Fishing for the keys in his pocket, Lindsey could barely suppress the smile on his face, hearing his daughter, just a few days old, behind him, making baby noises as Stevie held her. It all happened so quickly. One day, they were putting the finishing touches on the nursery and here they were now, bringing their girl home.
"After you." Lindsey pushed the door open, allowing Stevie to go in first.
They were met with Stevie's mother and Will, who were both excited about meeting Jasmine. Barbara took over her granddaughter from Stevie, cooing to the baby, as Stevie stood back, with Lindsey's arm wrapped around her back as they watched.
"We made her." Lindsey whispered to Stevie, who lay her head on his shoulder, nodding.
"I think we did pretty damn good."
"She is just the cutest little girl." Barbara smiled, looking up. "Not even you were that cute, Teedee."
"Well, thanks, Mom." Stevie rolled her eyes, of course, not taking it to heart.
"Can I please meet my sister already?" Will asked, standing next to Barbara. She explained him how to hold his arms out and then put the baby into them.
"Hey, there, sis. I'm Will, your big brother. You don't have to worry about anything, because you have me to protect you from everything and everyone." He spoke in a very serious tone. "You're really beautiful too, you know. Good thing you look more like Mom."
"Hey!" Lindsey wasn't expecting that comment, which made Stevie and Barbara laugh.
"It's only the truth." Will shrugged and then gave Jasmine back to Stevie, as she began to fuss.
"I wish Daddy was here too." Stevie sighed, looking down at her daughter's blue eyes.
"He wanted to be here, he really did, but he wasn't feeling very good. Once he's all better, trust me, he'll be right here with you."
"I know, I understand, but..." She trailed off, changing the subject. "I'm going to feed her and put to bed."
"Okay, you do that, honey, and I'll make all of us something to eat." Barbara said and they scattered for some time.
After bringing Stevie's things to their bedroom, Lindsey then went to the nursery, watching her talking to Jasmine in her baby voice, once she had fed the girl. It warmed his heart - the image of the woman he loved with all his heart, sitting in a rocking chair by the crib of their newborn daughter, softly singing her to sleep. Just a few years ago he would have never thought he would have this.
"You can come in, you know. We don't bite." Stevie said, the whole time aware of Lindsey's presence.
"I didn't want to ruin this precious moment." He entered the room and sat down on the floor. "I love you so much, you know that right?"
Smiling, she nodded her head. "I would hope so. Because if you didn't, I'm not sure what this is doing on my finger." She held up her hand, showing the engagement ring he put on just days before they welcomed Jasmine.
"You've given me so much, baby." Lindsey continued. "You've changed my life, our life, for the better. It's... it's full now. Family is all I have ever truly wanted and I wouldn't want it with anyone else but you."
"You'll make me cry." Stevie whispered, noting her baby girl already being asleep in her embrace. "I can't take all the credit. You know of my struggles in the past and then you became a part of my life and here I am, rocking our beautiful child."
"I think it's fair to say that we are to each other what we've both been looking for forever. That missing piece, each other's better half."
"Exactly." Smiling through her tears, Stevie held out her hand for Lindsey to take, as he brought it up to his lips and pressed a kiss to it.
"I can't wait for when you become my wife."
"Yeah, well, that might take a while." She laughed lightly. "When I put on my wedding dress, I want to be the most beautiful woman in the room, as absolutely vain as that sounds, I won't be showing off this baby weight."
"Can I tell you a secret?" Lindsey asked, after those words from her.
"A secret? I'm not very good with keeping secrets."
"You don't necessarily have to keep it."
"Fine, then. Tell me."
"You already are the most beautiful woman no matter in what room you walk into."
Unable to fight back any longer, Stevie let a few tears escape, as she quickly wiped them away with the back of her hand. "Thank you, but however beautiful and flattering your words are, Linds, the doctor did say six weeks..."
He laughed, shaking his head. "I didn't say that because I want to get you back into bed right this minute."
"No, I know, I'm just kidding. I simply don't want to be crying."
"If it's happy tears, I can't say it's that big of a problem, huh?"
"Right, but I feel like I have cried too much in my life as it is."
Getting up on his feet, Lindsey took Jasmine from Stevie, gently, so he wouldn't wake her and lay her down in the crib, then took Stevie by the hand and led her outside into their own bedroom.
"I swear to you, as long as I'm around you, you won't ever have to shed another tear, because you got hurt. I won't let you get hurt, Steph. That's... that's my oath to you." He smiled, his palms on the small of her back, as she locked hers around his neck.
"How very knight in shining armor of you." She chuckled, then let out a content sigh. "I love you."
"And I love you." He echoed and hugged her close to himself, in that moment, feeling as if he was holding his whole entire world in his arms.
~
THE END
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