The next day, when Kari's doctor visited, she was overjoyed to see the strange new ghost hovering alongside Kari's. They immediately ran tests to check the baby, whose brain was now completely normal. Kari was allowed to move around outside again, which came as a huge relief to her. Even though she had another month before her due date, she went back to work to alleviate her sheer boredom.
Varan accompanied her everywhere, happiness radiating from her. The GGN was generally envious, but within a day, gossip had turned to the possibilities of other baby Guardians occurring, now that the Traveler was awakened.
One morning, several weeks later, Kari took a walk along the top of the wall. It was midsummer, and it was early enough that the night's coolness had not yet departed. She found a favorite spot to sit and gaze across the Last City, or the landscape outside. Neko and Varan accompanied her, as usual.
"Varan," Kari asked, "I know you have your own Guardian, now. But Jay and I are technically responsible for him, and by extension, you, too."
Varan nodded. She wore a rounded, pastel-blue shell with no sharp edges, her eye glowing serenely from the center. "I'm aware of this, ma'am."
"So," Kari went on, "if you need anything, or feel neglected, or anything at all, talk to us or our ghosts. All right? Connor won't be able to care for you for a long while."
"Thank you," Varan said softly. "I've been alone for so long, the concept of being taken care of is ... new. And strange." She looked at Neko, who floated nearby. "You've all made me feel so welcome. I know eventually, when Connor is grown, we'll go off on our own. But for now, being adopted into your family is the best thing that's ever happened to me. I've never met Guardians who truly loved each other before."
Varan was going to say more, but a thought reached her from Connor. An expression of discomfort. She gazed at Kari's belly.
At the same time, Kari winced. "I think that was a contraction."
"He felt it," Varan said. "I suppose a week ahead of schedule isn't too early."
"My doctor will protest," Kari said. "Ugh, I'd better get off this wall and beg off work."
"Yes, you'd better!" Neko exclaimed. He circled her, sweeping her with a scanning beam. "Yes, your labor has begun." He zipped around her again, his pupil contracted to a terrified dot. "My Guardian is in labor! What do I do?"
"Tell Jayesh and Phoenix, silly," Kari said, walking slowly back along the wall.
"Yes, yes, and stay calm," Neko said. "That's important, isn't it? Stay calm, Guardian!"
"I'm fine, Neko," Kari said, smiling at him. "Come here."
He flew to her, and she caught him in both hands. "Look at me, little light. I'm not upset. I'm glad the baby is coming. But I need you to be calm now, too. I don't want to get upset because you are."
"I'm sorry, Kari," Neko whispered. "I'll be as calm as an iceberg, I promise."
As soon as she released him, he resumed zipping around her in agitation, this time in silence.
It took her a long time to reach the office where she worked. Her boss took one look at her and excused her.
Tara hurried up and helped Kari sit down. "You're in labor, dear. When did it start?"
"About fifteen minutes ago," Kari said. "The contractions are far apart, still."
"Likely they'll be like that for hours," Tara said. "Let me help you get home."
Tara and Kari walked slowly back to Kari's apartment. Tara explained the process of labor so Kari would know what to expect. Kari had read about it, but Tara talked about it so rationally that it reassured her. Even Neko calmed down a little.
Kari had just gotten situated in her favorite spot on the sofa when Jayesh burst in. "Kari? Kari!" He dashed to her and knelt beside the sofa. "You're in labor? So early? What do we do?"
Tara emerged from the kitchen with a tall glass of water. "Calm down, young man. She has hours of labor ahead of her and she needs to conserve her strength."
Tara explained the process all over again. Jayesh grew calmer as she talked, and relaxed a little. Their ghosts listened, too.
Varan kept tabs on little Connor. It was uncomfortable for him, too, but in a different way. Each contraction forced his lungs to contract, teaching him the motions of breathing. Whenever he protested or grew frightened, Varan soothed him. "Only a little longer, sweetness. Then we can meet face to face." Other times she sang to him, lullabies she had heard mothers sing their children, which pleased him and helped him relax, and even sleep.
Varan focused only on her Guardian, and accompanied her new family down to the medical ward in a dreamlike way, hardly aware of her surroundings. Labor progressed naturally. Kari managed the pain with breathing exercises, her husband and ghost close by, offering moral support.
Labor transitioned to pushing, and before long, Connor was born, pink and squalling in the shock of lights and cold. Varan followed the doctors around as they cleaned him, wrapped him in a blanket, and placed him in his mother's arms to be nursed.
The lights were dimmed, the doctors left, and the little family gazed at the tiny newborn life granted to them. Connor nursed in stages, falling asleep every few minutes, exhausted from the ordeal of being born.
"I thought babies cried more," Kari said, stroking her son's exquisitely soft head.
"Why does he need to cry?" Jayesh said. "He has you and his own ghost. He'll be the happiest baby ever."
A while later, the doctors moved Kari to a comfortable recovery room, where Neko made healing passes up and down her body.
"This is interesting," he observed. "I can mend the torn places inside you, but a lot of compression has to happen that I can't mend because it's not broken."
"It's fine, Neko," Kari told him. "You've already helped a lot. Nothing hurts as bad as labor. I feel so much better already."
She ate dinner from the medical ward's kitchen and dozed in the hospital bed. Jayesh fell asleep in a chair, and their ghosts phased.
Varan stayed beside the bassinet, watching over her Guardian. He slept for a while, but began to wake up. The touch of cloth on his soft skin irritated him, and so did the diaper. He opened his eyes, looked up at Varan, and whimpered.
"I know," she whispered. "It'll get better, I promise."
Kari snapped awake at the first sound and lifted Connor into her lap for nursing again. As he settled into his mother's embrace, Varan said, "Do - do you mind if I sing to him?"
"Go ahead," Kari said wearily. "It might help us both sleep." She didn't mention that she'd never heard a ghost sing before.
Varan sang, her voice a little modulated in spots, a lullaby about a child refusing to sleep. Neko and Phoenix both woke up to listen.
When Varan finished the song, both Kari and Connor were fast asleep, Connor feeling much safer so close to his mother. Varan landed on the blanket beside them and shut off her eye light, letting herself rest.
"She's wonderful," Neko said privately to Phoenix. "How did our Guardians' child wind up with such an angel of a ghost?"
"I think Connor must have a very sweet soul to bond to such a sweet ghost," Phoenix replied. "And I thought Rose was adorable."
Neko sighed. "I hope she sings him to sleep every night."
"Me too," Phoenix agreed.
25 years later
Guardian Connor emerged from the Crucible bunker, hands uplifted to the cheering crowd outside. His burly frame was clad in heavy Titan armor, painted the red and blue of his team's colors, now scratched and dented from his various battles.
Connor exchanged high fives and back slaps with his team, then high-fived the waving hands of fans on his way out of the arena.
"Victory drinks on me!" he told his team, and led the way down the street to their favorite bar and steakhouse.
As the noisy Crucible team secured their favorite booth, Connor noticed a lone warlock sitting in the shadows by the door. "Hold on, guys, I'll be right back." He crossed the restaurant and sat at the table across from the warlock. In his armor, he nearly made two of him.
"Hi, Dad."
Jayesh shook his hand across the table. "I came to say congratulations on your win. That match today was crazy."
They talked the finer points of Crucible teams for a few minutes. The only sign of the passing years was that Jayesh's shoulders had broadened with muscle. His kind, thoughtful smile concealed the most respected warlock in the Tower, and the most deadly fighter in strikes. Connor secretly thought that if he ever met his father in the Crucible, he wouldn't stand a chance.
Jayesh said, "I won't keep you from your celebration, son. If you're not busy tomorrow, your mother, sisters, and I have an early birthday present for you. Ah, it's an engram, so we don't know exactly what's in it."
Connor's eyes lit up. "Wow, thanks, Dad! I'll come over as soon as I finish patrol."
They stood up and hugged briefly, then Jayesh slipped out into the gathering twilight. Connor returned to his team, gratified that his father had watched the game so closely.
Later that night, he returned to his room in the tower, a tiny, one-roomed apartment that he'd decorated with Crucible trophies and posters of his favorite teams.
As he pulled off his armor, Varan phased into sight. She wore an expensive shell like a disco ball that flashed and glittered as she moved.
"You did well," she told him. In comparison to his own booming voice and that of his teammates', his ghost was almost comically soft-spoken.
Connor's manner changed. From roughly handling his armor, his motions slowed. He extended one hand and gently stroked her shell with his fingertips, showing a vulnerability he concealed from his team. "I couldn't do it without you, Var. You pointed out that last capture point that won us the game."
She shaped her eye-light into a cartoon smile. As quiet as she was, she also knew Crucible strategy cold.
He finished removing his armor and stacked it in a corner. "Gotta spend time fixing it tomorrow. Too many dents." He took a quick shower, then flopped on his bed with a contented sigh.
"Varan?" he said, as his ghost settled on the pillow beside his head.
"Yes, sweetness?" she said.
"Sing me to sleep?"
She sounded pleased. "I'd be happy to."
The end