"Well... and then there was Christmas, boy was that fun for me; well I never got any gifts, we were barely able to get Emma any... and of course my dad didn't care if I lived or died... So my present was, you guessed it, another injection. Like every year, my mom did try to stop him, though best Christmas ever when she tossed him out of the house."
"Sorry I missed seeing that... I think, if I'd been born around the time you were alive that we'd have had fun together then." Jamie said after a moment's silence. Jack smiled, yawning; he was feeling sleepy suddenly, like all the talking had tired him completely out. He sighed and snuggled into Jamie's side.
"If only we had the ability to have children." He said in a whisper before going under into dreamland. Jamie waited until he was certain Jack was completely out before going to see the spirit he had been planning to talk to. Before he left though he etched out in frost nearby, just in case, a small message:
Be back soon love.
He headed for the forest he'd heard once to be where she lived; after all, only one spirit could answer his question. Mother Nature. Jack dreamt of many things, babies but also animals; specifically puppies in a basket, he didn't know why but that always made him happy. Jamie had to land at one point as the trees kept getting thicker and thicker, making flying impractical really. When Jack awoke he became really worried when he couldn't find Jamie.
"Jamie!" The frosted writing caught his eye and he completely calmed down. When Jamie returned, he had some food he'd decided to pick up in Germany; things that weren't very sweet, as he remembered that Jack wasn't much for sweets, and there were plenty of German dishes that were good that weren't sweet like candy was, but still very good. Jack was reading a book on babies when Jamie came in, he really wanted one; it's all he could think about now. He didn't know why it was all he could get himself to think about.
"Hey." Jamie noticed the book, he wasn't the least bit surprised, the question in his mind was how was he going to tell Jack what he'd found out? Jack smiled, seeing Jamie was back. He was sitting in a chair in the newly made kitchen that now had a table... and he'd gotten bored and had expanded the cavern even more than that, but he wasn't quite done with the other expansions yet.
"Hey Jamie, what you got there?" He indicated the bags he was holding.
"Stopped off at Germany for some lunch. I can't pronounce half of this stuff... but I know it's good." He pulled out a couple of plates and some utensils from one bag before pulling out a glass pan that held what looked like tortillas in the shapes of boomerangs, but were filled with meat and various vegetables. There was also what looked like some sort of odd blueberry cake except it didn't look exactly like a cake and more like some strange mix of a pie or casserole. A small pot held some sort of soup that had chunks of beef and vegetables in a broth. The last thing he pulled out was a small glass pan that had bratwurst in it with sauerkraut. Jack looked at all the food.
"Whoa." He was amazed at the types there were; he hugged Jamie close.
"You're the best." Jamie just smiled. The German food had been an afterthought really because he'd been trying to absorb exactly what it was Mother Nature had told him earlier. He finally got it all figured out... at least he thought he did. He just wasn't sure what Jack would make of the news. Jack smiled and sat down at the little dining table again, setting out plates for the dishes. Jamie decided, after a moment of internal debate, that he'd tell Jack what he'd found out after they'd eaten. Smiling, Jack handed Jamie his plate and cut up the weird blueberry pie thing; he didn't eat any sauerkraut. After a couple bites Jamie decided that despite that some people might like it, he didn't care for the bratwurst and sauerkraut. Well, he had gotten it at someone else's recommendation... He set it aside and instead tasted the other dishes he'd gotten. He liked the soup well enough, though he couldn't even remember what it was called... not that it mattered since he'd no idea how to properly pronounce the name of any of these dishes and while he thought the 'cake' was okay he didn't think he'd want to eat it too often. Something about it told him eating too much of it might make him feel sick. Jack sat for a moment, having eaten all the stuff on his plate; he stretched back and went back to his reading while Jamie dealt with the dirty dishes.
"Um... I didn't just go out to get lunch." Jamie said as he packed away the leftovers, he knew some kids who would enjoy the food more than they had. That would be for later though. He'd do that when he went to spread some more snow. Jack tilted his head in confusion, glancing up from the book.
"What else did you go for." He said more than asked, confusion in his voice.
"Ah, well... I went to talk with Mother Nature."
"Why'd you go to see mom?" He said mom since she was now his mom since after rebirth, he'd found out that all seasonal spirits were her children; except he was reborn and fathered from the moon.
"I wanted to know if it was possible... to have a kid... I just had some questions about things... I mean... ah..." Crap, he wasn't doing this very good. Jack's ears perked up at the kid part.
"And what she say?" His heart beat a million miles per hour, Jamie could tell he really wanted to know.
"Well... um, under the right circumstances... she said it's possible. Just that... um, it would mean getting help from ... um, Bunny." Jack was happy to know that, Jamie could tell.
"Well let's go down and talk to the kangaroo!" He exclaimed. Jamie smiled a little and nodded, a little relieved really that Jack didn't seem put off by having to include the lagomorph. Jack smiled.
"Let's go." He repeated, grabbing Jamie's hand and setting off for The Warren. Jamie let Jack tug him to The Warren. Bunny was crouched over a garden of vegetables when the two arrived. The only indication he knew they were there was a twitch of his ears as he pulled out a weed.
"Hey Bunny, what are you doing?" He said only to irritate him, but less than normal as he sort of became nervous and decided to let Jamie do the talking for this.
"Pullin' weeds. What brings ya here?" Bunny turned his head, but it's only when Jamie blurts out that they need a 'life cradle' did the lagomorph turn fully around to them.
"Ye want a..." He seemed a little lost for words for a moment. Jack nodded seriously; he was sort of shaking nervously.
"D-do you have s-something like that?" Bunny shook his head with a slight smile.
"Nah mate. I make em. Been ages since any ask me. Didn't reckon you'd be tha next ta." Jack was a little shocked.
"Really?" He became happy and excited.
"So could you make us one?"
"Sure. Come on, this sort o' thing is gonna require a few things." He tossed the weed aside and lead the two towards a small hovel. Jack giggled a little bit.
"So excited!" Jack was very happy that this was happening; he leaned into Jamie, kissing him softly before following Bunny into the hovel. Jamie returned the kiss, he was happy to see Jack so happy; he smiled a little as he followed the two. Jack looked around at the little knick knacks and papers along with a carrot cake sitting on a table, a few holiday egg ornaments strung around.
"Nice place ya got here Bunny..." He trailed off, looking at a few paintings.
"Thanks mate, hold just a tic and I'll have what we need..." He disappeared down a hallway and came back almost as quickly, a small box in his paws. Jack looked at the box curiously
"Uh? That's it?" He asked, looking at Bunny with a smile.
"Just what we need... now then... we ain't doin' this here cuz the magic isn't always stable. Even between two same spirits. Follow me." He lead the two of them to a spot in the Warren, far from where the eggs were made or any of the tunnels. Jack looked at the box with wonder and complete interest, what was in that box that was so powerful? He knew Bunny was a very powerful spirit, him being the spirit of life and all. Bunny opened the box to reveal an egg shaped piece of chocolate.
"Chocolate?" Jack was dumbfounded and slightly shocked; chocolate, that's what was in there.
"You were expecting somethin' else? This isn't your average chocolate." He gently picked it up.
"Here, it's tasteless. No sugar, promise, but you both need to take a bite on opposing ends."
Jack smiled, biting the top end; it tasted like water, strangely. He handed Jamie the opposite side. Jamie wondered why in the world Bunny would need that, but he didn't ask before he bit into the other end then handed it back to Bunny.
"Right then." He was careful not to touch either end that had been eaten as he set the bit of chocolate on the ground and began to murmur something that sounded rather musical and foreign. He stared at the piece of chocolate and as he spoke the thing took on a soft glow before being enveloped in white light and slowly shifting; Bunny was intently focused and silent for a moment as what had been the chocolate formed into an icy orb the size of a basket ball with snowflake patterns etched along it in various places. The glow faded after a moment and Bunny sat back on his haunches with a bit of a sigh.
"There ya are. Can't tell ya how long it'll be. Differs for various spirits, but in due time the lil' un will emerge from it." Jack looked at the orb with eyes full of tears and amazement; he hugged the orb gently, for the growing life inside it. Jamie just sort of stared in awe at the little orb, Bunny gave to the two to-be parent spirits a bit of a smile then wandered back to the garden to continue his work.
Leaving them with the new child that was growing inside the orb. Jamie gently touched it, it's not cold to him, but would be to any who wasn't a frost spirit. Jack just kept thinking: This, this is our baby... our little child inside there...
"Jamie it's beautiful." Jamie nodded, silent. He wasn't sure what to say. To think that there was life growing in that little orb... life that was their child... that he'd be a father soon... It was a lot to take in, but all he felt was instant love for this little life. A gentle hum that seemed to come from it that spoke of the tiny life inside that was growing; Jack could feel it too, a faint connection that would grow with time. Jack laughed.
"J-Jamie w-were parents... we have a child!" He said, grinning from ear to ear; tears of joy falling. He hugged Jamie with the orb in his arms. Jamie smiled.
"Yeah, we do." He hugged Jack back with his free hand, still marveling at how it seemed so simple of a thing to do and yet how complex... Jack smiled.
"Oh we need to make a nursery, get toys, diapers... everything the baby will need. Oh my... I forgot about that."
"Yeah... maybe we should go talk to North. I'm sure he can help with that." Jamie suggested, thinking about getting some books too about raising a baby... particularly a baby frost spirit... Jack smiled.
"I wonder if it's a boy or a girl." Something told Jack it was a boy he didn't know why, but the bond seemed to hum 'baby boy.' He smiled, hugging the orb close, not once let Jamie hold it.
"Either one, something tells me they'll be just as much of a prankster as you are." Jamie chuckles a little, he doesn't seem to care about holding the orb itself; but he does keep very close to Jack, tugging him gently to the pole to talk to North about getting some of the things Jack had just mentioned. Jack smiled and nuzzled the little orb with all the love and affection he could give.
"We need to think of baby names."
"I'm sure North will have plenty of books to help us with that, among other things." Jamie said as they arrive at the Workshop. Jack smiled, keeping the orb close; he was grinning, wondering what North would think of all this. The workshop is noisy as usual as the yetis are preparing toys for next Christmas and the elves are... being elves. Jack held tighter onto the orb; Jack had forgotten how dangerous the Workshop was, especially the elves who tried to grab the orb thinking it was a toy ball. That caused Jack to become protective.
"NO!" He yelled at them loud enough for the entire Workshop to hear... He blushed bright blue when he saw everyone looking at him and stayed next to Jamie. The yell startled a few yetis nearby and was enough to make the whole workshop go quiet for a brief instant... which was just long enough to get North's attention and he came out of his office.
"Vhat is all fuss?" Jack shifted a little behind Jamie, stepping on a elf angrily that was trying to get the orb.
"You will not dare touch our child, damn it." He swore at the elves, usually they are all about Jack freezing them for fun but now they look at him with worry. Jack glared at each and every elf to get them to back the hell away from the orb. North shooed the elves away as he walked over to Jack and Jamie.
"Jack! Jamie! Iz good to see you... vhat have you got there?" North peered curiously at the orb even as he shooed away a few elves who were trying to get close again. Jack winced, highly nervous.
"North, this is our baby; Bunny helped us create a life crib so we could have one."
"Iz wonderful news! Come, come... I think I have things that will help you vith." North shooed away the elves, giving them a stern look that is enough to keep them at bay while he lead the two new parents through the Workshop. Jack smiled, talking to the orb.
"This is North, he brings the presents to all the good little boys and girls of the world, but if you're naughty only a stocking of coal. Of course I get one pretty much every year." Jack said with a smirk that meant he didn't care.
"Oh don't tell 'em that. No need to encourage 'em." Jack snickered.
"Oh North, you think that I would let my child do that!"
"Knowing you... yes." North replied without missing a beat and Jamie chuckled. Jack smiled back.
"Guilty as charged." North chuckled a little, leading them both into a side room. The room was filled with various infant toys, a few cradles of varying sizes and styles and books on parenting.
"Am sure things in here be helpful." Jack smiled, holding the orb closely.
"Of course, I wonder what colors we should use."
"Vell, there are neutral colors too here. Pick vhat you like." North said with a bit of a smile as Jamie wandered over to the shelves of books. Then he saw it, the most perfect toy chest, crib and toys; they were old hand-me-downs; an elephant that was simple and soft, a lion that seemed to purr when petted, and a white colored crib with snowflakes on the rim as well as a matching dresser.
"Jamie come look at this stuff, it's perfect." Jamie walked over with a few books on raising a baby spirit to see what it is Jack's found. Jack showed him the nursery items and toys along with a few clothing items, but he'd already knitted the baby a few clothing items on his own.
"If you don't like the color we can always paint it."
"Nah, I think it's perfect." While the two are discussing what to get, North left the room only to come back with a bag for them to use to load everything into. One of his special bags of course so that everything would fit. Jack was happy and excited, he couldn't wait to show North to the nursery items chosen along with toys, clothes and a book on baby names as well as baby behavior; lord knew he would definitely worry himself to death on this baby.
"Calm down Jack. I have bag for you, just put things in." He opened the bag so Jamie could put in the books he'd chosen. Jack hugged the little bundle close to his heart, humming his love to it and making sure it felt that love. The little orb seems to hum back at Jack while Jamie helped put things in the bag to take back to the cavern. Jack smiled and gave the impression that he was daddy and Jamie was daddy too. Jamie smiled a little as he held the bag several minutes later, gently laying a hand over one of Jack's to get his attention as obviously he'd not been listening, North repeated his question, not at all offended.
"Anything else can help vith?" Jack jolted.
"Oh... um, baby food; do you have anything like that North?" He asked gently, that's one thing he knew they'd forgot as well as wipes, maybe but they had diapers, powder and such.
"A binky... I almost forgot." North chuckled and a 'binky' is added to the bag.
"Don't have baby food. Can get yetis to make some. Come, we go talk to chef no?" Jack nodded.
"No sweets though North, I know the baby won't have teeth but I ain't having one bounce off the walls." He glared, seeing North already thinking about sweet food already for the newborn. North chuckled.
"Very well, but maybe some sweet fruits instead. Healthy and yet good to taste." Jack nodded.
"Much better." He held the orb protectively, if his baby were to be fed such sweets... North would have to go through him first. North glanced over at Jamie who just shrugged in response as he followed Jack. North waved over one yeti when they got to the kitchen and he told the chef what it was that Jack wanted. The yeti looked thoughtful a moment before nodding. Jack smiled.
"Well, can you maybe try and make a vanilla extract kind of pudding? It's good for babies." The yeti nodded and got some paper, making a list of things to make for the baby and handing the list to Jack for approval. Jack look at it before nutmeg was added, he nodded his head in approval.
"No nuts yet, I want to make sure there's no allergy to any of the ingredients; for now just use all natural items from the garden such as vegetables and fruits. We'll work on cheese and such." The yeti nodded in agreement at that, warbling something and North translates.
"Says can do. Cheese not good for baby at early stage, will work with that when iz toddler. For now will make natural stuffs and will have ready for when needed. Only need send word when need." Jack nodded.
"Thanks for everything North." He was happy and ready to set up the nursery. North smiled at that.
"Happy to help!" Jamie added his thanks and then looked at Jack.
"Ready to go?" Jack nodded with a big smile.
"I am, of course, ready to make our nursery; let's go." Jamie smiled, holding the sack with one hand and slipping his other through one of Jack's arms; gently tugging him along as they left. Jack smiled, kissing him along the way; his love traveling into the orb simply by those kisses. Jamie returned the kiss as they landed outside the cavern. A couple giggles and sounds of disgust let them both know a handful of believers were nearby. The giggling having come from the girls.
"Ah... hi." Jack smiled.
"Well, I did forget to let it snow today didn't I? Well we may be a little behind in our job soon enough now that we have a child to think about."
"Yeah... it slipped my mind too."
"You have a kid? Like us?" A little girl piped up. Jack turned, seeing the girl talking.
"Um yes." He held the orb protectively as if the children would grab it and play ball with it.
"Where?" The girl's eyes were curious and it's obvious that none of the children have made the connection that the orb has the child in it. Jack shifted a little.
"You see it's not born yet, it's in this orb; a little life growing inside it as you know we're both boys so we found a magical way to have a baby." Jack explained. The children gathered around the two, but none of them venture to touch the orb they were staring at.
"It's pwetty." The little girl said after a moment. Jack smiled.
"I suppose it is isn't it?" He gently sat down with the children, explaining more of magic and the nice things that have happened. Jamie slipped away while the children circled around Jack, sitting in the snow to listen to him with rapt attention. Jamie wondered if it was a good idea for Jack to tell them all this... but then again since none of it was the way males and females made babies... he supposed it couldn't hurt. He returned after he had finished, he was a little winded - if he stopped to admit it - for the exertion it had taken to reshape the cavern with ice to create the separate room that would be the nursery. Jack smiled.
"- and imagine pretty soon he or she will be flying about doing amazing things as we do."
"I think you're getting a little ahead of yourself." Jack snickered.
"Yeah, I guess I am." He snuggled the little orb, his heart beating along with its own growing one. Jamie smiled a little and the children giggled and ran off to play as snow began to fall from the sky. They giggled and the boys whooped a little as they played.
"Come on love, let's set up the nursery." Jamie said softly. Smiling, Jack nodded.
"Of course." He instantly followed Jamie into the cavern. Jamie led Jack to the new room he'd made, where the sack was, he had even made an ice shelf for the various books that he'd gotten from North. He pulled out the various things from the sack one by one so Jack could set things up the way he wanted. Jack was amazed at the nursery size; he grabbed the toys and toy chest, setting things up along with the crib, blankets and pillows and books on the shelf. Even once Jack's done there's still a lot of room left.
"Hmmm, well I guess the extra room can't hurt for when he or she is older and needs space to play." Jack nodded.
"Yeah, that's great." He snuggled the orb and thought suddenly that Jamie hadn't even held it yet.
"Jamie, would you like to hold our child?" Jamie nodded, settling down close to Jack first. Jack handed off the orb to Jamie gently. Jamie held the thing with a gentle, but firm grip so not to drop it. He smiled gently as he examined the frost patterns along it, the orb pulsing a little.
"Hey there... hope you like your home. Can't wait for your arrival." He murmured. Jack watched the newly father-child reunion and hugged Jamie gently. This is the best day ever. Jamie smiled at Jack, it was still just so amazing to think that inside this small orb was a tiny life that would break open eventually and that the tiny life inside was his child... his and Jack's... Jack smiled.
"Oh, we need to baby proof the house." He'd almost forgot about that. Jamie chuckled a little.
"I don't think we have much here that would require that just yet, and when they're a toddler we can always make a little ice fence to keep 'em in the nursery." Jack nodded.
"Yep." He snuggled the little orb and kissed Jamie.
"Alright, let's start decorating." Jamie returned the kiss.
"Decorating? What did you have in mind?" Jack smiled.
"For one we need a little color in these walls, don't you think?" He said while helping Jamie up, the orb in his arms.