When A Child is Born...
Jensen's sister gives birth when the boys are in town...
Sheer unashamed fluff, so beware of cavities. Also implied Jensen/Cougar but nothing actually happens
Also apologies for the formatting, it's insisting on squashing all the text together no matter how I try to alter it.
Thanks to Cougar's_Catnip and Peaceful_Sands for the read-throughs
Disclaimer - All publicly recognizable characters, settings etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended
It was by some happy coincidence that Jessica Jensen managed to give birth during some of the Losers’ rare down time. Only Jake was allowed in the actual delivery suite, the baby’s father having run for the hills as soon as Jess told him she was pregnant. The supervising midwife unwillingly let Jake in after both he and his sister had explained to her very forcefully that he wasn’t going anywhere and would hack into the hospital CCTV and somehow rig a camera in the private room to watch proceedings if he had to.
Jake had been on tenterhooks for weeks, after a growth scan had shown that the baby wasn’t growing quite as fast as expected. Jess however had been very pragmatic and resolutely maintained that every baby was different and it just showed that hers had no intention of conforming to anything, even before it was born.
****
The hospital staff watched in amused silence as the four men denied access to Jess’ room waited for news.
Cougar was his usual quiet self, and managed to appear completely unconcerned, but his bitten nails betrayed his anxiety.
Roque occupied a corner of the waiting room and dared anyone to attempt to dislodge him from it with poisonous glares.
Clay glanced at the clock every three minutes and constantly stood and wandered out of the room to see the duty nurse. Cougar wasn’t whether he was asking for news or trying to get her number, she certainly looked like Clay’s type, there was a certain manic gleam in her eyes.
Pooch looked calm, but every time a nurse or doctor walked down the corridor outside the waiting room he’d sit up straight and look at Cougar with wide, worried eyes.
****
Eventually, after what felt like many hours of waiting but was in fact only three, Jake appeared at the waiting room door, looking somewhat absurd in hospital scrubs. Cougar would have sniggered at him, but was too busy standing up, anxiously twisting his hat in his hands.
“Well?” Clay broke the silence in his typical to-the-point fashion.
Jake beamed as though every birthday and Christmas had come at once. “It’s a girl. Only 6 pounds 5 ounces, but already yelling for food. She’s got her momma’s temper.”
The tension in the waiting room vanished as the four Losers congratulated Jensen, laughing and joking in their relief.
“Can we see ‘em?” Pooch asked eagerly.
“I don’t know,” Jensen frowned, “those nurses are harder than any drill sergeant I’ve ever met. Getting past ‘em takes a lot of cunning and a hell of a lot of flirting.”
“Cougar, you’re up,” Clay said instantly. “Go flirt and get us in there.”
Cougar nodded and ran his hands through his hair before sauntering out to launch a charm offensive that soon had every nurse in the maternity ward hanging on his every word.
The dragon-like head nurse visibly melted when Cougar smiled at her and complimented her on how well she ran her ward and controlled her staff. She was still grinning as he ushered the rest of the team into Jess’ room and closed the door in her face.
****
Jess looked exhausted, her hair matted with sweat and her face devoid of makeup. But the smile on her face was as bright as her brother’s, and she greeted the four Losers with a cheerful, “You managed to get past Nurse Rached then.”
Clay grinned and said, “We had to use Cougar. None of the rest of us could have charmed our way in as fast as him.”
“Wow, deploying your secret weapon, just to see me,” Jess laughed, winking at Cougar. “I’m honored.” Cougar tipped his hat to her and craned his neck to look in the little plastic crib next to her bed.
“Oh,” Jess smiled, “I guess I’m not the real reason you wanted to get in here.”
Jensen moved to stand next to the crib and twitched the corner of the blanket back to show the sleeping baby cocooned within. A tiny noise came from Roque, he would, until his dying day deny that it was an ‘ooh’, but Jensen always maintained that it was the girliest noise the big captain had ever made.
The newborn was worthy of an ‘ooh’, in Cougar’s opinion. As the middle child of five, babies were not an unknown quantity to him, but Jess’ little one was the prettiest thing he’d ever seen, her blond haired uncle notwithstanding.
“Hola bonita,” he murmured, moving to stand next to Jensen. “Bienvenido al mundo.” To Jess he said, “She’s gorgeous, are you okay?”
“Yeah, just tired,” Jess said in a hushed tone, obviously worried she’d wake the little girl who was snoozing so peacefully.
“You did good,” Clay said in a suspiciously gruff tone, and rubbed vigorously at his eyes, which were not misty, dammit. “She’s a cute kid.”
“Thanks, Clay” Jess replied, kindly ignoring the soft look in his eyes.
“Oh, man,” breathed Pooch, “I can’t wait till me and Jolene have kids. She’s a picture, Jess. What’s her name?”
“I don’t know,” admitted Jess. “All along I planned on Rachel for a girl, but she doesn’t look like a Rachel. And now my mind’s gone blank and I can’t think of a single decent name. So for now she’s ‘baby’, unless one of you guys can come up with something.”
Jensen narrowed his eyes thoughtfully, “Hmm, okay, what about Ella?”
“Ella Jensen,” Jess rolled the name around her mouth as though tasting it and weighing each syllable on her tongue, “no, I don’t like it. Next.”
She looked expectantly at Pooch who gaped for a moment, then said hesitantly, “Morgan?”
Jess rolled her eyes, “Morgan Jensen, two British car makers. Really, dude, could you be more cruel to the child?”
Pooch grinned, flushing slightly, “It was the first thing I thought of.”
“You’re hopeless,” Jess laughed, “Clay, you’re up next. What’cha got?”
“Suzie,” Clay said quietly, “my mom’s name.”
“It’d make a nice middle name,” Jess said gently, “is that okay?”
“Yeah,” Clay replied, and sniffed loudly.
Jess chuckled and looked at Cougar, “Okay, amigo, hit me. Gimme a first name.”
Cougar stared at the sleeping baby for a moment and said, “Isabella.”
Jensen wrinkled his nose, “Oh no, dude! Too Twilight, I object to that name on moral grounds.”
“Objection sustained,” Jess grinned, “sorry, Cougs.”
Cougar shrugged but smiled from under his hat.
Roque shifted uncomfortably as Jess’ sharp gaze settled on him. “Okay then, big man. Show me what you got. You’re my baby girl’s last hope of having a decent name.”
Rubbing a hand over his stubbled chin, Roque padded over to the crib and looked at the little girl. As though aware of being watched, she opened her eyes a fraction and stared back. A sudden flash of inspiration hit Jess and she said quickly, “Pick her up, Will.”
Roque shot her a look of pure terror and stammered, “Ah, no, no. It’s fine, I can see her from here.”
“Jake, give her to him,” Jess said firmly, her tone brooking no argument.
Taking a deep breath, Jensen carefully picked up the infant, awkwardly cradling her and trying to keep her head from flopping. He swore under his breath as the blanket got caught around her legs, making Cougar frown at him. “What? You think you can do better?” he hissed. “It’s not like she knows what I’m saying.”
Cougar rolled his eyes but made no further comment.
Jensen finally managed to safely deliver the baby to Roque’s waiting arms, and wiped the sweat from his brow. “God, I’d rather defuse an IED than do that again,” he muttered.
All eyes turned to Roque, who was holding the little girl as though she were made of china and might break at any second.
“Come on then, what’s her name?” Jess asked.
A curiously gentle expression stole over Roque’s broad face. He searched the baby’s face for something to give him a clue as to what name would suit her. She looked back, her blue eyes bright in her pale little face.
“Hannah,” Roque whispered, “she’s called Hannah.”
Jess smiled slowly, “Hannah Suzie Jensen. Yeah, I think that sounds okay.”
Roque stood for a moment, holding the precious bundle, little Hannah looking even more tiny in his big arms. Then he carefully laid the baby back in her crib, his scarred face indescribably tender.
For a moment Clay wondered whether his second in command had held a newborn baby before, but decided against asking. A man’s past was his own and if he didn’t feel the need to divulge all of it, then that was his business.
Jess lay back on her pillows with a little sigh, her face pale and pinched with exhaustion.
“Okay, time to let you two get some rest,” Clay rumbled. “Guys, move it.”
Cougar glanced at the baby once more, ran a calloused finger along her tiny pink hand, smiled at Jess, and walked out of the room. The pleased noises from the nurses outside the door made Jensen narrow his eyes. He dropped a kiss on Jess’ cheek, copied Cougar’s move with Hannah and bolted after the sniper, anxious to defend Cougar from the attentions of the doubtless sex-starved nursing staff.
Clay shook his head and rolled his eyes at Jess who shrugged and grinned. Everyone knew Jensen had the hots for Cougar, as they all knew Cougar would move heaven and earth to make Jensen happy, but the two of them didn’t seem to have gotten around to telling one another yet.
Clay kissed Jess on the cheek, squeezed her hand and whispered so softly that only she could hear him, “Thanks, for what you did with Roque.”
“No problem,” she whispered back, “I knew he’d be fine.”
Pooch stroked Hannah’s peachy cheek and cooed, “Oh honey, your uncles are gonna teach you some cool stuff. I’ll show you how to strip a ‘Vet engine and put it back together so well it’ll blow every other car outta the water.”
“Yeah, that’ll be a very important life skill, Pooch-man,” Jess said dryly, but smiled widely.
“Damn right it will,” Pooch replied. “See ya, Jess, take care of yourself and this little lady.”
He and Clay left the room, fighting their way through the sea of nurses who were still trying vainly to get to Cougar.
Roque lingered by the crib, gazing at Hannah who stared bravely back. He smiled, and Hannah waved a little hand in the air for a moment before letting out an ear-splitting wail.
“Food time,” Jess said wearily, “hand her over, would you, Will?”
Once again handling her as though she were made of the most fragile china, Roque lifted Hannah and placed her in Jess’ outstretched arms.
“Thanks,” Jess said quietly, “she’s got a good name.”
Roque flushed and backed away, not sure how to respond. Hannah wailed again and he said hastily, “I’ll, er, get out of your way.”
He went to the door but cast one long glance back before he left. When he finally departed Jess smiled and said to the little girl hungrily rooting at the front of her nightdress, “Hannah, you got yourself some badass uncles. And I think Uncle Will might be a pussycat underneath, you’ll have him wrapped around your finger in no time. You are one lucky kid.”
Hannah didn’t seem too worried about how badass her uncles were, food was uppermost in her mind at that moment. She latched on with a force that made Jess wince and was soon sucking contentedly. Jess watched her, tracing the curve of the baby’s cheek with her fingertip. Soon Hannah exhausted herself and fell asleep in her mother’s arms.
Jess laid her in the crib and settled down on her pillows for some much needed rest. As she dozed off she mumbled, “Maybe one day when you’re older you can tell your Uncle Jake and Tio Cougar to get a grip and just start dating...”