The Best Gift

Sitting at the dinner table in the Staal family home, Shayne Lewis sat at the end of the one side next to Eric and across from the youngest of the Staal boys. She could feel Eric’s hand on her thigh, his thumb rubbing the material of her skirt A few years ago, when he first started placing his had there, it made her feel weird, but now she enjoyed his touch on her skin.

Pushing her potatoes around on her plate, Shayne didn’t feel all that hungry tonight. Watching as someone grabbed her plate and replaced it with an empty one. Looking to her side she looked into Eric’s blue eyes, trying to appear annoyed at him. “That’s my plate.”

“You aren’t eating it,” Eric told her, gently squeezing her thigh. “You need to learn to share, especially when we get married.”

Linda Staal couldn’t contain her laugh. “Eric, you’ve saying that since you were ten years old. I would have thought if you were going to marry her, I’d see a ring on her finger.”

Taking Shayne’s right hand, he picked it up and showed her the thumb ring that was always there. “Like that one?”

“No, she means the one with a diamond on her left hand,” Jordan pointed out, seeing Shayne put her hand under the table and sending him a look, but he just laughed. “You might be seeing that ring sooner then you think, Mom.”

“We weren’t going to tell you like this,” Eric started as he laced his fingers with Shayne’s. “About an hour ago, I asked Shayne to marry me and for some reason, she said yes.”

Bringing her hand back up, Shayne showed off the one and a half carat diamond solitaire with diamonds on the side of the white gold band. Looking from Eric’s smiling face to those of Linda and Henry Staal’s shocked ones made her a little nervous. Taking a deep breath, she lowered her hand and gave them a small smile. “I told him yes.”

“You’re gonna get married?” Linda asked, her voice full of emotion.

“Like you said Mom, I’ve been saying that I want to marry her since I was ten and now that we both have been living together for awhile now, I think its time I make good on that.” Eric told her as he stood up and walked over to her and hugged her from where she was sitting.

Turning and standing up, Linda hugged her eldest son while tears of joy ran down her face. “It’s about time you asked her. She wouldn’t stick around forever you know.”

Eric laughed as he hugged his mother and watched as his younger brothers hugged his wife to be. It was funny how he knew that was what she would be when he was only ten years old. Hugs were exchanged before the brothers and Shayne headed to the main room to watch a movie.

Collapsing on the couch, she felt herself being lifted into a pair of arms and then settle back down in front of someone as they wrapped their arm around her mid-section. “Best seat in the house.” Eric’s voice sounded next to her ear.

“Do you two always have to hog the whole couch?” Jared question them as he plopped himself in an armchair. “Some of us like sitting there, too.”

“Too bad,” Shayne said sticking her tongue at Jared. “Maybe next time you’ll be faster.”

“Whatever.” Jared said turning his head so that they wouldn’t see the smile on his face.

Halfway through the movie, Shayne got up and made her way up the stairs and to the room Eric grew up in. Changing out of her skirt and top, she pulled on a pair of black pajama pants and a white spaghetti strapped shirt. Walking over to Eric’s suitcase she opened it up and pulled out the red sweatshirt with the Carolina Hurricanes logo on the front of it before opening the door and making her way back down to the stairs to rejoin the boys.

Noticing that Eric was now sitting up, she walked in front of him and sat by his side. Snuggling into his side, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to him. “You like this movie?” he whispered, as he laced their fingers together.

“What movie is this?” she asked, a smile on her lips as she looked at him.

“Come with me.” Eric told her as he stood up.

Following his lead, they made their way towards the back door, but stopped when Jordan called Shayne’s name. Turning to look at Jordan who was laying on the floor with a pillow under his head, she could see a faint grin form on his face. “You’ve already got the ring, now you just need a kid and then you can milk him for all he’s worth.”

“Not funny Jordan,” Shayne said as she started to follow Eric again. Once they were on the porch, Shayne stopped walking. Eric turned and gave her confused look. “You have shoes on, I don’t,”

“So what?”

“It’s dark outside. I don’t want to step in anything.”

With a sigh, Eric picked her up bridal style and ran towards the barn that they used to escape to when they were kids. “Is this what you had in mind?” he grinned at her.

“No,” she laughed as he set her back down on her feet. “I thought you would just go and get me a pair of sandals.”

Smiling at her, Eric brushed a piece of her blonde hair behind her ear before giving her a short and sweet kiss. “I love you,” he told her staring into her eyes. “You’re it for my, Shayne.”

“You will be my only,” Shayne smiled at him. “Isn’t this the same barn where you kept telling me that you were going to marry me?”

Laughing, Eric just nodded his head. “At least for the first couple of times. But I was right. I’m marrying you.”

“I still feel like it’s a dream or something,” she admitted. “And soon, Jordan is gonna throw ice cold water on me and wake me up.”

“There is something important I wanted to talk to you about.”

Sitting down on a bale of hay, Shayne watched as Eric walked closer to her, where there was more light. Pulling something out of his back pocket, she saw it was something wrapped in toilet paper. As she was about to ask what it was, he tore the toilet paper off and showed he showed her the pregnancy test. “Eric?” she asked, her voice shaking.

“I was in the hall bathroom,” he started as he walked over and sat next to her on the bale of hay. “Were you going to tell me?”

“How do you know its mine?” Shayne asked.

“Shayne…” Eric started, as he took her hand in his.

“Fine, the test is mine,” she admitted. “I didn’t want you to find out this way. I was waiting until we were back home before training camp starts.”

“Why didn’t you tell me the moment you found out?” he asked. “Have you been to a doctor yet?”

“I got it confirmed right before we came out here,” she told him lacing their fingers. “I thought you were going to break up with me, so I was putting off telling you.”

Eric looked at her; even in the pale light he could tell there were tears in her eyes. “Shay, what gave you the idea I was breaking up with you?”

“You did,” Shayne told him wiping the tears that fell from her eyes onto her cheeks with the hand that wasn’t linked with Eric’s. “You were acting so strange and it wasn’t like it was when you were in the playoffs. I mean I really thought that we were done. I starting researching how much I could make while working part time because that was around the time I found out I was pregnant.”

“So you are cutting back hours?”

“Eric, you haven’t said how you feel about this,” Shayne pointed out. “Are you okay with it?”

“Am I okay with this?” Eric laughed. “I’m going to be a father; you have no idea how happy this has made me.”

Letting out the breath she didn’t even realize she was holding, Shayne wrapped her arms around Eric’s neck as she cried into his neck. “I love you. I love you so much.” she whispered as she took her hand and ran her fingers up and down the back of his head.

Releasing him, Shayne looked into his eyes. He smiled at her as he stood up and pulled her off the bale of hay before picking her up bridal style and walking back towards the house. Laughing as her arms looped around his neck.

Once Eric reached the porch, he set Shayne back on her feet. Turning to face him, she shot up onto her toes and wrapped her arms under his shoulders as she pressed her lips to his. As her lips met his, Shayne bit down slightly on Eric’s bottom lip. Not being able to stop the grin from forming on his face, Eric slowly caressed Shayne’s bottom lip in hopes of gaining entrance. Hearing the moan coming from her as her mouth opened up to him. As their tongue’s battled for control as the kiss grew harder and deeper, neither one wanting it to end. Eric slipped his hand underneath the sweatshirt that Shayne had taken out of his suitcase, his hand staying on her stomach. When the need for air came, it was Shayne that broke their kiss. “You know, that’s one reason for how we got here.”

“On the porch?” he smirked at her, his breath husky as he pressed a soft kiss below her ear.

“No smartass,” Shayne said, attempting to hide the smile as she stepped away from him. Placing her hand over his under the sweatshirt, she looked at him in the eyes. “Its how she got in there.”

“She?”

“I don’t think I can handle having your son,” she told him. “Do you know what a mini me of you would do to me? I’d be giving him everything he ever wanted.”

“But we need a boy to carry on our last name,” he pointed out. When he saw her biting her lip, he gave her a look. “What?”

“What makes you think that me and the baby are going to take your last name?”

“Why wouldn’t you?” he shot back. “I’ve told you a million times once you marry me; you get my name as well.”

“Maybe I just want to marry you, have your kids, but I don’t want your last name,” Shayne told him. “I mean, if I change my name, won’t my readers get confused?”

“Can you two get inside already?” came the voice of Marc. “I’m locking everything up.”

Turning around, Shayne made her way to the door without looking back to Eric. Stopping inside the den to see if the others had started another movie, she was surprised that both Jared and Jordan were asleep. Jordan was on the couch and Jared was in a recliner. With a smile on her face, she turned to go up the stairs and to the room she was sharing with Eric when she ran into someone’s chest.

Looking up into the familiar pair of blue eyes, she just gave him a small smile as she tried to go around him, but Eric blocked her way. Trying again, he moved the same way she did. With a roll of her eyes, she moved backwards and he followed her. When she was sure that there was enough room to squeeze between him when he moved and the wall, Shayne attempted to get by. When Eric encircled her waist and stopped her movements, she couldn’t help but giggle. “Are you going to play nice now?” he whispered.

“I’m just trying to go to bed. We have to get some rest before we leave tomorrow.”

Loosening his grip, Eric let her go and crossed his arms over his chest and gave her a pointed look. “You said you wanted this flight.”

“I know that,” she told him as she walked around him. “But I didn’t think you’d give up on the last name so easily.”

Watching her walk up the stairs to the room he had growing up, Eric knew that there would never be a dull moment in his marriage. The smile on his face wouldn’t disappear even if he tried. With Shayne confirming what he had thought, that he was going to be a dad, he was just excited. Looking over at his youngest brothers as they slept, he decided against it as he made his way up the stairs.

Smiling as he walked in to see Shayne already in bed, but with the covers at her feet. Eric’s eyes wondered from her feet all the way up her body. When he saw her smiling at him, he sat on the bed and took off his shoes before lying next to her. Turning onto his side, he placed his hand on her stomach, which was bare since she had pulled the sweatshirt up, stopping at the bra line. That’s what surprised him; she had started wearing a bra to bed. “Since when do you put more clothes on when you go to bed?”

“I have since we got here,” she said as she went to pull down the sweatshirt, but Eric’s hand stopped her. “What’s the big deal? You’ve already knocked me up, not like you haven’t seen the goods before.”

“It just makes more work for me to get everything off of you,” he whispered next to her ear. “I mean we both know what’s going to happen.”

Staring into his eyes, a smile formed on her face. “Yes, we do,” she said. “If you don’t take your hand off my stomach and let me get some sleep, then you are sleeping downstairs.”

“You’d make me sleep alone?” he asked softly.

“No,” she sighed. “Your brothers are down there. So you won’t be alone.”

“You hate sleeping by yourself when I’m nearby,” he smirked at her.

“Right now, I am going to sleep,” she told him as she curled up next to him and his arm snaked around her mid-section. “And unless you want this to be your first and last child I think you’ll let me sleep.”

“You’re pregnant?” came the shocked voice of Linda Staal from the door way.

Sitting up on the bed, Eric watched as his mother walked in wearing a robe over her night clothes and a cup of water in her hand. He didn’t know what to say. Looking towards Shayne, she had tears ready to burst out of her eyes. Neither of them wanted his family to find out this way. Taking a deep breath, Eric opened his mouth to say something as his mother flipped the light on. As he went to say something, his mother held out her finger signaling for him to stop in his tracks.

“When did you find out?” Linda asked, looking at the two of them.

“I got it confirmed the day before we came out last week.” Shayne whispered, but it was loud enough for Linda to hear her.

“When were you going to tell me?” she asked.

“Well I only found out a little while ago, but we were gonna tell everyone before we left.”

“We weren’t hiding it,” Shayne told her, holding Eric’s hand in her own. “This wasn’t exactly how we had it planned. We are planning on keeping it, even if it’s a bit earlier than what we had planned for kids.”

“And what was the plan?” Linda asked.

“We were going to wait a few years.” Eric said speaking up.

“Are you that angry?” Shayne asked curious, not being able to read Linda as well as she normally would have been able to. “It is your first grandchild.”

“Angry?” Linda asked surprised. “I’m not angry at all. I’m just surprised is all.”

“There’s plenty of that going around,” Eric laughed. “Trust me; I know I was surprised when I called her on it. If you had it confirmed, why did you take another home test?”

“Well I haven’t had any symptoms besides certain foods tasting really gross, so I thought maybe the doctor was wrong,” Shayne said. “But the test keeps coming back positive.”

“You know all women and every pregnancy will be different,” Linda smiled at her. “Expect with these four. They gave me trouble from the moment I found out to the moment they came out.”

“That’s because those were Staal boys, this one is going to be a girl.” Shayne proclaimed.

“You already know?” Linda asked. “How far are you?”

“Just over three months.” Shayne said as she let out a yawn.

“We’ll talk more when you get up,” Linda said as she turned to walk out of the door. “And congratulations, to the both of you.”

Watching as she left the room after turning the light out. Groaning, Shayne took the pillow Eric had been laying on and put it over her face. “I cannot believe that just happened.” she said while holding the pillow to her face.

Taking the pillow away from her, Eric set it back on the bed, before taking her into his arms and placing his hands on her stomach. Gasping in shock, Shayne grabbed his hand into hers, taking them away from her bare skin. “Your hands are cold.”

“Go to sleep.” Eric whispered to her.

“I love you, Ric,” she told him, her eyes closing slightly. “More than anything.”

“The same goes for you, Shay.” he said softly as he kissed the side of her head.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Rubbing her expanding stomach, Shayne walked down the stairs of the house she shared with her soon to be husband. After just waking up from a nap, she could honestly say she wished they didn’t have so many stairs in the house. The wedding was in three days and Eric’s family was staying in the house, which was a blessing and a curse at the same time. Wearing Eric’s Carolina Hurricanes sweatshirt over her tee and a pair of black maternity yoga pants that cut off at her shins. Shayne didn’t like how far her stomach was sticking out. Although there was nothing wrong with it, she didn’t like it because it felt as if nothing was actually fitting. Although her due date was coming up, she couldn’t help but feel the stress coming on.

Entering the kitchen, she saw Jordan and Jared at the table while Linda was cooking. “Hey lazy ass,” Jordan said. “Eric said that there is something for you in your office.”

“I’m not lazy,” Shayne said glaring at Jordan as she walked over to the fridge and opened it up. “When you have another human being sharing your body, then you can comment. Until then, shut your trap.”

“Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed.” Jordan smirked.

“Jordan!” Linda said, giving her son a look.

With a roll of her eyes, Shayne walked by the table and stopped as she gripped her stomach as she shut her eyes. Jordan and Jared were by her side in seconds, while Linda was asking her what was wrong. Gripping the hand that was closer to her, she squeezed it until she couldn’t feel the pain anymore. That’s when she felt a liquid race down her legs.

Opening her eyes back up, she looked into the concerned eyes of Jordan, Jared and Linda Staal. “Where is Eric at?” Shayne whispered as she released the hand that belonged to Jordan.

“He and Marc took Henry down to the store to get some things for dinner tonight,” Linda told her. “Are you alright?”

Nodding her head, she walked over to the counter and grabbed her phone that was on the counter. Calling the first speed dial on her phone, she waited for the other line to pick up. Tapping her foot impatiently as she waited, she saw Jordan walk over and sit on one of the seats at the bar area of the kitchen.

“So did you get any sleep?” came Eric’s voice.

“How long until you get back here?” Shayne asked, ignoring his question.

“We are currently two streets away. What’s going on Shay?” he asked.

“My water just broke, so you need to hurry your ass up,” she told him. “I’m going to go upstairs and change my pants and by the time I get everything I need done, you better be here and have called Dr. Roberts to let her know that you jinxed me and we’ll be there shortly.”

“And how did I jinx you?”

“You told her at that last appointment that you wished that the baby would come before the wedding so that I wouldn’t have so much to worry about,” Shayne told him, a small hint of annoyance was in her voice. “And now only a few days before the wedding, my water breaks and you aren’t even here.”

“I’m almost there,” he told her, keeping his voice as calm as possible even if it wasn’t how he was feeling. “Just go change and I’ll meet you upstairs. Tell Jordan or Jared to get your bag and the baby bag out of the baby’s room, okay?”

Nodding her head even though he couldn’t see her, her voice went soft. “Okay. Bye.”

“Shayne?” Linda question the young blonde woman as she held her cell phone in her hand and her other hand laid on top of her stomach. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Shayne told her with a smile. “I’m having a baby.”

“We know that,” Jared laughed. “We can see your stomach.”

“Jared.” Linda scolded.

“No, I meant today. I’m having the baby today,” she said looking at the Staal’s in the house. “What happened over there? That was my water breaking. So I’m going upstairs. Jordan I need you to grab my overnight bag and the baby bag Eric packed last month. It’s in the baby’s room.”

“Do you-“ Jordan started.

“I’m pregnant, not invalid,” she glared at him. “Did you not see me going up and down the stairs since you got here?”

When he didn’t answer, she gave a long sigh and looked at him. “Let’s just go up the stairs before Eric gets here and-“

“Shayne?”

Eric’s voice traveled through the house as he rushed into the house followed by Marc and then their dad. With a roll of her eyes, she walked towards the front door where the stairs were at. Seeing her walking towards him, Eric met her half way before pulling her into his arms. “Are you alright?” he asked her.

“I am going upstairs and I will change my pants and you can get the bags instead of Jordan since you packed them and put them where ever they are.” Shayne said before disentangling herself from his arms as she walked to the staircase and started to walk up the stairs.

“Do you want-“

“No Eric I don’t,” she called down to him. “What I do want is what I already told you. Now hurry it up so we can go to the hospital.”

With a smile on his face, Eric took two stairs at a time up to the baby’s room. The room was only two doors away from their master bedroom and he and Marc had put everything together while Jordan and Jared made sure that Shayne stayed away from the room until they brought home the baby.

As he went to the closet, he grabbed the baby bag full of things and the small suitcase that had clothes for the overnight stay and the day she could come home. As he walked out the door, he closed it as Shayne walked out of the bedroom wearing a pair of yoga pants and a pillow tucked under her arm. Making his way over to her, Eric placed the things down before placing his hands on the sides of her face. Leaning in he softly brushed her lips with his, in a short, yet loving kiss.

“That’s how she ended up pregnant!” Marc yelled from downstairs with a grin on his face.

“They never quit, do they?” Shayne asked, resting her head on Eric’s chest.

“The only reason they pick on you is because they know you can handle it and when you aren’t pregnant, you dish it out just as easily as they do.”

“You are gonna stay with me, right?” Shayne asked, lacing her fingers with his as he picked up the bags and they started walking down the stairs. “I don’t want to do this alone, in fact I can’t. If you say that you aren’t gonna be there, I’m staying here.”

“Marc is taking the rental car and following us,” Eric told her. “He’s gonna stay with you since we haven’t filled out the paper work yet. So he’ll be with you until I get there. But I’ll just be at the desk filling things out. There’s nothing to worry about, remember what Doctor Roberts said?”

Shaking her head, she looked into his eyes. “She said that labor can take hours, maybe even-“

Placing her hand over his mouth, Shayne glared at him. “You’ve jinxed me once, don’t do it again.”

Feeling the pressure on the inside of her hand, she moved it from Eric’s mouth and looked at it. “You bit me?”

“Love bites?”

“I’ll show you a love bite,” she told him as he backed away from her, with a smile on his face. But that disappeared when he saw her clutch her stomach.

“Are you alright?” he questioned her.

“I wish people would stop asking me that,” she bit out. “I’m having your kid, do I look like I’m alright?”

“Oh, so now, it’s just my kid?” Eric asked.

“Are you trying to pick a fight with a pregnant woman?” Linda’s voice echoed from behind the two of them. “We’ll wait here and wait for you to call.”

Smacking Eric in the face with her pillow, Shayne walked over to Linda and hugged her. “Thank you for everything. It means the world to me.”

“You just bring that baby home safe and sound, you hear me?” Linda asked, returning her hug. “Shayne you are going to be a great mother.”

“Thank you,” she smiled before turning to Henry Staal and hugging him as well. “Are you ready to be a grandpa?”

“Nope,” he laughed hugging her. “We’ll see you soon.”

Walking towards the younger Staal brothers, Jordan walked up to her first, gave her a kiss on the side of her face before hugging her. “See you when you call.”

Jared hugged her next. “Did you guys decide on a name yet?”

“Not yet,” Shayne laughed before walking over to Eric and they headed to the door with Marc behind them. “Bye!”

Four hours after checking into the hospital, Shayne was lying in a bed in her own private room, feeling pain. After getting settled she had decided on no drugs, but that was when the pain was manageable. When she first got to the room, she changed into the gown and then Marc had helped her into the bed and helped make her as comfortable as she could be. At the moment, Eric was off to find her something to drink and she was alone in the room with Marc. She had been pretending to sleep, but sleep just was not coming to her.

“Marc?” she called out as she shifted slightly.

“I’m right here, Shay,” he said getting up and making his way to her bedside from the chair he had been sitting in across the room. “What’s wrong?”

“Can you get the doctor, please?”

“What’s wrong?”

“I changed my mind,” she grimaced. “I want the epidural. It’s hurting a lot more than I thought it would.”

With a smile, Marc nodded his head in understanding. When they first got there, she had said she didn’t want the drugs. She wanted to do it all natural for as far as she could get. Walking towards the door, when he was about to open it, it opened from someone coming inside. It was Eric with more ice chips. He gave Marc a confused look. “She wants the pain meds now.”

“Grab the nurse, she’ll set things up.” Eric advised him as the phone in the room went off and he heard Shayne answer it.

Walking around his brother, he set the cup of ice chips on the table and walked to the seat he had been occupying by her bed. Leaning over he placed a kiss on Shayne’s forehead before sitting back down. After a minute, she hung the phone up.

“Who was that?” he asked her.

“Your mom was checking on me,” she said softly lying on her side. “She was worried since Marc hasn’t come back to the house yet.”

“Did you tell her that you kidnapped him?” he grinned.

“He doesn’t have to stay if he doesn’t want to,” Shayne said. “It’s not like I could force him either way.”

“I think he’s gonna head out after you get the pain meds.” Eric told her.

“Why is this taking forever?” Shayne asked. “Miranda from birthing class, she told me that she was done within an hour of getting to the hospital.”

“As you know everyone is different, how are you doing now, Shayne?” Dr. Roberts asked, as she came into the room after knocking on the door.

“I’m ready for the baby to come out and to go home,” Shayne laughed. “How long until that happens?”

“Well, I’m gonna check and see how dilated you are, and if you haven’t progressed much then we can give you the epidural like you want, but if you are beyond what we know then we won’t be able to give it to you.”

“Why not?” Shayne asked.

“It could do some harm to your baby, if it was given to late.” Dr. Roberts said as Eric helped her onto her back so the doctor could see how far along she was. “I hate to tell you this, but you are almost fully dilated, so the epidural is a no. The good news is that it shouldn’t be too much longer.”

Taking off the gloves she had put on before checking Shayne’s cervix, she tossed them into the trash, before writing something on the chart and placing it back at the end of the bed. “I’ll be back in a little while to check your progress.”

With a smile, she walked out of the room and Shayne turned on her side before the baby’s heartbeat started to go erratic like it had earlier on.

Two more hours had passed with little to no more progress. Marc gave her a kiss on the forehead before heading back to where all the other Staal’s were gathered. Wishing that it would end after each contraction, Shayne looked at Eric, who was watching highlights from the Stanley Cup finals from 1998. “Eric?” she said, getting his attention.

When he looked at her, she continued. “This is the only kid you’ll get from me, so savior it.”

“I thought you wanted more so the others won’t be lonely.” he told her with a laugh.

“This isn’t funny,” she said. “I don’t know how that Duggar woman does it, but this isn’t exactly fun.”

“No, the fun part was making the baby,” Eric smiled, taking her hand in his, careful of the needles in her hand. “You are doing a great job, though.”

“I love you.”

Leaning over her and giving her a brief kiss and then another, he smiled at her. “I love you, too.”

It was going on eight hours when, Shayne finally gave birth to her and Eric’s first child. After getting cleaned up, she was sitting up in bed and holding her bundle of joy. She couldn’t take her eyes off him. Her baby boy. Her son. With a smile, she leaned down to kiss his head.

“What’s his name?” the nurse asked.

Eric turned to look at Shayne, waiting for her to answer. He was leaving the naming up to her. “His name is Gabriel Brayden Staal.”

“Congratulations.” She smiled at the happy couple as they watched their first child.

After his first feeding Eric had called his dad and told him that everyone could come now. The baby was healthy and happy as was his mommy. When he got back to the room, he saw Shayne smiling at him. Looking up she caught his gaze. “He’s got your attitude and your appetite,” she laughed. “I think he has my nose.”

“He’s got light hair, too.” Eric smiled as he sat next to her on the bed.

“Want to hold our son?” Shayne asked.

“I would love too.” Eric said as Shayne carefully placed the baby in his daddy’s arms.

When his family arrived, it was then Eric realized that Shayne hadn’t gotten her gift. “Shayne?” Eric whispered as they watched Uncle Marc hold his nephew while his parents took pictures.

“Hmm?” she asked sleepily.

“Did you ever see the package in your office?”

“No.”

“Well, happy valentines day.”

“You have given me the best gift of all.” Shayne told him.

“So when can we start on the next one?” Eric asked, with a grin on his face.