Whilst Sam was preoccupied with learning how to change Saoirse through the portholes in her incubator, Dylan slipped away into the corridor and pulled out his phone. His dad had never really cared about any of his kids, so he was glad that Hazel had divorced him. He pressed the call button on her number and held the phone to his ear.
"Dylan?" Hazel's voice appeared loud and clear if not slightly breathless down the phone
"Hazel it's happened" He allowed himself to breathe for the first time since Saoirse's birth almost 24 hours ago
"She wasn't due for two months yet was she?" He could hear the worry in Hazel's voice, and it filled Dylan's body with a warm feeling knowing that there were people out there who looked out for him and Sam
"She was two months early but she's fighting to stay alive. Sam's doing well and she's in with her now… We named her Saoirse Zoe Keogh. We thought it was nice to keep that Irish heritage tied into our family" He felt himself relax as he spoke about his little girl.
"Dylan, that's a beautiful name, your mother would be so proud of you, you know. Did you want to talk to Rihanna, she's been going on non-stop since you took her to that petting zoo, she wants a pet rabbit for Christmas" Hazel laughed, and he could hear her calling for Rihanna, who was obviously in the background somewhere.
"Dylan!" His 4-year-old sister came to the phone
"Hey monster, I've something exciting to tell you" He smiled, and he could hear her giggling in the background
"I'm not a monster, Dylan!" She giggled. "Mummy says you're silly"
"Well, if I'm that silly then you won't want to see a picture of your new baby cousin will you now" He leaned against the wall and he could see Sam as she interacted with Saoirse.
He listened and then laughed as Rihanna gasped at the other end of the phone "Is the new baby a girl Dylan. Boys are smelly and they have nits" She giggled "Did a stork bring down your new baby like in Dumbo" She asked wide-eyed
"Yes, the new baby is a girl, girls are the best aren't they Ri and yes a Stork brought the baby down for us, isn't that cool" His heart swelled with love for his little sister
"Can I see her please; Mummy says she's poorly but I'm ever so careful I promise please Dylan" Rihanna begged
"You can't come to the hospital just yet princess but how about I video call you and Mummy and you can see her that way" Dylan compromised with his eager sister
"Yes, Yes Yes!" Rihanna jumped up and down and Hazel had to take her phone away from her before there was a nasty accident with it
"Alright Dylan it's me again she's gone to find her best cuddly to give to the baby" His Stepmother chuckled
"I'll just go and check with the nurses that it's OK for me to use my phone in there and I'll get back to you" Dylan rang off and walked back inside washing his hands thoroughly and sanitising them until they stung
He walked over to Saoirse and Sam "Hazel sends her love and so does Rihanna. She's desperate to see Saoirse so I suggested maybe we could video call her in a bit" He suggested to Sam
Sam adored Rihanna but then most adults did. She was four years old with the brightest blue eyes ever and had the softest blonde hair with streaks of ginger that Hazel always tied in bunches with pink ribbons, despite not having a lot of money Rihanna was dressed considerably nicer than a lot of kids her age. Sam and Dylan loved it when they looked after Rihanna, sometimes they would set up the massive camping mattress in the living room with fairy lights and blankets and watch Disney movies and other times they would take her out somewhere if one of them wasn't working.
In a few days' time it was time for Sam to be discharged from the hospital and they both knew that it was going to be hard going home without their baby for the first time. Zoe, Nick and Hazel had all been godsends over the last few days and he didn't know how they were going to get through the next two months without them either what with Sam going to the hospital everyday to feed Saoirse or Dylan having to return to work albeit part time because he wanted to save his paternity leave for when Saoirse came home from the hospital which wasn't going to be for a while just yet. Hazel and Rihanna were waiting for them when they got back from the hospital and Rihanna immediately ran to her big brother and cuddled him tightly as he swung her up into his arms "Dylan do you have a picture of yours and Sammy's baby" She asked lisping slightly on account of the fact that she'd managed to run headfirst into a wall and knocked both of her front teeth out.
"Of course I do, Sweetheart why do you want to see it" He shifted her to his hip and reached into his pocket and pulled out the picture of Saoirse "There we go, what did you want to look at it for" He pushed her tiny baby hairs away from her eyes and kissed her forehead
"Cuz she's pretty like Sammy and I think Sammy is bootiful" She drummed her legs against Dylan's waist smiling cutely.
Sam's heart melted and her emotions were still pretty much all over the place and it took all her self- control not to burst into tears at the little girl's comment.
"Sammy's crying" Rihanna gasped "Sammy I'm sorry I made you cry is it cuz I said you were bootiful" She demanded that Dylan put her down and she climbed onto the sofa next to Sam and wrapped her skinny arms as far around Sam as she could reach.
"I'm not crying because I'm sad princess. These are happy tears like when I married your brother, but you weren't born yet but one day I'll make Dylan show you the pictures" Sam stroked the little girl's hair back and pressed a kiss to her head
"Did you look like a princess?" Rihanna cuddled up on Sam's lap and listened enthralled as she relayed the tale of her wedding day.
"Well, I wore a white dress with a fluffy red cardigan. My dress had lots of pretty things that glittered and shimmered and I had lots of curls in my hair. Then Dylan looked like one of the Disney Prince's in a black suit with a grey striped tie and he had flowers in his pocket"
The next few mornings, Dylan crept out of their room trying to be as quiet as possible so as not to wake Sam. He didn't want to leave her alone In the house, but he was comforted by the fact that Hazel would be coming to check on her once she'd taken Rihanna to Pre-school and she was going to be taking Sam up to the hospital to feed Saoirse twice a day. It killed Dylan not to be able to be there for Sam, but he knew that they couldn't afford to be living off just Sam's maternity pay.
A month after her birth, Sam walked into the neonatal unit and unwound her scarf and shrugged off her thick winter coat, almost having a heart attack when she saw Saoirse's incubator was empty "Hazel…" She choked out to her mother-in-law who had followed her into the unit.
"Calm down and don't panic. I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for this" She comforted her daughter-in-law and her words were confirmed a few seconds later when Saoirse's nurse Sophie- whose hair was brighter than Dylan's walked over cradling the tiny girl. "Look who progressed off her ventilator" She smiled and passed her over to Sam placing the oxygen tank down on the floor next to her.
"Oh, you clever thing" Hazel cooed over her Granddaughter "Who's a clever girl eh giving your Mama a heart attack" She stroked the small girl's cheek
"Can I take her downstairs to show Dylan" Sam immediately reached for the soft white crocheted blanket that rested on top of her incubator and swaddled her in it.
"Course, I'll just check with her consultant, but I don't see why not" Sophie said cheerily and walked off in the direction of the office
Saoirse had developed quite the grip and she was currently trying to find a way to grasp the handful of hair that was escaping from Sam's plait "Ah Ah no we'll have none of that Missy, Mama's hair isn't a grab thing" She smiled and stroked her daughter's cheek.