LIKE A CHILD by Gwen
Days turned into weeks, although sometimes it felt like years to Lance. He was only 22, but he felt sometimes as though he were 42. Noah was beginning to get more and more rambunctious and sometimes it was all Lance could do not to scream at his son. Of course he punished Noah when he needed it, but he tried not to lose his temper with the little boy. That was the last thing Noah needed, was to think his father hated him after just losing his mother. He still was set and determined to take Noah on tour and watch him as much as he could. He had talked to some of the bodyguards and they had agreed to take turns watching Noah and during the after parties, well, Lance just wouldn't go. His son was more important to him than going to some stupid party and being pawed over by slutty fans. At least, that's how Lance saw things. It was two days before they left for the tour and Lance was playing in the backyard with Noah. Justin had bought the little boy a sandbox the week before and Noah had played in it day in and day out. It had reminded Lance of when he was little and his parents taking him to the beach and how he would spend hours playing in the sand. "Daddy, build big sandcastle," Noah told Lance. "Okay?" "Okay, we'll build a really big one," Lance smiled, giving his son a kiss on the top of his head. "And then after we build a sandcastle, we'll call Nana, okay?" "Otay!" Noah beamed. Just then, the phone rang and Lance quickly ran to the lawn chair where he had set the cordless phone. "Hello?" "Lance, Belle is in labor! Hurry and get to the hospital!" "I'm on my way, Joey!" Lance hung up the phone and ran back to Noah, scooping him up in his arms. "C'mon, big boy, Aunt Belle is having her baby!" "Baby!" Noah giggled, then he frowned, noticing that his father had taken him away from his beloved sandbox. "Daddy, no sand?" "Not right now. We have to get to the hospital, son," Lance replied, dashing around the house, trying to find his keys. "Ugh, where did I put them?" he muttered under his breath. "Sand, Daddy!" Noah whined. "Not now, Noah James," Lance sighed, relieved when he saw his keys on the coffee table. He grabbed for them and ran out of the house, quickly strapping Noah into his car seat. Lance threw his car in park when he reached the hospital and quickly undid Noah from the restraints of the car seat. Noah clung to his father as Lance ran inside and began to press all the elevator buttons that pointed up. "Lance!" Justin called, as he ran towards Lance and Noah at the elevators. "I'm glad I got to you before you got on the elevator." "Hi, Unky Juju!" Noah waved to Justin. "Hey, cutie. Looks like someone's been playing in the sand," Justin chuckled. Lance looked at his son and saw sand all over his face and clothes. In his mad dash to get to the hospital, he'd forgotten about cleaning Noah off. If Alli were there, she'd ring his neck. Alli always made it a point to clean Noah up before she went anywhere with him. "I just don't want people to think that I'm a messy Mom and don't clean my child," she had told Lance. "Oops. We were in a mad dash to get here," Lance sighed, and began to wipe off Noah's face. "Stop, Daddy!" Noah struggled to push Lance's hand away from his face. "Do you want sand all over you, Noah?" Lance asked him, as he took Noah's little hand in his. "No," Noah shook his head. "Okay, then let Daddy get it off of you," Lance sighed, and continued to wipe Noah's face off. Just then, the elevator came and Lance and Justin piled on. They reached the waiting room and found JC and Chris and Joey's mother was pacing the floor and Steve was chasing Nikolas around the room, trying to get him to settle down. "Do you want to go play with Nicky?" Lance asked Noah. "Yes!" Noah wiggled out of Lance's arms and ran over to Nikolas, who stopped running from his dad when he saw Noah. "How is she?" Lance asked Mr. Fatone. "She's fine. Phyllis went back there a few minutes ago and the epidural had just started to take effect. The doctor said that it would probably only take a matter of a few hours," Mr. Fatone replied. Lance nodded and sat down in a chair next to Chris. His mind began to wander back to when Alli had Noah. It had been in the same exact hospital and done by the same doctor that was delivering Joey and Belle's baby. ***FLASHBACK*** "Just one more push, Allison. You're almost there, hon," the doctor coached her. "I can't push, Lance! It hurts!" Alli grunted, squeezing her husband's hand. "I know, angel, but you can do it! Think of our precious baby and how in a few minutes we get to see what we created!" Lance kissed her cheek and continued to hold her hand. "C'mon, baby, one more push. Just one more and you'll be done." Alli closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She groaned and grunted and gave it all she had left. The next thing they heard was their baby's cries. "You have a little boy!" the doctor announced. "Did you hear that, honey? We got a boy!" Lance rejoiced, kissing Alli's lips and then her forehead. "Gosh, baby, I love you so much!" "I love you, too, Lancey," Alli sighed and finally relaxed when she saw the nurse bringing their new baby to her. She cradled Noah in her arms and kissed his forehead. "You're finally here, Noah James. And you are the most beautiful baby in the whole world, did you know that? Mommy and Daddy love you very much." She looked up at Lance. "Look at him, baby. He's so perfect!" "I know, angel," Lance began to get choked up, as he looked at his son. Alli handed the baby over to him and Lance looked down at the bundle of joy in his arms. Noah latched his little hand around his father's big finger and let out a little sigh as his eyes began to close. "You've made me happier than you ever could, baby girl," Lance told Alli. "I love you so much...." ***END OF FLASHBACK*** "Lance....Lance!" Chris hit Lance's arm. "Ow! What?!" Lance rubbed his arm and looked at Chris, annoyed. "Did you not just hear what Joey said? They had a little girl! Alyson Mari Fatone!" Chris told him. Lance looked over at Joey who held a pink bundle in his arms. The Fatones and Dirings were surrounding him, cooing and oohing and ahhing at the baby girl. Lance slowly got up and walked over to Joey, who made eye contact with him. "This is Alyson, Lance," Joey whispered. "Alyson, this is your Uncle Lance. You were named after his wife." Lance just looked down at the sleeping baby. It was all he could do not to cry out loud, right then and there. He bit on his lower lip and smiled at the baby and then at Joey, who saw the tears forming in Lance's eyes. Just as Lance let the first tear roll down his cheek, he felt something tugging at his pants leg. He looked down and saw Noah's big brown eyes staring up at him. "Daddy, can I see baby?" Noah asked. Lance picked up Noah and let him get a glimpse of Baby Alyson. "Pwetty, baby!" Noah giggled. "She's beautiful, Joe," Lance managed to whisper. "Well, she was named after a beautiful person," Joey smiled, as he too began to tear up. "I'm gonna go back and check on Belle. The doctor says you guys can visit in a few minutes." Joey went back into the labor room with Alyson and the families began to talk amongst themselves about the new baby and who she favored and looked like. Lance made his way back to his chair with Noah still in his arms. He didn't want to cry in front of his little boy, because Noah had seen enough of that in the last month. "Phyllis," Lance went over to Joey's mother, who was raving about her new granddaughter to one of Joey's aunts. "Oh, hi, Lance," Phyllis hugged him. "Are you okay?" "Yeah, but I think Noah and I are gonna go ahead and go. Some of this is just a little painful for me right now." "Of course we understand, hon. You go on home and I'll tell Joey to call you later today," Phyllis smiled. "Thanks," Lance sighed, "c'mon, Noah, let's go home...."
Story Tags: daddyl lance
