"Ugh... great...", Susan moaned when she heard about not getting pain pills or anything of the sort to alleviate the pain. "Was it this bad for you, Mum?", she asked Peggy as she nodded.
"Certainly the same when I had you... I didn't even know you were coming until practically I was already pushing you out. It was rough to go through, but it didn't take too long. Knowing how this family gives birth... you might have the twins crying next to you in less than an hour.", Peggy replied.
Susan hopefully prayed that it would be the case, but with Mo as the father, and the fact that it's twins, the time would be possibly longer.
And so, Mo kept massaging her back, with Peggy reassuring her, holding her hand as Susan went through the contractions for the next 20 minutes with Beast checking occasionally, and then after a particularly hard contraction, Beast announced, "You're all dilated, Susan! Remember to breathe between pushes, and don't stress out too much.".
Susan nodded, and after another contraction, took a deep breath, and pushed, grunting, breathing through her nose until Beast told her to stop, and so this repeated for the next 10 minutes before Beast announced, "It's peeking! Your baby's coming!", with a smile.
Peggy smiled, "You hear that, Susan?", brushing her hair back, "Now, this is the hardest part next to the shoulders. Mo, stay strong against her back.", and Mo nodded, "You can do this, love...Our first baby wants to see us...", kissing her cheek as he rested his head on her shoulder, with one of his hands holding into her other hand.
Susan took a deep breath, and then pushed, crying out in pain as her first baby is slowly coming through her nether regions, stretching them beyond limits, tears falling down her cheeks, blearily seeing Beast grab ahold of the head carefully, "Good! Take a bit of rest before doing the shoulders!".
Susan stopped, panting, resting her head back on Mo's shoulder, "I'm a mama...I'm a mama...", and Mo kissed her on the lips, "That's right, you are a mama...You got this, Susan. I love you.".
Susan gave a small smile, and then took another deep breath, and then pushed, shouting out in pain as the shoulders slowly came through, followed by the rest of the body, and Beast laughed, holding up the wiggling, squirming baby as he cleaned the mouth and nostrils, "You got a baby girl!".
The baby girl wailed as loud as she could, bloody, nude, and shivering as Beast then cleaned up the rest of her, swaddling her in a warm towel after cutting the cord and clipping to the belly button, and smiled warmly as he gave her to Susan, "There you go...She's all healthy and clean.".
Susan sobbed happily, tears falling as she held her daughter who is quieting down to soft cries, "Hi...My little Lilyflower...Welcome to the world, Lily Amani Carter-Rogers.", looking in awe to see that Lily has Mo's black hair yet in Susan's style of hair, in tufts, a pale brown skin, darker than Susan in spades yet much lighter than Mo's skin tone, and bright blue eyes, having Steve's dimples, and Susan's nose.
"She's beautiful, Susan...", Mo whispered as he nuzzled close with Susan while Lily started to calm down. "Yes, that's it, Lily... you're safe with your parents right now...", with an awed, fatherly smile, in love at first sight. "How's Nathan doing? Is he close behind?", Susan groaned as another contraction hit her.
"No. There are no signs of him yet, no water bag breaking yet.", Beast replied as he gently pulled out the afterbirth remains of Lily, and Susan sighed deeply as she looked at Lily, and Peggy replied, "I think Nathan knows that you need some rest...Do you want something to eat, sweetheart?".
Susan nodded, "Yes, Mum...Can you get me some fruit and all? And tell everybody that you got a granddaughter, I can see it in your eyes. You really want to brag, right?", with a giggle. Peggy chuckled, "Got me there, Susan...She's beautiful...Amani is African, eh?".
Susan smiled warmly, "It means peace.", and Mo kissed Susan, "Oh, that's perfect...Flower peace. I love it...Lily Amani Carter-Rogers.", as Peggy chuckled, leaving the room, and soon, faintly hearing shouts of joy and cheering.
"You are part of the family, Lily...", Susan sighed warmly as Lily snuffled and cooed before whining out hungrily, and Susan smiled, removing one of her straps to reveal her nude breast, moving Lily to feed from her, soon feeling the milk coming through.
"So... Nathan might be a few more days for all we know?", Mo asked as Susan nodded. "Perhaps... Mum may be right, he's smart enough to know how rough this is on me... he may be able to give me a day or so... can't wait forever though.", she explained.
"Should be alright for now, but I don't think you'll have that long of a break.", Beast told her. "More than likely, it will be a few hours before your water breaks again and he'll be coming.".
Susan nodded, and relaxed, smiling contentedly as she watched Lily suckle, with the contractions less painful, but still sharp for the time being, and a bit later, Steve came in with a tray of fruit, veggies, and some beverages, smiling warmly at the sight of Susan feeding his first biological granddaughter, "Hope you don't mind that this is my turn to be here...Peggy is taking care of Henry this time...", as he sat down with the tray of food and beverages, in reach of Susan.
"She's beautiful, Susan...She looks like both of you, with a bit from me.", with a chuckle as he saw the dimples on little Lily's cheeks as she enjoyed her meal. Susan giggled, "I guess the Rogers genes are still a bit strong in grandchildren as well, Daddy. She got our bright blue eyes.", knowing that Lily is keeping them closed.
Steve laughed softly, "Should have known...", before smiling at Mo as he is touching Lily's soft hair with a gentleness that is obviously known to fathers, "You are already a great father, Mo. Lily trusts you...".
"Well, I think it's because she already knows me even before she was born.", Mo chuckled. "Probably the Quantonium connection; she feels safe with those like her.", with a nod. "Same with Susan and Henry... certainly compared to other infants for sure.", Steve said.
Beast replied, "That certainly makes sense. Normal babies would have been more prone to crying a lot during the first several hours, but Lily, apart from her loud cry that announced her to the world, and some quiet crying, she's well-behaved...I think I wouldn't be too surprised if Nathan is the same.".
Susan chuckled, "Isn't every day a little of a surprise?", and Beast laughed warmly, "Touche.". Before too long, Lily finished her meal with an adorable burp, and cooed, looking to Mo, and Susan smiled, giving her to Mo who instinctively held her as Lily fell asleep, snuffling and cooing.
Susan took her strap back on, and went to eat and drink from the tray, quietly conversing with Steve as Mo couldn't keep his eyes off Lily, and this kept on for a couple of hours with Susan stretching here and there after eating and drinking, and then the second water bag broke out with Susan gasping for air as she clenched her belly again, the contractions back to painful and sharper.
"The water bag broke! And you're still mostly dilated. A couple more minutes, and you should be back to full dilation.", Beast called out as he checked down. Susan nodded as she panted, and Steve went to take Mo's position behind Susan's back, as off the side, Mo is holding Lily who is somehow still deep asleep despite the fact that Susan's in pain.
Steve reassured Susan, "You got this, Sue-P. Remember to breathe. This should be a bit easier now.", and Susan spoke, "Yes, Daddy.", before shouting at another contraction, and breathed as Beast checked, "You're all good to go! Push!".
Susan tried but as much as she wanted to, Nathan certainly didn't just pop out with that thrust and get it over with quick. She took a deep breath as she tried to ready herself for the next push. "Any signs?", she asked.
"Still might need a few more pushes before we finally start seeing any sign of him...", Beast explained as Susan groaned.
Susan readied herself for the next push, and grunted as she pushed, and this repeated for the next five minutes before Beast called out, "I see him! He's peeking!". Steve smiled, "You got this, princess. Three more pushes or so, and he will be crying out.".
Susan nodded, and took a deep breath, and pushed, shouting out in pain as her baby son is stretching her nether regions out to limits, with his head coming through, slowly. After panting for a few moments, Susan pushed again, and Beast called out, "I got his head, I got him! Now the shoulders, Susan!".
Susan took another deep breath, and screamed out in pain, tears falling as she pushed her baby son's shoulders through, and Beast called out as he gently pulled the rest of him out, "He's out! He's out, Susan!", cleaning his nose and mouth.
The baby boy gave out a loud cry, wiggling, shivering as he's nude and bloody, and Beast chuckled warmly as he cleaned the rest of him with some warm water, and swaddled him into a warm towel after cutting the cord and clipping to his belly button, smiling, "Here's your boy, Susan.".
He softly placed the baby boy into Susan's arms, already working to pull the afterbirth remains of Nathan's birth out gently as Susan cradled her newborn son, sobbing happily, whispering softly, "Hello, Nathan...", taking in his dark tan skin, the lush, soft tufts of dusty brown hair, and his eyes are unique; his right eye is dark green with bright blue speckles, and his left eye is dark hazel with dark green speckles. He got Mo's nose and Susan's smile.
Nathan's cries quieted down as he looked up at Susan, cooing, and blinking at Mo who is nuzzling Susan's cheek as his own tears fell down his cheeks, and Mo whispered, "Hello, my son...Welcome to the world, Nathan Kenneth Carter-Rogers. I promise to love you always just like your sister, Lily...", shocked to see a part of his mother, Fei staring back at him in the hazel color of his eye, along with part of Mo's dark green eyes which came from his father, Gaja...And of course, the bright blue is Susan's...
"What's that look?", Susan asked as Mo shook his head. "He's... he's got my mother's eye color there, Susan...", Mo said as Susan chuckled.
"Maybe thanks to our little trip perhaps?", Susan suggested. Mo smiled softly, "Possibly, but Lily and Nathan already got my genes from the start. Still, he's perfect...Just like Lily.", glancing at Lily in his arms, waking up sleepily, looking at Nathan with a sleepy gurgle.
Nathan cooed at his sister, and then whined hungrily, and Susan chuckled, removing her straps as Lily whined a minute later, and with some adjusting, the twins took to their meal, and the newfound parents was in love with their children as they couldn't stop looking at them.
Beast, after cleaning up Susan, and putting her gown back over her legs, left with Steve who knew that the newfound parents would want some private family time, announcing to everybody the second twin's name and everything. The party was full of joy and happiness from that moment on.
Meanwhile, the two new parents decided to just skip the party and stay with their new children. "They're so perfect... you know that?", Mo whispered to Susan as he kissed her cheek.
Susan smiled warmly, "That's because they came from us, Mo...", and Mo chuckled, "I have to agree with you 100% on that.".
And so, Libra Haven became busier yet more peaceful than ever in the incoming months, with Tara and Bucky's wedding in late May, and they took Reva with them on their honeymoon to New York City. It's not normal, but hey, the family is not normal anyway, or Libra Haven. The quartet of children became like peas in a pod, despite their ages and all.
They enjoyed growing up and loved the entire family-gang of Libra Haven, and even Wolverine admits that he wouldn't dream of leaving Libra Haven as he felt like he finally belonged, for he was literally an uncle to the little imps, a nickname he fondly calls the quartet by.
Friendships bloomed and Ciro realized that she has moved on, somehow having only happy memories of Giza stored in her heart, yet it's open to love again, and she was happy to see that her son, Gizmo is growing into a brilliant young man, and he loves his little cousins that he would literally babysit them any chance he could, and Kitty often joined him, enjoying her freedom to be a teenager again.
And before any of Libra Haven knew it, it was Christmas once again, and everyone was attending Henry's birthday party as he's 2 years old now on Christmas Eve. He saw many people kissing under mistletoe in secret here and there, but he saw that two of his favorite aunts, Ciro and Storm isn't kissing or even noticing the mistletoe.
It was so obvious to him, and when everyone was distracted with a game, Henry took his opportunity to do something about it. Knowing that Storm is shyer than Ciro, he waited until they were conversationally distracted, and then pretended to run with a board game he found, knocking/pushing Storm over, leaning into Ciro, and Henry smiled victoriously as they kissed.
The two of them blushed as they were like that for a few longer moments than what really should have happened. Neither one of them were backing off until eventually, Ciro finally did. "Um, sorry about that, Storm...", Ciro apologized.
Storm shook her head, "Don't be...I think I needed that...To be honest, I am attracted to you ever since I saw you flip Wolverine out on his flirtation attempt...He did that with me too...I wish I was that bold to say that I was a lesbian back then, but I only bravely told everybody when Susan told me that she had a best friend who is gay, still together with his boyfriend last she heard...".
Ciro looked at her, stunned, "You..you are attracted to me that long?", and Storm nodded nervously, "Yeah...I never said anything before...I didn't want to make a move on you as I heard about...well, Giza and all...Seeing you smile in the mornings in our bunkhouse was enough for me...I just didn't want to lose our friendship when you are the only other black woman to talk with me, feeling like I knew you longer than I had...".
Ciro gave a small smile, "There's nothing to feel ashamed about. I must admit, I wish I had been a bit more forward myself with you, but... I guess Giza really was just keeping me from moving on at times. I know she wouldn't want me to dwell and waste my life because of her, but... it's easier said than done, you know?".
Storm smiled knowingly, "Yeah...I felt similar when I was focused on escaping the ship so many times before I realized that I had everything in the room with me, and so they became my miracles, to save me from losing my sanity. Still, I think Giza would be happy for you if she knows that you are happy...I understand if you want us to stay as friends, but you must know that I didn't regret kissing you just now, even if it wasn't the most perfect kiss...", with a blush and a slight frustrated look that the kiss just earlier was awkward and out of nowhere.
Ciro blushed, smiling, realizing that Storm is right...If Giza is happy for her, there's nothing wrong with moving on...She spoke softly, "Do you want to try again?", and Storm looked at her in stunned surprise before nodding nervously.
Ciro, having experience with kissing, even if it has been years, tenderly reached out and cradled Storm's cheek, tugging her forward slowly and gently, and Ciro fluttered her eyes before tilting her head slightly, and kissed her, feeling something so familiar and yet it's a bit different, but stronger even more than before, so long ago.
The two of them held like that for well over a minute before finally backing off. "Is that a bit hard for you since you have to lean down a bit?", Storm teased about Ciro's height.
Ciro giggled, "Maybe, but we're pretty much equal when it comes to sitting or wearing your boots. It's unfortunate that you are wearing low shoes. But for that tease, this wouldn't be hard.", before smirking as she grabbed Storm around her bust, lifting her up with her gorilla strength, and kissed her again, this time passionately.
Storm closed her eyes and hugged her, her hands through Ciro's black hair, kissing her back just as passionately, shocked to feel incredibly happy like this, and a wolf whistle sounded out before a slap sounded out, "Link!".
Both women broke away for air, looking back to see everybody staring at them. Gizmo grinned widely, "Way to go, Mama!", with Kitty commenting, "About time.", with a chuckle.