She awoke to soft crying emanating from the monitor. She had volunteered to take it to prove a point to herself—that she could actually take care of this child. Taking a deep breath she pushed the quilt so it slid across her tired legs and swung her feet over the edge of the bed. Taking another deep breath she stood, grabbing her silk robe and padding barefoot to the door. It was almost time for the two o-clock feedings—she should have just offered, since she no doubt would have been awake. Pity—there was always the next night.
Making her way to the nursery she pushed the door open to hear only quiet cooing. That would all change soon to louder persistent cries that would pierce the night. Pulling the bundle out of the crib she held the baby close to her chest bouncing lightly. Someone needed a diaper change. Laying the child on the changing table she went to work—this was not something she missed about babies. She loved being up in the night when all else was sleeping except her and the child. The world was still in the house and all around the city and it left her plenty of time to think and be free of the confines of professionalism and responsibilities.
Finishing quickly, she made her way to the kitchen, infant in tow. Taking hold of a premade bottle she threw it in the microwave. Looking down on the open eyes of the child in her arms she flashed to years earlier when she had done this with her own daughter. The machine sounding its end pulled her from her thoughts. Taking hold of the warm bottle she made her way back to her rooms, feeding the child as she went.
She heard Will's alarm sound, effectively waking him for the feedings; leaning against the door jamb, she waited for him to emerge. He hadn't bothered dressing before he opened the door, stumbling through it and only stopping when he saw her. "Hey," he rubbed his eyes to remove the sleep.
"Hello," she had a soft smile on her face, one he rarely saw but loved to try and provoke from her.
He curved a finger over the smooth, delicate skin of the infant's temple, "How is our newest addition to the family?"
She started, looking into his eyes; acceptance was so easy for him. "Hungry," simply put. His finger trailed once again over her skin.
Humming to himself with tongue in cheek he continued, "Well one less feeding for me." Smirking he glanced at Magnus; their faces were very close, breath mingling, the tension rising. Taking a step back he continued, "See you at the staff meeting." One last glance down and he moved on, leaving her alone with the infant—they really were going to have to name her soon.
Will knocked on her door gently. It wasn't like her to miss staff meeting, but then again there were a lot of changes going on. He hadn't given it much thought; rather he'd just taken over and let the meeting play out. There was not a lot to discuss, so it wasn't a great loss. Magnus still had to perform the autopsy, Kate and Henry were out finding an abnormal that had been sighted in New City and the Big Guy was doing his rounds of feeding. There was a meeting with the New York Sanctuary to see how the new Head of House was settling in, and Will could easily take care of that for her as well—although, he knew she wanted to be there. Hence the reason he was knocking at her door.
She didn't answer. Shrugging he tried again—but there was still no response. Placing his hand on the knob he was surprise to find it unlocked. He had always figured her to be one to lock everything when in sleep mode: a way to protect herself against any unforeseen force. Pushing the wood he saw her curled on top of the covers. Will's smile broadened when he caught a glimpse of the pink bundle caressed in the protective circle of her arms. Stepping quietly to the side of the bed and her back he sat precariously on the edge of the mattress. "Magnus," He called quietly. Her head nodded slightly in sleep, rubbing against the pillow. "Magnus," his voice was louder than before, his hand moved to her arm. He almost didn't want to wake her, but she would already be angry with him for letting her sleep through the meeting. It would do him no good to give her further fuel. He moved his hand up to her shoulder shaking slightly. She turned into him, groaning. "Magnus—time to wake up."
Her eyes opened slightly at the voice, blinking back the sleep. "Long night," she made out finally. She began to stretch her weary muscles and he stood to give her room. Her hands above her head at the pinnacle of her stretch and she suddenly sat up. "My God Will, what time is it?"
"10:30."
"What?" The surprise in her voice was evident. She looked down at the sleeping bundle next to her. Her mind was going a million miles an hour, he could hear it. "Why didn't you wake me sooner?"
He shrugged again, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "It's a pretty simple morning and I thought you could use the rest."
"Yeah, well obviously I did. Thank you."
"But I also thought you would want to be there to talk to New York. So you got—" glancing at his watch, "20 minutes now."
Rolling her eyes she got out of the warm bed. Cuddling the babe she placed a kiss on the fuzzy head. She made to Will placing her gingerly in his arms. "Get her ready will you? I'll be late otherwise."
He nodded and began to leave. She stood stationary watching him. "We'll be fine." He said to reassure her pulling the door open at the same time.
"Right." Still, she didn't budge from her spot until he was gone. "Right." Moving quickly she pulled out slacks, shirt and vest, donning her clothes in seconds. Tugging her hair into a loose bun at the back of her head was easier than brushing it and with only twenty minutes it would have to do.
Will was having trouble getting the, now awake, infant into the dress that had been set aside for her. The clothes were much easier to get off than on. He was growling at the white stocking as for the umpteenth time he tried to get it over her foot. Helen appeared at the door to the nursery, witnessing his frustration. Placing her earring firmly in place and latching the clasp she made her way into the room.
"You clean up nice." He glanced at her and gladly let her sure hands take over where his had been clumsy.
The infant was dressed in seconds and they were making their way to her office. "Well thank you, William. I do try." She responded to his earlier comment before moving on without a pause, "Is the play pen in my office yet?"
"Yeah, the Big Guy brought it in this morning."
"Good, mind getting a bottle before we start?" He stopped. It took her a moment to catch on. "What is it, Will?"
"You're bringing her to the meeting aren't you?"
"Well she needs to eat, then she'll go back to sleep. Honestly, she won't disturb anything."
"I didn't say she would. It was more a comment on how taken you are with her than your parenting skills." It took her a moment, but she did turn her lips up. "I'll be back with breakfast."
Taking hold of his wrist she held him still, "Thank you, Will. You have been most helpful." He nodded and made his exit.
She was just making the call when he came back in. Holding the bottle against her body, she positioned the child out of sight of the camera. She did not want to explain the infant to a new Head of House. The call was answered as Will slid into the chair next to her.
"Afternoon." Magnus greeted.
"Morning." The face of the man was pleasant as he smiled at her.
"Pardon my tardiness; we had some issues last night that needed to be resolved."
"Easily understood, thinking nothing of it."
She nodded, glancing down at the infant, "How are the evaluations going?"
"Decently. I am glad you gave me the extension; I'm having enough difficulty now after only being here for six months. I can't imagine doing them after two."
"Yes—easier when you know your staff a bit, although it does become more difficult the longer you know them as well." She looked directly at Will.
"How is the staff handling the shift? No major issues yet?" Will, always concerned for the mental welfare of his people spoke up.
"Only the getting past the getting-to-know-you stage and minor adjustments to differing styles in leadership."
"As was expected." Magnus stated.
"Yes. There are only a few individuals who are having a hard time with the change."
"Oh?"
Taking a deep breath, Jephthah continued, "Only one really. Wexford's second. She is having a very hard time accepting the other Head's choice to relieve him. She seems to think he was in the right. I believe there might have been a personal relationship between the two of them and I believe this is the reason she is having so much difficulty."
"I see."
"Her work is amazing, don't get me wrong. It is very helpful to have a xenobiologist on hand. We just captured a new abnormal that was giving us some issues. She handled the situation beautifully."
"I look forward to reading the report then." The infant was done feeding and needed to be burped—maybe she hadn't thought this through. "Will, could you-?" She handed the child to him and he gladly took her. Moving to the play pen he grabbed a towel and rolled it over his shoulder.
He moved back to stand behind Magnus, who had continued the conversation, but switching from staffing to finances. As he patted the infant's back and she began to vomit. Taking a breath, but not too deeply for fear of the overwhelming smell, he wiped her face clean and deposited the towel far away from him. Handing the child back to Magnus she moved the notepad in her lap to accommodate and not breaking in her thought process or questioning on the other Head. She also very easily ignored the look he gave her.
"Are you having any issues with abnormals?"
"No, all the facilities are working—and they all seem happy at the moment."
"Good. We had another generation of Nubbins here, by accident. Do you think you could handle a few? Our containment is becoming a little small and your facility will have more time to research the pheromone and its effects."
"I'd be happy to."
"I'll have Henry prepare containment for shipping." She made a note on her yellow pad. "That's all I have for now. Anything you have to add?" She was looking at Will.
"Only to be careful with the Nubbins." She had a slight quirk on her lips when she turned back to the screen.
"Anything you would like to discuss?"
The man shook his head a moment after she saw a question flash through his eyes. Curiosity was not always a good thing to have and he had wisely held his tongue. "Good, until next time then." She clicked the screen off. "That went well." Standing she moved to the couch. "Did she throw up most of the bottle?" He nodded and she sighed. "I had the same issue last night. I should take some blood, run a few tests. I don't think it's anything serious, but I just want to rule anything out."
"Alright. I'll go down and leave a note for Henry." At her look of confusion he continued, "He's out with Kate tracking an abnormal."
"Ah." They left the room and walked together until their paths parted. Taking the sample was not difficult and she set the tests to run. Finding Will, she entrusted him with the child before making her way to the morgue, which was definitely not a place for an infant. Her phone rang as she entered the elevator. Looking at the caller ID she smiled, "Declan. What can I do for you?"
"Magnus… what is this about you and a baby?"
"Word travels quickly." She responded sighing heavily while the doors opened to a hallway. "A woman arrived here yesterday, very pregnant and very much in labor. The child is hers. However, the mother did not make it through the night due to some… unforeseen circumstances. She left the child in my care."
"Really, Magnus, how do you get yourself into situations like these?"
"Honestly, I don't know to what you are referring."
"Of course you don't." She could hear him grinning.
"The mother—Declan," she took a breath, "She was Dana Whitcomb's daughter."
He was silent, this had not been what he expected to hear; something more to the story, yes, but not this. "And what killed the mother?"
"I haven't performed a full autopsy just yet; I was on my way to do that as a matter of fact. But I can tell you this. She was most certainly killed; I found small particles of metal in her body after the cesarean—little bombs, in other words. Many of them; in fact, she was torn apart inside. This is going to be a long autopsy. I need to figure out exactly which one killed her and who and why for that matter."
"Understood. Magnus?"
"Hmm?"
"Be careful, Dana Whitcomb is not someone to mess around with and that is her granddaughter."
"I'm not so sure of that." She blatantly ignored his protectiveness of her.
"What do you mean?"
"Something the daughter said about her pregnancy only lasting weeks and this all being an experiment. I'll know more after the autopsy."
"Alright, just keep me updated."
"Of course, Declan, would I do otherwise?"
"Yes." He said simply before hanging up.