There's too much that Spencer thinks they should do before the baby arrives and not enough time to do them all. He needs to relax, he tells himself, if he keeps spitting out parts of a list they simply can't finish in one evening, he's going to make himself and Joel crazy, and that's not at all what he wants. There's no shame in being nervous about the baby coming, especially not when Erin has gone into labor so early, nobody's going to judge him for feeling like he's overwhelmed with all that's going on his mind right now; but the thing is, he desperately wants to clear his head of everything but what it's going to be like to meet their baby.
He wants to remember this day in the future without having to think back on all the nervous tics that have come with it so far--the foot tapping, the knee bouncing, the fidgeting--because the night had already been shaping up to be absolute perfection, and the news that the baby is on the way has only enhanced it all. So tomorrow or the next day or the next year, Spencer wants to think about this night and remember that he'd been happy, not anxious beyond reason. It's a good thing, then, that Joel tells him a call to Ellie can wait. It's a good thing that Joel takes his deep breaths, that he leads them to the maternity ward, that he asks after Erin's room while Spencer stands beside him, slack-jawed and dazed, to the amusement of the staff on duty.
One of the nurses calls out and waves to them as they pass, and Spencer remembers her from the Joel's brief stay after the demon had been banished--Nora, her name is Nora, and Spencer hopes that she'll have a part to play in the birth of the baby because she'd been nothing short of wonderful--and perhaps it should worry him that they seem to be something close to celebrities with how often they're here, but he has no time to dwell on that. When they burst into Erin's room, both of them breathless even though they'd tried not to rush, it's to a fairly anticlimactic sight. Erin is already in a hospital gown, but she's grinning widely with amusement sparkling in her eyes as she looks them both over.
"I've never been the more reasonable one," Spencer says, which he personally thinks is quite true. Joel has always been the one to keep him grounded, after all, and he's never spent much time thinking about how people outside of the two of them view their relationship but right here and now, he supposes, it doesn't matter. Erin is teasing, it's clear in the way she laughs at what he says, and she waves them closer with one hand as she gestures to a couple of bedside chairs with the other.
"Get over here, come on, everything's fine," she says, and Spencer can instantly feel himself start to relax at the tone of her voice. She always seems to have that effect on him and Joel both, there's something so melodic and soothing about the way she speaks to them that never fails to keep him calm in a situation he might otherwise have been panicking over. He can't say that about very many people, and he gives Joel a quick smile as he squeezes his husband's hand because this is it. There's never been a doubt in Spencer's mind that Erin had been the right surrogate for them, he'd known within the first few minutes of talking to her at the coffee shop, and she's never once given them cause to doubt her. She'd been a true gift to their lives, so generous with her advice on being a parent and what to expect from the day of the birth to the day they get to take the baby home and beyond.
"They didn't find anything wrong with the baby, right?"
It has to be asked. He's clutching at Joel's hand like a lifeline, and he's calmer than he'd been just thirty seconds ago, but it needs to be asked because that's who he is. He can believe, believe, believe, but it doesn't ever sink in until he knows it for a fact.
"The baby is perfect," Erin answers, and Spencer lets out an audible sigh of relief as he lets himself lean back in his chair, his head dropping down onto Joel's shoulder. "My husband should be back soon with some coffee for you two, by the way. It's funny, I got off the phone with you, and he said it before I did, that you'd be here pretty much instantly."
Spencer's cheeks redden at that, though he laughs at the truth of it. "We don't want to risk missing anything," he answers, pausing then reaching out with his free hand to take Erin's. "And we wanted to be here for you, too. You know you're not just our surrogate, right? You've been so good to us, and I-- I don't know what we'd have done if we never met you."
They certainly wouldn't be here right now. It's possible that they may not have even been able to find a surrogate who'd clicked with them as quickly as Erin did, and the thought makes his stomach turn a little because he can't imagine having to wait even longer for their baby to come into their lives. Of course, none of that matters because they are here. He's here, with his husband and a woman who's come to be an incredible friend to their little family that will soon be complete. He'd turned his phone to silent on his way out of the car because nothing could ever compare to this in importance. There's nothing else in Siren Cove that can't wait until they're finally able to call themselves new fathers.
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He wants to remember this day in the future without having to think back on all the nervous tics that have come with it so far--the foot tapping, the knee bouncing, the fidgeting--because the night had already been shaping up to be absolute perfection, and the news that the baby is on the way has only enhanced it all. So tomorrow or the next day or the next year, Spencer wants to think about this night and remember that he'd been happy, not anxious beyond reason. It's a good thing, then, that Joel tells him a call to Ellie can wait. It's a good thing that Joel takes his deep breaths, that he leads them to the maternity ward, that he asks after Erin's room while Spencer stands beside him, slack-jawed and dazed, to the amusement of the staff on duty.
One of the nurses calls out and waves to them as they pass, and Spencer remembers her from the Joel's brief stay after the demon had been banished--Nora, her name is Nora, and Spencer hopes that she'll have a part to play in the birth of the baby because she'd been nothing short of wonderful--and perhaps it should worry him that they seem to be something close to celebrities with how often they're here, but he has no time to dwell on that. When they burst into Erin's room, both of them breathless even though they'd tried not to rush, it's to a fairly anticlimactic sight. Erin is already in a hospital gown, but she's grinning widely with amusement sparkling in her eyes as she looks them both over.
"I've never been the more reasonable one," Spencer says, which he personally thinks is quite true. Joel has always been the one to keep him grounded, after all, and he's never spent much time thinking about how people outside of the two of them view their relationship but right here and now, he supposes, it doesn't matter. Erin is teasing, it's clear in the way she laughs at what he says, and she waves them closer with one hand as she gestures to a couple of bedside chairs with the other.
"Get over here, come on, everything's fine," she says, and Spencer can instantly feel himself start to relax at the tone of her voice. She always seems to have that effect on him and Joel both, there's something so melodic and soothing about the way she speaks to them that never fails to keep him calm in a situation he might otherwise have been panicking over. He can't say that about very many people, and he gives Joel a quick smile as he squeezes his husband's hand because this is it. There's never been a doubt in Spencer's mind that Erin had been the right surrogate for them, he'd known within the first few minutes of talking to her at the coffee shop, and she's never once given them cause to doubt her. She'd been a true gift to their lives, so generous with her advice on being a parent and what to expect from the day of the birth to the day they get to take the baby home and beyond.
"They didn't find anything wrong with the baby, right?"
It has to be asked. He's clutching at Joel's hand like a lifeline, and he's calmer than he'd been just thirty seconds ago, but it needs to be asked because that's who he is. He can believe, believe, believe, but it doesn't ever sink in until he knows it for a fact.
"The baby is perfect," Erin answers, and Spencer lets out an audible sigh of relief as he lets himself lean back in his chair, his head dropping down onto Joel's shoulder. "My husband should be back soon with some coffee for you two, by the way. It's funny, I got off the phone with you, and he said it before I did, that you'd be here pretty much instantly."
Spencer's cheeks redden at that, though he laughs at the truth of it. "We don't want to risk missing anything," he answers, pausing then reaching out with his free hand to take Erin's. "And we wanted to be here for you, too. You know you're not just our surrogate, right? You've been so good to us, and I-- I don't know what we'd have done if we never met you."
They certainly wouldn't be here right now. It's possible that they may not have even been able to find a surrogate who'd clicked with them as quickly as Erin did, and the thought makes his stomach turn a little because he can't imagine having to wait even longer for their baby to come into their lives. Of course, none of that matters because they are here. He's here, with his husband and a woman who's come to be an incredible friend to their little family that will soon be complete. He'd turned his phone to silent on his way out of the car because nothing could ever compare to this in importance. There's nothing else in Siren Cove that can't wait until they're finally able to call themselves new fathers.