Hey everyone. This will be part 4 of my RedBeliever series and I have no idea if I'll write more. Only time will tell. It also follows "RedBeliever: Wedding Night", which I posted earlier and is a lemon one you can find in the M rated section. This latest installment is set one year after and will feature the birth of Henry and Ruby's first child, Henry now 18 and Ruby 23. I didn't feel like figuring out how to write the birth scene for them and instead decided to copy and paste it and most of the one shot from another fic I wrote while changing the names of the parties involved and the baby from a boy to a girl. The last few paragraphs, starting with the naming of the baby, is original for this one shot. And here we go.
Disclaimer: I don't own "Once Upon Time" or its characters. They're the property of its creators and ABC.
Henry was holding Ruby's hand as she lay on the hospital bed while delivering their first child. Sweat was dripping on Ruby's forehead and she continued to let out groans of pain as she struggled to push out her baby. Henry just continued to hold her hand while whispering soothing words to her and encouraging her to breath.
"C'mon Ruby, you can do this. Just keep pushing and everything will be okay. I love you, really and truly love you, you're so beautiful, and I wouldn't have you any other way. You can get through this. I've got you babe. Just keep breathing, focus on my voice, and everything will be alright."
"This is so hard", Ruby moaned in agony, "I don't know if I can continue this".
It's alright my love, I'm here and always will be here. I'll never leave you or our child. All you have to do is keep going and keep breathing and everything will be alright."
Suddenly, there was another contraction which caused Ruby to cry out in pain, followed by the sound of a baby crying.
"Don't worry Mrs. Mills, your baby is on her way", responded Dr. Whale as he waited for the baby to come forth.
"Did you say 'her'?" Ruby managed to gasp out. When she first became pregnant, she and Henry had been filled with great happiness, seeing their child as the greatest blessing of their lives. And on that day, they made an agreement to not find out about the gender beforehand but instead to take one day at a time and let it be a surprise.
That's correct Mrs. Mills, you're about to give birth to a beautiful baby girl," Dr. Whale responded while continuing to wait for the baby to come forth.
Finally, after one more contraction followed by an agonizing scream from Ruby, the baby began to come out of the womb as Dr. Whale continued to gently urge Ruby to keep pushing while Henry continued to hold her hand and reassure her of his presence. A few seconds later, the baby came out of the womb and into the clean cloth the doctor was holding. After catching and then wrapping her up in the cloth, Dr. Whale stood up from his position, carried her to Ruby, and then placed her into Ruby's waiting arms.
"Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Mills. You are now the parents of a beautiful daughter. "
"He's right", Ruby responded as she gazed on her and Henry's son with love and adoration, "she is beautiful".
"Indeed she is, and so are you", replied Henry, who then leaned down to kiss his wife's glistening forehead, also overcome with happiness and love for her and their daughter . He knew that he was truly a blessed man.
After watching the lovely new family for a little while with a smile on his face, Dr. Whale let Henry and Ruby know that he would give them some time with their baby, and if they wanted, he would also call in their loved ones who were currently in the waiting room. Henry and Ruby agreed, and then the doctor left the room. After he left, Ruby turned to her husband and asked him, "Would you like to hold her?"
"I would like that very much", he responded and, after leaning down, extracted their daughter from Ruby's arms and held her in his own, rocking her back and forth. As he held his daughter and lost himself in her eyes, Henry decided that at that moment there was no place he'd rather be. A few moments later, there was a knock at the door.
"You can all come in now", Henry called out. Afterwards, the door opened and his grandparents Charming and Snow, his aunt Zelena, his best friend Violet, his other grandfather Rumple and Rumple's wife Belle, Ruby's best friend Dorothy, their close friends Aurora and Mulan, and her grandmother, who everyone affectionately referred to as Granny, entered the room. After entering, they all moved to surround Ruby and Henry in order to gaze upon the newest addition to the family.
"Oh, she's so cute", Dorothy gushed upon seeing her surrogate niece.
"Dorothy's right", Mulan added, "she is definitely a cutie".
"Congratulations grandson, we're all happy for you", Rumple also responded. "I must say from experience that fatherhood will be an interesting experience for you and much harder but have confidence that you and your lovely wife will do just fine."
It's an experience I have every intention of looking forward to and enjoying every moment of", replied Henry as he continued to hold his daughter. Granny then moved so that she was standing next to Henry and held her arms out.
"May I have a moment with my great granddaughter please?", she begged him.
"Of course you can Granny", answered Henry who then placed his daughter in the arms of his grandmother in law. As she held her, Granny took in her features and could easily see how much the child resembled her granddaughter and grandson in law. After a while, she relinquished her great granddaughter and allowed the other individuals in the room a chance to hold her, each of them whispering sweet words to her and commenting on how beautiful she looked and how much she resembled her parents. Charming and Snow were the last ones to hold her, and after having their moment with their own great granddaughter, placed her back into Ruby's arms.
"Thank you for sharing this moment with me and your grandmother. I'm so proud of you both."
"Thanks Mr. Charming, that really means a lot", responded Ruby to her grandfather in law's kind and loving words as she held her daughter close to her chest while her husband also returned the sentiment.
"Have you decided what you want to name her", Aurora asked the young couple, sharing everyone else curiosity in regards to that.
Henry and Ruby smiled at that, having already picked a name, one that was Henry's idea and which his wife supported wholeheartedly.
"We've decided to name her Regina, after my mother", Henry answered her with a fond smile. "That way, my mother's memory can continue to live on through our daughter. He then started to get emotional due to missing his mother, both of them, so much until Ruby reached over and grabbed her husband's hand, holding it tightly and giving him comfort. Charming and Snow also began to get emotional as well along with everyone else in the room, taking a moment to remember the two strong women who were such a strong pillar for their town and made Henry into the young man he was today.
After composing themselves and drying their tears, the family moved closer to Henry, Ruby, and baby Gina and cuddled together with them while the new parents accepted the closeness of their family and friends, happy with their life, grateful for the addition of their daughter and looking forward to both the joys and woes of parenthood, and knowing that their loved ones would always have their back and also taking comfort in the belief that Regina and Emma were looking down on them all from above with love and pride and would always be watching over them and loving them forever.
The End
A/N And that's it folks and I hope you enjoyed it. On a side note, while I don't know if I'll add more one shots to this series, if any of you would like to create spin offs of it for Henry and Ruby, set in the past, present, or future, you have my permission and encouragement to do so. All I ask is for you to give proper credit to myself and this series when writing your fics.
By the way, today's my birthday so yay me. Whoo whoo.
Have a great day ya'll.
