new update day is gonna be Fridays!
do you guys remember waaaaaaay back when the boys went up to Pittenweem and i put them in kilts? well, brianshedgehog went and made this and I LOVE IT! Roger's is my favourite followed by Brian who's at a close second.
On the 4th of April 1978, at 3:15 pm, Theodore Deacon came into the world and unlike his brother, he took almost sixteen hours to make an appearance.
John had thankfully been at home this time when her water had broke and whole he tried to get a hold of someone to come and watch Arthur (at eleven-thirty at night), Roxanne sat on the couch and watched a rerun of Fawlty Towers.
A little after midnight, Roger stumbled through the front door and John was rather surprised to see Rebecca, who is six months pregnant, follow behind him.
Apparently she wanted to come with him and with their arrival, John hurried around the house; grabbing Roxy's go-bag, car keys - anything that he thought they might need.
And then, John helped her up off of the couch and they were off, leaving Arthur in the Taylor's capable hands.
The labour itself, this time, it was brutal. At first, there was a lot of waiting around until she was fully dilated but the pushing part...holy shit. She felt as if it was neverending. She didn't recall it being that intense with Arthur.
But all of that pain was worth it when the midwife lowered their new son into her arms.
Theodore Deacon, Theo for short. It was a name that they'd had picked out for a few weeks; Theodore for a boy and Isla for a girl.
They were in the room alone now. The doctors and everyone else had done their jobs in making sure that everything was alright with them both and so now, John and Roxanne were just taking a little bit before he'd go and ring everyone and let them know.
"You did it again," John whispers, smoothing some hair from her forehead, "You did amazing, my love. 'm so proud of you."
"Hm," she grins lazily up at him, "Keep the praises coming. I like 'em."
He kisses her softly and looks down at the newborn again. It was clear what while Arthur was the spitting image of him, Theodore (or Theo) was...a perfect blend of the two of them. He had Roxy's lips and there were soft tufts of blonde hair on his head but his nose...yeah, it was John's nose.
"Will you be alright while I go ring everyone?"
"Of course," she nods, "Will you ask them to bring Arthur down?"
"You sure?"
She nods, "Yeah...I can't explain it, I just miss him."
"Alright," he kisses her again and looks at their little one again, "I'll be back in a bit."
Just like before, Roxanne hums a quiet to Theo, unbuttoning the buttons of her nightshirt when he starts grizzling, a sure tell way of letting her know that he was hungry. He latches on immediately and she relaxes down onto the pillow.
She wasn't worried about taking him home this time. In fact, she was excited and sure, it was going to be a little bit of a squeeze but Arthur was out of the crib now (just after his second birthday, he'd given Roxanne a heart attack when he had climbed out of it and made his way through to their bedroom in the middle of the night) and was in a toddler bed which really, was perfect timing.
John returns a quarter of an hour later, carrying two styrofoam cups -one with tea for him and another with water for her-.
"I didn't ring our mums," he says softly, sitting back down in his seat that was by her bed, "They're probably still on their way."
He'd rang just an hour before she was ready to start pushing.
She nods, taking a sip of her water.
"And Rog says that they'll bring Arthur down in a bit."
Roxy grins. She couldn't wait to cuddle both of her boys.
"He'll be alright with the baby, won't he?" John asks quietly, "He won't get jealous?"
She shrugs, fastening her shirt back up once Theo is done feeding, "He might but I think it's only natural, isn't it? He's been the only little one for so long."
Nodding, John runs a hand through his already wild hair as she yawns.
"Is it alright if I get a quick nap in?"
"Of course it is," he practically leaps out of the chair to take the baby from her, "I'll get him settled."
"You must be exhausted too, John," she murmurs, "I'm sure they could take him up to the nursery."
"No," he says quickly, "No, love, it's alright. I'm fine. Besides, I haven't really had the chance to bond with him yet."
He'd said it in a joking way but his wife's face goes scarlet. She may have been hogging him a little bit, "I'm sorry."
"I was kidding, Rox," he chuckles and she passes Theo over to him before trying to get comfortable and while she does that, John looks down at the baby, "Do you remember when Arthur was this little?"
A smile pulls at her lips, "How could I forget? We were so scared."
He takes hold of one of the baby's tiny hands, "We were. God, Rox, you don't know how happy this makes me. Thank you-"
"For what?" she asks.
"Letting me kiss you that night."
++|++
They hear Arthur before they see him. John's just helped Roxy freshen up a little bit and help her into bed when they hear the tiny pitter-patter that could only belong to little feet making their way towards the room.
Roxanne eagerly sits up, ignoring John's pleas for her to be careful, smiling when she hears Roger pleading with the little boy to slow down.
There's a light tap at the door before Roger pushes it open, "Alright to come in?"
And then Arthur's running in, running full pelt at the bed, towards her, "Mummy!"
"Hi!" she grins, arms open for him as John lifts him up, settling him in the small space beside her on the bed.
"Missed you, mummy!"
"I missed you too, my little nugget," Roxy murmurs, gathering him carefully into her arms so she can have a proper cuddle, "Did you have fun with Uncle Roger and Aunt Becca?
He nods eagerly before nuzzling his face into her neck and she squeezes him a little tighter, hearing Roger say something to John but she's not listening, she's far too busy. She doesn't even notice Roger leave again (she'd apologise later when she does though).
"Hey," John, who's lifted Theodore from the little crib that the hospital has provided, whispers, sitting own on the bed in front of them, "We've got someone we want you to meet."
The two-year-old turns his full attention to his father, leaning forward to peer into the bundle of blankets.
"Arthur," Roxanne murmurs, "This is Theo."
"Baby," he says softly.
"That's right," John nods as she kisses his cheek, "This is your little brother."
"Brother."
"Yeah," Roxy pushes some hair from his forehead, "He's your brother."
Arthur looks away from the baby, up at her, "He's small."
"Well, that's because he's a baby, buddy." John tells him, "You were that mall too."
"But he won't be that small forever," Roxy adds on, "Then the two of you can play together."
"Or fight," John smiles, "It'll be one of the two."
Arthur nods, leaning forward to get another look at his brother, who's little hand has made it's way out of the blankets and so the little boy takes it in his as the baby's eyes flutter open. Roxanne thinks she might cry again.
"He knows your voice," she murmurs as Arthur cuddles back into her side, "Knows that you're his big brother."
"Big brudder," he repeats, a smile on his face and out of the corner of her eye, Roxanne sees John visibly relax.
Yeah, he was going to be fine.