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Frannie couldn't stop staring at the sleeping baby in her arms. She watched every intake of breath, every exhale. Her pulse spiked when his little face twisted into any expression other than serene sleep.

She was waiting for him to cough. She was expecting him to sneeze.

Even though she knew the flu wasn't here - it was contained to their world and it hadn't followed them here on their clothes (even if it had, she'd burned hers shortly after coming through to the Nexus, even the time she'd just walked into her bedroom in Maine for a few minutes before backing out in horror.

Still, Frannie watched her son sleep, listened to the soft silence of breathing unencumbered by snot or phlegm or whatever had choked the life out of her world. Against every odd there was, she was here, Stu was here, and her baby had survived arguably the most stress filled pregnancy ever, to arrive a respectable 6 pounds 9 ounces, with a pair of lungs announcing his arrival. Loudly.

If Frannie could remember how to pray, she would have right then and there.

Gathering type post - tag Frannie, tag each other (feel free to top level with Frannie asleep if you want, or just outside the room). If your pup saw the stationery post, feel free to jump to the conclusion that the hotel's only pregnant woman popped.)

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Even with as little experience as Larry had with babies, he'd still managed to scrape together a few reasonable expectations. Mom and kid would both probably sleep a lot for awhile, and there would be crying from both and probably him, too, just because. Diapers and formula and all the normal stuff.

What he hadn't anticipated, though, was how bittersweet the experience would prove for him, how each time he laid eyes on the two cuddled up together, there would be a stab of ache to accompany his gladness.

He hadn't missed Lucy this much since leaving Boulder.

From his place slouched in the open doorway, he smiled anyway, quietly watching.

"You know something," Frannie addressed the sleeping baby in her arms, her voice soft so as not to wake him. "I think everything would be just about perfect if your Uncle Larry wasn't pulling double duty as a creepy stalker, lurking in doorways."

She finally raised her head to look over at him, a tired but content smile on her face.

Stu was still trying to get used to everything. He'd been getting ready mentally all these months,but now it had finally happened. He knew a lot of men would have run away from a woman pregnant with another man's child, but but it was also her baby, and loving her let him love,the baby,too. Truth was, he didn't really think of Peter tuat way;he jist saw that they were a family and this was his son. Like Frannie, he lept expecting Peter to get sick, to start coughing and sneezing. So far, he was fine, but the fear wouldn't go away. There was a knock at the door, and it turned out to be one of the other doctors. Stu imtroduced hmself,then let her talk to Frannie.

As much as he still didn't care much for doctors,was good that they were here, although the lack of medicine and equipment meant things were limited. Frannie hadn't had any drugs during the birth, and it hadn't been easy, naturally. He recalled well what she and the doctor were talking about, especially since a few of the yells had been about him not getting near her to make another baby. He supposed it was normal,though.

The llimited supplies meant he would have to live with his leg,too-it needed surgery, but there wasn't anytning here to do it with. He'd just have to deal with it for now. At least for now,it was pushed to the back of his mind.

He caught Larry's expression in the doorway;he knew the other man had to be missing Lucy. He wished she were here as well,just so Larry would be happier. Larry did smile,though, and Fran made a joke at him.

The next few months would be long and tiring,but they'd come through,there was no doubt. The thought of,the doors did come to mind,though-they'd have to watch close when Peter got crawling and walking. He made a mental note to bring it up later,though he put it aside for now.

Edited 2014-01-26 02:21 (UTC)

"But if I wasn't your creepy stalker, I don't know what I'd do with my time," Larry quietly replied as he took a couple of steps into the room. Hands in his pockets, he leaned back against the wall, feeling even now that this wasn't his place or his family, that he was just a well-meaning bystander. Stu was here, now, and that was the way it should be.

"You had anybody look at that leg yet?" Larry asked him with a nod toward the limb, stiffly stretched out from where Stu was sitting.

"Oh, I'm sure I'll find plenty of things for you to do," Frannie answered, eyes twinkling with just a hint of mischief. "After all, the diapers aren't going to up and wash themselves."

She quirked a single eyebrow at where he stood, the posture and the position, and her memory flashed back to their first committee meetings, before he'd truly accepted himself as a member of that committee. Without a word, she raised the hand not cradling the baby towards him.

That accomplished, she looked at Stu with the tell-tale line forming between her eyes because she was waiting for an answer to that one as well.

Stu laughed at Frannie's reply, even though he knew that he would end up doing some of the dirty work as well.

Naturally,she was concerned about the leg.

"I didn't find out much that I didn't already know...badly set,over used...They can't do much here. It will probably need surgery, if we manage to get to a place where they have the stuff to do it. All I can do for now is try and take it easy on it."

After a moment staring at Frannie's outstretched hand, Larry stepped slowly forward and slipped his fingers around hers. None of them could refuse her anything, and this was no different.

"Have you talked to Martha? She might be able to take your through to her world," he asked Stu as he gently perched on the edge of the bed. "You can't just sit here and wait for it to fix itself, man."

Once Larry had joined her and she had them both close, Frannie relaxed back against the pillows. She was pretty sure she'd feel this way all the time, especially after they lost Nick to whatever forces ran this place. Losing him once was bad enough...she didn't want to experience that again with Larry or Stu.

"He's got a point, Stuart," she replied, using his full name for emphasis. "I know there are others that can go back and forth, some pretty easily. She'd probably be able to do a better job than in Boulder, too, since we didn't exactly have crack surgical teams there."

Stu did have to admit she had a point. He noticed she used his full name to show she was really serious.

"Yeah, I will agree on that. At least we had a real doctor by the time I left and not just the country vet, but still..." He sighed. "I'm still getting used to all this...these doors to different places. I don't much like it, but I'll talk to her about it. I want to be able to help you out, and I'm not a lot of good this way."