So this is the sequel to my short story Her Choice. Once again, if you hate it, don't give me crap about it because nothing bugs me more than getting crap from people. Anyhoo, the Skulduggery Pleasant Series belongs to Derek Landy. I'm just borrowing the characters.

Skulduggery Pleasant hated flying in planes.

He wasn't quite sure why, but it probably had something to do with the fact that the plane itself wasn't anything more than a metal box over thirty thousand feet in air, with the only thing below it being the Earth, which happened to be very far down. Normally, being high up in the air wouldn't bother Skulduggery; he had no fear of heights at all. But a plane wasn't held up by magic; oh no, it was held up by…well, he didn't know exactly what kept it in the sky, but the point was the same. He just couldn't put his faith in it.

The same could not be said for Valkyrie, who was at complete ease. In fact, she had fallen asleep almost as soon as the plane had reached cruising altitude twelve hours ago. Of course, she had woken up two hours later, and hadn't been able to fall back asleep again. She blamed it on her pregnancy, saying that her mother had told her when she was younger that she had gotten insomnia while she was pregnant with Valkyrie. It was a genetic thing, she'd explained.

That left ten more hours open for conversation. A good eight of those ten hours were spent discussing the baby. They talked about names, about whether they wanted a boy or a girl, and so on. The other two hours were spent on strategy; how they would tell Valkyrie's parents that they were dating and expecting a baby. It would be difficult and they both agreed that springing it on them would not be a good idea.

Skulduggery let out a sigh of relief when the captain announced that they would be landing in Dublin in about an hour, around two a.m. Valkyrie laughed.

"Look at you," she said, chuckling. "The big bad detective afraid of flying in an airplane."

"I am not," he said indignantly, though he did just a little. Not that he would ever admit that.

"Whatever. Is the Bentley going to be at the airport or do we have to call a cab to get back to Gordon's house?" Despite the fact that it was now legally her house, Valkyrie still referred to it as Gordon's house. It would always be Gordon's house to her.

The detective shook his head. "No, it'll be there. I called Tanith before we took off and made sure that she would drop it off. We have to take her to Ghastly's before we go home."

"She didn't put her bike in the trunk?" Valkyrie asked. Tanith usually had her bike with her wherever she went.

"It broke down. It's in the repair shop right now."

Secretly, Skulduggery was glad Tanith's bike had broken down. He knew how much Valkyrie loved to ride it and he knew that she knew how to drive it, but he still didn't like her doing it. They were dangerous machines that killed hundreds of people every year. Suppose one of those people was Valkyrie? He didn't know what he'd do without Valkyrie. Without her, his future was void.

They found Tanith sleeping on a bench in the airport waiting area. She was snoring lightly and as they looked closer they found that she was in REM sleep. Valkyrie took pity on her; it was two in the morning after all. Most people were sleeping at this time. Tanith proved to be a deep sleeper. Skulduggery ended up carrying her out to the Bentley, where he threw her into the backseat, which of course woke her up right away.

"Jesus, Skul, did you have to throw me?" Tanith said grumpily as she sat up, rubbing her head.

"You wouldn't wake up. If I can't sleep, then you can't sleep." After not sleeping for twelve hours in a row, Skulduggery was exhausted. The only thing keeping him awake was the fact that in a little more than an hour, he would be back at Gordon's mansion, fooling around with Valkyrie. After which, he could sleep.

Tanith snorted. "Like you're going to just go home and go to bed."

"She has a point." Valkyrie admitted. She paused. "We aren't going to just go home and go to bed, are we Skul?"

"Oh, God no. What do you think is keeping me awake right now?"

In the backseat, Tanith pretended to throw up. "Please keep that to yourselves you two. I do not need to know what you are going to do to each other when you get alone."

"Then I guess you don't want to know what we did in the backseat while you were still sleeping." Valkyrie winked at Skulduggery and he stifled a grin. He loved the mischievous side of his girlfriend.

"You guys did not do anything in the backseat while I was still sleeping." She was silent for a moment. "Wait, you didn't do anything, did you?"

"I don't know." Skulduggery said, playing along. "But if I was you, I wouldn't put my butt on the seat. Not until I get it cleaned."

After about five more minutes of silence, Valkyrie decided to break the good news to Tanith.

"Tanith, I'm going to have a baby."

"What?" Tanith's eyes bugged out so far Valkyrie was afraid they'd fall out. "Are you serious?"

"No, my name is Valkyrie, not serious." She turned around and grinned at her friend. "Yes, I'm serious."

"Ohmigod, that's great!" Tanith squealed, something neither Valkyrie or Skulduggery had heard her do before. Valkyrie stared at her for a moment before she joined in her excited babbling.

Skulduggery for the moment was lost in his own thoughts, thinking of his own murdered daughter Eliza. God, how he missed her. She'd been such a sweet little girl and she would have grown up to be an able and talented magician, had she been given the chance. He'd loved her so much and for the longest time he'd blamed himself for her death. In a way, he still did.

He wanted this new baby to be a girl and he wanted her dearly to be like her mother. Fiery, passionate, unafraid, but at the same time smart and compassionate. Skulduggery knew that if it was a girl, he would spoil her shamelessly and dote on her constantly. He would protect her to the best of his ability and beyond.

It would be nice if the baby was a boy too, Skulduggery thought to himself as they pulled into Ghastly's place. He could teach his son to throw fireballs and then they could play catch. They could take down vampires together instead of going to soccer games. It would be fun, he decided. But deep down he knew that he truly wanted to have a daughter again.

Skulduggery leaned up against the wall next to Gordon's front door, half asleep, while Valkyrie dug around in her purse trying to find the key so they could get in. It was taking a while and the detective found his eyes starting to close. And then a thought popped into his head and he was pretty sure it was the most important thought he had ever thought, if that made any sense.

"Valkyrie," he said urgently. "You asked me earlier on the plane what I wanted to name the baby and I said I didn't know. I know now."

The name had come to him in his half awake and it was so perfect, so great he didn't understand why he hadn't thought of it before. It was simple, elegant, and beautiful. It was the perfect name for their daughter, if it was a girl.

"Elena," he said. Valkyrie paused, her search for the house key momentarily on hold.

Elena. Elena, Elena, Elena. The name repeated itself in her head, engraining itself in her memory. "Elena," she said, liking the way it rolled smoothly off of her tongue. She smiled. It was perfect.

Skulduggery could tell she thought the name was perfect. From where he leaned, he beckoned her toward him his index finger. Valkyrie came, grinning like an eager child as she did. He grabbed her by the waist, pulling her closer, and closer, until there were only mere centimeters between them.

"You, my dear, look very beautiful tonight, but I think I could improve your appearance by removing your clothes." he told her, his hands sliding down to her butt.

"Why, I was about to say the same thing to you Mr. Pleasant." she whispered into his ear. "Can you read my mind? Or are you just lucky?"

"Both," he said, and his lips crashed against hers, driven by desire and need. She kissed him back with just as much intensity and force. They remained locked in each other's arms for a few minutes, before they both surfaced for air.

"I think," Skulduggery said, stroking her face. "That you should find that key so we can go inside or else we just might end up naked in the bushes."

"I agree," Valkyrie said. "We could get poison ivy all over ourselves if we ended up in the bushes. That would not be fun."

"Too true, too true."

While Valkyrie dug through her purse, searching for the key, Skulduggery's hands seemed to have taken on a mind of their own. They roamed all around Valkyrie's body, doing…things that made her gasp and moan. When she had finally found the key and unlocked the door, his hands took control of his arms, and made him scoop her up into his arms.

"My dear," Skulduggery said, kissing her once on the lips. "You move far to slowly for a man as fast as I."

It had been Desmond Edgley's idea to throw a surprise welcome home party for his daughter. After all, she had been away to America for six months all by herself. She would love to see her family as soon as she got back to her home. Or at least that's what he thought.

Everything was ready for Stephanie's arrival back at Gordon's house. Melissa had baked her a cake just for the occasion and the twins had even made her a welcome home banner. Fergus and Beryl were there as well, though they really hadn't done anything but complain. The twins had actually toned down their complaining a bit; there was plenty of time to harass their cousin later.

Stephanie had called before the plane to Dublin had taken off, saying that she would land sometime around two and be home around three. At two forty, all the lights in the house were turned off, and everyone went to their positions near the door, where she was easily in reach so they could group hug her. At five minutes to three, Melissa reported seeing a pair of headlights drive up to the house and everyone prepared to surprise her.

At first all they could hear nothing, but then she must have accidentally turned on the intercom, and then they could hear everything. They could hear her searching her purse for the house key, and then suddenly they could hear a man speaking.

"Valkyrie, you know how on the plane you asked me what I wanted to name the baby and I said I didn't know. I know now." He paused. "Elena."

Who is that? Desmond wondered. And who is Valkyrie and why is he telling her about baby names?

"Elena," repeated Stephanie. The way she said the name made it clear that it was the name she liked the best.

There was a pause and then they could hear the man through the intercom again. "You, my dear, look very beautiful tonight, but I think I could improve your appearance by removing your clothes."

"Why, I was about to say the same thing, Mr. Pleasant." Stephanie said in a whisper that everyone could clearly hear. "Can you read my mind? Or are you just lucky?"

"Both," the man said and then all that could be heard were sounds that deeply worried Desmond. Who was this man and why was he making his daughter make worrying noises?

"I think you should find the key so we can go inside or we just might end up naked in the bushes." the man said a few minutes later.

Stephanie's father cringed and prayed to God that they would accidentally turn off the intercom. Or that he would suddenly drop dead. That would work too.

"I agree," Stephanie said. "We might get poison all over ourselves if we end up in the bushes. That would not be fun."

"Too true, too true." the man agreed.

After this there came more noises, these ones worse than the first. They were little gasps and moans that everyone could tell came from Stephanie. They were, in Desmond's opinion, entirely too pleasure filled.

When the lock finally clicked, indicating it had been successfully unlocked, Desmond squeezed his eyes shut and prayed to God that he wouldn't hear or see anything too horrific. He did not want to see his little girl kissing someone with the intent to go farther than that. Hadn't Melissa talked to her about that when she was a teenager? Hadn't she told her no sex until marriage?

He cringed again as the word sex crossed his mind. Now that was something he didn't even want to think about, Stephanie having sex. Ugh.

"My dear," They were speaking again, much to Desmond's displeasure. "You move far too slowly for a man as fast as I."

The door was kicked open and a tall man wearing a hat stepped inside, Stephanie in his arms. Stephanie was kissing him with some sort of desperate need. Desmond looked around frantically, but there was no way he could escape without catching the attention of Stephanie and her 'friend'.

One of Stephanie's arms was wrapped around the man's neck; the other was feeling the wall, looking for the light switch. When she found, she flipped it on and the room was once more illuminated. She didn't seem to notice the banner as she broke apart from the man.

"It's a good you thing you've already knocked me up," Stephanie said breathlessly. "Because I don't think we're going to make it to the bedroom to put on the proper protection."

"Who said anything about the bedroom in the first place?" the man asked. "I was thinking we could just use a couch." Stephanie laughed.

Desmond couldn't take it anymore. He jumped up from his hiding place behind a desk, and shouted, "Stop! For the love of God, stop!"

To say Valkyrie was shocked when her father jumped out from behind a desk and starting shouting would be an understatement. It was only after this, however, that she noticed her mother, Fergus, Beryl, and the twins emerging from different places near the door, and the large welcome home banner that was stretched across the wall. She quickly summed up the situation with one phrase.

"Oh, shit."

"Oh shit indeed, my dear." Skulduggery agreed.

Hey, just to let you guys know, in this story Elena is pronounced uh-lena, not Elaina. I have a friend Elena who pronounces her name the same way, and I decided to put her in my story, because Elena is freaking hilarious (For example, she was in our dugout during my softball game the other day. She stood on the bench and pretended to use a bat as a guitar. She then began to sing about our pitcher. The song started out 'Chloe is great and everyone loves her.' Then it turned into 'Chloe is a whore she smells really poor.' Oh God, it was great.). Anyway, tell me what you think. I'll see what I can do.