A/N: I'd like to thank all the wonderful people who reviewed The Night That Never Happened. I'd also like to apologize to the people that PM'd me and asked for this sequel sooner. It took a while for me to confiscate the computer from my five-year-old who uses it to watch Veggie Tales and laughing goat videos.
Just to clear up confusion, this takes place after The Raven King, but since we don't actually know what happens in that for another couple weeks, I'm assuming happy endings for all. Gansey and Noah are both alive and well and everything miraculously worked out! Anyway, this was a wacky idea that will probably never happen in the books, but I hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I own nothing, but I sometimes drive Kavinsky's Mitsubishi in my dreams.
The Day That Changed It All
Gansey was pacing. He had been pacing for the last twenty minutes and even though he thought it was a ridiculous way to deal with stress, he couldn't stop. Behind him the monitors beeped and sang and somewhere in all the madness he could hear a fast beating little heart.
"Stop it! You're making me dizzy," Blue snapped from her place on the hospital bed.
Gansey hung his head, instantly apologetic, and moved to her side. Already, she looked exhausted with her hair falling in her face and her cheeks red. Under the blanket the mountain of her belly moved slightly as its tiny occupant kicked.
"You did call everyone, right," Blue inquired, all the anger gone from her voice. It stilled amazed him how fast her moods changed now.
"Yes. Ronan and Adam are on their way from the barns and your mother is waiting for Orla to bring back the car. They'll make it on time. Don't worry."
Blue nodded in reassurance, but just as soon as she relaxed, she tensed again, her teeth snapping shut on a scream. Taking her hand, he let her nearly crush his bones as another contraction tore through her. He silently prayed for stronger bones.
It lasted only a minute and Blue collapsed back into the bed. Watching her face, Gansey couldn't help but think back to the day she and Ronan had made their announcement. Becoming pregnant in a dream. Honestly, of all the things he'd seen, this should not have been the most surprising, but he'd stood in utter shock for a good ten minutes before forcing words through his open mouth.
"Y… you're sure? I mean… I've heard sometimes those tests aren't accurate."
"Do you also think four different psychics aren't accurate," Blue had demanded, her irrational pregnancy emotions making her anger that much fiercer.
"What? No! I… I completely believe… It's just, Ronan? In a dream?" He hadn't been able to completely hide the hurt. Even if it had been an act done out of worry and despair – and as a way to distract Ronan from his own night horrors. Still, Blue and Ronan.
Glancing at Adam who had been slumped on the couch, he noted the same hurt on his grease covered face, but he was silent, processing.
"I think it's great," Noah had shouted, dropping down onto his knees to talk directly to Blue's belly. "I'm gonna be your uncle, little fella. Uncle Noah. You know, Blue, Noah is a great name."
"No," Ronan growled. He hadn't moved from his scowling position against the wall, but when Noah's hand hovered over Blue's stomach, he tensed, possibly preparing to tackle Noah to the ground if he so much as nudged Blue too hard. It was a protective stare that Ronan had only ever used on Chainsaw and his little brother, Matthew.
"So, you're keeping it," Adam inquired, not meeting anyone's eyes. His voice had been the only calm thing in the room.
"It's not a puppy, Parrish," Ronan snarled, but Blue only nodded.
"Yes, we're keeping him," she acknowledged, and her hand had come up unconsciously to rub her belly. Yes, they were really doing this. Blue and Ronan were going to be parents. Gansey had wondered if he was still dreaming. Or maybe he was still stuck in Cabeswater and this was a hallucination of what the place would be like if apes ruled the world and pigs took flight.
It had taken weeks and several heart to hearts with Blue before he truly began to accept it. And then, of course, he'd died. Coming back from that – again – had really put things in perspective. Now he was happy with Blue, and Ronan was happy with whatever he and Adam were, and Noah was alive, and he was standing in the hospital waiting on his girlfriend to give birth to his best friend's baby.
He was ninety-eight percent sure this was not a dream.
The door to their hospital room burst open and a cloud of incense streamed in, making Gansey cough. The incense was followed by Blue's aunt Jimi who held a bowl of something smoking and was flitting around the room.
"Um… what are you doing," Gansey inquired, looking to Blue for guidance in the area of her family traditions.
"Cleansing the room of course," Jimi answered, bringing the bowl closer to the bed and mumbling under her breath.
"Ew, stop," Blue shouted, making to kick Jimi, but her aunt moved quickly out of the way. "You're making me gag."
"It is imperative that the baby be born into a peaceful atmosphere."
"Gansey," Blue yelled, eyeing him meaningfully. "Make her stop!"
"Can you please…," Gansey began, but Blue curled up into a ball again, whimpering as another contraction rolled through. "It will pass, Jane. Just breathe. Breathe slowly and–"
"If you tell me to breathe one more time," Blue hissed through her teeth, "I will punch you in the face and throw away your stupid boat shoes."
"Never mind," Gansey replied, cautiously running his hands through her hair.
Finally, she relaxed again, but this time, there were tears in her eyes. "I think I want an epidural now. Right now!"
"Oh, no, Blue," Jimi chastised, moving closer to the bed with her bowl of smoking herbs. "You have to do it naturally. That is how a birth is meant to be experienced."
"Out," Blue shouted, pointing to the door. "Out now!"
Jimi just smiled pleasantly and patted Blue's belly. "Naturally, Blue. Oh, and your mother should be here in twelve minutes."
As Jimi finally left, Gansey tried to breathe through the incense while he wiped Blue's tears. "It's your choice, Jane."
"Well, I'm choosing to not be in pain. Where's the nurse, anyway?"
"She said she'd be back soon to check your cervix. It shouldn't be long."
But that was what he'd thought when Blue had woken him up this morning with stomach pains. It was supposed to be simple. The contractions start, you come to the hospital and sit comfortably and after an hour, you have a baby. Simple.
It was not simple.
They had now been here for an hour and a half and the baby still wasn't ready and Blue had nearly broken his hand.
The door opened again, and just as Gansey had promised, the nurse entered, smiling brightly.
"How are we feeling, my dear," she asked, pushing her graying brown hair behind her ear.
"How am I feeling," Blue growled, but Gansey squeezed her arm and she calmed. "Sorry. It hurts."
"I know it does. Let me check your–" But before she could finish, the door flew open again – literally thrown open hard enough that it slammed into the wall – and Ronan stood in the doorway with Adam just behind him.
"Is he here yet," Ronan asked, his voice intense and full of an odd sort of hope.
Gansey shook his head. "Not yet."
Ronan was at Blue's side then, running his left hand over her belly and his right hand over Blue's head.
"I'm sorry, Sir, but I have to check her cervix. You and you're friend need to step out," the nurse insisted, but she shrunk back at the glare Ronan sent her way.
"I'm the father," he hissed, his hand curling protectively over Blue's bump.
"You… you're the father? But you…" Here she pointed at Gansey, a look of utter confusion on her face. "You said you were her boyfriend."
"I am," Gansey insisted. "But he is the father."
"I kissed her once," a voice shouted enthusiastically, and when they looked over, Noah stood in the doorway, his worried eyes finding Blue.
Finally, the nurse's curious gaze found Adam. "And you?"
"Oh, I didn't kiss her," Adam explained. "We just dated for a while."
"Uh-huh. So… you all want to stay for this?"
But before any of them could nod their heads, Blue's voice broke through the silence. "No, they are not! The only people getting a glimpse between my legs are the people who have already seen it."
Blushing, Adam started moving away from the bed, but Blue's hand shot out and gripped his arm. "You're not leaving, though… right? You'll be in the waiting room?" There were tears in her eyes now as her out of control hormones shifted yet again.
"Definitely not leaving," he promised. "Like I could miss seeing a mini Ronan." He bent over and left a quick kiss on her forehead before striding to the door.
Noah, however, remained by the bed, smiling.
"You and Noah just kissed, correct," Gansey asked Blue.
After a moment, Noah seemed to realize everyone was still staring at him and his head drooped. "I'm not invisible, am I? Sorry, still getting used to being alive." Gansey watched with a glimmer of amusement as Noah shuffled out after Adam.
The nurse's look of confusion was now profound, but as another contraction took Blue, she came back to herself.
Sadly, time didn't speed along any faster after that.
Maura finally arrived, which was both a relief and a nightmare. The relief was that Blue now had another set of hands to squeeze when she wanted to scream, and the nightmare came from the fact that Gansey now had two overly emotional Sargent women screaming at him.
"Did you seriously forget a camera, Gansey?"
"No, don't rub there! Right there!"
"I thought I said call the nurse!"
"Well how hard can it be to find ice chips?!"
But somewhere in the middle of all this, Blue finally got her epidural and told Gansey how much she loved him for being there and told Ronan how much she hoped this child somehow came out more like Matthew and less like Ronan. The hours ticked by and finally, at five minutes after four, it was time to push.
It was mostly a whirl of doctors and nurses and Blue with tears running down her face from the effort, but after an twenty-five excruciating minutes… they were rewarded with the most wondrous sound in all the world.
A very frustrated cry.
As the doctor laid the bloody bundle on Blue's chest and began to wipe furiously with towels, Blue and Ronan couldn't take their eyes of their baby… and Gansey couldn't take his eyes off of them.
Blue raised a hand to reverently touch her son's tiny head and Ronan's eyes widened in wonder. It was the only part of him to move. The rest of him was still, his mouth in a firm line. To an outsider, it may have seemed as though Ronan wasn't impressed, but Gansey knew him better. Ronan was explosive in anger, but completely still in happiness, as if his body didn't know what to do with the emotion.
Slowly, Gansey watched as Ronan lifted a hand to touch the baby's cheek.
"He's beautiful," Blue whispered. "Hey, little guy. I'm your mommy. I hope that doesn't scare you."
"No more than his daddy will," Ronan quipped, but for once, every ounce of harshness had left his voice. He stared at the baby as if he were the most precious thing in all the world and Gansey slowly took a step back.
He shouldn't be here.
That was the thought that ran through his mind in that moment. They were a family. Dad, Mom, baby, and Grandmother. He had the sudden sense that he was intruding. But as he began turning for the door…
"Gansey," Blue called, cradling the baby in her arms. "Where are you going?"
"I thought I'd give you all a moment together."
Blue's eyes lit with an adorable anger. "Richard Campell Gansey the third, get over here so my son can say hello to his new uncle… or whatever we decide to call you."
"Shouldn't it just be the family?"
"You are family, Dick," Ronan noted, his mouth twisted up in a wry smile. "And while you're at it, mind texting the rest of this crazy family?"
Later, Gansey found himself laughing at the astonished faces of the nurses. When they'd agreed to let the family in before they whisked the baby away to the nursery for a bath, they hadn't expected Adam and Noah and Mr. Gray along with the women of 300 Fox Way. The tiny room was now so crowded there was barely room to stand and the same confused nurse as before kept squeezing by and asking just how much family Blue had.
"So," Maura finally asked. "What are you going to name him?"
Blue and Ronan exchanged a brief smile before Blue finally responded. "Owen Niall Sargent."
The sleeper, the dreamer, the family of magic.
As the nurse finally began shooing people from the room, Gansey felt as if a new journey was just beginning.