Fic: Sissy
Title: Sissy
Author: Mary (stillxmyxheart)
Beta: Lindsay (rowofstars)
Rating: G
Genre: Family, Fluff
Word Count: 2,712
Characters/Pairings: Hannah, Eli, Nicholas (Hannah/Eli)
"Hello, my sweet girl," Hannah whispers, smiling down at the newborn in her arms. "Hello, Rachel."
Hannah lifts her hand to gently move the blanket from Rachel's face, stroking the baby's soft cheek.
"You're Rachel Abigail Shaw. Your daddy named you all on his own, he was so excited about having a little girl. You have the best daddy in the world; you'll find that out soon. Right now, though, Daddy and your big brother Nicky are out trick-or-treating, so it's just you and me. Just us girls."
Hannah moves her hand to run her thumb over Rachel's tiny fingers, and shakes her head.
"You won't remember this, but don't worry, I'll remind you later. I want you to know, baby, that you are smart, and strong, and beautiful. You were born into a world that will try to take those things from you, that will try to take away your power, just because you're a girl, but I won't let it, and I won't let you let it."
Hannah smiles again when Rachel wraps her hand around one of her fingers.
"I want you to know, too," Hannah continues softly, "that Daddy and I love you very much, no matter what. It's okay if you like boys, it's okay if you like girls, it's okay if you like both, or neither, or something else. You can do whatever you want, you can be whoever you want; all we want is for you to be happy."
Rachel yawns suddenly, and Hannah laughs as she kisses Rachel's forehead.
"I know how you feel. I think we both need some sleep, hmm?" Hannah murmurs as she reaches for the call button.
Not long after Rachel is taken away to the nursery, there's a quiet knock on the door, and Hannah looks over to see Eli step inside, herding Nicholas in front of him, a small bag dangling from the boy's fingers.
"Eli?" she says, confused. "What are you guys doing here?"
"Well - whoa, buddy!" Eli exclaims, grabbing Nicholas as he starts to run towards the bed. "Don't jump on Mama, remember? She's still hurting after having the baby."
Hannah shifts to sit up, and then pats the space next to her. "Come here, baby."
Eli sets Nicholas next to Hannah, and she slides her arm around him as she watches Eli sink into the chair next to the bed.
"I thought you guys were going trick-or-treating?"
Eli shrugs. "We did, for a little while, but Nicky wanted to come back and be with you."
"I got candy, Mama," Nicholas says, holding the bag open towards Hannah.
Hannah smiles and reaches into the bag, pulling out a mini Reese's cup. "Can I have this one?"
Nicholas nods, and Hannah kisses the side of his head, her eyes on Eli's face over the top of Nicholas's head.
"Hey, buddy," Eli says, pushing to his feet. "You wanna do some more trick-or-treating? I think the nurses' stations have candy tonight."
Nicholas looks at Hannah, and she smiles again. "Go on, sweetheart. You can come back when you're done. Maybe Daddy can find one of Aunt Kari's friends to take you."
Nicholas nods, and Eli lifts him off the bed, taking his hand and leading him from the room.
A few minutes later, Eli returns alone, and settles back into his chair. "Melanie has him. She said she'd take him all over the hospital, so they should be gone a while. Are you mad at me?"
"No, just... tired. I didn't think you guys would be back tonight."
"I know, I'm sorry, I tried to talk him out of coming back, but he just kept saying he wanted to see 'Mama and sissy' and I was afraid of entering full meltdown mode, so I gave in. Hopefully Mel will wear him out, and I'll take him home when they get back."
Hannah smiles, and then her brow creases. "Why is he wearing his Spider-Man pajamas? Did he go trick-or-treating like that?"
Eli's expression turns sheepish. "He didn't want to wear his costume, and said he wanted to be Spider-Man, so I had to improvise."
Hannah laughs quietly as she shakes her head, and Eli grins.
"I'm guessing Rachel is in the nursery?" he asks, scooting his chair closer to the bed and reaching for Hannah's hand.
"Yeah, I had her with me for a while, but she was tired, and so was I, so I had them take her back." Hannah smiles. "She's so perfect."
"She is," Eli murmurs, smiling too.
"I think she's gonna end up like you, dark-haired and blue-eyed, like Nicky did."
"Probably, but hopefully she'll look like you."
Hannah giggles, and Eli grins as he squeezes her fingers.
"So," he begins, raising his eyebrows as the corner of his mouth curves, "are we done with kids, or do we think we want maybe one more?"
Hannah groans, swatting at Eli as he laughs. "I gave birth not even 24 hours ago, so right now, I'm not up for even thinking about the sex that would lead to another kid."
Eli laughs again, and Hannah gives him a small smile.
"Really, though, I wouldn't rule it out, but let's give it a couple of years, at least."
Eli nods, still grinning. "I wasn't being serious, babe. I mean, you know I want more, but obviously it's something we'll have to figure out later."
Hannah nods as well, and she and Eli spend the next little while just sitting together, not talking much, until Melanie brings Nicholas into the room.
"He's loaded up now," she says, smiling as Nicholas hurries over to Eli.
"Thanks for taking him around, Mel," Hannah says, smiling back as Eli picks Nicholas up to put him on the bed.
"It was fun. He got extra candy, I got some exercise, beneficial all around."
Hannah laughs and nods, and Melanie smiles again as she starts for the door, telling Hannah that a shift change is coming up and a new nurse will be in to check on her shortly.
"I got more candy, Mama!" Nicholas says proudly, holding the bag open towards her like he did earlier.
"I see that, baby. I don't want anymore, but why don't you see if Daddy wants some?"
Nicholas turns somewhat reluctantly and extends the bag to Eli, who reaches in and pulls out a lollipop.
"Thanks for sharing, buddy," Eli murmurs, somewhat amused as he glances at Hannah. She shakes her head, and he grins as he sits back in his chair, sticking the lollipop in his mouth.
"Can I have a piece too, Mama?"
"You can have one, but after that, you and Daddy have to go home."
Nicholas looks at her, his lips pursed just slightly, and then he rummages in the bag a moment before producing another lollipop, this one bigger than Eli's.
Eli stifles a laugh, covering it up with a cough, and Hannah shakes her head at him as he holds up his hand.
Holding back a sigh, Hannah lifts the TV remote to try to find a movie they can watch, and hopes Nicholas finishes his lollipop before it's over.
Eli jerks awake when his head falls forward against his chest, and takes a deep breath as he looks up, rubbing his hand over the back of his neck.
The movie is still playing on the TV, but Hannah and Nicholas are both sound asleep, Nicholas's lollipop resting on his bag of candy, and Eli grins as he pushes to his feet.
Hannah wakes up as Eli lifts Nicholas into his arms, and Eli smiles down at her.
"Hey," he whispers. "Gonna take him home now that he's passed out."
Hannah smiles and nods, and Eli leans down to kiss her. "Get some sleep; we'll see you in the morning. Love you."
"Love you too," she mumbles, turning off the TV and going almost instantly back to sleep.
Eli's smile widens as he rubs his hand over Nicholas's back, and he turns to leave the room, carefully pulling the door closed behind him.
They get all the way home without Nicholas waking up, but as Eli is putting him in bed, Nicholas's eyes open, and Eli almost winces as he watches the realization come over his son's face.
"I want Mama!"
"No, Nicky, you need to go to sleep, okay?"
"No!" Nicholas shouts, pushing against Eli's chest. "I want Mama!"
"Nicholas, no," Eli says sharply, grabbing his hands. "Don't push me. We don't push people, remember?"
Nicholas ignores him, angry tears in his eyes. "I want Mama and sissy!"
"You can't see them now. They need to sleep, okay? They've both had a very rough day, and they're very tired. We'll see them again tomorrow."
Nicholas carries on for a few moments longer, crying and screaming and demanding to see his mother and sister, and Eli sighs, his head beginning to pound.
Finally he says loudly, "Nicholas, if you don't stop, you won't get to go anywhere tomorrow. I will leave you here, and I will see Mama and the baby all by myself."
Nicholas sniffles loudly, staring mutinously at Eli, and then flings himself down on his bed, hiding his face in his pillow.
"Yeah, buddy, cry it out," Eli mutters as he pushes to his feet, knowing that in about five minutes, Nicholas will have cried himself to sleep.
Eli leaves the room, guided by the glow of Nicholas's Spider-Man nightlight, and pulls the door closed behind him as he heads for the kitchen.
Tabby eyes him from beside her food dish, and Eli gives her a look. "Don't give me that, I fed you earlier."
With a flick of her tail, Tabby saunters over to the back door, and just as Eli hears the sound of the cat flap, he remembers that Hannah didn't want the cat out on Halloween night.
"Shit," he groans, hurrying to yank open the back door. He quickly finds Tabby in the darkness and brings her back inside, earning a hiss and a half-hearted slap on the back of his hand as he locks the door.
"Does everybody in this fucking house hate me tonight?" he says irritably as he tosses the cat into the living room, returning to the kitchen to lock the cat flap as well.
He needs to clean up the kitchen, but now he's not really in the mood to do much of anything, and he hits the kitchen switch as he moves into the living room. He locks the front door and sets the alarm, and then goes to check on Nicholas.
Sure enough, the boy is asleep, and Eli sighs as he moves over to tuck him in properly and kiss him goodnight.
Finally, he heads into his own bedroom, and takes just enough time to change his clothes before flopping face first onto the bed.
Eli is awakened abruptly the next morning by a small body climbing on top of him, and his son's voice saying, "Daddy, wake up! Let's go see Mama and sissy!"
Eli groans, every swear word he knows running through his mind, though he refrains from saying any of them out loud. He doesn't know what time it is, but it feels far too early to be awake.
"Nicky, buddy," he mumbles into his pillow, not opening his eyes, "if you let me sleep just a little bit longer, I'll make you chocolate chip pancakes when I wake up. Go play on your tablet for a little while."
Nicholas sighs, but obediently moves off of the bed and out of the room. Eli listens to his small footsteps, making sure he's heading back to his bedroom, and then slips back into sleep, knowing that the allure of chocolate chip pancakes will make Nicholas behave for at least a little while.
Eli awakes again sometime later, feeling a little more rested, just as he hears the door to his bedroom open.
"Daddy?"
"I'm awake," he murmurs, taking a deep breath as he turns over and runs his hands through his hair.
"I did some games, Daddy," Nicholas says, coming to climb onto the bed again.
Eli reaches for his phone, seeing several email notifications of Nicholas's accomplishments in the educational game on his tablet, and smiles as he slides his arm around his son.
"I see that, buddy, good job. And thank you for being quiet and letting me sleep a little more."
"Welcome. Can I have pancakes now?"
Eli laughs and nods. "Yeah, let's go into the kitchen."
As they eat breakfast, Eli reads the emails from Nicholas's game, and then checks to make sure he doesn't have any missed calls or texts. Everything seems in order, and after they're done eating and their dishes are in the sink, he takes Nicholas into his room to get him dressed, and then goes to get dressed himself.
"Okay," he says once they're ready and he's put the cat out. "Let's go see Mama and sissy."
Nicholas cheers and hurries for the front door with Eli close behind.
A short while later, they step into Hannah's hospital room, and Nicholas greets her excitedly as he rushes over to the bed.
"Hey, baby," she says, smiling down at him.
"Is sissy here?"
"No, she's in the nursery, but why don't we all go see her? I need to walk for a bit."
Nicholas nods, and steps back as Hannah swings her legs over the edge of the bed, taking Eli's hand as she stands.
Together they walk from the room, Nicholas in front, cheerfully leading the way.
"Stay close, Nicky," Eli says, and Hannah squeezes his fingers.
"How did it go last night? You look more tired than I am, which is saying something."
Eli sighs and shakes his head. "Right as I was putting him to bed last night, he woke up and threw a fit when he realized he wasn't with you anymore. You know, crying, screaming, he actually pushed me. I scolded him for that, and then finally threatened that if he didn't stop, he wouldn't get to go anywhere today. That worked, mostly, and he ended up crying himself to sleep. And then he woke me up early this morning. I may have bribed him with chocolate chip pancakes to let me sleep a little bit more."
Hannah snorts, and the corner of Eli's mouth rises as they turn the corner. The nursery is just ahead, and Nicholas speeds up.
"Nicholas, slow down!" Eli calls wearily.
One of the nurses, another friend of Kari's named Kate, steps up to Nicholas and kneels down in front of him.
"You want to see your baby sister?" Nicholas nods quickly, and Kate smiles, standing and reaching for his hand. "C'mon, let's go see her."
She glances back at Hannah and Eli, who both give her relieved smiles, and guides Nicholas into the nursery.
"Is something else wrong?" Hannah asks as she and Eli continue forward at a slower pace. "You look troubled."
"I don't know," Eli murmurs. "Lately I just feel like... Nicky doesn't want to spend time with me. I mean, this morning was a little better than last night, but still."
"Of course he wants to spend time with you," Hannah says softly, squeezing Eli's hand again. "He's just excited over Rachel, and you know how protective he gets over me. Once Rachel and I are home, and the novelty wears off, things will get back to normal."
Eli nods, replying, "I hope so," as he and Hannah step into the nursery.
Nicholas is in a rocking chair, Rachel cradled in his arms as Kate crouches beside him, and Hannah smiles, leaning against Eli and resting her head on his chest.
"He's so sweet with her," she says. "I think he's going to be a great big brother."
"Yeah," Eli agrees, smiling as he lifts his arm around Hannah's shoulders. "I think so too. Though I have a feeling his excitement is going to be tempered a bit in the coming months."
Hannah giggles and nods, and Eli's smile widens as he turns his head to kiss the top of hers, the two of them content to stand and watch Nicholas hold his baby sister for a little while longer.
Author: Mary (stillxmyxheart)
Beta: Lindsay (rowofstars)
Rating: G
Genre: Family, Fluff
Word Count: 2,712
Characters/Pairings: Hannah, Eli, Nicholas (Hannah/Eli)
"Hello, my sweet girl," Hannah whispers, smiling down at the newborn in her arms. "Hello, Rachel."
Hannah lifts her hand to gently move the blanket from Rachel's face, stroking the baby's soft cheek.
"You're Rachel Abigail Shaw. Your daddy named you all on his own, he was so excited about having a little girl. You have the best daddy in the world; you'll find that out soon. Right now, though, Daddy and your big brother Nicky are out trick-or-treating, so it's just you and me. Just us girls."
Hannah moves her hand to run her thumb over Rachel's tiny fingers, and shakes her head.
"You won't remember this, but don't worry, I'll remind you later. I want you to know, baby, that you are smart, and strong, and beautiful. You were born into a world that will try to take those things from you, that will try to take away your power, just because you're a girl, but I won't let it, and I won't let you let it."
Hannah smiles again when Rachel wraps her hand around one of her fingers.
"I want you to know, too," Hannah continues softly, "that Daddy and I love you very much, no matter what. It's okay if you like boys, it's okay if you like girls, it's okay if you like both, or neither, or something else. You can do whatever you want, you can be whoever you want; all we want is for you to be happy."
Rachel yawns suddenly, and Hannah laughs as she kisses Rachel's forehead.
"I know how you feel. I think we both need some sleep, hmm?" Hannah murmurs as she reaches for the call button.
Not long after Rachel is taken away to the nursery, there's a quiet knock on the door, and Hannah looks over to see Eli step inside, herding Nicholas in front of him, a small bag dangling from the boy's fingers.
"Eli?" she says, confused. "What are you guys doing here?"
"Well - whoa, buddy!" Eli exclaims, grabbing Nicholas as he starts to run towards the bed. "Don't jump on Mama, remember? She's still hurting after having the baby."
Hannah shifts to sit up, and then pats the space next to her. "Come here, baby."
Eli sets Nicholas next to Hannah, and she slides her arm around him as she watches Eli sink into the chair next to the bed.
"I thought you guys were going trick-or-treating?"
Eli shrugs. "We did, for a little while, but Nicky wanted to come back and be with you."
"I got candy, Mama," Nicholas says, holding the bag open towards Hannah.
Hannah smiles and reaches into the bag, pulling out a mini Reese's cup. "Can I have this one?"
Nicholas nods, and Hannah kisses the side of his head, her eyes on Eli's face over the top of Nicholas's head.
"Hey, buddy," Eli says, pushing to his feet. "You wanna do some more trick-or-treating? I think the nurses' stations have candy tonight."
Nicholas looks at Hannah, and she smiles again. "Go on, sweetheart. You can come back when you're done. Maybe Daddy can find one of Aunt Kari's friends to take you."
Nicholas nods, and Eli lifts him off the bed, taking his hand and leading him from the room.
A few minutes later, Eli returns alone, and settles back into his chair. "Melanie has him. She said she'd take him all over the hospital, so they should be gone a while. Are you mad at me?"
"No, just... tired. I didn't think you guys would be back tonight."
"I know, I'm sorry, I tried to talk him out of coming back, but he just kept saying he wanted to see 'Mama and sissy' and I was afraid of entering full meltdown mode, so I gave in. Hopefully Mel will wear him out, and I'll take him home when they get back."
Hannah smiles, and then her brow creases. "Why is he wearing his Spider-Man pajamas? Did he go trick-or-treating like that?"
Eli's expression turns sheepish. "He didn't want to wear his costume, and said he wanted to be Spider-Man, so I had to improvise."
Hannah laughs quietly as she shakes her head, and Eli grins.
"I'm guessing Rachel is in the nursery?" he asks, scooting his chair closer to the bed and reaching for Hannah's hand.
"Yeah, I had her with me for a while, but she was tired, and so was I, so I had them take her back." Hannah smiles. "She's so perfect."
"She is," Eli murmurs, smiling too.
"I think she's gonna end up like you, dark-haired and blue-eyed, like Nicky did."
"Probably, but hopefully she'll look like you."
Hannah giggles, and Eli grins as he squeezes her fingers.
"So," he begins, raising his eyebrows as the corner of his mouth curves, "are we done with kids, or do we think we want maybe one more?"
Hannah groans, swatting at Eli as he laughs. "I gave birth not even 24 hours ago, so right now, I'm not up for even thinking about the sex that would lead to another kid."
Eli laughs again, and Hannah gives him a small smile.
"Really, though, I wouldn't rule it out, but let's give it a couple of years, at least."
Eli nods, still grinning. "I wasn't being serious, babe. I mean, you know I want more, but obviously it's something we'll have to figure out later."
Hannah nods as well, and she and Eli spend the next little while just sitting together, not talking much, until Melanie brings Nicholas into the room.
"He's loaded up now," she says, smiling as Nicholas hurries over to Eli.
"Thanks for taking him around, Mel," Hannah says, smiling back as Eli picks Nicholas up to put him on the bed.
"It was fun. He got extra candy, I got some exercise, beneficial all around."
Hannah laughs and nods, and Melanie smiles again as she starts for the door, telling Hannah that a shift change is coming up and a new nurse will be in to check on her shortly.
"I got more candy, Mama!" Nicholas says proudly, holding the bag open towards her like he did earlier.
"I see that, baby. I don't want anymore, but why don't you see if Daddy wants some?"
Nicholas turns somewhat reluctantly and extends the bag to Eli, who reaches in and pulls out a lollipop.
"Thanks for sharing, buddy," Eli murmurs, somewhat amused as he glances at Hannah. She shakes her head, and he grins as he sits back in his chair, sticking the lollipop in his mouth.
"Can I have a piece too, Mama?"
"You can have one, but after that, you and Daddy have to go home."
Nicholas looks at her, his lips pursed just slightly, and then he rummages in the bag a moment before producing another lollipop, this one bigger than Eli's.
Eli stifles a laugh, covering it up with a cough, and Hannah shakes her head at him as he holds up his hand.
Holding back a sigh, Hannah lifts the TV remote to try to find a movie they can watch, and hopes Nicholas finishes his lollipop before it's over.
Eli jerks awake when his head falls forward against his chest, and takes a deep breath as he looks up, rubbing his hand over the back of his neck.
The movie is still playing on the TV, but Hannah and Nicholas are both sound asleep, Nicholas's lollipop resting on his bag of candy, and Eli grins as he pushes to his feet.
Hannah wakes up as Eli lifts Nicholas into his arms, and Eli smiles down at her.
"Hey," he whispers. "Gonna take him home now that he's passed out."
Hannah smiles and nods, and Eli leans down to kiss her. "Get some sleep; we'll see you in the morning. Love you."
"Love you too," she mumbles, turning off the TV and going almost instantly back to sleep.
Eli's smile widens as he rubs his hand over Nicholas's back, and he turns to leave the room, carefully pulling the door closed behind him.
They get all the way home without Nicholas waking up, but as Eli is putting him in bed, Nicholas's eyes open, and Eli almost winces as he watches the realization come over his son's face.
"I want Mama!"
"No, Nicky, you need to go to sleep, okay?"
"No!" Nicholas shouts, pushing against Eli's chest. "I want Mama!"
"Nicholas, no," Eli says sharply, grabbing his hands. "Don't push me. We don't push people, remember?"
Nicholas ignores him, angry tears in his eyes. "I want Mama and sissy!"
"You can't see them now. They need to sleep, okay? They've both had a very rough day, and they're very tired. We'll see them again tomorrow."
Nicholas carries on for a few moments longer, crying and screaming and demanding to see his mother and sister, and Eli sighs, his head beginning to pound.
Finally he says loudly, "Nicholas, if you don't stop, you won't get to go anywhere tomorrow. I will leave you here, and I will see Mama and the baby all by myself."
Nicholas sniffles loudly, staring mutinously at Eli, and then flings himself down on his bed, hiding his face in his pillow.
"Yeah, buddy, cry it out," Eli mutters as he pushes to his feet, knowing that in about five minutes, Nicholas will have cried himself to sleep.
Eli leaves the room, guided by the glow of Nicholas's Spider-Man nightlight, and pulls the door closed behind him as he heads for the kitchen.
Tabby eyes him from beside her food dish, and Eli gives her a look. "Don't give me that, I fed you earlier."
With a flick of her tail, Tabby saunters over to the back door, and just as Eli hears the sound of the cat flap, he remembers that Hannah didn't want the cat out on Halloween night.
"Shit," he groans, hurrying to yank open the back door. He quickly finds Tabby in the darkness and brings her back inside, earning a hiss and a half-hearted slap on the back of his hand as he locks the door.
"Does everybody in this fucking house hate me tonight?" he says irritably as he tosses the cat into the living room, returning to the kitchen to lock the cat flap as well.
He needs to clean up the kitchen, but now he's not really in the mood to do much of anything, and he hits the kitchen switch as he moves into the living room. He locks the front door and sets the alarm, and then goes to check on Nicholas.
Sure enough, the boy is asleep, and Eli sighs as he moves over to tuck him in properly and kiss him goodnight.
Finally, he heads into his own bedroom, and takes just enough time to change his clothes before flopping face first onto the bed.
Eli is awakened abruptly the next morning by a small body climbing on top of him, and his son's voice saying, "Daddy, wake up! Let's go see Mama and sissy!"
Eli groans, every swear word he knows running through his mind, though he refrains from saying any of them out loud. He doesn't know what time it is, but it feels far too early to be awake.
"Nicky, buddy," he mumbles into his pillow, not opening his eyes, "if you let me sleep just a little bit longer, I'll make you chocolate chip pancakes when I wake up. Go play on your tablet for a little while."
Nicholas sighs, but obediently moves off of the bed and out of the room. Eli listens to his small footsteps, making sure he's heading back to his bedroom, and then slips back into sleep, knowing that the allure of chocolate chip pancakes will make Nicholas behave for at least a little while.
Eli awakes again sometime later, feeling a little more rested, just as he hears the door to his bedroom open.
"Daddy?"
"I'm awake," he murmurs, taking a deep breath as he turns over and runs his hands through his hair.
"I did some games, Daddy," Nicholas says, coming to climb onto the bed again.
Eli reaches for his phone, seeing several email notifications of Nicholas's accomplishments in the educational game on his tablet, and smiles as he slides his arm around his son.
"I see that, buddy, good job. And thank you for being quiet and letting me sleep a little more."
"Welcome. Can I have pancakes now?"
Eli laughs and nods. "Yeah, let's go into the kitchen."
As they eat breakfast, Eli reads the emails from Nicholas's game, and then checks to make sure he doesn't have any missed calls or texts. Everything seems in order, and after they're done eating and their dishes are in the sink, he takes Nicholas into his room to get him dressed, and then goes to get dressed himself.
"Okay," he says once they're ready and he's put the cat out. "Let's go see Mama and sissy."
Nicholas cheers and hurries for the front door with Eli close behind.
A short while later, they step into Hannah's hospital room, and Nicholas greets her excitedly as he rushes over to the bed.
"Hey, baby," she says, smiling down at him.
"Is sissy here?"
"No, she's in the nursery, but why don't we all go see her? I need to walk for a bit."
Nicholas nods, and steps back as Hannah swings her legs over the edge of the bed, taking Eli's hand as she stands.
Together they walk from the room, Nicholas in front, cheerfully leading the way.
"Stay close, Nicky," Eli says, and Hannah squeezes his fingers.
"How did it go last night? You look more tired than I am, which is saying something."
Eli sighs and shakes his head. "Right as I was putting him to bed last night, he woke up and threw a fit when he realized he wasn't with you anymore. You know, crying, screaming, he actually pushed me. I scolded him for that, and then finally threatened that if he didn't stop, he wouldn't get to go anywhere today. That worked, mostly, and he ended up crying himself to sleep. And then he woke me up early this morning. I may have bribed him with chocolate chip pancakes to let me sleep a little bit more."
Hannah snorts, and the corner of Eli's mouth rises as they turn the corner. The nursery is just ahead, and Nicholas speeds up.
"Nicholas, slow down!" Eli calls wearily.
One of the nurses, another friend of Kari's named Kate, steps up to Nicholas and kneels down in front of him.
"You want to see your baby sister?" Nicholas nods quickly, and Kate smiles, standing and reaching for his hand. "C'mon, let's go see her."
She glances back at Hannah and Eli, who both give her relieved smiles, and guides Nicholas into the nursery.
"Is something else wrong?" Hannah asks as she and Eli continue forward at a slower pace. "You look troubled."
"I don't know," Eli murmurs. "Lately I just feel like... Nicky doesn't want to spend time with me. I mean, this morning was a little better than last night, but still."
"Of course he wants to spend time with you," Hannah says softly, squeezing Eli's hand again. "He's just excited over Rachel, and you know how protective he gets over me. Once Rachel and I are home, and the novelty wears off, things will get back to normal."
Eli nods, replying, "I hope so," as he and Hannah step into the nursery.
Nicholas is in a rocking chair, Rachel cradled in his arms as Kate crouches beside him, and Hannah smiles, leaning against Eli and resting her head on his chest.
"He's so sweet with her," she says. "I think he's going to be a great big brother."
"Yeah," Eli agrees, smiling as he lifts his arm around Hannah's shoulders. "I think so too. Though I have a feeling his excitement is going to be tempered a bit in the coming months."
Hannah giggles and nods, and Eli's smile widens as he turns his head to kiss the top of hers, the two of them content to stand and watch Nicholas hold his baby sister for a little while longer.