Forever You - Evening the Score // Book Two

Chapter 24

"He has your ears."

"My ears?"  Elena asked after Harry's declaration. 

The last 24 hours had been a roller coaster of emotions but at the moment Harry was so blissfully happy he didn't know this kind of emotion was possible.  Once the nurses and Dr. Daniels were satisfied that both Joey and Elena were fine, they left the new family to themselves.  Elena had invited Harry up into her bed with her.  Harry hadn't even thought twice as he hopped up and spooned in behind her.  The recently crowned "parents" spent the next hour inspecting and commenting on every single inch of their son.

Harry nodded,

"Can't you tell?"

Elena glanced at him over her shoulder before she went back to staring at her son.  She shook her head with a gentle laugh,

"All I see is you.  A mini, precious, perfect version of you."

Harry lifted his fingers to touch his son's face,

"He's so beautiful."

Joey had been asleep, his tiny hands and fingers tucked into a blue blanket courtesy of the hospital.

Elena couldn't believe he was finally here.  She felt like she'd been spending so much time anticipating his arrival that she hadn't spent a moment to think about what it would be like when he finally got here.  And now that he was...she was overwhelmed by it all. 

He was so tiny and fragile.  But Elena was quite sure she'd step in front of a bullet for him without hesitation. 

Harry was enamored with the small human Elena held so tightly and equally as enamored with Elena.  He'd never seen her stronger than he'd seen her when she was going through labor.  He couldn't believe one person could handle all of that.  He suddenly felt like he needed to call his mother and thank her for everything she'd ever done for him.

Harry suddenly lifted his head off the bed,

"Shit!"  He quickly shuffled off the bed.

"What?"  Elena asked.

"Everyone is still waiting outside."  He ran a hand through his hair, "Give me five minutes.  I'll be right back."  Harry went to leave, stopping abruptly as he turned to look at Elena, "Don't let him do anything new until I get back."

Elena giggled softly after he disappeared.  She looked down at Joey,

"I think your daddy's in love."

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Niall finished his move for Battleship on Randy's phone and then handed it back to her.  The sun had set hours ago, it seemed like, but no one had left the hospital.  In fact, more people had shown up including Harry's father, Des and Gemma's boyfriend. Everyone seemed to have broken off into groups while they waited.

"Ugh...I suck at this game."  Randy said as she stared at the screen.

Niall smiled.  So far he and Randy had eaten twice, taken a pretty long walk and played a few heated rounds of Words with Friends.  It seemed like they'd done a lot but the time had flown by.  Niall couldn't remember the last time he'd enjoyed someone else's company so much.

He leaned his head onto her shoulder to look at her screen.  He lifted his finger to point to a section,

"There...do those."

Randy shot him a look,

"Like I'm gonna take your advice.  You're my adversary."
Niall lifted his head off of her shoulder,