Hey Peanut,

You're so close to being here. Your mother says any day now, but she still has a week left in her timeline. Her waddling around from place to place is getting slower and she's getting more and more frustrated with her limitations each day. Her naps are getting longer too, but you didn't hear that from me. I think she is ready to see you. I know I am. She said you're going to be all wrinkly and basically nasty at first because of the bodily fluids (I think this was a warning because she knows how well I handle bodily fluids), but I'm fairly sure that so long as I get to see you I'll be perfectly fine and ignore all the grossness. It's supposed to be just me and her in the room when you're born, and everyone else is supposed to stay outside. I don't see how that is actually going to happen, but she insists that it will.

Everyone is just so excited to meet you. I hope you realize that at some point in your life. That we all love you already, that there is no way to get out of this family, and that no matter how hard and fast you run, your mother and I have too many resources for you to not be found or to even get very far. So you might as well not even try to run away from the craziness around here.

I really do hope one day that your mother tells you who your biological father is. Not just so you'll tell me, even though I'm so curious about it, but so that you'll know. So you will have some idea of where you come from, who you come from, of where your roots are. These are all very important things. You never have to tell me anything that you don't want to, but I hope that our relationship is open and strong enough that should you feel compelled you feel as though you can tell me everything or anything that you want. And you won't be judged by anything you tell me as a first reaction. A second reaction maybe, but definitely not the first.

I love you so much already, it's crazy. I never knew that it could be this way and there are some things that I've questioned my entire life that are suddenly making so much sense. I can't get you off my mind and I honestly wouldn't have it no other way. I have loved your mother for a very long time and now I am allowed to love her in a new way: as the mother of my child.

I love you little Peanut.

Love you forever and always.

Will

Helen handed him the little bundle after talking calmly to him for minutes on end. She had to convince him that she wouldn't let anything happen to the tiny bundle that was wrapped tightly in a soft blanket. He was worried about dropping or holding the wrapped baby wrong. She lay on the bed and instructed him soothingly how to hold an infant correctly. It wasn't the first time that he had held their child, but it was the first time he had held their child to look at the infant as a father would. He sat on the edge of the infirmary bed and felt Helen move up behind him.

She wrapped arms around his waist and rested her chin on his shoulder before reaching forward and moving the soft cloth so she could see her baby's face. She kissed his neck. "She has your eyes."

"She has your eyes." He replied after a snort. "There is nothing of me in there, she is all you. What'd you do clone yourself?"

He felt the woman behind him tense slightly before relaxing into him once again. "That's complete nonsense, Will."

There was a long pause before either of them spoke. "Who is her father?"

Helen drew out a huge breath, resting back into the pillows and sighing. "You are her father; can you not see it in the way you hold her? In the way that you smile down at her? In the letters that you have written her?" His head snapped to the side so his cheek brushed hers but he was unable to make eye contact. She could feel the heat rise in his body and his pulse beat faster. "Yeah, I found them by accident. I read your first one the day you wrote it, but I hadn't known that you'd continued to write to her." Her finger once again caressed the soft cheek of the infant. "Our peanut." She grinned, "They're lovely letters, Will. A beautiful thing to give her when she gets older."

"Helen?" He interrupted her thoughts and after she hummed recognition of her name he continued. "Who is her biological father?"

"How many times are you going to ask, Will?"

"One too many, I'm sure."

She bit her lip and was slow to answer. "You are her father Will."

"I'm tired of that answer."

"Can we please not have this conversation today? I'm exhausted and I just want to spend time with my baby and with you." She reached out for his hand and grasped it lightly as it held their child in the cradle of his arms.

"Yeah…" She took the infant from him after some time and moved so that he could rest beside her on the infirmary bed. Will lay his head gently on Helen's shoulder and ran his finger over the soft newborn skin and grasped the tiny hand as it slipped from the blanket and spread fingers wide. "She's so quiet."

"It won't last long."

He chuckled. "I don't imagine with you as her mother. She'll be shouting off demands in no time." Helen reached over and pinched his side just under his ribs. "Hey!" He jerked back and gave her a mock glare when he almost fell off the bed. "That wasn't very nice." Tentatively he moved back into her body.

"Turn about is fair play."

"You know… you've said that to me once before."

"Have I?" She was burrowing down in the bed against him ready for any sort of nap that she could get.

"Yeah, right about when I first started working here." He shook his head to clear the memory and dropped a kiss on the almost sleeping head. The baby was nestled tightly in her arms. "We should probably pick a name."

"Probably." She yawned. "After I nap though." Her face was pressed into his chest and her breathing was regular in two seconds flat.

Hey Peanut,

Today you are officially one week old. You had some trouble breathing the first few nights so tonight will be your first time out of the infirmary. Your mom tried to do some work today, but I wouldn't let her. Though, I suspect, she got a phone call or two in to check on some of the other Sanctuaries. The network is as much her baby as you are. I know it'll be hard to understand that and often times it will seem like she's putting work ahead of you, but never would she do such a thing if it were truly important. You will always come first to her. Even before me. I want you to know that. I need you to understand that. You will always come first.

I don't know how often I'll be able to write to you, but I plan on continuing this until I feel you're old enough to read these letters. It was your mother's idea actually, and I even think she's decided to partake and write you a few letters as well. Everything has gotten so much busier since you arrived. I love it though, and I would have it no other way.

Your mother is so strong. I'm in complete awe of her. If you are anything like her when you get older, I don't know what I'll do. I want you to be happy in your endeavor of life; happy and content with whatever it is you choose to do and that can be anything, within reason of course. I don't want to find you on the streets or in the sewers unnecessarily.

Love you forever and always,

Will

He had started humming to her. He would pick her up and walk around humming soft tunes and melodies that could barely be heard. It wasn't something that he had ever expected to do, not since his mother had died. Singing was not something that he could handle ever, but he had taken to humming to his sweet little girl. She slept most of the time, but this was still the best way to calm her. He was walking around the nursery and her eyes open and staring at him, but slowly dropping shut. She wasn't moving. She'd been living in this room for the past week. Helen had insisted on moving her there after two weeks in their room. She had insisted that it would be better for them all around. It wasn't as if the nursery was far from them, only a few steps actually, but he didn't want to leave her alone.

With everything that happened in the Sanctuary, Will was worried that someone might come and snatch her or that some abnormal would want to sneak a peek and check on the baby and scare the poor girl. He never wanted to be out of her presence. He'd finished the song seeing that she was soundly asleep in his arms. It was three in the morning and she'd just woken, hungry and temperamental with a very wet and dirty diaper. He'd changed her, fed her and now had put her back to sleep. Yet, he wasn't quite ready to put her down in the crib yet.

His head swung to the door that was slowly opening when he saw Helen slip into the room. She walked right up to him and pressed a kiss to his lips before bending and kissing their daughter. "Hey."

"Hey," he whispered, his eyes raking over her body. She was losing the weight well and her curves were most definitely back. Two more weeks and he would be able to touch and feel her again. "Crisis averted?" He was referring to the emergent phone call they had received five hours ago from Australia and she had been forced to deal with while he took care of the baby and his own paper work.

"Yeah, Henry will be heading out there in the morning to help. Would have gone myself, but I'd rather stay here for a bit longer if it's possible. I thought you might feel the same." She wrapped her hands under the swaddled bundle and took their child into her own arms. She bent her head and drew in the scent that was their baby's and breathed deeply. "Nothing like the smell of your child to calm you." She pressed her cheek to the warm forehead and turned to look at the man; her eyes were beckoning him. "Kiss me, Will."

He obliged. Stepping forward until he could easily reach her he rubbed his lips softly over hers feeling the sticky lipstick against her mouth and her breath when she parted her lips. He closed his mouth over hers before sliding his tongue against her teeth. She let out a deep breath and rocked her body into his; the baby nestled between them still sleeping soundly. His fingers flitted into her hair and rubbed at the back of her neck before sliding into long locks and tangling in the lush softness. They kissed until the baby cooed lightly and he pulled back. Helen smirked and set the child down in the crib before moving to the window to stare at the starry sky.

Will slipped behind her and wrapped his arms around her tightly. They stood there for close to an hour just observing and enjoying the quiet. "Helen?"

"What is it, Will?"

"Who's her biological father?"

"You are."

He would have come up with some sort of short retort and a frustrated sigh, but the seriousness and ease with which she said it made him pause. "What do you mean?"

A slow breath preceded her voice. "I spent one hundred and thirteen years without regular companionship; without friends, lovers, family that I could confide in. The first time through those years I had people for whom I cared deeply that I could interact with on a regular basis. I was lonely, Will; desperately alone and nothing in the world could fix that. I made many plans during that time, this was one of them."

"This?" He was still holding on to her and tightened lightly, before releasing. "What do you mean this?"

"When I got back to the Sanctuary I saw how close you and Abby had become. I'd forgotten; it was such a long time for me." She had to move. He wasn't going to like what she had to say next and she was certain that even if she didn't need the space, he would. "A few months after being back I impregnated myself. I wanted a baby, Will. Someone I could love and who would love me back. I needed it. I had no idea that you and Abby were going to fall apart the way you did. I had no idea that anything between us would happen; that our love would grow and that I would become so fond of you. I had no idea that you would make such a commitment to me without knowing the origins of our daughter. How could I have? All I knew was that I wanted a baby and that I wasn't going to let anything get in the way of that."

"Impregnated yourself?"

"Yeah, with your sperm. She is your child, Will. Biologically half of you and half of me." Her arms were down by her sides and she was watching him carefully, waiting for the full realization of what she had just told him.

He drew a slow and deep breath into his lungs, letting them fill completely before speaking. "So every time I asked—every time you answered—Jesus Magnus." His hands were running through his hair as he pulled at the ends and turned away from her. He couldn't look at her. "How could you do that? Without even asking me?"

"I didn't know how to ask you."

"Bullshit. You didn't think I would say yes. You didn't think that you would get what you wanted so you just took without even thinking about the consequences of what you did." His voice was rising to a dangerous level and she risked a glance at the crib behind him. The child still slept soundly. She reached forward to take him by the arm to lead him out of the room but he ripped it from her grasp. "Leave me alone." Stalking out of the room she watched him go as their baby broke out into quiet sobs.