by Roaming Tigress
It had been six months since the marriage of F.O.W.L agents Steelbeak and Victoria Volatili. The twenty-five-year-old brown-eyed, raven-haired beauty of a she-duck was the pride and joy of the rogue rooster. He admired her intelligence, put up with her fiery temper, her cruel sense of humour, and admired her psychotically pyromaniac tendencies. Most of all however, Steelbeak loved her soft side -- it didn't show often, but it was there.
The Australian accented Victoria, or "Tori" for short, had always admired Steelbeak since she joined the criminal organization. Often she would meet up with him while going out on her rounds, but hadn't got the chance to work alongside him until she was out of their grasp. When High Command fired Steelbeak after he failed to complete a mission, it was the final straw. She left, fed up with their tyrannical ways.
The two worked together to get revenge upon the shadowy figures, succeeded, fell in love with each another, and well . . . The rest was history!
Lately, Victoria was mellower than normal, to the point of worrying her husband. There were times when she'd break into tears for no reason whatsoever. Having lost her cousin recently in an explosion, she dismissed it as mere depression and told Steelbeak not to worry. Her stubbornness wasn't to last much longer, however. The moment her usual voracious appetite had decreased, she was finally talked into getting a full medical examination.
The appointment confirmed what Victoria didn't the least suspect -- she was pregnant.
She came out of the examination room in disbelief and shock, tempted to go elsewhere to get checked over again. Doctors these days! They're so bloody quick to diagnose you with something you don't even have! I mean, crikey! Me, pregnant? Hah! Roosters and ducks are as related to each other as kangaroos are related to dingoes! It just can't happen!
Gradually getting over the initial shock, Victoria drove back to F.O.W.L Headquarters in her sporty black corvette. She knew she would eventually have to break the news to her husband, but not quite yet. She would need to wait for the right time.
Steelbeak heard his wife step into the highly-secured High Command chamber room and spun around on his black leather chair. She had been gone for quite some time on that appointment, and was ecstatic to see
"So, 'ow did de checkup go?"
"Oh, it was nothing, mate!" Victoria innocently replied, nestling down on his lap. "I just have to take a few pills, make sure I get proper nutrients. Nothing big!"
Steelbeak noticed Victoria was heavier than the last time she sat on his lap, and could tell by the way she was acting that she wasn't quite telling the truth. He hugging her firmly as his metallic beak rubbed up against her snow-white cheek.
"Why you being such a teddy bear for?" The pyromaniac winked, laughing a little as she felt the cold steel rub up against her face.
"Yer pregnant, aren'tcha?" Steelbeak asked with a playful glint in his eyes. He couldn't think of anything else that was up with her and the way she's been lately. It was a rare moment that he accused his wife of anything, but he was curious, and had to find out.
"Crikey! Am I getting that fat?!" Victoria exclaimed, looking down at herself and making her husband a little guilty for asking. Caught off guard, she sucked in her stomach in to appear thinner.
"Nah, yas look fine! I wouldn't 'ave youse any other way!" Steelbeak grinned, brushing away a strand of hair that got in her face when he was nuzzling her.
Anxiety set in when Victoria remembered him telling her how much he despised children. With all the obnoxious noise and nuisances they made, she wasn't fond of them herself. Nonetheless, she couldn't part with the one she was carrying and hoped Steelbeak would respect that wish.
Oh, stop being so quiet about it, Tori! He's already suspicious, so let the cat out of the bag already! You won't know how he'd take to it unless you tell him flat out.
"Well . . . I suppose I am a little pregnant . . . " Victoria admitted with slight trepidation, resting her head against his chest. Her hesitation didn't just stem from how he may react regarding her pregnancy, but she worried about how good a mother she would become. Would she have what it would take? How would the child turn out to be like? Would he or she be a villain or a crimefighter, or just a regular day-to-day citizen?
There was an uncharacteristic softness in Steelbeak's eyes as he rested his chin on her head. Yes, he hated children, but Victoria's would be an exception. He would come to love this child as much as he would love his wife, and was more than willing to protect him or her with his life. The child was part of both of them now.
"I'm gonna be a daddy . . . " He daydreamly smiled, vowing to give his son or daughter all the love and respect that his own parents never gave him.
"'Ow long do we's 'ave 'till it comes?"
Victoria let out a sigh or relief, now knowing Steelbeak was cool with the whole matter. "Doctor told me I was on my third month of pregnancy. We still have a fair time to get ready for our new addition."
"Dat we's do!" Steelbeak boasted, startling her with his sudden burst of energy. "Dose six months are gonna come quicker den yas know it!"
After their work was done for the day, the couple decided to out looking for what their child would need. Victoria never thought she'd find herself in this predicament, and was a little intimidated by the huge assortment of accessaries that were available. She couldn't decide what to get, but with Steelbeak's assistance, she ended up enjoying the excursion.
It was a rainy day in March when Victoria was awaken by intense labor pains. Those five months came so fast -- too fast.
"It's time!" She whispered, giving him a gentle nudge to his shoulder to wake up.
Rolling aside to make himself comfortable, the rooster merely grunted back in response. "Hmf? Say what? It's too early . . . Must . . . Sleep . . . "
Victoria gave him another nudge. "The baby's going to arrive!"
"OH!"
Steelbeak wasted no time in getting Victoria to the hospital. He sped through the traffic, blaring the car's horn at anyone who didn't get out of his way fast enough. One of the those "anyones" was none other than the interfering Darkwing Duck. Not surprisingly, he made a daring effort to stop the speeding supervillain. As he drove his Ratcatcher right in front of the corvette, Steelbeak merely swerved around him.
"Oh no you don't, Chromelips!" Darkwing triumphantly shouted, following them as they went right through a red light. As the car finally reached its destination, he pulled up along the driver's side and shoved his gas gun in the open window.
"Do youse mind? I've got a wife wit' a baby on de way!" Steelbeak snarled, opening the door with enough force to knock the duck over. He immediately went over to Tori's side and helped her into the hospital, leaving Darkwing feeling incredibly sheepish.
Had the duck known the reason behind Steelbeak's speeding, he would've been let him pass without an incident. Darkwing couldn't agree with the rooster's way of life, but there was one thing he could agree with him on -- the importance of family. He understood his urgency, and for once, the crimefighter felt bad for trying to stop him.
Concerned with how Victoria was doing, Darkwing Duck peeked his head into the window of the maternity ward. He watched as Steelbeak sat at the edge of the bed, comforting her as the doctors arrived in the room. Up until now, he had no idea that such a hardened criminal could be such a devoted husband -- or father.
"It's coming . . . " Victoria panted, clasping hold of Steelbeak's hand so tight that he winced. "I can feel it, Steelbeak, it's coming!"
With an assistance of a doctor, the baby was finally brought into the world. It was the most adorably pudgy little thing, with the body colour matching that of Steelbeak's. There were off-white patches around her green-blue eyes and on her belly. Her tiny beak was distinctively coot-like and free of the deformities that Steelbeak's natural one had.
"It's a girl!" The doctor exclaimed after giving her a thorough examination. "Not a thing wrong with the beautiful little darling, either!"
"T'ank goodness fer dat!" Steelbeak replied, giving Victoria a tight hug when he heard all was well. "I don't use de woid often, but she's beautiful!"
After the umbilical cord was cut, the crying baby was handed to her exhausted parents. Tears of happiness ran down Victoria's face as she cradled the infant close against her. The couple haven't been this happy since the wedding day, and Steelbeak looked on with the widest smile.
"What about the name Tatiana?" Victoria asked, moving aside a little as he came down to sit beside her. The baby's crying ceased following a kiss on her bald forehead.
"Ohhh, Tori . . . I love it!" Steelbeak smiled through tears, tickling Tatiana under the chin with a finger. "She looks like a little Tatiana."
"How about you meet your daddy, my precious little sheila?" Victoria murmured, slowly holding her out to her husband.
Steelbeak gently took hold of Tatiana with the same hands that have killed a hundred people. She remained calm as he cradled her, but the sight of his fearsome beak set off the crying off again. He couldn't blame her for being scared of the dangerous device. She didn't know that he wouldn't dream of hurting her, and he felt a little guilty for frightening her.
"Shhhhh . . . I won't hoit yas . . . " Steelbeak cooed, bringing her up closer to his face so that he would give her a kiss.
Surprisingly, Tatiana's crying stopped as she came up closer to his face. She shocked her father even more when she boldly reached her tiny hands out to touch his beak. With the exception of those who have a desire to steal it, not too grown people dared to go anywhere near it. Genuinely touched, Steelbeak's tears flowed from his cheeks and onto her little fingers.
"Welcome to de woild, Tatiana."
The characters Steelbeak and Darkwing Duck are Disney, Victoria is Roaming Tigress/Rachel Faraday, Tatiana is Roaming Tigress.