Notes: Thanks to my reviewers. While few and far between, the reviews they sent were enough to make my day several times over. I'm glad you guys like Jaryn and Luc so much. Can you believe they were borne of a class essay? I slashed them immediately afterwards, of course.

Shawn McCall stopped his pacing to glance at his son; the boy was swinging his tiny legs from the yellow plastic chair he sat in, a coloring book and crayons in his lap. A messy crop of dark hair obscured his eyes, but Shawn could feel them staring at him in genuine concern.

"Nothing, Jaryn," he replied wearily, smiling. "Daddy's just anxious. Your new little sister is being born right now, remember?"

Jaryn nodded and went back to coloring. Shawn let out a quiet sigh of relief and finally settled into a chair, taking a sip of his stone-cold coffee. At four years old, Jaryn was a bundle of questions on legs, and had been asking one after another since they had arrived. He, for one, would be quite happy when this was all over and done with, and he could go home with his wife and child (about to be children, however) and just rest.

"What's her name?"

Shawn blinked and set down his coffee, almost happy at the excuse not to drink it.

"Who?"

Jaryn huffed in overly-dramatic exasperation.

"My new sister."

"Oh." James smiled again, softly. "Allison Elizabeth McCall, isn't that pretty?"

If Jaryn had been about to answer, Shawn didn't register it. His gaze was locked on the doctor that had just entered the waiting room, holding a clipboard and looking faintly nervous. He stood up, ruffled his son's hair in a way that seemed to comfort himself more than anything, and walked over to the doctor.

Jaryn looked on curiously.

He couldn't hear any of the conversation, but his father's face was contorting rapidly into a series of fierce expressions. He saw confusion, anger, horror, and…fear? The doctor frowned in an apologetic way, and brushed off Shawn when he tried to follow him back into the other room. His father swallowed heavily and walked back to him on shaky legs.

"Daddy?"

Shawn turned to him, tears liberally streaking his face, and smiled thinly.

"I…Allison's just been born, son."

Jaryn knew there was something not being said, but he could not tell what. Instead, he wondered suddenly where his mother was.

The flat-lining of a heart monitor filled the silence of the near-empty room.

Fin.