Break The Cycle

Chapter 55:

Emma POV:

The next morning, we walked in and I immediately fed Liam. He was almost finished when the doctor that had been treating him arrived.

"Good morning, I see he's doing well." He said. His name was Dr. Gore, and he was excellent with the babies. "So, after he's done, I'll give him a full check up, and if all goes well, he can have his IV removed and go home."

"That's amazing news." Killian said, grasping my hand that wasn't holding the baby to me.

So right after Liam was full, he was placed in a nearby bassinet. Dr. Gore looked him over for a good ten minutes to make sure there were no more signs of the illness, then told us we were good to go. A nurse carefully removed the catheter from my son, and closed the wound with a bandage and a cotton ball. I finally held my baby with no tubes attached to him, for the first time since he was born. He seemed to sense that everything was okay now, because he made the sweetest coo.

"You ready, love?" Killian asked me. I smiled up at him and nodded.

I dressed Liam and strapped him into his car seat, Killian carried him out and walked with me, I was still recovering from the birth.

Once we were at home, I felt so much relief. I took the baby from his car seat and settled on the couch with him, placing him on my chest, where he continued to sleep peacefully. It was enough to lull me into oblivion too.

Killian must have noticed, because he wheeled the bassinet over.

"Sleep, he'll be right here next to you." He took Liam and carefully set him in the tiny bed, then kissed my forehead and turned the lights out.

I pulled the bassinet as close as possible and fell asleep watching my son breathe deeply and peacefully.

Killian POV:

It was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen. My wife, sleeping on the couch, and my newborn son right next to her in his bed. She had been exhausted for the past two weeks, worry had been effecting the amount of rest she got, not to mention going back and forth from the hospital every day when she should have been at home, recovering properly. Giving birth was not the easiest task, and she'd been dealing with swollen feet and intense discomfort, along with the lack of sleep.

When Liam woke up 30 minutes after falling asleep, he didn't get a chance to cry because I immediately picked him up. We still had some milk stored in the fridge, so I warmed some up and fed it to him so Emma could get a little more sleep. I didn't go far though, I knew if she woke up and didn't see him within her vicinity, she would panic.

But she slept on, and I got to know my son. He was remarkably alert for his age, and he smiled already. For an hour, he and I talked, as much as a baby could carry on a conversation, and I kept him happy.

As I predicted, Emma awoke and looked into the bassinet, momentarily afraid until she noticed him in my arms just a few feet away.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" She asked, concerned.

"No need, we've been content." I simply said.

"It's fine, you could have woken me up. He was probably hungry." She insisted.

"Emma, you haven't been sleeping enough. I gave him a bottle, and you got some rest. Besides, I haven't gotten to see him yet since he left the hospital."

"You're right." She sighed. "So what does he think of you?" She asked, moving over to see him. Liam heard his mother's voice and turned his head toward her.

"I'm not sure, he seems to still be figuring me out, along with the rest of the world."

"He's so awake and active, most newborns sleep all the time."

"He doesn't want to be left out of anything." I joked.

"Just like his brother." She checked the time.

"I'll go pick up Henry when school lets out, you make sure the baby is ready to meet him. You know Henry will want to hold him right away." I smiled at her, and handed over the baby. It wasn't that she didn't trust me with him, but he was her baby, and he'd just spent the first two weeks of his life in the hospital. I was certain she didn't want to let him go.

Sure enough, when Henry came home from school, he made a beeline for his baby brother. He took a seat on the couch and Emma handed him over. Henry just gazed at him, and Liam stared back with equal intensity.

"He has your eyes, mom." He pointed out after a moment. It was true, Liam had Emma's eyes, but my dark hair. It was a beautiful combination.

One by one, friends came to see him. And after meeting him, they visited routinely, cleaning various parts of the house or keeping the baby occupied so Emma could sleep.

But because my wife wouldn't say anything herself, I warned everyone to be cautious, Emma was still wary to have Liam too far from her. She loved and trusted everyone, but the first two weeks after the baby was born was traumatic for her, especially after not keeping Henry when he was born.

Our friends and family seemed to have a schedule of some sort, because one of them was there almost every day at some point, ensuring Emma got rest, that we had proper meals, and that the house was clean. Those things were not an easy task when you have one child, and a newborn.

Emma POV:

Thank God for everyone we loved, Liam was a fairly easy baby, but he was still exhausting. I hardly had any time to clean or cook, and when I was doing one of those things, I wanted to be sleeping instead. So usually either Mary Margaret, David, Ruby, Regina, Robin, Anna, or Liam would come over and I could sleep some more. And they often either brought a meal or made one. Elsa brought Emmett over once or twice, but he was still young and waking every few hours, just like Liam.

As the weeks went on, Liam slept more and more. I have no idea how I survived, but I was more than willing to do it. I missed all of this with Henry, so I cherished every moment. The scare from the strep wore off, and I was able to relax and actually leave him in a room by himself for a little while, usually in his bassinet right next to the bed, or the living room so I could go to the bathroom or make something to eat.

Before I knew it, he was eating real food along with breastfeeding. At that point, he began to sleep more. He also became mobile, seemingly trying to keep up with his cousin. Emmett would take off and Liam would try to follow. It was cute, but my poor baby would get frustrated when things didn't go his way.

I never stopped being amazed at Killian's capacity to love these children, he had already taken in Henry as his own, and now there was Liam and Emmett, who Killian absolutely adored. I watched him interact with them and sometimes I could feel the tears coming on.

One day, my brain came up with an image that knocked me for a loop. A little girl, who looked just like her daddy, absolutely bringing him to his knees. I had no idea where it came from, but one day I hoped to see it. Right now, Liam was just too young for another sibling to come along.