Spark in the Dark

Chapter 175

When Juice and Tig went back to find Shawn's room, they found that Lyla and Fawn had beaten them there. The nurses had brought Shawn lunch and they were all talking as she ate. The extra estrogen must have gotten to Tig because he ducked out soon after, but not before saying goodbye to both of his daughters.

Gemma had dropped of a bag of Shawn's things and included something for Juice, too. He stepped into the bathroom to change out of his clothing that was still from the night before. When he was done, he saw the girls were saying their own goodbyes to Shawn. They hugged him one more time before leaving and then Juice and Shawn were left alone.

"You hungry?" Shawn asked. "They brought you a lunch tray, too. Then when you're done, they said I have to walk. I thought we could walk down the hall and see Ally."

Juice looked down at the tray, then back at her. "I can wait. Let's go see her now."

"Are you sure?" She asked. Juice knew she was trying to be patient, but heard the eagerness in her voice.

"Yeah, c'mon," he said and held out his hands to help her stand. "Just take it slow, alright?"

"Don't think I have any other choice," Shawn joked.

Juice helped her down the hall. They entered the room and a nurse moved a rocking chair closer to wear Ally was for Shawn to sit down.

"Can I touch her?" Shawn asked.

"Sure can," the nurse told her and showed Shawn how to put her hands in the holes on the side of the incubator.

Juice felt a little stupid for not thinking to ask about touching her earlier. He went around to the opposite side of the incubator as Shawn, but didn't put a hand in just yet. He had already held Ally once, something Shawn hadn't gotten to do, yet. Juice wanted to give her a moment to experience their daughter on her own without him intruding.

"Hi, baby girl," Shawn said to her as she gently stroked her thumb across the baby's fingers. "It's Mommy."

"She knows," Juice assured her.

"How do you know?"

"Because up until a couple of hours ago, she was inside you. You're all she knows really."

"True. You going to touch her?"

Juice slid his hand in and held on to Ally's smaller one. "I can't believe she's here."

"I know," she agreed. A nurse came their way to check on them and see if they had any questions. "Actually, I was wondering if that's a feeding tube?"

"It is," the nurse confirmed. "We tried to feed her and she didn't seem interested in trying. The doctor ordered the tube and we'll try again in 24 hours. Sometimes when they're this early they just don't know what to do. If you want, someone can come to your room for you tomorrow and you can try to feed her."

"Really? Yeah, I'd love that."

Shawn and Juice stayed in the NICU with Ally until Shawn's nurse came to find her hours later when the doctor wanted to check her. Shawn begrudgingly stood from her seat and blew Ally a kiss. Juice helped her down the hall and back into her bed. The doctor came in and checked her stitches a little after that.

"Everything is looking good. Walking is fine, but other than that, take it easy. No lifting," he warned Shawn.

"Can I hold the baby?" Shawn asked sounding concerned.

"That's fine. Someone should hand her to you and until you're a little more healed it would be better to seat while you hold her. When are they letting you hold her?"