Out Of Time | A Shelby

thirty

- NINE MONTHS LATER -

"George?"

"No."

"Charlie?"

"No."

"Alexander?"

"No," Nancy sighed, looking down at the newborn baby sleeping soundly in his bassinet in front of the fireplace, "None of these names suit him."

It had been three days since Nancy had given birth to the youngest member of the Shelby family, and to say she was exhausted would have been an understatement.

Her body was ached and bruised, it hurt to stand on her feet but it hurt even more to sit down. She was barely sleeping because the baby had been waking up hungry in the night every hour, on the hour. She was barely coping, but she knew it would have been a thousand times harder had Arthur not been there.

At first, Arthur was terrified. As much he was a fantastic father to Vincent, being handed a newborn baby for the first time in his life that was his responsibility freaked him out more than he thought it would. Arthur thought he'd be fine, he'd be able to take care of his son easily and everything would feel natural, but that wasn't the case.

The first time he was handed his baby, he cried. His hands were shaking and he was convinced he couldn't do it, that he wasn't cut out to be a father and that he wasn't good enough to take care of such a small, delicate thing.

His tune changed after Nancy calmed him down, telling him that every parent felt like that when they meet their baby for the first time. It's a perfect mixture of love and fear, but as time goes on, you work everything out and although every parent makes mistakes, you grow and learn.

It warmed Nancy's heart to see Arthur with their son, and made her even happier to see Vincent with his little brother. He had been a angel since the baby arrived. Vinny had always been a well behaved child, but Nancy had her concerns about how he would react to not being the only child anymore.

Luckily, he proved to her that she didn't need to be worried at all. If anything, Vincent was even more wonderful now he had his baby brother.

In the nine months that Nancy had been pregnant, she fell in love with Arthur over and over again every single day. He cared for her all the time, never leaving her side unless it was absolutely necessary and made sure that no matter what, she was comfortable and happy.

He knew that Nancy was scared about facing her pregnancy and birth alone like she had done with Vincent, so Arthur made it his mission to give her an experience that she would want to remember, rather than one she'd want to forget.

Watching her grow his son was a magical thing for him to witness. He loved every single part of her, right down to the stretch marks across her skin and the dark circles under her eyes. Arthur was in love, convinced that nobody could ever love another human as much as he loved her.

"Where is he? Where's the little darling?"

Polly Gray walked into the home with a smile on her face and a bunch of flowers in her hand. She had been incredibly supportive of Nancy throughout her pregnancy, acting like the mother she'd not had for most of her adult life.