ASOIAF: Modern!AU
Fawn
Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING.
Summary: Renly wants a baby. Loras is…hesitant.
Ch. 11—The Baby
Loras was at work when he got the call from Renly, who had been informed by Ashara, saying that Delva had gone into labor. Before he knew what he was doing, he was in Captain Selmy's office, begging to go home early. "Just go," The white-haired man cut him off half-way through his ramblings, and Loras breathed a sigh or relief and nearly hugged the man, but instead simply saluted him and took off running out the door.
He expected it to be a whirlwind like in the movies, where the scene where the woman goes into labor is followed by a quick succession of her friends/family/husband rushing her to the hospital, her being wheeled into said hospital, put in a room, starts pushing, and bang-boom-what do you know, the baby comes and everyone's crying with awe at the beauty of the miracle of life, and a few scenes later, the credits roll.
Instead, Loras and Renly find themselves sitting in the waiting room for hours before even being allowed to step into Delva's room to talk to her. Ashara was there when they came in, papers in hand and speaking to the tired looking Delva, who was nodding her head numbly as a nurse fiddled with some things around the small room. "Hey," Renly greeted her in a soft whisper and with a smile, and she smiled in return. "The doctor says it'll be hours before I'm ready to start pushing." She informed with solemnly, and Loras can't help noticing that not only was Delva tired, but she seemed incredibly sad. The hand she had placed on her stomach, rubbing it in small circles, didn't escape his notice. He felt guilty for a dreadful moment before his and Delva's eyes met. Her brown eyes were full of grit and knowing, and Loras knew that she was strong and wouldn't back out on them as Ashara had warned them she might for months.
"That's okay," Renly said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Just get some rest while you can, and we'll be right down the hall." Delva seemed relieved by Renly's words. "Thank you. It's nice to have someone around. I asked my family not to come, because…you know. So I'm on my own until the baby's born." She said thankfully. Loras' eyebrows drew together of their own accord. "Why wouldn't you have your family with you? Surely you need the moral support." He said, and Delva shook her head. "No, no. They've been…" She sent a pleading look to Ashara, who nodded, and said, "Some members of her family don't want her to give up the baby." Delva gave a sigh. "My foster siblings mostly, because they look at it as if I'm abandoning him like their parents did them. My parents are supportive, but I can tell my mom would really rather have me keep it, even if she doesn't say so, and my dad has been asking if I'm sure I want this for months. I don't think…I don't think I could handle it, so I told them all to back off until it's all said and done." Delva explained, and Renly and Loras nodded understandingly.
The nurse told them and Ashara they'd have to leave then because Delva needed her rest, so Loras and Renly set up shop in the waiting room, and wave goodbye to Ashara as she exits the building. There, they pass the time in silence, watching the muted television in the corner of the room with the subtitles on, reading the old magazines one by one, and hitting up the vending machines occasionally.
Six hours pass, and Loras wants to shoot his self. Loras hated hospitals. He hated the smell. He hated how it looked, inside and out. And worst of all, he hated the people inside. The annoying nurses who never stopped pestering you or spoke above a whisper, making any sound louder than a pen dropping you make sound like an avalanche. The doctors who are always either incredibly, nerve-wrackingly vague or gravely blunt and only ever show their masked faces when you're ready to explode with anxiety. And those woeful patients with minor ailments and injuries like broken arms and appendicitis that act like they're dying of the plague and whine like toddlers if the nurse is late with their sponge bath and pudding.
So even on this happy occasion, he couldn't help but sit in the waiting room, shaking one leg so fast it practically vibrated, biting his tongue to prevent himself from asking Renly if they could just go home and come back when it actually happened. She wasn't going to be having the thing for at least another twelve hours according to the nurse who'd swung by not long ago. But Loras held his tongue, because Renly had been smiling like a kid on Christmas Eve for the past six hours and he didn't want to take away his excitement just because he was exceedingly uncomfortable.
But then again, when had he been comfortable in the last few weeks, or even in the months before?
But then, he realizes suddenly, that it wasn't as bad as he had originally thought. Loras thinks back to Jojen's words, Podrick and Sansa and their little boy, that pregnant teen, his family and friends, the baby's room and his garden, and meeting Delva…and he can't help but smile stupidly to himself because despite his worries, his discomforts, and his fears, Loras can't help being a little excited to be a father.
So when the doctor comes and says that Delva is ready to start pushing a little earlier than expected, his heart begins beating like a hummingbird's—but in a good way.
It's 3 o'clock in the morning when his and Renly's son is born, a healthy seven pounds, eight ounces, with ten fingers and ten toes, and a birth mark on his butt in the shape of…well, they're torn on whether it looks like a flower or a hoof mark. But the point was, he was a perfectly healthy and very happy baby boy.
Renly and Loras went home long enough to shower and change their clothes, and prep the car and apartment for the baby's arrival. When they returned to the hospital, Delva and the baby's—very eager—father signed the papers, and then, the gravity of their situation fell upon them all. Delva sat in her hospital bed, hands folded in her lap and putting on a brave face, and beside her it seemed the baby's father was having some sort of internal conflict by the look in his eyes, and Renly and Loras could only sit awkwardly next to Delva's bed as a nearby nurse held the fitful newborn that had just become their son. Ashara sat in her chair and informed them in a gentle, almost motherly voice, "You all did a wonderful thing today. Something unselfish and kind, and out of love, and there is no shame or guilt in that. I'll talk to you all in a few weeks." She stood up and smiled down at Loras and Renly. "And congratulations." She whispered with a smile. And then she was out the door, and the nurse stepped forward and held the baby out to Loras.
Loras looked at her wit apprehension at first, and then at Renly, hoping he might want to hold their son first, but Renly smiled, and Delva waved him on encouragingly, and the father even gives him a thumbs up. So Loras takes the baby from the nurse, holding him how Leonette had instructed him to when Jack had first been born, and at first, he started to panic because the baby started crying louder and wriggling in his arms. He looks at the others and the nurse, feeling his cheeks turn red as he struggled to hush the newborn.
He almost gave up and started to hand his son back to the nurse. But then, the baby started to hush up as Loras bounced him a little in his arms, and Loras felt his fear ebb away ever so slightly. He looked down at the infant swaddled in his arms and feels his heart warm up and a big idiot grin spread across his lips.
The baby had little wisps of brown hair like his mother and birth-father, and Loras suspected his eyes might turn out brown like his biological parents as well. Sneaking a sideways glance at his son's birth-father, Loras prayed he didn't inherit his nose. Though really, when he looked down at the adorable soft pink face surrounded by white and blue blankets in his arm, he could imagine him looking any less cute even with a beak for a nose.
It takes twenty minutes for Renly to pry the baby from his arms, and an hour later, they said their goodbyes to Delva and went home, new baby in tow.
"He's adorable!" Margeary gushed a few days later when the Tyrell & Baratheon families gathered at Loras and Renly's to meet the newest addition.
"He'll be a handsome one." Alerie, Loras' mother said as she peered over her daughter's shoulder into the bassinet in the corner of the nursery. Leonette nodded her agreement, even as her son Jack on her hip pouted in disapproval of his new cousin.
"Bet he'll be a jock." Garlan said conversationally to Willas.
"I'll take that bet," Willas replied with a playful smile. "In fifteen years, if he prefers kicking a ball to reading a book, I'll give you fifty stags. But if the reverse is the case…" Willas trailed off. Garlan laughed and put out a hand. "I'll take that bet. While we're at it, let's bet who his favorite uncle will be!"
Robert started laughing then. "Me of course!" He boasted. "I'll give the boy a good time, and show him how to be a man, just like I did, Renly. Right, Ren?" Loras nearly sighed exasperatedly as he watched Renly shiver, probably briefly flashing back to what it is only known as the "Stripper Incident". The fact it involved a stripper, Renly realizing he was gay, and Robert was about all Loras knew on the subject, but he knew Renly still had nightmares about it. Still, Loras watched as Renly plastered on a smile and nodded his head. Stannis huffed disapprovingly and turned away.
"Hey, Uncle Renly," Stannis' daughter Shireen suddenly called. "What did you guys decide to name him?" She asked, eyes shining bright. Beside her, Myrcella was practically bouncing with anticipation, and Tommen seemed excited as well. Though Joffrey and Jack seemed like they couldn't care less, and Renly's other niece, Mya, and nephews, Gendry and Edric, sent them pitying looks as the entire conjoined families' eyes zeroed in on them.
Renly grinned and replied, "We've decided to name him Devin. Devin William Tyrell-Baratheon." Polite comments followed the announcement, including some gushing from Shireen and Myrcella over how much they loved the name. But when Devin started crying, everyone seemed to telepathically agree to vacate the room for the living room, leaving only Loras to attend to the newborn while Renly moved into the other room with everyone else in order to ensure WWIII didn't occur.
Loras gently picked up his son from his bassinet and cradled him in his arms, bouncing him just the way he liked, and Devin hushed relatively quickly. The baby stared up at him with curious eyes, and smiled toothlessly up at him with Loras grinned and tickled his chin. Loras couldn't help but chuckle as he set the babe down on the changing table and got to work.
When he was done and Devin was in a fresh, clean diaper, redressed in his yellow onesie and booties, Loras sat down in the rocking chair in the corner of the room with him in his arms and rocked ever so slowly back and forth, back and forth. Before he knew it, Devin was fast asleep in his arms. Loras smiled down at his son, climbed to his feet, and set him back down in his crib.
As Loras stepped out of the nursery and into the hallway, he couldn't help but look back and smile one more time. I never would have thought two years ago where I would be now, Loras thought with grin as he turned and made his way towards the commotion in the living room. He swore if that was his favorite vase he just heard break…
A/N: Sorry for the delay! I was busy with an art show at my school! Plus a few school projects and homework! But anyways—it's over, it's done! Last chapter, everyone; I hope you enjoyed it. I did! It was a lot of fun, and maybe I'll do spin-offs in the future. For now, though, I have to finish my other story, "The Runaway Reawakens", and update "My Armor" for a second chapter.
Shoot me ideas if you'd like me to write anything special—I'd be happy to take requests. Just PM or say so right in your review.
It's been fun, and I hoped you enjoyed the ending!