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"How on earth do you hold a baby?" Josh looked up at Chris, eyes wide and unsure, more than Chris had ever seen him look. The tiny bundle in his arms shifted, yawning and then settled again. Still, Josh's eyes flickered down with panic at the idea of having done anything wrong.
"Relax, Liebling." Chris murmured fondly and leaned against the examination table so he could lean over Josh's shoulder and look at the baby girl's face. He was utterly transfixed by the small, living and breathing human in Josh's arms. As was Josh, when he wasn't panicking. He let a fingertip gently trail over the ridge of the tiny nose, his heart filling endlessly with love. "You are doing wonderfully."
"I am?" Josh asked hesitantly and Chris replied with a kiss to his head, lips lingering in the soft hair for a moment.
"Yes, you are." He softly whispered. "As long as you support her head, everything will be okay.
Josh nodded as if confirming it to himself. His body unconsciously leaned back into Chris's as if to seek his warmth and security. If Chris was there, Josh was sure they could manage it all.
"You think we should call Kate and Jill?" He spoke after a moment, glancing at his husband. They had promised the pair to call as soon as they got the notification that the baby was there. They had waited a bit, wanting to bask in the warmth and excitement of being fresh parents just for a tiny while. But they had a surprise for Kate after all.
"Yes, that's a good idea. The aunties need to meet their niece, right?” Chris replied and was already pulling his phone out of his pocket. He dialed Kate's number and with the phone already to his ear, took a few steps towards the window and turned away a bit.
Josh couldn't hear Kate pick up but following Chris’s parts he understood that Jill and Kate seemed to be happy and promised to come to the hospital immediately. Chris hung up and came back to Josh's side.
“They're on their way.” He softly said and sat down next to Josh, who nodded.
“Can I hold her a bit?” Chris asked and his husband immediately nodded and started to carefully hand her over.
“Gosh, of course.” Josh mumbled, almost apologetically. Careful not to let her head drop, Chris slid an arm under her small body and easily took her from Josh. “Sorry, I didn't mean to keep her all too myself.” Josh said as he watched his husband with the small baby, heart ready to burst and god, had he ever felt that much love for Chris before? Surely not.
For a while they simply watched their daughter, occasionally commenting on a tiny detail about her or mumbling something about how grateful they were and how much they loved each other. And once, rather panicked, Josh suddenly asked if they had brought the carrier. Yes, they had. They felt like this moment could go on forever.
A soft knock interrupted their peace and in perfect synchronicity Josh and Chris looked up, just on time to see Kate's head poke through the few inches the door hadn't been opened.
“Will you go in or keep me standing in the hallway?” Jill grumbled fondly behind her and, apparently, gave her a soft smack on the arse, resulting in a small help from Kate, a fond glare and then a step forward into the room. Jill following right behind her and clicking the door shut again.
Kate's eyes softened immediately as she laid eyes on the small baby.
“Oh, look Jillian. She's so small.” She whispered in awe and naturally reached for her wife's hand.
“Yes, that's generally how it works.” Jill replied dryly, but curled her fingers around Kate's and gently squeezed. Her eyes also trailed to the squirming bundle in Chris's arms.
“She appears to be unsatisfied.” Jill said, eliciting a soft chuckle from not only Kate but also Chris. He stood up and approached the two women with his daughter in his arms, Josh followed.
“Would you like to hold her, Kate?” He asked and could immediately tell that she was much more excited about the prospect of holding her than she would ever admit. She nodded but last second remembered that she should wash her hands first and so she quickly darted into the bathroom.
“Okay, now I'm ready.” She said softly when she came back and after a bit of maneuvering she held the little girl in her arms. The baby made a displeased sound, kicked its tiny feet but quickly settled when Kate rocked it a little bit, eyes falling shut again.
Jill looked more in love than she ever had.
“What's her name?” Kate asked curiously and looked up at the two new dads. Her brows furrowed a bit when Josh looked at the baby, seeming almost shy, instead of her and Chris seemed to search for the right words.
“Well, we thought about that for a while and the mother only said she would like the baby to have her mother’s middle name and honestly we're so grateful for this we would have probably agreed to anything.” Josh chuckled next to him.
“So her middle name is Rebecca.” Chris explained and played with the tiny fingers of his daughter. Then he looked up at Kate.
“We wanted to call her Katherine,” he started and Kate immediately opened her mouth to argue, tell him that that was utterly ridiculous and so very unnecessary but he held up a hand to stop her, “but we didn’t. We knew you'd hate it. But you once told me your middle name is Sally.”
God, Kate could already feel her throat close up.
“Sally Rebecca Ibrahim,” Chris said gently, “has a ring to it, no?”
Kate had gone very quiet and Jill knew her well enough to understand that she was fighting a very hard and very futile battle against tears. She placed a warm hand on Kate's lower back as if saying I'm here.
“God.” Kate huffed, voice a tiny bit shaky and shook her head to will a few lone tears back. Her eyes shone regardless.
“You two are enormous idiots.” She said but the words lacked all bite and only came out fond and soft. She looked back down at the baby, at Sally, eyes brimming with tears that made it hard to make out her features. She leaned down and with a touching softness kissed her small head.
“Hello, Sally. It appears we share a name.”