Stillness.
After the pandemonium of getting Lucilla to Supremacy, the Tie Fighter battle that ensued, her father's subsequent arrest and Orion's frantic dash to the med bay had all melted into stillness.
Still like Lucilla was now, sleeping off her sedation.
"If something is not done now-" Dr Reena Craven had hissed at him, passionate for her patient. "They will both die."
Orion wasn't sure how to feel, even now, several hours later. The last two months of the pregnancy had been swiped from them with so much left undone. It felt... anti-climactic, underwhelming. And the outcome...
He left Lucilla to sleep, to give her as long as possible to escape the consequences for now; he would face them head on for her. The redhead sauntered the small floor space of Lucilla's recovery room; towards the humming, rectangular box and stood over it, where it came to lower-chest height. On him, at least.
The box was much more than just a box. Even if it wasn't immediately apparent what it was for or what it contained. Insulated and covered to simulate the womb in its temperature and environment (complete with "Lucilla's" heartbeat), this container was vital.
Dr Craven re-appeared without guilt for the way she had spoken in the heat of the moment but tender and sympathetic all the same. She observed her General's grim demeanour and understood it (or thought she did); the situation was far from ideal.
"There's a little hole here-" She offered gently, accommodating as she half-tilted her body to the side to indicate what she wished to show him; Hux remained stoic. "You can reach in and touch her if-"
"I'd rather not." He rebuffed crisply, nor did he return the courtesy of keeping his voice low for the sake of the two sleeping beings in the room. Rigid and clipped with his hands clutched behind his back, as if he were in the midst of a command, he had spied through the little hole already and retreated not long after. The sight of IV lines, an oxygen mask and heart monitors clinging to the tiny thing (smaller than it was meant to be) was not one he needed to see.
Taken aback and speechless as a result by the coldness, Dr Craven was at a loss for a response so she merely nodded with her eyes averted; compliant to her role and the hierarchy. She tried to ignore the new father's clear removal and almost disinterest but there was no apology for the blatancy. Thankfully, it was not inflicted on her for long enough that she might have to bite her tongue further.
"I am needed elsewhere." He declared out of nowhere, not solemn or sad; nor had any com calls come through to summon him away. Then his eyes flickered to his wife in the bed; with a matching IV line to her baby in the incubator as he readied to depart. "Ensure she is comfortable, I have other matters to attend to."
Orion stalked the lower levels of Supremacy, en route to the detention block where his father in law's false arrest was still in effect. All the way from the med bay, his face may have been impassive to anyone he encountered but his mind was alight with frenzy.
How has this happened?! He interrogated himself furiously for the umpteenth time since he left the recovery room. It was a boy, everyone swore it was a boy!
What Orion failed to examine is who had sworn the baby was a boy. Anyone with a background in medicine? No. Anyone with a background in gynaecology? No. Anyone with a background in obstetrics? No. Merely those who wished to placate the powerful General and play to his ego that he would soon have the strong, capable son that would carry on his name and his work. That the romantic notion of what Imperials would count as the ideal personal life for a high-ranking officer was beginning to unfold for him. What did he have instead? The opposite. The complete opposite.
Perhaps he had given more credit than he should have to the raving woman at the Dreadnought unveiling; the one who had proclaimed to a room full of Imperials that his wife was carrying a boy. How did she know? She'd had four of them. Orion had automatically dismissed the possibility of her being wrong.
On the other hand, there had been nothing to actually confirm the sex of the baby; nothing obvious in the scans or any data entry that stated it. Lucilla had always declined to know, claiming she wanted a surprise but she wasn't so entangled with the idea of having sons meant. Then again, she wasn't of Imperial stock, it hadn't been bred into her like it had to other prospective matches he'd had. He loved her dearly, of course, but sometimes, it felt like she didn't understand.
Then there was the matter of every scan telling them they had a healthy baby, including the one from early that morning when, in fact, it was a far cry from the truth. If Dr Craven's post-"birth" dronings were anything to go by, at least.
Before he could tear himself apart further, his feet automatically stopped at the only occupied cell on the block; the only, solitary one with a blaring, red light above it.
"What happened?" The grizzled smuggler asked immediately once he had assessed who he was now in the company of; that it was his son in law and not a random Stormtrooper. Pain and discomfort forgotten, his daughter and grandchild were his priority; unlike the General.
"You were arrest-"
"Don't gimme that shit!" Keir snapped and instantly, Orion regretted coming to the cell unescorted. "I know I was fuckin' arrested! I've been arrested before! What happened to Lucy?!" Feeling the glaring hostility growing, the redhead made it his business to exit the confinement of the cell with the older and more agitated male hot on his heels. In an attempt to diffuse the situation, the General felt it safer to walk and talk, to lead Keir to the med bay.
"An emergency caesarean section was performed at 19.47 hours." Hux relayed emotionlessly with his march impeccable; Keir kept up with little trouble, listening intently. "Lucilla is in recovery now."
"And the baby?" The eldest inquired cagily, not feeling a stoke of confidence from his younger counterpart's expression or demeanour. Naturally, he feared the worst.
"Struggling." Was all Orion disclosed indifferently; not really noticing when Keir's stride slowed to nothing. Until his attention was called to it out of the corner of his eye, of course.
"I might be pissin' 'gainst the wind here….." Keir's steely eyes had narrowed and his tone grew accusatory; enough for the General to pivot on his toe to face a potential challenge. "But I was a new father to a sick baby too. That didn't stop me tellin' anyone that'd listen. Couldn't contain my excitement, so I couldn't; couldn't stop smilin'. Wanted to shout it from the rooftops." Keir advanced with aggressive undertones in his body language but Hux stayed rooted, even when they were almost nose to nose and the moustached upper lip curved menacingly.
"So what's your fuckin' problem?" Orion didn't answer; simply returned the threatening gaze and suspicions were confirmed. Blindingly furious (but hiding it well), Keir let the vicious silence settle before asking a very important question. "Boy or girl?" He made a judgement, he already knew the answer.
Orion's icy eyes shifted but he managed to hold his body firm under the intimidation of his father in law; the lack of a response was as damning as Keir's guess, as the conversation he'd had with Lucilla. Triumphant, but no less sickened, the smuggler ambled past to continue his way to the med bay; leaving a still dispassionate General in his wake.
"Scuse me, lads!" Fearless, the scruffy outsider had absolutely no qualms in halting a passing squadron (who actually stopped) to ask for directions. "Direct me to the med bay, will ye, gents?!"
"That will not be necessary!" Orion called, masking his breathlessness from trying to close the distance and bringing up the rear behind Keir; sending a ripple of confusion through the team of white-clad Troopers. "As you were! Resume duties!" The squadron moved off as ordered and the redhead pointed while he took the lead again.
He hovered at the threshold, unable to bear the room again but Keir took to it without hesitation in a purposeful tread. He checked Lucilla first; barely perching himself on the corner of her bed, carefully brushing a few wayward locks out of her face and reassuring himself that she was well. Satisfied his daughter was merely sleeping, he traipsed to the other side of the room; an action Orion watched with interest.
Unlike Hux, the new grandfather had no reservations in interacting with the incubator. He allowed himself a poignant pause over the lid for a brief moment; as if preparing himself. Then, he crouched (necessary when Keir was taller and boarder than Orion) to level himself with the hole and the General could literally see him being winded by what he saw inside. Despite that though, he reached in with the utmost care and delicately held the glass-like hand between two huge fingers; his thumb stroking the tiny knuckle.
"Heya, doll." Big, gruff and brash as Keir Bey was, this little girl would always have a way around him. "I'm your grandpa, angel. I'm watchin' over you." Little to do and little to say but plenty to plan, Keir reluctantly withdrew his hand and straightened to his full, imposing height. Scrubbing a hand through his beard, Keir exhaled his emotion then turned his simmering attention to his son in law still lingering in the doorway.
"You have no idea how hard I'm restrainin' myself from breakin' every fuckin' tooth in that Imperial head'a yours, you selfish prick."
Usually threats did not sit well with General Hux but with Keir, picking ones battles was an advisable venture; so he took his own advice and said nothing. Instead, his forlorn gaze followed as the elder of the two males reunited himself with his only daughter.
"She won't like this, you watch." Keir warned without looking at the redhead; too tenderly immersed in Lucilla instead. "When she comes round, she's goin' to hear everythin'. And when they're both well enough, they're comin' home with me."