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B.J Sandburg Part Twenty-Six.
Dr Hoffman pulled the stethoscope out of his ear and let it fall around his neck. "This is amazing," he marveled. "They've really grown fast! If I hadn't examined you myself four weeks ago I would never have believed it."
"Is it okay?" Blair asked anxiously.
"It's fine," Paul said reflectively. "I have no problem about delivering those babies now, young lady. In fact I'm pretty sure if we left them a few more weeks they'd be coming out all on their own."
Jim handed Blair his shirt. "We don't have a few more weeks," he said grimly.
"You were joking about them coming on their own, weren't you?" Blair asked nervously.
Paul patted his hand. "Don't worry about it," he assured him. "Everything's on schedule. I've delivered early twins before, with no real complications." He studied Jim over the rims of his glasses. "Jim. Would you mind letting me speak to B.J alone for a moment?"
Jim frowned in surprise.
Blair paused buttoning his shirt. "There's nothing you can't say in front of Jim," he said, surprised.
Paul smiled affably. "Humour an old man," he suggested, opening the door to his examination room and ushering Jim out with a gesture. "Just a few minutes."
Reluctantly Jim left the room, immediately focusing his hearing back inside.
"There we go," Paul said, and Jim could hear him sitting down in his squeaky old leather chair.
"Is something wrong with the twins?" Blair asked in concern. He would know Jim was listening of course.
"Not at all," Paul assured him. "I just thought it was time we had a bit of a private chat."
"About what?"
The chair squeaked and Jim could picture Paul leaning forward. "Jim sticks pretty close to you, doesn't he?"
"He's worried about me," Blair explained. "They still haven't recaptured Nelson Drew."
"Been weeks, hasn't it?"
"He escaped from hospital," Blair said grimly. "And hasn't been seen since."
"Well, that is a worry," Paul agreed. "But what I meant was that Jim seems to keep a pretty tight rein on you."
"Rein?" Blair repeated in surprise. "Not at all!"
"Hmm." Paul leaned back. "B.J, you know you can trust me. If Jim was forcing this procedure on you in any way at all, you could tell me."
Jim felt a frisson of surprise. Dr Hoffman had been on their side over this ever since Simon had introduced them to him, shortly after their wedding a month ago. He'd had no idea the kindly old man harboured such suspicions.
"If any other man but Simon Banks had come to me with this request I would have bounced him out the door," Paul continued. "I trust that young man more than any other on earth."
"Guess he strained that trust with this, huh?" Blair was saying wryly.
"Just a little," Paul retorted. "But I know he's involved in law enforcement, and just looking at Jim Ellison I can see he is too." The chair creaked again. "Are you in danger, B.J?" he said kindly.
Jim strained his ears, amazed at the turn this simple exam had taken.
"Not from Jim, or Simon," Blair said simply. "I promise you, Paul, that what we're asking you to do is the best thing for me and these babies. I would never do anything to harm my children."
Sincerity rang in Blair's voice, and Jim felt his heart twist with love.
Paul obviously heard it too. "Maybe one day you and that rascal Simon will let me in on this," he said in resignation.
"I hope so too," Blair said.
********
"You heard all that?" Blair said as they drove back to the hotel.
Jim nodded. "I had no idea Paul was thinking that way."
"I wondered sometimes," Blair admitted. "He'd give me this look, as if he was trying to see into my head."
Jim glanced at him. "You did good, Chief," he praised. "I don't know what we'd do if he turned us away now."
Blair shivered. "Don't even say that!" he ordered. He ran his hands over his pumpkin of a stomach. "Three more days," he murmured.
"And in ten more days you turn another year older," Jim returned. "How do you feel?"
Blair spread his arms wide. "Where do I start?" he exclaimed. "First of all I feel fat, Jim. Huge."
Jim flicked a glance over him. "No offence, Chief, but compared to some of the pregnant women we've seen in Okita's office, you are positively svelte."
Blair grinned, patting his belly fondly. "Remember this is only seven months, Jim. Imagine if I had to go for another two?"
Jim really couldn't. Poor Blair already had to be helped up out of bed every time he wanted to get up, and virtually lifted out of his chairs. He'd taken to wearing slip on shoes, because laces were out of the question and he hated having to call his partner for help on every little thing.
Jim didn't mind. Helping Blair with the little things made up for all the big things he couldn't do. Like catch Nelson Drew.
Blair might have been reading his mind. "You hear from Simon?"
Jim nodded shortly. "No news." He banged the steering wheel in frustration. "And no one's listening when I tell them Drew had an accomplice. Just like five years ago. I knew then he had no access to the kind of accelerant he used to start the fire at his house. He had to have had an accomplice."
"Last time I spoke to Simon he said that Drew was probably long gone. That he'd have to be mad to hang around Cascade just to get revenge on you."
"Nelson Drew drugged his wife and set fire to his house five years ago, Chief. A month ago he was free and he threw that away trying to hurt us. These are not the actions of a sane man."
Blair looked out of the window. "He'll never find us up here," he said confidently. "Simon's the only one who knows where we are. We're safe."
And when we leave here? Jim thought.
********
"It was a pretty weird dream," Blair yawned.
"Name me one thing you've done lately that wasn't weird?" Jim murmured, kissing his ear from behind.
Blair kicked backwards and connected with Jim's shin. "May I go on?"
Jim ouched ruefully. "Please."
"So then I realised, I was sitting on Simon's lap."
Jim choked. "What?" he sputtered.
"I was sitting on Simon's lap and he was stroking my head and telling me it was gonna be all right."
Jim began laughing so hard his whole body shook. "On his lap," he chortled.
"Come on, Jim," Blair said seriously, craning his head around. "Tell me honestly. Do you think that's sexual?"
Jim rolled over on his back, wheezing for breath.
Blair made a face. "You're no help," he said huffily.
"Sorry," Jim gasped. "But, come on, Chief! A little warning before you lay your strange dreams on me."
"I warned you it was weird," Blair reminded him.
"I thought it was another one of your baby dreams," Jim said, snuggling back behind his partner, hands smoothing over the rounded swell. A little limb stretched under his hand and Jim chuckled lowly.
Blair sniffed and wriggled back comfortably. "They are pretty weird," he conceded. He shifted and made to sit up. "Cramp," he gasped.
Jim leaned over and grabbed him just above his ankle, firmly massaging the cramp away.
"Thanks," Blair sighed gratefully, lying back down. "Oh, I miss sleeping on my stomach," he lamented. He shifted a little. "And peeing standing up," he continued thoughtfully. "And beer, I really miss beer. And sitting with my legs spread, you know? Just kicking back and scratching my crotch."
Jim had to interrupt here. "I've never seen you scratch your crotch," he pointed out.
"I scratch my crotch," Blair returned firmly.
"And you don't even like beer that much."
"I don't like that Cascade beer that you swill down," Blair said defensively.
"Best beer in the world," Jim asserted.
"Yeah, Jim, and the Jags are the best basketball team in the world."
Jim skittered his hands around and tickled Blair under his arms. "Now you've done it," he threatened as Blair giggled and squirmed. "You've dissed the team."
"Hey, careful," Blair protested through his giggles. "Pregnant woman here!"
Jim slowed his gentle tickles to soft strokes. "You won't get away with that much longer," he warned playfully.
Blair's hands came up and covered Jim's, stroking suggestively. "Hey, Jim?"
Jim chuckled again, this time in a completely different tone. "Yes?"
"Dr Hoffman said it was still okay," Blair coaxed.
"What was still okay?" Jim replied innocently.
Blair turned over to face him and Jim automatically helped, supporting his back as he maneuvered his round tummy. Blair pressed close and Jim cuddled him enjoyably, delighting in the firm round swell between them. "I'll remind you," Blair said determinedly, pressing a string of soft kisses over Jim's jaw line.
"Oh, that," Jim chuckled, tilting his head to give Blair access. "In your condition?" he breathed in a scandalised tone.
"You haven't been complaining about my condition during our honeymoon," Blair reminded him, and Jim had to grin. These last weeks had been like a dream. Long walks in the April-May sun, picnics by the lake. Lovemaking in the open. Watching Blair stretch out naked on a rock, his ripe fullness more beautiful than any super model that Jim could imagine.
"I could work up a fetish for round tummies," Jim confessed, pressing his own kisses to Blair's fragrant neck.
"I'm beginning to think there's nothing that doesn't turn you on," Blair retorted impudently.
Jim stroked his hands round to a firm bottom. "If it belongs to you," he agreed.
Blair pulled back and grinned into his face. "Oh boy, will I be reminding you of that in a week or so."
Jim grinned back, excitement building. "I'm counting on it, Chief."
Long minutes later Jim was behind Blair again, hands cupping his sensitive breasts as he moved slowly in and out of him. Shallow thrusts, he repeated to himself, sweat breaking out on his forehead. Shallow thrusts.
"More," Blair was gasping, trying to push himself back.
Jim stroked down and found Blair's centre, massaging delicately and Blair arched back, rippling around Jim's hardness. With a gasp Jim came, pouring himself into his lover, eyes closed tightly as pleasure roared through him.
Panting, he came back to earth, feeling Blair still convulsing gently. "All right, Blair?" he murmured.
"Mmm," Blair sighed, and then stiffened. Jim felt it at the same time, a rippling tightness across Blair's belly as muscles contracted. "Jim?" Blair cried in panic.
Jim pulled out and sat up, hands shaping Blair's tight stomach. "What is it?"
Blair bent over, cradling his stomach as the ripples went on and on. Jim began to panic as Blair's heart rate spiked.
"Blair!?"
Blair relaxed back, panting shallowly. "God," he gasped. "What was that?"
Jim swung his legs out of bed, groping for his pants. "I'm calling Dr Hoffman," he said firmly. "We'll go into the clinic."
"It's nearly midnight," Blair said fearfully.
"He won't mind," Jim said briskly, buckling his pants. He circled the hotel bed and helped Blair into a sitting position. "Okay, Chief?" he asked, gently stroking back tangled curls from the wide forehead.
Blair nodded shakily. "Do you think that was a contraction?"
Jim shook his head firmly, pulling his Jags t-shirt over Blair's head and then helping him into the thick white terry robe provided by the hotel.
"I need to get dressed," Blair protested, then a frightened look came over his face and he was doubling over, knees going out from underneath him. "Whoa!" he groaned lowly.
Jim grasped his elbows, heart beating furiously as he rode out what was obviously a contraction. "We don't have time," he said grimly as Blair panted and straightened a little.
"Why is this happening now?" Blair asked in bewilderment as Jim helped him out of the bedroom into the main room of the suite. "This is too soon." He stopped, grabbing Jim's arms. "This is too soon, Jim!"
"It's gonna be okay," Jim soothed. "We'll get you to Paul, and it'll be okay, I promise."
Jim shrugged into a jacket by the door, making sure he had his wallet and keys. Then he helped Blair out into the quiet hall and down to the elevator.
"It wasn't supposed to be like this," Blair wailed miserably. "There wasn't supposed to be pain and contractions." His hands dug into Jim's arms like claws. "I can't go through labour, Jim," he said feverishly. "I've done everything else, but I can't do labour."
In Jim's opinion they didn't have much choice at this point. He tugged out his cell phone and dialed Paul's number.
The lobby was deserted, but as he carefully helped Blair from the elevator a desk clerk rushed over. "Is everything okay?" the young man asked in concern.
Jim bit off an impatient reply. "I have to get my wife to the hospital," he said curtly. Without releasing Blair he fished his keys from his pocket. "Can you go out into the parking lot and get my truck, bring it round to the door?"
"Of course," the young man said, taking the keys. He sprinted for the main doors and Jim helped Blair more slowly. They'd reached the third potted plant before Blair was bending again, crying out as another contraction took him.
"I'm not kidding, Jim," he wailed. "I really can't do this!"
Helplessly Jim could only hold him. The truck roared up and between them he and the clerk maneuvered Blair onto the front seat.
"Good luck!" the young man called as they sped away.
"I can't believe I was worried about surgery," Blair groaned, leaning against the car door. "Nice anesthetic, a quick zip and tada! Babies!" He buried his face in his hands. "I should have known it wouldn't be that easy!"
Jim gripped the steering wheel tightly. He had never felt so helpless in his life. There was literally nothing he could do to ease Blair's distress. And his own panic levels were going up. The babies were eight weeks early. Could they survive a natural birth?
"Jim," Blair gripped his arm tightly. "This was all a huge mistake."
"Calm down, Blair, please," Jim pleaded.
"I've changed my mind," Blair blurted out. "I've changed my mind!"
Paul met them at the door, hair askew and glasses perched precariously on the end of his nose. "What's all this then?" he said cheerfully, opening the truck door on Blair's side.
"I've changed my mind," Blair told him seriously.
Paul nodded gravely. "I'll see what I can do," he promised. He looked over at Jim who was swinging out of the truck. "How long since the last contraction?"
Jim racked his brain. "Um, back at the hotel," he realised. "Fifteen minutes."
"No more since then?" An orderly wheeled a chair out and he helped Blair into it. "B.J? No more contractions since then?"
Blair blinked, hands on his stomach. "No," he realised. "Three in a row and then nothing." He clutched at Paul's hands. "Is that bad? Are the babies all right?"
"Let's get you inside and see," Paul said bracingly.
Jim walked alongside the wheelchair, hand on Blair's shoulder. He needed that contact with his Guide right now, and with a start he realised all his Sentinel senses were on alert. He was automatically tracking Blair's heart rate and pulse, and listening deeper to the now familiar sound of the pods stirring. Everything he felt and heard told him there was trouble.
"Let's get you in for a quick scan," Paul said briskly, wheeling them into the small clinic's emergency room. "And we'll listen in to what those babies are doing. B.J? Let me know the minute you feel another contraction, okay?"
Blair nodded.
Twenty minutes later Jim sat next to Blair on the high examination room bed, one arm around his shoulder. There hadn't been any more contractions since the hotel.
"I can't believe I fell apart like that," Blair groaned.
"Don't worry about it," Jim counseled, kissing the top of his head. "I was just as panicked."
"I really do just want what's best for the babies, Jim," Blair said deeply. "I really do. But I can't believe that pain and stress could be good for anyone." He made a face. "Natural birth!" he exclaimed. "You can keep it. I want drugs."
Jim held him close. His senses were still on line, and although Blair's heart rate and pulse had slowed back down to nearly normal, he was beginning to worry about the babies. His free hand rested on Blair's swell, unobtrusively monitoring the pods.
"I'm serious," Blair declaimed. "If men regularly had babies it would all be a fine science now. We'd all be fitted with zippers and out they'd pop, neat as you please."
"Then I'd be out of a job," Paul chuckled as he came back into the room.
Blair sat up alertly. "It was a false alarm?" he said hopefully.
Paul nodded. "The contractions are gone, so it was definitely a false alarm."
Blair relaxed back into the circle of Jim's arm, but Jim knew Paul wasn't done yet.
"But I think we'll have to push the timetable forward a bit," Paul said carefully. "I don't like the sound of the babies heart rates."
Blair stiffened, hands flying to his stomach. "What?"
"They've stopped moving too," Jim remarked lowly.
"Oh, god," Blair whispered, eyes stunned.
"Now there's no need to panic," Paul counseled. "We're only three days ahead of your schedule. And it's not unusual for twins to want to be born early."
"But their heart rates?" Blair said urgently.
"That is a little more worrying," Paul admitted. "But we'll get you prepped tonight, and within a few hours those babies will be safe and sound, okay?"
Blair nodded numbly. "Jim?" he whispered.
Jim held him tightly. "I'm here," he whispered back, achingly aware how little that really meant.
********
"They're prepping him now," Jim said numbly into the public phone.
"I'm coming up," Simon pronounced down the line.
"You don't have to, Simon. There's nothing you can do."
"I can be there for you," Simon said firmly.
"Blair's the one going through this," Jim said, listlessly. "I can't even watch over him with my senses. They're all gone."
"You just hold on, Jim. I'll be there in a few hours."
"He's gotten so involved in this thing, Simon," Jim said softly, eyes closed. "I don't know what it will do to him... if we... lose them." A tear escaped and he wiped it on his wrist. "I don't know what I'll do if I lose him."
"I'll be there soon," Simon said again. "Hold on now, Jim, for Blair's sake. And for the babies."
"Yes," Jim nodded, clearing his throat. "Thank you, Simon."
********
Fully gowned and masked Jim sat by Blair's head, holding his hand firmly. He didn't see what was going on behind the high curtain and there was no way his senses would be of any help now. It wasn't unusual for them to vanish when he was deeply stressed, and in truth Jim found he couldn't regret their disappearance now. He wanted to concentrate on Blair, and he didn't know if he could stand knowing the details of what they were doing to him.
Blair had elected to be awake during the procedure, and Paul had bowed to his wishes, as this wasn't a classic emergency caesarean section situation. Blair himself wasn't in any danger, so it was much better all around for him to be awake.
"What's happening?" Blair asked urgently.
"It's fine, Blair, don't worry," Paul called.
"I wish he would stop saying don't worry," Blair muttered. "I'm worried, okay? I'm worried."
"Their heart rates are fine," Paul called back, eyes twinkling over the top of his mask. "We're making an incision in the lower part of the abdomen to reach the uterus, and then we'll make a further incision into the uterus to deliver those babies safe and sound."
Blair gulped and made big eyes up at Jim. "Way too much information," he said fervently.
"Uh huh," Jim agreed, heartfelt.
"I didn't mean it before," Blair told him, eyes fixed on his. "I haven't changed my mind. I just want them to be okay." He closed his eyes. "Please let them be okay."
Jim echoed that prayer in his heart and mind.
"Here we go," Paul said, head bent over his task. A nurse leaned over and with his normal hearing Jim could detect soft fleshy and metallic sounds. "And we have baby number one," Paul announced.
Blair craned his head. "Look, Jim," he urged. "Is it okay? Jim?"
Jim leaned over, transfixed by the sight of the squirming red-streaked bundle in Paul's capable hands. "It's moving," he reported breathlessly.
"I'll say she is," Paul enthused.
"She?" Blair repeated. He squeezed Jim's hand. "She?"
Paul handed the squirming bundle to a nurse who carried her to the bench along the wall. "That's right," he confirmed, turning back to Blair. "A little girl. Nurse will just tidy her up and then you can see her before we pop her in the incubator."
"A girl," Blair breathed. "And she's okay?"
"She's moving," Jim said again, eyes firmly fixed on the baby. It was only as he realised that he was tracking every swab against the delicate skin with his vision that Jim knew his senses were back on line with a vengeance. "And breathing."
"Thank you," Blair breathed.
"Thank me in just a moment," Paul said, concentrating fiercely. "And here we go. Another girl!" he announced triumphantly.
"Two girls!" Blair exclaimed. "And they're all right?"
Jim's attention was now torn between the two newborns, and he divided it without even realising it was a skill he had. His hearing tracked the second baby as a nurse carried the first swaddled infant over to them. Jim lifted Blair's shoulders a little as he held his arms out eagerly.
"Just a minute," Paul ordered. "Then she's got to go into the incubator."
"Three pounds, two ounces," the nurse said, smiling over her mask.
And then she was laying her in Blair's arms.
"Oh my god," Blair breathed. "She looks like a doll."
Jim's heart was racing so quickly in his chest he felt faint. Blair was cradling the tiniest infant he'd ever seen in his life. Her face was smooth and pink, and her tiny little hands were clenched and flailing. Rosebud lips puckered and opened, and the baby mewed.
"Oh yes," Blair agreed in delight. "I know. Look, Jim!"
"I'm looking," Jim choked.
The nurse reached down. "She has to go in the incubator," she said sympathetically.
Reluctantly Blair let the nurse scoop her up. "Can't Jim hold her?"
"It's okay," Jim soothed. "I don't have to. Let her go where it's best." He didn't have to hold the little one to know she was safe. The second one was his concern now.
"What about the other one?" Blair asked, eyes still glowing.
A nurse leaned over and murmured in the doctors ear and Jim focused, heart stopping.
"Can you close up for me?" the doctor said to his assistant.
"What is it?" Blair fretted. "What's happening?"
"Dr Davis will take care of the placenta and closing," Paul said easily. "But I think we'll just pop number two here into the incubator straight away."
"Is she all right?" Blair turned anxious eyes on Jim who leaned over.
"She's having some breathing problems," he told him honestly, still dividing his attention. "They just want to make sure she's okay."
Blair stared at him anxiously.
"It's true, Blair," Jim assured him.
Blair clenched his hands. "I want to see her," he said, eyes moist. "Please let me see her."
"Just a moment, B.J," Dr Hoffman called. He worked over the tiny form, taping a tube to her face carefully. Then he lifted her into an incubator." "Just for a moment," he counseled. "Then she has to go to ICU."
Blair stared avidly as the plastic trolley was wheeled over. This baby was smaller than her sister, her little limbs limp against the stark white blanket.
"Oh god," Blair choked again, but this cry was of despair and not delight.
"It's not as bad as it looks," Paul said bracingly. "She's just tired from the trip, and she needs a little time to rest."
"Jim?" Blair choked, tears running down his cheek.
"Her heart is strong, Chief," Jim murmured in his ear.
"Really?" Blair whispered.
"Really," Jim lied as convincingly as he knew how.
********
"Jim!"
Simon's call bought Jim's head up and his eyes open. "Simon," he said gladly, standing up shakily.
The big man reached him and engulfed him in a brotherly hug. "You look like hell," he said in concern. He searched his face. "Is everything okay?"
Jim nodded. "Blair's fine. One of the twins..." He choked to a stop. "She's not so good."
"Jim," Simon said deeply. He sat down on the soft waiting room chair and pulled Jim down beside him. "Tell me."
"The first one is fine, three pounds four ounces. But the second one. Her lungs are strong but one has collapsed, with fluid around it. The other one simply isn't working. They give her a small chance."
"I'm so sorry," Simon said sincerely, laying his hand on Jim's arm.
Jim looked down blindly. "I've lost so many people in my life, Simon," he whispered. "But I don't know what I'll do if I lose her." He shook his head. "I barely got a glimpse of her. I know I should just be grateful that Blair and the first baby are fine..."
"Jim," Simon said, tightening his hand on Jim's arm. "Don't apologise for worrying about your daughter."
"My daughter," Jim repeated. He looked up at Simon, as if seeing him for the first time. "I'm a father, Simon."
Simon smiled softly. "Congratulations."
"I wasn't ready for this," Jim confessed.
"No one's ready for fatherhood," Simon said softly.
"No, you don't understand," Jim said in frustration. "Blair understands." He groped for words. "He knows that I couldn't worry about all this and still be there for him, protect him and the... the babies." He rubbed his eyes. "So I just... didn't. Didn't think about it, didn't allow myself to think about being a... father."
"And now you can't escape it," Simon said sympathetically.
"When I saw them, heard their hearts beat, heard them breathing." Jim shook his head again, caught up in the memory of that moment. "Nothing will ever be the same again."
Simon nodded, understanding in his eyes. "I remember that feeling," he said nostalgically. "How's Blair?"
"Post op," Jim said shortly, nodding down the hall. "I can hear him, he's sleeping."
"Does he know about the baby?"
Jim shook his head in the negative. "I couldn't tell him," he whispered. He looked at Simon beseechingly. "How can I tell him?"
Simon gripped his shoulder, hard.
********
Simon carried the two coffee cups over and handed one to Jim. The two men sat in silence, listening to the sounds of the clinic around them.
"Have you called anyone?"
"I don't want to talk to anyone until... Until we know."
Simon nodded.
Jim caught a familiar sound. Dr Hoffman was walking down the hall, the distinctive squeak of his rubber soled shoes standing out like a sore thumb. Jim gazed down at the black and white checked floor. He didn't want to look up at the doctor, didn't want to hear the news that was coming.
"Jim," Simon said urgently, jogging his arm so that the coffee sloshed.
Jim looked up, blinking, into Paul's jubilant face. "Jim!" he said gleefully, slapping the other man's shoulder.
"Paul?" Simon said, eyes wide. "Is everything okay?"
"It's fine," Paul grinned. "Our little Ellison is a fighter, no doubt about it. She coughed up a big mucous plug and the fluid is draining."
Jim felt his heart start beating again. "She's breathing?"
"Beautifully," Paul said ecstatically. "Her other lung is reinflating itself." He slapped Jim's back again. "It's okay," he smiled.
"Okay," Jim repeated numbly. He turned to Simon. The bigger man was grinning like a fool. "It's okay," he told him.
"I heard," he said happily.
"I've got to go to Blair," Jim said, mind racing. "I have to be there when he wakes. I can tell him..." The news finally sunk in. "I can tell him the truth."
********
Jim listened as Blair's heartbeat changed, watched as long lashes flickered. Blair snuffled and snorted and Jim smiled fondly. He knew his partner was waking up minutes before his eyes opened.
"Jim?" Blair said groggily, blinking slowly.
"Hey, Chief," Jim smiled softly.
"Hey," Blair smiled dopily. "Thirsty," he croaked.
Jim poured a glass full of water and tilted a bent straw.
Blair sipped and then blinked again, eyes clearing.
Jim stroked a stray curl back from his forehead, watching as memory returned to his eyes.
"Jim?" A trace of fear flickered across his face. "Are they... Are they okay?"
"Yes, Blair," Jim assured him, touching a kiss to his forehead.
"Both of them?" Breathless.
"Both of them."
Blair closed his eyes in relief. Then he opened them again, frowning suspiciously. "You wouldn't lie to me, would you?"
Jim considered. "I might," he revealed. "If I had to. But I'm not." He gazed deeply into Blair's eyes, trying to convey the truth. "We have two fighters on our hands."
A slow smile broke across Blair's face, like the morning sun. "Of course we do," he said proudly. "Have you seen them again?"
"Next time I see them we'll be together," Jim promised. "I'll wheel you over myself."
Blair tried to sit up a little and Jim pressed him back gently. "No sitting up for a while."
"You okay?" Blair asked.
Jim chuckled lowly. "You're the one with the zipper."
"But you're the one who looks shell shocked," Blair said shrewdly.
Jim touched his finger to a perfect nose. "I can't get away with anything any more."
"Talk to me, Jim."
"I'm in love," Jim revealed. "Two little girls who haven't even got their eyes open yet, now own me totally." He grinned. "Except for the parts you staked out."
"Damned right," Blair huffed. He melted into a grin. "Got you did they?"
"No way could I have expected this." Jim shook his head dazedly. "Nothing could have prepared me for this."
"I knew," Blair said placidly.
"You did not," Jim said automatically. Actually the idea didn't surprise him. Blair's intuition was reaching legendary proportions in his mind.
"Yes I did," Blair corrected. "I only had to watch how you doted on them when they were still inside me. It was a shoe-in that you'd fall in love with them the minute you saw them."
"I did not dote," Jim protested.
"You sang The Eagles to them," Blair reminded him.
"So for foetus' they had good taste," Jim conceded. He rolled his eyes. "What have we been doing the last few months? We have so much to talk about."
"Yeah," Blair agreed, crossing his arms. "Starting with that whole lying to me for my own good thing."
Jim raised a brow. "We just had two children," he said wryly. "And that's what you wanna talk about?"
Blair considered him for a moment. "Humour me."
End of Part Twenty-Six.
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