Ricardo rolls his shoulders, trying to find some relief for cramped muscles after holding his son close for what feels like only a few minutes, but in reality was well over an hour. Sofia chuckles fondly at him and smoothes a hand over the baby's soft forehead. "You need to rest too, mi hijo," she chides him softly and he makes a face.
"I guess," he whispers, glancing over at where Alicia is laying, breathing in and out deeply. "She's really ok?" It had been frightening to find her in the middle of birth, going through the most of it alone, wild thoughts of everything that could've gone wrong replaying in his mind.
Sofia seems to sense this, gently placing the baby in the basinet that they'd had delivered a good month ago before moving to him and cradling his face in her hand, searching his eyes. "She's fine," Sofia informs him. "I keep checking for signs of ... anything, and everything seems normal. She's healing."
"We're still gonna have to call and make an appointment with the OB GYN," he exhales, watching as Sofia nods.
"Si, we will. I will handle that in a little bit. For now, you relax. Enjoy having a quiet moment while your son sleeps. It will not last," she says with the weight of experience behind her words.
"Ok," he breathes, still looking overwhelmed and shaky due to the suddenness this all. "I... I will." He sinks into bed, and is asleep within minutes, Sofia hovering for a few moments, smiling down at the family of three.
Once she's sure they will all remain comfortably asleep for a little while yet, she takes her leave, determined to handle as much as she can so neither Alicia or Ricardo have to worry about it.
-x
Crying fades into soft whimpers and heavy breathing and Alicia groans softly as she wakes up, squinting against the sun beaming against the bed too close to her eyes for comfort. "Shh, shh," Ricardo whispers and she wants to respond, tell him to close the blinds, or something- when she recognizes the sound. Hands trailing over her stomach, she bites her lip over how empty she suddenly feels. Which means... Tears fill her eyes as she slowly sits up and watches Ricardo cradling their son in his arms, a serene, gentle look on his face as he examines the little boy.
"Ricardo?" she breathes out and his head whips up as he looks at her, a gentle smile crossing his face. "Is he... our baby... he's fine?" she asks, words coming out shaky and weak as she reaches out for her family.
"He's perfect," Ricardo whispers, walking over to rest the baby in her arms. She swallows as she looks down, watches how his hand fists up at his side, lips parted sweetly as he breathes in and out. "He looks so much like you."
She sniffs and strokes the baby's cheek, marveling at how smooth and soft it is. "Funny," she says softly. "He reminds me of you." Darker skin tone, yes, but she thinks his nose is a smaller version of Ricardo's, and the facial structure in time, she guesses, will shift closer to Ricardo's than hers.
"Either way, he's beautiful," Ricardo whispers and she nods vehemently. "One bit of news, Sofia made an appointment with you to take this little guy to the OB GYN on Monday."
Waiting a full weekend sounds tortorous as she thinks about everything that could go wrong, but the baby seems healthy, no discoloration or issues with his breathing that she can tell. And she feels... fine, sore, exhausted, but ultimately nothing too worrisome that she can tell, even when she moves and her body tenses, her pain levels upping a little bit. It's all manageable.
"But," Ricardo says, tapping her nose. "You're staying in bed for a little while longer, because I know you have to be hurting right now. So let me take care of everything, and if you do need to get up for anything, let me know. I want to help you as much as I can, ok?"
She leans into his touch, and looks up at him. "Alright," she sighs softly. "That sounds fine." She knows she'll have to go to the bathroom soon- which is something she's not really looking forward to- but for now, for now, she's perfectly content staring down at their son and enjoying Ricardo's warmth against her side.
He kisses her cheek, and pulls back a little bit. "So about naming him..."
She looks up at him, expectantly. "Yeah?"
"I want to leave his first name up to you, but would Jose be alright for his middle name?" he asks softly, watching as Alicia's eyes light up.
"Yes," she says, leaning in to kiss him. "It sounds perfect." She turns her gaze down onto the little boy in her arms and sighs. "I dunno, little man, what do you think about Andre Jose Rodriguez?"
The baby continues to sleep on and both parents laugh softly at this, turning to look at each other. "I think it's perfect," Ricardo murmurs, brushing some of the hair out of her eyes tenderly.
"I think so too," she sighs, leaning back into her husband's arms to watch their child sleep on contentedly. "Welcome to the world, Andre Jose Rodriguez."
Ricardo leans in and presses a soft kiss to the baby's forehead, pausing close to murmur to him in Spanish, and when he pulls back, Alicia is watching him with a tender smile, eyes welling with fresh tears. He tsks and leans in to kiss them away as well, stroking her hands as she breathes against him. "I'm so happy," she whispers.
"Si, me too," he murmurs back, body abuzz with the happiness and fear of being a first time parent with everything else going on in the world. He stares into her eyes and smiles softly. "Thank you for giving me this, Alicia. Thank you so, so much." There had been days he thought he'd be alone forever, especially after everything with Paige crashed and burned a fast, cruel death at his feet. Spent years watching his sister with her kids and ached for something similar. Now in the course of a couple of years, Alicia had come, thrown everything on its ear, and given him exactly what he'd been starving for his entire adult life. "I love you so much."
"I love you too," she whispers, kissing him.
They linger close to each other, smiles on their faces, as their son slumbers peacefully between them.
