Papa Bear

Should Be Dean

Teri calls Dean out of habit more than anything. Up until now, she's experienced more with him than with her own husband and that might be why there's such a disconnect. Spending eighteen to twenty something hours a day together and multiple awards seasons tended to bond people and she sort of feels like her and Dean had been stitched together and those stitches were ripped when she got pregnant and their long hours together came to an end.

But, it still doesn't change the fact that seeing him come through that door, a bouquet of tulips in his hand, feels more natural than having her husband witness the birth of their child. "You came!"

"Of course, I came, sweetheart." the flowers find their place on the hospital tray, he moves to stand at her side, and takes a moment to capture and mentally catalog the scene before him.

She's shrugged out of her hospital gown, it's bunched somewhere underneath the covers, and there's a tiny bundle of pink beneath a blanket - the only thing keeping him from seeing more than she might want him too - on her chest.

"She's beautiful," he brushes a gentle finger across the light dusting of dark hair on the baby's head and then along Teri's cheek. "You both are."

Teri blushes and looks down at the baby girl resting on her chest. "I'm all sweaty and I haven't showered or - "

"You just gave birth, sweetheart." he shushes her with a laugh. "And, it doesn't matter that you're sweaty. You still look beautiful. Being a Mom suits you!"

"You think?"

"I think you were born to be a mother." Dean winks slipping an arm across her waist. He uses the side rail for leverage and leans down to press a lingering kiss to her forehead. "Congratulations, sweetheart."

"Thank you."

He occupies her time and attention with the flowers and the little puppy he bought for the little girl on her chest. He keeps her thoughts from straying, keeps her from thinking the one thing that's been on her mind since the strip turned pink.

It should be Dean.