That's What Love Is (Merridine)

Zack and Tay seem like such a popular ship lately and I personally think they are so effing cute together. Plus Zack and kids are just gah! So cute! I was bored this morning. Don't judge me LOL

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Standing outside the glass window, Zack Merrick scanned the room his eyes searching every inch of it. Cameron stood next to him, his own eyes searching for what they were trying to find, pointing to his left he placed a hand on Zack's back and smiled at him.

"Merrick." he said reading the name tag at the end of the pink blanket. "There she is, Zacky." Cameron smiled at his band mate's husband. "Oh my god, she's so cute." Way to sound like a girl, he didn't care.

"Do you think Tay will be mad, that I missed it? I didn't want to, I wanted to be here; you know that." Zack spoke, his eyes focused on the tiny baby that lay on the other side of the glass wall, his fingers tracing along the glass.

"She knows that you wanted to be here and she knows that you couldn't be. Tay knows it isn't your fault." Cameron said reassuring him with a bro hug. "Now, the nurse over there is going to let you in so you can see your baby girl. Go on." he encouraged him, giving him another hug before heading back to the waiting room.

Zack turned and gave Cameron a small wave and a quiet thank you. Secretly he wanted him to stay, for moral support but he understood that he had to get back to the waiting room. If they left Alex and Mike alone for too long, who knew what would happen, those two were nothing but trouble when they got together. Pushing the thought of his band mate and his wife's band mate out of his mind, Zack took a step into the door that the smiling nurse was holding open for him.

Inside the nursery smelled somewhat more pleasant than other rest of the hospital. It smelled sterile of course, laced with the scent of baby; it was a smell Zack wouldn't forget anytime soon. He followed the nurse into a small private room, she told him to wait while she went to get his daughter.

Zack could feel the butterflies inside of his stomach, they were begging to be set free and it was driving him nuts. All of his emotions were flooding him at once, it was the most overwhelmed he had ever felt in his life. Everything about this moment had his full attention; it was a moment he had been awaiting for the last nine months. No words could describe this feeling flowing through him.

The nurse came back into the room, in her arms was a tiny pink bundle, telling Zack he in fact had a new daughter. His wife had said from the moment they found out, that they would be having a little girl and no doubt she would have her daddy wrapped around her finger from the moment he laid eyes on her. Zack would never tell Tay this, but she had been so right. The second he looked at the baby in the woman's arms, his heart was completely melted and there was no doubt in his mind that from now on it belonged to this tiny human.

"Here she is, Mr. Merrick." The nurse smiled handing over the baby. "Let me know if you need me, I'll just be in the nursery." She left the instructions as she backed out of the room, closing the door to give Zack his privacy.

Zack didn't know what to do. Sitting down with the bundle in his arms, he stared down at her to see her staring back up at him. Everything about her was perfect, amazing, and so peaceful. Right away he could tell that she was going to have a lot hair, the dark tuffs were already starting to show and she certainly had his nose and chin. Her eyes were all Tay and he could tell that when she finally smiled that she would have her mom's.

"Hey Elisa." He spoke quietly.

He hadn't had a chance to see his wife yet, but he'd cleared it with Cameron that Tay had chosen the names she said she wanted for a girl. Elisa Michaela Merrick was her full name, Zack had picked the names if they'd had a boy and Tay picked for a girl.

"I'm your daddy."

The words seemed so unreal. "Daddy", Zack mulled it over in his head. It was so strange, but he liked it. Placing a kiss on the top of his baby girl's head, Zack sighed with his breath quivering.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here for your birth. It's not an excuse, but daddy is a busy man some days. That's going to change though, because from now on I promise you that I'm living my life for you. I love you, we may not always see eye to eye once you're older, but I'm still going to love you no matter what happens." Zack swallowed a lump in his throat as he spoke.

He could feel his eyes starting to water; he kept telling himself that he wasn't going to cry. So much for that, the tears were now flowing and there was nothing he could do to stop it. As the tears flowed, he began to rock his baby girl back and forth; Zack just couldn't believe this was real. He felt as though at any moment he would wake up and this would all be gone. Spending a few more minutes with his daughter, Zack was interrupted by the nurse knocking on the door and telling him that his wife wanted to see him, in her room.

Zack said good bye to Elisa and headed out of the nursery, he wiped his eyes and hoped that he didn't look like he'd been crying. If Tay saw that he'd been crying she would never let him live that down. Entering his wife's room, he saw that she was lying in a hospital bed yet she looked content and almost as peaceful as their newborn had. Quietly scooting across the room, he took a seat on a chair next to the bed.

"Hey." Zack whispered gently running his hand through his wife's hair.

"Zack, hey." Tay murmured as she opened her eyes to look at her husband. Her bright eyes were glazed and sleepy, no doubt due to pain medication.

"I am so sorry I couldn't get here sooner." Zack apologized, taking his wife's hand in his and kissing the back of it. "I should have stayed home and not even gone to that damn interview, but..."

"Zack, shh. You're here now." Tay's voice was groggy as she spoke to her husband. Forcing a weak smile, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Did you see her yet?" she asked quietly.

Zack nodded and took a deep breath of his own. "Yeah, she's perfect."