Begin!
~Bertrand's POV
Asked Lemony and Moxie to be godparents: check.
Got a perfect house to raise our child in: check.
Our enemies were none the wiser: check.
We had a double wedding planned so we could get married at the same time as our best friends: check!
Everything was all coming together. We had spent the last few months happily settling into our new home. We even got a call from Mr. Poe at the bank thanking us for recommending Jacqueline. (In his own words, she's the "best thing that ever happened to his office!") I wasn't surprised to hear that. Jacqueline was a very dedicated worker. And it was nice that she was so willing to help us. Though she did comment about him being difficult to work with. Other than that things had been fine. We had recently helped Q and Karrie move into their own mansion out of town. It was regrettable that they couldn't live closer but it was for an allegedly good reason.
Currently, I was in my work studio. It was after dinner on a nice April evening that seemed perfectly normal-
"BERTRAND!"
And then it wasn't. I quickly dropped my tools and ran upstairs looking for Bea through her frantic screaming. I found her in her office and she looked quite distressed.
"Bea what's wrong?"
"The baby's coming!" She replied before doubling over in pain from another contraction. "Oh god, sweetheart, you've sure got timing…"
"Oh the baby's coming… WAIT THE BABY'S COMING?!"
I had thought about this day since the moment I was told I would be a father, but I felt all the color drain from my face as I realized just how important this was. I'll have to call everyone once we get to the hospital. I don't want to waste another second while Bea's in pain! I told her I'd grab her purse and her jacket and get her to the hospital as soon as possible.
We're having a baby. I'm having a baby. In a few hours I'd be a dad…
Once we got to the hospital, I immediately set about calling everyone we had promised could be here for this moment while Bea was taken into a prep room by a nurse. I was close to hyperventilating myself. The baby was coming. There were a million thoughts and scenarios running through my head. Was I going to be a good father? Could I protect it well enough? It's gonna be so small and helpless… Was I ready? What if I wasn't good enough and Bea decided to leave me because of it?!
"Bertrand?"
I was snapped out of my thoughts by Lemony and Moxie arriving.
"You alright," Moxie asked.
"I'm about to have a baby; how do you think I feel," I replied bluntly. "Bea's in prep right now and I'm told that you'll have to wait out here until it's over."
I noticed that Lemony was looking a bit pale as well; perhaps he was nervous about being a godfather at last. I went to find the room that Bea was in and she was set up in a bed with a hospital gown on.
"Hi honey," She said, giving me a little smile. "Anybody here yet?"
"Lemony and Moxie are, I'm sure they'll give Q and Karrie the heads up when they get here. Is everything ok?" I pulled a chair over to sit next to her.
"They said the contractions are pretty close, but I'm not quite ready for it to start."
I nodded. "I hope we're both ready for this. I mean this is such a huge milestone in our lives…"
"Oh Bertie, everything's going to be fine. Cause trust me, once the baby's here, you won't be worried anymore."
I smiled, "I'll take your word for it."
We continued talking to pass some time. I also had to comfort her from being in considerable pain. After a while, a doctor checked up on Bea's, er, condition.
"Well, Miss Anwhistle, it appears you're ready now, congratulations you're about to become a mom."
It was a long and difficult ordeal, but as I tightly gripped Bea's hand even after it was finished the only thing that registered in my brain were three little words:
"It's a girl!"
A girl… we had a girl… I had a daughter… We had a daughter… I looked at Bea who had tears in her eyes. (Though I'm very sure that they weren't just happy tears.) I gave her a gentle smile and she tiredly returned it. She was right, seeing our child here at last made every worry and concern I had an hour and a half ago just vanish. I wanted nothing more than to simply do the best I could for my little girl. I can't believe it… I'm a dad.
"Is she ok? Is she healthy?" Bea asked quickly.
They were still busy getting her cleaned up before we could see her up close.
The doctor that was filling out our papers nodded at us. "Yes ma'am, you have a perfectly healthy baby girl. Seven pounds, eight ounces."
"I'll tell the others in a while," I said to Bea. "Make them wait just a little longer you know."
"Increasing suspense," Bea chuckled.
"Now we just need to fill out this birth certificate, you said you aren't married yet but she'll need one of your surnames. So what's her name?"
"Violet Roselyn Baudelaire," Bea answered smiling tiredly. (She then specified how this was spelled so they could get it right.)
By this point the nurse came back from the other side of the room, and had the baby bundled up in a blanket. She handed her over to Bea and we finally got to see our daughter; as the doctors quietly left to give us some privacy.
She was beautiful… She looked more like Bea, but with traces of myself here and there. She had a small amount of ebony black hair and had my blue eyes. She was blinking curiously up at us and taking in her surroundings.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Bea blinking back tears. "She's here," I heard her breathe out.
"Yeah she is… She's perfect," I replied softly.
"And she's got her daddy's eyes," Bea added giggling slightly.
I had to lift up my glasses to wipe my eyes. "But she's beautiful like her mommy."
"You want to hold her now?"
I smiled eagerly and she gently put her into my arms. "She's so small," I said without thinking.
"She'll get bigger," Bea joked. "That's kinda how it works in case you forgot."
I laughed and cradled her close to my chest. "Hi Violet, I'm your daddy."
Bea giggled as Violet made an attempt to reach for my glasses, not that I let her. So I carefully handed her back over.
"You can go tell everyone if you're ready. And they told me I'll have to stay the night," Bea said while letting Violet try to grab her fingers.
I nodded in understanding. Labor took a toll on her and she would not be let out of bed anytime soon.
"Everyone's probably worried." I kissed Bea on the cheek before heading for the door. "I'll be right back."
I went outside into the waiting room where I found Lemony, Moxie, Quinten, Karrie, and Sammie talking. Karrie instantly got up first.
"Well?! What is it?! Is Bea ok?!" She asked excitedly.
"It's a girl," I said proudly. "And you can come see her now."
I started to lead them all to the room, but first I walked next to Sammie and gave her a small smile. "Thanks for not telling us…" I said quietly.
Sammie adjusted the bag on her shoulder and smirked at me, "I knew you'd appreciate it. I'd have brought Fiona with me, but it's late and I didn't want her to miss any sleep so I left her with my boys. They'll have the opportunity to meet the baby some other time."
"Did you even actually know," I asked bluntly.
"Of course I knew, I've had one of each," She replied.
And so for the next hour or so everyone got a turn to hold Violet while we talked excitedly. Karrie was misty-eyed the whole time. I had to deal with Quinten making a comment about how he was, "thankful that she looked more like Bea than me." I wasn't that bothered by this to be honest; I found it funny and I was too happy to care. Lemony and Moxie were happy to meet her. I swear I even saw Moxie get little emotional, which was unexpected; I'd known her most often as being tough as nails. And Sammie gave us a special present for Violet; it was a purple teddy bear with a little black ribbon sewed around its neck.
~Later… Beatrice's POV
Once it was late enough people started to head out for the night. I had to give Violet to a doctor so she could be carried off to the nursery. I thanked Sammie for the gift and apologized for being so insistent about knowing what I was having. I got hugs from Lemony and Moxie with promises that they would stay in touch. (I was glad to see Lemony was so happy to have a goddaughter.) At the moment the only person left in here with me was Karrie, Bertie and Quinten were outside waiting for her so they could head home. (Despite numerous asking attempts, Bertie wasn't allowed to spend the night here with me; which was understandable.)
"Bea… how does it feel?"
"Be more specific?"
"To be a mom…" Karrie said quietly.
She was sitting on a chair next to my bed and I reached over and patted her shoulder affectionately.
"You'll know how it feels someday."
"But what if I don't? They said the chances are so low-"
"Karen, listen to me. You. Will. Know. Ok? Who cares about how low the chances are as long as there is a chance."
She went to wipe her eyes and gave me a weak smile. "I'm glad I have such a supportive friend as you…"
"And you know, your chances are higher than you think. You're a Denouement, you guys breed like rabbits…"
That made her laugh. "It's 'cause triplets run in the family…"
"I know cause you're one too," I said. (Karrie's older brothers, Ryan and Mason, were no longer with us unfortunately. Which was a valid explanation for why she was close to her cousins all this time; she saw them as brotherly figures in her life that eased her loss.)
"You're not… jealous of me are you, Karrie?"
"Bea, you've always had everything first between us. You were the first to get an apprenticeship. You were the first to get a boyfriend. You were the first to get engaged; twice. Now you're the first to be a mom. And as your best friend, I say I have no reason to be jealous of you for anything. You're my friend, just because you're one step ahead of me doesn't change that. If you're even remotely worried, don't be. Cause when you handed Violet over to me I said to myself, 'this is my best friend's daughter, and I would protect her with my life.' And I know that if I have a kid, you'd do the same for me…"
I smiled at that answer. "You mean when you have one. And I wouldn't think of doing any differently. After all, it's what friends are for."
~End of Chapter!
This was a "feels" heavy chapter, and I'm happy about it.
