When A Child Is Born (Unto Us, A Child Is Given) (Neal/Sara, for White Collar H/C Advent 2017)
Folks, I finally made it! *wipes brow* My entry for this year's Advent event over at 
whitecollarhc just wouldn't come together. I had to ditch three attempts on writing a story (they all resemble tangled Christmas lights XD), but finally, my brain was deep enough in the festive mood to shake out this story with our favorite con man and his own little family. Enjoy!
Summary: The latest addition to the Caffrey-Ellis household makes his (or her) entrance - in quite a dramatic way.
Notes: Part of the Allison Caffrey Chronicles. Neal, Sara and Allison are living now in June's mansion, having moved one floor down from the top floor apartment, with enough room for all of them. Written for WC H/C Advent 2017. Happy Holidays!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By the time Christmas rolled around, everyone in the house was in a festive mood. June, because she finally had a family in the house once again, bringing back all the wonderful moments she got to share with her Byron and their own children. Allison, because she understood the whole festive season a bit more every year, which in turn made her even more enjoy it to the fullest. And Neal and Sara, because at some point around the holidays, they were expanding their little family, adding a daughter or a son.
Neal was almost vibrating with joy when he met with Peter and Elizabeth for an early dinner on the 24th. Like everyone else, the Burkes had forgiven Neal for faking his death and escaping to Paris. They were happy to (a) have him back in New York, (b) see him in a very stable relationship with Sara (he might or might not already have a ring to go with a special question), and (c) see him thriving as a freelancing security and art consultant for hire. Companies of all genres came to ask him for advice to proper update their security systems, Sterling Bosch and the FBI were more than often in need of his expertise in the world of arts. All in all, life was very good for one former gentleman's thief.
"So, how's Sara today?" Elizabeth asked between bites.
"As if you wouldn't know," Neal shot back playfully. He didn't know how exactly, but somehow, El and Sara had bonded, talking to each other almost every day, be it in person, via phone, or Skype. El's answer was a raised eyebrow. "She's restless. Junior is quite an active child, even unborn, and the closer we get to the due date, the more active he or she gets." He took a sip from his water. "She can't wait for this baby to be born, and to be honest, me neither."
"Because you missed this all with Allison?" Peter asked.
"Yeah," Neal answered, his mood turning to somber. "Which is why I can't even try to understand what makes a man leave his pregnant partner." Neal referred to one of Sara's colleagues at Sterling Bosch, whose husband walked out on her as soon as she told him she was expecting.
"Me neither," Elizabeth cut in, "but good thing that she has her family close. At least she has someone to look after her and the baby."
The rest of the dinner went by rather uneventful, all three of them only talking about trivial things.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After running some last minute errands, Neal came home about an hour later. He knew that June was out with Mozzie and some other friends in their annual Christmas adventure, as June called it. Neal never asked what they were up to, but considering the good mood June and Mozzie were upon returning last year, it surely was bound to have a lot of fun included.
"Sara? Honey?" Neal called out while climbing the stairs. It wasn't that he was worried about "his" Repo, he more wanted to alert her to his presence - even pregnant she still had a good aim with her baton, as he still could recall rather painfully. And being on the receiving end of the baton once was once enough, thank you very much.
In the mean time, Neal was in their living room, but his partner was still elusive. He saw a new drawing of Allison lying on the coffee table (and dang, her apparent talent made him so proud!), on the nearest couch Sara had put out some files she wasn't supposed to have (he really should have had a second talk to her secretary). But where were his favorite girls?
"Daddy?" a sleep-ridden voice called out from the doorway. Turning around, Neal had to bite his tongue to stop himself from laughing out. Allison had inherited his unruly mop of hair, and like with him, it tended to bend in every possible direction when she was fresh out of bed. Right now, it looked as if she had stuck a finger into an electrical outlet.
"Hey, pumpkin, what's up?" Neal asked while crouching down in front of her. She didn't seem to be on alert, just sleepy.
"I can't reach the juice. Can you help me, please?" Allison asked with a glance she definitely had inherited from him as well, as Sara liked to point out.
"Sure, pumpkin." Neal grabbed her and hoisted her up on his hip. "Where's Mama?"
"Sleeping." She rubbed her eyes. "I think my brother or sister is mean to her."
"No, he or she's not. It's just that the baby has to get into a certain position before being born, so it's not so exhausting for both of them. And some babies need more tries to get there. Believe me," he sat her down on the kitchen counter next to the fridge, "once your brother or sister is born, Mama has forgotten all of that." He poured a glass and a sippy cup of orange juice and handed Ally the sippy cup.
"Really?" She asked after a sip.
"Yeah, really. Come on, let's have a look at Mama and bring her some juice as well, okay?"
"Okay."
The two made their way to Neal and Sara's bedroom - only for Neal to stop in the doorway and shielding Allison's eyes. Right in front of him, one of his biggest and most recent nightmares was, for the lack of a better word, on display. Sara was on the bed, facing the door, her hands cradling her big baby belly, her upper body turned inward towards the belly, and the bedspread underneath soaked in various shades of red, soaked with her blood.
A sound downstairs snapped Neal out of his shock, and he all but ran towards the stairs, seeing Maria, June's maid, standing at the bottom.
"Oh, Mr. Neal, are you okay?"
"N.. no." He shuddered. "Maria, could you take Allison for a little while? I don't want to see her something. I'll explain...," he began, only to be stopped with a hand.
"Don't worry, Miss Ally and I will have some fun in the kitchen." She held her arms out for Neal to hand the girl over. "And my little garden of herbs needs some special TLC as well."
With that, the Latina was off to her "kingdom", the spacious kitchen on the first floor. Neal hurried back to the bedroom, dialling 911 on the way. Once the line was established, the dispatcher asked him various things (which he never, ever would remember afterwards) before ordering him to feel for Sara's pulse. Neal almost sobbed into the phone when he found a strong, steady pulse.
Not even ten minutes later, Sara was loaded into the back of an ambulance, Neal got in beside her, and they were off to Trinity Hospital and some much needed medical professionals and their talents.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Trinity Hospital
Family Room, Surgical Ward
1 hour later
"Neal!"
Elizabeth Burke could be a loud person, if she needed to be. Apparently, now was one of those situations. Before Neal could get his bearings (he had fallen asleep), he was engulfed in a double hug, courtesy of the Burkes.
"Any updates?"
"What exactly has happened?"
Both Peter and Elizabeth fired a question at him, and at any other circumstances, Neal would have laughed about that. But right now, he was way closer to tears than anything else.
"First, nothing new. They pulled her into that room," Neal gestured over to the main entrance to the surgical theatres, "and since then, I'm waiting here to hear anything about either of them." He swallowed hard before continuing. "And second, I really don't know. She had no complications during this pregnancy, all the results were perfect, her doctor was confident that everything will run smoothly till the end. and now..." Again, Neal tried to swallow his tears, but now, the fear inside him had reached the threshold and went over it, causing Neal to break down and cry, supported by the Burkes.
That's how Dr. Kingston found them several minutes later. Neal with his head on Elizabeth's lap, and Peter having his six in the most literal way of the word, sitting as close as possible behind Neal's back.
"Neal?"
He looked up, but Dr. Kingston quickly realized that he barely could see her through the tears still flooding his beautiful eyes.
"How is she? How is the baby?"
Elizabeth asked the questions before any of the guys had a chance. Neal finally calmed down and got back to sitting, just like Dr. Kingston herself.
"With Sara, it's still a touch-and-go, but we have stabilized her for the time being. What caused the great blood loss was a ruptured artery in her uterus." She looked up to see three sets of eyes locked on her lips. "It's messy, no doubt, but it wasn't as life-threatening as it looks at first." Neal visibly exhaled, a sort of calmness slowly coming over him. "We were able to close the rupture, and right now, we're keep filling her up with blood, to replenish what she has lost."
"Will...," Neal started, but stopped, shrubbing his face with both of his hands, "will she recover completely?"
"Absolutely, if she, and you, follow my instructions."
"Of course, Doctor, we'll do whatever you say." Neal briefly locked gazes with her, to drive his intention home, before looking back to the doorway of the surgical area. "I can't raise two kids on my own." He laughed, but it was a hollow, lost sound. "The old Neal would disagree with me here, but then again, I never had such a task in my old life."
For a few heartbeats, the room was shrouded in silence, and Dr. Kingston was about to deliver the best news in the lights of the recent events, when Neal suddenly started to talk again.
"You know, Doc, what my worst nightmare is?" She shook her head, even though she had a good hunch. "It's losing Sara, or Ally." He looked up again, his blue eyes ablaze with fire and passion. "Isn't it funny how you can have everything the world has to offer at your disposal and realize that nothing of that is of true valor when you're all on your own?"
No one said a word. Peter was surprised to hear such words coming from his friend, but if he was honest, Neal had made a full turn-around in the last two years. And it wasn't such a task to connect that change with Sara and Allison entering his life.
"Neal, would you please come with me?" Dr. Kingston broke the silence.
"Sure, but why?" Neal was a bit confused, and he couldn't keep the fear rising up again.
"Because there's a sweet and very healthy baby waiting to finally meet its daddy, that's why," Dr. Kingston quipped before leaving the room, a smile spreading on her face, which only got broader when she saw the Burkes all but ushering Neal out and in her direction.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Several minutes later, Neal's face was plastered to the large window on the Neonatal floor, his eyes fixed on the pink-clad bundle right in the middle of the bassinets behind it.
"Merry Christmas, Neal," Peter suddenly said from his left side, placing a hand on his shoulder. Elizabeth mirrored her husband on Neal's other side, and together, they feasted their eyes on the most adorable display in front of them.
"What?" For the second time this day, Neal was confused.
In lieu of an verbal answer, Elizabeth pointed to the digital clock on the far end of the room. Which read a couple of minutes after midnight, on December 25th.
"Oh," was all Neal got out once he had realized the meaning. His second daughter was, by all means, a Christmas miracle.
"You guys have a name for her?" Peter asked, his eyes still trained on the little girl.
"We had some candidates, but I want to wait for Sara to choose it together," Neal said with a bit more than a light tinge of tears to his voice. "And I don't think that this sweet girl," he pointed to her, "would mind being called Baby Girl Caffrey for some days."
"Daddy?"
For the second time in 24 hours, Allison's voice came from a doorway, this time safely in Maria's arms. Neal beckoned them closer, breaking the small semi-circle he and the Burkes had formed, and took his firstborn from Maria.
"See that pink bundle right in the middle?" Neal asked Allison while pointing to the baby in question, receiving a very enthusiastic nod. "That's your baby sister, pumpkin."
"Oh," Allison all but whispered, her mouth making a perfect "O". Behind Neal's back, Peter, Elizabeth and Maria exchanged a knowingly look. Neal might deny it (but not too much), but he was definitely and absolutely smitten with his girls.
"Daddy? When can I play with her?" Allison suddenly asked, and everyone in hearing distance had to bite their tongue to keep from laughing out loud. Leave it to the older Caffrey-Ellis girl to lighten the mood, even when she's not aware of the severeness of the current situation.
"That, sweetheart, will take some time. But you can teach her so much every day. That's the biggest task for big sisters."
"Really?" Allison asked, sounding a lot like her mother.
"Really, I swear." Neal made a show of faking hurt and clutching his chest, both for Allison and himself too.
"And where's Mama?"
"She's resting in her room. Your little sister made it a bit difficult for her, but rest assured, she's up and around soon enough."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Three days later, Sara was well enough to be released from the hospital. Neal and June had taken the time to adjust their bedroom with some appliances, while Peter brought their gift, a beautiful wooden cradle with intricate, detailed carvings, over, along with half a trunk full of toys, clothings and other knick-knack for a newborn baby.
Dr. Kingston, even though she was pleased with Sara's progress, insisted on a ride home with an ambulance, and so Sara, Neal, and their little baby girl were sitting on the cot in the back, while Allison waited in the living room with the rest of their ragtag family - Peter and Elizabeth with Neal Michael, Mozzie, June, Diana with Theo, and Jones. Neal and Sara already had agreed on a name for their new baby girl, but they kept it a secret until now, fully knowing that everyone was around to welcome them home.
For once, Sara didn't mind to be fussed over, not even having to sit in a wheelchair could burst her happy bubble. Holding her precious cargo close to her body, Sara let herself be showered with all the love these people had to offer, drawing much needed energy from the hugs and kind words.
"So," Mozzie started once the congratulations were delivered, "what should we call the latest addition?"
Sara and Neal exchanged a look before Sara nodded for Neal to say it.
"Guys, I want you to meet," he paused for dramatic purposes, eliciting groans from their circle of friends, "Diana Ellen Caffrey-Ellis."
"Caffrey...," Diana began, only to stop herself and quickly wiping her face.
"No, Diana, we really mean it," Sara spoke up. "If a girl can need one thing in this world, it's good role models. And both Allison and her," she lifted the baby for emphasis, "are blessed with having a whole wealth of wonderful women to learn from. Which is more than Neal and I ever could ask for, especially with both of our pasts."
"You wanna hold your goddaughter, Diana?" Neal asked while taking the baby from Sara's arms.
"You can bet on it," Diana quipped before holding her arms out. "Come here, sweetheart," she said as Neal placed the girl in them. "Hi, sweetie, I'm your godmother, and I promise you I'll always be there for you, just like everyone else here. You'll never run out of people loving you unconditionally, that as much I know." She pressed a feather-light kiss to her namesake's forehead before handing her back to Sara - or at least she attempted to, but the newly mother of two only pointed to Clinton.
"Clinton," Neal began while the man tried to adjust his arms for little Diana, "we would like you to be her godfather. Think you're up for this very special task?"
"Like Diana said, you can bet on it." He looked around at the rest of their family. "With all these wonderful women, your girls need a cool uncle." They all chose to ignore an indigant squak coming from Mozzie. "And I'd like to be that guy for them both."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The End
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To all my friends the happiest of Holidays. May you have a Christmas filled with love, laughter and lots of wonderful people! *HUGS*
PS: There's a second story for this verse coming in a couple of days ;)
This entry was originally posted at https://sandy79.dreamwidth.org/93220.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
whitecollarhc just wouldn't come together. I had to ditch three attempts on writing a story (they all resemble tangled Christmas lights XD), but finally, my brain was deep enough in the festive mood to shake out this story with our favorite con man and his own little family. Enjoy!
Summary: The latest addition to the Caffrey-Ellis household makes his (or her) entrance - in quite a dramatic way.
Notes: Part of the Allison Caffrey Chronicles. Neal, Sara and Allison are living now in June's mansion, having moved one floor down from the top floor apartment, with enough room for all of them. Written for WC H/C Advent 2017. Happy Holidays!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By the time Christmas rolled around, everyone in the house was in a festive mood. June, because she finally had a family in the house once again, bringing back all the wonderful moments she got to share with her Byron and their own children. Allison, because she understood the whole festive season a bit more every year, which in turn made her even more enjoy it to the fullest. And Neal and Sara, because at some point around the holidays, they were expanding their little family, adding a daughter or a son.
Neal was almost vibrating with joy when he met with Peter and Elizabeth for an early dinner on the 24th. Like everyone else, the Burkes had forgiven Neal for faking his death and escaping to Paris. They were happy to (a) have him back in New York, (b) see him in a very stable relationship with Sara (he might or might not already have a ring to go with a special question), and (c) see him thriving as a freelancing security and art consultant for hire. Companies of all genres came to ask him for advice to proper update their security systems, Sterling Bosch and the FBI were more than often in need of his expertise in the world of arts. All in all, life was very good for one former gentleman's thief.
"So, how's Sara today?" Elizabeth asked between bites.
"As if you wouldn't know," Neal shot back playfully. He didn't know how exactly, but somehow, El and Sara had bonded, talking to each other almost every day, be it in person, via phone, or Skype. El's answer was a raised eyebrow. "She's restless. Junior is quite an active child, even unborn, and the closer we get to the due date, the more active he or she gets." He took a sip from his water. "She can't wait for this baby to be born, and to be honest, me neither."
"Because you missed this all with Allison?" Peter asked.
"Yeah," Neal answered, his mood turning to somber. "Which is why I can't even try to understand what makes a man leave his pregnant partner." Neal referred to one of Sara's colleagues at Sterling Bosch, whose husband walked out on her as soon as she told him she was expecting.
"Me neither," Elizabeth cut in, "but good thing that she has her family close. At least she has someone to look after her and the baby."
The rest of the dinner went by rather uneventful, all three of them only talking about trivial things.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After running some last minute errands, Neal came home about an hour later. He knew that June was out with Mozzie and some other friends in their annual Christmas adventure, as June called it. Neal never asked what they were up to, but considering the good mood June and Mozzie were upon returning last year, it surely was bound to have a lot of fun included.
"Sara? Honey?" Neal called out while climbing the stairs. It wasn't that he was worried about "his" Repo, he more wanted to alert her to his presence - even pregnant she still had a good aim with her baton, as he still could recall rather painfully. And being on the receiving end of the baton once was once enough, thank you very much.
In the mean time, Neal was in their living room, but his partner was still elusive. He saw a new drawing of Allison lying on the coffee table (and dang, her apparent talent made him so proud!), on the nearest couch Sara had put out some files she wasn't supposed to have (he really should have had a second talk to her secretary). But where were his favorite girls?
"Daddy?" a sleep-ridden voice called out from the doorway. Turning around, Neal had to bite his tongue to stop himself from laughing out. Allison had inherited his unruly mop of hair, and like with him, it tended to bend in every possible direction when she was fresh out of bed. Right now, it looked as if she had stuck a finger into an electrical outlet.
"Hey, pumpkin, what's up?" Neal asked while crouching down in front of her. She didn't seem to be on alert, just sleepy.
"I can't reach the juice. Can you help me, please?" Allison asked with a glance she definitely had inherited from him as well, as Sara liked to point out.
"Sure, pumpkin." Neal grabbed her and hoisted her up on his hip. "Where's Mama?"
"Sleeping." She rubbed her eyes. "I think my brother or sister is mean to her."
"No, he or she's not. It's just that the baby has to get into a certain position before being born, so it's not so exhausting for both of them. And some babies need more tries to get there. Believe me," he sat her down on the kitchen counter next to the fridge, "once your brother or sister is born, Mama has forgotten all of that." He poured a glass and a sippy cup of orange juice and handed Ally the sippy cup.
"Really?" She asked after a sip.
"Yeah, really. Come on, let's have a look at Mama and bring her some juice as well, okay?"
"Okay."
The two made their way to Neal and Sara's bedroom - only for Neal to stop in the doorway and shielding Allison's eyes. Right in front of him, one of his biggest and most recent nightmares was, for the lack of a better word, on display. Sara was on the bed, facing the door, her hands cradling her big baby belly, her upper body turned inward towards the belly, and the bedspread underneath soaked in various shades of red, soaked with her blood.
A sound downstairs snapped Neal out of his shock, and he all but ran towards the stairs, seeing Maria, June's maid, standing at the bottom.
"Oh, Mr. Neal, are you okay?"
"N.. no." He shuddered. "Maria, could you take Allison for a little while? I don't want to see her something. I'll explain...," he began, only to be stopped with a hand.
"Don't worry, Miss Ally and I will have some fun in the kitchen." She held her arms out for Neal to hand the girl over. "And my little garden of herbs needs some special TLC as well."
With that, the Latina was off to her "kingdom", the spacious kitchen on the first floor. Neal hurried back to the bedroom, dialling 911 on the way. Once the line was established, the dispatcher asked him various things (which he never, ever would remember afterwards) before ordering him to feel for Sara's pulse. Neal almost sobbed into the phone when he found a strong, steady pulse.
Not even ten minutes later, Sara was loaded into the back of an ambulance, Neal got in beside her, and they were off to Trinity Hospital and some much needed medical professionals and their talents.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Trinity Hospital
Family Room, Surgical Ward
1 hour later
"Neal!"
Elizabeth Burke could be a loud person, if she needed to be. Apparently, now was one of those situations. Before Neal could get his bearings (he had fallen asleep), he was engulfed in a double hug, courtesy of the Burkes.
"Any updates?"
"What exactly has happened?"
Both Peter and Elizabeth fired a question at him, and at any other circumstances, Neal would have laughed about that. But right now, he was way closer to tears than anything else.
"First, nothing new. They pulled her into that room," Neal gestured over to the main entrance to the surgical theatres, "and since then, I'm waiting here to hear anything about either of them." He swallowed hard before continuing. "And second, I really don't know. She had no complications during this pregnancy, all the results were perfect, her doctor was confident that everything will run smoothly till the end. and now..." Again, Neal tried to swallow his tears, but now, the fear inside him had reached the threshold and went over it, causing Neal to break down and cry, supported by the Burkes.
That's how Dr. Kingston found them several minutes later. Neal with his head on Elizabeth's lap, and Peter having his six in the most literal way of the word, sitting as close as possible behind Neal's back.
"Neal?"
He looked up, but Dr. Kingston quickly realized that he barely could see her through the tears still flooding his beautiful eyes.
"How is she? How is the baby?"
Elizabeth asked the questions before any of the guys had a chance. Neal finally calmed down and got back to sitting, just like Dr. Kingston herself.
"With Sara, it's still a touch-and-go, but we have stabilized her for the time being. What caused the great blood loss was a ruptured artery in her uterus." She looked up to see three sets of eyes locked on her lips. "It's messy, no doubt, but it wasn't as life-threatening as it looks at first." Neal visibly exhaled, a sort of calmness slowly coming over him. "We were able to close the rupture, and right now, we're keep filling her up with blood, to replenish what she has lost."
"Will...," Neal started, but stopped, shrubbing his face with both of his hands, "will she recover completely?"
"Absolutely, if she, and you, follow my instructions."
"Of course, Doctor, we'll do whatever you say." Neal briefly locked gazes with her, to drive his intention home, before looking back to the doorway of the surgical area. "I can't raise two kids on my own." He laughed, but it was a hollow, lost sound. "The old Neal would disagree with me here, but then again, I never had such a task in my old life."
For a few heartbeats, the room was shrouded in silence, and Dr. Kingston was about to deliver the best news in the lights of the recent events, when Neal suddenly started to talk again.
"You know, Doc, what my worst nightmare is?" She shook her head, even though she had a good hunch. "It's losing Sara, or Ally." He looked up again, his blue eyes ablaze with fire and passion. "Isn't it funny how you can have everything the world has to offer at your disposal and realize that nothing of that is of true valor when you're all on your own?"
No one said a word. Peter was surprised to hear such words coming from his friend, but if he was honest, Neal had made a full turn-around in the last two years. And it wasn't such a task to connect that change with Sara and Allison entering his life.
"Neal, would you please come with me?" Dr. Kingston broke the silence.
"Sure, but why?" Neal was a bit confused, and he couldn't keep the fear rising up again.
"Because there's a sweet and very healthy baby waiting to finally meet its daddy, that's why," Dr. Kingston quipped before leaving the room, a smile spreading on her face, which only got broader when she saw the Burkes all but ushering Neal out and in her direction.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Several minutes later, Neal's face was plastered to the large window on the Neonatal floor, his eyes fixed on the pink-clad bundle right in the middle of the bassinets behind it.
"Merry Christmas, Neal," Peter suddenly said from his left side, placing a hand on his shoulder. Elizabeth mirrored her husband on Neal's other side, and together, they feasted their eyes on the most adorable display in front of them.
"What?" For the second time this day, Neal was confused.
In lieu of an verbal answer, Elizabeth pointed to the digital clock on the far end of the room. Which read a couple of minutes after midnight, on December 25th.
"Oh," was all Neal got out once he had realized the meaning. His second daughter was, by all means, a Christmas miracle.
"You guys have a name for her?" Peter asked, his eyes still trained on the little girl.
"We had some candidates, but I want to wait for Sara to choose it together," Neal said with a bit more than a light tinge of tears to his voice. "And I don't think that this sweet girl," he pointed to her, "would mind being called Baby Girl Caffrey for some days."
"Daddy?"
For the second time in 24 hours, Allison's voice came from a doorway, this time safely in Maria's arms. Neal beckoned them closer, breaking the small semi-circle he and the Burkes had formed, and took his firstborn from Maria.
"See that pink bundle right in the middle?" Neal asked Allison while pointing to the baby in question, receiving a very enthusiastic nod. "That's your baby sister, pumpkin."
"Oh," Allison all but whispered, her mouth making a perfect "O". Behind Neal's back, Peter, Elizabeth and Maria exchanged a knowingly look. Neal might deny it (but not too much), but he was definitely and absolutely smitten with his girls.
"Daddy? When can I play with her?" Allison suddenly asked, and everyone in hearing distance had to bite their tongue to keep from laughing out loud. Leave it to the older Caffrey-Ellis girl to lighten the mood, even when she's not aware of the severeness of the current situation.
"That, sweetheart, will take some time. But you can teach her so much every day. That's the biggest task for big sisters."
"Really?" Allison asked, sounding a lot like her mother.
"Really, I swear." Neal made a show of faking hurt and clutching his chest, both for Allison and himself too.
"And where's Mama?"
"She's resting in her room. Your little sister made it a bit difficult for her, but rest assured, she's up and around soon enough."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Three days later, Sara was well enough to be released from the hospital. Neal and June had taken the time to adjust their bedroom with some appliances, while Peter brought their gift, a beautiful wooden cradle with intricate, detailed carvings, over, along with half a trunk full of toys, clothings and other knick-knack for a newborn baby.
Dr. Kingston, even though she was pleased with Sara's progress, insisted on a ride home with an ambulance, and so Sara, Neal, and their little baby girl were sitting on the cot in the back, while Allison waited in the living room with the rest of their ragtag family - Peter and Elizabeth with Neal Michael, Mozzie, June, Diana with Theo, and Jones. Neal and Sara already had agreed on a name for their new baby girl, but they kept it a secret until now, fully knowing that everyone was around to welcome them home.
For once, Sara didn't mind to be fussed over, not even having to sit in a wheelchair could burst her happy bubble. Holding her precious cargo close to her body, Sara let herself be showered with all the love these people had to offer, drawing much needed energy from the hugs and kind words.
"So," Mozzie started once the congratulations were delivered, "what should we call the latest addition?"
Sara and Neal exchanged a look before Sara nodded for Neal to say it.
"Guys, I want you to meet," he paused for dramatic purposes, eliciting groans from their circle of friends, "Diana Ellen Caffrey-Ellis."
"Caffrey...," Diana began, only to stop herself and quickly wiping her face.
"No, Diana, we really mean it," Sara spoke up. "If a girl can need one thing in this world, it's good role models. And both Allison and her," she lifted the baby for emphasis, "are blessed with having a whole wealth of wonderful women to learn from. Which is more than Neal and I ever could ask for, especially with both of our pasts."
"You wanna hold your goddaughter, Diana?" Neal asked while taking the baby from Sara's arms.
"You can bet on it," Diana quipped before holding her arms out. "Come here, sweetheart," she said as Neal placed the girl in them. "Hi, sweetie, I'm your godmother, and I promise you I'll always be there for you, just like everyone else here. You'll never run out of people loving you unconditionally, that as much I know." She pressed a feather-light kiss to her namesake's forehead before handing her back to Sara - or at least she attempted to, but the newly mother of two only pointed to Clinton.
"Clinton," Neal began while the man tried to adjust his arms for little Diana, "we would like you to be her godfather. Think you're up for this very special task?"
"Like Diana said, you can bet on it." He looked around at the rest of their family. "With all these wonderful women, your girls need a cool uncle." They all chose to ignore an indigant squak coming from Mozzie. "And I'd like to be that guy for them both."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The End
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To all my friends the happiest of Holidays. May you have a Christmas filled with love, laughter and lots of wonderful people! *HUGS*
PS: There's a second story for this verse coming in a couple of days ;)
This entry was originally posted at https://sandy79.dreamwidth.org/93220.html. Please comment there using OpenID.