Disclaimer: Nightmare Before Christmas is the property of Tim Burton, Disney, and Touchstone Entertainment. Nothing you recognize belongs to me.

"Of course if you like your kids, if you love them from the moment they begin, you yourself begin all over again, in them, with them, and so there is something more to the world again."
- William Saroyan

There were not many moments in life that struck Sally as awe-inspiring.

She thought it too… intense a description to be used for simply any old thing. Sally preferred to keep her words simple, lest something truly magnificent and, yes, awe-inspiring, come along. What a shame it would be, to have already used the wonderfully descriptive word to, say, compliment the crispiness her toast, and then have something marvelous come along and have no way to express how she felt about it.

So that is why she was so dumbstruck at the sight of the very tiny person laying on the operating table. It felt as if Sally could comb over the entire dictionary and use every wonderful word she could find, and nothing could do it justice, except absolutely, positively awe-inspiring.

… Not to mention, slightly terrifying.

"So that's the body?" She whispered softly. "I had hoped it would look like Jack."

But somehow, despite this, Sally could not bring herself to be entirely disappointed. For there, lying helplessly on that table, was a very miniature version of herself – little stitches holding together the tiniest of blue limbs, whisper-thin lashes dancing over large closed eyes. Sally swore that the fuzz on its small, perfect head was even slightly reddish in color. There was something about seeing herself in this new person that was… mesmerizing.

"I did not choose the body, Sally dear. The soul chooses what the soul wants." Dr. Finklestein leaned back, and with a touch of pride, folded his arms across his front. "Do not ask me to explain to you how I knew what it wanted. We've waited long enough already."

It had been two days since Sally and Jack had given the Doctor parts of themselves, so that he could catch a new soul. Sally had barely been able to contain her enthusiasm; she had frittered about the house nervously, mopping, sweeping, tidying, and then doing it all over again. She became bored of that quite quickly, and had instead taken to detaching and re-stitching all her limbs. Jack, however, was unable to be quite this patient. Every hour, after having worn a path in the floor, he would sneak out of the house and knock on the Doctor's door, hoping for an update on his progress. This stopped abruptly when a furious Dr. Finklestein threw a very large beaker at Jack's head, shouting about interruptions and what he did to people who caused them. Jack then sat on a chair in the corner, until Igor rang their doorbell just this morning with "the news".

Jack! Sally had barely given him a second thought until just now. She tore her eyes away from the child and looked at her husband.

Jack was just standing there, a blank look on his face. He stood completely still, staring intently at the little body, for so long that Sally grew worried.

"Jack?" He didn't respond. She twisted her fingers. "Are… are you sad that it doesn't look like you?"

He was quiet and immobile for another long moment. All of a sudden, he gave his head a small shake and asked quietly, "Is – what kind of… is…?"

The Doctor chuckled. "A girl."

"A girl…" Jack breathed. He bent down ever so slowly; tentatively, so tentatively, he reached out a long finger and gently ran it down the baby's cheek. Sally waited breathlessly.

Jack broke out into a brilliant smile, and laughed unabashedly. "A girl! I have a baby girl. We have a baby girl!" He let out a loud whoop and proceeded swoop his wife up in his arms and twirl her about the room.

Sally shrieked and giggled like a giddy schoolgirl. The Doctor, however, drummed his fingers on the table impatiently. He cleared his throat. "If you could do the rest of us the pleasure of settling down, we can give your child the spark of life."

Jack stopped dancing instantly, and set Sally down, gripping her hands tight. He was still positively vibrating with excitement.

"Is the soul not in there already?" Sally questioned, still confused by the mechanics of this whole creating business.

Dr. Finkelstein sighed, and wheeled himself to a large switch beside the operating table. He reached out, turning to eye the shaking couple before him. "The soul is in there. We just need to wake it up. Now - are you ready?"

They nodded in tandem, barely having time to process everything that was happening. The Doctor blinked, yelled, "Stay back!", and proceeded to throw the switch.

The room's lights flashed once, and then again; a banging noise filled the room, growing steadily louder by the second. Sally pressed herself in close to Jack, who wound his arm around her shoulders. It was so very chaotic and frightening and Sally was on the verge of throwing her hands over her ears and shutting her eyes. She couldn't see what was going on, and she was afraid it was somehow hurting the baby.

And then there was silence. The lights shut off and the machine whirred to a stop noisily.

Sally leaned forward, peering into the darkness, feeling Jack do the same thing. What if it didn't work?

And then there was a soft sound, one that Sally felt like she had heard before, but could not place when or where. It sounded much like the noise a kitten would make. Suddenly, the noise hitched and turned into a full blown wail. The lights blinked on.

There her very alive daughter lay, waving her chubby arms in consternation, mouth stretched wide in an ear-splitting shriek. The tiny girl was gasping and hiccoughing and shaking, beautiful and full of life.

Sally, riding on a nearly involuntary instinct, stepped forward and very carefully picked up her little girl, rocking and shushing her. "It's okay, baby. It's okay."

The baby opened her big blue eyes and stopped crying. She stared at her mother wide –eyed, mouth forming a little "o" at the sound of Sally's voice.

Why, this little one weighs nothing at all. She may well just blow away at the slightest breeze!

Jack moved in close beside Sally, placing his arms on her shoulders. He spoke softly, and his voice was full of love. "Hello there, little… um…"

"Jill," whispered Sally. "It's the female version of the name Jack. At least, I think it is." She peered up at her husband. "Unless you don't like it?"

He was grinning widely, joy evident in every aspect of his person. "Jill Skellington. I would say it's a perfect name for a perfect daughter." Jack turned back to his daughter. "Hello, little Jill. I'm your daddy."

Jill's head turned shakily towards the new voice, and her eyes widened. She made a funny squeaking noise and twitched her arms, as if trying to grab whoever it was that was making noises.

Sally laughed and cried at the same time. She was in love. She was in love with a Pumpkin King and their little rag doll daughter, a sweet little Jill. It all felt so deliciously and insanely surreal.

The Doctor cleared his throat. "I hate to interrupt this family moment…"

Jack strode over to the little old man and shook his hands so hard that the Doctor could barely keep in his seat. "Oh thank you Doctor, thank you, thank you! She's perfect!"

The Doctor desperately tried to pry his hand out of Jack's vice-like grip, rather unsuccessfully. "Yes, yes, yes. I mean to give you something, boy, so I'll need my hand back!" Jack promptly dropped it and bounded back to Jill and Sally.

The Doctor picked something up from his work table, and made his way towards the young couple. He thrust the something into Jack's arms.

Jack looked at it for a moment. "A… manual?"

The Doctor nodded, a smirk growing on his face. "You're lucky, not many people get a manual for proper care of their children. I just happened to have enough time to write one for you."

Sally's jaw dropped, and Jack looked stunned. "This has to be at least ten pounds! I've never seen a book so huge."

"Better get reading, then, because…"

Out of the blue, the previously contented Jill's face scrunched up, her fists closed, and she let out an ear-piercing, bone-rattling shriek.

The Doctor chuckled. "You're going to need it."

A/N: Aww. And so it begins…

Thank you for the wonderful reviews! I most certainly plan on continuing, and hopefully it'll take off like a vulture in the sky… heh. If you like it, feel free to pimp it! Much thanks!