Slicer sat on a hard wooden bench, leaning against the wall, twiddling his thumbs. He had already counted the ceiling tiles twice, then named them all. He checked the chrono. He had been waiting for four hours now with nothing to do. He stood up and started pacing up and down the hallway. A med droid passed by and asked if he would like some caf, but he declined. He's already had three cups and his hands were starting to shake.
Back down the hall, the door Slicer had been waiting at swung open. He hurried back down. The medic smiled. "You can go in now." Slicer eagerly poked his head into the room.
Mirda was laying back against her pillow, looking both delighted and exhausted. Lurk was sitting on the edge of the bed next to her. In his arms was a tiny, squirming baby girl. Lurk looked up at Slicer, with stars in his eyes. He looked up when Slicer came in to the room. "I have a daughter," he said dreamily.
"We," Mirda corrected him, "we have a daughter. I did all the work, mister."
Lurk just grinned. He looked down at his baby girl. "Look! Ba'vodu Slicer is here!"
Slicer walked over so he could see better. The little girl certainly had her father's nose and her mother's ears. "Aw, she's so beautiful, vode!"
"Do you want to hold her?" Lurk asked. Slicer nodded, carefully taking the baby from her father's arms.
Mirda rubbed her forehead. "Cyar'ika, get me a shig and some painkillers," she ordered. Lurk obediently stood to go make some in the caf pot on the counter.
Slicer was amusing himself by tickling the baby's nose. She was silent, wide-eyed, staring around the room still in shock of having just been born. "What's her name?" Slicer asked. Lurk put down the caf pot and smiled, looking over his shoulder. "Dha'werda."
Slicer looked up at his brother. "Stealth?"
Lurk nodded. "You don't think he'd mind that his namesake is a girl, do you?"
Slicer shook his head, grinning wider than he had before. "No, I think he would be just fine with it. He couldn't have asked for a more beautiful niece."
Werda giggled and wrapped her tiny fist around Uncle Slicer's index finger. "Live up to that name, eh kid?"