Pacey rushed through the front door finding Joey pacing back and forth with a screaming Hope. The four month old baby didn't look at all happy, and from what he heard on the phone thirty minutes ago, she'd been at this a while. He took Hope from Joey and she continued to scream, "What's wrong with her?" he asked. Hope rubbed her hand against her left ear as he looked at a panicked Joey.

Joey ran a hand through her hair, "She's got a fever and-and I don't know what to do." She continued to pace, "I gave her a cool bath and made an appointment with the doctor, but that's not for another hour."

Pacey rubbed Hope's head and he watched as she calmed down a little. She wasn't screaming like she had been, but was just whimpering. "Okay, well, getting upset isn't going to make her feel any better. So we have an hour for her doctor's appointment? Have you given her anything?"

She shook her head, "All we have is the baby Tylenol...but I don't know if I should give it to her."

"Well...obviously she's in pain, why else would she be crying?"

"I can't just shove a pill down her throat," Joey eyed her husband and daughter through panicked eyes.

He shook his head, "No, but we can let her scream her head off in pain?" He sighed, "Let me see the bottle." She handed him the bottle, tears welling in her eyes. He read the back of the bottle, "Okay, we can give her this. It might make her feel better. Can you give it to her and let me hold her?" He looked up at Joey, "Hey...hey," he pulled her to him with one arm, "Don't cry. She's going to be fine."

She sniffed, "I just feel so helpless and then you come home and..." She tried to open the bottle and fumbled with it, dropping it to the floor, the little pills flying across the carpet.

He sighed, "Joey sit down and hold Hope, okay?" She sat on the couch as he handed Hope to her. Pacey dropped to the floor and picked up the pills that had fallen on the floor. He picked up the bottle and found a few left inside, "Does she have a bottle ready?"

Joey nodded, stroking Hope's face to try and calm her down. "In the microwave."

He nodded and walked into the kitchen to get it. He read the back of the pill bottle and read how to prepare the it. He crushed the pill and slipped it into the milk. He shook the bottle as he walked back into the living room. "Here, see if you can get her to take this."

Joey nodded, and tried to get Hope to take the nipple. After a few tries the baby finally started to drink. She cooed softly to the infant for a few moments and then looked up at Pacey, "I'm sorry."

He looked up at Joey from where he was kneeling in front of her, "For what?"

"For making you come home. I should be able to take care of her myself." She held Hope close as she fed her, hating the tears that still stood in the baby's eyes.

Pacey sighed, "Joey, I would rather be here with you then let you sit here and worry all day. Believe me, it was no problem."

�She's in so much pain..." Joey's eyes watered. "What if she doesn't get better?"

Pacey sighed, "She will, Joey. Babies get sick."

"But what if she doesn't?" Joey insisted.

He sighed, "Then...we'll cross that bridge when we come to it, Joey. I know you love this baby, and I do too, but you have to have a little faith that everything will be okay."

"That's what the fathers are for. The mothers are supposed to worry incessantly." She watched as he smoothed back the soft blonde strands of Hope's hair.

Pacey kissed the top of Hope's head, "She's not as warm as she was."

"It worked so fast?"

He shrugged, "Or maybe because she stopped crying she isn't as hot anymore."

Hope turned her head away and refused to drink anymore. "Oh, sweetie," Joey handed Pacey the bottle and murmured softly to the baby, putting her over her shoulder and attempted to burp her.

Pacey moved to sit beside her on the couch and rubbed Hope's head softly, "Feel better baby?"

"She wants you," Joey murmured, handing Hope to him.

Pacey took her and held her to his shoulder, "You okay?" he asked Joey.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She wiped at her eyes, "Just a little freaked out."

He nodded and when Hope gave a little burp, he brought her back down to sit in front of him. She stared up at Pacey with sad blue eyes. "I know how you feel baby." She brought her chubby little hand up to her ear and rubbed.

"Do you think maybe she has an ear infection?" Joey wondered.

Pacey looked over at her, "That would make sense."

She leaned her head back on the couch with a sigh, "How come she stops crying with you, but if I hold her she's screaming?"

He shrugged, "I don't know. I haven't figured that one out either."

She nodded and pushed off the couch, "I'm going to go change. Maybe if we go in early and do the paperwork her doctor can see her sooner."

He nodded as Hope sat on his lap, each hand holding her steady, "Okay." Hope yawned and whimpered a little. He pulled her against his chest as her eye-lids began drooping. "You sleepy, Princess?"

When Joey returned fifteen minutes later, changed and made-up, Hope had fallen asleep, and Pacey was gently rubbing her back. "This may be a problem," she whispered. "If we move her, she might wake up."

"We have to take her to the doctor, Jo." He stood slowly as the baby rested against his shoulder, "See...still sleeping."

"Yeah, but if we put her in the car seat she'll start crying again." She sighed, "I know, it can't be helped."

"You want to drive and let me sit back there with her?"

"That might work out best."

He nodded as he grabbed Hope's blanket off the back of the couch and wrapped it around her. He walked outside and placed her softly in the car seat. She only stirred for a minute as Pacey settled into the back of the car beside her car seat and Joey placed the diaper bag in the front seat with her.

She checked on them in the rearview mirror for a few seconds before pulling out into the street.





Joey stroked Hope's back as she laid beside the baby on the bed, the medicine her pediatrician had prescribed had finally calmed her down long enough to sleep more than five minutes. Joey rested her head on the pillow beside her and just watched the baby sleep.

Pacey walked into the room, "Hey, still sleeping?"

"Yeah," she nodded, looking up at him with a sigh.

"How are you doing?"

"Me? I'm fine. I'm not the sick one in the family."

"I'm talking about your nerves."

"Those...those aren't going so well."

"Anything I can do?"

"Lay down with me?"

He nodded, "I can do that." He laid down behind her and wrapped his arm around her waist.

"I'm a terrible mother."

He shook his head, "No you're not."

"If you hadn't come home..." she sighed, "I didn't even know to give her medicine."

He sighed, "Joey, you were scared."

"What happens the next time I get scared, and you're not here?"

"I'll always be here when you need me, you know that."

"I know." She carefully picked up Hope, and shifted so that the baby was laying across her stomach, Pacey beside them. "But I don't want to need you. Don't you understand?"

He nodded, "I do." He traced Hope's cheek, "I just...you have to understand that I want to be here to help you, Joey. I know you don't want a man in your life, but I...I like the fact that you need me to help you sometimes."

"You shouldn't need me to reaffirm your self worth, Pacey."

"I don't. I like being here for her."

"Oh," she looked away from him and down to the baby.

"Look, I know what it's like to grow up with a horrible father. I guess in some cases you do too. But we had one really good example in Mitch, and...I just want her to have that in me, I guess."

"Pacey," she turned her head to gaze to him. "You're her father. You're always going to be her Daddy, no matter what. And if these first few months are any indication, you're going to be the best father who ever was."

He smiled, "Thanks."

"She's lucky."

"She is. She has a mother who loves her endlessly."

"I hope that's enough."

He kissed her forehead, "It is."

She swallowed thickly, "It's a miracle some woman hasn't snapped you up already."

He smiled, "They've tried."

"And failed, apparently. Why?"

He shrugged, "I don't know. I just...didn't want to settle down," he said looking at Hope.

"After this, do you think you'll change your mind?"

He nodded, "Probably."

"Just don't forget about Hope when you start having kids of your own. She'll need her Daddy to threaten all her boyfriends."

He shook his head, "I could never, ever forget about her."

"You say that now..."

"I will say that forever."

She smiled softly, "And I have to ask again how any woman would let you go."

He smirked, "I'm one of a kind, huh?"

"100% original."

He rubbed Hope's back, "Good to know."

"I think she should sleep in here tonight," she cleared her throat uncomfortably.

He nodded, "Okay. Works for me."

"I'm exhausted, Pace." She sighed, running her fingers along Hope's spine. "I'm so worried about her."

"It's an ear infection. Babies get them. You heard the doctor." Pacey sat up and pulled his shirt over his head and kicked off his tennis shoes.

"I know, in my head, I know that. But in my heart..."

He looked over at her, "It was scary. I know."

"Once she's healthy again, I'll be fine again." She tried to assure him, "It must be some mother thing."

"I'm sure it is." Pacey watched as Joey put Hope in between them and stood. She walked to the dresser and pulled out a nightgown. Pacey removed his pants and tossed them into the hamper beside the closet, then walked to the same dresser and removed a pair of his sweat pants. He looked back at the bed at the baby sleeping softly in the middle. He went over to his side and slipped beneath the blankets and placed a soft kiss on the top of Hope's head.

"Do I get a kiss goodnight too?" Joey asked, her voice faintly teasing as she moved to his side of the bed, pulling her nightgown down.

She sat on the edge of the bed and he sat up and cupped her face, "It would only be fair, right?"

"I think so."

His lips found hers and he kissed her softly, his lips taking tiny sips from hers. She pulled his mouth to hers and stopped him from teasing her. He pulled away when it began stirring things up, "Good night, Jo."

She glanced down at his lap and smiled softly. "G'night, Pace." She walked back to her side of the bed and climbed under the covers.

Pacey laid back against his pillow and looked at Hope's sleeping figure. Her little hands balled up beside her head. He spent fifteen minutes watching her, before he sighed and rolled on to his back. He looked at the ceiling for a minute, "Joey...I love you," he said in the silence of the room. He looked over at her and found her sleeping softly, her hands resting under her head.





Hope laid in the living room floor on a blanket as Pacey played with her feet. He was blowing air on her stomach causing her to laugh and kick her feet excitedly. Joey walked into the room dressed ready to go out to lunch with Jen as Pacey continued to tickle Hope. Pacey looked up at Joey and smiled, "You look great."

She smiled down at him and modeled her outfit, her smile sarcastic, "I'm straight off a runway, huh?"

"Always," he said with a smile. Pacey tickled the bottom of Hope's feet.

"Dadda," Hope said with a giggle. Pacey and Joey both stopped what they were doing and looked down at the baby.

"Did she just...?" Joey knelt on the floor beside them.

"Dadda." Hope kicked her legs again and grinned up at her parents.

"She...she said..." Pacey picked her up and looked at the baby as she gurgled at them. "She said Dadda."

"Oh, honey," Joey grinned brightly, holding her hand. "You said Dadda."

Hope clapped her hands together, then shoved one of them into her mouth as Pacey set her back on the floor, "She said Dadda," he whispered to himself.

"Yeah, she did," Joey smiled tenderly down at the baby. "I can't believe it's her first word already."

He shook his head and looked at Joey, "Yeah...I mean...she's...getting so big so fast."

"Babies do that," she tickled Hope's foot. "Can you say it again, sweetie? Say Dadda?"

Pacey looked down at the baby as she stared up at him with happy blue eyes, "Dadda," she said holding her arms up for him.

Joey smiled slowly, "She's a Daddy's girl."

Pacey lifted her, then smiled and held her over his head. Her hands went to his face as he pressed his face into her stomach softly and tickled her. She giggled as he brought her back down in front of him. He kissed the top of her head and looked over at Joey, "Hey, you're going to be late and then Jen will hurt you."

"You'll be okay with her?" Joey stroked back his hair with a soft smile. "She hasn't shocked you, has she?"

"I'll be fine with her. Go on."

"Okay," she gave him a soft kiss and then turned to her daughter. "Bye, sweetheart. Be nice for Daddy." She gave her a quick kiss on the forehead.

"Dadda."

"Yes, Dadda." Joey smiled, straightening up.

Pacey watched Joey leave, then looked back at the baby, "What are we going to do with you, squirt?"

"Dadda!"

"Yeah...Dadda." He put her back on the floor in front of him, "I've just realized that when you really learn how to talk, between you and your mother, I will never get another word in."

She clapped her hands together, and then grabbed her toes, pulling them towards her.

He kept her from falling backwards, and laid her back himself, "You know, I think today is the day we show you the glory of baseball," he said with a smile and flipped on the TV.

"Dadda!"

He picked the baby up and moved to sit on the couch, "Okay Hope, pay very close attention...cause I'm only gonna tell ya this a few hundred times...but there is no team better than the Boston Red Sox," he said as he settled on the couch with Hope sitting on his lap facing the television, clapping her hands.