Weapons of War

Shea was leaned back in the chair beside Riley's bed, staring into the little plastic and chrome bassinet while Riley slept. He had been doing it for hours. He glanced over at Riley, and smiled gently. She had given him one hell of a scare, almost seconds after the room filled with the sounds of brand new infant cries Riley had been rushed to an OR with complications.

After sitting in a room for almost an hour, while both mom and baby were being taken care of, a nurse had finally wheeled in that little plastic and chrome bassinet and Shea hadn't taken his eyes off the 'very healthy' baby inside it since.

At least not until Riley had been brought back, where he spent an equal amount of time staring at them both. It was nearing three in the morning and he was still wide awake. Riley had woken up a few hours earlier for a moment or two, but had fallen asleep shortly after. Now he was just waiting, watching them both sleep.

He knew he needed to sleep, playoffs were in full swing and he had a game tomorrow night, but he couldn't bring himself to get even an ounce of sleep. He was too wired. He knew Riley wasn't going to let him skip tomorrow's game, and even that, knowing he would be going out to play a gruelling game in a few short hours wasn't making him tired.

Somehow playoffs had snuck up on them, the first round had gone by faster than Shea was sure anyone had expected. Four games to one. There was a much welcomed break and then, only a week earlier, round two had started. Things were about to get very crazy around here.

He heard Riley move before he saw her, so he pulled his attention away from the baby next to him over to Riley, who was rubbing her face with one hand. He smiled when she dropped her hand again and their eyes met, Shea said softly, "You're awake."

Her voice was low, and groggy when she asked him, "How long have I been out?"

He glanced at his watch on his wrist and told her, "Few hours. Pretty much since you got out of surgery."

She looked over at him in panic, and Shea was so sure she was going to ask questions about the surgery that he couldn't answer, but instead she asked him, almost alarmed, "And the baby?"

He smiled warmly at her, and got up, rolling the bassinet toward Riley as he said, "She's great."

"She? It's a girl?" Riley asked in surprise. Shea nodded and Riley mused, "I was so sure it was a boy."

Riley moved her legs enough so that he could sit down on her hospital bed, and he leaned down and picked the baby up out of the bassinet, cradling her in his arms against his chest as he looked down at her, and then as he spoke he looked over at Riley, "Yeah, me too but she's beautiful. Not that I'm surprised, she takes after her mom."

Riley rolled her eyes, and she shifted enough to be sitting up straighter, peering over Shea's shoulders and down at the baby in his arms. She had the same slightly tanned, olive complexion and puffy lips as Riley, but she had Shea's nose and a near matching little birthmark by her nose, only on the opposite side of Shea's. 

Riley let out a small chuckle, catching Shea's attention again and she stated, "Figures they'd both look like you."

Shea smiled gently and he told her, "You gave me a scare today, you know."

"Sorry." Riley said with a smile, laughing when he rolled his eyes and sighed dramatically.

"Please don't do that again." Shea told her, turning to face her. When she smiled he said, "Promise you won't and I'll let you hold her."

"Bribing me with my own kid, wow." Riley said with a smile, and when Shea shot her an impatient look she giggled and said, "Alright, I promise I will never scare you like that again."

"Good, thank you." Shea said, leaning over to kiss her quickly.

"Now hand the kid over." Riley said firmly, holding her hands out. Shea laughed and obliged, placing the tiny baby in Riley's arms and he watched her with a smile on his face as she leaned back against the hospital bed and adjusted the little pink hat on the baby's head. 

Shea shifted long enough to pull his cell phone out of his pocket to snap a quick picture of their first moment together. Shea had gotten more than enough pictures on his phone while Riley was asleep, a nurse had even taken a picture of him, the very first time he held the baby. His phone beeped and he found a text message pop up from Quinn, which made him laugh. He told Riley, "Quinn's awake still, apparently."

Riley smiled, "Sounds about right, she's probably baking while James and Noah are asleep."

Shea read the text, laughed again and read it out loud, "'I can't wait to see you guys, tell Riley I demand a cuddle session ASAP. I'm baking sugar cookies and accidentally doubled the recipe, there will be four dozen cookies waiting at your house when you get home.'"

Riley chuckled, but before she could respond a nurse came into the room, trying to be as quiet as possible until she saw Riley was awake, and she smiled, "How are you feeling?"

"Exhausted and sore, but good." Riley told her honestly, her eyes never lifting up from the baby in her arms. 

Shea smiled, and the nurse, obviously spying Shea's phone in his lap, asked them, "Did you want me to get a picture of the three of you?"

"Would you?" Shea asked, and when she nodded he got up, handing her his cell phone before he sat next to Riley, half on the hospital bed and the rest of his weight being supported by his foot on the floor. He wrapped an arm around Riley's shoulders, and a picture was snapped of the two of them both staring intently down at the baby in Riley's arms without them realizing, and a second was snapped of the two of them smiling at the camera. 

His phone was handed back to her, and she produced a pile of papers, setting them on the table by Riley's bed. She told them, "I'm gonna leave these here, fill them out whenever you decide on a name."

With the nurse gone Riley turned to Shea, brow raised and he explained, "I told her we hadn't decided on a name yet. I wanted to wait to do it when you were awake."

Riley smiled gently as he gathered the papers and the pen that was sitting on top of them, but Riley reached out and wrapped her hand around his wrist to stop him from writing. He turned to look at her and she told him, "I think I changed my mind."

"You did?" Shea asked her, a little bit relieved. He still wasn't sold on the name Kinley, and he knew that Riley wasn't either, it just happened the be the only name they both liked. She nodded her head, and so Shea reached out to take the baby from her arms and he handed her the paperwork, telling her, "So give her a name."

"You don't want to discuss it first?" Riley asked him in surprise.

"I trust you. Besides, you did all the work, I think it's only fair you get to name her." Shea told her honestly and she couldn't help but smile gently.

So he watched intently as she wrote on the line designated for baby's name. 

Isla Shay Weber.

It was a name they had discussed very briefly when she had been pregnant with Noah, and Riley had forgotten all about it up until the night before, when Shea had fallen asleep and she was awake, laying in bed after the contractions had stopped. 

She reached out and ran her fingers over Isla's stomach and asked quietly, "What do you think?"

She squirmed in Shea's arms for a moment, but the second Riley put her palm against her stomach she stopped, and went right back to sleep. Shea smiled, rested his head on top of Riley's and asked her, "You want to take her back?"

Riley shook her head and admitted, "I think you should put her in the bassinet, but roll it over here so we can lay down and stare at her."

She yawned, and Shea did what she said, asking her with a smile, "Tired or what?"

"I think I'm gonna be tired for months after this." Riley stated and Shea nodded his head in agreement. 

With him curled up behind her in the small hospital bed, both of their eyes on Isla in the bassinet beside the bed, Shea told her, "I love you."

Riley smiled, "I love you too Shea."

"I don't have words for how proud I am of you." When he said this her brow raised and she turned her head just enough to look at him. He nodded, a silent answer to her silent question, before he spoke gently, "I uh... I know how rough this year has been on you, and I didn't often do very much to help you with that and I'm sorry for that. I wish I had. I just hope that you know that nothing that happened this year, nothing you did, nothing you told me changes how much I love you. I think we learned a lot about each other this year, and I think we're in a much better place, and I'm so incredibly grateful to whatever pushed us together, and I'm so thankful for you and everything you've given me."

"You're gonna make me cry." Riley told him honestly, her eyes already welling up with tears. 

They both laughed when Shea reached out and wiped them away as they spilled out onto her face, and he told her, "I'm sorry. I just... I love you so much and I wish there was a better way to say it, or show it."

"You did, about three hours ago." Riley told him honestly.

His brow arched, "I did?"

She nodded her head, "I woke up around one, you never noticed, you were too busy staring at her. You were holding her, and I promise that I won't tell anyone, but you were crying. That is all I ever need, that's the best way you can tell me that you love me."

Shea glanced at his watch for a second, at the date, and he smiled, telling Riley, "Happy mothers day Ry."

- - - 

"Daddy!" Riley heard Noah before she saw him, only seconds later he came running into her hospital room, Quinn and James hot on his trail. Shea bent down and lifted Noah up onto his hip, kissing the top of his head as Noah hugged his neck. 

"Did you have a fun time with aunt Kelly and uncle Craig?" Shea asked him, and when he nodded vigorously Shea asked, "And what about aunt Quinn and uncle James?"

Noah nodded, "I has cookies!"

Quinn reached into her purse, pulling out a Ziploc bag and handing it to Riley, telling her, "We iced them this morning. Noah wanted special cookies for you."

Riley smiled as she looked at them; a pacifier, a hockey puck, snowflake and a cat that Riley was sure was supposed to be a nod to the Preds. She smiled and looked over at Noah and asked, "Did you help aunt Quinn make them?"

He nodded his head and Quinn said, "Oh, I made one special for you, as a present for going through childbirth. Buddy cover your eyes."

Noah turned his head to look over Shea's shoulder, opposite of where Quinn and Riley were, and he covered his eyes with both hands and exclaimed, "No look!"

Quinn pulled a second, smaller Ziploc bag out of her purse and handed it to Riley, who instantly laughed at the penis shaped sugar cookie now in her lap. As Shea snorted in laughter Quinn told her, "I figured... you know... another boy warranted that."

"Boy are you late to the party." Riley stated, and when Quinn raised her eyebrow Riley explained, "I was wrong."

Quinn paused, before she smiled and James asked, "What's going on?"

Quinn turned to him, smiled and said, "Peyton got a new best friend today. We're gonna have to move to Kelowna for the off season so she can spend her summers with her best friend and her future boyfriend."

James rolled his eyes and asked, "So... it's a girl?"

"Boy I sure do pick dumb ones." Quinn stated.

Riley and Shea chuckled, James rolled his eyes, but Shea told him, "Yeah, bit of a shock for us."

"Can we see her? I'm not above admitting the sole reason I brought your first munchkin here was so I could see your second munchkin." Quinn told her.

So Quinn and James each got their turn holding baby Isla, and then she was handed back to Riley and they said their congratulations and goodbyes with a promise to come back in a few hours for Noah. 

Noah wiggled off of Shea's lap and approached Riley's bed slowly, looking up at her he asked, "Okay?"

Riley smiled and reached out with her free hand to run her fingers through his hair and told him, "Yeah, I'm fine buddy."

"Need fighters?" He asked her softly.

Shea got up from the chair and picked Noah up, sitting down on the hospital bed by Riley with Noah in his lap Shea told him, "No kiddo, mom's really good. She just has to stay here with the baby right now, but she's okay."

He nodded his head, and reached out tentatively toward Isla, before he paused, and looked up at Shea as if asking if it was okay. Shea nodded and watched as Noah continued reaching, just enough to touch her shoulder gently. He then crawled off of Shea's lap, and closer to Riley so that he could peer down at her. With her free hand Riley reached out and put her hand on Noah's back, and gently she pulled him into her chest so that he could see Isla even better.

That was when he reached out and so gently touched his index finger to the tip of her nose, making her squirm. Noah let out a little giggle, and looked up at Riley, asking, "Baby?"

Riley nodded, and she kissed his head. It was his way of asking if this was the baby they kept referring to when telling him he would have a baby sibling soon, if this was the same thing that was in Riley's stomach for so long. 

Shea held out his arms and asked, "Come on buddy, you want to hold her?"

Noah shrugged his tiny shoulders and crawled back over to Shea, who sat him properly in his lap and then he reached out and took Isla from Riley's grasp. Shea, holding most of the seven pound baby's weight, showed Noah how to hold her properly, and Riley pulled her phone from the table by her bed, taking a few pictures of the two of them. 

She started recording a video when Noah looked down at Isla in his lap and said softly, "So little."

Though more like 'yiddow' instead of little, and Shea smiled and told him, "She's really little, but she'll grow."

"Tomorrow?" Noah asked him curiously, and both Riley and Shea chuckled.

Shea shook his head, "Not that fast."

So Noah reached out with his free hand touched Isla's cheek gently, and then he asked, "Kiss?"

Riley reached out and pushed his hair off of his forehead, and with a smile she told him gently, "Yeah, you can give her kisses."

He leaned down, puckered his lips and kissed her cheek softly, before he looked up at Shea in pride. Shea smiled and leaned down, kissing Noah's cheeks loudly, making him giggle. Noah pointed at Isla and told Shea, "Forgot."

So Shea leaned down and gave Isla's tiny face a tiny kiss as well, before Noah pointed to Riley. Riley leaned forward and Shea leaned over, kissing her lips instead of her cheek.

Noah cried out, "Ick!"

"I'm not allowed to kiss mommy?" Shea asked Noah curiously when he and Riley parted.

Noah shook his head and wiggled, so Shea lifted Isla out of his grasp and Noah crawled over to Riley, wrapping his tiny arms around her neck before he looked at Shea and said, "My mama."

Riley wrapped both of her arms around Noah and squeezed him gently, kissing his temple before she said, "Don't ever grow up."

"Why?" Noah asked her.

"Because I love you." Riley told him and his head tilted to the side, the way a dog's might, in confusion. Riley chuckled, Shea smiled, and she reached out, ruffled his hair and said, "Because you're my baby."

Noah shook his head, "Baby."

He was pointing at Isla, but Riley shook her head, reached out and poked Noah's nose and told him, "But you, you were my very first baby."

Content with her answer Noah curled up on top of the blankets, in between Riley's legs, with his head resting on her thigh, facing Shea and Isla. Before either of them knew it, both babies were sleeping, so Shea carefully placed Isla back in her bassinet, and took a seat in the chair beside Riley's bed, reaching out and grabbing one of her hands. 

Riley gave his hand a squeeze, looked around the hospital room, back down at Noah, before she looked over at Isla and admitted, "I can't wait until we get to go home."

Shea looked at his watch and said, "Twenty some hours."

Curiously Riley asked him, "Did you remember to put the car seat in my car?" 

He nodded his head, "Noah's car seat is in there, her's is too. I made sure everything in the nursery was clean and ready, I brought the outfit she's coming home in, plus a back up, just in case there's an accident. I also brought you sweat pants, and those god awful outdoor slipper things you like so much."

Riley rolled her eyes, "Don't hate. They're comfy."

"Whatever you say." He stated, leaning against the hospital bed, holding his head up with the palm of his hand.

Riley reached out and smoothed out his dark hair, and said, "I think daddy needs a nap."

"Probably true, but you need it more than I do."

"I'm good. It's your turn." Riley told him, and she chuckled to herself when he practically fell asleep the instant she said that. 

Riley continued to run her fingers through Shea's hair while he slept, and she glanced over at Isla when she made a noise, but when she went back to sleeping Riley turned to Noah and watched him sleep for a few minutes, before she would turn her gaze to Isla, also for a few minutes, and then Shea for a few minutes, on rotation. 

She couldn't wait to be home.