A/N - After the amazing reviews I received for my first story, I couldn't help but be inspired to write another one. This is just a short piece of fluff that will probably give you cavities. Enjoy!
The wind outside howled, torrents of rain battering relentlessly against the glass of the windows and pouring down the roof in rivulets. Outside the protective warmth of the cosy country house, small animal hunkered down in their winter burrows, birds fluffing up their feathers and burying their heads behind their wings in an effort to escape the cold that seeped through the darkness and clawed at the doors with it's icy fingers.
Inside however, things were calm and warm, the quiet of the night broken only by the muffled sounds of the storm outside and the rumbling of a young German Shepard puppy, snoring in his basket in front of the glowing embers of the living room fireplace. Not all the occupants of the house, however, were tucked away in their beds, sleeping soundly. Up the staircase, down the hall, light spilled from underneath a closed door.
Bo still barely dared to breathe as she held the precious form in her arms, gazing down in wonder at the tiny infant swaddled carefully in soft fleece. Two months into her life, and to the succubus it seemed like it had been both years and mere days. She had thought she had understood how much she would love this child.
When Lauren had been waiting for her with tears of joy, and a positive pregnancy test clutched in shaking hands, she had felt so much love it had taken her breath away. When she had first noticed the gentle bump to her wife's flat stomach she had lain with her for hours stroking it, speculating on what would be, and she had thought she loved the unborn child then.
When she had first seen that tiny little bean-like shadow on the ultrasound she had laughed and cried along with Lauren, and sent copies to all of their friends. She had put the image in her wallet, in her car, on the fridge, and framed it on the bedside table. She had spent hours tracing the outline of the growing baby with her fingertips, the same way she loved to trace Lauren's features, and she had thought she loved their baby then.
When she had spent all kinds of hours, morning and night, on missions seeking out blueberries, chicken nuggets, and chocolate truffle ice cream, she had laughed and teased her wife about taking after her eating habits after all. She had read dozens of child-raising books with Lauren, and jokingly pulled faces as she fed her cheesy garlic bread with onion dip, and she had thought that she loved them both then.
When she had found out that they were having a girl, a daughter, she had gone out and brought a stuffed purple unicorn the size of a small horse and had helped her wife 'cuddle test it.' She had teetered dangerously on a ladder in order to paint little penguins and teddy bears around the baby's room, and spent hours struggling and swearing as she put together a crib, and as she watched Lauren putting the finishing touches on the nursery and fold up tiny little onesies she had wrapped her arms around her growing waist and whispered that she already loved her and their baby with her whole heart.
When she had first felt the baby kick she had been delighted, and after Lauren had reassured her that yes, it was normal for it to happen strongly and frequently, she had taken every possible opportunity to touch and stroke her wife's belly – captivated by the tiny flutters she felt against her fingers, and how they grew stronger and more noticeable over time. One evening as they cuddled on the couch she had rested her hand on her lovers stomach and pulsed a gentle pink glow of power, the same colour Lauren's chi had been the night they had conceived, and had nearly jumped for joy when she felt an answering kick against her palm. That night she had felt her love for her daughter through a bond she had only ever felt with Lauren, and she had thought she could never feel more complete.
If only she had known.
It had taken months. Months of love, and laughter, and learning. Months of lost sleep, of tears, and raging hormones. Months of pain and fear, as Lauren struggled and changed - her body forced to adapt in order to carry what they had both been shocked to discover was a fully fae child to term. Months of uncertainty as Lauren weakened and faded, only to suddenly begin to grow stronger, as her very DNA started to evolve.
But eventually it had happened, and, for all the waiting and practice and anticipation, Bo had still not been ready for when her wife had gotten up from dinner one night to waddle to the bathroom for the hundredth time and had suddenly found herself standing in a puddle. The labour had been long and brutal, and for eighteen hours Bo had held Lauren's hand tightly in her own, not faltering even as it felt as though she would never regain the use of her fingers. She brushed sweaty blonde locks away from her wife's forehead and brought her endless cups of ice-chips, soothing her when she screamed and strained and cursed her very existence.
Finally, at 1:23 pm, beneath a clear autumn sky, with a rush a blood and a sharp cry, baby Charlotte Isabel Lewis had been born. Bo had cut the umbilical cord with trembling hands, and when the nurse had handed the baby, their baby, to her for the first time, all squashed and wrinkly and pink as she was, the succubus had truly understood what it was to love a child. She had placed her carefully in her exhausted wife's arms, torn between watching her daughters face and the absolute love and wonder she could see spreading across Lauren's.
A soft gurgle brought Bo back to the present, where she stood in the warmth of the nursery, illuminated by the soft glow of a slowly rotating solar system light. She smiled down at her daughter, gently running her index finger over her little nose. Charlotte was beginning to stir now, turning her head and making soft sucking sounds, and though the succubus rocked her in her arms to keep her asleep as long as possible, it came as little surprise when a few minutes later the peace in the house was broken with a series of whimpers that quickly became piercing cries as she awoke, demanding to be fed.
Right on cue, a weary Lauren entered the room, having been alerted to her daughters impending wakefulness by the sound of Bo trying to sooth her over the baby-monitor. She settled herself down into the plush armchair in the corner shaking her head slightly at her wife.
"Why am I not at all surprised to find you in here?" She murmured softly as Bo transferred a now very vocal Charlotte into her arms, quickly placating her with a nipple.
The succubus simply shrugged and smiled again. It wasn't the first time Lauren had gotten up to feed the baby and found her wife rocking and whispering to her, or simply standing by the crib watching her sleep. She had joked that it would be great when Charlotte moved on to bottle-feeding - as then she could let the doctor catch up on some of her sleep – but in truth she loved this time, watching her wife feeding their baby as she sat with them both. Her family.
She leaned forward and traced her finger over a hungrily suckling Charlotte's cheek, giggling as her nose twitched and a tiny fist captured the wandering digit, clutching it tightly, and refusing to let go. "I think she's ticklish. She obviously got that from you, my love."
Lauren chuckled, then winced as hard gums clamped down roughly on her tender flesh.
"I think she's a biter. And I think it's fair to say she got that from you." She carefully swapped the baby to the other side, supporting her head as she latched on eagerly. "Along with your love of my breasts it would seem."
Bo gasped in mock outrage. "I'm sure I have no idea what you are talking about."
The blonde simply grinned, humming in contentment when her wife pressed a kiss to her head. Eventually Charlotte decided that she was full and Bo held her arms out, happily taking her for burping. As she paced around the nursery, cooing softly to the beautiful little girl in her arms, she caught sight of the love on Lauren's tired face, felt the warmth of the tiny body squirming against her shoulder, and wanted to sing in joy. Bo had thought she had understood how much she would love their daughter, before she had been born. She had thought that she loved her family as much as was possible already.
She had never been so happy to be proven wrong in her life.
