(no subject)

[takecourage]

Mostly, what she does is stare. She holds Edie in her arms and she feeds her or she sleeps and she just...stares at her. Mostly, she's trying to figure out how something so utterly perfect can have come from her. Danny, she can believe it of, but her? What she do to deserve something like this. A few days after Edie is born, Alex lets Danny start texting people, letting them know that they can come and visit, if they want to. She installs herself in the sunroom with Edie wrapped in a blanket in her arms and she rocks, slowly, and she feels, for the first time in her life, like she's something entirely new.

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[more_magic]

It's only been a few days, but it still feels unbelievable to know that she's here, that the wild, hectic night of her birth had resulted in something so perfect. When Alex sleeps, it's Darlington who takes over merely watching Edie: sitting in a chair by her crib and following the slight rise and fall of her small chest as she breathes; holding her when she fusses, humming all the music he can remember or murmuring poetry as he walks her from one wing of the house to the other. Early this morning, he'd stood before one of Black Elm's wide bay windows as the sun broke over the horizon, Edie finally asleep again in his arms, and knew he'd never trade the moment for anything else--that this, too, had its own kind of magic.

After showering and shaving, he gets dressed again and comes downstairs, leaning against the open door of the sunroom and just watching Alex sit and rock, their daughter in her arms. "Hey," he says softly. "Thanks for letting me sleep in."

[takecourage]

"Thanks for letting me sleep a few hours straight in the middle of the night," says Alex, who'd only half stirred when Danny had stumbled out of bed to fix a bottle. She shifts the little weight in her arms, ghosting her free hand over the soft curve of Edie's head. "Feel better after a shower?"

[more_magic]

"Much," he says. His eyes follow the passage of Alex's hand, Edie only half-stirring at the gentle touch before subsiding again into quiet. "I've got coffee going," he says. "And I was going to start breakfast soon, or closer to brunch now, I guess, if you haven't eaten yet?"

Going to her side, he looks down at them both before bending to kiss the top of Alex's head, breathing in the soft scent of her shampoo. "Your wish, my command, Stern."

[takecourage]

"Sucker," she says, softly, smiling. She knows that Danny has done his research, knows that she's allowed some caffiene in her diet, even if she's breastfeeding. And coffee does sound really good right now. "Coffee would be amazing. And...hm. Bacon? And toast."

[greatamazingfeelingsboy]

Caleb doesn't feel as nervous as he thinks he should. He's known this baby for weeks, already. Knows the shape and strength of her feelings, even if they'd caught him off guard more than once. He'd been checking in periodically — texting Daniel when Alex doesn't answer — on when it's okay to visit. As it'd gotten closer to the actual due date, he'd stayed away. Everyone's feelings were way too high, and he hadn't wanted to be around that and react badly. So he'd stayed away, and when he'd gotten the announcement texts, he'd made himself stay away another couple of days, so that he wouldn't overwhelm them (or himself).

And now he's gotten a text saying he can come visit, if he'd like. He waffles, at first. He's got some reading for school, but he can fit time in for that before bed, right? So he drives to Black Elm, and sends them both a text letting them know he's there before heading up to the door.

Despite the amount of times he's been there, helping Daniel with the early repairs and stuff, it still feels weirdly imposing.

[takecourage]

She hears the door and it takes a moment for her to get them out of the chair, Edie settled in her arms. She pads through the house and shifts the baby's tiny weight as she opens it. She smiles.

"Hey, Uncle Caleb," she says. "Sorry I look like shit."

[more_magic]

"I spent nine months seeing what Alex Stern is like undercaffeinated," he says, grinning. "Not an experience I want to revisit." His hand rubs a gentle circle between her shoulderblades, just for a moment, before he takes it away again. "Bacon and toast, too. Coming right up."

He starts towards the kitchen again, out of the sunroom, but looks back at them after a minute. "I'll bring it in once it's ready."

[greatamazingfeelingsboy]

"Oh my god, you look great," he assures, then lowers his voice because the baby is there, small and delicate and soft-looking. He bites his lip and shifts from foot to foot. "Fuck, she's so tiny," he whispers. She's not sleeping, he can feel that, but she's calm and quiet, and he doesn't want to change that by talking.

[takecourage]

"You're the best," she says, and means it, utterly. She sinks easily back into that quiet little bubble that's just her and Edie. She's been shocked, utterly, by how easy it's been to find that quiet. She hums quietly under her breath, something that Estrella used to sing to her. Edie fusses and Alex smiles.

"What, baby?" she says, softly. "What is it?"

[takecourage]

"Oh, my God, I do not, but you're very fucking cute," says Alex, grinning as she steps aside to let him into the house. "You can talk in a normal voice. She'll sleep through it. It's actually supposed to be good for them; reminds them of the womb or something."

[greatamazingfeelingsboy]

"She's not sleeping," he says, even though her eyes are closed and she's so, so quiet and still. It feels like a bed he could lay on and just float away with. "I think she's just, like... enjoying being held and snuggled." He looks at Edie for a second longer, then at Alex, with puppy eyes and a huge smile. "Oh my god, Alex, you have a baby."

[more_magic]

In the kitchen, Darlington sets a pan on the stove to heat and takes the bacon from the fridge, checking on the slow percolating drip of the coffeepot as he puts slices of bread in the toaster and pushes the lever down. As he cooks, he can half-hear Alex in the other room, the murmur of her voice as she talks and hums--and, every so often, Edie piping up in what he knows intellectually isn't response but feels like it nevertheless. A few times, he catches himself pausing to listen for it, those small sounds of contentment coming from either or both of the girls he loves.

Once everything is plated and poured, he sets it all on a tray and carries it back to the sunroom, just in time to hear Alex's quiet, half-amused question. He smiles. "She's more of a fan of that than the Purcell I tried last night. Or this morning, technically."

[takecourage]

"It hadn't even occurred to me that you'd be able to feel that," she says, and then she smiles at him. "I know, right? It's fucking weird." She turns away from him, padding back into the great room and lowering herself and Edie down onto the sofa in front of the fire. "C'mon. Get comfy and meet her properly."

[takecourage]

"I think she's fussing because you're not around," says Alex, smiling. "She's so used to hearing your voice." She shifts in the chair. "Want to take her while I'm eating?"

[something_incredible]

All this makes Hopper kind of nervous. He doesn't want to admit it, definitely not to Alex, not even to himself, but when he gets his shit together to go visit after putting it off for a bit, as he gets the little stuffed elephant wrapped up in tissue paper and then settled in the gift bag Beverly had instructed him to by, his stomach flips over.

Because Alex might ask if he wants to hold the baby and the last time he touched anyone that young, it'd been Sara. Since her death, Hopper has avoided kids that age. Little ones. Babies. They're all so similar, they all smell the same, and he's afraid of what it might bring up.

But he goes anyway. He lingers in the door, then clears his throat and says, "Hey."

[greatamazingfeelingsboy]

He follows her in and settles beside her. "Are you sore, or anything?" he asks. He isn't really able to feel other people's pain, not in a clear sense, so if Alex is feeling anything, he's not aware of it. But he can't imagine pushing out a human the size of a football is very comfortable.

[takecourage]

She'd almost been dozing and, when he speaks, she lifts her head, a sudden smile on her face. Edie stirs in her arms, kicking against her blanket for a moment and Alex tucks it in a little tighter around her.

"Hey, Hop," she says. "Danny let you in, huh?"

[takecourage]

"Wow, personal much?" says Alex, and then she grins. Her and Caleb have always had this kind of relationship - no point trying to hide something from him, when he can feel almost everything that she's feeling. "It's not the most comfortable that I've ever been, but I'm taking something for it, and it's getting better every day. Birth could have been a lot worse."

[something_incredible]

"Yeah," he says. "I got the text that I was clear to come visit."

From his place in the doorway, he holds up the gift bag. "Brought her somethin'. Beverly wrapped it, though, I'm crap at stuff like that. She was giving me shit for not actually wrapping the gift properly inside the bag."

Mostly she had just been laughing at him, but he likes that. Being laughed at by a kid who used to not laugh all that much feels pretty nice.

[greatamazingfeelingsboy]

"I bet," he says. "Daniel's taking care of you, right?" he adds, feeling protective — and he knows that's all him, not Alex or the baby, who is starting to separate from him as she drifts into a gentle doze.

[more_magic]

"That could be it," he says, softly, something about the comment striking him more deeply than he'd expected. When Alex shifts, he's already stepping forward, and he nods. "Of course."

Bending, he lifts Edie from Alex's arms, cradling her in his own. She stirs, a little, dark eyes blinking up at him once, twice, before closing again. "You're okay," he says. "I've got you."

[takecourage]

"You're clear to visit," she says, shifting in the chair. She smiles at the gift. "You didn't have to bring her anything. She's got more stuff than someone this small needs already." In her arms, Edie makes a soft, snuffling sound and Alex shifts her weight. "You want to come meet her?"

[takecourage]

"Of course he is," she says, because she honestly can't imagine having a better partner in this than Daniel Tabor Arlington. "Do you want to hold her?"

[takecourage]

"She knows that," says Alex, almost absently as she reaches for her coffee first, cradling it in her hands. "God, I actually slept for an hour straight last night and I'm still exhausted. This is going to be the rest of my life, isn't it?"

[greatamazingfeelingsboy]

He holds his hands up, palms facing her in a sort of warding gesture. "What if I hurt her?" he asks, eyes going huge. "She's so fucking little." Caleb probably can't hurt her just by holding her the way Alex is — it's not like he's Hulk levels of strong, or anything — but that fear is still there, like she's so fragile and delicate he might shatter her just by cradling her in his arms.