You And I: Family Time

Connor IV

At the hospital, we weren't allowed into the room where the birth mother was so we waited somewhat impatiently in the waiting room. Neither of us could sit still for long and were constantly getting up to pace the room. The social worker watched us in amusement but otherwise stayed silent.

It was almost seven o'clock in the morning before a nurse came through the doors, carrying a tiny bundle wrapped in pink blankets.

"Mellet-Franta?" She asked us as we stood up.

"That's us." I said, slightly out of breath for some reason.

"This is your daughter." She held the little bundle out to us and Troye took it, immediately holding it close.

"She's beautiful." He breather, looking down at the sleeping baby.

"Gorgeous." I agreed, wrapping one arm around his shoulders and pressing a kiss to his temple before turning to the nurse again. "Does she have a name?"

"No, the birth mother requested that you name her. She really doesn't want anything to do with the baby."

"Oh." I looked at Troye. We hadn't expected that. Aiden's birth parents had given him a name already before we got him. "Troye? Any ideas?"

"Victoria." He said simply, not taking his eyes of our new baby. "Victoria Anne Mellet-Franta."

"I like that. Victoria it is." The nurse nodded and noted it down on the clipboard she was now holding. "Hey Victoria, I'm your papa." I whispered to the baby but got no reaction.

"Okay, I'm sorry to have to do this but we have to take her for a little bit, just do some last tests on her before you can take her home." The nurse said, reaching for Victoria. Somewhat reluctantly Troye handed her over. We both watched until the nurse was out of sight before turning to the social worker.

"I'm guessing the two of you want to start on all the adoption papers?"She said with a smile.

"Actually, we wanted to call Aiden and tell him the news." I said and Troye nodded beside me.

"Of course. I take it someone is looking after him?"

"Yeah, our friend Alfie stayed with him."

"Of course. Take your time, there's not much we have to do anyway so you should be able to take her home in the next few hours."

"Thanks." I pulled out my phone, dragging Troye to a corner so we could both listen and dialing Alfie's number. The phone rang a few times before he picked up.

"You guys know what time it is, right?" He said, sounding half asleep.

"Sorry. But we figured Aiden will probably be up and we wanted to tell him what's happening." Troye explained. There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line as Alfie listened to see if Aiden was awake.

"Yeah, he's definitely awake. Playing games in his room, I think."

"Dinosaurs." I laughed and listened as Alfie walked through the apartment to Aiden's room.

"Aiden, your daddy and papa are on the phone, they want to talk to you." Alfie's voice was slightly muffled as he spoke to Aiden but we heard our son's shriek of excitement and his running feet as he took the phone from Alfie.

"Daddy! Papa!" He yelled into the phone. 

"Hey buddy were you good for Uncle Alfie?" Troye asked

"Yeah..." We could hear that he wanted to know what was happening. "When are you coming home?"

"Soon buddy. And we'll have someone special for you to meet."

"My little brother?"

"Your little sister." I corrected him. "You've got a little sister."

"Wow." He sounded amazed and we couldn't help but laugh.

"Her name is Victoria. Are you excited to meet her?"

"Yeah! When can I papa?"

"Daddy and I have to do a few things here but we'll be coming home in a few hours, okay?"

"Can I come see you?" I looked at Troye who shrugged.

"I don't see why not." He whispered.

"Can you give the phone back to Uncle Alfie? We'll ask him if he can bring you to us."

"Okay. Bye daddy. Bye papa." There was a scuffle as Aiden passed the phone to Alfie.

"Hey guys, congratulations." He was more awake now.

"Thanks, man. Look, I know it's not part of the plan but would you be able to bring Aiden down to the hospital? He really wants to meet Victoria." I asked.

"Victoria? That's kind of an old name, isn't it?"

"Maybe, but we like it." Troye said.

"Do you want me to feed him before we come?"

"That might be good. We're not sure how long we'll be here. Grab the iPad from my studio too, so he's got something to keep him entertained."

"Sure. We'll be there in half an hour or so."

"Thanks." We hung up the phone and went back over to the social worker. She smiled and led us to a small conference room where we could talk privately about the adoption.

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We were just signing the last papers when there was a knock at the door and seconds later, Aiden was bouncing into the room.

"Daddy, papa!" He cried, jumping onto my lap excitedly.

"Hey little man. Are you ready to meet your sister?"

"Yeah, yeah!" Laughing I looked over the top of his head to where Alfie stood in the doorway watching. "Thanks for bringing him."

"Anytime. Do you guys need me to stay?"

"I think we're good." Troye replied, reaching over to take Aiden.

"Alright. But I do want to meet this little girl of yours soon."

"Of course. We'll introduce her to everyone as soon as we can." Alfie waved before disappearing, leaving us alone.

"Hello again Aiden." The social worker spoke to Aiden and the little boy looked over at her. 

"Hi." He was suddenly shy.

"How are you? Are you excited?"

"Yeah. Daddy and papa said I can play with my new sister. I'll show her how to play spies."

"That sounds like fun."

"Remember, you have to wait a little bit." Troye reminded him. "She won't be able to play just yet."

"I remember." Aiden said solemnly. "Can I read her bedtime stories?"

"If you'd like to." I said and his eyes lit up in excitement.

"I'll read Goodnight Moon to her. It's may favourite."

"That sounds like a lovely idea." The social worker told him before turning back to Troye and I. "I just need these last signatures from you and she's all yours."

Reaching for the papers, I quickly signed my name and Troye did the same. Then we watched as the social worker checked over everything and packed it away, leaving us with the papers we needed to keep hold of.

"Alright, that's all done. Victoria is now your daughter. I hope you enjoy watching her grow up, just like you have with Aiden here."

"Oh we will. Can we go and get her now?" I asked.

"I'm not sure exactly what the nurses had to do but if you go back to the waiting room, they shouldn't be long."

"Thank you so much. For all your help." Troye thanked her, already standing up, still holding onto Aiden who was sat on his hip.

"You're welcome. Enjoy your family." She smiled as she left the room and we followed soon after, heading to the waiting room to wait for Victoria to come back to us.