My Southern Gentleman 3

Damian parked the car and went around to the backseat, where his daughter still slept peacefully in her car seat. Very carefully, so as not to awaken her, he took the carrier out of its base, and he and December walked to the front door.

"Welcome to your home, Violet," Damian said, unlocking the door and throwing it open grandly. "This is the living room," he began, starting a tour through the house. "This is the kitchen, this is the hallway, this is the bedroom..."

Maisy padded into the room and regarded the baby curiously. "And that is the cat," Damian concluded with a laugh.

December took the baby into the nursery, took her out of her carrier, and very gently laid her into her crib, then rejoined her husband in the living room.

"It's so nice to have everyone home now." Damian embraced December, and she returned the hug, burying her face in the warm, fuzzy softness of his sweater. She felt calmer and more at peace than she had in a long time.

Many visitors arrived that first day: Sally and Rick from next door, Gage, Gina, and Fawn, Alan and Jewel, and Dana and Bob Price with their children. "Can I hold the baby?" Fawn asked, a bit shyly.

"Of course!" December said generously. Carefully, she gathered her tiny daughter into her arms and handed her to the young woman. Fawn held Violet close, and the baby began to root.

"Oh, she is precious!" Fawn exclaimed. "She makes me want to have a baby of my own!"

December saw that Damian was grinning as he looked on and gave him a questioning glance. "It's nice to see Daniel's daughter holding our daughter, isn't it?" he asked.

"It really is," she murmured. Watching the young woman hold the infant, every ounce of resentment she'd ever felt for Fawn was suddenly replaced with pity. The young woman had never known a father, had never experienced what it was like to live in an intact family, and that was a loss that could never really be compensated for.

At last all the visitors left, and Damian and December were left alone with their daughter. "It has been a long day," Damian said. "I will prepare dinner. You get some rest."

"Thank you, sweetheart," said December.

Around nine o'clock that night, Violet began to stir. December nursed her, but she didn't go back to sleep. She was awake for most of the night, finally settling down in the wee hours of the morning.

December awakened the next day to see the sun streaming brightly through the window. Damian had already left for work, and December saw that he'd made the coffee himself and even washed the few dirty dishes and tidied up the kitchen.

What a wonderful man, December mused. Glancing at the clock, she was shocked to see that it was almost ten o'clock in the morning. The telephone rang while she was preparing breakfast, and she answered it to hear Damian's voice.

"Ah, so you are awake now," he said.

"Barely." She laughed. "Thanks for doing the dishes and cleaning up the kitchen. That was very sweet of you."

"It was just a small thing." Damian chuckled. "I knew the little one keep you up for most of the night. I do not mind at all. So, is she still sleeping now?"

"Yes." They chatted for a few minutes longer, and then December hung the telephone up and ate breakfast.

Violet was up for most of the night for the first few weeks after she came home. December got into the habit of sitting up late and watching movies so that she'd be there when her daughter wanted to nurse and sleeping very late in the mornings. Damian continued to make the coffee and clean up in the mornings without complaining. On weekends he tried to adjust to the same schedule as December but wasn't always successful at staying awake that late. Often December would awaken him when the baby finally settled down, and they'd go into the bedroom together.

On Thanksgiving, they went with Gage and Gina to Alan and Jewel's, as that had become their tradition every year. They had to take two separate cars this year, as there wasn't enough room for two people to ride in the back seat with the car seat there.

Violet was now about the size of an average newborn. December dressed her warmly in a one-piece long-sleeved red outfit with ruffles on the sleeves and a lacy red headband.

"Oh, aren't you adorable!" Jewel exclaimed when she saw her. "How has she been?" she asked her daughter.

"Quite well, except for some slight diaper rash," December told her mother.

"You're a little miracle," Jewel cooed to Violet. "We always thought the next baby in the family would be Gage's child."

"Life is full of surprises, isn't it?" Damian chuckled. He took the carrier into the living room, where Alan sat in a recliner watching football.

"Can I hold her?" he asked December.

"Of course!" his daughter replied. She unfastened Violet from the carrier and handed her to her grandfather.

"Ah! So did you come to see Grandpa?" Alan said to the baby. "You sure are a pretty little one!"

Dinner was ready soon. December held Violet and nursed her discreetly with a receiving blanket thrown over her shoulder while they all ate.

Afterwards, December helped her mother with the dishes while the others visited in the living room. Damian held his sleeping daughter as he chatted with Alan.

"It must have been quite an adjustment for you to get used to having a baby around the house again," Alan said to his son-in-law.

"It was," Damian agreed. "I did not want to do it at first, but December talked me into it, and now I cannot imagine my life without her."

They chatted for awhile longer, and then a sudden change came over Alan. His eyes went blank, and one side of his face seemed to droop as a trickle of saliva ran from one corner of his mouth.