Best of Women

Lin

A/N: Happy holidays! Heads up, my updates will be a bit sporadic over the next couple weeks due to the holidays and my BF and I are taking a road trip with stops in 5 different states. Woo hoo!

"Do we have to call Pippa Mom now?" Eva asked me one Saturday morning.  Pippa was back in the shower and we were newly married.  I found myself glancing down at my wedding ring a lot.

"No, of course not," I told her as I flipped some pancakes.  "You can just keep calling her Pippa."

Eva watched me cook as she sat at the breakfast bar.  She was the first one up, and everyone else was still tucked away in bed.  It was nice to have a little father/daughter time.

"Do you think the baby will come soon?" she asked me.

"Who knows," I told her.  "Babies come when they're ready.  Hopefully it'll be a quick delivery."

"If I ever have a baby I want a c-section," she decided.  "Childbirth sounds too painful."

"Women have been doing it for thousands of years," I pointed out.  "Plus, c-sections have a longer recovery time."

"Why?" she asked.

"Well, it's surgery," I told her.  "She wouldn't be able to lift anything for weeks and it really takes a toll on your body."

"I'd still want a c-section," she decided.  Rio walked out, yawning, as I shoveled over the first two pancakes onto Eva's plate.

"Morning, Rio," I told him as she sat next to his sister.  "Want chocolate chips?"

"Yes, please," he said politely.

"So, if the baby's a boy, will it have to share a room with Rio?" Eva asked.

"Probably," I said.  "And if it's a girl, it'll have to share with you or Mia."

"Won't it sleep in your room for a while?"

"Yeah, for the first few months," I said, adding more batter to the pan.  "It'll be up a lot during the night for feedings."

Eva had been full of questions lately.  She'd been keeping close tabs on what stage the baby was in its development.  She'd been looking up baby names and telling us and was really concerned about the child birth.

"Is it gross when the baby comes out?" she asked.

I wrinkled my eyebrows.  "Kind of I guess," I admitted.  "But it's beautiful."

"Beautiful?" she made a disgusted face.  "Sounds nasty."

I chuckled.  "Well, maybe when you're a mom you'll feel differently."

She made a gagging sound as I heard more movement in the hallway.  Slowly, the house started to make its way out to the living room and kitchen.  I cooked pancakes for a good half hour as people came over for seconds.  Rio got thirds.  Finally, I sat down with my own plate and poured on the syrup.

Pippa was next to me, rubbing at her belly, talking to it.

"Daddy makes the best pancakes," she told it.  "And he's pretty good at singing too."

"You know what else I'm good at?" I teased, giving her a sweet kiss on the lips.

"Don't flatter yourself, Miranda," she told me, giving me a look.

Everything was ready for the baby.  Since we already had little Paco living here, we didn't need to get a changing table.  We did have a little bassinet all ready, and the crib was tucked away in a box, waiting to be assembled.  All that was left to be done was have the baby.  Pippa had the hard part.