Chapter 135

Valkyrie looked over the papers and nonsense she had written and found in books in the last five hours or so. A plate of half-eaten korma lay on the large windowsill and Valkyrie had Laila in her car seat on the table next to her, fast asleep. They had given her a lovely baby yellow rocker to take naps in, but she hated it. She seemed to really love the car seat though, and whatever three day old Laila wanted, she got.

"She's a lovely baby," Gordon said absently as Valkyrie glared at her own rushed handwriting. "I remember you being so small. But you had really dark hair when you were born, though only a little. Laila is blonde."

"Yeah, about two strands on her head," Valkyrie croaked, stretching until she heard her spine snap twice. She let out a breath in satisfaction. "We're not any closer."

"I think it's going to come down to this," Gordon said, putting his hands up. "One, he's an Elemental, but a very talented one and able to use air and stone somehow to kill people. In that case, the roof is the best option because it seems to be the worst. Two, regardless of magic, he is very smart and able to get pasts any signal and ward we can imagine and that ability trumps his magic, and so he used the tunnels below. If he could get through the tunnels, it would be the best way, so we need to know how smart he is. Or thirdly, he's an Adept with some type of super strength and had to use the hidden corridor behind the offices and simply wasn't picked up on any camera or seen by anyone by a stroke of luck. Or bad luck, rather. There is no reason he can't be strong and fast after all."

Valkyrie nodded. "And we know the top three things he could have taken from those areas. And a few that he might have taken out of those areas if he's somehow insanely fast or our timings are off. God, this is so frustrating. How are we meant to test and check these things?"

Gordon smiled at her. "Perhaps you should go to bed, Valkyrie. We've made some headway, after all, identifying the possibilities. Personally, I feel it is most likely the Spider's would have wanted The Box of Variability since it was theirs once, and it is missing. But again, I'm not so sure about the idea of our Mr Stolen being an Elemental and taking the middle route upwards. Not many assassins do choose that path after all."

"But not impossible," Valkyrie finished. "I know, Uncle. I'm keeping my mind open, I just want it finished, I'm not going to fill in the blanks with my imagination. Surprisingly, I actually like to do my job properly," she said tiredly, rubbing her eyes. "I am going to bed. Are you okay for me to leave this crap here?"

"Sure," he shrugged. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Valkyrie took Laila to her next babysitter for the night so that Tanith could sleep a little longer before she had to breastfeed again, which was Anton and an eager Erskine. They were playing cards and Valkyrie left Laila in the car seat on the table between them to keep hawk eyes on after they promised to take her to Tanith when Laila woke up and then take her again when Tanith was done nursing. The post-partum symptoms were just as strong for Tanith as the pregnancy issues, and Valkyrie honestly felt awful for her big sister. She tried to hide it, but Valkyrie could see how scared and worried she was, how much physical pain she was in. Being a mother was hard and it made her feel so much more grateful for her own, as well as be in awe of her mother's strength for doing so much child rearing as a widow.

After a quick stop in the kitchen for snacks and drinks, Valkyrie tossed her thoughts aside and went to her bedroom.

"Hi," she said quietly to Nadia. "I got tea."

"Good," Nadia softly replied, putting whatever she was holding down. "Did you find what you needed to?"

"No, but I will," she smiled. "Here. So, what have you been doing all evening?"

"Cooking, washing, made the bed, dusted downstairs, made dinner, stopped Erskine from ruining dinner, and looked after Laila for a while."

"Busy, then," Valkyrie smiled. "You don't have to do all this by the way. Thank you."

"It's okay, I'm happy to help. Um, I actually need to tell you something before we watch a movie or go to sleep," Nadia told her. "I think my friends from school want to come and see me. They don't know that my parents have moved–"

"They can come here," Valkyrie cut her short.

"Really? I didn't know if you'd like them to, especially since I don't think I really made them out to be the nicest. They're really good people, we just had a rough start and after the whole Emily thing came out they were honestly so supportive and lovely to me. I think you'd really like them all, especially Fleet, she's really outgoing like you," Nadia rattled on.

Valkyrie took her hand. "This is your home. If you want someone here, I only need to know to let them in the wards, but I won't stop them. Alright?"

A grin spread on Nadia's face. "Thanks, baby. I'm really excited to see them. They said they were worried about me and have been asking how I've been and about you. I think they might try to interrogate you."

"Sure, like they can weasel anything out of a First Detective," Valkyrie snorted.

"Yeah, they've been gushing about how crazy it is that your First and all that. I think I'm just used to you. You're boring to me."

"It's more likely that you know how immature and stupid I can be and you can't see me as anything other than that," Valkyrie rolled her eyes and kissing her on the nose. "When are they coming?"

"This Sunday, I think," Nadia said cautiously.

Valkyrie nodded. "Sure thing. We can deck out that back bedroom with mattresses and have a real sleepover, like people on the movies! Or, well, as long as you don't mind me there all night. I can just stay until we have food if you want. They are your friends after all."

"You're staying," Nadia told her sternly. "If you don't, they'll lay into me that you're not there. God, you really have no idea how many people admire you. Girls around the world want to be your girlfriend, your best friend, the one you call up for help."

"I have you for all of that," Valkyrie smiled and kissed her on the lips before she got the chance to say anything more. "You're all I want. I promise."

.*****.

"Valkyrie!" Erskine cheered when Valkyrie came through the front door. His enthusiasm made her spirits heighten even if her case hadn't progressed after working through it with China for an hour. Him, Dexter, Nadia and Tanith were in the living room with little five day old Laila and when Valkyrie came around the corner, Nadia stood and hugged Valkyrie.

"Hey sweetie," Valkyrie whispered to Nadia. "Have a good day so far?"

"No," Nadia whispered back. "I got a letter from Daadii."

"Uh oh," Valkyrie said, and they shuffled to the sofa wrapped in their hug. Once sat, Valkyrie was handed the letter in question. She looked at it a moment and raised an eyebrow at Nadia. "I'm not sure if you remember, but this language here? I can't read it."

Nadia took it back, cheeks darkening. "Sorry. I just – I wasn't thinking. She's really mad at me."

"I thought she sort of gave you, you know, permission to do what you needed?"

"Yeah, not to run away from home," Nadia said, her voice becoming frantic.

Valkyrie nodded, the picture coming together quickly. "Your parents only told them all the bad stuff. You leaving for me, doing all the work here, having no contact with them, me punching your dad in the face."

"Basically yeah. And the fact me, Dexter and Saracen essentially broke into their house and 'stole' my things," Nadia reminded her. "She's furious. She wrote that if I don't call her the moment I get this letter – which was this morning – she'd call the authorities to collect me. That's what she wrote."

"She realises I am the authorities?" Valkyrie asked.

"I don't think she means you," Nadia snapped, throwing herself onto the sofa. "What am I meant to do?"

"Tell her what you think. You were able to before. Ring her up, and after she's done asking what you were thinking, explain to her it was like the last time you two spoke. Your dad was being a dick, neither of them wanted to listen to your wishes and you took it into your own hands. Explain that I did hit your dad and tell her that he has more than enough rights and abilities to report that. And that if he does, I will report him slapping me once previously also, as well as his attack in my home."

"I can't do that Valkyrie, you know that."

"Baby, I'm not telling you to get angry with her. But if you want her to understand the position your parents are putting you in, you have to tell her. She's can't know without you telling her," Valkyrie softly comforted her. She could see how stressed Nadia was. "Here, how about we make a pot of tea and then decide what to do?"

Nadia nodded and Dexter helped her get the things together in the kitchen, giving her a chance to question Dexter on it. She had, indeed, been stressing about it all day and he had helped her calm down, but he had noticed she had been unwilling to eat more than half of anything he put in front of her all day. Nadia's stress-starving made Valkyrie stressed!

"Alright then," she said, putting the things down on the coffee table. "This is yours."

"Thanks," Nadia replied, taking the plate. "Do you want Laila?"

"Of course!" The baby, all swaddled and adorable was put into her arms and Valkyrie happily abandoned her snack of a lunch. After spending a minute telling Laila how perfect she was, she was able to divert her attention to the previous task.

"What would you do, Tanith?" Valkyrie asked.

"Honestly? I wouldn't even bother with ringing. No one can get in the house. But, I can fight off anything that could possibly be paid to stalk and kidnap me. Or I usually can anyway. My insides hurt only half as much as my crotch."

Valkyrie snorted a laugh. "Do you want me to freeze your underwear?"

"I'm already doing that," she scowled up at the ceiling. "I don't know how people do this without so many people helping. I've had, what, five men and you two girls? Seven live-in babysitters. This is the only way to do it."

"I bet you could do it alone," Valkyrie encouraged. "I bet it would suck, but you've been a great mum so far."

"I've mostly just slept."

Valkyrie frowned, realising that this was the first conversation she'd had with her sister since she gave birth. And the entire giving birth journey in the hospital had been centred around the baby and jokes about Tanith's destroyed groin. Before that, they hadn't spoken in a week and a half, except a single sentence as they passed each other. She was doing an awful job of being a sister, regardless of if her girlfriend needed help too. "What's up Tanith?" She asked kindly and brought herself and Laila over to the sofa Tanith was sitting on.

"I don't know," she groaned, rubbing her eyes. "I'm just so tired."

"Your body went through a lot, it's normal to be tired. If someone gave birth and had more energy it would be weird," Valkyrie said.

"Yeah, but I just – I just don't feel all that motivated. If I didn't have you guys to help, what if I – what if I didn't look after her? What would happen?" Valkyrie watched as Tanith kept staring at the ceiling, tears filling her eyes.

"You can't talk like that," Valkyrie told her firmly, taking a deep breath to stop herself from automatically getting upset. Tanith was always so strong it made her feel unstable to see her cry. "If you were alone, you, me and everyone else know that you would do everything for your daughter every moment she needed something. You've been a great mum, and you know that any parent would want as much help as they could get and use it too. That's all you've done, accept the help around you, and that isn't a bad thing."

"But what if I couldn't do it? It hurt to stand up and go to the bathroom, and it would hurt to turn and take Laila from you now. It hurts to feed her myself, even though I'll do it for the sake of her health. How could I look after her if there was an emergency and you all had to go and deal with it? I don't think I could do it."

"You can do it, and you know you can too," Valkyrie said. "They say women can feel depressed after giving birth, right? Maybe we can find a professional that can help you overcome these feelings you're having and maybe teach you something about babies so you feel better? I know you can do it all, but it might help you feel more confident to go over it with someone."

Tanith thought about it a moment, her eyes closed. She nodded. "That might be a good idea."

"I'm glad. And for the record, I bet any parent or parents would take seven live in helper to help raise their child. And it means Laila is getting to bond with us all from the start so she'll know how much she means to us all, and that's a good parent thing to do. More love is always the best option, right?"

Tanith smiled a little. "I guess so."

"It is. So use us to recalibrate and have time to yourself, because then when you do need to look after her alone you will be as healed and rested as you can be. Isn't that the goal?"

Tanith nodded with a little more vigour.

"Good. See, soon you'll have the baby raising thing in the bag and in a few months when Laila is sleeping through the nights you can be like you used to – happy and bubbly and trying to get me to talk about my emotions more! It'll be great because Laila will know enough to shout in panic and fear with me and we'll run away together."

Tanith rolled her eyes. "Leave her out of it."

"Nope. We will support each other in the frightening moments of your rage," Valkyrie smirked. "And so you know, no one would think badly of you if you just did part time breastfeeding if it's hurting you. I know it's important for her to get the antibodies or whatever, but having a healthy mummy is the most important thing for her no matter what. Formula is really good for babies, and even if you only breastfeed once a day it'll still give her lots of benefits without hurting you so much. I remember all the pictures of the nipples people get breastfeeding and I wouldn't force that on anyone."

Tanith smiled sort of sadly and put a hand on Valkyrie's leg and squeezed to show her thanks. "You're a good sister. I'll try the classes and talk to someone at the maternity place and see what they can do."

"I can ask Kenspeckle too. He might know someone."

"Let's wait and see how bad this post-partum gets before we jump to specialists," Tanith said, taking a deep breath. "I'll go to one if I need to, but let's go slowly. I did just give birth. Maybe it's just because I'm really tired, in pain and scared she's going to die still? The first two weeks are the scariest with SIDS and stuff. When we're through this next fortnight, if I'm still feeling as bad, then we'll move for big changes. But give me a chance to adjust and see first."

"Okay, I'm happy with that too," Valkyrie smiled before leaning over and kissing her sister's cheek. "I love you."

"Love you too sis," she yawned.

"We do actually need to work out what we're doing with this letter Nadia got though," Valkyrie redirected for Tanith, looking down at the baby that had started to suckle at the air. She was having a good boob dream.

"I say," Dexter cut in, "that Nadia needs to respond. Even if it's only by letter, but there needs to be a response. We don't know how truthful or exaggerated Mr Vinay and Mrs Keena have been to your grandparents, Nadia, and although we know that some of what was told was not altogether true, Valkyrie is right when she says that your grandparents won't know that until you tell her."

Nadia looked a bit miserable and Valkyrie expected it was because she was upset that she'd have to face the music. Valkyrie would be the same. Mrs Prachi was a harsh and powerful woman, and although Valkyrie still liked and respected her for it, she also wouldn't want to call her up and try to explain away lies.

"I suppose so," Nadia muttered.

"We'll help," Valkyrie smiled as Dexter got the phone.

"Now?" Nadia asked, sitting up.

"It's easier to get it over with," Dexter said apologetically. "Come on. It'll be over before you know it. But let's get Saracen down here just in case we need some help."

More of a filler chapter, but still important. I feel bad to do this to poor Tanith! I gave her the worst way to find out she'd pregnant, the worst pregnancy, an alright birth to be fair but birthing a child is still hard and now I'm just throwing PPD on her!

I hope you enjoyed this anyway, and suggestions of baby antics are more than allowed, you can pair Laila with anyone and ask me to write them doing anything, I'd love to hear your cute suggestions, I can't wait to write her being all giggly and cute!