Snips n' Snails & Puppy Dog Tails

Chapter 4

Owen and Claire had found a way to share her bed through the night. He had been fine on the partner chair they had in her room, but Claire had insisted for them to squeeze together so they could cuddle.

Their nurse had already found both parents awake and comfortable on the bed when she paid them a little visit. She had baby Grady with her, rolling him over to mom's bed in his hospital bassinet.

Claire immediately lit up. She had wanted to spend the night with him but because of his time of birth they had declined that request; the baby boy still had to go through some check ups and immunization, not to mention the usual procedure to help him raise his temperature.

Owen sat up, his fingers gently caressing Claire's back as she reached out so she could hold her son. "I missed him so much." She squealed feeling the softness of his presence against her.

"It's time for his breakfast. I'll go get yours while the baby gets fed." The nurse made sure Claire's hand was careful with his little head.

"Okay." Claire nodded. "We are starving." She agreed about both her and Owen needing some food too. She slowly adjusted so she could breastfeed her baby just like she had done minutes after his birth.

It was eight in the morning, just five hours after both parents had last seen him, but it felt like they hadn't seen him in years. Claire was unable to stop kissing his little nose and his soft cheeks, Owen gently letting his son curl his little fingers around his thumb.

The nurse nodded. "Do you need help, or you got this?" They knew from her file that this was her second child and by the look of it, Claire hadn't forgotten how to breastfeed even after nine years — it was like riding a bike, though the burning sensation was something she surely hadn't missed.

"We are good..." She murmured, her eyes set lovingly on her baby, who was neatly wrapped in his blanket.

Owen was quietly admiring what he thought was the most perfect picture in the whole world. The woman he loved nurturing his son, and seeing them bond was bringing tears to his eyes.

Claire was gentle when she adjusted and fixed herself so their baby could latch on her and start feeding. Her breasts had felt full and heavy for a week now, so her baby eating was offering a relieving sensation.

Owen was smiling, kissing her neck from behind while he made sure he didn't lose a second of it. Watching his girlfriend go through this emotional and physical journey with their baby was very moving for him too.

"Does it hurt?" He murmured, his baby letting go of that thumb and gently placing his little hand on Claire's breast, blissfully sucking. He was very hungry, and happy that mommy was finally there with him.

"Yeah...but I don't care." Claire murmured back, looking over her shoulder, exchanging a loving kiss with him.

Once baby Grady was full, he let go of his mother and nuzzled close. The nurse got in just in time to assist Claire to burp him so she wouldn't be too hard on his little back, and to refresh her memory on the perfect posture.

Claire giggled at the little sound. "That's my son." Owen chuckled slowly, brushing his fingers on the baby's back. "We are gonna have the best burping contests, aren't we?" He cooed, immediately shaking his head, taking it back at the look on Claire's face.

The nurse offered a friendly chuckle at his little joke and started filling the baby's paperwork. She started asking both parents' full names and place of birth as well as other personal information they needed to process baby Grady's birth certificate.

Owen had their breakfast on his lap while Claire kept their baby with her. He was feeding her while the baby ate, both answering everything the nurse needed from them.

"Have you guys decided on a name yet?" She needed that information.

"Benjamin." Claire offered simultaneously to Owen's "Hendrix." The nurse was not a stranger to the scenario where parents couldn't agree on the name they wanted for their child.

"I swear, Owen... If you name our baby that, I'll leave you!" She threatened, "And I'll take him with me." She was dead serious.

"It's okay. There's no rush." The nurse offered to give them more time to figure this one out. "Whenever you are ready just let me know and I'll write it on his paperwork." She reassured them, and after making sure everything was in place with both the mom and the baby, she started to leave. "I'll be back in a couple of hours, check on his diaper and temperature." She figured baby Grady could hang out with mom and dad for a while now.

Claire narrowed her eyes at Owen before pecking his lips a couple of times. She slowly let Owen take the baby while she went to the bathroom so she could shower. She was feeling gross already, and needed to get into a clean gown.

"Hey there Lil' Man." He smiled, happy that Claire was finally letting go of the baby even if only for a few minutes. Owen let his hazel eyes take in every inch of that small creature. He kissed his nose softly and tenderly cleaned the little bubbles he was making.

The baby wiggled, happy that he was bonding with his dad now. Owen let his finger gently bring one of those fragile hands up and smiled at his little nails. He reached out for his little mittens and was careful when putting them on him.

"I can't wait to teach how to pee your name in the snow and how to burp the ABCs...you know, cool dad-son stuff." Owen couldn't help tearing up. He had never felt such overflowing love for anyone before.

He was madly in love with the woman who had given him the most precious gift he could ever ask for, but this was a different kind of love. He loved his eldest daughter too, but it hadn't been until now that he actually felt the need to give them everything he could, and how he would sacrifice his life for them both — and for Mason — in a heartbeat.

In that precious moment, Owen knew he would gladly starve in favor of feeding them first, and put their needs before his.

Once his son fell asleep, Owen found a way to stand up and put him back down in his bassinet to let him rest. Claire came out of the bathroom just in time, drying her hair with a towel, to witness it.

Owen was facing the bathroom door, grinning at the redhead as she teared up. He inched closer and hugged her waist, some baby weight still evident, but he was already missing that baby bump sandwiched between the two of them.

"How are you feeling, mommy?" He asked her, kissing her lovingly and walking with her to the bed.

Claire sighed and smiled softly, nuzzling into his neck as they both sat on the edge of the bed. "Exhausted..." She murmured, kissing his neck a couple of times before their lips met.

"Then let's get that hair dried and take a very well deserved nap." Owen started making the bed comfortable for her while she made sure her hair was dried.

Having their son in the room was stimulating Claire to keep looking over; she was like a little girl with a new toy, unable to keep her eyes off him and stop herself from wanting to be with him.

"Babe..." Owen pulled from her gown. Maybe his physical exhaustion wasn't as bad as hers, but he too was tired, drained, and his protective senses couldn't stop tinkling. He had to make sure she was resting and asleep so he could rest and get some sleep.

"I'm sorry, he is just so precious and so beautiful. I can't get enough of him." She insisted. It had been an hour since her shower, and the baby was fast asleep. Claire knew better than waking him up, so she admired him from a distance.

Owen's arms wrapped around his girlfriend tight, keeping her in bed. "I know, but you need to rest, babe." He suggested kissing her neck and her cheek adoringly as he spooned her.

Claire whined, knowing he was right.

"Besides, the kids will be here to meet him after school." He reminded her. It was Brenda's turn to have them for Halloween, which had worked perfectly, as according to their tradition, they were starting their two-night sleepover that day.

"Oh yes, Mason promised to show me his costume today when we talked over the phone this morning." Claire smiled. Just like the year before, Owen had helped him put it together and the kid was very excited about it.

Soon, the nurse was back and agreed to take the baby back to the nursery. He needed to spend some time there to keep working on his temperature and give mommy some time to rest as well.

Once the baby boy was gone, Claire managed to immediately fall asleep. She had turned around and was facing Owen, her face buried in his neck as she managed to sleep for a couple of hours.

Owen woke up a few minutes before she did, and settled happily with watching her sleep for a while. She was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. He was also wanting to just call his son by a name, so with a soft kiss to Claire's temple, he started to get out of bed.

Claire whimpered, not wanting him to leave the bed and still curled up under the sheet, she sleepily watched him tie his shoes. "Where are you going?" She pouted. He didn't put those on when walking around the room or stepping into their bathroom.

"Going to look for our nurse. I'm ready to give our baby a name." He smiled softly her way.

"No! Owen!" Claire had never sat up so fast in her life. "Don't . You . Dare! I swear to god!" She watched him walk out of their room.

Claire threw the blankets to the side and jumped into her slippers. There was no way in hell she would have a son named Hendrix.

"Miss Dearing!!" One of the nurses called out, watching the woman who had delivered a baby not even 12 hours before, run out of her room.

The redhead gasped, watching Owen do what looked like asking the doors to close on her way to the elevator. The thought of using the stairs crossed her mind, but the second elevator opened for her the moment she called it up.

She knew he was heading to the nurse station looking for their nurse, so she headed that way. Claire had more willpower than anyone in that building, and the fact that she had just pushed a 9-pound baby out of her vagina was not stopping her from rushing through those corridors.

"That's a beautiful name, you and your girlfriend picked a great one." The nurse nodded with a smile before her facial expression changed completely.

"Thank you. She didn't like it at first, but I think she warmed up to it." Owen added before following the nurse's eyes.

The young lady stopped Claire from jumping on Owen to kill him as she insisted that she needed some rest, and fetched a wheelchair for her. "Now, Miss Dearing, you shouldn't be up here like this. Let's get you back to your room so you can properly rest." She offered, letting Owen wheel her back.

"I hope you know that from now on we are no longer together." She crossed her arms while she let Owen push the wheelchair to the elevator.

Owen just chuckled, knowing she was not being serious — or at least hoping she wasn't.

"I'm leaving you and I'm taking that baby with me. I'm keeping the house and the car, and you can go live in a cardboard box for all I care." She frowned.

Once in her room, she stood up from the chair and got in bed. Owen sat on the edge and gently let his fingers brush her leg. Claire didn't snatch his touch away, but she turned her head to the side.

"Come here Pookie." He offered his lap, the redhead slowly sitting on it and exchanging a loving kiss with him, her fingers brushing the back of his head as she offered him a light moan.

"The name suits him alright?" Owen promised, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "You said so yourself."

"When!? When did I say that ugly name suits our baby?" She pouted.

Owen shook his head, his fingers caressing her cheek lovingly while their eyes met. "You love me more than you hate that name, don't you?" He grinned.

"Yeah." She frowned. "You are lucky I can't live without you." She pouted.

Owen took her hands and kissed them lovingly before lacing their fingers. "And I love you more than Mr Jimi Hendrix himself." He nodded, brushing their noses together and stealing a couple of kisses from her.

"Here comes baby Ethan ready for his meal..." the nurse greeted them with a light smile while she pushed his bassinet over to the couple.

Claire smiled wide and turned to look at Owen, who nodded softly and kissed her cheek lovingly.

The nurse handed mom her baby so she could hold him for a little. "Hi handsome..." She murmured, the baby releasing a soft coo and adjusting against her chest. "He does look like an Ethan." She sobbed, recalling that in the middle of her pain and overwhelming state after giving birth, she had suggested that name.

Claire kissed his little hands and slowly took his mittens off. She stood up from Owen's lap and handed the baby over so she could get comfortable to feed him.

Claire kissed his tiny forehead once the baby was back in her arms, immediately relaxing once he latched. "He looks so much like you, too." Claire mirrored her observation from the day before.

"He does." Owen chuckled, kissing Claire gently a couple of times while their baby fed.

"Were you serious when you said you wanted to name him Owen?" She looked up from their baby and smiled softly.

He chuckled, remembering that. It had been something he had mentioned when she had told him she was pregnant.

"Because I think it would be a cute middle name." She offered, feeling how their baby was happily feeding. "Ethan Owen Grady." She offered, her eyes falling on the little one.

"I like it." Owen agreed. "I love him." He reached out brushing his fingers along the baby, feeling him wiggle around his blanket.

"He doesn't like to be bothered when eating." Claire giggled, loving every little thing they learned about their baby's personality.

"Watch that attitude there, Junior. Those were mine, first." Owen said, gently grabbing his little hand to offer a kiss but Ethan took it back and rested it against Claire's breast again before going back to eat.

Claire sobbed happily and leaned against Owen while he played with his fingers through her hair. "This is his world right here..." She offered. "Mom and dad and eating and sleeping."

"And pooping." Owen added.

"Remind me again what I see in you?" She teased, feeling his lips pressing against her temple.

"I would, but there are babies present."

Claire chuckled and looked back, letting him kiss her fully.