"That's right, Mary Jane...", Ellen whispered. "You're safe and finally home now...". She started tearing up once more as Phillip chuckled while also trying to fight off some tears of his own.
Jean smiled happily, still a bit shocked that she personally delivered her baby sister, but everything's at peace, watching her parents marvel over their miracle of a reunion gift as Mary Jane returned to her meal.
Jean slept on the pull-out bed that night as Ellen and Phillip sang to their daughter to put her asleep in the bassinet that Jean had telepathically hovered from the nursery to the loft bedroom, not blaming her mom's protective instincts.
Mary Jane was a quiet, smart baby, finding ways to communicate her needs without Jean around as her parents got used to being part of a newborn's life once more for the next few days, eventually calming her mother down as she became able to sleep in her nursery without her hovering over, yet Mary Jane isn't mad or upset, happy to have new memories with her parents once more without worrying about getting sick or anything.
Eventually, Phillip had to return to his job, and happily, after returning to the palace, on a ride on Carpet, the rest of the family marveled at Mary Jane, with her making friends with the triplets through the triplets realized that she was too small yet to play, but they were all happy to just chat in baby talk.
Mary Jane's second nursery was changed from the guest bedroom in Phillip and Ellen's house, and between the treehouse and the house in New York, Mary Jane grew up safe, warm, and happy, with plenty of her mother's milk and her father's attention when he returns from work.
Phillip told his co-workers that he was being a guinea pig for some stuff by his elder daughter Jean, at some teasing and all, but eventually, for some reason, Phillip realized that his paramedic job was getting a bit overwhelming as he didn't want to miss out on his newborn daughter's milestones and all...
He knew being a paramedic is highly demanding, yet it's losing its appeal...He knew that the lottery would come for his family in 10 years, but he wants to be having an easier time to balance work and life, especially for his daughter...He got the paramedic job when Jean was in elementary school...
So, after a lengthy talk with his wife, Jean, and Mary Jane one night, Phillip is standing before his boss's door, taking a deep breath as he knocked loud and hard.
He waited for a few moments before finally the door opened. "Phillip?", his boss answered as Phillip gave a small smile. "Come on in, something you need?", he asked.
Phillip nodded, "Yeah...Can we talk with the door closed?", and his boss blinked before nodding and closed the door and sat down behind his desk as Phillip sat down on the other chair, "This is important, then?", with a serious look.
Phillip exhaled, "Yes, chief...As you know, I and my wife recently welcomed our newborn daughter, and she has been wonderful, but I can't afford to miss her milestones...Look, sir, I love helping people and all, but it...it's been overwhelming lately, and I knew being a paramedic is highly demanding, but with myself getting older and such, I come home late, barely making it to do a few things with my daughter before going to bed...".
"I think I know where this is going.", his boss sighed as Phillip nodded. "Yeah, I get it... being on call and having to rush especially in terms of responding first... it's more of a young man's game in a way...".
"Exactly... I just don't know how much longer I've got in me for this, to be honest...", Phillip replied with a shrug.
His boss nodded, "That's really fair...Hold on a second.", before opening a cabinet, flicking files before pulling out Phillip's file, and checked, "Let's see here...Ah, here we are...You signed up in 2012, that's a bit over 10 years ago...".
Phillip blinked, "Dang...I knew it was a long time, but man...2012, that was when Jean was in 3rd grade...", with a smile, and his boss chuckled, "Time flies fast when nobody notices. You went for the 401(k) plan...", reading Phillip's file.
"I understand doing all this now doesn't pay off as well as another decade at least, but...", Phillip sighed. Obviously, he knew of the living comfortably in about a decade, but obviously he didn't want to give that away.
His boss nodded, "True...And you haven't hardly asked for vacation time apart from this year's vacation to cheer your wife up, through that must have been something as your daughter got born on your anniversary date.", with a wry chuckle.
Phillip chuckled, "We were both surprised, that's for sure. Ellen is over the moon, and Jean adores her baby sister.", with a fond smile.
His boss smiled, "I bet.", before reading the rest of the file, "And there were just that time you used the medical insurance for a broken wrist.", and Phillp nodded, "Jean tried out for cheerleading one year, and she broke her wrist while trying an exercise with the other girls.", relieved that it was middle school before puberty started for her otherwise it would have been a catfight or something for jealousy.
"So, in all, you practically had a really clean, nice record of your shifts and salary. Are you able to do the last two weeks of notice while doing your shifts before you leave?", his boss asked.
"Yeah, I'm willing to do that. Looks better on a resume if former employers speak better of you.", Phillip gave a light chuckle as his boss did as well, "That's true.".
His boss then gave a proud smile, "I know I'll see you the next two weeks, but it will be strange without you around, Phillip. You have been truly one of my best paramedics on the field.".
Phillip smiled softly, "Thanks, chief...It has been an honor serving under you, and I haven't regretted it since. I'll start looking into another job, something easier where I can balance life and work without sacrificing my time for my family...".
His boss smiled, "I have some connections in the city...I will ask around on your behalf, if that's alright with you?".
"Sure... I think I can guess a few places that might be good for me in terms of what I'm doing right now.", Phillip smiled back.
"Yeah, maybe just being on call at hospitals or something perhaps considering you do have the training; but up to you, of course.", his boss replied with a nod.
Phillip hummed lightly, thinking for a few moments before smiling, "How about connections with someone who wants a first aid instructor for schools and such?".
"I'll see what I can do there if you're thinking that.", his boss nodded as he took a deep breath, "Still find it a bit surprising that you're a father again after all these years.".
"Really a surprise for us, that's for sure.", Phillip chuckled. "But we're happy all the same.", with a proud, fatherly smile. "Just don't let that little one start calling you 'grandpa'.", his boss joked.
Phillip laughed heartily, and shook his boss's hand, smiling and sharing a bit of farewells before leaving the office.
His co-workers were distraught and sad to hear the news, but understood all the same, and with his boss's help, he found an employee who'd hire him to be one of the first aid instructors, and to his joy, his schedule is flexible, and that getting home took less time in traffic and all.
So, he made the last two weeks of his last paramedic shifts the best ones ever with determination and pride, and the last day was spent with a party and a cake from his co-workers, and after the weekend, he started his new job, and to his surprise, he found a new delight in teaching kids, teachers, groups, and more, thanking his paramedic training.
And so, weeks and weeks later, it became Thanksgiving, and all the growing family is having their first Thanksgiving in the palace, with Skyler about to pop any day now.
"Quite the gathering, huh?", Peter chuckled as he was with Jasmine. "I still find it almost hard to believe all this in just a few short years."
"Yeah... wasn't too long ago when you were that kind sickly young man who kept me safe.", Jasmine smiled as she kissed his cheek. "I will never stop thanking you for that, by the way.".
Peter smiled gently, "And I will never forget that day when I saw you in the shelter...seeing your lonely self, that intelligent spark in your eyes...Sure, I was innocent and clueless, but I knew you needed a friend as much as I did.".
Jasmine nodded, "And your heart always is right...And now, we're literally gathering for a Thanksgiving afternoon for the first time in my home...Crazy, huh?".
"Yeah... certainly a perfect place though... plenty of room for all the guests.", Peter smirked as Jasmine nodded, "Isn't that the truth?"
Indeed, even the warehouse was too small, so the grand dining hall of the palace is perfect, and of course, the staff is happy to make a feast of Arabic food next to American food that many brought through the portal this morning.
Why, Skyler even made dessert with a few pies despite being on aches and pains of being pregnant... "How are you feeling, my exotic beauty?", George asked in concern for at least the fifth time today.
"I'm okay...", Skyler chuckled. "I think I might have another day or two before I finally break.", she assured him as he nodded. "Maybe, but I just want to be sure with things, you know?", George said as she smiled.
"George, you worry too much about me sometimes, it's all going well, you know it and I know it.", Skyler smiled, squeezing his hand lovingly as she stroked her baby's home fondly.
George sighed deeply, "You're right, you're always right about those things, Skyler...I just...I want this birth to go well...for you and our son to be safe and healthy...", stroking her very along baby bump, kissing her on the lips and then kissed her baby bump affectionately.
Skyler lovingly brushed her hand through his hair, "It's going to be perfect, George...Genie made me a complete, healthy woman. Now, stop worrying for a minute, and let us enjoy this Thanksgiving feast with our family, hmm?".
"Alright, but I can't make any true promises. I will at least stop the asking.", George said as she kissed his cheek, "Thank you... right now is not the time to worry, but rather just be thankful for what we have with us today.".
"Sounds like someone's already learned the true meaning of the holiday.", George chuckled.
Skyler smiled warmly, "What else could be better than having our family together? We have gone through so many adventures, and there will be more adventures in the future.", squeezing his hand before starting to share the food with the family, chatter filled with laughter and teasing, with the young ones in their baby chairs making adorable noises as they made messes, with Biva and Rajah sharing a conversation with Eden and Genie.
It was an enjoyable hour when Skyler felt the new sensation of her baby resting on her hips, and she kept her thoughts quiet as possible, smiling as she kept enjoying the food and chatting with May and Ben across the table as George was discussing things with Phillip.
30 minutes later, Skyler cried out in pain, clutching her hand tightly into the edge of the table, feeling the water break, feeling the first contraction shooting through her.
"Skyler!", George obviously got to her quickly at the moment when something was wrong as Skyler gave a light chuckle after the pain died down from the immediate contraction. "I'm okay, George... just going into labor, that's all.", she assured him.
George widened his eyes, and nodded, "Okay, okay, let's take a deep breath, Skyler...", inwardly panicking with nervous excitement, and Gwen replied, "Looks like my baby brother decided to be a Thanksgiving surprise.", with an overjoyed smile.
The rest of the family was surprised and excited as Jasmine replied, "You think you can get to your guest bedroom, guys?", and Skyler took a deep breath, pouting, "But I haven't eaten dessert yet...I want to taste one of my pies I worked hard to make...".
George gave a soft chuckle, "You are stubborn. One slice, and then we're going to our room, please?", and Skyler gave a blinding smile, "Thank you, George.", with a nod.
After a quick dessert bite, finally, Skyler was willing to be taken back to her room so she could finally give birth in peace. So far, things were fairly calm as the contractions were fairly spaced out.
Gwen joined them as she experienced seeing childbirth with Jasmine, and it's her baby brother...Phillip and Jean gave good advice as well.
George gently went to remove Skyler's skirt and underwear as Skyler took deep breaths in the spacing between contractions as Gwen arrived with the essential warm towels and bowl of water, and checked, "Looks like the walk did good, you're halfway dilated, Mom.".
Skyler gave a warm smile at Gwen, "Thank you, honey...Is he doing alright?", and Gwen replied, "He's doing great. He's headfirst, and the cord is safely out of his space.", happy to have discovered that she got x-ray and laser eye powers while being in the time bubble, and right now, her x-ray sight is helping out.
"I still can't believe you can do that sort of thing.", George chuckled as Gwen smiled. "Yeah... a bit of a welcome surprise. Now I don't need to rely on my hearing to check if things are wrong... freaked me the hell out the first time when I was practically seeing right through Peter that one morning.", Gwen shook her head.
Skyler gave a little laugh, "He must have been shocked.", before crying out in pain, moaning as she took a deep breath from the contraction, and Gwen chuckled, "He sure was a mix of shock and embarrassment...Luckily, I got plenty of years to practice and control it, and it's easy breezy now.", with a smile.
George replied, "And you didn't even need my help...You are really growing up, my starlight.", with a smile at Gwen proudly, and Gwen grinned warmly, continuing to check the progress of the dilation.
Another hour and a half passed before Skyler cried out in pain as the contractions sped up, "Oh, by the stars, that one hurts!", and Gwen checked, "You're all in the clear, Mom! And he's still doing great, moving downwards. Breathe and push!".
George, at Skyler's side, squeezed her hand, kissing her on the temple, "You got this, Sky. Our boy's coming.", and Skyler gave a small smile, panting before she took a deep breath, and at the end of the next contraction, started to push.
"Come on, Mom... you're doing great... just a little bit more!", Gwen said as Skyler kept going. Partially glad that it was just the one, if she gets their son out, that would be it. "Almost there... almost there...", George told her as he was starting to see the child.
Gwen called out, "That's it, Mom, he's crowning!", as Skyler's crying out in pain, tears streaming down her cheeks, feeling the burning sensation as her son's head is stretching her out, and Gwen gently helped pull him out, "Almost there, Mom!".
Skyler leaned in, grunting, taking deep breaths and pushed a few times, crying out in pain as Gwen shouted, "I got him!", cleaning him as he gave out his first wail of life, squirming and wiggling.
George sobbed with tears, kissing his wife on the face, "You did it, Skyler! He's perfect!", and Skyler sobbed happily, "Let me have him, honey...", as Gwen nodded, giving her baby brother into Skyler's arms as he cried quietly, whimpering, shivering.
Skyler shushed him gently, "It's okay, baby...Mama's here...Mommy's here...You're okay...", staring at her and George's son in awe and love, "Look at you...You're so beautiful...", cradling and kissing him as she held him warmly against her chest.
George was nearly speechless, awe and love in his eyes as he marveled at the serene sight of his wife and his son, whispering softly, "He looks like you, Skyler...".
Indeed, their son got Skyler's onyx brown skin tone and ink black hair in his tufts, and Skyler smiled tearfully, "But he looks like you too, George...", whispering back, as their son got George's hazel eyes and nose and smile...
Gwen smiled, "What are you gonna call him, guys?", and the couple shared a look, and then smiled, with Skyler replying, "His name is Rhodes Jacob Stacy...".
"That's a really handsome name...Care to tell why?", Gwen asked curiously, and George chuckled, "We became monthly watchers of the movie Titanic because your mother loves it, and it was the perfect moment to be with her every time on the couch in peace and love...Our boy seemed to have loved it over the past several months ever since he was able to kick...So, it is in honor of our favorite beloved couple, even if they may not have existed.".