Alright, I'm sorry this took forever and I'm sorry that it's shorter than normal. I had something much longer and better written out, but my computer shut down automatically, so I lost the Chapter entirely. While this story comes to a close (yes this is the final Chapter), I promise, I have something much better in mind that might top a lot of the other stories I have. Good? Haha.
Watching Josh and his new daughter interact was so...surreal. I had never imagined the moment for some reason. As much as I tried not to stare, I couldn’t help it. It was just too adorable.
The nurse wheeled in the baby in a small little container (for a lack of a better word) wrapped in blankets. In the blankets was little baby Claire, her bright green eyes that matched mined were closed. Though, truth be told, I’d never seen Claire’s eyes. They were always opened when someone else was holding her; she’d never actually seen me. While it made me slightly sad, it made me feel better to know that while she might be looking at people now, I’d be the one taking her home later.
“Oh, are you her Uncle?” the nurse asked Josh with a small smile, and he just simply shook his head no.
“I’m her Daddy,” he said quietly.
I saw a soft expression cross the nurse’s face, and she smiled. “Well, congratulations, Mr. Farro. I’ll leave you alone now.”
Before either one of us could say anything else, the nurse had very quietly slipped out of the room, obviously not wanting to ruin the moment. But that seemed entirely fine with Josh; he wasn’t even paying attention to the nurse. He had his eyes locked on the little girl that was cuddled up in the blankets.
“Hi there,” Josh said softly, running a finger across Claire’s small forehead. She had a small amount of brown hair already on her head. “I’m your daddy,” he explained, still rubbing her forehead with his finger.
Josh bent over and grasped Claire’s sides gently in his hands and very carefully, as if he didn’t know what to do. He very hesitantly picked Claire up, wrapped in the blankets and all, and shifted her into his arms awkwardly, as if he didn’t know what to do it. I couldn’t help but smile; it was a very precious moment.
Josh very carefully fixed the blankets around Claire’s body, then made sure he had her head supported. He looked very antsy and nervous, as if the baby in his arms might break at any given moment.
“Er, what’s her name?”
“What?”
His question caught me off guard.
I had fully expected Zac to at least have told Josh what his daughter’s name was...unless, of course, Zac himself forgot which I really wouldn’t put past him.
“What’s her name?” Josh repeated slowly, raising his eyebrows.
“Oh, um, it’s Claire. Claire Marie Farro,” I explained with a small nod of my head.
“Farro?” he asked.
I raised an eyebrow, slightly confused. “Of course Farro. She’s your own daughter. What else would it be?”
“I dunno,” was all Josh replied with as he took his usual seat on the window sill to admire his new daughter. I didn’t say anything else to him, and figured I would just let him go ahead and have his moment with Claire.
He stared at her for with what seemed like forever. I stared at them as well, watching them interact. Though it was mostly Josh staring, it was still...well, still adorable. I saw a small smile cross Josh’s face suddenly, and he mouthed the word ‘hi’ to the baby. I was guessing that she was awake.
“I’m your Daddy,” Josh cooed to the baby as he ran a finger over her small cheek. By then I could at least see that Claire was awake because her tiny fingers reach out for Josh’s large one. Josh edged his finger closer to her hand, and her tiny fingers embraced his one finger.
“Aww,” I couldn’t help but let out. It really was too adorable. Claire was always sleeping when I held her.
“You know,” Josh said, finally tearing his eyes away from the baby to look at me. “She has your eyes.”
“Really?” I asked with a small laugh. “I haven’t seen them yet. She always favors being asleep when I hold her,” I said with a small pout.
“Well maybe you bore her,” Josh teased lightly, a small smirk crossing his lips. “You tend to put a lot of people to sleep. Believe me. I’ve seen what goes down at Hayley William’s concerts. People are falling asleep all over the place.
“Pfft, are not. At least, they didn’t with Paramore...but that doesn’t really matter. I’m her mommy, she’s going to have to deal with it one way or another.,” I replied smoothly, crossing my arms over my chest.
“Well, I guess if we ever need to calm Claire down, all we have to do is show her your face,” Josh replied, once again glancing down at the baby.
We.
He had said we.
Something inside of me soared, but I knew I had to elaborate on that ‘we’. He could mean ‘we’ for just about anything.
“We?” I asked softly.
“Yes, we,” Josh said with a nod of his head, fixing some of the blankets around the baby. “We are her parents, aren’t we?”
“Does that mean we’ll be living together?” I asked, trying not to sound too desperate or like I was turned off by the idea.
“That’s what I was thought...” Josh said slowly, staring up at me. Our eyes met briefly, which was enough to tell me what he was thinking. He seemed like he had completely forgotten about everything that had happened after I left up until our small debate (for a lack of a better word) a few moments ago.
“You’re taking me back,” I said slowly, as if to point out the obvious.
“I guess I am,” Josh said simply with a small smirk and a shrug of his shoulders as he glanced down at baby Claire.
And in my heart,
I knew that things were going to be just fine between us.
