THREE MONTHS AFTER THE RETURN OF KELLER.

The baby was born one month premature, which didn't surprise the doctors in the slightest, except in the fact that it wasn't born earlier, after what they called 'your restless behaviour' this was said with disappointment, and Thea felt a rush of annoyance at that…if only they knew…

But they didn't know, and maybe they'd never know. Before she went into labour, she had been talking to Mrs. Ross and Rosemund; Eric had been sitting on the edge of her bed, holding her hand. His mother had been in every day – without fail – she had gotten over the shock of Thea and Eric being parents at only eighteen, had brought a jumpsuit for the baby when it was eventually born. Yellow, so that it was unisex, Rosemund had wanted to buy a bright red Santa suit, she didn't seem to realise that it was two months to Christmas and the baby definitely wouldn't take that long – thank goddess.

Both Thea and Eric would be starting at Davis a semester late, they explained their absence due to the fact that she was pregnant, that she had been stabbed through the abdomen, and that one of her cousins had been kidnapped, one of her friends dead. She needed Eric for moral support, they appreciated this, it just meant that they'd both graduate a year late or have to put in summers to get there on time.

Thea was sick of being in hospital, suffered it for almost two months, although her friends visited as often as they could, rotating between Galen, Jez and Morgead, and her, and although Eric was with her every day and most of the night – they'd practically set up home in the hospital – she had dozens of books by her bed and had read all of them. The sooner the baby came the better.

But she hadn't wanted it to be early. She'd been warned about it, of course, what with her 'difficulties' in the pregnancy – difficulties like exhaustion and stabbing – they'd said that a baby born that premature suffered more than a large chance of dying, that if they didn't die, it would most likely be very ill.

She personally didn't like to think of that.

When her contractions started, Eric was running down the hall for a doctor, when he came back with one, along with a midwife, Rosemund and Mrs. Ross were ushered out the room. He made a move as though to go too, but Thea grabbed him, "no way…this baby is half your fault, if I have to suffer for it, then you bloody well have to too…"

And for the next twelve hours, he sure suffered, even if he hadn't been right beside her, feeling his hand crushing with each contraction, he would have suffered. He could feel her pain through the soulmate link – whoever said men didn't suffer in labour? – and it was agonizing, he was sure other people on the ward were looking at one another and thinking 'what do the doctors here do to their patients' as Thea screamed. He hadn't known she could yell that loud.

Eventually, their baby was born; neither of them got to hold it before it was risked away to be washed and put in an incubator, but a few moments later, the midwife returned with the baby, looking surprised and stunned, "it's a girl," she said, passing the baby to Thea, "she's a miracle baby, I tell ya. Her mommy gets stabbed and she lives, she's born a month earlier and there's nothing wrong, she wanted to shock us all. Must have." she shook her head, but Thea and Eric's attention was already on the baby.

"Hello Blaise," Thea whispered, the baby had her eyes closed, had been a surprisingly silent baby. Everyone had worried she might be stillborn, but she was so obviously alive, Thea looked up at Eric, "it is still okay if we call her Blaise?"

"Of course," he grinned, his voice hoarse, and reached over to stroke Blaise's hair. It was blonde, just like his and Thea's, more sandy-blonde like his though. And Blaise opened her eyes.

Her eyes weren't green like his, or brown like Thea's. They were smoky grey and surprisingly hard. It was a stare he knew well. Too well.

"Goddess," Thea gasped while he was struggling not to say a worse word.

The baby had exactly the same colour eyes as the original Blaise, her namesake.