Lay Down Your Arms; Give Up The Fight

Time flew by so fast that they could barely keep up with themselves. It was January 6th, and Shay was laying on the hospital bed, passed out from delivering a beautiful baby boy. John was so fond of that tiny specimen of life; he sat and held little John with admiring eyes and an enormous smile for an entire hour, before the nurse had pried little John out of his arms to be taken care of.

For the sake of confusion, the baby was addressed as 'Little J.' John sat there cooing 'Little J' at the poor thing trying to sleep and kissing his forehead. He was going to be such a great father. After the excitement of being a father had toned down a bit, he rolled his chair up to Shay's bedside. She was resting, her eyes comfortably closed and her nostrils flaring slightly as she breathed. He admired her beauty, and the beautiful child she had given to him. He smiled and kissed her forehead softly before drifting to sleep in his own chair. It had been a long day.

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It was time to take Little J home. John bundled him up in a tiny blue blanket as Shay waited patiently in the wheelchair that the hospital had offered her. He pushed her out as she held the baby, and they entered the familiar Benz. John struggled to set up the car chair that he so proudly purchased at Toys R Us. He made a point to tell the woman at the register that he was going to be a father. She smiled awkwardly and rung up his purchase. Shay giggled as he fumbled with the 10 different straps that needed to be buckled and rolled her eyes.

He finally got the car seat in place, and he gently picked up Little J and put him in safely. Now, they were on their way home, back onto Daisy Lane. As they rolled slowly into the driveway, they were greeted by everyone they had come in contact with in their lives. Apparently, Pat knew where they kept the spare key to the front door, and they had all arranged a surprise party for Little J and John and Shay. Shay giggled when she saw the big blue teddy bear that Pat had in his arms.

Pat approached the car with a giant grin on his face. Shay rolled down the window so she could speak to him.

"Where's baby Johno?" he exclaimed. "I have a present for baby Johno!"

"Little J's in the back. I'm sure he'll love it. Oh, and I promised you that you could hold him, didn't I?" Shay pointed to the sleeping baby in the back seat.

"Be careful with Little J, Pattycakes!" John warned.

It was so cute to watch John with his little boy. Shay couldn't wait to watch him grow up and see John teaching him how to throw a baseball and play a guitar. Speaking of guitars, John had spent some time in the hospital room with a guitar and had strummed up a lovely song for Little J.

Pat raced around to the other side of the car. He opened the door and gasped when he saw the tiny creature. "Hi, Little J! I'm your uncle Pat. Look, I brought you a present!" he said as he held out the light blue teddy bear.

The newborn opened his eyes and turned his mouth into what seemed like a smile. It was hard to tell because his face was so small!

John unbuckled the baby out of the car seat and carefully lifted him up. He smiled and kissed his forehead before handing him off to Pat. Pat gently held the baby and rocked him in his arms. He softly cooed into his ear and laughed.

"I think he likes Uncle Pat," Shay said with a smile.

"He better! I got him a present!"

Shay took the baby out of his hands and carried him into the house. "Let's see who else decided to show up."

As soon as the door opened, they were greeted with a loud shout. "Surprise!"

John put his arm around Shay as she held the baby and smiled as someone took a picture.

"Thank you all, so much!" Shay cooed.

Everyone took turns admiring the baby.

"Look at those green eyes! He looks just like his daddy. But he's got that gorgeous tan and dark hair!" Jared's now girlfriend, Geneveve, exclaimed.

"He does look just like John, doesn't he? I guess that's a good thing, because that's the face I fell in love with." Shay looked at Little J's sparkling green eyes and smiled.

"Awh, look at little Shay talking about you, John!" Jared said sarcastically.

Shay still blushed every time. She looked at John bashfully as he kissed her forehead gently and smiled.

"Jared, you're such a butt!" Shay yelled jokingly.

After everyone had came and stated how much Little J looked like John, even Halvo, John and Shay shooed everyone out of the house so that they could all get some rest. John carried Little J up the stairs and set him softly down on the middle of their bed. Shay changed into a pair of John's sweatpants and one of his big white t-shirts and climbed up onto the bed on the right side of Little J. John took off his favorite plaid shirt and pulled off his skinny jeans so he could put on his plaid boxers and a white v-neck. He gently laid down on the left side of Little J, careful not to squish his tiny toes and tiny fingers that were curled up into tiny fists. The two smiled and fell asleep together. This was the O'Callaghan family.

What a beautiful ending to a new beginning.