Something poked Nikola in the arm. He was awake but gave no sign, keeping his breathing even and his eyes closed. He was starting to think he could go back to sleep when he was poked again, this time in the ribs. With an inward sigh he gave up and opened his eyes.
"Nikola, are you awake?" Helen asked.
"Yes" he said, both of them pretending she hadn't just awakened him from a sound sleep.
"Oh good. Could you get me some ice cream?"
"What flavor?" Nikola asked, dreading the response. He knew they had strawberry, butter pecan, chocolate swirl, and orange sherbet, but he was pretty sure she wasn't going to ask for any of those. She never seemed to want the same flavor twice in a row.
"Hmm, pistachio."
"You don't like pistachio."
"I have a craving. You know, pregnant lady."
Nikola forced a smile. The first trimester he'd actually felt sorry for her when she couldn't keep much of anything down. But now she was certainly making up for it. This week alone she'd woken him up three nights out of five- no make that four out of six now to fetch her food.
As he got out of the nice warm bed he said "You know I'll have to go out for it."
"I know, I'm sorry. But I won't be able to go back to sleep until I have some."
He got dressed and leaned over the bed for a kiss before he set off on his errand. Thank heaven for his gates; the trip to the surface would take hours there and back without them. Nikola gated to New York; it was always open and he knew his way around.
He bought three flavors besides pistachio and a number of toppings just in case. Although once he had the freezer completely stocked with ice cream she'd probably want pickles or pudding or popsicles instead. He lugged his purchases back to the Sanctuary, and prepared two trays, one with the pistachio ice cream and the second with vanilla and assorted toppings, just in case.
He left the vanilla in their sitting room and took in the pistachio. Helen was sitting up with a book in her lap, dozing. Well she wouldn't thank him for letting her sleep all night in that position so he gently woke her and presented her with the ice cream she had asked for.
Helen gave him a grateful smile, and took a spoonful. She made an unhappy face.
"I told you you didn't like pistachio" Nikola said gently.
Helen put down her spoon and said tearfully "I'm sorry Nikola I really thought I wanted it."
She had gotten more emotional as her pregnancy progressed and her vampire had just learned to overlook it. He went out and fetched the second tray and switched them out.
"Any of these flavors look better?"
Helen pounced on the marshmallow and chocolate sauces and drowned her bowl of vanilla in them. Nikola just shook his head at the display and removed the pistachio to the sitting room where it could melt undisturbed.
He undressed while she enjoyed her treat and by the time he was ready to crawl back into the now cold bed she had finished so he put that tray out in the sitting room too. One night he had just left one on the floor next to the bed and managed to step on it in the morning. Helen had laughed at him for forgetting it was there and he hated being laughed at, although her laughing was better than tears which seemed to sprout in private at the slightest provocation.
He wasn't tired anymore and it was nearly time for her to get up anyway, but he got back into bed so she could cuddle with him. These days she sometimes slept late and she liked having him next to her the whole night; it cut into his time in the lab, but he tried to indulge her.
Nikola lay there pretending to sleep while his brain worked on his latest invention, a way of seeing around a distant corner by selectively sorting reflected light. When it came to capturing Abnormals, being able to see them before they saw you would be a useful and possible life saving ability, but so far it wasn't going well.
In the morning Helen was her usual practical, professional self. She was just starting to show, so one of her usual dresses was still wearable without the belt and with an added jacket. She wasn't hiding the fact that she was pregnant but she didn't want it to be a distraction while she was working.
She went to see Nikola in his lab in mid-afternoon with a long roll of paper. Helen spread it out on an empty table, weighting down the corners with whatever was at hand. Nikola had stopped work and watched her curiously until she crooked a finger at him to come over.
It was some sort of architectural drawing. Helen pointed at it and asked "I've taken a stab at laying out how we could remodel our suites into an apartment with a nursery and a playroom. What do you think?"
Nikola barely glanced at it and shrugged. "As long as I have my own bathroom, closet, and a private room where I can think, I don't care."
"You want a den?"
"Sure. If we're going to have a bunch of children, Papa will need his own space."
Helen looked hesitantly at her drawing. "We're having one child, Nikola. But if you really need your own room then perhaps we should just move to a family apartment. Although you have your lab, your office, and the library, so I don't see why you need a den as well."
"I work in my lab and my office and the library isn't private. Just as long as I have what I need, you can arrange the rest any way you want, I really don't care."
"Well you should care; this is our home we're talking about."
Nikola kissed her temple and said "The walls of my den should be dark green with off-white trim; I'll need lots of book shelves and at least one big comfy chair with good lighting. The rest of our home can be however you want it to be."
"Then you won't object to pink for our daughter's room."
"It's going to be a boy."
Helen just smiled and shook her head. They'd had this conversation before. She put her hand on her baby bump and said "I'm quite sure she'll like pink."
"And I wish you'd stop referring to him as 'she' and 'her', you're going to cause the poor lad gender confusion."
Helen just shook her head again and rolled up her papers. "I'll think about it, but if you insist on a den then we'll probably have to move."
"Just tell me where I'm sleeping" Nikola said and went back to where he'd been working.
Exasperated, Helen took her plans and started to leave Nikola's lab, but then she stopped and turned back.
"Nikola, what do you see as your role as our baby's father?"
Alarms went off in Nikola's head. He had no idea what she wanted him to say, and whatever he said was likely going to be wrong, at least to her way of thinking. He could lie, but if the lie turned out to be wrong then he would be in trouble for nothing; so the truth.
He said slowly "As our son's father, I am responsible for his intellectual and moral development."
Helen raised her eyebrows at the word "moral" but she asked "And what do you see as my responsibility as her mother?"
"Uh, well, as the mother you nurture our child."
"Which means?"
"Why the quiz?"
"Answer the question, Nikola."
"Well, you see to feeding, clothing, bathing, and wiping up the wet bits."
"So I'm to take care of the child physically completely by myself while you sit in your chair and spout aphorisms?" Helen said dangerously.
Definitely the wrong answer. "No, it's perfectly fine if you want to get a nanny to handle some of it. I know you have work to do too."
"I do not understand you. When Angelina was born, you wanted to sit up with her and feed her and change her and take care of her, and now you're saying you won't take care of your own child?"
"Well . . . I . . . I wasn't really myself with Angelina, you know that. Of course I'll help when I have time, but I have important work to do you know that."
"Oh, so when you can spare a moment you'll pay some attention to your daughter, is that it?"
"Helen, my work is world changing, you know that. I should stop to change diapers, or nappies, or whatever you call them? That's an incredible waste of my genius."
"So you're saying if I want you to be a good father instead of a selfish ass, I should shoot you in the head again?"
"No . . . no . . . that's not what I meant at all."
"On the contrary, that's exactly what you meant. You're such a genius I'll let you figure out where you're sleeping tonight." Helen spun on her heel and stalked out of the lab.
Nikola said softly "In my own bed, which means I'll actually get a full night's sleep for a change." But he didn't feel happy about it. Maybe he should have said he'd do everything and just hired a nanny himself.
Helen found her eyes tearing as she walked down the hall and quickly wiped away the moisture. She was a professional and she had work to do, but she wished James was still alive; at least she would have someone wise to consult.
She should have known Nikola would be like this. She'd hesitated when he'd asked her to have children and delayed it a year to work through these issues and be sure Nikola was really ready to be a father. But fate had deemed that the waiting period she'd wanted was cut very short instead and she would have to make the best of it. If she ended up raising her daughter by herself, well, it wouldn't be the first time but she had believed Nikola to be better father material than John and the disillusionment hurt.
Will didn't have the length of experience she really wanted in an advisor, but he would be a sympathetic ear, especially if she was in the mood to blast Nikola; the two men still really didn't get along all that well although they were at least civil with each other. Helen changed course for his office.
Will was at his desk staring listlessly at a thick report. He tossed it down when she entered; the thing had been putting him to sleep. But the look on Magnus' face told him the upcoming discussion wasn't going to be very enjoyable either.
Helen closed the door behind her; another bad sign. Will sat up straighter and braced himself; now what?
His boss sat down and fiddled with the roll of paper in her hands. "Will, I've just had a rather upsetting discussion with Nikola."
He gave her a "what's new?" gesture that at least got a little smile in return.
"He thinks that as the father of our child his entire role is to develop our daughter's mind to agree with his own way of thinking, and everything else is my job."
"Well that's right out of the stone age."
"Yes it is." A thoughtful look came over her face. "Actually, more precisely it's out of the nineteenth century."
"Come on, he hasn't been living in a cave for the last 150 years."
"No and one would think his attitudes on child rearing would be as up to date as his scientific knowledge, but perhaps not."
"You think he's still stuck in the same paradigm as his parents?"
"It's entirely possible. He's never had children, it may well be the only exposure to family life was his own family when he was a child."
"Let's see, his father was some sort of priest, wasn't he?"
"Yes and his mother was entirely uneducated. In rural Croatia at that time the woman would indeed have had the primary responsibility for raising the children." Helen was looking much less upset and more interested.
"And the father is supposed to do what?"
"He's the breadwinner; beyond that, very likely the disciplinarian and only more than that if he chooses to be. In Nikola's case, his father wanted his sons educated to follow in his footsteps; when his oldest son died, Nikola became his focus. Mother took care of the house and children, and father supported everyone. That's Nikola's only role model."
Helen suddenly grinned and added "So Nikola isn't really being an ass, he just doesn't know any better. Well I can fix that. Thank you, Will."
Will spread his hands wide, willing to take the credit even though he hadn't done much more than listen. "Any time, you know where to find me." But he was talking to an empty room.
Helen went to the library and pulled a half a dozen books on parenting and child rearing. She took them to Nikola's suite and left them on his bed. He would get the not-too-subtle hint. She left the plans for combining and remodeling their suites too; it would give him an excuse to come and talk to her once he'd absorbed the books. She left humming.
Nikola found the pile on his bed after midnight. He was tired and wanted a few hours of sleep, but he knew who had dumped the books there and what was expected of him. He undressed, turned on the reading light next to the bed, and settled in for a long night.
The following morning Helen went to her office, but half expected Nikola to come at any moment, which distracted her. He would have spent the previous day in his lab working and probably pouting, so he wouldn't have found the books until night time or perhaps even early morning. She knew that, but still, she wanted him to come sooner rather than later. The hours crept by, and finally, just before lunchtime she sensed him in the doorway and looked up. He had the plans in his hand, a good sign.
"Good morning, Nikola" she said expectantly.
"Good morning, Helen. I got your message."
"You read the parenting books?"
"Three, and skimmed the rest. They all say different things; not very scientific or useful."
"Nikola, things have changed since you were a boy."
"I get that. I have drawn some conclusions from the literature."
Helen sat back and waited.
Nikola continued "First, parenting is an art not a science."
Helen nodded and said "Good."
"Second, children are each unique individuals; our son won't be a miniature version of me or you either."
"Excellent; our daughter will be herself and no one else. And your job?"
"Third, my job is to give him what he needs, love him, protect him, and guide him, and that's your job too."
Helen got up and went over to Nikola and hugged him. "I'm so glad to hear you say that. You'll change her, feed her, and play with her?"
"Whatever I need to do Helen. And if I get distracted and I'm not doing what I'm supposed to, please don't get mad, just tell me. I want to be a good father; I want our child to have two parents. Just don't expect any major scientific breakthroughs at the same time."
Helen knew it was pushing it but she asked "And you'll be in the delivery room with me when she's born?"
"Uh . . . hey I looked at the plans, and I really think it would be easier for us to move than go through that much construction. There's a three bedroom apartment at the end of the hall isn't there?"
Helen let him get away with the subject change; there was time, she would make sure to keep bringing it up until he agreed. "Yes, and it's available."
"Great. You redecorate and let me know when we're moving."
Helen crossed her arms and glared at him.
Nikola gave a deep sigh. Why did he always give in to her? Oh yes, it was that ridiculous, giddy, illogical emotion called love. "Fine. Are you going to torture me with paint colors, wallpaper samples, or carpet swatches?"
Helen grinned. "Luckily I have all three."