A/N: This one is all about the lead-up to Baby Douglas, and how excited Terra is.

Chapter Three: Before Douglas

Ian woke up alone in bed, clutching at the fabric of the sheets where Clara should have been. They were still warm, meaning that she couldn't have gotten too far. When she didn't return after a few minutes, he got out of bed and began to investigate, going down the stairs to the kitchen. He found his wife in the kitchen, munching idly on some crisps while browsing through a print-out of a paper draft he had finished the previous week. They were glad that the university he used to work for took him back, though not without some convincing that he was merely one of those people that aged funny, and Clara was determined to help out in any way she could.

"Clara, you should be resting," Ian said. She didn't even flinch when she heard his voice, or when he sat down next to her.

"I couldn't sleep—the baby is being restless—so I decided to keep my mind active," Clara explained. She was about to write another comment in the margin when her fae husband placed his hand on hers, stopping her from continuing. "What…?"

"Work is work, and you're going to be doing a lot of work very soon," he gently scolded. "Dave comes tomorrow; do you want your dad to arrive to a daughter that can barely keep her eyes open?"

"No, but he'll understand," she replied. She put down her marking pen and frowned, placing her hand on her swelled stomach. "I'm worried; Terra isn't… different, but what if this child is?"

"At least we know that whether they are or not, they will grow up much loved," he murmured. He leaned forward and kissed her cheek in an attempt to reassure her. "Clara, you have nothing to fear; it's just a wee babe."

"I know that, but a mother always worries about her children." She stopped as she heard a soft thumping from the floor above, rolling her eyes. "Speaking of…"

"Mummy! Daddy! Where are you?" Terra wondered as she made her way down the stairs. She saw her parents sitting at the kitchen table, so she climbed up into her chair, stacked with some books to help her reach properly. "I didn't know it was already breakfast!"

"It's not, pup," Ian chuckled. "The baby was awake, so it woke up Mam and me."

"Oh, that's not nice," the girl nodded. "Mummy? You said the baby was coming very soon—how soon?"

"Once Granddad is settled, that's when Daddy and I are going to the hospital on the Mainland, and I'll have the baby there."

"Why there?" Terra asked.

"…because if something goes wrong, then there's people around that can handle it," Ian said. He plucked his daughter from her chair and nuzzled her face with his unshaven cheeks. She squealed, finding it most ticklish. "Now how about if we get you back to bed, yeah? Say good night to Mam; there's still a long way to go until morning."

"Okay," she giggled. After giving her mother and unborn sibling extra goodnight kisses, Terra followed her father up the stairs over to her room. She climbed into her boat-shaped bed and settled within her blankets. As Ian was fussing over her, she curiously glanced up at him with her wide eyes. "Daddy?"

"Yes, pup?"

"Do things often go wrong with babies?"

"Not at all—it's just that mams and dads don't want to take the risk," he explained. "I wouldn't worry about Mam if I were you. Just worry about Granddad." He leaned down close and whispered in her ear. "He's rather lost around here, isn't he?"

"He is," the preschooler snickered. She accepted her father's offer of her stuffed sheep and closed her eyes, going to sleep with the aid of a lullaby. Ian then gave her a kiss on the forehead and crept out into the corridor, being met by his wife.

"She down now?" Clara asked. All the reply she got was his outstretched hand and a cautious smile. They walked back to their room hand-in-hand and returned to bed, laying down in one another's arms with their child between them. Selkie or human, they did not know, though what they did was that the child's family was ready for it.

Morning truly came and the soon-to-expand family began to ready for the day. After being jumped on by his daughter, Ian took Terra down to the kitchen for some breakfast, while Clara went and began to slowly go through her things and figure out what she wanted to take along with her to Kirkwall. She'd been hopelessly bored when going in to have her daughter—they'd kept her extra-long and with the storms keeping the ferries out of commission, all she had was a newborn and a first-time-parenting book which was positively dreadful to keep her company. Once she was certain she had the appropriate novel and the necessary electronics and cords she'd need, she joined breakfast to find a sticky-faced daughter and her own stack of pancakes.

The ferry containing her father and his vehicle came at around midday, which couldn't have been sooner for Dave Oswald. He was seasick and irritable, vomiting in the hedge nearly as soon as he parked his car right outside the garden wall. His granddaughter marveled at the lumpy concoction while his daughter tried not to vomit herself while greeting him.

"Another trip survived, eh Dad?" Clara asked. She watched as he picked up Terra and placed her on his shoulders in an attempt to forget his illness.

"Weather's crap, roads were even worse, and traffic was a pain in the bloody arse: I've survived," he replied. Dave pressed two fingers to his lips and pressed them to Clara's cheek, not wanting to transfer anything to her with the baby so close to being born. "Where's Ian?"

"Finishing packing—we're going out on the evening ferry, if that's alright with you."

"Perfectly," he replied. Dave then put Terra back down on the ground in response to her wriggling adamantly. "What's up with you?"

"I got to get something!" she announced, dashing off into the house.

"She's going to run circles around me, isn't she?" Dave asked while taking his suitcase out of the boot. He brought it inside the house, with Clara close by him.

"Probably," she admitted. "The only one that can really keep up with her sometimes is Ian, and I really don't understand that at all." Well, she honestly did, but if she told her father that her husband had the energy he did by virtue of being one of the Fair Folk, he could very well have her committed. "You're going to be in the guest room—the nursery has taken over Ian's office instead."

"Thanks; that's going to make a world of difference." He stopped as he heard Terra run back through the house, approaching them while holding up her stuffed sheep above her head. "Now what's this about?"

"Mummy needs to take Shaun!" Terra declared. "I have to stay here, but he can go with her and keep her company!"

"…but I thought your dad's going too."

"Yeah, but Daddy wanders and falls asleep when he says he won't," she explained. "I'm not afraid of the nuck, and if he scares me anyhow, I got you, Granddad!"

"There's a good girl," Dave grinned, ruffling her hair. Terra grinned, and when Ian brought down the carryall with supplies for the next few days, she carefully placed the plush atop it.