Our little Angel(s)

Title: Our little Angel(s)
Author: AnitaB
Rating: Again, no sex in this chapter, probably G
Disclaimer: They’re not mine, otherwise, see earlier chapters.

Chapter 13 : Newborns and skylines.

“Bring me that baby girl.” Logan moved to sit against the headboard and opened his arms.

“Why? You can’t do this part, anyway.” Max smiled, lifting little Sylvie from her crib and moving back to the bed.

“No, I can’t but I love to watch. Come here, I wanna hold my girls.” Pulling Max down against his chest, he wrapped his arms around her and sighed. “I love holding my girls.” Resting a check against her hair, Logan gazed down at his blue-eyed brunette.

“Are you sure it’s not just that you like seeing a little skin since you can’t have any for a while.” His ribs heaved against her back as she helped Sylvie get comfortable and start nursing.

“Well...” Logan rubbed one hand over Sylvie’s back and the other one along the open neckline of Max’s robe. “It isn’t *just* that, Max honey, but try to tell me my touch doesn’t affect you just as much as yours affects me.” His voice got deeper as his lips nibbled at the line of her throat, his hand sliding to cradle her free breast in his palm. The tender touch sent shivers through the body in his arms and Logan smiled against her skin. “As far as the other reasons why this feels so right, they’re simple. You and Sylvie are a of of me, Max, you two are my heart and sol. The closer you are, the more complete I feel”

“Oh, Logan, I love you so much.” Turning slightly in his arms, Max pulled him into a passionate kiss.

“I love you, too. Now, shh and let me watch my baby nurse.” Cuddling Max down into his arms, Logan rested his cheek against her neck and gazed down at little Sylvie, meeting calm eyes the same color as his own. “My beautiful girls.”

***

Across the hall, another man stared at another blue-eyed baby. Moving a trembling hand over a tiny back, Zack traced his fingertips along small ribs and over the clear unmarked skin on the back of a tiny neck. Following the curve of a small cheek to pursed lips, he gazed at the little face nuzzled against Syl’s breast. His wife was nursing his newborn son. “I don’t think I really believed it until now.” Curving a hand around the back of the baby’s head, Zack pressed his lips to his cheek. He settled close against Syl’s body, resting his head on her shoulder. “You really married me and we have a son.” The wonder and disbelief in his voice and the tremble in his hands put a soft smile on Syl’s lips which she hid against the crown of Sam’s little head.

“Yes, love, we’re married and this is our little boy.” Running her fingers through his hair, she leaned down to drop a kiss on Zack’s forehead. “And all in the same day.”

“God, what a day,” Zack raised his head and sweetly kissed Syl’s lips, cradling her face in his hands. “And I will never know what I did to deserve getting everything I’ve ever wanted.” Smiling into her eyes, he rubbed a hand the length of Sam’s back. “I love you both so much, baby.”

Returning his kiss just as softly, Syl wrapped an arm around him and pulled him back down against her side. “Blue Lady, I love you, Zack, I love both my boys so much.” Settling tiredly in his arms, she moved Sam so that half his little body rested against his fatherhesthest. A sigh escaped tiny lips as Sam turned a cheek into Zack’s ribs, a tiny hand flat against his skin. “I think our Sam here is brilliant, I’ve been waiting weeks to sleep in my husband’s arms and it’s been a long day.” Brushing her lips against Zack’s she whispered, “Try to sleep, Max says newborns never stay asleep very long.”

Zack nodded against her shoulder, but Syl could feel his eyes still open and watching the baby. /My watch dog protector./

***

A sharp cry broke the quiet and Max automatically moved to stand.

“Wait, you just fed her, so it’s my turn.” Logan tucked the blankets back around her, guiding her down to the pillows. “Go back to sleep, love.” A quick kiss later, he was in his chair and across the room next to Sylvie’s crib. “Come on, baby girl, let’s go in the living room and let mommy sleep.” Logan smiled as the girl’s cries dropped in volume at his touch. “That’s my daddy’s girl. Let’s go look out the windows, you’ll like that.” With Sylvie cradled in her sling, he crooned to her all the way down the hall. Turning the corner towards the big living room windows, a shape outlined by the rain on the glass sent his hand reaching for the gun stashed in the bars of his wheelchair. “God, Zack, one of these days I’m going to shoot you and it’s not going to be deliberate.”

Zack, still shirtless and in his tux slacks, turned with baby Sam tucked comfortably against his chest. A small embarrassed smile crossed his lips and he ducked his head. “Sorry, Logan, I...I couldn’t sleep and Sam likes the sound of the rain.” One of those big hands tenderly cradled the back of a tiny blonde head. And the sight was touching. Hands that had pointed any variety of guns and weapons without hesitation now trembled, protecting the delicate body of a newborn boy. His own son. As little as one year ago, Logan wouldn’t have believed his eyes. The emotionless soldier had been tackled and hogtied by love. It was almost proof of a higher power.

“No need to be sorry. It’s Sylvie’s favorite place in the apartment too.” Rolling to the window, Logan lifted Sylvie out of her sling and leaned her backwards against his chest to see out the window.

“I ... I didn’t really understand how it would feel when he finally got here.” Zack perched on the arm of the couch, staring down at Sam sleeping against his ribs. “Until I held him, I didn’t realize how small he’d be, how helpless. How much I’d love him already.”

“It’s like the first time you touch them or they look at you with those accepting eyes, they take your heart away. And all you can do is hold them tight and never let go.” Logan tightened his hold on his own little heart stealer and watched Zack do the same.

“I’m a husband and father now, Logan. I don’t know how to be those things. I never had a chance to find out what they mean.” Zack shifted a little, automatically moving little Sam to a more comfortable position.

Logan fought the urge to laugh at the contrast between Zack’s words and the ease he had with the child. But laughing would be a very bad response. “Zack, no one knows how to be those things. Humans don’t come pre-programmed with knowledge. We all just figure it out. You’ll do fine.” Logan waved a hand at him. “I mean, look at yourself, Zack. Did you even see how amazing a husband you were for Syl, today? You got her through the delivery. And you’ll be a great father to Sam because you love him.” He reached out a had and laid it on Zack’s shoulder. “You love them, Zack, that’s all they need from you.”

Muscles all over his back untensed and Zack smiled over at n win with a small sigh of relief. “Thank you,”

“No, problem, brother.” Logan smiled. “While we’re on the topic, I didn’t get to say a proper hello to my nephew yet. Hold Sylvie for me a moment?”

Zack hesitated a moment as if loathe to let the baby out of his arms, then carefully stood. A slow baby exchange later, he carried Sylvie to the window, helping the girl look out on the skyline.

Logan cradled Sam’s little body and met wide blue eyes with his own. “Hey little buddy. I know you might not realize this yet, but you’re going to marry my daughter someday. She’ll get her claws in you, then you’ll chase her until she decides to let you catch her. On that day, Sam, you’ll be one of the luckiest men alive, right next to your father and me.” He chuckled, stroking the back of his fingers over the boy’s cheek. Logan could have sworn Sam was listening to and understanding every word. “Every Guevara girl gets her willing victim. And it’s up to you, Sam, to convince her that she wants you.” A tiny hand waved in the air and Logan caught it, surprised at the strength of his grip. “Don’t worry, you’ve got years before either of you will even think of it. Just try to keep close to her and it will all work out.” Glancing up, he watched Zack point out through the glass and look down at the girl in his harms. And this man was worried about being a good father. /Is he showing my baby girl the sky or good hiding places in the city?/ Some part of Zack would always be that fugitive soldier. Overcautious, stashed weapons, secret safe houses. “Watch your father more than you listen to him, Sam. He hides his emotions. He didn’t have as good a childhood as he’ll make sure you get.”

Sylvie gurgled across the room and reminded Logan what he was supposed to be talking to Sam about. “You just be good to my daughter and we’ll get along great. We’re family.” Shaking a tiny hand, he sealed the pact with the little boy. “Now, I should give you back to your daddy before he tries to steal our girl in your place.” The little boy almost turned his head and the man holding him looked that way as well, watching Zack carry his baby girl back. Sam’s attention seemed to be focused lower than Zack’s face, more like on the bundle in his arms. /Falling already, Sam? Atta girl, my little heartbreaker./

“Sylvie said she wanted her daddy back.” Zack lowered the girl into Logan’s arms, smiling as Sam’s head followed the other baby’s path. “And I’d better take my boy back to his mommy, he should be getting hungry soon.” The smile on Zack’s face was warm, almost hot.

Logan knew exactly how it felt to wear that smile, he’d worn it a million times since Sylvie’s birth. Watching Max nurse his little girl was a highlight of his day. “You definitely want to get back for that, just remember what the tech said. Two weeks at the least.”

Lifting Sam out of Logan’s arms, Zack quirked an eyebrow. “Tell that to Syl.” Moving Sam into the crook of his arm, he laid a hand on Logan’s shoulder. “Thank you, and I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Goodnight, Zack.”

“ ‘Night, Logan.”

Sam protested with a little cry when moved more than a foot from Sylvie, then quieted and nuzzled his cheek against his father’s shoulder, laying easily in strong arms. Logan watched the broad back move down the hall, watched a blonde head dip closer to the child. He smiled, cradling his daughter closer, and decided Zack had a good idea. “Come on, Sylvie, let’s get back to mommy.”

***