A/N: Well, here we are at the end of this road... or at the end of the rainbow maybe? Its been kind of a magical ride! lol Thanx to all the wonderful readers/reviewers. You're all awesome, and I appreciate all your time spent reading and reviewing on my fic. Here comes the finale!
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)
Chapter 29
Dick was completely amazed as he sat on the edge of the bed beside Mac, looking down at the baby in her arms. This was his son, his own flesh and blood, a tiny being made up of all the best parts of himself and Mac alone. He was beautiful and perfect, and Dick didn't know why exactly but he was sure he could just sit here staring at this kid for hours.
"Can you believe we did this?" asked Mac, taking her eyes off her son just long enough to glance up at her boyfriend, "This is our baby" she said with a giggle, somehow finding the whole concept ridiculous and incredible at the same time.
"Babe, I don't even... There are like no words" said Dick, inarticulate as ever, but this time Mac couldn't blame him.
This was the most overwhelming feeling. They were parents now, and although they'd known they were going to get to this point for months, it was a whole different thing actually being here in this moment. This was their family, each other and their son. It was going to take a while for it to became normal, and yet it already felt so right to both Mac and Dick.
"You were so awesome today" he told her, hugging her and the baby close.
"You weren't so bad yourself" she replied in kind, glad enough to lean into his embrace, "Dick, I... I really don't think I could've got through all this without you" she admitted, tears forming in her eyes before she even had a chance to think about it, "I love you so much"
"Love you too, sweetheart" he told her, "but seriously, Mac, I was so freaking out when I found you in the bathroom all... y'know" he explained, making a weird and disgusted face, "I guess somebody oughta clean that up..." he said thoughtfully, but didn't need to elaborate further as a nurse came in and smiled at the couple.
"I thought you might like to know, your brother and sister-in-law are in the waiting area" she told Dick, "Would you like me to bring them through?"
The blonde looked deeply confused and a little freaked out, as he opened his mouth to speak. Mac dived in straight over the top of anything he might've said.
"Yes, please. We'd love to see them" she smiled brightly at the nurse, turning to Dick the moment she was gone, "It has to be Logan and Veronica" she told him, "I don't know how they knew we were here but I can't think of anybody else, can you?"
"I guess not" her boyfriend agreed.
A minute or two later, the door opened again, and Mac's theory was proven right as Veronica came rushing in, with Logan on her heels.
"Oh my God" she gasped the moment she cleared the doors, her hands covering her face as she looked at her friends and the tiny baby Mac was holding.
"Veronica, Logan" she smiled, adjusting her child in her arms, "Come meet our son"
"Mac, he's just gorgeous" her best friend enthused as Dick moved a little to let her get closer, "And so tiny!" she added as she reached out a finger to the baby's own miniature hand.
"Congrats, man" said Logan, reaching to shake hands with Dick.
"Thanks, bro" he replied as he got up and the pair pulled each other into a manly hug, "Now I just gotta hope he turns out more like his Mom's side of the family than mine" he said a little too seriously.
"Hey, if he turns out the way you are now, he'll do just fine" Veronica told him, shocking not just Dick but everyone in the whole room, "What?" she asked when she looked back at Mac and saw her staring agape.
"Veronica, I think whilst you're here at the hospital you should maybe get your head checked out" she told her friend softly, "You just complimented Dick"
The blonde rolled her eyes at that.
"I give credit where credit's due" she reminded them, looking back at Mac's boyfriend, "And seriously, Dick, you've really manned up with the whole baby deal. You've been there for Mac the whole way and I wanna believe you're gonna be there for your son now he's here" she said, standing up to face him and looking serious.
"And if you don't" Logan chimed in, his hands on Veronica's shoulders as he looked over at his BFF, "I can promise she'll make sure you never make any more babies, that's for sure"
Dick winced at even the vague imagery, but was soon distracted as his son started up screaming and crying in Mac's arms.
"Apparently that means hungry" she confirmed, glancing up at her friends with a significant look.
"And that's our cue to leave" said Logan with a nod of understanding.
He was shaking hands with Dick again, whilst Veronica stepped in close to Mac and the baby a moment.
"We'll come back another time, check in on you two" she smiled widely, "I'm so happy for you, Mac, I seriously am"
"Me too" her friend nodded, thanking the blonde for the visit, before Veronica and Logan finally left, allowing Mac to feed her son as nature intended.
Out in the hallway, Logan was a little surprised to find his girlfriend wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. All red and puffy she turned to him, trying to force a smile and yet more tears trickled down her cheeks unbidden.
"Hey" he said, pulling her into a hug, "Please tell me this is happy tears?" he checked.
"Totally, yes" she confirmed, sniffling into his shoulder a moment.
"Happy, but not in any way broody?" her boyfriend doubled-checked, at which Veronica laughed.
"Definitely not that" she promised him as she looked up at last, "At least, not yet"
"Good to know" he nodded, before planting a kiss on her lips, "Kinda beautiful though, I guess" he admit, tipping his head towards Mac's room that they had just excited.
"Yeah, it really kind of is" Veronica smiled, as they headed off down the corridor with their arms around each other.
It had been a long day, and yet it wasn't over yet. Dick figured it was probably around mid-afternoon by now, but Mac was fast asleep already. Having been up since midnight, and all the energy she used up giving birth to their son, even Dick understood why she needed her sleep. The weird part was, he wasn't tired at all.
Dick figured maybe years of staying up all night partying had served him well in preparing him for fatherhood. He would have to get up for night feeds and to rock the baby back to sleep when he woke up bawling for no apparent reason. Life was going to be tough, but Dick was going to pull his weight and do his part in this, of that he was certain.
"You and me, little man" he told the baby, even though he was as fast asleep as his mother, "We're gonna be like best buds and everything" he promised him in a low whisper, so as not to wake mother or child, "I'm gonna teach you to ride a bike, take you to your first baseball game, and when you're older I can totally help you out with chicks, man. Kinda your Dad's specialist subject... but don't mention that to Mom, okay? I don't want her to think she's not my all time lover, 'cause she totally is" he said definitely, looking from his son to Mac's sleeping form then.
It was crazy how things could change. Back in High School she was just like the chick from Ghostworld, a semi-hot girl hidden beneath her own geekdom. Then she was Beav's girl, and another person that he could use to get at his kid brother. After that Dick and Mac were almost-enemies to almost-friends in the space of the first year in college, and now, he couldn't imagine life without her right there by his side.
They shared their lives, an apartment, a bed, everything, including a baby now. He loved her, like he never loved anyone before, and Dick was positive he would never want any other woman but Mac. It had been a scary realisation, but at the same time, he kinda liked the feeling that this was his life now, a happy family life, the kind of which he never had before.
"No!" Mac waking up with a start made Dick jump too.
He rushed to her side and put his hands to her shoulders when she looked as if she might leap clean out of bed.
"Hey, it's okay" he promised her, "You're okay, Macky, you just had a bad dream or something, I guess"
Mac looked at Dick and then across at her baby in the hospital crib-on-wheels. Seeing she was breathing hard and still looking panicked, Dick fetched their son over and handed him right on over to Mommy. She immediately calmed down, and yet tears streaked down her face that were enough to scare him.
"What happened?" he asked, feeling confused as he sat down on the edge of the bed beside his girlfriend.
"I'm sorry" Mac sniffled, holding her baby close, "I just... I have this stupid fear. I keep thinking what if... what if they get him mixed up with someone else's baby?" she asked helplessly, knowing the odds were massive but it was just a fear she could not quash.
"Dude! No way!" said Dick definitely, putting his arms around both his woman and child, "This is our kid, and nobody is taking him anywhere, no way" he repeated definitely, making Mac feel all better when he kissed the top of her head then, "Hey, maybe it'd help if we gave him a name?" he suggested them.
Mac frowned.
"We could, but we never did figure out what to call him" she noted, "We never got past A in the baby names book" she reminded her boyfriend.
"Huh" he replied somewhat non-verbally as he thought on it, "Well, okay... How about Adam?" he tried, "Didn't we both like that?"
Mac looked from Dick to the baby in her arms and then she smiled.
"Yeah, Adam" she agreed, "I like that"
"Mom, Dad" Mac smiled as they entered the hospital room, "Come meet Adam, your grandson" she told them, with a somewhat nervous giggle that she just couldn't help.
"Oh my God!" Natalie gasped as she came rushing over to see her daughter and the newest addition to the family.
"Congratulations, Dick" said Sam as he shook the younger man's hand, "Please believe me when I tell you, there's no feeling in the world like becoming a father"
"Totally true, Mr Mac" he agreed with a nod, before turning to the teen who was hovering back by the door, "Hey, Ry!" he called to him, "Come meet your... like, nephew" he figured out eventually.
With a huff and sigh, Ryan wandered over, clearly feeling awkward and quite possibly uninterested when it came to his older sister's baby. It was the typical reaction of a boy his age, and Mac didn't mind at all that 'Uncle Ryan' didn't look too impressed by baby Adam. He would understand one day, just hopefully not as soon as Mac herself had started a family!
"What do you think, Dad?" Mac asked him as he peered over his wife's shoulder at the baby now held in her arms, "Personally, I think he has your nose" she told him, knowing they were all too aware that it was impossible, but not even caring as she smiled up at the only man she had ever known as her father.
"I think... you might be right" he told her regardless of how silly it was, "Y'know, you may be a little younger than we anticipated, but I have no doubt you'll make a wonderful mother, Cindy" he assured her, "The way things are going, I really think you'll both be just fine" he said, looking from his daughter to Dick as he approached the bed.
"We're gonna try" Mac promised, as her boyfriend sat down beside her and hugged her close with one arm around her shoulders.
"Hey, we're like the ultimate dream team!" he declared perhaps a little too loudly, but his enthusiasm was appreciated by all, "There is nothing we can't do together" he told Mac definitely, planting a kiss on her lips without even caring that her parents and brother were present.
"Gross" Ryan muttered in the background, only to be told by his father to be quiet.
"Bro, one day you will totally understand!" said Dick with a wink, though Ryan still looked unimpressed.
Mac looked at the scene around her with a huge ridiculous grin on her face. She knew life wasn't going to be straightforward from here on out. Raising a baby was hard work and she was all aware of that, but right now she couldn't be happier with how things were turning out. Her family were all here, still supporting her after everything, she had a son of her own now, and a man at her side who loved her to no end. She loved him just as much and it showed in her eyes as she looked up at him, sure from the way he smiled back that he was just as happy to be here as she was.
The truth was, Dick really was having similarly rosy thoughts. Maybe that night when he and Mac first got together wasn't so much of a fluke as fate's grand plan, he realised, as he thought on it some more. All Dick knew for sure was that he was really glad it happened. For once in his life, getting drunk and hooking up with some chick was the best thing he had ever done, because that chick was Cindy Mackenzie. He never knew he could love someone like he loved her and their son, but it was as true as he was sitting here. Dick felt like he had finally found where he was supposed to be in the world, and it was right here, forever.
The End