Chapter Text
He’d come as soon as word reached him, pleading emergency and expecting the higher ups to sort it out afterwards. Early labor. A week early. And the doctors could insist that was fine however much they liked, but this was all too new to Nate. Nora wasn’t his fourth patient of the day and Shaun was more than a name on a little blue bracelet.
His old squadmates, Hannah and Daniel, were already there - waiting amidst the flock of soldiers and soldier’s spouses flitting through the great spinning doors of the base hospital. From the pair he learned she’d delivered, she was doing well, and Shaun was healthy. “Already louder than you, Sergeant.”
They clapped him on the shoulder and took him up a too-slow elevator into a too-narrow hall to a nondescript little door with his and Nora’s last name penned on a too-white sheet of paper. Everything smelled of saline and sterilization. His pace didn’t slow until the door was thrown open and Nora’s tired smile lifted up to greet him from her hospital bed. Hannah and Daniel waited outside.
“Hey, new dad.” Nora croaked warmly.
She lay bundled in fabric and pillows, practically sinking into the cot. Not just tired - she looked exhausted. No makeup, unkempt hair. Hopefully the nurses possessed enough sense not to bring her a mirror. Still, Nate was pretty sure his wife had never looked more beautiful. Profound contentment glowed off of her. A softness always draped Nora’s features - but she’d never quite worn it the way she did now.
Suddenly Nate’s boots were made of lead. His heart was pounding. Since the day she’d given him the good news, he’d made it his mission to read every book under the sun on parenting and pregnancy. Compiled a vast catalogue of what to expect or look for in anticipation of this day. And still remained woefully uncertain now that the moment had come. Nate began to wonder if it was something you could prepare for at all. There was no way - not a chance, not in a million years, not ever - to be ready for this.
He smiled back uncertainly from against the doorframe, words meek as they caught in his throat. “…How are you feeling?”
A faint huff of a laugh whisked from Nora.
Maybe that’d been a silly question. The emphatic worry in Nate’s eyes urged her to answer anyway.
“Better now. Hannah stayed with me the whole time.”
“Good.” He breathed, but the worry remained. His gaze hadn’t left Nora for a moment.
“You’re allowed in, you know,” she chuckled, humouring him with a smirk. “Come and meet your son.”
Swaddled as they were in so many blankets, Nate hadn’t noticed the baby tucked against Nora’s chest until that moment. Surprise flashed over his face, now wide eyed with excitement and a sprinkling of terror. He hesitated, then approached almost warily - as if unsure what he might find.
“Well don’t be shy.” Nora teased, clearly deriving a great deal of amusement from her husband’s timid aspect. “This little guy’s waited a long time to meet you.”
Swallowing the lump in his throat, Nate reached the edge of the bed and leaned down slowly beside her. His heart clenched at the sight of pink newborn skin peeking out under a white knit cap. The brightest blue eyes he’d ever seen, wide and unable to focus, stared up at him. Shaun already had a little wisp of charcoal hair atop his head. Tiny hands barely big enough to hold a quarter curled tightly against one another, then reached forward and took Nate’s outstretched finger.
Just like that. In an instant, the entire world had changed.
That’s my boy. Relief flooded through Nate’s senses, rendering him mute except for a single whimper. The surge of love that followed was instant and immortal. My son. A lightning strike would’ve been less overwhelming.
“You wanna hold him?” Nora suggested.
“I-” Suddenly Shaun was in his arms. Nate’s shoulders tensed and he felt real terror wrest for control of his senses. Small, fragile, unbelievably new. The panic only lasted for a moment. Struggling against a monsoon of every possible emotion all at once, Nate grinned weakly. “Just couldn’t wait a few more days, huh kiddo?”
Shaun made a gurgly little noise, shutting his eyes and sticking his tongue out. Nate’s smile flinched affectionately. He glanced back at his wife with awestruck disbelief, as if unable to fully comprehend the moment, and maybe the look of her could tether him back to reality.
There was real warmth in her voice, “He looks like you.”
“Hey, there…” Nate cooed, wiggling his index finger in front of Shaun’s face. “Hey…” Shaun’s unsteady hand stretched out, mashing against Nate’s lip and nose. Another tsunami of emotion cascaded over him. His heart felt full enough to burst. He chuckled hoarsely. “Nora, he’s perfect.” Nate rasped in a voice thick with brimming tears.
So much uncertainty had led to this moment. The surprise of it all, and then months spent apart in a war-torn nation ripe with unrest. How could they have planned for a future with a child, when their own days remained dubious? But now, holding Shaun, seeing him and all he might become - no uncertainty remained. Nate was proud to be a father. Proud to be a husband. Prouder than he had ever been of anything in his entire life.
“I love you. So much.” Leaning over Nora so that the three of them shared an embrace, he kissed his wife long and soft.
Her fingers brushed through his hair and pulled him close, laughing as her own tears ran between them. “Love you too, Honey.”
This was the future he wanted. Without a doubt.
As long as he had them both, nothing else mattered.