Chapter 1

Nick's POV

"How long do you reckon it's been now?" Lucas' question snaps me out of the reverie induced by staring at the same bulletin board for goodness knows how long.

"Seriously, Lucas," I say, "You asked me the same question twelve seconds ago. We've been here eleven hours and Jessica's been in labour for-"

"Sixteen hours," he interrupts. I turn my attention back to an optician's advert: "So you think you know your eye health?" "Anyways, I can't wait to meet the little guy. He'll be a chip off the old block. You wanna know who's gonna raise him?

"I shouldn't even be dignifying this with a response. Yeah, his parents, duh!" I say, not really listening to Lucas and not really looking at the oh-so-interesting bulletin board.

I look up to see Lucas sympathetically shaking his head. "Yeah, but who's gonna teach him the really important stuff? Like how to respect nature and how to recite Primal Pad tomes without even breathing..."

Annoyed, I interrupt, "Hey!" I say, more than a little offended.

"Oh, sorry dude, no offense!"

I sigh before saying, "Anyway, I suppose it would be kinda fun. You, me, Toby, Jessica and Toby Junior."

Just then, the sound of someone clearing their throat reaches our ears. We both turn and see Toby who is regarding us with amusement.

"I just thought I'd let you guys know. She's had the baby."

Lucas bounces up from his seat like a hyperactive toddler. "When can we meet the little guy?" I nod in agreement.

Toby looks at us weirdly before saying, "Um, guys, it's a girl!"

Lucas and I both begin talking at the same time:

"A girl?"

"No way!"

"You've gotta be kidding me!

We look at Toby who raises his eyebrow at us in evident confusion, then at each other.

"It's a..."

"GIRL!" We both yell, before passing out in a dead faint.

30 minutes later

Jessica's POV

I smile as Nick and Lucas walk in sheepishly, followed by Toby who is on the verge of hysteria.

" They passed out when I told them our baby was a girl!" I double over, laughing heartily.

Nick and Lucas both blush and look at the floor, embarrassed.

"Never mind, guys," I say, comfortingly. "Anyway, there's someone who you need to meet." I beckon them to my bedside and lift out my daughter. "Meet your niece, Victoria Elizabeth Tripp. "

They both look down on her, awe apparent on their faces. "Wow, guys, she's beautiful,"Nick says, Lucas nodding in assent.

"She isn't beautiful. She's perfect." Toby says, smiling down at Victoria. "Just like her mother."

"Speaking of which, what happened to your face, Toby?"

"Jess got a little too judo on the brain whilst in labour," he replies, fingering the bruise on his jaw and winced momentarily.

I grinned innocently as Lucas and Nick both guffawed with laughter. "I'm sorry," I say, slightly guilty.

"It was a good punch, though. I would've told you, only I spent the next half hour after that in Cuckoo Land."

Suddenly a thud grabs our attention. We look and see that my medical notes are on the floor. Looking bemused, I asked, "How did that happen?"

"Must have been the wind." Nick says, looking just as confused as we all feel.

Suddenly there is a whoosh as the clipboard begins to rise before zooming toward Toby's face, luckily for him he managed to duck before the clipboard hit him, but it must have been pretty scary, "Argh," he yells. "What's happening? That definitely wasn't the wind! Was it you, Nick?"

As Nick shakes his head in denial, a high-pitched giggle sounded. I looked down at my daughter then gasped as the pillow on the next bed rose into the air. My mouth opened in a soundless gasp as she turned her head toward me, the pillow beginning its not-so-graceful descent back to its bed. I look at the pillow then at my daughter who is giving me an adorable gummy smile but my mind was elsewhere. Was Victoria doing this, and just what was she capable of?

AN: That was Chapter One. Next chapter, Obscurio finds out about Victoria and the Lords of Nature find out just how many powers the newborn Victoria has.