A/N: So this idea was originally inspired by the ending of Outlast 2, and while the inspiration didn't really pull through to the end, I'm still pretty happy with what I ended up with. PLUS I haven't written anything Nora/Preston related in quite some time now so I figured it would be wasteful not to post- it's been sitting in my drafts folder for a few months now anyways.
There may or may not be a chapter two, it just depends on if I have time to work on one.
They had been to the city of Natick, or at least what remained of it plenty of times over.
And while Natick wasn't exactly the most stable piece of land the Commonwealth had to offer- thanks to the Deathclaw population in the area- the once beautiful coastal city still had its perks and the occasional hidden treasures lying around.
The city was little more than a wreck from the constant war between the former Super Mutant and Gunners population, but it was still good enough to root through when they were in the area. Having Super Mutants, Deathclaws, and Gunners locked into one city was a recipe for disaster- and the ever crumbling coastline didn't help the inhabitants. Needless to say, not a lot of Minutemen units liked going out this far to clean the area.
But Nora liked the salty breeze and the pre-war feel that lingered over shell-shocked buildings.
She remembered Natick for what it was and sometimes she could still see and hear the old-coastal town.
Maybe it was her sense of nostalgia and sentiments that kept dragging her here- choosing to take up the effort of eradicating the wasteland creatures when no one else seemed poised to do so.
Perusing her way through the old Pines motel, Nora stepped over collapsed portions of the roof and squeezed her way through a few of the crumbling rooms. There wasn't much left of the motel by this point; the Gunners living in it beforehand had done a shoddy job of taking care of the place. And with numerous coastal trips under her belt, she had already ransacked most of the old motel for what it was worth, which wasn't much; Gunners had a tendency of taking everything they could get their hands on and thus didn't leave much for her to grab.
But Nora had an eye for scavenging and hands that were more than willing to get dirty if need be.
Although she wasn't looking to get dirty this time; she wasn't looking to go digging through crumbling debris piles for yet another broken blender.
No, she was looking for something a little more important than scrap metal and loose components.
Luck was on her side that Gunners didn't seem to understand the importance of oddly-preserved pillows and sheets.
(Nothing outside of cutting them up for material anyways.)
Preserved bedding items were a rarity to find most days- and other than trading with the local vaults, these old motels were the only other suppliers in the Commonwealth. The occasional pillow or sheet could be pulled from the long abandoned houses, but most of those had been damaged in the blast. Or had been damaged in some way or form that made them virtually useless other than for scrap fabric.
Nora always came back to Natick to fill her bag with what supplies she could. And needless to say, she had already grabbed just about every pillow and sheet she could find tucked away in the abandoned motel. The occasional blanket as well, although those were usually the first to get cut up so she wasn't always lucky to find those. Which was fine since she had plenty of Brahmin-skin blankets back home to deal with.
But with every pillow and sheet she found, she folded them up in her bag and lugged them home.
Cleaning them was a back-breaking chore and drying them out usually took a few days- but having a nice, neatly-made bed at the end of the day was worth more than anyone could pay for. It was certainly worth more than strips of cloth or scrap metal.
Plus Nora shamelessly enjoyed having a bed full of pillows to collapse and hide amongst.
As did Shaun.
(He truly was her son.)
To them, there was no such thing as having too many pillows, hence why she was always on the look-out for them.
Pacing the wounded floorboards, Nora felt the cool, ocean breeze blow in through one of the many destroyed walls- no doubt punched through by a rusted frame of Power Armor on the wrong person. With the salty breeze came the tell-tale sign of an approaching storm, what with the subtle change in temperature and pressure, as well as the low rumbling of thunder in the distance. Nora was keeping an eye on it through fractured windows and knew that she would have plenty of time to scrounge around before the storm even came close to the the city.
And by that point she would be long gone and locked underground in the Mayoral bunker just a mile or so north of Natick.
Nora stopped for a moment to take in the breeze, glad to have the cooling wind on her back- cooling her off from the rather heated walk here. She and Preston had been making plans to come down along the coast for a few weeks now, for no other reason rather than to scavenge and get out of the house and away from the Castle. They had been working around the clock lately, organizing and running new settlements, and they really just needed some alone time to get away from the commotion of it all.
Not to mention, it wouldn't be too long before she would be somewhat house-bound, so she was looking to get as much fresh air as she could while she still could.
Nora moved one hand to rest on her round, protruding belly, feeling the slightest hint of movement under the touch.
The baby had been active the entire walk here, making the journey slightly more difficult because she kept feeling it kick close around her bladder. And the last thing she wanted to do was pee herself in the middle of nowhere- although the thought of it kept making her laugh, which almost made her pee just the same.
Good genes had blessed her with a tall, rather sturdy frame, which in turn made her carry easy; when she was pregnant with Shaun it just looked like she was carrying a basketball under her shirt. And even now with her second child, she looked the same. A lot of that could've been contributed to the constant walking back and forth across the Commonwealth as well though, which also kept her in good shape. It was a bit of a blessing and a curse though- Nora couldn't count all the double-takes people had to do when they saw her. From the back she looked fine but when she turned around it was always a different story.
It was actually quite funny.
Either way, the easy carrying capacity allowed her to keep her usual workflow with the Minutemen despite her pregnancy.
She still had her tired and exhausted days of course, usually after a mix of night time and morning time vomiting, in which she spent the day curled up in bed. But for the most part she was still physically able to do her work as the acting General- although Preston hardly wanted her to.
Actually, the Minutemen as a whole barely allowed her to lift a hand unless it was absolutely needed.
So, while coming all the way out to Natick seemed... crazy in some sense, especially since she was drawing close to delivery, Nora knew that she would go crazy if she didn't have one last trip beforehand.
"Hey babe, you almost done in here?"
Nora looked up at the voice and smiled as she watched Preston duck through one of the partly-collapsed doorways- his tall frame just barely fitting by. It was true what they said about a man in uniform- of all the years she had known Preston, he was still just as handsome as ever in his. "Depends on your definition of done," she offered.
Preston chuckled lightly at the response. "I was afraid you were going to say that," he replied, dusting himself off before he gestured behind him. "I don't like the sight of that storm out there and the geiger counter just started twitching. I think we might also be having a radstorm moving in on us too."
Being so close to the Glowing Sea would do that unfortunately.
A storm AND a radstorm rolling in as one was not the best of combinations- not the worst, but definitely not good nonetheless.
"So we should probably leave soon, huh," she started.
"Preferably," Preston nodded, "but don't worry, you won't leave here empty-handed- I found some more scrap that I know you'll like." And with that, he pulled out what looked to be an almost-perfectly preserved hot plate from the bag tucked just under his left arm. There was a single chip on one of the corners but the heating element and such still seemed to be in one piece. Which meant it was the perfect specimen to take home and pull apart for components.
The perfect gift for her.
Nora grinned. "You know me so well," she teased.
"All anyone has to do is be around you for more then ten minutes and watch you ran your hands over everything you can get them on," he remarked, stuffing the hot plate back into the same bag.
"Believe me, I know- it was that mindset that got me into this position in the first place."
Preston gave another laugh before he leaned down to kiss her- forcing her to stand up on her toes some to reach him in return. She had a tall, sturdy frame but standing next to Preston always made her feel short. "Is that why you're out here scavenging for more pillows?"
Nora snorted gently. "No." Pause. "Yes."
"Fine, but you're only bringing back two this time," he replied. "I don't want you to strain yourself with all that heavy lifting."
Nora rolled her eyes at the thinly-veiled joke and heard Preston laugh at her once more- no doubt pleased with himself. "I love you but go," she started as she gently pushed him back. "There's probably only like two of them here that I haven't already snagged anyways."
"Of course there is," he remarked. "In all seriousness though, I want to start heading towards the Mayoral bunker soon- preferably before that radstorm really picks up. The last place I want to be is caught in that damn storm. Not to mention, you could pop any minute now-"
"Three weeks," Nora reminded as she placed her hands on either side of her round belly. "I still have three weeks to do all sorts of crazy stuff- hence why I'm out here in the first place."
"It's an estimate," Preston reminded back.
"You worry too much," she played in return, only to watch him shake his head with a grin before he put his hands up.
"Alright, alright, maybe I do," he admitted, hands raised in defeat, "but that doesn't change the fact that we need to go- and soon."
A radstorm was a pretty serious event in its own right but her geiger counter wasn't outright beeping at the moment and Nora knew that the bunker wasn't too far away. Not to mention she had developed a pretty good eye and judge for how long it would take for the storm to properly form- and last checked, it was still off on the horizon. They probably still had a good hour before it would hit and by then they would be out of its main path.
Of course, the smart thing would be to leave right now regardless of such calculations.
But Nora knew what she was looking for and she knew where she could find it.
(Plus her back was really killing her right now and she knew that the Mayoral bunker didn't have many pillows to spare.)
"Give me like ten more minutes," Nora bartered, "I'll be in and out before you know it."
There was just one more room she needed to go through with an in-depth search and she was certain that she would find something good in there. It would be a simple sweep, in and back out in probably less than ten minutes.
"I'll just stay with you until then," Preston remarked. "The place is dead quiet without the Super Mutants or the Deathclaws around- it's starting to give me the creeps."
Preston had a habit of doing perimeter runs when and wherever he could. He was always in the mindset of keeping a constant eye over their shoulder- which wasn't a bad habit to have around. But with her being pregnant and still traveling about, it only seemed to intensify his need to constantly be on the look-out. Something of which she couldn't blame him for.
"Alright, fine, big guy, you can do the heavy lifting for me then," Nora teased, patting a hand on his chest before she made her way towards the only room she hadn't checked over yet. She immediately began rooting through the already turned-over room, ignoring the smaller knick-knacks for now- although knowing well that she would probably be back soon enough to retrieve them.
(If they were still here anyways.)
Most of the rooms of the motel were utterly destroyed and the few that remained were still partly collapsed in on themselves. It felt like the Minutemen as a whole were making progress in rebuilding the Commonwealth, in building it up from what it was, and reforming what it could be. But then Nora would see stuff like this, like this crumbling motel, and realize that they were far, far from finding an end to it.
That they were far from recreating the world that she had come from.
There was still plenty of building and construction ongoing around the Commonwealth- and hell, most of it took up a majority of her time right now. It was her main focus to overlook the building of new settlements, to overlook the repairing of older ones, and even the occasional full-scale moving from one settlement to another. Not to mention, they had even started work on cleaning out some of the still-standing factories and warehouses, hoping to soon renovate them into something trust-worthy again.
That didn't mean that she didn't have time for the occasional fooling around with her Commonwealth husband though.
Hence her current pregnant state.
(Worth it.)
Nora glanced back from time to time to watch as Preston remained in the open doorway of the crumbling room, keeping an eye on things while she went about her business. And she smiled at his protective nature, knowing well that her back would always be protected while he was on-guard. Which in the grand scheme of the Commonwealth was the best thing one could ask for.
As she predicted, it didn't take her long to find what she was looking for.
"Found it," Nora called as she finally located the single non-destroyed pillow she had (hopefully) been seeking; it had been tucked into the top drawer of a dressing cabinet that was shoved into the back corner of the room. The multiple chips of the old wood suggested that someone had been using the cabinet as a knife post- either cutting or throwing knives at it. Luckily whoever had been doing so had missed out on the prize inside.
"You always do."
Nora chuckled and tugged the pillow out of its confines, giving it a turning look over before she was satisfied- not that she would've left it behind anyways. A good two-day cleaning would have it back into a close-enough pristine condition. She would probably give this one to Shaun since he had forfeited one of his for Dogmeat to play with. And by that she meant that the two of them had had a pillow fight last week and Dogmeat ended up shredding his pillow by the end of the night.
And she had no doubts that this one would probably meet the same fate.
But that was okay.
Turning back towards Preston, Nora took a half step before stopping as she felt what might've been like a sharp pop of pressure inside of her. It didn't necessarily hurt but it made an obvious impact- sort of like when popping the air inside of your knuckles, except it felt like it was in her back. It was enough to cause her to pause for a moment, confused by the sensation.
"You alright?"
It was Preston's question that drew her attention away from the matter.
"Yeah, yeah, sorry, I'm fine," she assured, giving a brief laugh as she started towards him once more. "I think I turned too fast and popped my back- I just scared myself doing it is all." It wouldn't be the first time she had done it after all; she forgot that lugging around the additional weight put an extra strain on her bones, causing them to pop and crackle from time to time. More so than she remembered them doing- then again, she didn't exactly have her therapeutic mattress anymore. Nora hugged the pillow a little closer to her chest. "Speaking about my back, will you rub it for me when we get to the bunker? It's been killing me all day."
Preston gave a subtle laugh of his own, seemingly glad that the matter was nothing serious. "Sure thing, General."
"Thanks, babe," Nora teased, as she finally made her way back to him- squeezing between him and the doorway on her way out. "And if you're gonna rub my back, could you maybe rub something else while you got your hands on me?"
She was met with a slightly more nervous chuckle this time, one that was paired with the brief tugging on the brim of his hat; and the combination of such actions brought a grin to her lips. Preston was usually too embarrassed to respond to her in the same manner that she teased him with, especially if they were out in public like this. And while this hardly constituted as being in public, especially considering there was no one else around for miles, he still met her inappropriate request with a shutdown response.
"We'll see."
(Preston was a fairly open person, given his status in the Commonwealth, but some things he kept private- and she found his reactions adorable.)
Nora laughed and stepped back into the hallway- taking a deep breath as she did so. The salt in the air was definitely noticeable now; it tingled slightly in the back of her throat as she breathed out. "Okay, we can leave now."
"Good, the sooner we leave the better," Preston spoke as he followed after her. "You up for walking?"
"I've been walking all morning, I think I'll be-" Nora started, before a sharp, clenching sort of pain in her abdomen brought her to a stop. It wasn't an intense feeling of pain but... there was definitely something there trying to knock her off-balance. "Jesus, tell your kid to stop kicking me- it was only cute the first time," she huffed, one hand rubbing at her belly, hoping maybe to calm the angry presence inside of her.
Jesus, this kid had been active all morning- as if keeping her up all night hadn't been bad enough.
Boy or girl, this kid LOVED to kick.
"I have no say in this matter."
"Well you better figure out a way to-" she started again, only to be cut off by that same clenching pain. It wasn't terribly unusual for the child to kick twice in the same spot, but it didn't usually feel this sharp- nor was the child able to kick in quick succession like that. Or at least, it hadn't done so before.
It was only when Nora felt the slow, unclenching tension in her gut, a sort of weakness in her legs, did she realize that this was a feeling that she had been familiar with before.
"Babe? You alright?"
Nora turned back towards him, taking quick notice of his concerned expression. "Yes and no," she answered, which only caused Preston's concerned expression to transition into a questioning one instead. "Uh... in case you're wondering, no, the baby did not kick me in the bladder this time; my water just broke and right now it's streaming down my legs. So that's fun. Also, I'm pretty sure that was actually a contraction I just felt- not a kick."
The expression that came to him next was a mix of questioning and disbelief.
"Right now?" Preston asked, looking as though he was hoping that maybe she was just trying to pull a fast one over him.
Not that she would.
And certainly not in regards to this kind of situation.
"Yep."
"You said-"
"I know what I said," Nora interrupted, equally frustrated but mostly dumbfounded at the timing. Of course this would happen right after she complained to him about worrying about it. There was a following twinge of pain in her lower back but it came and went without lingering. She took a deep breath and slowly let it out through her mouth. "We'll be fine. We're already leaving so we'll just head up towards the bunker without an issue. Haylen's a field doctor, she'll know what to do- Hell, you've even delivered a few babies before so we'll be fine. I'll be fine."
Nora supposed she might've been saying it aloud to calm the both of them down- perhaps him more than her.
"You're making that face," Preston started.
"What face?"
"That face you always make when you lie."
"I do not have a face for when I-" Nora started- although she stopped early knowing that it was already a losing battle. It was a lie after all. "Alright fine, not to cause a panic or anything but... Shaun was born on the side of the road. I literally could not make it to the hospital before my body was already shoving the baby out. My water broke and I had my son probably within the hour. And I've heard it all before, about how lucky I was that the birth was so quick- but those people had clearly never had a baby with no epidural or hospital gear or with any doctors around in a radius of five miles. Now I'm not saying that that's going to happen again but you know... it's a possibility."
"We'll be lucky if we make it to the bunker in an hour," Preston remarked.
"Yeah well as much as I like Natick, I'm not having a baby here," she countered.
She had to admit that they both seemed to be at a loss right now.
Sure, they could battle Behemoths and Deathclaws and Mirelurk Queens head-to-head under questionable circumstances, but this... this was outside of their range of knowledge. Sort of. Mostly because the timing and placement right now was about as wrong as it could get.
"Do you think you can make the walk?"
"It's debatable," Nora replied, clutching the pillow a little closer to her chest now, "but I don't really have a choice now, do I?"
To say that Preston looked worried was an understatement.
Like the most desperate understatement of the year.
But he seemed to pull himself together quick enough.
"Alright, you're the boss, let's get going."
Nora nodded and turned to head out of the motel- squeezing her way through the same collapsed wall Preston had squeezed through before. The wind had picked up by this point and she could feel it whipping her blonde ponytail around behind her. It made the wet material of her jeans even more uncomfortable; it was stupid, but she was definitely glad that Natick was as isolated as it was.
Looking up towards the mountain hill that they would soon have to climb, she felt the pit of her stomach churn.
It was going to be a long walk.
The trip up to the Mayoral bunker seemed to be more challenging than normal.
And while the answer seemed to be obvious, Nora wasn't entirely certain if it was because of the constant contractions, or if it was because of the radstorm roaring up behind them. The damn thing had picked up speed and wind during their brief exit from Natick. What should've been an hour-long advance seemed to have been cut to a quarter of that time.
Natick was barely visible under the hazy green clouds that swallowed it whole.
The same ones that were creeping up the hillside behind them.
Nora thought herself to be calm and cool-headed, but under the given circumstances she could feel the growing sense of panic getting to her.
Hell, she swore she heard a Behemoth roaring somewhere out in the distance. It was more than likely just the high-speed wind of the storm behind her, but the idea and thought of a potential Behemoth had already been planted in the back of her head- and there was no way she could shake it free. It just felt like one of those 'when it rains, it pours' kinds of situations.
She felt Preston squeeze her hand.
"We're almost there," he assured, never once having released her hand or left her side. It must've been putting a strain on his legs since he had to cut his gait shorter to match hers. Not that he would show or mention it though. Hell, he had even taken to carrying the pillow for her.
"I know, I know," Nora replied, before she offered a light laugh to break the mood. "You're an idiot for marrying me."
He chuckled lightly. "Best decision so far."
They made it over the next bumpy hill before Nora felt another tight sensation pull through her belly. The contractions had progressed quickly from just feeling like a cramp to feeling like her entire stomach was being squeezed. Everything felt more tight than painful at the moment, although that didn't stop her legs from feeling like they were going to lock up at any minute.
It was enough to cause her to slow down, to stumble slightly as she lost her footing on the loose rocks of the hillside.
"Babe-"
"I'm good," Nora tried to assure, taking a few seconds to breathe and let the feeling pass- or at least ease off. The tight sensation at been stringing her along now as each contraction was definitely, and unfortunately, getting closer each time. They weren't lasting nearly as long as she thought they would, which was the only thing keeping her walking right now. Not that it really matter though since she had to keep moving regardless. They had to keep going. She tugged lightly on his tightly-gripped hand, or maybe it was hers that was so tight on his, before she pushed forward with the next step. "I can walk this off, don't worry."
The hillside climb felt like Hell but the sight of the Mayoral bunker just ahead of them felt like Heaven.
The two of them managed to make it to the battered, above-ground building and quickly slipped past the broken entry door. The stone interior made the roaring of the Radstorm behind them even more intense as they made their way to the iron security door at the back of the building. The security door had once needed to be unlocked through the control terminal in the adjacent trailer (rather poor planning on the security part) but Shaun had figured out how to place the unlocking mechanism next to the door instead; her son had gone so far as to install it himself to prove that it could work.
And so far there were no issues with it.
Nora entered in the password and gave a sigh of relief as she heard the successful ding of the door lock coming undone.
She was beyond thankful that neither Danse nor Haylen had decided to change the password.
Ever since the violent ordeal with the Brotherhood and with Maxson, the two former Brotherhood members deserted: Danse under a fake death that both Nora and Maxson had agreed to lie about and Haylen under mysterious circumstances involving a rogue pack of Super Mutants. The two of them chose to 'disappear' into the Commonwealth, escaping and leaving behind a military life once lived. Nora had worked to cover their trail, sealing her fate with the Brotherhood Elder, and bring Haylen's 'remains' back to Cambridge; she offered to have the Scribe's death listed as 'Suicide by Super Mutants'.
As a standing Paladin, everyone took her word; they practically ate out of her hand.
Maxson probably knew the truth but he couldn't risk stepping out of line with her.
Nora handed over the Mayoral bunker to the two rogue agents; it was underground and along the coast of the Glowing Sea- it was well out of the Brotherhood's range and search windows. It had been a temporary suggestion at the time, a panicked decision made on the spot, but Nora eventually signed the place away to the two of them.
It was safe; it was secure, and it gave the former soldiers the space and room they needed to think.
(Which, after everything that had happened, they would need a lot.)
The coastal Natick area was already established as Minutemen territory and as the acting General, Nora forbade any Brotherhood unit from stepping foot into it.
Maxson had originally argued with her on the point but Nora stood her ground and reminded him of his place; he had no business in Natick and she would see to it that he accepted that. And since she forbade the Brotherhood from most, if not all of her settlements, it didn't seem out of place for her to do the same with Natick. Although in actuality, there were no settlements here. But Maxson didn't know that- and even if he did, there was nothing he could do about it.
Yanking the security door open, Nora slipped into the cool interior and took another moment to catch her breath as Preston pulled the door securely closed behind them. Silence usually bothered her but the stillness inside of the bunker was comforting compared to the roaring winds of the Radstorm outside. Not to mention the rolling thunder that came with it.
"We should really look into finishing the maintenance on this place," Nora remarked, huffing slightly through the words. That tight sensation felt like it had stalled halfway up her belly; it didn't advance further up but it wasn't going back down either. It was really bringing out the sore, aching pain of her back and hips- which she realized now should've been something she picked up on the day before.
"I think it has charm," Preston replied, one hand on her lower back as the two of them continued down through the unfinished portion of the tunnels.
It was all a mess of half-finished stairs and creaking plywood that threatened but had yet to actually break underneath anyone's feet. It had been oddly preserved despite the centuries, showcasing what the worth of money and status could achieve for someone in pre-war times. Although the buried skeletons on the hillside out back would tell the same story just with a different ending.
As the two of them squeezed their way past the gated door, Nora was thankful to see that the security system was still offline- no doubt Haylen was still making modifications to the turret settings. Hopefully so that no one who didn't deserve to get blown up would get blown up.
Continuing pass the busy workstation filled with scattered tools and loose notes, Nora headed towards the elevator just around the corner. She could only hope that Haylen and Danse were actually home- and that the two wouldn't immediately shoot them on sight. Although she and Preston had called ahead of time so there would be a little leeway with the whole potential gun-pointing/elevator massacre idea that was going through her head right now.
Fingers trembled as she tapped the 'open door' button repeatedly- calling the elevator up from the bottom floor.
She could feel the growing ache between her legs and didn't even want to think of how dilated she might be right now; it sure as hell felt like her body was on the verge of splitting open at any moment.
The elevator dinged and the doors pulled open- revealing the empty cab.
Nora felt Preston guide her inside of the cab and felt the whole thing rumble for a moment before the doors closed and it began to descend.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," Nora repeated, talking to no one in particular really as she gripped tightly onto the support bar on the side of the elevator wall; her forehead partly pressed against the cool wall. She was trying to keep to her long, steady breaths but it was quickly becoming more and more difficult to do. With each passing contraction, it felt like she was losing a little more composure, a little more control.
She felt a comforting hand rub the curve of her back.
"I know."
The elevator shook as it hit the bottom floor of the bunker and Nora thought that she might collapse right then from the vibrations alone. It was a subtle landing but it trembled through her legs harder than she was expecting it to. She had to keep a steady grip on the support bar for just a few seconds longer before she carefully pushed herself back; one hand reaching back for Preston for support.
She got what she was looking for in the form of his duster tightly clenched in her fist before she felt his arm wrap around her shoulders.
Nora practically tucked herself underneath his arm, moving her own to hook around his waist.
The elevator doors opened, revealing no one on the other side- no guns but certainly no welcoming party either.
One of them, either Haylen or Danse, was always there to greet them at the elevator.
Which meant one thing.
"Haylen?" Nora called as the two of them stepped out of the elevator and into the small living space. "Danse?"
Nothing but silence answered her back.
"I don't think they're home," Preston remarked, looking just a little unsettled by the silence.
Great.
It wasn't like Nora was expecting for her water to break, or for herself to go into labor so early, and maybe she had put a little too much faith in Haylen and Danse being present here but- where were they? As far as she knew they hardly left the bunker and even if they did it wasn't for a long period of time. And with the Radstorm coming over the top of the hill by now, it wasn't safe for them to be outside anyways.
She really needed Haylen to be here.
"You gotta be fucking kidding me," Nora huffed, feeling Preston follow her as she moved them through the entryway. There was the kitchen and storage to their right, and the living area and further to their left; all of which were empty.
She managed a few steps before she felt a very noticeable sensation of pressure pushing down between her legs now- and it only seemed to pull that tight sensation up over her belly. Her arm automatically locked against Preston's side, pulling tight to him, before she felt the way he pulled her around- pulling her against him, into a hug. She practically buried her head into his chest, stringing in gasps for air where she could.
Nora tried to wait for the feeling to pass.
But when it didn't, she got the warning.
"O-h-okay, oh God, the baby's coming-" she started, barely pulling herself away enough for him to hear her.
"Alright, you got this and I got you, we'll be fine- just a little longer," Preston assured, bringing one hand across her brow, brushing aside the damp strings of hair that had gotten stuck to her face. "Are you sure you don't-"
"I'm fine," she interrupted. "I think trying to carry me is just going to make it more complicated. If I can make it from Natick to here than I can make it to the basement floor on my own- hopefully."
Preston had made numerous offers to carry her and while each offer had been harder to turn down, Nora felt more comfortable walking. It felt better to walk even if she stumbled now and again- even if it felt like her legs were going to lock up underneath her. While being cradled sounded amazing, it would probably be more like torture with the pain in her back and hips. Hell, standing was the most comfortable position she had with it.
Giving herself some time to recover, Nora took up on his notion to move and squeezed back under his arm. She let Preston guide her through the living area to their left and dealt with the minor difficulty in following him- although his greatly-slowed pace made it easier for her to keep up. The living area was still widely spaced so it was easy for them to maneuver around in- although her eyes were quick to catch the subtle changes in the room.
"Oh- it's good to see they started to decorate the place."
Preston gave a modest chuckle at the remark. "Seriously?"
"Just let me talk and distract myself," Nora chided.
The two of them made their way through the living area and to the staircase that would lead them down into the living quarters of the bunker.
And Nora reluctantly went down them.
Making it to the bottom floor, Nora moved with Preston and felt him shoulder aside one of the many bedrooms doors before he guided her inside. So much stuff had been changed and moved around, Nora couldn't remember which room was what exactly. The bunker harbored a few spare rooms- a few too many for the small family that had funded the build of this place.
And while she wasn't entirely sure of what Haylen and Danse's sleeping routines were, she could only hope that since this wasn't the master bedroom than they weren't intruding on their sleeping space.
Preston helped her to one of the empty bunkbed cots and Nora eased herself down onto the thin mattress and tried to catch her breath.
The tight sensation of building pressure was getting to her now and she could feel the strings of pain ripping through her. It felt like there was a constant charley-horse in her stomach and ribs, making it a little too painful to move now that she was sitting down.
"I'll admit, this is not how I imagined this going," Nora breathed.
"You and me both," Preston replied as he sat down next to her, keeping one arm around her shoulders, pulling her into him. "How you feeling? You alright?"
Nora wanted to laugh at the question. "I am... miserable," she started as she leaned into him, "and really nervous but it's not like I haven't done this before so... I mean, first time giving birth in the post-apocalypse so it's a little different. But hey, bright side is that this isn't the worst place to be- I could be giving birth in the middle of the Glowing Sea- or Diamond City."
Preston seemed to humor her with a chuckle. "Oh come on, Piper would've loved to have documented every second of that."
Laughing hurt but Nora couldn't help it. "Oh my God, she would've taken pictures and published them."
"It would've made for a great headline piece," he continued as he brushed a kiss to her top of her head. "You'll be fine. I'm right here and after everything we've done and gone through up to this point, I'm pretty certain we can do this."
Now would've been a great time to remind him that she was the one actually in pain and in the middle of labor at the moment.
But he was certainly a ball of nerves and anxiety himself too.
It was two different situations here, two different roles, two different feelings.
Nora nodded and took a deep breath as she felt yet another ball of pressure building up inside of her; each contraction was getting closer now. "Okay, alright, we can do this, we just uh... we need some things beforehand. I think there's a medicine box in the bathroom that Haylen keeps pretty well-stocked. We need scissors and a string of some kind to tie off with- fuck me that was a big one- uh clean water, and like a blanket or a shirt or something. Christ, I can't remember the list Carrington told me in case of emergency- Jesus, why did I want to come all the way out to Natick of all places?"
"Because you love Natick," Preston reminded as he carefully stood up next to her. "Just stay here and keep breathing, alright? I'll be gone for a few minutes at most," he started, as he knelt down just enough to help unlace her boots before he pulled them off and tucked them aside. "Promise you're not going to have this baby while I'm gone?"
"No promises," Nora replied, rubbing one hand along the under curve of her belly, "but trust me, you will certainly know if something happens."
Preston stood up and brushed another kiss to her forehead before he made his way out of the room.
Breathing long, forced breaths through her mouth, Nora carefully picked herself up just enough to push down on the waistband of her jeans and underwear- working them down her thighs before she sat back down. She was eternally grateful that Marcy was able to stitch her up a pair of jeans with an elastic waistband, allowing Nora to keep her uniform while on the job. While she would've preferred to wear a dress to keep things simple and to keep herself from overheating, she had already battled and lost against a few hefty gusts of wind- and needless to say, it was hard for her to do her job when she was more worried about keeping her dress down.
(Although it did make those quickies against the outer wall of Diamond City a whole lot easier.)
Nora used her legs to kick the wet jeans off and away from her before she went about removing her shoulder and chest holster as well. For all she knew, she could still be here for a few hours, stuck in perpetual labor, so getting so drastically undressed would seem unnecessary- lest she sit around naked the entire time.
But there was something in her gut that assured her that she wouldn't be waiting that long.
This situation was definitely bringing back memories of Shaun being born on the side of the road. Memories of her repeatedly telling Nate that there was no way in Hell that she was going to make it to the hospital and that there was no point in calling an ambulance either. Nora could still see the look Nate gave her when she told him to pull off to the side of the road; Nate later admitted that he thought she was crazy for making the demand.
But he did pull over on her command and practically jumped out of the car before the engine was even cut.
Before he raced over to where she had already kicked the passenger side door open.
Nora could still remember almost tearing the leather of the car seat for those few seconds before Shaun came out.
Freshly-delivered into the hands of his father.
It had certainly been an experience- one that would potentially only be topped by this current situation.
Nora felt her entire body practically curl in on itself with the next contraction, causing her to lose that thin level of controlled breathing she had barely regained. Something was definitely off about the feeling this time though.
"Preston-" Nora called out; his name just barely leaving her lips before she found him in front of her again. One hand immediately reached forward to grasp at his jacket, tightly clenching it in her fist. "Oh God, okay, this is it- this has to be it," she fumbled, hearing the elongated whine escape from her own throat as she buried her face into his chest.
"I'm right here, we can do this," Preston assured, one hand rubbing the back of her shoulder before he knelt down in front of her. His other hand briefly cupped her cheek, causing her to realize that his gloves had been removed and his hands had been thoroughly cleaned. "You've been doing really good, babe, just a little longer."
She was done with it being 'just a little longer'.
She needed this to be over with now.
Taking a seemingly crippling heavy breath, Nora barely managed to push herself back against the mattress. The pain felt near unbearable as she struggled to prop her heels onto the thin frame of the bed that was peeking out from beneath the mattress; it wasn't quite the leverage she wanted but it was better than nothing. She leaned back on her forearms, groaning some as it only seemed to agitate her back and hips- but it allowed her to focus her strength on pushing down with the pressure rather than against it.
Everything felt like it was burning hot as the pressure pushed against her hips, feeling as though it was breaking the bone and splitting her open.
Nora could feel her body straining with the action even as nature seemed to take its course and allowed for everything to stretch in all the right places. Settling in as best she could, she tried to keep her mind focused on one thing. She had one job right now- and unfortunately it was something she had done before in another equally unsafe and hazardous environment. So she had that experience going for her at least.
She didn't even realize that she wasn't breathing as she urged her body to push against the weight that was moving lower and lower in her belly. The weight, the pressure was moving faster than she thought it would, almost just as fast as it had before on the side of the road- it was almost over already.
It was a few seconds of intense pushing, of memories drawn from the passenger side of a pulled-over car, before it simply felt like something popped inside of her.
And Nora felt the release of pressure, the release of tension.
She felt everything give in and give out at once- leaving her with nothing.
Nora heard herself give out a half-gasp for air and a half-jumbled cry as her body stopped fighting, stopped struggling- no longer having anything to push for. There were spots in the corners of her eyes and she found herself light-headed- found that no amount of gasps could give her enough air to breathe with. There were sputtered breaths and coughs as the occasional wheezed sob broke through her lips.
Just a few seconds of hysteria before it dwindled down into shock.
Gasping, Nora blinked a few times to get rid of the spots in her vision before she numbly wiped the sweat from her brow, wiping it away from her eyes. Allowing her to see clearly as she looked down at the sight of Preston's hands between her legs- looking down at the sight of a newborn cradled delicately in his palms.
And despite the rush of the past two unforgiving hours, she felt herself in disbelief over it.
"Is that..." Nora started, hearing herself somewhat slur the words together.
(With how dry her mouth suddenly felt, it was a surprise she could talk at all.)
Preston seemed to be in just as much shock as he held the crying newborn.
"Okay... only one of us... gets to cry at a time," Nora spoke, "and I've already started..."
Preston broke into a soft laugh before he carefully bundled the newborn in the spare shirt he had managed to scrounge up beforehand. "It's a girl, General," he spoke as he gently handed the loud infant to her.
"A girl," Nora repeated, holding the child long enough for him to tie and cut the cord before she pulled the infant to her chest. Her mind and body were still reeling and unreeling from the whole thing but she hardly paid attention to the new throbbing pain between her legs. She hardly paid attention to the loud screaming coming from the child, upset with the new world she had been born into.
Maybe she was still in shock but it was hard for Nora to believe that this was happening, that this had happened.
Two hundred years in the future, two hundred years after the bombs.
After losing her first child, here she was with her second- repeating the same timeline over again.
Nora could feel the hot tears rolling down her cheeks again as she pulled the child up and gently buried her face into the bundled shirt. "I love you."
Preston let her have her time as she needed and took up the responsibility of handling the resulting mess of the now-discharged placenta. It was uncomfortable still but Nora tried not to squirm when he carefully worked on cleaning her next. It was easy to feel how gentle he was being- easy to note that this wasn't the first time he had had to do this. Which was something he had reassured her of the moment she found out that she was pregnant to begin with.
Being a Minutemen meant taking care of the Commonwealth people irregardless of the situation- even if it meant acting as a midwife if the situation called for it.
"We made this," Nora humored, watching as Preston pulled the few spare pillows from the other beds in the room. She didn't even question what had happened to the pillow she had scavenged from the motel just hours before.
He chuckled lightly as he moved back to her and propped them against the head of the bed.
"Yeah, yeah we sure did," he replied, as he helped to move her onto the mattress properly.
Nora felt the pillows cushion her back and felt them keep her semi-propped up, allowing her to prop her legs open to give some relief to the pain that remained between them. Again, she was without the relief that came with post-birth hospital care but... right now she didn't care. All she wanted to focus on was the newborn child in her arms, the husband at her side. She felt Preston finally sit down next to her; she felt his arm move back around her shoulders as she tucked herself under him once more, resting her head against his chest now.
"Ellie Joli Kingsend-Garvey," she whispered. "It's a hellva name."
"She's beautiful," Preston remarked, fingers brushing through her hair as he spoke before he leaned over to brush a kiss to her temple. "You alright?"
"Yeah, just... tired," Nora replied. "I'll be fine- hell, I'll be up walking around again before you're ready for me to."