Closer

100.

Sitting in the waiting room with the other dads who had been kicked out of the delivery room and the occasional grandparent to be was nerve wrecking. The tension in the room was touchable, and Eddy felt insecure about holding Brett's hand from all the stares.

Every time the nurse came into the room, all the dads looked up with hopeful eyes. Every once in a while, a dad was brought out to meet his child for the first time.

"I'm so nervous," Brett half whispered to Eddy, squeezing his hand gently. It felt like someone was constantly standing on his chest and stirring up every emotion in his stomach. "I can't believe we're meeting her today."

"I hope they're both alright," Eddy whispered back, leaning his head on Brett's shoulder. He did his best to ignore the stare from a guy he supposed was a grandfather to be sitting across from them.

All the dads turned as the door opened and the nurse entered again, looking as calm as before. She gave everyone a smile before stepping over to where Brett and Eddy was sitting and sat next to them.

"There's been a slight development for you guys," she said, sounding like calmness herself. Eddy squeezed Brett's hand, feeling his heartrate go up. "It turns out there's a chance the baby's head is slightly too big for the pelvis."

Brett took some time processing the information, but Eddy's brain was way ahead of Brett's. Except it only played the worst possible scenarios.

"Is she okay?" Eddy asked, sounding like he was about to cry. Brett squeezed his hand back, but felt himself tense up despite the nurse's calming smile.

"Yes, yes. She'll be fine, but she'll be born with c-section," the nurse explained, smiling even wider. "They're rolling Leonora into the operating room as we speak, so if you want to come with me to wait next door you'll get to see your daughter very soon."

They followed the nurse to what looked like another hospital room and was told to make themselves comfortable for the next fifteen minutes while their daughter was born across the hall.

"We haven't decided who'll be 'dad' yet," Eddy said on an exhale, closing his eyes. He felt slightly dizzy and sat down in one of the armchairs in the room. Brett sat down in the other one, running a hand through his hair.

"What do you want?" Brett asked, feeling his hands tremble. This was like the worst stage nerves ever.

"I... I don't know..." Eddy hesitated, blinking a few times. Brett furrowed his brows and looked at him. Something felt off.

"Why do you sound like you know, then?" Brett asked, reaching over to him to grab his hand. Again Eddy hesitated before responding and grabbing his hand.

"I don't want to be selfish. I know you'd let me have 'dad' if I said I wanted it," Eddy sighed, looking down at their hands. Brett's hand was shaking slightly.

"I was actually hoping to like... be baba," Brett shrugged, running his shaky thumb over the back of Eddy's hand. "Unless you want that."

"I prefer dad," Eddy exhaled, smiling nervously. "I guess it's settled then."

"Yeah," Brett agreed, and a moment later the door was opened. Brett was certain he would pass out any second. His nerves heightened when the nurse came in with something wrapped in a light pink blanket in her arms and a wide smile on her lips.

Eddy was quick to get on his feet, and Brett was just behind him, but neither dared to approach. Both their hearts were racing with excitement.

"So, who's gonna hold her first?" she asked, looking at them. Eddy felt all his doubts overpower him for a moment. Of course that would be Brett. He was her actual father after all, Eddy just took on this role. Of course that made sense. That was fine. Eddy was fine.

"You take her first," Brett said as he snuck up to him and placed a careful kiss on his cheek, stroking his back. Eddy turned to look at him with a confused look.

"You sure? Even if I'm not...?"

"Of course I'm sure. Come on," Brett said, and Eddy kissed him quickly before turning to the nurse and their daughter again. Carefully, the nurse moved the little bundle into Eddy's arms, making sure her little face wasn't covered with the blankets

And then every little piece fell into place for Eddy. As this perfect little baby girl was placed in his arms, he could feel his brain shift from seeing Brett as the most important person in the world to placing this tiny, whimpering human as the center of his universe.

"Hey," he whispered, feeling tears welling up in his eyes. She was so small, and looked so fragile, he was almost scared to move.

Brett moved to place his arm around Eddy's waist and to get a peek at their daughter, lying comfortably in her dad's arms. She was moving slightly, making little noises that melted his heart. On her head was a tiny tuft of dark hair and she was perfect.

She was perfect until she opened her eyes for just a moment, revealing clear blue eyes.

Eddy felt the shift in Brett's mood and tore his eyes away from the perfect little bundle in his arms for a moment to see what was going on.

"What's wrong?" Eddy asked, eyeing up Brett as his smile faded into what looked like a disappointed frown. It made Eddy nervous.

"She can't be mine," Brett mumbled, running a hand through his hair in part to hide his face slightly. "She has blue eyes."

"Most babies have blue eyes when they're born," the nurse explained assuringly, smiling at them. "But if it will assure you, I'll order a paternity-test for you."

"Yes please," Brett mumbled, dumping into the chair he had stood up from a moment ago.