| "Would you like to hold her?" the nurse asked quietly. �ibhleann nodded slowly, still staring down at the little girl. The nurse smiled as she handed the groggy baby over and directed them to a nearby rocking chair. "We like to encourage nursing, so if you're up to it, I'll go get a bottle. Unless your milk's come in already." "No, not yet," she responded, looking down into her daughter's twinkling brown eyes. The nurse nodded and swished away. Mark watched intently as the baby stared up at her mother with large eyes, her mouth forming a small 'o' as her cheeks flushed. She grasped at �ibhleann's finger, her head wobbling back and forth in Avyee's arms as she looked around. With her chubby little fingers on her free hand, the baby reached up and gently touched her mother's cheek. Mark smiled to himself. "God, she's beautiful," �ibhleann whispered. Mark nodded slowly, reaching over to pet her feet. He laughed slightly as she pulled them away with a shudder. The nurse returned, and �ibhleann poked the bottle in the baby's mouth. Before long, the bottle was empty, and they sat in silence just watching her, taking in all that was going on. "Do you want to hold her?" �ibhleann asked quietly, her eyes returning to Mark. He nodded slowly, and they switched places. The warm fuzzy feeling returned as he took her into his arms, slowly sliding into the rocker as he looked down on her. She gurgled up at him and smiled, evoking laughter from all three spectators. "Have you picked out a name yet?" the nurse asked. Mark's eyes met �ibhleann's, telling her to go ahead. She smiled up at him. "How do you want to do this?" she asked. Mark shrugged, his fingers gently brushing the bald skin of his daughter's head, careful to avoid the IV needle taped there. "Want to do the middle name and I'll do the first?" "Sounds like a plan," he said with a slight laugh. The nurse smiled. "Cierra," �ibhleann said quietly. She spelled it out, and the nurse nodded as she wrote it down before looking up at Mark. "Savannah." She nodded. "That's a beautiful name," the nurse said as she wrote it down. "And the last name?" Mark grew uncomfortable. He had been dreading this moment. "Tremonti," �ibhleann said, not missing a beat. Mark suppressed a smile. He supposed that was a good thing. "Cierra Savannah Tremonti," the nurse said. "That really does sound nice." �ibhleann smiled. *** Mark jumped up from his chair and pulled his cell phone from his back pocket. He heaved a sigh when he looked at his caller ID and saw that it was Scott. "Hey man." "How are things?" "Pretty good. Finally got to see her." "Yeah? How's she doing?" "A lot better now. She's just really underweight, so they've got her in an incubator and all. But they say she's going to be just fine, so we're all relieved." "Have you named her?" "Yeah." There was a pause. "And?" Scott chuckled. "Cierra Savannah." "Ooo. I like that. Who came up with that?" "Both of us. She picked the first and I picked the middle. They just kinda clicked." "Whose last name?" "Mine," Mark responded with a touch of pride. "That was her call." "Cierra Savannah Tremonti. I like that." An awkward silence fell over them. "Is she there right now?" "No. She's taking a nap. I'm down at the cafeteria choking down something that appears to be a burger, but I'm not really sure. I think I'm supposed to kill it first." Scott laughed nervously. "Look, about this time off deal..." "Scott, I need to do this." "I know. I understand that. But we also need to work something out here. I mean, we're supposed to start touring in a few months. How long were you planning on taking off?" Mark sighed. "As long as I need to." "So it's indefinite." "I guess so, yeah." Scott sighed heavily. "I'm not quitting the band yet, Scott. Don't stress about this. I've got a call in to Jeff so I can let him know. He'll take care of everything. Don't worry." "Yet? Not quitting yet? What the hell is that supposed to mean, Tremonti?" "Scott---" "You're thinking about quitting? I can't believe this!" "Scott, chill out. I'm just taking a break for now, that's all. Just so I can be with Ayvee and Cierra for a while. I already told you I'm coming back." Scott was quiet for a minute, and Mark cringed as he heard Scott draw a long breath. "I just want you to know that we need you, that's all. I can't do this without you, Mark." Mark smiled slightly. "You won't have to." Scott was silent. "I just need some space right now," Mark continued. "Work stuff out, you know?" "Yeah, I know," Scott said. Mark heard someone talking in the background and smiled slightly. It sounded like Jagger. "Look, man, I gotta go. Jagger got into something and I'm not sure what it is." Mark laughed. "Don't be a stranger." "Don't worry," he replied with a smile. "You either." "I won't. I'll have Scottie call you tomorrow or something." "Okay. Later, man." Mark sighed as he hung up and looked down at the so-called food in front of him. With a shudder and disgusted grimace, he picked up the tray and dumped it into a nearby trash can. Mark groaned and rolled over in bed, his eyes opening into little slits as he glanced at the clock. It was nearly three in the morning. He felt �ibhleann shift beside him and turned. "Want me to get this one?" he asked, his voice still gruff and sleepy. "Ungh. No, I got it," she said groggily as she stood. "You sure?" "Yeah. She's probably hungry." Another fit of screaming followed a few seconds later, and Mark sighed as he flopped back onto his stomach after Ayvee had left the room. Soon, the house was silent again, but Mark couldn't get back to sleep. He stood slowly, stretching with a huge yawn as he made his way down the hall. He smiled slightly as he entered Cierra's room without a sound, seeing �ibhleann rocking back and forth while she stared out the window, feeding Cierra through a bottle, since her milk had never come in. He leaned against the doorframe and Ayvee turned, smiling sleepily. He returned the smile, only to have it morph into another huge yawn. "Go back to sleep," she said quietly. "I've got it covered." "I'm fine," he returned, slowly shuffling over to her side. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling all three close together. "I love you," he whispered before kissing her cheek. She smiled. His eyes shifted to Cierra. "And I love you too." He bent to kiss her on the forehead. They both watched silently as her eyes grew heavy, and she slowly drifted back to sleep. Mark followed �ibhleann down the hall and reached out, wrapping his arms around her waist. She smiled to herself as she felt him kiss her shoulder softly, chills running up and down her spine. She stopped in the doorway and turned to face him, her arms going around his neck, eyes twinkling. "Yes," she said softly, smiling slightly. Mark's eyebrow rose. "Yes what?" She laughed. |