was becoming.
Eventually, after a bout of squealing that had Nick lose all the colour from his face and made Jeff so tense he snapped his pencil in two, there was a brief silence, and then that most wonderful of sounds; the noise of a child crying for the first time as it emerged into the real world…
The affect that one sound had on them was a strange one; both of them froze initially, then turned to each other to see if they really had heard it. Then Jeff broke into a broad smile, and whispered, "You're a dad, Nicky. You have a child…"
Nick was still trying to process the enormity of the reality of the situation, but he was still able to reply swiftly, "No, Jeffie, we are dads; both of us. I might be the father, but both of us are their dad. Like everything that we do in life, we will be doing all that happens from now on together. The sleepless nights, the dirty diapers, the worry…"
Jeff didn't lose his smile at all as Nick spoke, even thought the prospect of having to change diapers was not one that filled him with unmitigated joy. As far as he was concerned, what had just happened was better than almost everything in his life so far. All of the good times so far paled into insignificance compared to this. At his side, Nick was excited too, but it was tempered with a healthy amount of fear. He worried of course that he might not cut it as a parent; that in his desperation to be nothing like his father, he would be unable to exercise any kind of control over his child, giving in to them all the time. Then there was the possibility that his work would keep him away from home all the time, and as a result he might not develop the crucial bonds, leaving him distant from his own flesh and blood… Then he realised that such thoughts were irrational; he would not allow it to happen, and in any case, he had Jeff at his side, and a better partner in the business of bringing up a child he could not wish to have.
At that moment the door to Room 3/6 opened, and a nurse emerged; she looked at them and smiled, but said nothing, walking past them to go and clean up and prepare herself for the next patient. "Shouldn't she have spoken to us, Nicky? You don't think there is something wrong with our child, or that she doesn't approve of what we have done, or…"
"I'm sure that isn't the case, Jeffie. She will just have other people to look after, and in any case, she won't have been the only nurse in the room…" replied Nick, trying his best to hide his own concern…
"You can come in now; everyone is decent, and there is no danger of you seeing lady parts and fainting…" came a voice. Nick switched his laptop into sleep mode, then popped it away in its case, before he stood up, and with his husband's hand firmly in his own, stepped into the room as they embarked on the next stage of their journey. The walk into that room seemed a lengthy one, but what they saw inside made their hearts fill with warmth. Before them was their newborn child, a mother, two nurses, who looked as if they were about to step out, and one tired looking birthing partner.
"Well, that was an experience that has made me think twice about ever having a child of my own. If the pressure that was being placed on my hand was related to the pain she was experiencing in giving birth, then I want to be knocked out cold for the whole process," said Santana, albeit with a smile on her face. "You guys owe me big time by the way; godmother at the very least, and a regular supply of cookies for my own personal consumption. Anyway, my work here is done, so I am heading home to catch up on some sleep. I will not say anything to anyone, at least for the next 24 hours. Oh, and just in case you are interested, you have the most adorable son."
On hearing that last word, both Nick and Jeff smiled broadly. Although they would both have been perfectly content to welcome a daughter into their home, both had been secretly hoping for a son, and not just because they knew more about being a boy… Jeff held back for a moment as Nick stepped over to where his son lay, so small and yet from the moment that his father saw him, the most perfect child in the world ever. He had the mix of characteristics that they had been expecting; Nick's hair, thick and luxuriant even now, and a tiny nose that was shaped a lot like his father's own. It was however from his mother that his eyes came, along with the tone of his skin. Nick felt tears begin to well up in his eyes as Jeff finally moved over to stand by him, and wrapped an arm around him.
"He is perfect; we could not have wished for any better," whispered Jeff. "Of course there was never any doubt that he would be, given who his parents are…"
Santana laughed in the background as Nick turned his eyes to their surrogate and spoke. "That is of course largely down to his wonderful mother, without whom none of this would even have been possible. At least now we can end all of the subterfuge and get things in our worlds back to normal."
"Yes, it will be a relief to get back home, although once Santana saw me over in Brooklyn, she became a regular link to all of you. Of course, my husband was around too, but now he will be relieved that he can stop lying to his little brother…"
"We owe you so, so much for doing this, Michelle," said Nick, turning once again to look at his son, lying asleep in a crib by her bed; a boy that would be loved by all of them, at least in part because of his blood line…
At that moment the nurse that had until then been dealing with paperwork appeared at Nick's side. "Now, Mr Sterling-Duval, I think that it is time for you to take a seat, and then we can introduce you properly to your son. It is important that we establish the bonds between father and child as early as possible, so if you would just take a seat on that chair over there, we can make a start. Your husband can take the chair next to it of course…"
Nick was nervous, but the moment had to happen, and it was better that it did here in the safety of the hospital rather than later at home. Jeff seemed a lot less stressed he noticed; what he did not know was that his husband had been taking every chance he got to hold babies; no baby had come into the Spotlight Diner over the last two months without an eager Jeff running over and asking the mother or father if he could hold them; once he explained why, they usually decided that he was a sweet, endearing soul, and not a crazy man about to snatch their child away.
For him therefore this was a piece of cake; for Nick, it was frightening. He worried that he might do something wrong and hurt his son; worse still, what if he actually dropped him at this early stage. He was a bundle of nerves, but Jeff saw this immediately, and as the nurse busied herself at the crib, he leant over and whispered to his husband "It will all be fine Nicky; there is so little to it really. Just remember first and foremost to support his head, and just be gentle."
Nick nodded, and then arranged his arms in the position that Jeff was now demonstrating to him. The approaching nurse couldn't help but laugh, before she gently laid the little boy in his father's arms. Nick froze at first, but then, when there was no outbreak of howling and screaming, and no horrible thud, he relaxed. Looking down, he saw that his son was awake, and staring back up at him were a pair of tiny brown eyes, and that was all it took for him to melt. His heart swelled with pride at the thought that he had helped to create this precious new life that was now cradled in his arms… "Hello, son. I'm your dad, which means that you and I are kind of stuck with each other. The blond guy at my side who is staring at you with a goofy smile is my husband, your other dad…"
"Your papa, actually," interrupted Jeff.
Nick smiled as by the door, Santana found herself chuckling at just how endearingly sweet all of it was… "Yeah," he continued, "he is your papa. So I am not promising that this is going to be an easy ride for any of us; there are still so many people out there who think that we shouldn't be allowed to have you. We will get things wrong as we raise you, and as you get older, we will doubtless disagree on stuff. But I promise you this here and now; your papa and I will never stop loving you. You're our son, and we are so happy that you are here…"
It was about half an hour later that Jeff got round to sending out the message to everyone in their friendship group. He had already called Grace, Nick's mom and grandparents, his mom and dad, and Elspeth. He had also called his cousin Luke directly; as he was the closest member of family he had in the city, he felt that he should hear the good news first hand. Only then did he send out the word to everyone else. He had asked Santana to keep two major facts quiet from everyone else for now, and she had agreed; strictly she wasn't supposed to even be there after all. Jeff's message was short and to the point. 'Nicky and I are now proud parents. We have a perfect child, and just now, that's all we are saying! More to follow, and once we know exactly when we will be bringing them home, we will let you know.'
Across the city and the country, phones buzzed and beeped, smiles greeting the news universally, but still leaving them all pondering the big unanswered question…
"Why did Jeff have to leave out such a crucial bit of information!" Sebastian moaned to Thad an hour later.
"Oh, I know! Do we have a new mini Dalton student or a new Crawford girl? Fortunately, he did say child, so that rules out the notion of it being twins or more, and I quickly stamped on the rumour that 'it' might be a hermaphrodite." Thad heard Sebastian chuckle at that idea on the other end of the call, but they both knew that they would be like all the others; in suspense until the moment that the baby arrived home. It was a given that they would both be there for that moment, and indeed Thad had begun to pack for a trip to New York the moment he had got back into his apartment. He also knew that David was doing the same in Boston, as where Mitch and Gabriel, and even Cameron had announced that he might head down when he knew the date…
There was also the other mystery; who on earth had the surrogate been? That was the last great unsolved dilemma of our times to some. None of the New Directions girls had shown any signs of pregnancy, and they all knew that it couldn't possibly be Grace. Trent had a suspicion that it was someone that they all knew all the same, as he pretty sure his two friends would never have considered using a total stranger. Their identity might well be revealed in a few days, when the entire flock gathered to coo over a baby. To his own shock, the person that was absolutely desperate to do so was Sebastian. When he had become the kind of guy that got gooey over babies he wasn't sure, but he wasn't as upset about that as he might have expected once upon a time. In fact, if he was being honest, he was starting to feel that he wanted to be a daddy himself quite soon…