Hello all! I know I've been a little lazy on the whole update thing lately but the lead-up to Christmas break is always a busy time of year. As always, thank you to my ladies Alex Beckett, anomalymona, babycastle09, NotJana and tayababy and my little partners in crime dasKamel, Fluffy and Jellibar. Thanks for always having my back and being there for me and being the best sisters I can ask for. Also, I don't own the song featured in here. Merry Christmas!

'Shane?'

'Yeah?'

'Is there any way to get my stupid bloody spell check to stop auto-correcting 'simchat bat' into 'SIM-Card'? It's getting on my nerves!'

Shane looked up from where he was stretched out on the floor beside Petra, who was lying on her back and examining the world around her. 'I have no idea. I've had my phone for so long it just realizes what I'm saying already. Doesn't it Petra? It sure does!'

'Petra, just because Daddy got to give you your first bottle this morning does not mean you get to go switching teams,' Alexis teased her daughter as she stretched her legs on the couch. She scratched absently at the spot where her stitches had been removed that morning, hoped her bikini wouldn't hide it the following summer. Unlike some women in her acquaintance from medical school and even those in the clinic, Alexis was quite proud of her scar; it was a reminder of the fact that her little girl was a tough little nut right from square one.

She looked over, saw little Petra wiggling happily and Shane beaming like a sun. Happiness, she thought, was right here. Her husband, her lover her best friend all rolled into one and their little girl. Safe, healthy, gurgling away like a champ. The post-birth hormones, or maybe just the moment, had her eyes filling up a little. A quick cough had them clearing away and she read aloud the email she was composing to their family.

'How does this sound? The Doctors Weaver invite you to the simchat bat for Petra Jasmine Weaver on the evening of Wednesday September twenty-eighth at seven pm at the Castle loft. Ceremony to be presided over by Rabbi Oliver, beginning at six-thirty pm with food and party to follow.'

'That sounds great. Doesn't it Petra?' Shane put his palm on Petra's tummy, gently wiggled her. The movement had him wrinkling his nose. 'Oof, I think our little gem needs a change of drawers.'

'Oh yeah, agreed.'

'Come on, stinky-girl.'

Shane got to his feet, held Petra close and told her how it might seem like she was doing this a lot but that meant she was good and healthy. Alexis grinned, signed the email and hit send before setting aside her laptop and heading into the kitchen to make tea. Petra was inevitably a creature of habit already, settling into a routine. She would be getting sleepy soon, which meant a naptime snack and then tucked in for a few hours. That would mean Alexis and Shane had a little time for themselves, which meant they would get to eat and watch a movie or something just the two of them.

She was just turning on the kettle when the buzzer for the front door rang. Confused, Alexis went to answer it and blinked when she heard Shir's voice.

'Hello shani, are you busy with the baby at the moment?'

'No, Shane is just changing her nappie.'

'Oh good. I'll be up in a moment.'

Out of habit, Aleixs pressed the button to let Shir in, then looked around at the state of the apartment. It wasn't messy, exactly, just...lived-in, she decided; she knew Shir wouldn't judge her since she did have a little seven days old baby just home from the hospital. Still, it was a little point of pride to Alexis so when Shir knocked on the door she tried to let it go. The thought left her head instantly when she opened the door and Shir threw her arms around her daughter-in-law without any preamble.

'Alexis, you look beautiful! You've got that new mother's glow.'

'That's sweat from trying to keep up doing everything.'

'Alexis, you know the books say you should rest when your body tells you too, right my sweet?'

'I know but-'

'But you being you are about as stubborn as my Scheine and thinking you need to be Wonderful-Woman from square one.'

'Wow,' Alexis laughed as Shir slipped off her shoes, set her purse and bag down by the kitchen table. 'You are just about as bad as my mother for that. And on occasion your son too.'

'Mama?' Shane walked out of the nursery, surprised delight on his face. 'Mama, what brings you here?'

'You and my grandbaby. I'm here to visit without you for an hour or two.'

'Excuse me?'

'You two go get tidied up, and go out, and I'll take care of Petra for you.'

Shane shook his head as if to clear the cobwebs out that were preventing him from hearing correctly. 'Excuse me?'

'I understand how hard you two have been working the last few days, especially to get things ready for the naming ceremony so I am here to give you a little parents' evening out.' Shir pulled out two tickets from her purse along with a twenty dollar bill. 'Here. You two are going to see DragonVale Tales at eight-fifteen seven blocks away. I know it's for children but it was the shortest run-time since I figured you wouldn't want to be away from your little gem for very long. And your friend Boh-dee is expecting you for pick up on a special little treat once it is done.'

'Mama, I-'

'Scheine, I won't take no for an answer right now. Parents need breaks, especially new parents, so there isn't any burnout.'

Every fibre of Shane's being wanted to take the tickets and grab Alexis to head out the door and it made him feel guilty as hell. Then he turned to look at Alexis, and realized his mother was right - Alexis' expression held the same excited glow as when she saw she was getting a spa day to make herself feel special. He pulled her in for a little hug, then look at Shir.

'There is plenty of breast milk in bottles in the fridge, and everything in the nursery is labeled.' Alexis grinned. 'I'm going to get a shower and do my hair.'

She zipped off, leaving Shane to sigh. 'I'm sorry, Mama, I'm not thinking clearly. I didn't think Alexis would be up for it so soon.'

'Alexis needs it as much as you do, my boy.' Shir put her hand to Shane's cheek. 'It's easy to forget that a C-section birth is a surgical procedure and that a mama sometimes needs to get out sooner rather than later since that means she probably had an extended hospital stay. You're a great husband Shane and you'll be an even more amazing father.'

Shane grinned when he heard the water running in the shower. 'I think you're right Mama.'

'That's a secret you'll get to learn now that you've got your own little one.' Shir winked at her boy, the new papa. 'Mamas are always right. Even when we're not, we're right.'

The night out was exactly what she'd needed, Alexis realized as she checked her makeup in the mirror of the Castle loft bathroom. She'd never have made it through the special naming ceremony tonight without it. It was impossible for her hormones right now to handle oscillating between just the three of them at home and a huge crowd and be comfortable with that switch up all the time. And in true first-time-away-from-baby mommy style, Alexis had called when they'd left the theatre and then again when they'd left Love on a Bun to let Shir know she and Shane were on their way home. Shane, being a wise man and good hubby, hadn't said a word at all, though Alexis suspected that he'd let her do it so he wouldn't have made a million calls home himself.

The softie part of the ceremony was over too, thank goodness. Alexis didn't know how she didn't float away on the river of tears - everyone in their family, the Espositos, the George-Espositos, the Parrish-Robbinses, the Ryans, the Mazzaras, the Channings, the Brennans, the Bricks, and of course the Castle-Weaver family had been crying happy little tears as Rabbi Oliver had done the blessings with little Petra Jasmine Adi wrapped in Shir's prayer shawl that she'd been given by Chaim's mother as a gift when they'd announced their engagement. She'd been given her Hebrew name meaning 'jewel', after Chaim's mother who had told Chaim he would have a girl for his first grandchild shortly before her death. Though many hadn't understood the ritual's prayers as they were in Hebrew, everyone understood that this was most definitely a blessing to celebrate the safe arrival of a healthy baby. Petra was so good, too, she'd barely made a noise when the rabbi touched her tiny little forehead with oil from the menorah to symbolize the miracle of the birth and the light of joy children bring to the world. Shane had said that wasn't strictly speaking an actual ritual but his parents had done that for his own briss since they'd been encouraged to bring something of their own into the ceremony. Alexis was hardly one to argue with the sanctity of family traditions so she'd just smiled proudly and let herself have a little eye-contact with Shir and Chaim during that part.

Now Alexis had her own little moment as she'd drank down the ceremonial wine and wanted to pump it out as quickly as she could so she wouldn't have to worry about hurting Petra when she was hungry. She'd let herself weep a little once finished, but now it was time to dry her eyes and eat - that was definitely a tradition of Shane's faith she loved. There was certainly no shortage of food whenever it came time for a Jewish ritual.

'Alexis?'

There was a knock on the door, along with RJ's voice calling out to her. 'Come on in buddy,' she called to him as she tidied up her breast pump and poured the soiled milk down the sink with the running water. She was on the last glass when her brother opened the door.

'Lex, doesn't Shane need that for giving Petra her bottles when you want a nap and my pretty little niece is hungry?'

'Not this stuff, RJ,' she explain, pointing at the sink. 'This has remnants of alcohol in it because of the ritual wine Shane and I drank when Rabbi Oliver was doing the ceremony.'

'We can't get the baby drunk,' RJ replied with such concern that Alexis had to giggle.

'Exactly. But we can get me stuffed on bagel sandwiches and pomegranate punch.'

'That's a good plan. Jojo's already had so much she has a Joke mustaschio.'

Alexis dried her hands, followed RJ out; it wasn't hard to figure out where Petra was in the sea of people as a small clutch of children were crowded around Lindsay who was sitting with Beckett holding Zane on her knee; the little boy was a looker with Lindsay's tawny complexion and Adam's serious eyes. She moved closer, saw it was Jojo, Nate, Max, Devon and Heddie all watching the two babies like they were going to suddenly reveal the secrets of the universe. Max appeared to be in deep conversation with Zane who was flapping his little arms and babbling like a champ.

'Pababamimimamaimi,' Zane gurgled away and Max gave him a grin.

'Then what happened?

'Pibibamimim.'

'They ran out of chocolate? Oh boy that's not good. Did you get a vanilla one instead?'

'Mimimiambibim.'

'Oh, yes, chocolate-chip one is pretty good too.'

'What are you guys talking about?' Alexis asked, smiling when she saw Zane bat his palms together.

'Milkshakes, Lex! Zane told me about when they went to Roscoe's Sugar Shack.'

'Mamamam! Bibibibi!'

'Yeah, mamas are the best, Zane.' Max pushed the bridge of his glasses up his nose, then wrinkled it. 'Icky, my glasses are covered in smudgy stuff. Jojo, let's go get Alexis a snack and me a napkin.'

'Okay!' Jojo leaned forward to give Petra a little kiss before grabbing Max's hand. 'Let's shall we go!'

'That one will be a writer like her daddy, I bet,' Beckett laughed. 'Alexis, it was a beautiful ceremony, and Adi is a perfect addition to Petra Jasmine.'

'I couldn't believe how quiet she was,' Lindsay added, gave a jerk of her head towards Zane. 'This one doesn't like getting his hands wiped after snack time.'

'Wait until he starts teething.'

'Who was worse on you, Mom, RJ or Jojo?' Alexis asked, watching Petra sleeping happily in Lindsay's arms.

'Oh, Jojo no question. Nothing made her happy. RJ lived on frozen berries and Ben and Jerry's frozen lemonade sherbet and that helped it. Rick told me you were just like your sister,' Beckett smiled. 'So maybe Petra will be like her mumum?'

'Maybe. Oops, look like she knows that word even in her sleep!'

Petra had begun to wiggle in Lindsay's arms, apparently sensing her mother nearby, her wide eyes blinking open. When her little ears tracked Alexis voice, she began to splutter a little, tiny hands waving around. Lindsay passed the baby to her mother, and Alexis held her close, murmuring to her which helped soothe Petra's frayed little nerves.

'There we are, my precious gem, Mumum's here, nothing to stress about. Ooh, I smell that, I think you need a nappie change.'

'You can use the upstairs bathroom for some privacy,' Beckett told her, 'and our room if you need to nurse.'

'No, she had a bottle with Shane a little while ago,' Devon piped up. 'I got to take pictures on Mama's camera phone while Petra had a bottle.'

'Good shob!' Nate held up pursed fingertips and Alexis left for the upstairs bathroom with a laugh as she listened to Nate telling his brother they had to teach Petra how to 'fee' biddies'.

'You've got a whole crowd of people just a little bit bigger than you who love you so much, my sweet sweet angel,' Alexis told her as she peeled back Petra's newborn sized stockings after she'd lain the changing pad and the baby on her parents' bed. 'I don't know who loves you most, us or them.'

'Us, definitely.'

Alexis and Petra both turned their eyes towards the door, the former beaming when she saw Shane there. Her heart did a flip-flop when she saw he'd loosened his tie and popped the top button of his dress shirt. 'Yeah, definitely us. She'd got a messy bottom.'

'Ah, can't have that, can we darling?' Shane moved over to stand with his wife, admire their little girl so brave and beautiful just like her mother. 'Can't have the party guest of honour feeling lousy now, huh? Here.'

Shane dug into the stylish baby bag, pulled out a fresh diaper and Vaseline for Alexis to use once she was finished wiping Petra's little tushy. 'There, that will be more comfy for our princess, won't it?'

'Sure will. Shane?'

'Yes, my sexy Lexy?'

'I love you so much, I...' Alexis gave him a smile. 'I've loved you from the first moment you called me your girlfriend.'

'I've loved you since the first time I told you that. And look where all that love has gotten us.' Shane reached over, put his hand to Petra's tummy and watched her smile. 'Oh, what a little heartbreak you are.'

'A sleepy heartbreaker,' she noted when Petra's smile morphed into a yawn. She finished fixing on the fresh diaper, tugged off the party dress in favour of a powder blue onsie with a snuggled up teddy-bear design then let Shane pick her up, sing her the song that had been used for lulling her into a quiet, restful sleep.

'The sun goes down, the stars come out, and all that counts is here and now. My universe will never be the same, I'm glad you came. I'm glad you came.'

Shane felt Petra yawn again, much more slowly this time and saw she was nearly out for the count so he went over to the spot where they'd set up her little traveling bed and tucked her in. Alexis appeared at his side and they watched their little girl drift into dreamland before returning to the party to honour her welcome into the world.