A/N: Ok. This is especially for alwaysmilingsam. I promised her a fluffy one shot as an apology. It was meant to be Helen as a new Mum, but it sort of turned into a Helen/James set of fluff as well. I hope you enjoy, let me know what you think.

Something New.

Helen gently stirred from the light sleep she had been in. It took a moment for her to realise why she had woken up, The gentle whimpers of a baby flowed through her ears. Gingerly she moved herself up in the bed, looking at the clock she realised it was still only six am. She had given birth less than four hours ago.

Helen had woken both James and her old friend around eleven pm. She had been labouring most of the day without letting anyone know. She had decided to bring this baby into the world as calmly as she could, though by eleven pm the time had come that she needed some assistance. Even Helen Magnus wasn't going to try to give birth completely on her own.

With James holding her hand, and her old friend making sure that the procedure went smoothly they slowly helped her baby make its way into the world and straight into her arms. Even Helen knew that the whole birth had been a lot more straight-forward and less painful than it might have been. Even so James had told her that she would be sore for some days, and they had both offered to take the child for the first night so she could get some much deserved sleep, but that wasn't what she wanted. She wanted to focus on her daughter and to be a mother. She was well aware that this may be the only chance she had to be a Mum and raise a child. She didn't want to miss a moment of it.

Gently Helen swung her legs around the bed. She reached into the simple moses basket and lifted her daughter up into her arms. "Why hello my darling. What's all that noise for?" She moved back on to the bed so she rested against the head board. She had pulled the comforting blanket from beside her bed to swaddle the child while making sure that her small fists were free. As she finished she rested her daughter back against her chest. The whimpering had become quieter, but she was still making small noise. Her tiny fist came to rest against Helen's swollen breast. Very quickly her mouth came out to try and suckle.

Helen couldn't help but smile, she had tried to feed the baby just after she had been born, but she had failed to latch. It had been difficult for Helen, and she had struggled not to cry at the feeling of failure she had. James had tried to reassure her that the child would feed when she was ready.

"What if I'm no good at this? What if she doesn't want me?" Helen was over run with hormones so soon after the birth James could see that this was really upsetting her, and he did understand. Helen was so used to being able to turn her hand to anything without much thought.

"Relax darling. She's probably not hungry yet." He ran a hand through Helen's hair before gently kissing her forehead. "Imagine how new all of this is to her, she's bound to take some time to adjust." He looked down at the baby; already her eyes were wide open and darting all around her. He couldn't help but think that she was already showing a number of similarities to Helen.

Looking forward him Helen knew that he was right, but that wasn't going to stop the worry she felt inside. "I can't help but think I'm doing something wrong." Helen hated to admit it, already she was feeling like a failure at this and she had only been doing it for a matter of hours.

"As far as I am aware…" James paused. "The feeling of failure is one of the most common side effects of becoming a parent." While Helen had carried and delivered the child James had been the one doing all of the research. He may not have been the child's parent, but he had been so involved with the freezing process and resulting pregnancy that he couldn't help but want to see it all the way through. Times had greatly changed since the time of the child's conception, but that didn't mean Helen wasn't going to find being a single mother hard.

Helen looked at him. "I don't want to tie you down…" In reality the words didn't mean that much, but between the two of them they released a lot of the feelings Helen had.

"It's my choice to be here sweetheart, and while I'm not her father, I hope you'll let me become a part of her life." James gently wrapped an arm around her so he was able to run a finger across the little ones cheek at the same time as placing another gentle kiss on Helen's head. "You were amazing today Helen." The words were half a whisper. "I've seen a handful of births in my time, and I could never have imagined one could be as peaceful as yours."

Helen looked at the man in front of her. In so many ways she had been in love with him for years. It wasn't the same as how she felt with John, but with James she would always be safe. Feeling unable to hold her emotions anymore she felt the streams of tears starting to roll down her face. "Why do you always say the right things?" She sobbed into James' shoulder as he pulled her closer.

"I merely speak the truth my dear." He held her close until the sobs became gentler, he looked once more at the baby in her arms and quickly realise that at some point in their conversation she had drifted into a deep sleep. He gently reached down and kissed the child's forehead. "Quite beautiful." He turned his face towards Helen. "You are both quite beautiful." He sat there looking at her, there was an amazing glow about her that James felt sure wasn't present in many women so shortly after giving birth.

Helen met his eyes with her own, there was something amazing about him ad the way he was looking at her that made her determined not to look away. "I wish that she was yours James…" She had felt this way for a while, but this had been the first time that she had vocalised it, she had been scared about what it may mean or indeed become if she confessed her true feelings to him.

James gently nodded. "As do I." He paused Helen was incredibly emotional and he knew that this wasn't the right time to be having this conversation. "I think it might be time for everyone to get some sleep." He lent over to kiss Helen on the forehead again. "We can talk about this again in the morning. Helen looked at him before nodding, she gently lifted her daughter into James' arms and watched as he placed her down in the moses basket set up next to Helen's bed. When he was sure that the child was settled he turned his attention back to Helen/ Her eyes were searching his face. "Stay with me?" She wasn't sure what she meant, or indeed what she wanted, and it was possible that her uncertainty showed through.

"You need to sleep darling." He gently pulled the coers up around her while helping her move further down into the bed. "We will have all the time you want to talk in the coming months." He finished off helping her into a comfortable position. "Do you want anything for the pain?" He looked towards her with a serious expression.

Helen gently shook her head. "It's not too bad…" She paused. "I want to be awake enough in case she needs me." She smiled weakly at him as the tiredness began to quickly catch up with her.

James nodded. "All right, but you know where I am." He gently stroked one hand through her hair before resting a final gentle kiss on her forehead. He saw her thinking about protesting, but her eyes were quickly shutting and as James left eh room he recognised the change in her breathing as she feel asleep.

…

Thinking back to her earlier conversation with James Helen couldn't help but smile. Gently Helen released her breast from her nightgown. She helped her daughter find the waiting bud, within seconds the little girl was greedily suckling at the warmth she found waiting for her. She may have been a scientist and a trained doctor, but even Helen Magnus couldn't find a word to describe the feeling the bond between the two of them created, feeling her daughter so close to her chest make her heart leap within her chest.

…

James woke up in the bed. He had only been sleeping lightly to make sure that he would be awake if Helen needed him. Lying there he could hear the light noises through the door. He heard movement as he assumed that Helen was moving, he decided to go and check she was ok. It wouldn't be the first time Helen pushed herself too hard. He moved slowly out of the room and towards the room Helen was in next door. He thought about knocking, but instead gently pushed the door open. The sight that greeted him made him smile.

Helen looked up from where she was sitting on her bed. She hadn't heard James come in, but seeing her standing in front of her made her smile more than she already was. "Do you ever get bored of being right?" Helen looked down towards the baby suckling against her and gently stroked the soft hair on her head.

James moved towards them. "What did I tell you?" There was something amazing about the moments of feeding between a mother and child, He stood next to Helen gently placing a hand on her shoulder.

Slowly and smoothly Helen moved across the bed before motioning to the space next to her. "Sit down…" She smiled towards him.

James nodded and gently sat on the bed next to her. He wrapped an arms around her shoulder and held them both close. "Bit of a natural at this aren't you sweetheart?" He loved the feeling of a relaxed Helen leaning against his shoulder. They were both dragged out of the euphoria when the baby started whimpering.

Gently Helen released her other breast and turned the baby so she could start to feed on the other side. She would never have believed that she would be so comfortable with being so exposed in front of James, but she wasn't. She felt completely safe with him. "I can't describe how I feel with you by my side James Watson." She looked towards him.

He nodded slightly. "I think I might just know how you feel…" He wanted nothing more than to kiss her. He wanted to keep her safe and wrapped up, he wanted to make sure that no one hurt her, make sure that no one hurt them. He looked back down towards the baby. "So do we have a name yet? I mean I love baby girl and sweetheart, but I'm not sure she'll appreciate them when she goes to school."

Helen nodded. "I just thought that something would come when she arrived…" She looked down at her daughter. "There is one name that seems to keep coming up…"

James looked at her. "Come on…"

Helen looked towards her daughter. "Let me introduce you to Ashley Grace Magnus." Helen looked towards him.

James looked down at the little girl and then back towards her mother. "Perfect." Looking back at Helen he smiled.

Helen cocked her head. "Penny for them?" She could see the cogs working in James' brain as he watched them both.

James nodded. In that moment he decided that it was time, it didn't need to mean anything, but it needed to be done. He gently put a finger under Helen's chin and turned her so that his lips met hers. The kiss was lingering and gentle. As he pulled away he couldn't read the look on Helen's face. "Sorry…I just had…"

Helen put a finger to his lips. "Don't ever apologise for that." She met his lips with a kiss. They only broke apart this time when a gentle hiccup came from the baby who had finished feeding in Helens' arms. Gently Helen lifted the baby and placed her into James' arms. "Ashley, I want you to meet James, he's going to be an important part of your life…"

A/N: So…completely different to the other things I've written. If people like it then I might have a look at writing some more one shots in the series.

Tasha. xx