"we'll come see you in a few months,when she isnt so tiny and liable to lost on the airplane. or you know,you could come see us. " erich says,laughing into the phone. with the arrival of marlena,erich's phone has seen much use. its rare he even picks it up,as he is afraid of robot overlords or the cia listening in to his phone calls. "ok,randy. love you too,man. later." erich says jovially as he hangs up on his adoptive father. he comes in from the balcony,paranoid the cellphones rays would penetrate marlena's freshly born head. he may be a father and mostly clean,but he is still erich hess. he whistles as he makes his way to ada.

erich grins when he sees ada. not that he wasnt always infatuated with the woman, but the arrival of marlena made her seem extra special. this was it,they were officially a trio now. erich was slightly nervous as baby arrival really turned their friends lives for the worse. nichole's marriage fell apart,and erica....the less said,the better. he was confident he and ada werent going that route. he leans against the wall beside ada and marlena,giving marlena a light kiss on the head,and ada a kiss on the cheek. "yes. and he says he is the worst adoptive father in the world,but he is filming in arizona and is tied down...probably literally,knowing him." erich laughs and hugs ada. "so,does she look like how you had her pictured? i really had her pictured looking less winston churchill."


ooc:that moment is the scariest feeling ever. the first hour home from the hospital.

Erich holds his finger to markena's hand,which promptly wraps itself around the finger. " she's our angelic little Churchill." He says proudly. Not that a baby looking like Winston Churchill is exceptionally special,most babies do. But marlena was the product of Ada and erich,and that was special. "You ready to go roller skating now? I'll hold marlena while you do." Erich chuckles. He imagines Ada must be pretty sore....there.

Erich gives Ada a little nod. If anyone could go rollerblading after birth,it was Ada. He himself was petrified of the things. He tried it once in fifth grade,and spent two weeks with a bruised ass. He grins as marlena squeezes his finger in her sleep. She was perfect. Instant love. Ada was like this once,as was he. How could any parent treat their children badly? "Relax then,potato. You earned it. You want me to rub those tootsies? It could be good for milk production. Chubby babies are happy babies." Erich says with certainty.

"Ah,my favorite thing to do!" Erich says quietly as to not wake the sleeping baby. He eases down on to the seat,as if there could be a landmine under it,who's sole purpose was waking babies.when safely beside Ada,he puts his arm around her and kisses her hair. "Oh I bet I will embarrass her far more.i have no plans of hanging up my loin cloth and bomber giggles just yet." He laughs merrily. " but she's going to be a daddy's girl,so I'll probably get a free pass in her diary."

Erich puts on his shocked face. "But Ada,all babies look like Winston Churchill! Let me put a monocle and too hat on her and tell me she doesn't....wait,that's w c fields... No baby should look like him!" Erich laughs and plays with the foot of marlena. "She's a rebel. She will be bubbly cheerleader/young republican we will strongly disapprove of."

erich has similar hopes and dreams for his little marlena. but it was a distinct possibility. his own father wanted a star quarter back who worshiped at the altar of reagan. " i think we should be safe. between the two of us,we know plenty of women and gay folks. why grandpa randy and...whatever dustyn is to her are shining examples. the less said of aunt erica and aunt nichole. the better." erich laughs,joking of course. he strokes adas hair soothingly. " we wont have a little republican on our hands. i filled out the warranty card on her. we could just get a replacement marlena."

"um..because they are fucking nuts? they were dysfunctional and drama filled when they had separate lives. now that they both are free? marlena needs to work her way up to that level of crazy. we'll start with mariko. shes pretty calm as of late.." erich smirks.he loved erica and was pretty fond of nichole.but he really wanted marlena to stay as untainted by their lives as possible.

erich nods. at most any other time in his life,the words "settled down" would have been an insult. an insult met with the human equivalent of throwing dung. "yeah.it is bizarre. i really would never have pegged karoliena to be the one to settle down as she did." erich says amazed. he knew karoliena better than most people ever would,and monogamy and family life were not on her radar before. "i guess it just takes the right person.we are pretty damned settled." erich says,before pecking ada on the cheek.erich is slightly quizzical at the subtle movement of ada when he mentioned mariko,before remembering who mariko's other half was. wisely,he drops the idea of mariko. "i am sure nichole has grown up,but erica....i dont think she is really over the..you know." erich trails off. he was very fond of natalya,it was hard to deal with never seeing her again.

erich loved to see ada smile.her mouth always made it look like an impressive gesture,even small ones. the subject of natalya was best only skirted.she was a sweet woman and he could not agree with what erica had done to her. he swallowed hard as the thought she was no more..it was hard to take. "really? " erich asks ada rather concerned. it was unsurprising though,sam really was a great counter to nichole. the idea that that couple also was no more was discouraging. in a way,erich looked at sam as what a responsible man should be. "thats.....not cool.i think erica will not follow the same path.she is...pretty screwy from everything.i think its you,me,and mariko on the short list of takara worthy sitters." he had spoken to erica a few times since everything went down,and even more so with the birth of marlena. they were very happy for each other,as it had been a long time coming for both of them. erich thinks about adas question. weighing everything they had been through together in his mind. from the public sex acts to sitting contentedly with their daughter. " no way. this has been a wild ride that i would jump right back in line for. i miss certain...aspects. the zero responsibility and all that. but what i have with you is better than that. a man needs a companion,someone to hack through the jungle of lifer with.how about you? would you change anything?"