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« Told you she was a girl, » says Adam. He’s cradling a bundle of pink blankets in his arms, cooing adorably at the newborn baby in the middle of the hospital room.
Jaz rolls her eyes at him. « You said that for every kid, » Still, she leans back against the pillows, watching her husband get completely smitten with their daughter.
« But I was right for that one, » Adam grins, briefly raising his eyes to hers before getting back to the baby.
« Sure Top, one out of three is a great ratio. »
He’d turned into Adam when they’d first started seeing each other, but his old nickname still slips here and there, just like he often teases her about being a ninja, or sometimes calls her Khan out of habit. « Give her to me, » she demands when their daughter starts fussing, hands clasping for her in the air.
Baby girl Dalton- as she is labeled in the nursery-opens her eyes, wide and blue and so Top, that Jaz stops for a moment, in awe of the tiny thing in her arms.
« How come she opens her eyes for you and not me? » asks Adam as he settles next to her.
Jaz pushes down the hem of her bathrobe and the baby automatically latches to her nipple. « Cause I have breasts and you don’t, ».
She remembers how terrified she was at first with Eli, how she just stared helplessly at Adam, silently begging him to do something, anything to help her know how in the hell she was supposed to breastfeed him. He’d had experience with his sister’ kid and he’d been her rock through all the early morning diapers and late nights feedings.
So when they’d first handed her Eli, telling her he was hungry, she’d relied on Adam to do all the work. He’d made a joke about how Eli was just like his father, avidly sucking at her nipple and she’d rolled her eyes, but it had still managed to do the trick, to help settle her nerves. To Jaz, the third one is a lot easier, and she watches as her baby gulps down the milk, tiny fingers grasping at her breast.
Adam shakes his head with a grin, wrapping his arm around her. Jaz leans against him, still feeling a little wobbly. « I love you, » he whispers into the crook of her neck and she smiles softly.
« I love you too, »
« I was talking to her, » smirks Adam and Jaz playfully swats him.
« Might I remind you I’ve just pushed for hours here? » she asks.
« And crushed my hand in the process, »
Jaz quirks up an eyebrow at Adam’s bashful grin. « Are you complaining? »
« Not until the next one, » he laughs, scratching the back of his head as he flexes his fingers.
She opens wide eyes at Adam, not quite sure she heard right. « How many of those do you expect me to pop out? »
This time it’s Adam who opens wide eyes, mostly because he knows she can’t resist him when he stares at her like that. « One more? »
Jaz thinks of the house with the many bookshelves and the oak floors and the empty room they still have. It was supposed to be Adam’s project, to turn that room into something that was never quite defined as he changed his idea every week. First a study, then a library, then some playroom, but it basically remained empty through the years. Looking at him, Jaz sees why he stalled on every project, why he was so evasive and unfocused in an un-Top way.
He wants another kid in that room. She’s barely pushed one out of her and he already wants to put another one in there. « We’ll see, » Jaz murmurs because she’s still sore as hell from labor and barely can imagine having to deal with the boys and a baby, even less with two.
« Jaz-» starts Adam and she turns to him, tearing her eyes away from their newest addition.
« I’m not saying no. I’m saying first let’s see if this one turns out to be as much trouble as her brothers, »
Adam smirks, shaking his head before bringing her closer to him. « I’m blaming it on you, » he says and she raises an eyebrow at him. « You were never able to follow orders, »
« Hey, you knew what you were getting into, » shrugs Jaz, softly caressing their daughter’s cheek. « Look at her, she looks just like you, »
And for a moment they stay like that, wrapped into each other’s arms, staring at their baby as she falls asleep, with her perfect rosy newborn face and tiny fingers.
« She needs a name, » Adam’s voice breaks through the silence.
Jaz turns to him. « How about Alice? »
It’s his sister’s name; the one who died in the car crash. From the pictures she’s seen, she looked just like Adam, blonde haired, blue eyed, round faced. Seems fitting for their daughter.
She watches as Adam inhales, his grip tightening on her waist. « You really think so? »
« I think it’s the right one for her, »
He bends down to kiss her, the kind of soft kiss he gave her during early mornings whenever they sneaked around in the Quonset.
« Where’s my niece? » McG’s voice booms through the air as he pushes the door open. Jaz and Adam break off, turning their heads toward the frenzy of people coming in. « Oh boy- Jaz has her boobs out, the boys can’t come, Hannah, »
« It’s just breastfeeding, Joseph, » replies Hannah with Jaz and Adam’s youngest boy on her hip, rolling her eyes as she opens the door wider. « Want to see your little sister, Mikey? »
The toddler nods, curiously craning his neck to get a better view of the baby. Eli runs through the room, jumping on the bed without notice, a flurry of wild hair and skinned knees. He doesn’t seem half as fazed by his mother’s breasts as McG is, and he cuddles to Jaz’s side without a second glance to them.
« Hey hun, » says Jaz, smoothing down Eli’s curly hair. « You had fun at Uncle Joe and Aunt Hannah’s? »
The little boy turns to her with a toothy grin that shows off his dimples. « Yeah, we made cookies and shot guns, »
Jaz sees Adam looking sharply at McG. « Water guns! » he says, holding his hands in the air.
« We pushed uncle Joe in the pool, » he continues and Jaz knows she should chide him for that, but he looks so cute she decides to let it slide for today.
« Your sons are worse than you are, Khan, »
Jaz plucks Alice off of her breast before covering herself with her bathrobe. « I have a feeling this one won’t be better, » she says as she adjusts her position so Mikey can climb on her lap.
McG mumbles something that looks a lot like God help us, but he quickly turns silent to stare at his niece.
« She looks just like Dalton, » murmurs Hannah. By the way her eyes are glued to the baby, Jaz would bet a lot on McG becoming a father not so long after his wedding, which should be in less than a year according to planning.
« Knock knock, » says Amir as he and Preach enter the room with too many pink balloons to count.
« I still can’t believe Adam finally guessed the gender right, » Preach winks as Adam gets up to greet the newcomers.
« Gender guessed right, healthy and everything, » he grins proudly. Jaz smiles at him, cuddling her boys closer as they coo over their sleeping baby sister.
« So, does she have a name? » Hannah’s voice is soft , stretching to them from where she stands, wrapped in McG’s arms on the other side of the bed.
Adam sits back next to his family, pulling Eli into his lap as he kisses the side of Jaz’s head.
« Everyone meet Alice, »
xxxxx
« Hey Hannah! » Jaz greets the woman standing on her wide sweeping porch. She frowns when she doesn’t see McG. « Where’s Joe? »
He’d told her he would come when she’d talked to him that very morning- another one of the daily calls the give to each other almost religiously.
« He saw the kids in the backyard, » says Hannah as she kicks off her booties in the entryway. « You know how he gets with them, »
Jaz shakes her head with a sly smile on her face. McG literally melts in front of her kids, and it’s so adorable she wonders how in the hell he isn’t a father yet.
« Want some wine? » she asks over her shoulder as they pass through the oak floors, heading for the kitchen.
« I’m good, »
« I have some tea ready. That’s pretty much the only thing I’m allowed to have right now, » Jaz rolls her eyes.
« Still breastfeeding? » Hannah walks into the kitchen behind Jaz, joining her at the island.
Jaz makes a face as she pours the steaming tea in two mugs. « All the time, » she mutters, pushing a mug towards Hannah. « Which would be fine if he wasn’t such a little vampire, »
Hannah laughs at that. « I still can’t believe Adam managed to convince you to have another one, »
« It’s the last one, I was very firm on that point. But then again, now I can’t see how I ever lived without that tiny nipple tearer, »
Outside, they hear the kids shrieking and they turn to the window to find Adam and McG chasing after them. Little Alice is steadily running on her two chubby legs, already trying to updo her brothers. With her stream of blond hair and pale blue eyes, it’s clear she’s Adam’s daughter, but her personality is all Jaz. Mini-Khan, is what Adam loves to call her, but the two years old just huffs and rolls her eyes in a perfect imitation of her mother, replying each time she doesn’t know what that means.
The baby’s cries burst through the monitor and Jaz leaves the room, motioning for Hannah to take a seat in the breakfast nook.
« Hey there Joey, » Jaz coos over the crib, « are you hungry? »
She grabs her baby -her heaviest yet- and cradles him to her arms, lightly bouncing him. « Of course you are, when aren’t you? »
He smiles at her. One of those baby smiles that makes their whole face light up and their eyes go wide. Jaz smoothes down his hair before unbuttoning her blouse and bringing him to her breast. Like usual, he latches automatically, biting her nipple with his little gums.
Jaz goes back to the kitchen with Joey in her arms, knowing very well she’ll be holed up in the nursery for hours if she waits for the baby to be done. Hannah is staring at the scene unfolding outside, a soft smile on her lips.
Her wedding band catches the sun and Jaz’s eyes trail lower, down to the red blouse Hannah is wearing. « So, how far along are you? »
« Excuse me? » Hannah asks, clearly startled by Jaz’s bluntness.
« I know a pregnant woman when I see one, » Jaz replies with a quirked eyebrow. She watches Hannah’s face as it loses its precious control, her expression turning into one of complete softness.
« Two months, »
Jaz studies her. « Does Joe knows? » He’s never mentioned it to her and she doubts he would have left this out.
« Not yet. I didn’t want to get his hopes up for nothing, »
« Smart move, » nods Jaz as she shifts Joey. She knows how much Joe wants to have a kid, how he’s been telling her so for the past year. « You’re glowing, by the way, »
Hannah puts down her mug, still giving that soft look to McG and the kids. « I’m just so excited, »
« You’ll love it, » declares Jaz as Adam and McG enter the kitchen by the back door, the kids still running around the yard, playing with the fallen leaves.
« Hey, Jazzy, » smiles McG as he kisses the top of her head, giving her a half-embrace she pertinently knows has been rendered awkward by the sight of her bare breast.
« Is he still sucking? » Adam asks, handing a beer to McG.
Jaz glances at baby Joey who is still firmly latched to her, tiny lips gulping down the milk. « I swear that’s all he does, »
« He’s living up to his namesake, » grins McG and Hannah palms her forehead.
« Please don’t make me regret naming my kid after you, » mumbles Adam. he passes a hand through his beard and Jaz stays silent for some time, observing the discussion as it unfolds in front of her.
Life goes on after the army, sometimes in the most unexpected way. Staring at it on that Saturday afternoon, with her best friend about to become a dad and the guy she’d thought unattainable now the father of her children, Jaz can’t help but be very glad she chose to go back to the Pennsylvania cabin during her last leave.