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When Will woke, the first thing he noted was how uncomfortable he was. With his hair matted down by the accumulated sweat, the curls stuck to his forehead. He shifted, his entire body aching sore. He felt tired, though he’d just woken up.
The sight of the creamy white, dotted hospital ceiling and buzzy lights immediately brought him back. A quick scan around the room was enough to recall what had happened.
He remembered his water breaking. He remembered the pain, the horrid cramping, screaming Mack’s name while he pushed. He remembered Mack talking him through the labour, holding his hand and brushing his hair out of his face as the nurses busied themselves around his lower half.
“Baby,”
Craning his neck, Will was met with the softest admiration ever. The same look Will had seen on Mack’s face countless times. However, it was different this time. Mack’s green eyes were the brightest they’ve ever been, despite the under-eye bags from the loss of sleep, crinkled at the edges by his huge, gummy grin. He wore a pair of joggers and a hoodie — Will’s hoodie.
“Mack,” Will croaked, immediately trying to sit up. He remembered the screams. The tiny little limbs flailing, pathetically useless as the baby was placed upon his chest, curled up in his neck, the hospital gown unbuttoned, bare skin on bare skin. Will remembered faint details, the nurses ushering around him as the baby’s wails got louder. The baby. “Where’s —”
Launching forward, Mack’s hands flew to Will’s cheeks, cradling his face as he pressed his lips against Will’s. It was a chaste, sweet gesture, not very heated. Will melted, leaning into his hands. The smell of Mack’s cologne was musky and warm, comforting.
When Mack pulled away, his eyes were glassy, and tears flooded his waterline, threatening to fall. “Will,” He whispered, his forehead against Will’s, “Will, he’s perfect.”
Will could barely fight off his own tears before they were rolling down his cheeks, Mack already wiping them away before they could spill. “Where is he?” he asked, wetly.
Mack sniffled, glancing at the door. “He’s getting cleaned,” He answered, his fingers curling around Will’s jaw as he leaned forward once more, peppering light kisses all over Will’s face. “God, Will, he’s so perfect,” Mack repeated, tears continuously rolling down his cheeks. “You held him, as soon as he came out — you passed out with him in your arms.”
Stunned, Will sat there as the overwhelming feelings from having just given birth washed over him. “Mack —” Will cried out, his arms outstretched as his face crumpled, his sobs bubbling out uncontrollably.
Mack was quick to seat himself on the edge of the hospital bed, his hands falling off Will’s face and around his waist, rubbing his back. “I know, baby.” He choked out through his own tears, “You were so good.” Mack rested his chin on Will’s hair, “So good, the baby’s so healthy, Will, he’s so perfect.”
Murmuring soft, quiet reassurance to each other, Will’s cries had eventually lessened, and Mack’s cheeks were finally wiped dry when a faint wail — a baby’s cry — was heard from the hallway. Will stilled, his fist curling in Mack’s hoodie.
A knock echoed from the door, the wails getting exceptionally louder. A nurse in light green scrubs rolled in a white hospital bassinet that squeaked with each movement. “He’s a beautiful, healthy baby boy,” She announced, coming to a halt at Will’s bedside. Mack jolted up, immediately rising to his feet. “Congratulations, you two.”
“Mack,” Will gasped, the tears welling up once again.
Glancing at the two men, acknowledging their teary eyes, the nurse smiled, the giddiness of delivering a baby gone well unable to stay contained. “I’ll give you guys a minute.” She nodded before hastily stepping out of the room.
The baby squirmed, kicking and fussing in the bassinet, screaming his tiny little head off. He was rolled up in a white cloth, though that didn’t stop him from tossing and turning, trying to free his limbs.
Mack looked back at Will before he reached for the newborn, the baby immediately quieting down a notch in his hold, though the screams were still relentlessly loud. Will couldn’t contain it any longer, his cheeks flooding with tears again as he watched Mack carefully — so, so carefully — hold the baby against his chest.
He sat back down next to Will, his eyes continuously darting back to Will, then down at their baby. “Will,” Mack murmured, “Will.”
Will took a deep breath before he gestured Mack closer and examined the baby’s tiny little features, the tiny slope of his nose, the distressed wrinkle in his forehead, the fine, dark hairs curling across his head.
“Can I —” Was all Will had to say before Mack was migrating the baby from his hold into Will’s, his eyes earnest and wide as he watched Will slowly take the weight of the baby from his hands.
The baby was light, barely any weight at all, with pinkish pale skin and an adorable scrunch to his nose. He held him against his chest, gently cradling his son. Mack watched in awe as Will slowly rocked him back and forth, mumbling soft, hushed promises as he sniffled through his words. The baby’s cries lessened before coming to a full stop, his face turned into Will’s hospital gown.
“Oh, my god.” He said, looking back up at Mack, “Mackie.”
Mack wrapped his arms back around Will, tugging him close, the baby sound asleep on Will’s chest. “We did it, Will.” he said, “You did it.”
Will simply shook his head, words too much of a struggle to manage out, tears still streaming down his face, his toothy smile taking over. Mack’s hand came up to cradle Will’s ruddy cheek, the other still resting against his back. “My baby, you were so good.”
It took a while for them both to actually calm down, for the waterworks to stop. Will would stop crying, and then Mack would immediately break down in tears, and when he would finally quit it, Will would start sniffling again. Eventually, though, the tears subsided, and it was just them — just Will and Mack and their baby.
“Liam.” Mack whispered, “Liam Celebrini-Smith.”
Will closed his eyes, holding back any tears he had left, and mumbled out a quiet little, “Perfect.”
It was after Will’s shower, and he was comfortably dressed in a silk pyjama shirt and shorts and under the shitty material of the hospital bed covers, that they decided visitors were okay. As soon as Colleen stepped into the room, Will broke out in tears once again. “Momma,”
She didn’t gasp or ask any questions; she didn’t even look at the baby, only striding over to her own baby and wrapping her arms around him. “Oh, honey,” Colleen whispered as Will cried in her embrace. He wasn’t sobbing anymore, but he was still a little emotional — it had been a long couple of days full of stress, exhaustion, sleep deprivation, anxiety, and, along with his hormones, it all came crashing down on him at once.
Standing at his bedside stood Mack, sympathetically staring at the sight. Curled in his arms was Liam, unconscious but entirely healthy and absolutely adorable, his soft snores a constant reassuring reminder that he was, in fact, breathing, alive and okay.
Bill and Grace entered the room shortly after Colleen. In Grace’s hands were multiple tote bags, all fat and full. Bill balanced two coffee cups in one hand as he recorded on his phone in the other.
“Oh, my god.”
Grace dropped the bags, immediately coming up at Mack’s side. “Will — Mack, he’s so cute!” She all but squealed. Will pushed out of his mom’s hold, turning to watch Grace squeal and coo over her new nephew. Colleen tutted, fingers brushing the tears away from his swollen, irritated under-eyes. She sat herself on the side of the bed, her hand coming up to intertwine with Will’s own. “How are you feeling?”
“Okay,” Will said, hushed. “I’m okay.”
Grace practically lunged for Will, wrapping him in a tight hug before pulling away. “God, you’re literally glowing.”
“Thanks, Gracie.”
Bill spoke up from where he was crowding the end of Will’s bed, “We’re proud of you, son.”
Will spared him a tired smile. Colleen sprang up from the bed, immediately making her way over to Mack, “Let me see my grand-baby,” she demanded, though it wasn’t really a demand. “Oh, sweetheart,” she cooed at the baby.
Liam wiggled a couple of times before stilling, his delicate features resting. “He might look sweet, but he screams his head off whenever we even try to put him down,” Mack mumbled.
Colleen chuckled, “You know that’s exactly how Will was.” She started rambling on about her own birth stories, turning to Will, who was nodding instinctively as Colleen gave him unwarranted advice on what he should do when he gets home, every word she said coming in one ear and out the other.
It was around the forty-minute mark that Will looked at Mack with desperate, pleading eyes. Quick to get the memo, he slowly started subtly ending their visit, “Will should probably get some rest now.” He stated.
Colleen nodded knowingly, pressing one last fat kiss to her own son’s forehead. She pecked Mack’s cheek before ushering everyone out of the room. Grace gave her farewell, gesturing to the tote bag halfway spilling onto the ground, “Just some extra things I thought you might appreciate,” she said before scrambling out the room. Bill just waved, mumbling updates to his phone and the multiple aunts and uncles on the line.
As soon as the door shut, Will slumped back, exhaling a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “That was…”
“A lot.” Mack finished, placing Liam down in the bassinet.
Will sighed, rubbing at his eyes. “I think I really needed that, though.”
Coming to sit beside Will, Mack reached for his hand, cradling Will’s sweaty, curled palm in his own. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” He said, falling forward, resting his forehead against Mack’s shoulder.
With not even a full minute of him being out of Mack’s arms, Liam stirred, kicking a leg out, blinking blearily at the world around him before erupting into a fitful cry, his mouth hanging open as high-pitched cries flooded out.
Mack groaned, but it was more fond, if anything. He padded over to the bassinet. “Alright, alright,” he murmured, grabbing the little bundle. “I know, I know.” He sympathised, though the baby didn’t seem to care what Mack had to say.
He sat back down, holding Liam in between them. “This feels…surreal.”
“You’re telling me.” Will scoffed. He sat up on his knees, leaning forward to trail kisses down Mack’s cheek, to his ear, neck, collarbone. “M’happy, though.”
“Me too.”
Liam screamed, the crease in his forehead deepening. Will took the baby from Mack, cooing at the little thing. “Oh my god, Mack.” He giggled, “He looks like you,” Will yipped, “He does the same forehead thing — lookit.”
Mack stifled a laugh, “Shut up.”
As if he was enchanted, Liam stopped crying as soon as Will cradled him against his chest. “Oh, baby.” he sucked in a breath. “That’s unfair.” Mack protested, but scooted closer to the pair, halfway pulling Will into his lap.
Mack nuzzled up against Will’s shoulder from behind, his hand snaking around to rest on Will’s stomach, the bump where Liam had previously been. He pulled Will close, his back pressing into Mack’s chest.
Will raised Liam into the air, his hands tucked up the baby’s armpit, holding him up like that one scene from The Lion King. “Hello Liam,” he cooed, his voice pitching higher, “Hi baby,” he beamed.
Liam swung his arm — the best he could — in response. Will was just about to rock him back to sleep when a tiny little squeak emitted from his throat. Followed by another, and another.
A hiccup.
Three hiccups.
Will’s head snapped toward Mack, who was already looking at Will, with wide, proud eyes. “Mack —”
“He just hiccuped,” Mack said, laughing. “Fresh out the womb and hiccuping.”
Will laughed back, “He’s amazing.”
“The best baby ever.” Mack crooned.
“Mhm…” Will hummed, rocking Liam back and forth, trying his best to fight off the hot pressure beating at him behind his eyes, his bottom lip wobbling.
Mack seemed to notice the shift in mannerism immediately, already thumbing at Will’s chin, redirecting his gaze to look at Mack. “Will?”
“Yeah?” He sniffled.
“Are you…crying?” Mack asked, despite already knowing the answer. “Are you crying because our baby hiccuped?”
That was when it all unravelled, and tears spilt over his face for the nth time that evening.
“No…” Will lied waterily. “Maybe.”
Mack chuckled, burying his face into Will’s nape, “My cry-baby,” he murmured, his arms tightening from where they were encircled around Will’s torso. “Well, cry babies.”
“Shut up.” Will leaned back into his chest, closing his eyes as Liam drooled on him, “I love you.”
“I love you too, baby.”