"Astrid?"

At the sound of her husband's voice, the justice nymph looked up, exhausted but happy. She wiped away some sweat from her brow as her handsome man came to her bedside, their son in tow. Menecaeus, or Bob, as Zarek called him, peeked over the mattress, his eyes wide.

Zarek picked up their son in his arms and sat down in the chair next to the bed, staring all the while at the bundle swaddled in blue blankets in his wife's arms. Astrid proudly reached up and pushed back some of the folds, and there was the gift- their new daughter. The babe had been screaming the moment she had been born, but now had fallen asleep. Clean, safe, and warm. And right in her mother's arms, just where she should be.

"Hey, look at my handsome men," Astrid sighed happily, smiling at them both. Menecaeus reached over the bed, trying to get up but being too short to climb onto the bed. Zarek lifted him onto his lap as he sat down on the chair next to the bed. "Hey, love. I thought you were supposed to be in the waiting room." The doctor had told her to get some rest, and that he would bring in her family in a bit. The doctor was nowhere to be seen, however.

"Well," Zarek began quietly, so as not to wake the sleeping babe in his wife's arms, "they told me you were supposed to be sleeping. But the doctor is answering an emergency call on the second floor and the security guard is currently cleaning up Bob's pee from the floor, which is actually a can of apple juice carefully spilled out while Bob had his back turned to the guard. We have a clever boy," Zarek added fondly, mussing Menecaeus' blonde mop. The child happily grinned. "I didn't even ask him to do it. But you should have seen how wide the guy's eyes got. In the confusion, I figured nobody would mind if we peeked in here for a second." Astrid rolled her eyes, but forgave her husband. Zarek was, after all, physically incapable of waiting in a room to be told whether or not the birth had had complications, or if it had been successful of not. Of course he had snuck in. He loved her too much not to.

Zarek stared at the bundle in Astrid's arms. "Is that her?" Astrid smiled, and reached up to her baby to push the folds of the blanket away from their daughter's face. She saw what looked suspiciously like overwhelming emotion on Zarek's face before her husband took a deep breath and smiled, his love and joy radiating through him. "Astrid," he breathed, "she's perfect."

"Can I pet it?" Menecaeus asked his Daddy innocently. Zarek made an undignified snort and Astrid laughed quietly as she could manage without waking up the baby.

"No, sweetie," Astrid replied after containing her amusement. "You can't pet it. This is your baby sister."

But Bob had lost interest when he couldn't pet it, and had let sleep overtake him. Menecaeus had been awake with his father for hours and had forgone naps. He was, Astrid surmised, pooped.

Zarek reached over his son to rest it on his wife's delicate shoulder. "Don't mind him," he told her. "Bob's only, what, three?"

"I'm not mad at our three year old for being a three year old," Astrid chuckled. Zarek leaned in, and they shared a soft, adoring kiss. Then, Zarek looked at the newborn again. "Would you like to hold her?" Zarek looked uncomfortable. "Look, you've done this tons of times, love. Hold our daughter." Before Zarek could protest, Astrid carefully put the swaddled baby in Zarek's arms. He held the baby like a bomb about to go off and looked vaguely panicked.

"I don't want to drop her," he protested weakly, slowly and carefully cradling her against his chest. He could feel her tiny heartbeat against his. Astrid knew he wouldn't drop her. Her husband was just being nervous and jittery. He was like this the first time he had held Bob, too.

"You're doing just fine," Astrid told him gently. "Breathe." And Zarek did, and eventually lapsed into a peace that Astrid knew he would remember forever.

She would have just let them stay silent and blissful forever, but the door opened again, and Sasha poked his head in carefully. He looked at the four of them with an uncharacteristic, brooding silence. Astrid smiled over at him. "Hey, Sasha. You're fine, come on in." Zarek didn't bother masking his peace in front of Sasha. He was just too happy. Sasha, however, looked a bit like he had been kicked, though he crouched next to the bed and smiled.

"Hey. How you feeling?" he asked her.

"I'm fine," Astrid replied pleasantly. Sasha peeked over at the blankets Zarek held. "That's our new daughter," Astrid told him proudly. Sasha's face was indiscernible. "We haven't named her yet, though. We haven't found the right name."

"I hear the name Hashtag is trending this year."

"Help, my sides are hurting from laughing so hard," Astrid retorted sarcastically. "We'll find something."

"She's beautiful," Sasha remarked quietly. "In a, you know… New-baby… Alien-thing… Sort of way." Astrid laughed at that.

"Thanks." She reached up and took Sasha's hand in hers gently. "What's wrong?" Sasha didn't look her in the eyes. "Sasha."

'You have a full family, Astrid,' Sasha's voice whispered through her thoughts. 'And you don't need me nearly as much as you used to. I was worried- I mean, I don't want to be abandoned again, and you have every reason to want me to leave because now Zarek is protecting you, and your have two kids, and you won't have time for me-'

'Sasha,' Astrid pressed with her own thoughts, squeezing his hand comfortingly. 'Over all the years where you've acted like a spoiled child except with a mouth full of sharp teeth, or the times when you scared off suitors, or when you made fun of my favorite movies and such, if none of that could make me want you to leave then why do you think two kids are going to change that? I mean, now I need you more than ever. Because believe it or not, we're all a family now. And Menecaeus is your nephew, and this newborn baby alien girl is your niece. You don't need to stay if you don't want to, but I want to make it clear that you're a part of this and you always, always, always have a place in my heart and my home.'

Sasha didn't reply. He just clutched her hand with his, but Astrid's words must have reached him because he smiled at her and calmed down. And eventually, Menecaeus began to wake up, so Zarek quickly handed the newborn to Astrid, who let Sasha have a turn hosting the Is-This-How-You-Hold-An-Infant? show. Zarek allowed Menecaeus to crawl over his lap and into the hospital bed with Mommy, and cuddle up by her side with one of her arms curled around him. After a few minutes of quiet talking, Astrid began to fall asleep with Menecaeus, and once they were out, the doctor found them all congregated in the room. The newborn was taken by some nurses, who were closely followed by Zarek to make sure the baby was transported safely to the room where all new babies went. Sasha stayed behind to watch over Astrid, his friend, and his nephew.

Finding himself alone, Sasha suddenly had a a thought. "Oh!" He bounced on the floor, excited with his thought. "Oh, oh! Astrid!" He almost thought of waking her up, but couldn't bring herself to do it. So, he leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "Kyra. How does the name Kyra sound?" In response, Astrid mumbled incoherently in her sleep but otherwise made no acknowledgment. Sasha sat back, satisfied with himself. "I dunno. I like it. But whatever, don't listen to me." He continued to have a one-sided conversation, but Astrid had heard his suggestion without knowing it. Sasha had just named the baby. Kyra Magnus. Astrid smiled peacefully in her sleep, then dreamed of a pleasant nothing.