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"Blair I need to ask you something important." Jim said.
"Sure, you can ask me anything."
"Lisa wants to come home to die. She doesn't want to be alone. Could she come to our place?"
"Shit… Jim I don't know about that. How about if we put her in a really nice hotel and let Jalen stay with her a lot?"
"Okay, that'll be fine, Blair."
"Shit… I'm such an asshole. I'm sorry. Jalen's losing his mom and the only thing I can think about is how I don't want her around you. I'm sorry Jim. Yes, she can come to our home."
Pulling Blair into his arms he said, "Thanks, Chief. I'll go and tell the doctor."
For the rest of the day, Jalen and Jim spent time with Lisa, hoping that she could get a little stronger. But as the day went on, she got worse. At ten that night, Lisa died quietly in her sleep. Jalen and Jim were both with her. Blair was in the nursery with their little girl.
When he looked up, holding Dakota in his arms, he saw Jim walking towards the nursery. He could tell it wasn't good news he had to tell him. Blair stood up and set Dakota in her bassinet and left the nursery to meet Jim half-way. He pulled Jim into his arms and told him how sorry he was for their loss.
"Thanks, baby. I hated her most of the time, but towards the end, she turned into a nice person. She could have made our lives miserable with Dakota and all. But she wanted her to be with the men that loved her Jalen so. Thank you for helping me love and be loved."
"God, I do love you, big man."
They held each other for a short time until Blair's phone went off. He pulled away and answered, "Sandburg."
"Blair, it's Megan. Could you guys come to the hospital, I'm in labor and it's too soon?"
"We're already here, Megan. Hang on, okay?"
"What's up Chief?"
"Megan's here. Premature labor and the doctor is trying to stop it now. She wanted us to come up and calm Brian down."
Jim grabbed the phone from Blair and called Brown and Taggert and filled them in, so they could come up too. Then he called Simon and Cassie. They'd want to be there too.
"God, I hope this little one's going to be all right. Megan's been so excited. And we got the house done, the room is decorated and she's ready to be a mom. God, wouldn't be so cruel again, would he?" Blair asked with much sorrow in his voice.
"Don't give up already. She's tough. The baby's tough. He made it this far didn't she?"
"She? Jim is it a girl?"
"When I looked at the ultrasound, it looked like a little girl to me. And the heartbeat sounds a lot different then Cassie's baby. So I think that it's a girl. On that same note, I think that Simon and Cassie's baby is a boy."
Both men just smiled at each other and walked towards where Megan said she was. When they arrived outside the door to Megan's room, Jim rapped on the door quietly and Rafe opened it and went right into Jim's arms.
"It's going to be fine, Brian. Don't you worry about your baby or Megan."
"I'm trying to stay calm, but the damn contractions won't stop. They've got her on Breathine right now and it's making her shake like crazy. She's not wild about it. But she'll do anything for our baby."
Jim walked over to the bed and kissed Megan on the cheek. She smiled up at him and said, "Jim will you sit here and listen and let me know if you hear something wrong with the baby's heartbeat?"
"Megan, they have you hooked up to this machine, I'm sure that it's better than anything I can do." Jim said rubbing a hand over her belly.
Rafe and Blair watched from the doorway as Megan closed her eyes and the contractions seemed to stop as Jim rubbed her belly. Before long she was sleeping.
A while later the doctor came in and said, "Well the contractions have stopped for right now, but in case they don't, you don't have to worry so much. Little girls have stronger lungs that little boys, so she's going to be just fine."
"So it's all right if we have her this early?" Rafe asked.
"Yes, she'll be all right. Megan is far enough along for this little one to make it just fine."
Suddenly the contractions started again. The doctor looked at Jim and Blair and said, "I think we need to have them alone for awhile. I'll come out and tell you how they're doing."
"Jim, please don't leave." Megan said crying softly.
"Megan, I'll listen from the waiting room, okay? And if I hear anything wrong, I'll come running."
"Okay. Thank you."
Cassie, Simon, Brown and Taggert walked into the waiting room and joined Jim, Blair and Jalen to await the outcome of Baby Girl Rafe. After about six hours, the doctor came walking out with a huge smile on her face.
"Everything went well. The baby is doing fine and so is Megan. She'll be in the nursery soon. I just wanted to let you know."
"Thank you, Doctor." Jim said shaking the woman's hand.
"No problem. It's nice to see that this baby and Megan have such good friends."
They all walked down to the nursery waiting to see the newest addition to the Rafe family. While there, Joel said, "Jim, Dakota is a doll baby. She's precious."
"Thanks, Joel. We like her." Jim said pulling Blair into a hug.
Blair pulled Jim down for a quick kiss and said, "Go and hold your daughter Jim."
"Our daughter, Blair. Our daughter." Jim said hugging him hard.
"Okay, I like the sounds of that. Now go and hold our daughter."
As Jim sat in the nursery holding Dakota Rose, they finally brought in a baby and showed Jim. He smiled and looked up with tears in his eyes. // God, you have a baby and you go all soft on everyone and everything. //
Through the glass, they all looked at the new baby girl, Rafe. She was darling with her curly hair, huge eyes and loud scream. Jim was wincing in the background. Blair walked into the nursery and took over for a while to give Jim's ears a break.
"Jesus, she's got some scream on her." Jim said laughing.
"Takes after her Mom." Brown said laughing.
Rafe walked up behind them and said, "What do you think of her?"
"She's gorgeous." Jalen said.
"We think so. Jim, is that Dakota Rose?"
"Yeah, she's got the same birthday as your baby. What are you naming her anyhow?"
"We've decided on Jensen Grace. We'll call her Jenn."
"I love that." Blair said hugging Rafe.
"Thanks, we thought it sounded nice. Well I best get back to Megan and tell her that you're all here. She was wondering."
"Can I see her for a moment?" Jim asked.
"Sure, go ahead." Rafe said smiling. He knew what a softie Jim was and that he knew Megan better than anyone. He also knew that he wanted to be alone with Megan for just a moment. Rafe was happy to allow this, and know that Meg had that good a friend.
Jim walked into Megan's room, after he knocked. She was sleeping. He bent down and kissed her cheek. She opened her eyes and said, "You ole softie you."
"Yeah, but don't let it get around. I love her, Megan. She's beautiful."
"Thank you, Jim. I can't wait to see Dakota. Just think, our little girls will be growing up together. I'm so glad of that."
"Me too, Megan, me too. Well I better let Brian get back in here. I'll see you tonight. We get to take Dakota home tonight. We've got to go shopping and get things ready."
"Okay, well we get to go home in the morning. So Dakota will be the big sister of the two."
Smiling Jim walked out of the room, to find Blair and start their lives as Daddies. As he walked up he heard Blair say, "Jalen you're coming with us, right? We need some young person's advice on what looks best for her room. We can count on you, right?"
"You know you can count on me, Blair. She's going to be one lucky little girl."
"Thanks, Jalen. Lets find Jim and go shopping."
Jim was standing there beaming when they both turned around. "Or he'll find us." Blair said laughing.
They walked out of the hospital, knowing that their lives had changed, but changed for the better.
Life was good.
Tune in next week when we find out about Cassie and Simon's baby.
What's new with everyone and when will we ever meet the women in Brown and Taggert's' lives?
Can we rename this to Peyton Ranch?
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