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“Okay, Buddy, do you remember what I told you?”
Jack gets out of the car and looks up at his father. “Yes, Dad. Be quiet, no running, don’t jump on Pop.”
“Right. He might be tired, so if he’s asleep when we come in, we’ll let him sleep for a bit.” Aaron smiles at his first born, thinking how it seems like only days ago when the boy automatically reached for his hand to walk across a busy parking lot.
“Will he have the baby with him? Can I hold him?”
“I don’t know, we’ll find out. But yes, you can hold him. I’ll show you how.” Aaron opens the door to the hospital and starts unzipping his coat. It’s cold and there’s snow on the ground, which isn’t typical for this part of Virginia on Christmas morning. The hospital, of course, is way too warm for Aaron and Jack, but probably comfortably warm for the current residents, including Spencer and their yet-to-be-named son.
The atmosphere in the Newborn Ward is cheery and festive, a lot different than most places Aaron has been for hospital visits. There are carols playing and the nursing staff smiles at them, even though they’re working on a holiday. Marie, the nurse assigned to them, stops to greet them both with a cheery, “Merry Christmas! Ready to meet your new brother?”
Jack’s no longer able to keep up the pretence of being a sophisticated ten-year old, answering, “Yeah! Is he with Pop?”
“Yes, he is. You know you have to be quiet and remember your Pop is still a little sore, right?” Marie asks Jack, directing him down the hall to Spencer’s room.
“Yup, my Dad told me. They had to cut the baby out of his stomach, because he’s a boy and boys can’t push babies out like girls do.”
“That’s exactly right,” replies Marie. She’s been in charge of the men’s pregnancy unit since it opened a few years ago, and she’s taken care of close to a hundred new fathers and their families. “Let me check and see if they’re ready for visitors.”
The hospital room is decorated for Christmas, courtesy of their team, who came to visit the night before the baby was born. There aren’t a lot of decorations, Marie supervised and said what they could and couldn’t put up. There’s nothing that might cause any allergies to the patients or newborns or get in the way of the medical staff in case of emergency. However, she’s almost as big a fan of twinkly lights as Garcia is, so the room has a soft glow from the flashing colored lights that Morgan and Garcia hung everywhere possible.
It’s just a minute before Jack and Aaron are next to Spencer’s bed and Jack is introduced to his new brother. Aaron was there for everything, including the actual birth. He was allowed to stand by Spencer’s head and hold his hand and let Spencer know when the baby was out and they have their son. Now he can’t keep the smile off his face, watching Jack standing back a bit, looking at his new baby brother like he’s the original Christmas miracle.
“You can come closer, Jack,” Spencer says quietly. “He can only see things about a foot away from him and it’s blurry for him. But he probably knows your voice already and he’ll recognize your general shape pretty soon.”
Jack comes closer and peers at the tiny bundle in Spencer’s arms. “Hi, baby. I’m your brother, Jack.” He looks at both his fathers and says, “He needs a name. You guys had forever to come up with a name.”
“I’m stuck with what sounds good with Doctor Hotchner,” Spencer replies. He holds the baby a few inches away and studies him, brows drawn together. “I thought that maybe once I saw him, I’d know. I like Devon, but I don’t think he should be called Dr. Devon.”
“You don’t think we’re getting a little ahead of ourselves? Planning he’ll be doctor-something?” Hotch asks, taking the baby from Spencer. He sits on the side of the bed and gestures for Jack to sit next to him. “Do you have any ideas, Jack?”
He shrugs and looks at his Dad. “Can I hold him? Maybe that’ll help me get an idea.”
Aaron smiles at Spencer, who looks on anxiously as Aaron gently gets the newborn settled into his brother’s arms. “That’s perfect, Jack. He looks very relaxed with you holding him.”
“He’s got his head, right? The weight of his head is way out of proportion to his body and…”
“I’ve got it, Pop,” Jack replies, smiling. “I’ll take care of him.” The baby yawns and makes little noises and Jack says, “Nick? Nicholas? ‘Cause he was born on Christmas Eve, see? It’s kind of hokey, but you guys got nothing else.”
“Nicholas Reid Hotchner,” Aaron says, trying it out. “Jack and Nick Hotchner. What do you think, Spencer? We’re still doing Reid as a middle name, with no hyphen, right?”
“I think so. It doesn’t make sense for him to be a hyphen and not Jack. Nick Hotchner? Nicholas R. Hotchner? N. R. Hotchner? Is he still okay, Jack?”
Jack looks at the baby and Spencer, panic building in his eyes and gives his head a little shake. “He’s wriggly and his face is getting red. I think you should take him before he screams or does something smelly.”
Before Aaron can take him, Spencer reaches over for the baby. “Okay, fine, hand him over. Carefully. He’s probably wiggling because he’s hungry. He’s eating every couple of hours and it’s almost time.”
Aaron smiles both at Jack’s surprise and how anxious Spencer looks. “Don’t worry, Spencer, we’ll give him back. So is he Nicholas?”
The baby settles against his father’s chest and Spencer leans back against the pillows making sure that the baby has a firm hold on his nipple. “He’s getting colostrum now, which is important for his immune system. If I were a woman, it would turn to milk in about five days or so. Mine won’t. As my hormone levels drop, it’ll stop. And as a warning, I’m already getting mood swings. He had his first bowel movement and I changed his diapers and we both cried.” He smiles down at the baby. “Hey, Nicholas? Nick? Is that your name?”
The baby stops sucking and looks up for a long second before he goes back to nursing. Aaron brushes Spencer’s hair out of his eyes. “I think that might be his name.”
Spencer looks a little teary and smiles at Aaron and kisses the baby’s head. “He just recognizes my voice, that’s all. And you know, the actual feast of St. Nicholas is December 6, not December 25th.”
Jack sighs loudly and pats Spencer’s leg through the blanket. “You know, Pop, you’re allowed to just say that Nicholas loves you, ‘cause you’re his Pop. I think we’ll love him, too. You teach him to be smart, and Dad will teach him to be tough and I’ll teach him to be an athlete.”
“And we’ll all teach him to be a good person, okay? Merry Christmas, Nicholas Reid Hotchner.”