"In theory, they are playing a board game in our house," Lena said in amusement. "I have no doubt they've started to randomly explore by now, though." She loved her boys, but they were very easily egged on by Jack and Jaz's girls.

"They're alone?" Rick said, brows arching upwards. "Then you're not staying," he said, making a pretty safe assumption.

"Everything's inside," Jack said, poking his head into the kitchen, almost as if on cue. "We're gonna go check on the kids. Congrats, you two. Get some rest and let us know when it's safe to visit."

"And there's our cue!" Jaz declared, taking hold of Lena before her cousin could give into the urge to settle in and insist on cuddling the newborn right this minute. She grinned at the new parents. "If you need us, we're right here. Have fun!" Lena yelped as she was dragged away at speed, leaving Nali giggling over her soup.

"Thank you!" Rick called, as the little group left, their voices heard fading as they retreated from the house. "Well, that was nice of them," he said, smiling over at Nali.

"I think we got lucky it wasn't my family," Nali said through her laughter. "You can bet they wouldn't have fed us, tucked us in, and left."

"I'm kind of surprised they're not here," Rick admitted. He adored Nali's family, but they were both a little too exhausted for all of them right now.

"Knowing Mom, she's made them all promise they won't let her pile them onto the carriage and come to visit until they have permission." She sighed happily, setting her spoon back into the now empty bowl. "Oh, I needed that."

"Better than hospital food, isn't it?" he asked, soaking up a bit of soup with his bread before taking a bite. He'd been grabbing quick meals in the hospital cafeteria the last few days, and nothing really substituted for a home-cooked meal, especially when Nali's mother was the one cooking it.

"So much better," she agreed, absently adjusting Ivy in her arms as the baby girl cooed and smacked her lips. "Oh, you want some too?" Dragging her finger along the curve of her bowl to sweep up a tiny amount of the residual soup, Nali offered it to the baby, who licked it up, made a face, and settled back to sleep.

Rick chuckled at the look on their little daughter's face. "I don't think she liked it," he said. That much was obvious. In truth, he would have been shocked if she had.

"She didn't cry," Nali pointed out cheerfully. "One little taste of soup won't do her any harm." She sighed contentedly. "Oh, it's so good to be home. Don't get me wrong, the nurses were great, but I can't exactly wander around in just a t-shirt in the hospital."

"There's no place like home," Rick replied. Rhy'Din hadn't always been home, but these days, there was no other place he'd rather be than here. "I'm sure she'll do her fair share of crying before long," he pointed out. Probably in the middle of the night when they were sleeping.

"I'm sure she will," Nali agreed, looking down at their - for now - contentedly sleeping little girl. "I can't quite believe it's real, you know?"

"I know the feeling," Rick said, following her gaze momentarily to the sleeping pink bundle in her arms. Not a day went by that he didn't thank the powers that be for this new life of his.

"I think it's your turn to cuddle," she said, easing Ivy gently over and into Rick's arms. "I need to check and see if they also made up bottles for us."

"Are you sure?" he said, as he cradled Ivy in his arms. "I can check. You should be resting," he told her, though he made no move to get up just yet. "I doubt those two forgot anything," he added, of Lena and Jasmine's help.

"I'm sure," Nali promised him, moving to stand and gather together their crockery. "Besides, I just spotted that brand new dishwasher and I want to play with it."

"Uh huh," Rick murmured, a smirk on his face, but he didn't bother to argue. He knew she was probably getting antsy after lying in a hospital bed for a few days.

Nali was never going to be someone who just rested when they could. She was a font of energy, even now, busily inspecting the little dishwasher now living on their kitchen counter before loading it. "I can hear you smirking, you know."

"Mmhm," he murmured further, neither confirming nor denying. "They adore you, you know," he said, regarding Lena and Jasmine again.

"I don't think it's just me," she countered gently, looking over at him. "I mean, you're family. I'm just the wife." Her smile gave away how little she actually believed that.

"You're family, too, Nali, and if it wasn't for you, I may have never met Jack," he pointed out, shifting a little to get comfortable in the chair as he gazed down at his daughter.

"If not for Lena, I never would have stalked you into the past," she reminded him in amusement, glancing into the fridge to check. They hadn't made any of the formula up, likely because they didn't know the ratios yet, but there was a space ready and waiting for the bottles, so she pulled out the packet and started to work on that.

"It's a good thing you did," he said, his attention fixed on the little bundle in his arms. He smiled as he offered her a finger and watched her curl her tiny fingers around his with a surprisingly strong grip. "She's beautiful, Nali," he murmured quietly, clearly in awe of their little miracle. It wasn't the first time he'd said so.

"How could she not be?" his wife said fondly. "Look how handsome her poppa is. Although I have to admit, I would adore her even if she was butt fugly."

"Right, because she doesn't look anything like you," he said, with obvious sarcasm. She could probably hear the smirk in his voice again. His gaze never left that of their daughter's, clearly entranced.

"Well, she'll look a little like me," Nali said, concentrating on measuring out formula and filling the bottles with sterilized water. "Hopefully she'll be taller than me, though."

He smiled, as she kissed his cheek and leaned against his side. "Yeah. Go ahead and get some rest, babe," he told her. "I want to just sit here and look at her for a while."

"I'll stay here," she murmured, nestling her cheek against his shoulder. "Not ready to be the only one in bed yet." No doubt she would get over that in next to no time, but right now, she wanted to be close to her little family.

"That's what I meant," he told her, as she nestled in beside him. He knew the quiet wouldn't last forever, but he also thought they should take advantage of it as long as they could.

"I don't want to miss anything," she admitted in a low tone, letting her eyes drift closed as she relaxed against his side comfortably.

"You won't. I promise," he told her. He imagined that feeling would fade as soon as the novelty wore off and they were exhausted from the endless tasks involved in caring for a newborn.

"Mmm." That was all he got before she drifted off to sleep against his shoulder, her hand falling from his arm and into his lap. Almost in the same moment, Ivy's eyes blinked open, pale blue looking up at her father in silent contemplation.

"Well, hello there, beautiful," Rick whispered, hoping not to disturb Nali - or Ivy, for that matter. He met his daughter's gaze, smiling softly at her pretty pout and the way her eyes seemed to search his. "Not hungry, are you? Your mama just fell asleep, but I can feed you, if you want."

Little fingers rippled their grip on his finger as her other hand opened and closed experimentally, her entire unfocused attention centered on Rick's face in innocent fascination.

He wondered if she recognized his voice; he had, after all, talked to her plenty of times when she was still in her mother's womb. Did she know he was her father" Did she have any idea how much they adored her" "Your mama and I love you very much. We've been waiting to meet you for months and months. We're gonna take such good care of you. At least, we're gonna try."

At three days old, it was unlikely Ivy understood anything he was saying to her. But the words didn't matter. His tone was soft and affectionate, and that was enough. The baby girl's mouth opened in an expression that might almost have been a smile, and she dragged his finger between her lips to suck on the tip.

He chuckled a little to himself as she tried to get his finger in her mouth. "I think you might like something else better," he whispered. With the baby in one arm, he reached over to tug an afghan over Nali. "I'm gonna go feed Ivy," he whispered, touching a kiss to her forehead before slowly and carefully sliding out from beside her.

There was a very soft sound of agreement from Nali as she snuggled deeper under the afghan, barely stirring from sleep despite being gently jostled. Ivy, denied her finger to suck, flailed her hands, trying to grab at Rick's fingers again if she could find them.

"Shh, it's okay. We don't want to wake your mama," he murmured to the baby as he made his way back to the kitchen and put a bottle on to warm. He offered her his finger in the meantime, but had a feeling that wouldn't satisfy her for very long.

It seemed to be enough for the baby girl for the time being, and it was certainly a strange sensation to have gums without teeth biting down on his finger almost thoughtfully. Maybe Nali would be a little put out to have missed this, but there would be plenty such moments for each of them over the weeks to come. Right now, Rick was sole parenting for the first time.

He didn't really know much about babies, except for what he'd learned in their parenting classes and what he'd seen firsthand at the Cove, but it seemed like mostly common sense and instinct to him. At least, he hoped so. And as much as he adored Nali, he couldn't deny he was enjoying this special moment of bonding with his daughter.

Ivy was certainly happy to be fed. Changing her diaper, however ....that was something she definitely objected to. Loudly. Loud enough, in fact, that she woke up her mother. Nali lifted her head, rubbing her eyes as she peered over at the struggle going on in the kitchen. "Everything okay, baby?"

"Yeah," Rick chuckled to himself. He had handled far more stressful situations than this. Hell, there had been times when he hadn't been sure he'd make it out of some things alive. A poopy diaper was not the end of the world. "She just doesn't like being undressed," he explained.

"Are you sure she's my kid?" was the sleepy answering call, utterly uncensored and fully self-aware. If she could, Nali would spend more time naked than dressed most days.

"Well, it's probably a little unsettling to have your bum stripped naked and wiped clean the first few times," Rick said, amusement apparent in his voice. "There, now, we're almost done," he side, the tone of his voice softening as he addressed his newborn daughter.

Still wailing, Ivy kicked, not shy about expressing her displeasure at having a cold backside. That newborn cry was always particularly piercing, but this was the first time they had been directly responsible for soothing it.

"I think we should probably get a baby wipes warmer," Rick said, chuckling again. Honestly, he wasn't going to get rattled by a kicking, screaming baby when he'd faced a lot worse in his day.

"She'll toughen up," Nali predicted, shuffling into the kitchen still wrapped in the afghan he had draped over her just a little while before. "A cold butt never hurt anyone."

"Yes, but it is probably a bit of a shock for a little person who is used to being all snug and cozy inside her mother's womb," he pointed out. He just about had the newborn diapered and recovered, and her cries of displeasure were starting to subside.

"I know, I'm just heartless when I'm woken up by loud noises." Her smile belied the inherent grumpiness of her comment, however, one hand slipping out of the folds of the afghan to boop Ivy's nose as the baby girl began to quiet.

"I think you may have to get used to that for a while," Rick said, an amused smirk on his face. After all, Ivy wasn't going to grow up overnight.

"I refuse," she countered cheerfully, wriggling her fingers to distract Ivy as Rick finally got the baby covered up once again. "I will never be at home to being woken up unexpectedly. I love sleeping too much."