jknc

Sorry.......I'll try to be less romantic next time.

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Chapter 2 Birthday Party "Wow, great cake," Jonny said. "Yeah. I had to go back to that bakery three times before they got her name right," Guy told him, sounding exasperated. "Why?" Will asked. "They kept spelling her name wrong. Can you imagine? How hard is it to spell Catherine?" "I don't know," Jonny said, "Sometimes Chris has a hard time spelling his own name." They all laughed. "Where is the birthday girl, anyway?" Chris asked. "Fab's getting her dressed," Guy said. "You should see the dress we got for her." "I bet he has any easier time with that dress than you did with the diapers," Jonny said. Guy laughed, "Yeah, we are old pro's at the diaper game now but it was touch and go for a little while." FLASHBACK "How do these things work?" Guy asked, holding up a diaper, "I though they were supposed to be flat." "No," Fab told him, "Don't you remember the class?" "Oh yeah," Guy said, holding up Catherine's legs and sticking the diaper under her. "It goes the other way," Fab told him. "Are you sure?" Guy asked. "Yes, the little cartoon characters go in the front." "Oh yeah," Guy said. He turned the diaper around and fastened the plastic strips around the baby's legs. "There you go," he said, rubbing her on her stomach and making goo-goo noises at her. She kicked her legs wildly and appeared to smile. "Did you see that? She smiled at me!!" "She can't smile yet. Those muscles aren't developed until she is two or three months old." "I'm telling you she smiled at me." Fab shook his head. "I'm sure she did. Because our baby is more advanced than any other child ever born." Guy stood up and looked at him. "Did you hear what you just said?" he asked. "What?" "You said, 'our baby'," Guy told him, with a little smile. "Well, she is ours. It doesn't matter which one of us is the biological father, we are both her fathers. And she is our daughter." "She is our little miracle." Guy put his arms around Fab and they stood there marveling at the fact that they were indeed fathers of this precious baby girl. Chapter 3 Birthday Party Guy got up from the table to answer the door. "Hey!" he said, excitedly, "You guys did make it!!" "We are the only ones that could," Julian said, walking into the room followed by Albert. "I thought there was a law in Britain keeping American riff-raff like you out of our country," Chris joked as he stood up and gave a friendly hug to the two members from Fab's band. "Well, they tried," Julian joked back,"But we told them it was Catherine's birthday and they were happy to oblige us." "Where's Fab?" Albert asked. "Back there, getting Catherine dressed." Guy said as he nodded down the hallway, "Go on back if you want." A little squawking cry came from the direction of Catherine's room. "Uh oh," Will said, "Someone is not happy." "That's nothing," Guy said, "At least she sleeps all night now and doesn't cry for no reason." FLASHBACK "Why is she crying?" Guy asked. "I don't know. We fed her. We changed her diaper. She doesn't have a temperature. She should be fine." "Well, she isn't," Guy said. "I have to get some sleep," Fab said, "I'm sorry but I have that conference call at 6 a.m.'' "I know," Guy told him, "Go ahead. Get as much sleep as you can. I'll stay with her." "Are you sure?" "Yeah," Guy told him, with a smile, "Go ahead. It will give us a chance to bond." Guy picked up Catherine from her crib and gently wrapped a blanket around her. "What's wrong, sweetie?" he asked, as he began to walk up and down the room with her. She whimpered a little bit more, but stopped the whole-hearted crying. "Do you like that?" he asked, "Do you like to be on the move?" He sat down in the large wooden rocking chair. It was the first thing they had bought for the nursery when they found out that Melissa was pregnant. Guy rocked slowly back and forth. Then he began to sing her an old Scottish lullaby that his mother had sang to him. He was still sitting there many hours later when Fab poked his head around the corner. "Shush," Guy told him. "Is she sleeping?" he asked. "Yeah," Guy said, looking down at Catherine. " I think maybe she just wanted to be held." "Who doesn't?" Fab asked, with a smile. Guy winked at him. "You are so amazing," Fab told him, "I can't believe you stayed with her all night." "Of course," Guy said, "I wanted to make her happy. She's my girl."

Chapter 1 Birthday Party "Guy, where are the candles?" "I don't know they are in there somewhere." "I don't see them....."Fab said, his voice rising, "I specifically told you not to forget the candles." "I got them," Guy said, starting to poke through one of the sacks on the kitchen counter. He found the candles and threw them at Fab. "See....here you go." Fab smiled and said, "Good. We can't have a birthday cake without candles." Guy walked around the counter and put a hand on Fab's shoulder. "Calm down," he said, "It's okay. She's only one year old. She wouldn't have noticed anyway. We will be lucky if she stays awake long enough to smear cake all over her face." "I know. I know. I just want everything to be great." "It will be," Guy said, rubbing Fab's shoulders. "She will be surrounded by family and friends that love her." "Hey," Fab said, " Do you remember what it was like this time last year?" "Oh yeah," Guy said, "It was crazy. We were just on our way to the hospital." FLASHBACK "Guy, wake up honey," It was Fab shaking Guy awake where he had fallen asleep on the couch after cutting the grass. "It's time," he said, "We have to go." "Go where?" Guy asked, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. "To the hospital.....you know....a baby." "Oh shit, did Melissa call?" "Yep, she's already at the hospital. The doctor says any time now. We don't want to miss it do we?" "How are you feeling?" Guy asked when he entered Melissa's hospital room, wearing a set of green scrubs. "Well not so long ago you wouldn't have wanted to see me," She said, as she removed her oxygen mask and accepted a kiss on the cheek from him. "But they gave me drugs and now everything is pretty good." "What's the oxygen for?" Fab asked, looking concerned. "Oh, that's usual procedure right before the baby is born. It's moving alot and may not get enough oxygen so they give me extra." The doctor and a nurse came into the room. "Are you gentlemen the fathers?" he asked. "Yes," they both answered. The doctor sat down on a stool and began to examine Melissa. "Looks like you got here just in time." "Really? Guy asked. The doctor nodded and said to Melissa, "When I tell you...I want you to push as hard as possible, okay? She nodded and grasped Fab's hand in her right hand and Guy's in her left hand. "Okay," the doctor said, "Push." Melissa squeezed Guy's hand hard as she pushed with all her strength. Guy looked over the sheet to where the doctor was waiting for the baby. He just saw the baby's head begin to emerge. And then he fainted.

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Thanks to you guys who read my stories and commented. It really helps to know what you think.

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No.....no one died. It is something else.

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Very good that you remembered that I said that. It's still true.

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