Eric and Nathalie had tucked Jack into bed. Despite Sarah's offer to take her home, Nathalie had not quite been ready to leave either Jack or Eric and as had always been their way, the two former lovers continued to gravitate towards each other.
Alone in the apartment, they sat on the couch looking through photo albums of Jack. Nathalie relished the opportunity to see what she had missed and to share it with Eric. Turning the page, she paused over a photo of a shirtless Eric reclined on the couch and a six month old Jack curled up against his chest sleeping. She traced her finger along the border of the photo.
"You both look so peaceful there," she remarked quietly.
"We were," he told her, smiling. "That used to be our baseball tradition, until he actually started being interested in the game."
She smiled lovingly at him. "You are an amazing father."
Tears gathered at her unsolicited compliment. Unable to help himself, he threaded his fingers through her hair. "Thank you for saying that."
Nathalie closed her eyes and reveled momentarily in the warmth that coursed through her at his touch. There had been few men in the years since she had left Chicago but even Keith had been unable to elicit the feelings in her that he could.
"Mom?"
Opening her eyes she found Jack, in his Spider-Man pajamas, standing in front of them. Eric dropped his fingers from her hair but left his arm draped across her shoulder.
"I thought you were asleep," she told him.
He shook his head. "I can't fall asleep. Can you...can you come lie down with me until I do?"
"Of course I can."
It was hard for her to describe the feelings that welled up inside her at his request. Picking him up in her arms, she carried him down the hall to his bedroom. Having tucked him underneath the covers, she lay down beside him and gathered him in her arms as she softly smoothed his hair off his face.
"Did you have a good birthday?" she asked, pressing a kiss to his forehead.
"Yeah" he nodded, fisting her shirt. "Best birthday ever," he added tiredly. "Mom?"
"Yes baby?"
"Can you tell me about the day I was born?"
Back in Tanzania, during the nights when sleep was impossibility she used to dream of a reunion with him, one where he would forgive her for the choice she made and in which she would tell him in no uncertain terms how much he was loved. Without fail, the night before his birthday she would always dream of his birth and remember those moments when she saw him for the very first time.
Inhaling sharply, she nodded. Stroking his hair she smiled lovingly at him. "You were born at night," she began. "It was a Thursday and it was eight days past the day we thought you were coming."
"I didn't want to come out?" he asked, his green eyes wide with anticipation.
"You didn't seem to be in a rush," she replied with a grin. "I think you found it pretty comfy in my belly. And since you didn't seem to be in a rush, your Aunt Sarah and I went out to dinner."
"What happened?"
She continued to run her fingers through his hair, almost in disbelief at how much it was like his father's. "We were at the restaurant and I got a pain in my tummy. The pain got stronger and stronger and so we decided it was you telling me that you wanted out."
"Did I hurt you?" he asked worriedly.
"No, my love. It was just your way of letting me know that it was time to go to the hospital. So Aunt Sarah got the car and drove us while I talked to you, asking you to just wait until we got there."
"So now I was in a rush?" Sleepy tones were shadowing his voice.
Chuckling softly, she nodded. "Yes, now you were in a rush."
"So what happened?"
"We got to the hospital and they took me to the special room for Mommies. And after two hours you came into the world. You had thick black hair and your face was all scrunched up. You let out a small cry and they put you on my chest and you squirmed and squiggled until I touched your back." Placing her hand on his back, she slowly rubbed it. "Like this."
"Then what did I do?" he asked, wide-eyed.
"Then you sighed and started to go back to sleep." She continued to rub his back and watched as his eyes fluttered closed. Within