Author's Note: This story and the following chapters are based on the assumption that the Shinigami Eyes see a person's legal name and that Shinigami Eyes – like Death Notes – can be dropped into the human realm. Since there are unknown specifics of Beyond Birthday I had to take it upon myself to create my own (such as his birthday, his ethnicity, etc.) for this story. I apologize if anything dealing with certain characters is twisted by my writing; if you see anything wrong with events (that have factual proof that they occurred differently) I ask you to please bring it to my attention.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything affiliated with the Death Note manga series or the book, Death Note Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Case.
Preface
The full moon threw all that was under its command into a pale blue hue of moonlight. The stars, really suns and galaxies far away, dotted the dark cloak of the nighttime sky. Wisps of gathered evaporated water were scarce and a soft breeze blew, ever so slightly cooling the temperature. Such a calm and peaceful early morning; everything was in place for the sun's take over at first light on All Hallows' Eve.
She couldn't sleep. She had been rocking in the rocking chair of the library/nursery for quite some time, hoping that the rhythmic motion could assist her with falling into a slumber. In her enlarged belly she carried their child for 253 days, today being the 253rd. She was excited but nervous about becoming the mother of another human being for the first time. What if she had done something wrong during the pregnancy? What if she makes an unsuitable judgment in later years and destroys the child's future?
"Audrey?" A calming voice comes from the hall, disturbing her out of control thoughts much to her relief. "I'm in here," Audrey calls, hoping the owner of the voice could hear her low utterance through the closed door. The brass handle turns slowly and the door opens to reveal a man whose height measures five feet and eleven inches. His facial features are somewhat sharp but still handsome. In the dim moonlight pouring from the window at her back she can barely make out those familiar gray eyes and the messy black hair that partially obscures them from sight. He is clad only in his black pajama bottoms, the skin of his slim but muscular build exposed; his skin, usually the color of desert sand now glows a paler shade.
"Couldn't sleep either I see," he comments as he begins walking fully into the rather large room. As he does so Audrey stands and meets him half way. "Not a wink. Ian, I'm so nervous about becoming the mother of this child," she confesses to her husband. "You shouldn't be. You're going to make a wonderful mother," he whispers, gently brushing his lips upon her cheek and tucking away a flyaway strand of short brown hair behind her ear. "I can only hope you're right," she whispers back, resting her head on his bare chest. Ian pulls away and holds her face between his palms. Her bright sapphire eyes expose her childish fear of becoming a terrible mother. He smiles at her, ducks down to tuck her head under his chin, and wraps his arms around her. "You worry too much," are his soothing words to her.
They stand together like this for a moment in absolute silence until Ian decides to break it. "So what are we gonna name our kid?" He murmurs his question into her hair. She looks up and smiles. "We'll figure it out when the time comes." "But we won't have anything planned," Ian grumbles; he was always a man who relied on a plan for just about everything. Audrey constantly found it amusing when he would get all worked up when life took an unexpected turn. "That's the point." She winks at him, but when she moves to kiss him she suddenly collapses. Had his arms not been around her at the time she would have fallen and possibly harmed both the child and herself. Audrey allows a small whine to escape her lips. "What's wrong? Audrey! Oh, God. What do I do?" Ian shouts. She struggles a smile and says, "For starters you could help me to the car and drive me to the hospital." "Oh. My. God. You mean...?" Another grunt manages to escape the threshold of her mouth as she nods. Without missing a beat Ian lifts his pregnant wife up in his arms and carries her outside to the car. He runs back inside to get the bag filled with clothes and a bit of money for their duration at the hospital and the car keys, but only after making sure Audrey was stable enough while supporting herself on the hood of the car. Within moments he is by Audrey's side once more, helping her ease herself into the passenger seat. Then he takes the driver's side and throws the bag in the back.
The drive is long; perhaps one of the longest drives of Ian's life. And having his wife whimpering and gasping in pain in the passenger seat doesn't help much either. What he wants most to do is pull off to the side of the road to catch his breath and take it all in, but can't do that. What does 'it' mean anyway? Does it mean his fatherhood is fast approaching? Does it have to do with his wife being in pain because she's going into labor?
The city lights blur past and the once calm night has become a whirlwind of activity for the young couple. Within mere hours one will be a proud new father and the other an amazed mother. "How are you doing, honey? Are you okay?" Ian asks to give himself something to do. Audrey groans loudly. "I'm going into labor! Do I seem alright to you?" "Breathe, babe, breathe. It's gonna be alright. It'll all be over soon," Ian says. It can't be easy for her, she has a right to become irate with anyone she pleases.
They get to the hospital. He parks the car and runs to Audrey's side, small pebbles and other sharp objects stabbing at his feet. At this point she seems as if she won't be able to walk on her own or with assistance, so Ian once again lifts her into his arms and carries her to the entrance of the building as fast as he can. Once inside the professional looking emergency room, Ian runs directly to the nurses' station and says, "My wife's pregnant and she's having the baby right now. She needs to be attended to now!" The nurse acts coolly as she states the oh so cliché line, "The doctor will be with you shortly." "No, damn it! You will take her to the maternity ward this instant! I swear if she has this baby in this lobby I'll – " Ian is cut off by the nurse saying, "Sir! Calm down." "I will not calm down until she is taken to the maternity ward," he states, lowering his voice a bit. "Very well." The nurse gets on the phone and begins talking into the receiver. While she does this Ian turns to his wife and asks "How are you holding up, sweetheart?" Between gasps she says in a voice just above a whisper and a slight smirk on her face, "I'm. Gonna. Kill. Someone. If. I. Don't. Get. Help. Right. Now!" "May, cover for me while I'm gone," the first nurse tells the other nurse whose name is apparently May. The first nurse comes out from behind the counter, leaving May to attend to the other patients who were witnesses to the ordeal. The nurse has a wheelchair and she holds it steady as Ian eases Audrey into it.
Once Audrey is safely in the wheelchair the trio walks at a brisk pace towards the elevators. The elevator is silent excluding Audrey's labored breathing and the muffled tapping of Ian's foot. In their haste he had forgotten the put shoes and a shirt on. Did he even pack shoes for the hospital stay? No, probably not. All this was happening so fast, but Ian still didn't know how to describe what 'this' was. The elevator doors retreated and the trio was off once more, walking at an insane pace. The nurse stops and leaves them with a male nurse. Before she reenters the elevator she calls, "That's the lady, Aaron." The man asks, "How close are you contractions? Did your water break?" while wheeling Audrey in the direction of a vacant room with Ian close behind. "I don't know! Just get me into a damn room so I can have this kid!" she screams. "Yes, ma'am," the nurse replies patiently. As if on cue they reach a room and suddenly there are several nurses helping Audrey change into a hospital gown and onto the bed lined with crisp white sheets. She clutches her husband's hand and says, "You better start thinking of a name. Maybe it'll help me get through this." She smiles weakly before allowing herself to hit the pillow on the elevated portion of the bed.
Ian stares at her dumbly, unable to even think straight. A name? That had been the last thing on his mind while all this craziness had been going on. The doctor walks into the room and begins asking a long series of questions. She asks, "How far is she dilated? Has her water broken?" That was all Ian heard before his brain started processing information properly again. "It's a boy, right?" She nods in response, a thin layer of sweat forming on her face. "How about Danniel? Or maybe after your father: Lloyd?" She laughs shakily through the pain. "Honestly, we don't want the kid to hate us." "Alright, hon, I need you to push," the doctor says. "I am pushing!" Audrey cries, clearly stressed.
Thirty minutes pass and Ian is still naming random names off the top of his head, long pauses between each one. "Richard... Michael... John..." Another hour passes and Ian is now whispering words of comfort to his wife. "You're doing great. Keep it up, honey." She wants desperately to slap him, but being in labor is taking away all her energy and strength – not to mention focus. "I think this is the last push. Push as hard as you can," the doctor says calmly, her nurses standing by, ready to help once the baby has been delivered. "A name! Keep naming names!" Audrey cries out as the peak of her pain comes when she pushes as hard as she can. "Uh... Seth? Wait. What about Lonnie?" Just then the cry of a newborn breaks through the midst of chaos at exactly 4:03 on the morning of October 31st, 1979. "It's over," Audrey murmurs, exhausted. "You did great, hon." Ian kisses her cheek. She raises her hand and lightly taps his in return. It was really meant to be a slap, but the truth was she just didn't have the energy to put enough force to do so. The doctor and the nurses go about their duties of briefly checking the child to make sure that for the time being it's okay and once finished the doctor asks Audrey, "Would you like to hold him?" "Yes, please," she whispers. The doctor hands over the newborn wrapped loosely in a white blanket to the mother.
"Aww! He's the most beautiful baby boy," she mutters, holding him to her chest. So this little guy was behind all this pandemonium. He was lovely. Despite himself Ian finds his eyes welling up with tears of pure joy; he turns to his wife and sees the same expression upon her face. "He sure is," he says, putting his hand on her shoulder. "What'll we name him?" she asks, looking up expectantly at the father. "No clue." "What was that last name you mentioned? I can't remember what it was, but I know I liked it." "You mean, Lonnie?" "Yes. That's it. His name shall be Lonnie Lawliet," she says, kissing the baby on the forehead before giving him back to the doctors so they could clean him up and do their other necessary duties.
His name shall be Lonnie Lawliet...
Author's Note: I just need to say a few things. I apologize if this is not what you were expecting, but I figured that it would be kind of cool to do a background story on L's life – give reasoning to his actions and personality. Hopefully you will stick around for later chapters. Please review. Thank you so much for reading!
