Mialotte: Eternal Sweethearts

50. Hold her

A/N: I hope you forgive me for the very sensual chapter yesterday... I think to calm down from the spice, we all need a really soft chapter for this Sunday afternoon. Being honest, my lovely friends have given me a very good idea for the next spicy chapter though, so don't get too soft just yet. There is a slight mention of Autumn's miscarriage. Apologies.

= A few weeks after Quinn is born, Sorcha and Clodagh visit the Nursery at the end of the day, to intimately celebrate their birth with everyone.

Sorscha tumbled her way into the office. "Oh thank God you told me to come over once the Nursery had closed Marjorie, I really don't know how many parents' unsolicited advice I could handle out there, Clodagh's still in the car, didn't want anyone to see her."

"Oh my loooveee!" Marjorie stretched her arms out to hug her and took a little 'almost' run towards Sorscha. "We have all missed you so much." "How is it to be back!"

"Aaare you raring to goo?!" Marjorie faffed her hands around like she was jazz dancing.

Sorscha answered bluntly. "Not at all."

Marjorie chuckled, "You know what, I love the honesty."

"Our last parent just left according to Char, so I think Clodagh is safe to come out now. And since we're being honest, I only asked you to come back today because we all wanted to see Quinn. Sorry!"

"None taken Marjorie, she's an absolute angel. You guys are going to love her." The Irish lass continued, curious:

"Speaking of, where is everyone? I only saw Charlie, I had assumed the others would be here too, yaknow?"

Marjorie stalled a little in her response, "Oh we didn't have much staff in today, if they aren't here already it'll probably be traffic. Trust me, they wouldn't miss seeing Quinn. She has been all we talk about."

"Ahhh grand yeah. Let me go and get Clodagh."

"Okay!" Marjorie smiled, opening the office door for Sorscha to leave.

Before quickly jogging over to the baby room, where everyone was stealthily hiding.

Carly was the first to speak up, "Oh Marjorie, it's only you?"

The rest relaxed and you could hear a few sighs as some people got up from their hiding positions momentarily.

The manager spoke, "Yes darling, it's only me but Sorscha will be back with Clodagh and Quinn any minute now."

As she continued, the team listened intently. "Not too loud, we don't want to startle the baby." "Eric, you give Clodagh the flowers. Reece you hold onto all the books till we've settled down, they'll probably be surprised you're all here, I told her most of you were stuck in traffic..."

She went on and on, but the staff listened with such intent because they were certain that this needed to be perfect for their colleague. A colleague who always stood up for them no matter who against, whether it be parents or other staff who were acting unjustly. You would always be grateful to have a Sorscha in your life.

It was time for them to finally give that gratitude back, when she needed them most.

Winter was gleaming, with his head somewhere in the clouds, replaying the events of the afternoon. Him and Reece were putting up some bunting during their break, it was one of the first times the two gentlemen had spent quality time together since Autumn's ordeal. The two, as usual, wouldn't admit it, but it was healing to enjoy some small talk, as they shared the excitement to see baby Doyle.

On the other side of the room, Marjorie and Charlotte were frantically panicking on where to set up the gifts they had all bought. They had decided to split the gifts into categories. Firstly, push gifts for Clodagh, after all pushing a baby was nothing ordinary. Then came the leisurely gifts, with weekend getaways, and little spa days. Courtesy of the Knight siblings, and Mia, the richest of the lot obviously offered the most flamboyant gifts.. And finally, the typical baby gifts.

Ranging from clothes, to costumes, toys and little essentials every first time parent seems to forget. This was Charlotte's forte, so she spent many days racking her brain for simple, but useful things, and once she came to the conclusion of the best ones to buy, everyone agreed with her thoughtful ideas.

Once everything was all organised. The adults had let Carly and Eric with the rest of the afternoon off, letting them blow up all the pink and white balloons. To complete the decorating of the room.

Winter continued to smile, still subtly listening to Marjorie's wishes as she rambled on quickly, with only a minute or two before they entered the building, involuntarily chuckling as he remembered how they managed to get all the staff from the sister nursery into Reece's car. Autumn nudged him, causing him to stifle his laugh.

Autumn knew exactly what he was laughing at and subtly held onto his hand.

Reece shot them a quick look, also clocking onto what they were finding so amusing. Earlier when transporting everyone to the main nursery, there was one seat short. Marjorie joked from the passenger seat with Reece that Winter had to sit in Autumn's lap.

What made the affair hilarious was that Winter didn't refuse or fight at all, and gently scooted up. Autumn was shocked, and Reece's jaw was wide open. All Marjorie could even manage to do is burst out laughing.

Char was flaring her nostrils trying to not let a laugh slip out, and slyly took her phone out to capture the moment. Her stealth crumbled when Autumn spoke up.

"Charlotte. If you dare take a photo of Winter and I right now, I will make sure you never see Mia again."

Charlotte shuffled back into her seat and put her phone away with a meek "sorry" and that ever gleaming innocent smile.

Anyway, enough reminiscing .The new parents were fast approaching the entrance.

Sorscha and Clodagh entered with baby Quinn, only a couple of weeks old, nestled in Clodagh's arms. Charlotte pretended to remember something. "Oh! I forgot something in the baby room. Marjorie, do you mind coming with me?"

Marjorie jumped in, "We'll all come. We're not doing much in the office anyway."

The new mothers agreed, curious but unsuspecting. As they entered the baby room, their eyes widened in shock. A cake sat in the centre of the room, and as everyone popped out from their hiding spots, the youngest staff letting out party poppers, they shouted in unison, "Congratulationssss!!!"

Sorscha and Clodagh were overwhelmed with joy, their eyes welling up with happy tears. The room buzzed with excitement as everyone gathered around to admire baby Quinn and celebrate the new mothers.

" All of yous!" "Jesus, Mary and Joseph this must've been a bleeding nightmare to organise. You sneaky fecks." Sorscha gleamed out.

As everyone took turns with Quinn, Autumn had her own special moment with the baby alone. Quinn babbled, smiling and pointing her miniature fingers at Winter.

Autumn and Winter shot each other a loving glance, thinking of what could have been.

Still, in the grand scheme of things she still couldn't quite believe that Quinn Autumn Doyle was here, and she had a part to play in it.

As time went by, the festivities had come to a close, Mia gently pulled Sorscha aside. "Hey, I have something special for you, I wanted to give it to you guys privately." she said, handing her a white box with a red ribbon.

Sorscha and Clodagh opened the box together, revealing a tiny sleepsuit with the words "Careful, my auntie is a mean redhead..." elegantly written on it. They burst into laughter.

"Oh my god, Mia!" Sorscha exclaimed, still laughing. "This is perfect."

Charlotte, standing nearby, joined in the laughter. "I didn't even know you had that custom-made."

Mia grinned. "I wanted it to be a good surprise."

The group enjoyed their last bits of cake, chatting and catching up with Clodagh, who shared stories about their first weeks with Quinn. The room was filled with warmth, love, and laughter as they celebrated together.

Maybe Sorscha and Clodagh weren't so alone in this new-parenting fiasco, the support system they had here. Celebrating with them was simply perfect.