Seeing the 3D image of their baby made everything so much more real for Myka. Helena had felt the early flutters of movement and now the full on kicks and elbow jabs, which had made it real for her. Myka had felt the first hard kick. She and Helena had been swapping out an artifact for a replica when Helena suddenly grabbed her hand and placed it on her belly. The resulting thump against the palm of her hand made Myka gasp. It had been an amazing feeling, but there was still this shadow of fantasy about the whole thing. Seeing the image on the screen of an actual baby that looked like a real human baby, with it's little hand resting at it's temple, it's long fingers, Helena's fingers, and Myka's nose, while it sucked it's big toe was the final lock that snapped open and made this all very real for Myka. They were just weeks from having their beautiful little child in their arms.
"Do you want to know the sex?" Their OB asked.
"Yes." Myka replied.
"No." Helena said at the same time. Turning her head to look up at Myka she asked, "You want to know?"
"You don't?" Myka replied.
"I want to be surprised." Helena said. "There's something special about that moment."
Myka really wanted to know but she could understand Helena's way of thinking. She'd been the one carrying this tiny person around for nine months and she would be going through the process of giving birth, that moment following this long journey must feel like a jewel at the end of a long gauntlet. "Ok, we'll wait."
"If you swear not to say a word you can know." Helena told her wife. Myka had given Helena her way a lot over the course of her pregnancy; she could give this to Myka.
"Really?" Myka asked with a hopeful smile.
Helena chuckled at the childlike awe in her wife's eyes. Turning back to the OB she said, "Text the gender to Myka later."
The OB nodded. "Then that's it." She said with a smile. "Everything looks great so from here on out you'll be meeting with your midwife."
Once Helena's pregnancy had been declared a healthy, normal pregnancy she told Myka that she wanted to have their child at home rather then in a hospital. Myka hadn't been so sure that a home birth was a good idea, and it started a lingering fight between them. Myka wanted the security of a hospital just in case, but Helena argued that a hospital was to cold a place to welcome a new life.
"Hospitals are for the sick, wounded, and dying." Helena argued on more than one occasion. "Not a place for a healthy new life. I want to welcome our child into this world in the warmth of our home, were he or she will be surrounded by love and joy and happiness, not illness and death."
In the end they agreed that as long as Helena's pregnancy remained normal Myka would agree to a home birth, hence Helena getting her way. Myka couldn't argue with the fact that Helena had already done this, at home in her own bed, and everything had been just fine. She had to trust Helena on this because Helena had the experience, which gave her a sense of calm that Myka just didn't have yet. Myka was after all a first time mother, which made her nervous, and she was also a little afraid of something going wrong and loosing not just the baby but Helena as well. But after hashing it all out and talking it through they agreed, so Vanessa found them a midwife, who just happened to be a Regent, and they made a home birth plan.
"Look at those long fingers." Helena said as she studied the picture while Myka drove her back to the B&B. "Piano lessons perhaps? Artie would like that I think."
Myka smiled. "Those are your hands. Maybe we'll have a little inventor just like Mummy."
Helena's eyes lit up as she pictured teaching their little one how to build things, how to tinker, and how to tell stories. Closing her eyes and leaning her head back against the headrest she daydreamed about Myka and their child out in the garden, Myka teaching their little one to fence or how to do a cartwheel. It felt wonderful to imagine a little girl in soccer cleats or a little boy walking around with a cricket bat on his shoulder.
"What are you seeing?" Myka asked after turning to see if Helena had fallen asleep after growing so quiet. Her beautiful wife got a particular look on her face when she daydreamed about their child and she loved when Helena would share them with her.
"Teaching them the finer points of cricket." Helena admitted.
"Cricket?" Myka asked with a gentle laugh.
"Yes." Helena said as she turned her head to look at her wife. "Cricket."
Myka chuckled a little more. "Thank goodness for Pete, because between you and cricket and me and fencing, our kid wouldn't know anything about normal sports."
"I'm hearing normal as American." Helena teased.
"Like or not my love our baby will be American." Myka teased.
Helena pouted playfully. "Are you sure we'd can't spend the next couple of months in London?"
After dropping Helena off at the B&B, she was easy to tire these days, Myka headed for the Warehouse to pick up some paperwork they were both behind on. She was walking through the umbilicus when the text from the OB came in. She read it over and her face lit up. She laughed in sheer joy and started to jump up and down and shimmy a little. Once the moment passed she deleted the text, took a breath, schooled her features and headed into the office to pick up the work she was taking home.
Claudia threw them a baby shower. The whole B&B was decked out in pink and blue, streamers, balloons, signs, cupcakes, the whole nine yards. She was, next to the moms-to-be, the most thrilled about this. This kind of thing, this celebrating with the people she loved, her family, was something she'd longed for during the long years between loosing Joshua and finding the Warehouse.
"These are from me." Claudia said as she handed Helena and Myka her gifts. The first was a plush cat that made the young woman smirk as Myka pulled it out of a blue and pink gift bag. "That is an official stuffed Grumpy Cat and his name is Artie."
In the corner of the room sitting on a loveseat with Vanessa Artie grumbled.
The second gift looked like a small Farnsworth and it made Claudia's face light up when Helena unwrapped it. "That is baby's first Farnsworth. I made it myself." She said proudly. "You can set it up where the baby is and tune it in to transmit to any of ours. It'll let you see and hear and talk to the baby."
"Thank you Claudia." Helena said brightly as she looked at the younger woman with such affection. "It's perfect."
Claudia was beaming. "Once he or she gets here and we know his or her name I'll add it to the case."
Artie's gift was just as meaningful. It was a beautiful music box that played the song he'd written for them for their wedding. Pete gave them a collection of onesies and baby sized t-shirts that matched his collection of t-shirts so they had Cleveland sports teams and North Canton wrestling and one little white t-shirt with the wishing artifact that had turned Myka into a guy on it. Myka's parents and sister sent gifts from their registry, and her dad sent copies of all of the books Myka had loved as a baby and child. Amanda, Joshua, Adelaide and Nate, Hugo, even Mr. Kosan sent gifts. Jane was there and had brought a few things, practical things for the baby and a few things for the soon to be moms.
"You'll be so caught up in the baby you'll forget about yourselves." Jane warned them. "You'll need to stop, take a breath, and remember you're not just Mom and Mum, but Myka and Helena too."
Mrs. Fredrick, like Jane who knew what it was like to be a mother, gave them things they would need as well as a beautiful handmade quilt that she'd done herself. It was soft, in neutral colors, and like Claudia came with a promise for personalizing it later. It was such a beautiful gift that Helena and Myka both took a daring risk and hugged the fearsome but sweet and loving woman.
Steve and Liam, Abigail, and Vanessa stuck to the registry as well so they pretty much had everything they needed plus extra. It had been a wonderful afternoon that left Myka and Helena feeling blessed. They had so many wonderful people in their lives who loved them, and who were already as taken with their child as they were. It was wonderful.
It meant a lot to them both to see that their friends and the people they called family were not only happy for them but also just as excited as they were. The boys had painted the nursery for them, and helped them put together furniture until they all got frustrated and had to walk away before assembling because smashing.
"I built a bloody rocket in 1893! I can figure out how to piece together a sodding cot, Myka!" Helena said in a huff as Myka gently pushed her out of the house and towards the car.
"I know you can, love." Myka reassured. "But we're all hungry and we need a break, so we're going to get pizza. We'll even stop and pick up chocolate chips for you to put on yours."
While they were gone Claudia went to work and by the time they returned she had everything built and put into place. When they walked in Mrs. Frederick was putting the last little pillow and stuffed giraffe into place. It was perfect, especially after their loved ones added little personal touches to it. Artie's music box and a framed copy of his hand written sheet music to their song were placed on a nightstand. A little Laughing Buddha sat on one of the shelves on the wall, placed there by Steve. Several of Claudia's buttons were pinned to the shade of the lamp next to the rocking chair by the widow. Pete's Cleveland Indian's autographed baseball, sighed by the whole 1997 team, sat in a place of honor on the bookcase. Nestled on another wall shelf was a little brown teddy bear with a 60s style pink dress suit, cat eye glasses, pearls, and a handbag on it's paw that just appeared there one morning. There were framed family pictures taken by Abigail, and one of Leena's paintings hung on the wall. Myka's bear sat in the corner of the crib and a shadow box on the wall held one of Helena's open lockets with Christina's picture. Even Trailer left one of his balls in the room, and Lulu had hidden her squeak lion under the crib.
A week before Helena's due date, she and Myka asked Pete and Claudia to have dinner with them. They wanted to ask them something important so a nice evening out seemed like a great idea, especially since they wouldn't be having many nights out soon. So they drove out to one of the team's favorite restaurants and after dinner Myka said, "We have something we'd like to ask you both."
Helena smiled a sweet smile as she nodded. "We would be honored if you two would agree to be the baby's godparents."
Surprisingly Claudia didn't squeal the way they'd expected her to. Instead tears gathered in her eyes as she asked a gentle, "Really?"
Reaching for her hand Helena smiled as she again nodded her head. "Really, Claudia. You and Pete have been absolutely astounding not only during this pregnancy but throughout our entire relationship. Who else but the two of you would we want in our child's life in such a special and meaningful way?"
"I'd love to be the little prune's godmother." Claudia said as she tried not to cry.
Myka chuckled as she used her thumb to quickly clear the tears from under her own eyes. "You know the baby is about the size of a honeydew now."
Helena rolled her eyes. "Myka is pasting pictures of fruit in the scrapbook under the heading, "This Week, You're about this Big," it's rather adorable."
"So what do you say Pete?" Myka asked as she turned to her best friend. "Up for being godfather?"
Pete got up from the table and pulled both women to their feet and wrapped his arms around them both. "I'd be honored."
Once Pete let them go, and after Claudia got her own hugs, they sat back down and Helena smiled. "You'll both have to come to England with us."
"We're having the baby christened at the Wells family parish." Myka explained. "So they'll be listed in the same registry as their big sister, their Mum, their uncles and grandparents."
Claudia's face lit up. "I'm always up for a trip to London with H.G!"
"Oh no." Myka said, cutting off those plans before they got started. "You two are not going on any H.G. Wells treasure hunts."
Helena pouted. "There are still several of my inventions unaccounted for."
"You know you'll give in." Pete said with a chuckle. "You're so whipped."
Myka just glared at him for a moment before the whole table started to laugh.
When Helena's due date came and went Myka started to panic. Helena tried to reassure her that everything was fine, that the baby simply wasn't ready yet, but it only helped a little. Though she wasn't as freaked out as Myka, Helena was certainly at the point where she was tired of being pregnant. She, like the rest of her family, was more than ready to finally meet her child. But these things couldn't be rushed, so they waited, and waited until finally Helena very calmly said, "Claudia love, I need you to stay very calm and not freak out."
Claudia looked up from what she was doing with an odd expression, "Not freak out about what?"
Helena smiled sweetly as she heaved herself out of the chair she'd been sitting in. She'd come over to the Warehouse to help Claudia with some research so she'd been sitting at the table near the file cabinets. "I'm going to need you to drive me home, darling. The cramping has become more than a little uncomfortable and I think it best I get home before it gets worse."
The younger woman was instantly on her feet and at Helena's side. "Cramping? Helena, why are you cramping?"
"Because I'm in labor, darling." Helena said easily.
"What!" Claudia replied, going from concerned to panic in two seconds.
Helena sighed. So much for the younger woman not freaking out. "It's natural Claudia. Cramping in the early stages of labor is natural."
"Ok so you did say labor, you've said it twice, so you're in labor, like labor labor?" Claudia asked with narrowed eyes.
"Since about 3am, yes." Helena answered and before Claudia could say another word she added, "Now, lets get going shall we? I'll call Myka from the car."
Of course Myka hadn't reacted with any sense of calm either. Helena had assured her that taking a case this morning would be fine, neither of them had expected what seemed like a quick snag and bag to become an all out investigation. Helena reassured her wife that there was still time to wait, and that Steve was on his way to relieve her in the field. Because she was frightened and a little upset that Helena hadn't told her about the cramping Myka picked a fight. "You should have said something Helena!"
"Myka." Helena sighed. "It could be tomorrow before I'm even close to delivery."
"Doesn't matter!" Myka replied. "I should be there with you right now, I should have been there for every second of this, no matter how minor!"
"It's a sweet sentiment my love." Helena said while pacing the back garden. "But you would have just been worked up for no reason. You'll be home in time to share in all the most important moments, I promise. I love you. I'll see you soon."
Myka glared at her phone when it went silent. "She hung up on me!"
As soon as Steve arrived to help Pete on the case Myka headed home. Thankfully she was only a couple of hours out and she could cut come time off by pushing the speed limit. If she got stopped she would simply flash her badge, and if that didn't work she had Helena's Tesla on her. After nearly forty weeks of pregnancy, well over a year since first admitting to each other they wanted this, and years spent getting to this point, it was hours away from happening. She and Helena were going to have their baby in their arms, they were going to be parents, and she was going to be a mother. It was thrilling and frightening and incredible, and despite all the worry she'd done, all her concerns about this and that and herself, Myka was ready for this. She wanted this so badly and here she was almost there, she was so close she could almost hear the baby crying already.
"Where is she?" Myka asked as she soon as she burst into the house.
"In the yard." Abigail said with a soft smile.
Myka nearly ran for the back of the house, but then she stopped cold in the open backdoor. Helena stood barefoot in the grass with her face turned towards the sun. She had on a simple summer maternity dress that blew gently in the summer breeze along with Helena's hair. Her right hand rested on her swollen stomach, rubbing gently, while her left ran through her hair. The sight took Myka's breath away.
"Are you going to join me, darling?" Helena asked without opening her eyes.
"Are you ok?" Myka asked as she walked towards her wife. There was a pinch around Helena's eyes that said she was in some pain but Myka couldn't gage just how much. "Are you in pain?"
Helena shook her head. "Discomfort, but not pain." She opened her dark eyes and smiled as she looked into Myka's. "The pain comes later."
Any anger or hurt feelings Myka might have had earlier melted away as she slid her hands onto Helena's stomach. "What do you need?"
"Just you." Helena said softly.
Myka smiled as she moved closer. She pressed her forehead to Helena's as their hands laced over Helena's stomach. "You have me."
As day turned to evening Helena's discomfort grew and slowly shifted into pain as cramping slowly turned into actual contractions. When that happened they retreated up to their apartment. Myka did what she could as she watched Helena trying to find some relief between the waves of pain. She tried the soft touch massage that was suppose to release endorphins, she shifted and adjusted pillows as Helena demanded, she held Helena and rubbed her back, and as she did each and every little thing she could to make this easier on her wife Myka marveled at the strength and grace in which Helena clung to, even in the wake of the worse of it all.
"You're amazing." Myka said softly before pressing a kiss to Helena's sweat dampened temple.
Downstairs Pete came bursting into the house like an impatient child. "Is it here?" He asked. "Is the baby here?"
"Not yet." Artie answered.
Pete pouted. "What? Why not? What's taking so long?"
"It's not a pizza delivery, Pete." Claudia said from Helena's chess table. She had Lulu in her lap while she and Abigail played. "Baby's have their own sense of time. LBW isn't coming until he or she is damn good and ready."
"LBW?" Abigail asked.
Claudia smirked. "Little Bering-Wells."
Pete couldn't take it. He bolted for the stairs and took two or three at a time until he got to the third floor. He knocked, and then carefully opened the door once he was sure he didn't hear screaming or swearing. The midwife was in the small living room and smiled in greeting. After checking with Helena and Myka first the midwife said he could go into the bedroom.
"Oh thank god." Helena said as she motioned for Pete to come over to her. "Stand right there." She ordered him, and then once he was where she needed him she pressed her back against his chest and reached her arms up and back, lacing her fingers together at the nape of Pete's neck. "Myka isn't tall enough, or solid enough for this." She sighed softly in relief as she stretched out the pain her back. "Bloody hell that's aces."
"Back labor." Myka explained with a chuckle.
Pete did what he could to help, and was told by Helena not to leave the house in case she needed him again. He made sure Myka had what she needed too. He didn't want her needs left out just because Helena was the one in labor. Once he was sure his girls were ok he headed back downstairs to join the rest of the family to wait.
Evening turned into night and still no baby. Claudia and Pete took turns going upstairs to check in with Myka and Helena, and taking care things they needed from them. One by one as the hours passed they began falling asleep in chairs, and on couches and loveseats and even the floor. No one wanted to miss anything by actually going to bed.
Helena was on the edge of their bed with Myka behind her. For the last few hours her contractions were nearly never ending and the pain was unlike anything anyone who had never done this had ever experienced. It was the kind of pain that was indescribable; it simply had to be experienced to be understood. Thankfully she was nearly at the end of this, she could feel it, and she could sense it. She had felt the baby move and shift into the place and position needed for delivery, and that singled her that it was time to push.
"That's it Helena." Myka encouraged. "Almost there, love."
There is something primal that takes over in that moment. A woman's body is put through one of the most physically agonizing, emotionally draining ordeals a human can go through, and just when the body and mind are ready to give in, something in the human spirit comes to life and gives the new mother that final jolt to push through. Helena takes several breaths and pushes again, letting out a cry that gives voice to the pain, and a cry soon outdone by the sound of sheer joy coming from the woman behind her.
"Oh Helena!" Myka cried out in awe.
The room fills with the sound of new life, a cry of fear and uncertainty, a newborn's declaration of, what the bloody hell is going on!
"Congratulations you two." The midwife said as she quickly wrapped the baby and places her in her mothers' arms. "You have a daughter."
Helena sobbed joyfully. "A daughter." She said in wonderment. "Myka, we have a daughter."
Tears were streaming down Myka's face. "She's beautiful, Helena." Reaching out a trembling hand Myka offer her daughter a finger and the baby quickly grabbed on tightly. "Oh Helena." She whispered as they looked into the bright, alert eyes of their baby girl. "Now this, this is endless wonder."
Charlie, as Myka was already calling her and had been in her head since the OB's text, had been born at around 5:30am. It was a little after seven when Myka headed downstairs. Everyone was sitting around the table in the sunroom until she they saw her, and then they were all on their feet. "If anyone feels like coming upstairs with me there's someone waiting to meet you all."
Upstairs Helena was settled on the sofa with her daughter in her arms. She couldn't stop looking at her, memorizing everything little inch of her. She had dark hair, and for the moment her eyes were blue but Helena knew that would change quickly over the next few days. Ten fingers, ten toes, Myka's nose, and the same sweet look of peace that she remembered Christina having when she was born. "My darling girl." She whispered at the baby who had a tight hold on her pinky. "My precious girl." She smiled as she heard feet on the stairs. "Your family is coming to meet you my darling."
Once everyone was gathered around and Myka was once again at her side Helena shifted the baby so everyone could see her as Myka said, "Everyone, meet Charlotte Penelope Bering-Wells. Charlie, meet your family."
