Chapter 132

The drive to the house was full of excited tension as Valkyrie debriefed her team and Corrival on the phone via a multi-call or whatever it was called, and it ended with perfect timing when they pulled up at their house. Jumping out, Valkyrie ran into the house and to the parlour where Tanith was kneeling on the floor, legs apart and clenching her fists together, swaying and looking pale. Nadia was stroking her back gently and gave Valkyrie relieved look. After seven days and eight nights apart, Valkyrie and Nadia got to smile at each other for a moment before Valkyrie kneeled next to Tanith and rubbed her back as comfortingly as she could.

"How's it all going?" Valkyrie asked when Tanith took a gasping breath and her tense muscles relaxed a little.

"Good," she nodded, smiling just a little. "It really hurts. Twelve minutes apart. God, it – it makes everything down there hurt!"

Erskine snorted a laugh behind Valkyrie and the other two Idiots barely masked their laughs. In the room was Tanith, of course, and Solomon and Nadia who had been there for the hour or so that everyone else had been gone. Then there was Valkyrie, obviously, as well as Saracen, Erskine and Dexter. Ghastly had apparently been given a text by Solomon, with no response, and Anton was on the way but couldn't do anything until midnight because of the hotel. He had informed them, on the phone on their way home, that he had set the next place for Ireland but he had almost thirty people on board and couldn't just move the hotel right then.

"Should it feel like that?" Valkyrie asked warily, looking at Nadia.

"The internet claims that you may feel, and I quote, 'rectal pains'. You should also have a bunch of mucus flowing from you."

"Flowing from me?" Tanith laughed.

"Has your water broken?" Valkyrie asked.

"Either that or I pissed myself on the sofa," Tanith cringed, and Valkyrie noticed then that the sofa Tanith usually sat on was covered in towels and also that the gorgeous hardwood floors were covered in towels with a fair amount of liquid beneath Tanith alongside dripping liquid and blood on her inner thighs. It was really gross. "We need to go either way. I'm pretty sure they're coming and the water breaking might take hours."

With that, Tanith was loaded into the car via Erskine who was able to essentially airlift Tanith. Dexter took the bike back to the garage and they split into two cars, one of which had a car seat. Tanith, Saracen, Nadia and Valkyrie went in the car-seated car which they planned to leave at the maternity hospital. Just as they got out of the front gate, another contraction set in and Tanith carefully breathed through the pain with Valkyrie gently massaging her neck in the very cramped back seats.

By the time they got to the hospital, Tanith had had a few more contractions and they were officially nine minutes apart. Nadia informed her that usually, they'd have to wait to be five minutes apart, but because of how stressed Tanith had been and how bad the pregnancy had gotten at times, as well as being almost four weeks too soon, they were being brought in early for safekeeping.

Quicker than Valkyrie thought possible, Erskine and Dexter locked hands and were carrying Tanith upright between them into the pretty cottage-like maternity hospital. Nadia and Valkyrie held hands and grinned in excitement together, getting the chance to kiss for just a moment before they were whisked to a large, clean room upstairs with a bed, sofa, small wardrobe and baby basin.

"Right, before we get ahead of ourselves," the midwife, whom Valkyrie didn't know, began after they had put Tanith in the bed. "Let's get your trousers off and I'll give you a check, and we'll also have a look at baby's heart. Do you know the gender?"

"No, we don't know the sex of the baby," Tanith said with a roll of her eyes. "Val, can you…?"

Valkyrie undid Tanith's trousers and pulled them down as the midwife pushed the men and Nadia out of the room entirely. When she came back, Tanith was bare from the waist down and had pulled her top up under her breasts to give the lady room to work.

"Alrighty then, let's have a look." The midwife did an ultrasound of the baby, checked the heartbeat, took Tanith's vitals and then took the opportunity to shove her whole fist into Tanith's vagina.

Tanith grabbed Valkyrie's hand and ground her teeth as the woman twisted her hand and checked her cervix. All Valkyrie could do was stare at their enclosed hands with a gaping mouth as Tanith crushed her already broken fist.

Just when Valkyrie thought she was going to start screaming for her sister to let go, the woman exited Tanith and she let go of Valkyrie's hand. Breathing deeply, Valkyrie cradled her hand to her chest.

"It looks like you're well on your way!" The lady said happily. "I'll call your scheduled midwife and she'll be here shortly to help with the delivery. We can get your changed into your birthing outfit now while you can still move. Are you going to be having an epidural?"

Tanith laughed nervously and said she didn't. Valkyrie already knew the reasoning behind that. Tanith wanted to experience how badly it hurt out of sick curiosity. She had taken to calling her a masochist, but it apparently hadn't stopped her.

The men were let back into the room and, although the woman seemed scandalised, Saracen went through the suitcase for Tanith and got out the things she instructed him to get. Valkyrie took it and helping Tanith into the bathroom.

Walking carefully, Tanith, the midwife and Valkyrie went into the bathroom to get Tanith changed. It took so long trying to get her changed, as she had wanted a quick rinse in the shower first, that her normal, scheduled midwife turned up before they were done. Valkyrie attempted to give Tanith some modesty by not looking at all her bits but the nurse ruined it by deciding to quickly check Tanith's progress by putting her fingers up her vagina when she leaned over the bathtub for a contraction right there.

The sisters locked eyes. They giggled.

After helping Tanith get her comfortable breastfeeding bra on, as well as a very lose, large top that she was sure belonged the Anton, Tanith wrapped a large towel around her lower half and they went to the bed. The others were still there, looking at all the baby clothes and nappies and talking very excitedly.

"Is Mr Bespoke on his way?" The second midwife asked as Tanith sat down. She looked nervously at all the men standing around.

"He's been told," Tanith told her tightly, laying on the bed. "He'll be here, I think. Erskine, can you call him?"

Erskine was quick to run and do his job.

"And who will be your birthing partners?"

"Val, my sister," Tanith said. "Hopefully Ghastly will get here. This is the rest of our family, the baby's uncles. They can all stay, and Nadia too. They're welcome to watch."

"We have a policy of only two people in the room," she said kindly, "but they're welcome to stay behind the curtain as long as they don't get in our way."

"Oh yeah, that's fine," Tanith shrugged.

"Grand," she smiled, and immediately closed the curtain that cut off the sofa which the four men and Nadia were sat on. They'd still hear, but not see all the nasties. "Have your waters broke?"

It felt like a whirlwind of events happened after that. Ghastly didn't pick up, so they kept trying, and Tanith's parents and brother were called and would come the next day after the baby was born.

The midwives left after a while and the men were allowed to open the curtain. Tanith, wrapping her lower half in a towel, bounced on a ball and spoke to her mum on the phone while Valkyrie and Nadia held hands and spoke with Erskine about changing up the house which he was immediately on board with. Saracen and Solomon were discussing the car situation and something else in low voices. Dexter kept making jokes to keep the mood light and kept trying to call Ghastly. Eventually, Tanith, having finished talking to her mum, got the one call they'd been waiting for. From Ghastly.

"Where are you?" Tanith asked, putting it on speaker and being helped to sit in the bed. "We're all at the hospital."

"'M coming," he said gruffly.

"Where are you though?"

"On the motorway," he said, and then a horn was blared, and they heard him mutter some obscenities under his breath. It wasn't like him to swear. "How far along are you?"

"I've got contractions every six minutes and I'm four centimetres dilated. The heartbeat is good and they're in a good position. No waters yet."

"Good," he muttered. "I'll be there soon."

"Wait-" Tanith tried, but he'd already hung up. Valkyrie scowled.

"Dick," Valkyrie muttered.

"Tell me about it," Tanith said, taking a breath and resuming her pale, contraction face as another one came at her. The rest of them spoke and rubbed Tanith's back and held her hand, the men and Nadia hiding away only when nurses had to check things under the covers.

Half an hour went by with no sign of Ghastly, but Tanith did get to six centimetres dilated, meaning she was over halfway there, and she was managing the contractions, and the heartbeat was good. Her waters broke by themselves, making her think she had peed herself. Another half hour later and Tanith was exhausted. Everything was still good, but no real progress, nor father present.

Tanith actually was able to nod off for a few hours, which the men took as a chance to sleep also, but Valkyrie and Nadia were too excited and took the chance to talk, giggle, kiss each other and generally do what they should when teenagers were left alone with everyone sleeping. Okay, maybe not everything, because it was the same room as said sleeping people, but they kissed a lot.

It was almost one in the morning when Ghastly turned up. He barged into the room, making Nadia jump away from Valkyrie in fright, and waking everyone in the room in the process. There were large bags under his eyes and his clothes were only a little wrinkled. Tanith tried glaring at him, but that was when she got a really bad contraction and Valkyrie had to press the red button to call the midwife.

"God, this is awful," Tanith muttered, clenching at the sheets as the midwives ushered Nadia and the men away behind the curtain and Ghastly leant against the wall by Tanith's left side while Valkyrie held Tanith's hair and stroked her head as a nurse shoved her hand into Tanith once more. "It's got worse."

"You're doing really well Tan," Valkyrie encouraged, letting Tanith grip her good like she was killing it. Her other one was swollen from the break she got earlier but it was okay enough to help Tanith. Her knee, which Solomon had checked, was painful but actually just a pulled muscle, so that was fine. Like her pain was anything to be compared to Tanith's. She was whimpering in pain but did her best to hold it in. "Soon you'll have a baby and it'll be all over, I promise."

Tanith nodded, gritting her teeth until the nurse extracted her hand.

"It looks like we're ready to push," the midwife said. "Do you feel ready, Miss Low?"

Tanith's answer came with her pushing the baby almost immediately as another contraction hit and it was all a-go. The first one was handled with gritted teeth. The second came with lots of nurse encouragement and a low whine of pain. After that, it was mostly short screams at the end of her pushing. Five minutes went past, and the men were calling encouragements and pacing behind the curtain, waiting with excitement and trepidation, and Tanith had pushed the baby so their head was just past the cervix. Then another push and the head was out!

Tanith had to stay very calm and still, but Valkyrie's heart was jumping – it was a disgusting, nasty mess but the head was out and Valkyrie could see it! She'd never unsee it, but it was so amazing!

They waited for a moment and another contraction hid and all by itself, her body pushed the rest of the little child out and it was caught by the midwives. There were baby cries and everyone in the room was crying. The nurses placed them on Tanith's chest and rubbed them as Tanith sobbed.

Crying herself, Valkyrie was helped to cut the umbilical cord and, in a surprise to Valkyrie, Tanith asked if Valkyrie would be the baby's godmother – not that either of them were Christian, but it was the status. Crying even more, Valkyrie agreed and stroked the crying baby's back. They were all bluey-purply and covered in white, nasty stuff, but they were honestly the most gorgeous child Valkyrie had ever seen. They even had little tufts of hair on their head!

"Boy or girl!?" Nadia shouted above the boys on the other side of the curtain.

"Just a sec," Tanith called, her tears stopping only for a great grin to take its place as she and Valkyrie carefully moved the baby around. After, Tanith moved the rags and checked. "It's a girl! Oh my God it's a girl!"

Of course there were celebrations because everyone other than Valkyrie – and Nadia because she'd convinced Nadia it was a boy – had guessed girl. The Idiots began chanting 'Girl! Girl! Girl!' and Valkyrie could hear Nadia sobbing happily, probably hugging someone, and the baby was happy. A few minutes later, Tanith gritted her teeth as the placenta was released and also 'birthed', and she was then cleaned with wet towels by the midwives and Valkyrie as modestly as they could before the sheets and towels were pried from under Tanith's sensitive body and new ones were placed, and then a sheet was placed over Tanith's lower body and the curtain was removed. It was a messy, but easy process

"Oh my God," they all said, other than Solomon who was wet-eyed but simply smiling. "It's a baby," Dexter commented.

"Yeah, no shit," Tanith grinned, looking at the little thing.

"She's eating!" Erskine squealed.

"Err, not really. No milk yet," Valkyrie told him. "There will be soon."

"Exactly," Tanith smiled, looking down with complete adoration at her baby girl. They'd all been told that there might not be milk production for a few days, but the baby suckling could help that along, so that's what the baby did. They'd have to bottle feed until then. "I love you so much."

Valkyrie pulled Nadia under her arm and they looked at the precious little thing and Valkyrie decided she loved babies more than anything and wanted at least ten, and they all had to be this precious and perfect and wrinkly and cute.

"Can I have one?" She asked Nadia.

Nadia snorted a laugh. "You can give birth."

Valkyrie scrunched her nose. Maybe just one or two then. Or she'd be that cool aunt. Yeah, she'd just be the cool aunt. She had tons of siblings to give her nieces and nephews, she'd have to be happy with that she supposed.

Ghastly coughed quietly, and, trying not to lose her smile because she was even more protective of Tanith and the baby now and that made her way more mad at him, but she shouldn't be like that at the birth of his daughter, she looked at him as pleasantly as she could. Tanith had a stunned expression like she forgot he was there for that entire process. "She's beautiful," he said, shocked.

"Of course she is," Tanith smiled, looking back at the baby.

"Can I hold her?"

It took a moment, but carefully, Tanith detached the baby and handed the naked baby to Ghastly and immediately threw all sorts of swaddles and all the tiny blankets on top of the sucking-at-air baby.

He placed her onto his chest and looked down at her with a soft smile as tears flowed down his cheeks. "I love you," he muttered, and gently rocked her, whispering to her the whole time. It was honestly adorable and it started Valkyrie's tears all over again.

.*****.

The next day, when Tanith was able to just about stand, Valkyrie helped wash her in the bathroom and collected the frozen sanitary towel from the nurse for Tanith to wear. Apparently, it was "like fucking heaven to my vag" which had made Valkyrie laugh way more than she should have.

The baby had been weighed and measured and was completely healthy with no sign at all of Ghastly's curse which Tanith didn't care about, but Ghastly was obviously incredibly grateful for, especially considering it would have been slightly difficult to explain to the mortal staff. Being in a non-magic place had made the whole process significantly safer though, which is why they'd taken the risk.

There had been mutterings of names, but so far, Ghastly and Tanith hadn't really spoken to each other apart from switching who was holding their daughter and not much had happened in regards to it. Tanith had been able to get some sleep because they all wanted a chance to bottle feed and Tanith's milk had yet to come in, so she looked okay, rather than like she'd been through something traumatic – which she had, in a way. After getting dressed plus the towel, she looked a little more alive and had begun again to suckle to stimulate the breasts, as she called it. Baby liked it anyway. It was just weird to Valkyrie when everyone kept saying 'breasts' and 'suckling' like it was normal everyday words.

Anton had come too, a few hours after the baby had been born. He had held her and not long after, him, the men and Nadia had left to clean and get food, and Tanith's parents and brother had turned up. Ghastly, who was still there, got glared at. Luckily for him, the baby was the priority and Tanith was complimented for her work and how amazing she did, and everyone doted on the baby. Of course, they asked what the name would be.

"I haven't decided yet," Tanith smiled, looking at the child. "I think it's between Mia and Laila."

Ghastly stuck his nose up at those but didn't say anything. Valkyrie's eyes narrowed at him but he didn't see. Tanith pushed it out, she got to name it as far as Valkyrie was concerned.

"Oh, I don't know," Tanith's mother started. "You know we always name girls in the family Mary or Susan."

"Yes, Mum, but I don't want that," Tanith said politely. "I want Mia or Laila. I like those names. Valkyrie, what do you think?"

"I like Laila," Valkyrie nodded. "You could always give her a middle name or two. My middle name was my grandmother's name."

"Oh – Ghastly, what do you think?" Tanith's mother asked quickly. Apparently, she'd abandoned her glares in hopes of support. Traitor. "You don't like these names, right? How about something traditional like Mary for the baby, I believe you have family names as well."

He hesitated, looking at Tanith and Valkyrie with nerves before answering. "I do. My mother's Chosen name was Anna."

"Anna isn't awful," Tanith conceded, looking at her baby. Valkyrie could tell she looked a little defeated.

"Hey, Tan doesn't need a family name," Tanith's brother chipped in quickly. "It's the twenty-first century, Tanith can do what she wants. I mean, no one used family names anymore. And I like Mia."

"Laila," Valkyrie muttered.

"I like that one too," he nodded quickly. "But mostly Mia."

Valkyrie shook her head. "Mia sounds like Myra, and even if she's nice, it just puts a funny feeling in my stomach. I know it isn't about her or anything, but I just hear the work Myra when you say Mia. But Laila is a pretty name. It's deceivingly feminine. Makes you think she's all sweet and pink and cute and then bam! She's kicked you in the nuts and stolen your money. I like Laila."

Tanith grinned. "I think it's a very feminine name too. And I do like the deceivingly cute bit about it. She's going to have so many people wrapped around her finger."

"Exactly," Valkyrie nodded, feeling her mission headed straight for success. If the baby wasn't a boy, she'd at least get some headway in the name. "And again, you can always have middle names. Like, Laila Mary-Ann. It's in spirit, rather than literally her name."

Tanith nodded a little stronger now and Valkyrie could see she was more certain on what she wanted. Tanith's mum didn't look sure but with a prod from her husband, she was able to let it go after Tanith promised that, no matter what, the middle names would be in the spirit of the family names. Ghastly still didn't look happy but Tanith was ignoring him so long as he refused to speak for himself, or that's what it looked like anyway.

After a while, Tanith's family left and it was just Tanith, Ghastly, baby and Valkyrie in the room.

"I really like Laila," Tanith muttered, looking at her sleeping baby, who was in the bassinette next to her bed.

Ghastly grunted.

"Are you going to say anything?" Tanith finally asked, her voice soft.

Ghastly looked down and finally back up at his daughter. "You never mentioned Laila before."

"I hadn't thought of it yet. I know you were unsure of Mia, so this one is different. It would be nice to hear a contribution Ghastly. I know we're not together but she's your daughter too."

"I know that," he muttered. "What will her last name be?"

Tanith was very quiet and Valkyrie could feel the awkwardness and conflict begin to rise. Feeling this was her first chance to chime in as the baby's godmother and stop a fight, she got involved. "Why not a hyphenated name, or a new one? It could be a mix of the two or something else entirely."

"I don't like hyphenated names," Ghastly said quickly. "I'd rather one name."

"Well, I would rather she be after us both or just me," Tanith demanded, her voice getting an edge to it. "I carried her, I should get that choice. Or something different if you can think of it."

"Why not Bespoke? She can choose for herself later, why is my name so bad right now?"

"You're the one that shot down both of us together, so I'm shooting down you as my daughter's last name."

"You don't need to be petty Tanith," Ghastly scoffed.

"And you don't need to be purposefully difficult!"

"Guys!" Valkyrie interrupted, effectively stopping the squabbling parents. "You're going to wake the baby." They looked guiltily over at her all swaddled up in the cot. "How about you just pick a new one. That way it's more equal. And, to make it fair, if Tanith has more of a say in the first name, how about Ghastly gets more of a say in the last name? Unless he's going to act childishly, in which case, he needs to stop and walk away."

Ghastly's jaw clenched and Valkyrie could feel immediately that he was going to take his frustration at the situation out on her when Tanith gasped. "Your name!"

"Me?" Valkyrie asked.

"Yeah. Edgley has connections to me and Ghastly, both positive. It's not either of us directly, and as you're godmother, it makes sense for you to have a little something in there. I mean, she's going to change it later right?"

Ghastly bobbed his head in consideration. "I don't have objections to Edgley. Gordon is a good man. Decent. So is Valkyrie, and she's going to be involved in her life after all. It is unconventional to use another person's family name, but I don't mind so much."

"Then the last name is settled. So, Laila Mary-Ann Edgley?"

"I'm still not sure," Ghastly muttered, rubbing his face. Tanith rolled her eyes. "I always envisioned her having my mother's Chosen name."

"How about we make the middle a little different then? Marianna? It's a merging of names, but includes both families," Valkyrie tried.

"But Laila?" Ghastly asked. "I don't see a cutesy little girl, I see a pushover."

"Have you known a Laila before?" Valkyrie asked quickly before Tanith choked him.

"Yeah," he said after a moment.

"Did you date one?" Tanith asked.

He thought about it for a moment. "No. I just didn't like the ones I met. All of them have been very weak-willed and I don't want my daughter to be like that. I want her to be strong, assertive and confident, and to take on the world headfirst."

"Ghastly, she will be all of that, and she will take on the world," Tanith said, taking on a gentler tone. "We just have to raise her like that. We can do that, especially with Valkyrie and the other guys helping."

It took a few minutes of quiet consideration on Ghastly's part but finally, with more confidence, he nodded. "Laila Marianna Edgley."

EEEEEEEEEEEEE! It took like sixty chapters but finally! Laila is here!

The runner up, Mia, was by Lonelygirl702. In the end, it was between Alison/Alice, Heidi, Stephanie, Alia, Annemarie, Hope, Faith and Lailah. I loved them all but had to go with the flow of what felt right for the baby and her personality at this stage in the story, and with what plans I have for her. I changed the spelling, but Laila is kick you in the nuts and steal your money cute and that's exactly the energy I love!

I had so many names to consider, and I did by going through suggestions and keeping/eliminating everything as necessary, with a lot of consideration. I had to add in the Alison/Stephanie names as they are in the real book and figured it was good to give them a chance first. Laila came out of the generator first as I promised I'd use and after thinking up the middle and last, it was just perfect!