[Shane]Stop... Baby Time

[Shane Alexander Madden]

Shane couldn't really understand how anyone could ever look at a tiny baby and be like, hey you, you look like a fucking Gretchen, or Eugene. Here Eugene, come here! Like calling a dog. Shane was pretty sure he had it figured out though. Alexa Jane. Alexa for his, Shane's, middle name, it was kinda like Alexander, but Shane thought Alexandria sucked balls and Alexa sounded so much cooler. And Jane for Claire's middle name, obviously. And there were so many options for nicknames; Alex, Al, Alli, Lexi, but Shane like AJ so far. So just as long as this kid looked like an Alexa who might go by AJ, they were golden. Shane shook his head when Claire mentioned Shane being the most likely to be down there and Ethan mentioned ralphing up his lunch and Shane thought, oh good, I'm so glad everyone is so open about it. "Ha," Shane said pointedly, "Not happening. Nice try though. I'll text you with any updates, but see you when you get here." Shane recalled the nurse saying not quite yet and gave Claire a high five, laughing about Claire saying she was just going to start pushing, looking at Ethan, "I don't know what person say patience was a virtue, but we have none of that up in here." Shane said goodbye to Ethan, "Later bro," before setting his phone back down on the side table.

[Claire Jayne Madden]

Claire nodded as she high fived Shane. “ Damn straight. Maddens for life.” she said, looking at a cna who was bringing in ice chips since others had melted. “ That’s my crew. Ride or die. I’m sorry I don’t know why I’m talking like that, I went to a private school. I do ballet…” Claire said shaking her head. But before they could get their p’s and q’s together, it seemed like there was a flurry of people in and out of the room over the next hour, until it looked like the entire hospital was in the room. Each of them seemed so set in their purpose, flowing together like they were perfectly orchestrated and could already tell the next move of the person they were working with. Yet, Claire thought to herself. I’m just sitting here chilling. Cause really, until the doctor said push, there wasn’t a whole heck of a lot that she could do. She looked over at the anesthesiologist, who unknowingly to her, had taken a seat in the chair and was at a different eye level than the rest of the workers. “ You are the shortest man I have ever seen in my life.” she said stoically, blinking with a straight face as she watched him. “ Baby, look how short he is” Claire said, trying to get Shane’s attention. Yet, no one corrected her, explained that he was just sitting down. “ Claire, we’re going to start pushing on each contraction, got it? Can you do that for me,” Claire nodded slowly as she looked around at everyone, though some of the pain was starting to trickle its way back into her pelvis, it was like it had a delayed signal to her brain. She looked up, trying to look at the fluid for the epidural which was running dry. She tapped her fingertip against it. “ Okay, Claire, push!”. So she did, taking in a deep breath and pushing. What she hadn’t anticipated was the pain that would shoot all the way through her entire body. Clearly the epidural wasn’t going to be able to take away everything. Claire closed her eyes tightly, screaming at the unwelcome pain before she tried to catch her breath. “ No, no. No more. It’s Shane’s turn.” she said, bringing her hands up to her forehead. But soon enough, it would be Shane’s turn to be more involved. The poor guy had to be asked to hold both her leg and her hand, plus after their daughter was crowning it only took a couple of more pushes and their daughter was here, out in the world with her mom and dad. “ Would you like to cut the cord?” the doctor asked as a nurse to the side held a pair of scissors out to Shane. They’d need to move quickly because once the cord was cut they could move the baby to the side, check all of the vital signs to make sure everything was okay, get the baby to breathe and cry. It also gave the doctor an opportunity to check on Claire. Claire winced as one of the doctors already started working on her, dropping her head back exhaustedly but turning it to watch Shane.

[Shane Alexander Madden]

Shane tried to be patient for the next hour since he was telling Claire to be patient, and while they waited he filled out whatever paper work needed filling out. Slowly, more and more people were filing in, so clearly is was almost time for all the exciting stuff. No one, not even Shane, bothered to tell Claire that the short man was just sitting down because there was so much going on and Shane himself was feeling anxious. It had become a little more noticeable that the epidural was beginning to run dry and at this point they were telling Claire to push. All the months of waiting led up to this. This was them finally being able to meet their daughter, see her, hold her, start the rest of forever with her around. And obviously it was still labor and it was messy and difficult, for Claire anyways, trying to pass the baton off to Shane who unfortunately wasn't much help but kissed her temple and told her she was kicking Iron Man's ass right now anyways in badassness. And they gave Shane enough jobs to do, peeking around to see what was going on which was crazy that anyone would want to see but it was sort of cool, in a weird ass way. Just as soon as everything was happening so quickly, it seemed to be over. Shane watched with wide eyes, still in shock that any of this existed in the realm of normalness, looking at the tiny little alien person that was indeed a daughter, being asked if he wanted to cut the cord. "Whoa, yeah I do," he responded without thinking, taking a moment to cut the cord and look at her as long as possible before they whisked her away and for a moment he sat there, the image still in his mind of her little face, just completely in awe and in love with the little girl he'd just seen for a brief moment. A short moment that felt like forever passed and Shane looked back at Claire, moving to her side, unable to hide the smile on his face and the sparkle in his eyes. It was was too amazing for words, that was what he ultimately determined. Shane leaned down to kiss her, taking her face in his hands, still amazed that she went through all that in one piece and if there was ever a moment he loved her most, it was comparable to the wave of complete love and devotion he felt for Claire and their family. He kissed her softly, smiling, "I love you, so much," he told her, and he was pretty sure she must know just how much that was, because it was a whole hell of an overwhelming lot. There in the background was a little cry and the doctor saying how everything was just fine and good and they were cleaning her up and bringing her over where they could hold her, resting her in Claire's waiting arms, and she was probably the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen next to her mother. Just literally, the most perfect little person, and she didn't even know it yet how perfect she was, and how amazing of a mom she had, or how fucking boss her older brother was, and it was all just so... surreal and probably one of the most amazing moments of his life that the emotions crashed in with all the power of a tidal wave, he honestly kind of felt like crying. And maybe he did a bit, and he didn't really care because it was awesome, she was awesome, Claire was way beyond awesome, and all of that amounted to making Shane what had to have been the happiest guy in the world, who now not only had one girl in his world, but two.

[Claire Jayne Madden]

Claire tried to catch her breath, trying to remember if the last time was this exhausting. But would it have been? Last time she had passed out and they had to basically perform it for her because she was having her own medical issues. This time it felt like it had been all on her. Of course, Shane was doing everything he could to help. She’d lucked out with him as a husband, she knew that. He so quietly tried to be helpful in every situation that he could. After he kissed her, she brought her hand down to his, looking over as she heard their daughter’s first cry. Claire sat up, ignoring all of the pain that shot through her lower body and reached out. It was a selfish moment, holding her daughter. Which is why she took just one moment to look into her eyes before she moved on the bed so that Shane could lean on it however he wanted to and be a part of holding her for the first time. This journey to get to this place , to be holding their daughter, it felt like it had taken forever. And she knew that most couples had fights and arguments, but she knew that she and Shane had somehow lucked out on having one of the easiest relationships to ever happen in history. If she had any attempts at trying to control her crying, it was out the window. Even now she sat with tears just rolling down her cheeks, having to brush them away with the back of her hand. Claire looked down, bringing her fingertips to touch the edge of their daughters cheek. She knew in the years to come there would be eventual fights, discipline about clothing, them butting heads. But through all of that she wanted to remember this moment, their family being complete and how much she entirely loved this little girl in their arms. Claire hummed to herself quietly, Only One by Shane’s own band, as she looked down at the little girl, completely unaware that all of the staff had left them to be alone. “ I had no idea that this was everything I ever wanted,” she said, finally looking away from their daughter to look at Shane. She moved her arms, so that Shane could hold her entirely if he wanted to. "I don't think you can comprehend how much I love you. For everything.. for this life and family you've given me,"

[Shane Alexander Madden]

They were on a complete emotional roller coaster today, going from uncontrollable laughing to now both of them silently crying, in disbelief that life could be this good. How had they become so lucky to have found each other and create this love that they had, and their love be able to create two perfect babies, both so healthy and everything they could have imagined and more. Shane couldn't take his eyes off her when they brought her over, she was so small. He barely remembered Brayden being so little. He reached over, sitting down beside Claire, letting those tiny little fingers curl around his instantly as she knew who they were. The way she calmed at Claire's touch, how could such a little person know exactly with whom she belonged? Shane leaned in with Claire, the three of them so close together, wrapping his arms around their daughter. It was crazy how little it took to fit all of her in his arms. Shane hadn't even noticed every one had left, leaving them to themselves until he realized how quiet it was. Shane couldn't stop the smile from forming on his face when she mentioned that she never knew this what she wanted, "Me neither." Now that they were at this point he realized it wasn't that he never relaxed that this was what he wanted, he'd never known what he wanted at all. He'd been walking around waiting for fate to show up. But as far as never knowing how much she loved him, he responded, shaking his head, "I might have a pretty good idea." It must match the amount that he loved her. For a few minutes they must have just sat there in awe of what they'd accomplished, enjoying the moment of just being together for the first time. Things were starting to sink in, like getting the word out that their daughter had been born to friends and family, getting Brayden back up here to meet his new sister, and then of course as a nurse came in and indicated that this sweet little lady needed a name and that they could fill out the paperwork whenever they were ready and brought it over. And so with one last look at that little face with those big dark eyes watching him back, he smiled and said definitively, "You certainly look like Alexa Jayne to me." He looked over at Claire to see what she thought, "I was thinking AJ for short."

[Claire Jayne Madden]

Claire rest her head against the side of Shane’s chest tiredly as he held their daughter. If she could hold her eyes open, she would. If she could spend eternity just watching that little girl stretching out her fingers before folding them all back together, she would. But exhaustion was kicking in. She couldn’t decide if she wanted a nap or a shower before people decided to come in and visit. Or both. Claire smiled softly as Shane announced the name. “ It sounds like a superhero name..” she said quietly, laughing to herself. ‘ It’s perfect.’ she said, kissing the side of Shane’s cheek. To think, each of them had spent so much time and energy in music, ballet. But the two things they were most proud of in their life was a result of hormones. “ Is it terrible of me to want to take a shower or a nap or…. Something.. I feel just…blah.” she said, placing her free hand down over her hip. She knew she would need help getting into the shower, and quite honestly she wasn’t sure she had the energy to wash her hair or even braid it when she was done. “ I’m sorry, you’re going to have to take on most of the work of telling people when they get here. It’s pathetic how tired I feel. I'm so sorry.”

[Shane Alexander Madden]

"A bad ass super hero," he added, nodding. Shane handed AJ back over to Claire for a few minutes, filling out the info for her birth certificate and making sure to spell everything right, not wanting any kind of mistake. As he wrote in the little spaces he shook his head, "Don't be sorry, you're exhausted, understandably." Claire could rest her eyes for a little while, grab a shower if she wanted, nap, whatever. Some time later after he'd helped Claire shower, Shane took his phone out to tell his parents. People were going to be showing up soon. But Shane called Rosie first, telling her the news and asked her to bring Brayden back up to hospital as soon as they were done with whatever they were doing. That gave Claire some time to rest up a bit. After that while Claire slept a little, Shane called some people, Renners, got a hold of Ethan again, talked to his mom briefly. It seemed word was spreading pretty quickly. His parents were boarding a plane and would be in later that evening. He sort of thought maybe Ethan would talk to his and Claire's parents, or Claire would want to call them so he left that for her when she was feeling up to it. But between every phone call he was back by that bassinet where Aj was sleeping for the moment. He just couldn't get enough of looking at her. Eventually Rosie came back, carrying Brayden along with her who looked like he was trying to make a break for it after some balloons until he saw Shane who had gotten a hold of some himself and met them in the hallway. "Hey dude," he smiled as Rosie let him down and Brayden came over, happy to be reunited with his people. Shane scooped him up, thanking Rosie and said hey to Declan who had come along. Rosie smiled at the pink balloons, "Aww, a girl..." she sighed, "How is she, Claire? Is she up to seeing anyone right now?" Shane shrugged, "Honestly she took a nap, she might be up though." "What did you name her?" she asked curiously, unable to tame that typical female attraction to babies. "Alexa Jayne. We're going to call her AJ for short." "Well, are you hungry, have you eaten?" Shane had honestly forgotten about food, glad when Rosie said Brayden had just eaten a little while ago. Rosie offered to get some food from outside the hospital, not that no one would bring them any from the cafeteria but it gave them something to do so Brayden could meet AJ uninterrupted. After they had left them alone, Rosie lacing her fingers through Declan's and headed off in search of real food, Shane took Brayden back in with Claire, seeing that she was stirring awake, "There's mom, she missed you a bunch I'm sure," he smiled letting Brayden crawl up beside Claire.

[Claire Jayne Madden]

Claire held onto Shane as he had helped her into the shower, not wanting help from a complete stranger even if it was a nurse. After he helped her wash her hair and braid it she climbed into bed, falling asleep so much more quickly than she could possibly even realize. Giving birth may have been an adrenaline rush, but it also took every ounce of energy you had out of you. She didn’t know how long she had slept, though it didn’t feel like it was long enough, when she felt the familiarity of Brayden crawling onto her bed just like he did at home. She smiled tiredly before she opened her eyes. “Hey munchkin,” she said, bringing her hand up to rub her fingers over her eyes. She was going to sleep well tonight, no doubt about it. “ Did you have fun with Rosie?” she asked, sitting up and trying to find the remote so that she could angle the bed so that they were sitting upright. Claire held her arms out for AJ, so that she could try to hold AJ a bit more securely so that Brayden could look at her. “Did daddy tell you what your little sisters’ name is? AJ. Alexa Jane.” Claire said, letting Brayden take a moment to survey her. Claire looked up at Shane, offering him a smile. The rockstar who met a ballerina, and all of the sudden had a family. Rockstars weren’t supposed to be family guys. “You should eat, Shane.” she said, looking up with a bit of concern.