One-shot summary: Something wonderful just arrived in the Wry household.

Something was different the moment he stepped into the house. It was as if a new atmosphere had over-taken the home, something while earth-shattering and tense, made everything seem new and light and more beautiful than ever before. Varian dropped his bag the second he entered the home, looking around the area with a frown. Nothing was different about it, physically at least, everything was in the same place he had left it that morning.

"Jules?" he called out. A second passed, then came an answer.

"In here," Juliet's voice croaked from their bed room. Varian's body washed with relief at the sound of her voice, glad to hear she was okay and hurried up the stairs to their room. His hand reached for the door knob at the same moment the door swung open, revealing Lance in the door way.

Lance had a rather strange-look on his face; smiling, but also nervous. His eyes landed on Varian and his smile only grew wider and Varian cocked his head to the side.

"Something going on?" Varian asked. Varian tried to peak over Lance's shoulder but could only see the top of Juliet's scalp from here.

Lance gave an almost laugh. "Guess you could say that."

Lance stepped to the side at that, giving Varian a full view of the room. At first, nothing seemed off. It was his and Juliet's room, same as always; a table shoved in the corner, the windows by the bed, even Juliet lying in it. Then he did a second look and he realized all that was different – the table, usually covered with notes and books and everything in between had been stripped bare, only a white tablecloth occupying it now, the windows had their curtains shuttered close.

But most all, Juliet wasn't alone.

Juliet was sitting up on her usual side of the mattress, something small bundled in her arms. She stared at it with all the love he knew was in her heart, a smile as thick as butter and as wide as a river across her face. The kind of smile impossible to mistake as anything but genuine and loving, the kind that took hours to wipe off a face. The bundle made a sound, a small little fist twirled around Juliet's finger, a pair of blue eyes staring up from the barely visible face of the blanketed baby.

Baby. The baby. The baby was here.

Varian froze in the doorway as he took in the sight, eyes zeroing in on the two of them. The baby was here – the baby. He wanted to rush over to Juliet's side right now and look into the baby's eyes and make sure Juliet was okay, but at the same time his entire body was stricken with the paralyzing need to stay right here. The moment before him was perfect, with the two most perfect right before him, and he didn't want to barge into. Him; loud and messy and stubborn him interrupting a beautiful moment between the two clean and perfect and beautiful things in his life.

Then the moment ended.

Lance clapped a hand on Varian's shoulder loudly. This rose the attention of Juliet, who looked up, startled, before smiling at Varian all the same.

"I'll give you three some privacy," Lance said. "Do yo-you want me to leave?"

"Can you go get Varian's father?" Juliet said. Varian was unsure how she could speak. "I know you have to go, and Quirin'll want to meet her too."

Her?

HER!

He had a daughter. Dear God, he had a daughter. He had a beautiful and perfect and wonderful daughter. A daughter only a few feet away from him, one held tightly in the other most important girl in his life.

Lance nodded and left, shutting the door behind him with a click. Juliet continued to smile at him, and that's all they did for a moment, Juliet smiling at him while Varian just stared.

"Well, do you want to meet your daughter?" Juliet asked.

All he could do was nod as he stepped forward in a daze. That was his daughter in Juliet's arms; it was surreal almost. Him? Him have a daughter. Panic flooded him as he stopped at Juliet's bed side, his eyes meeting identical blue ones. The baby – his daughter – she gave what he guessed could be a smile at him and he felt his heart break into a thousand pieces.

How could something so wonderful come from something he did?

"Varian," Juliet said softly. "This is our daughter, Elizabeth."

Elizabeth. Elizabeth Wry. His wonderful and perfect Elizabeth.

"Ca-can I hold her?"

Juliet nodded and gently placed Elizabeth in his arms, reminding him to keep her head supported. Varian's whole existence shifted the moment Elizabeth came to rest in his arms. It was no longer gravity holding him to the ground, it was no longer air that kept him alive, it was not any commitment to country or monarch keeping him in this place. It was Elizabeth, Elizabeth was his new center, the thing keeping him chained here, and it was chain he was glad to have.

"Hi Elizabeth," Varian whispered. "I'm your dad." Elizabeth made a soft sound, most likely a yawn, and blinked her eyes adorably. He looked back up at where Juliet was watching them, smiling that same smile again as she observed them.

"Jules, what did we do?"

"Something…. amazing."

HELLO! I pretty much have to drop all my fics currently, including my Alchemy Animals (VarianxOC) content because my first semester of finals are here, and I have to focus on that as my number one priority. But, at the like two in the morning yesterday I hit rock bottom and had to write something not about the complexity of faith and doubt or Friedrich Nietzsche, so I wrote this little snippet about an older Varian and Juliet after their first daughter is born. It's not much, but I'm proud of it. I plan on fleshing it out more after finals are over, but for now, this is Varian meeting his daughter. For frame of mind, he and Juliet are twenty-five.

As for why this is not a continuation of the Mercy arc, the final part has a lot of stuff in it and will be much longer than this chapter is, and I just can't get out at least until mid-December, probably looking at the end of December. I hope y'all like this short and sweet intermission, and I hope to be back soon with the rest of Mercy.

This was a request by KaiWriter a while ago, and I know it's not much, but more content for this scene will come eventually, I promise!
- Princess Chess