Chapter 1
Brand New Beginning
Liz meant the world to him, she was his angel, his best friend and he'd never forgive himself if anything ever happened to her, or the unborn babies that slumbered in her belly. Hellboy loved her and the babies and would do anything to protect them. He was over joyed when he learned Liz was going to have a baby, but he was ecstatic when he learned she was having two babies, just the thought of it made him smile, Liz loved him and trusted him so much that she wanted to have a family with him, something he thought he'd never get the chance to have
"I feel like a blimp" Liz groaned pulling on a black t/shirt "Probably look like one too"
"You look great Liz." Hellboy said kissing her "Like the shirt, I have one just like it"
"Yeah, well I'm wearing it today" Liz said with a slight smirk "God my back's killing me, better get down to the lab before they send someone to look for me again, you want to come with Red?" Liz asked
"What do you think?" Hellboy said smirking at her and walking out of the room down the hall with her.
"All right Liz let's see how much you weigh" Kate says as Liz steps onto the scale.
"195 pounds, good" Kate says "now have a seat up here and we'll have a look at those babies"
Liz pulled her shirt up to just below the bottom of her breasts and smiled up at Hellboy who was leaning against the wall watching her and smiling at her as Kate passed a scanner across her belly
"Come see your babies, daddy" Liz said motioning for him to come over, Hellboy walks over to her.
"All right here's baby "A" and baby "B" is right over there" Kate said pointing out each baby "There's baby "A"s spine, legs, arms, and head. Baby "A" has a habit of sucking "B"s tail and "B" is very cuddly, in earlier scans baby "B" would be holding on to "A"s umbilical cord, hand, or tail." Kate said.
"They're getting very big, could this affect how they're born" Hellboy asked looking at the scan.
"No, it shouldn't, they're an average healthy size, they should come easily. We might have a bit of trouble with the baby who comes last but we can easily turn the baby in the right direction if we need to. Everything's fine, babies should be ready any day now" Kate said helping Liz sit up.
That night Hellboy watched Liz's small form as she rolled from her back onto her side, her hand draped across her large belly her long slender legs drawn up into her long white night gown. Liz's belly had outgrown her usual sleep wear, a pair of sweats and an old T/shirt. She had begun to wear the night gown when she began her eighth month.
Hellboy smiled remembering that day
"Red, what do you think of this color" Liz said showing him a paint sample card a pale blue color.
"I am not sleeping in a pastel blue bedroom Liz" he said bluntly, handing the sample card back to her.
"It's not for our room, it's for the baby's room" Liz said taking the card from him and looking back at the stack of paint and wall paper samples.
"Baby?" he whispered sitting up "Liz, you're" he started to say when she smiled at him.
He remembered the next morning when they got the surprise of their lives.
"Hello Liz just got your test results back and they came back positive, so why don't you just lie back and we'll have a look at the baby" Kate said passing a scanner over her belly and studying the image on the monitor "Looks like we have not one baby but two" Kate said in surprise.
Hellboy smiled and brushed a few loose strands of onyx black hair away from Liz's face.
"Red . . . " Liz murmurs
"Shhh, everything's all right, go back to sleep." Hellboy whispers kissing her gently on the cheek, draping his left arm carefully about her waist and stroking her belly.
"Everything's fine, Liz. Everything's fine." Hellboy murmured letting Liz snuggle up to him.
"Liz, you feeling all right?" a mans voice asked. The voice belonging to her friend and fellow agent, Clay.
"What? Oh, I'm fine, just some pain, that's all-" Liz said slowly pulling herself up out of the chair she was in.
"All right, if you're sure" Clay said putting a hand on her shoulder to help steady her.
"I'll be fine. I, Liz starts to say when a jolt of pain shot through her lower back and pelvis. - Clay, where's Red?"
"Last time I saw him he was in the cafeteria eating breakfast" Clay said looking at her.
"Get him for me will you. I'm heading down to the Med wing" Liz said walking quickly down the hall.
Hellboy was just starting on his second cup of coffee when Clay rushed in.
"Red, Liz is heading down to the Med wing, you better get there buddy, you're about to become a daddy" Clay said jogging over to him.
"What! Thanks Clay" Hellboy said getting up and walking quickly down to the Med wing.
Chapter 2
"Hey Liz" Hellboy said from the doorway as he watched a nurse help Liz into a lab gown. "Ready to be a mama?"
"Yeah, but we're in for a long wait, so grab the crossword, Red" Liz said with a small laugh as she sat down on the bed.
The next three hours were spent by playing either cards, Liz won most of them, but suspected that Hellboy had let her win, or looking at stacks of old polaroid pictures.
- Look at this one Red" Liz said holding a polaroid of a sleeping Hellboy on his stomach with six or seven cats curled up asleep on his back and rear end.
"I thought you got rid of that!" Hellboy said making a grab for the polaroid -
"Hello Liz, how are you doing?" Kate asks walking into the room.
"Contractions are starting to become a pain in the ass, no pun intended" Liz said shifting around in the bed where she was sitting.
"Well how about walking about for a bit, it should help lessen the pains and help the babies shift about." Kate says.
"Works for me" Liz said trying to stand up, Hellboy helps her stand. The nurse hands her a robe and Liz pulls it on.
Hellboy looped his left arm gently about Liz's waist, Liz doing the same, Liz's small arm was barely long enough to even reach half way around his back.
Two hours later at a quarter past three Liz slowly sat up a pained look on her face.
"Red ? " Liz whimpers.
"Shhh, I'm here Liz I 'm here, everything's gonna be fine" he whispers
"Red - it hurts!" Liz cries
"I know it hurts Sparky, come on deep breathes, that's it come on" Hellboy coos rocking Liz gently in his arms.
"I'm scared Red" Liz whimpers
"Me too, Sparky, me too" Hellboy croons
"Red this is it! " Liz gasps gripping Hellboy's hand.
"Shhh, it's going to be fine Liz" Hellboy said pressing the call button "It's been nine long months Liz, but we're finally going to see our babies." Hellboy whispers softly as Kate rushes in.
"All right let's have a look" Kate draws the blanket away from Liz's lap "all right Liz, you're fully dilated to ten Centimeters let's get you prepped and ready." Kate says pulling on a pair of latex gloves.
Two hours later Liz's agonized cries are heard from down the hall. Liz griped the thumb of Hellboy's stone right hand.
"Beautiful. . ." Hellboy murmured watching her.
"Push down Liz, come on that's it" Kate Reese Liz's Gynecologist and Pediatrician for her babies, coaxes, as the top of the baby's head starts coming out of the birth canal Liz stops to breathe.
"Don't stop Liz keep pushing, come on, keep pushing, that's it, you almost got the head out, come on push the head out Liz, that's it, that's it there we go" Kate says as the head slides out.
"Whoa, hang on a second!" Hellboy says quickly snatching up the polaroid camera he stashed just within reach and moving to the foot of the bed.
"Don't you dare, Red!"Liz half yelled half-growled glaring at him, as he snaps a photo of the emerging head.
"Good job Liz you're doing great come on deep breath and push, push down come on, come on that's it, Liz, just one more push, ok, one more big push!" Kate urges, all the while Hellboy is snapping a few more quick photos, Liz gives an agonized cry, as the baby slides out into Kate's hands, "Here's Baby "A" a beautiful baby girl!"
Hellboy snaps a picture of the baby in Kate's hands, then Liz's ecstatic face, as the baby begins wailing as Kate cuts her cord and quickly hands her over to a nurse.
"Ok Liz let's get Baby "B" out, come on push" Kate says as a small tail falls out, followed by a tiny rear end and little legs, Hellboy snaps a picture as the head slips out.
"Baby "B" is another beautiful baby girl!"
Chapter 3
Three's a Charm
"There we go!" Kate says joyfully handing the baby to another nurse, then turning back to Liz who's still pushing. "Liz, you can stop they're both out, you . . . " Kate starts.
Hellboy looks up at the nurse a fearful look on his face.
"What is it?" Hellboy asked putting the camera down.
"Annie! Get another receiving blanket we have another baby, and she's not breathing, we need to get a breathing tube into this one! Someone set up a monitoring system" Kate said quickly tying off and cutting the cord and bringing the baby to a padded platform.
"Come on baby give me a cry, come on sweety" Kate coaxed.
"R-Red, what's wrong? W-where's the baby!" Liz said sheer panic in every word she spoke.
"She's having trouble breathing, Liz" Hellboy said gravely.
"Oh no . . . No!" Liz cried tears streaming down her flushed face, as she watched Kate work to get her baby breathing.
"Come on baby, that's it good job little one, good job!" Kate said happily as the tiny baby gave a loud shrill wail and began moving her small arms legs and tiny tail.
"Oh . . . God . . . Oh thank God!" Liz cried in relief tugging on the hem of Hellboy's shirt.
"Thanks for leading her back to the light pop" Hellboy murmured looking upward.
"Baby "C" is breathing, but she's pretty small she'll need to be in an incubator for a while about seven or eight days, ten at most, but she's going to be just fine, don't you worry" Kate says setting her down gently.
Hellboy woke up at a quarter past midnight to find Liz's bed empty but instinctively knew where to find her.
"You should be in bed you know?" Hellboy whispered putting his arm about her waist and kissing her cheek.
"I don't want to leave them Red" Liz whispered looking down at the two small infants in the basinets that stood side by side, then at the incubator that held the smallest infant, "Red what if we lose her?" Liz whispered fresh tears welling up in her eyes.
"We won't lose her or the other two you heard what Kate said when she examined them all three of them have good strong heart beats, good breathing, everything's in the right place, healthy and accounted for, they're all gonna be fine, but . . ." Hellboy starts saying looking down at her.
"But what?" Liz asks.
"We need to name them, we can always name them Fluff Muff and Puff" Hellboy said snickering slightly.
Why don't we just name them after the Marx's brothers then"Liz said jokingly.
"Nah., those aren't any names for these little beauties. This one's going to be just like her mother beautiful dark hair and eyes."Hellboy said stroking the first baby's hand and looking back up at Liz. His eyes fell on a small vase of flowers, Lily of The Valley, Liz's favorite flower. "Lily. That sounds just right, what do you think Liz?"
"Little baby Lily that's perfect. This little baby, is going to be like her daddy, beautiful golden amber eyes and dark raven black hair" Liz said stroking the second baby's back with two fingers. "Raven, what do you think, Red"
"Baby Raven, that's nice, this little baby needs a special name, because she's going do great things, she's lucky number three. What do you think about the name Eleanore?"Hellboy asks
"Eleanore, that's pretty. Little Eleanore" Liz said giving a small yawn.
"Come on Sparky, let's get you to bed
Chapter 4
First Week Frenzy
A loud shrill wail echoed through the halls of the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense.
"Not again" Liz muttered climbing out from under the warm blankets and stumbling toward the fridge, which thankfully was in Red's room long before she married him, and grabbing a bottle.
"I'll get her Liz, you go back to bed" A voice mumbled from behind her, a warm hand gently taking the bottle from her hand.
"Thanks Red" Liz sighed in relief as Red walked quickly to the next room.
"I'm coming little one, I'm coming" Hellboy said walking to Raven's crib and carefully slipping his stone right hand under her backside and his left hand under her head and lifts her up and shifts her into the crook of his left arm "Here you go sweety." Hellboy murmured watching as Raven took to the bottle and drank quickly.
"Whoa, slow down baby bird, don't bolt your food. Don't worry baby bird your sister's gonna be home soon and things will get back to normal, well as close to normal as possible, and it wasn't very normal to begin with, but you Lily, and Eleanor will always be the most important part of our lives" Hellboy murmured watching as Raven gave a small hiccup and released the nearly empty bottle.
"That's my girl" Hellboy whispered looking at Raven who dropped back into sleep, he sets her gently back in the crib and leaves shutting the door half way he starts back for his room and stops mid way and turns back around and heads for the Med. Wing.
Hellboy entered the dim recovery room where Eleanor had been placed just two days ago, and made his way to Eleanor's incubator. As he approaches her he notices that something is not right with Eleanor, she was fine yes, but she was awake.
"Hey baby Nell, what are you still doing awake, can't sleep or did your old man wake you up coming in here" Hellboy said quietly pulling a chair up next to the incubator and sitting down. "Just a few more days Nell then you can leave that tank and trade it in for a nice warm crib in your new room with your sisters," Hellboy said softly reaching his left hand in through one of the openings on the incubators side and watched as Eleanor's tiny hand reached for and grasped his index finger "you're no sleepy little eater like your sisters, you're the quietest and calmest baby I've ever seen, you were like that even before you were born, you were so quiet and so still we had no idea you were up there until you came out, me and your mama were pretty scared when they said you weren't breathing, your mama was still scared even after they got you breathing" Hellboy says softly as Eleanor releases his finger only to grasp the end of his rosary "You like this too huh? These belonged to your grandfather, he never took them off, well until the night he, well I'll tell you that part when you're much older. I'm sure your grandfather would be very proud of you and your sisters, he was a very kind man, but I know he's probably looking down and smiling at his three perfect grand babies"
Chapter 5
For The First Time
"Feisty, little ones aren't they" Abe laughed watchingsix month old Lily roll off her back onto her belly from where she lay on a large cloth mat on the floor with Raven.
"Yeah they're energetic little things, especially Lily, she's a roller, I was trying to get her changed this morning she kept rolling from her back to her belly every time I rolled her back over she'd roll over again! It's a conspiracy I tell you, she's gonna drive me nuts by the time she's four!" Hellboy laughed "Both her and Raven"
"What about Eleanor?" Abe asked waving a hand to where Eleanor lay asleep on his lap.
"Nah. She's probably gonna give me a heart attack by the time she's old enough to walk, she's not like Raven and Lily at all she's very quiet, relaxed almost" Hellboy said stroking Eleanor's back.
"She's going to be a real beauty when she's older, you can tell by how she behaves, she's very lady-like for a baby" Abe said with a chuckle.
"Yeah, she gets that from her mother thankfully" Hellboy said smiling at the sleeping baby in his lap.
"Yes, but something tells me she's going behave like her father too" Abe said laughing.
"They've been heresix months Blue, and I still don't know what to do. First two weeks I had no idea how to change a diaper or how to prepare a bottle, first time Lily slept through the night I panicked I thought there might be something wrong.
I've heard other agents talk about their kids, saw all the drawings their kids made for them, even if it's just scribbling they hang it up on the wall of their office like they're masterpieces, or when an agent tells everyone that their baby rolled over for the first time or started crawling or walking or they said their first words. I guess I never thought it was that great 'cause I never thought I'd get the chance to have something like that never thought I was good enough to have such a wonderful thing." Hellboy said quietly looking to Lily then Raven then at Eleanor "Now I have these three beautiful babies and now I have a chance to know what it's like, to see them walk and talk and know what it feels like to put every little drawing right down to those little scribbles up on the wall, to finally know what it's like to be a father" Hellboy said a tear rolling down his red cheek.
"The slap of little bare feet running down the hall to greet their daddy when he gets home and those little hugs and kisses, bedtime stories and bad dreams and climbing into bed with us." Liz said running her fingers through the thick black hair of Hellboy's sideburns. "Let's put these beautiful little babies of ours to bed" Liz said kissing his head.
