Disclaimer: I don't own the show or characters. All I own is the writing and story.
Tale of the Most Precious Noel of them All
Christmas 2026. Sterling Muccio-Morello-Nichols was seven years old and living with his two mothers, Lorna and Nicky, in their house on the outskirts of New York for five and a half years now. His biological father, Vince Muccio, had given up full custody in the beginning of 2021 when Sterling had just celebrated his second birthday. It wasn't a decision made out of the desire to traumatize his son or to make Sterling feel unwanted, rather, Vince decided it was in Sterling's best interest to live full-time under the same roof as his mother, Lorna, who blatantly loved and adored him more than life itself. Vince remained a part of Sterling's life but only when it was okayed by Lorna and Nicky. He didn't hold grudges against either women and only wanted to make things easier for all of them involved in Sterling's life/upbringing.
Christmas 2026. Lorna Morello was living a life she never thought possible. A life she never imagined would be one she could live out in the real world. It was a dream of a life. A dream of a life married to not only the most amazing woman she ever had the pleasure of meeting but the most amazing person to ever grace the universe. Nicky Nichols was the true definition of an angel in Lorna's eyes and Lorna could hardly believe the two were now wives for four years. They were married living together in a nice home for four of the best years while also raising Lorna's sweet-as-can-be seven-year-old son. Something Lorna could only dream of when she was locked away in prison those many several years prior. Even then Lorna had the hardest time coming to terms with the simple fact she loved Nicky Nichols—a woman—the same way her older sister, Franny Morello, loved her husband Jack. The Catholic background Lorna was raised with made accepting her bisexuality quite the taxing chore. Made it easier for Lorna to push away from Nicky a lot in the beginning, made it easy to sabotage their relationship on many occasions before she finally came to the realization the only person who had the capability of making her heart flutter the way it should when it came to falling in love was—in fact—Nicky Nichols, a woman just as she happened to be. In the end religion was no match for what Lorna's heart truly wanted.
Christmas 2026. Nicky blinked her eyes and suddenly seven years had passed. Life flew by since her time in prison. A lot had happened, had changed since her incarceration. Life took a turn she hadn't ever expected it to take. Before Litchfield—before fucking max even—Nicky hadn't believed she would ever settle down with another woman. Let alone a woman akin to Lorna Morello. Lorna Morello was a complicated woman at that. She was supposedly a straight, happily engaged woman for a while. But eventually the façade ceased and the truth came to light. None of which ever stopped Nicky's heart from knitting into that of Lorna's. Love knew nothing. Love was blind. Nicky was blind—blinded by her undying, un-fucking-conditional love for a supposed straight woman. Now Nicky was grateful. She was married to the woman of her dreams; the woman who took her breath away the mere second she caught sight of her walking so skittishly into the prison almost an entire decade ago now. Life couldn't get any better than it was. What more could she ask for? She had the absolute sweetest wife and her adopted son, Sterling, who kept her from feeling old on a number of occasions with his natural juvenile antics.
Christmas 2026. A very special Christmas it would be indeed. Not only were Lorna and Nicky celebrating their fourth Christmas together as a married couple with their son, who Nicky officially adopted right before his seventh birthday six months earlier with permission from Vinny, but the two were also expecting a second child right around Christmas day. It was June of that year when the pair had learned their attempts at getting Lorna pregnant were a success. Three months along at the time they received the ecstatic results meaning their baby would certainly be a Christmas one. This noel was definitely going to be the most precious and special one of them all for the Morello-Nichols' family.
December 2026. Lorna had to do a double-take when she glanced at the date displayed upon the brightly lit screen of her phone. Her eyes, her mind could hardly believe it was the first of December already. Another year was coming to an end. Life was rolling on by and Lorna felt stuck in the past. Sterling was halfway through his second-grade school year—was six months way from becoming a third-grader, however, Lorna still saw him as the premature baby being whisked away from her in the hospital when she was handcuffed to the bed. She was also about ready to pop from entering the final month of her pregnancy and yet Lorna remained in shock she was having a second baby—her and Nicky's first one completely together with absolutely no outside interference other than the medical insemination that had to be performed in order to ensure the pregnancy.
Christmas was only weeks away and there was still so much to be done. So many presents needing to be purchased and wrapped. Many dozens of cookies needing to be baked. But Lorna felt her throat tighten at the mere thought of cookies. She sat up in her bed, eyes wide as she stared ahead onto a random spot on one of the walls. Nausea instantly overpowered her. It was a very sudden, unexpected, onset of nausea. She couldn't get up fast enough to rid herself of the sensation. The bathroom was just a few feet from her and Nicky's shared bed, however, it happened to be a few steps too many this morning for Lorna to make the trip. Not even halfway from the bed and Lorna was retching all over the floor.
There was no time to even clean the mess up; Lorna didn't have the chance to move from her instinctive hunched over position to do so from the sensation of two strong, familiar, arms securing themselves around her body. Lorna knew without looking it was Nicky who had come and wrapped her up in such a comforting embrace. The embarrassment she felt upon the vomiting episode naturally dissipated the second Nicky's arms engulfed around her. Innately Lorna's head fell onto Nicky's shoulder and her own arms found their way around Nicky's upper torso.
A soothing kiss was dropped atop Lorna's head as Nicky gradually brought her back towards the bed. After laying Lorna once more against the plethora of pillows beneath her head, Nicky inhaled a sharp breath while hovering concerningly right there beside her. "You need to rest today, kid, you've been runnin' around crazy the past few days. No wonder you're throwing up, huh? You need more time in bed where your precious body can get the rest it obviously needs," she sternly told her, bringing the comforter all the way up to securely wrap around Lorna's entire body.
Quite a few more soothing kisses were placed onto the top of Lorna's head before Nicky stopped and went to quickly clean up the floor where Lorna had unintentionally purged the contents of her stomach. It took only a couple of minutes for such to be accomplished; once it had, Nicky swiftly washed her hands in their on-suite bathroom, after having thrown away the remnants of her cleanup, then joined Lorna in their bed again. Arms resecured themselves around Lorna's waist which naturally brought her closer to Nicky.
"I just realized there's so much that needs done before Christmas, hon. I got tons of baking to do and I don't know—the thought of cookies randomly made me sick to my stomach. I can't spend a whole day in bed; I need to get to work on my list. Sterling loves Christmas and ya know I gotta make it special for him. If I don't follow the list then I can't do that for him, Nicky," Lorna tried to protest but it did nothing to release Nicky's tight hold on her.
"Sterling loves you, Lorna. And just being here with you and me makes his Christmas all the more meaningful. He doesn't want ya to work yourself so hard that you end up sick all over the floor, yeah? C'mon, babe, that's not gonna do him or you any good. Just stay here in bed with me for the morning, yeah? A little cuddle and nap won't hurt you, sweetheart. You don't take care of yourself enough and I know it's hard for you to do that with our son; you put your focus on him more—which is admirable, it is, but you gotta look after you, too, kid. What good are you to Sterling if you're sleep-deprived and undernourished, hmm?"
The words were both caring and slightly attacking in Lorna's ears. As if in some way Nicky was hinting that she was a horrible mother to Sterling. A thought like that instantly had a wall of defense forming around her. She felt enticed to pull herself out of Nicky's grasp but her lack of energy from running around the past few days just as Nicky had commented on moments earlier made that rather challenging. "I—er, I'm a bad mom? I just want to make sure our son has the best Christmas, Nicky. And you. I want this to be a great Christmas for you too, hon. You and Sterling have made my life a million times betta and I just want to give you guys an amazing holiday but how can I do that by wasting time in bed, huh?"
Automatically Nicky took Lorna's head and lovingly placed it onto her chest, tucking it in there with the tip of her chin. Fingers raked comfortingly through the strands of her thick brown waves cascading from her scalp. "You're the best mom, Lorna. You're the mom any child would be lucky to fuckin' have. Sterling is beyond lucky to have you," Nicky softly, albeit firmly, reassured her slightly younger wife. "But you're tired, you've been spending so much time on this list a yours that you've been sacrificing your sleep and meals. You're not wasting time in bed when you need to be in it sleeping. Promise me you'll take a little nap, okay? C'mon, sweetheart, one little nap won't make your plans magically fall apart. You'll be able to get your list done faster once you regain the proper energy those activities of yours require."
Pursing her lips momentarily together, a sigh pushed itself up through Lorna's mouth. "A nap after I just woke up? People will think I'm a lazy mom for that kinda shit, hon," Lorna pointed out while puffing out her shoulders and shifting her eyes slightly away.
"Who the hell's gonna even know? It's just us, kid, and I know for a fact you're not even close to being lazy," Nicky told her, quirking an eyebrow out of puzzlement at such an absurd explanation.
A mirroring sigh slid out of her as she pulled Lorna closer and pressed her lips warmly upon the flesh of one of her temples. "Yes, you could benefit from a nap right now after just waking up," the words murmured tenderly against Lorna's forehead. A loose strand of hair fell over one of Lorna's brown eyes which Nicky stroked delicately away with the tip of one of her thumbs. "You spent most of the night tossing and turning, I heard you…and felt ya. At least just snuggle on me for an hour, okay? I'd prefer if you had a nap but even just a couple hours of cuddling on my chest would benefit you."
The longer Lorna lied there in Nicky's protective, fierce, arms the heavier her eyes grew. The harder it was for her to fight off the sleep that had been so clearly trying to take control of her. Just when her eyes were about ready to droop shut the door to their bedroom swung open and immediately caused her eyes to pop right back open. They darted towards the culprit watching as her and Nicky's son came bouncing into the room. She was merely ready to greet him until Nicky beat her to the punch.
Nicky brought Lorna's head back to where it was previously positioned on her chest then turned her head in Sterling's direction. A finger was lifted up towards her mouth and a soft hushing sound was made. "Shh, buddy," she tenderly whispered, gesturing a hand towards his mother. "Your mom isn't feelin' too good right now. I'm tryna help her fall back asleep, okay? You good, kid? Ya wanna come lay down with us and take a nap, too?"
"Mommy's sick?" Sterling repeated in a slightly frantic query. Eyebrows knitted above his concerned brown eyes. He made his way further into his moms' bedroom and plopped himself on the edge of the bed. Instinctively he placed one of his small hands on Lorna's forehead like he'd remember her doing to him numerous times when he had claimed to feel ill.
Shame temporarily melded a sharp knot into the pit of Lorna's stomach. She tried to turn towards him but any move she made she felt Nicky pull her closer and closer. A random bout of tears formed at the base of her eyelids. The innocent gesture of her son's little, delicate, precious hands on her forehead likely checking for a fever the same way she had done for him before ignited the tears to stream heavily down her cheeks.
Nicky frowned at the moistness soaking into her shirt. Eyes fixed onto the little boy immediately after, "Just a bit, kid. Your mommy hasn't been sleeping good and her tummy's a bit upset this morning. What do you think we should do to help her?"
Sterling bit down on his lip similarly to how his biological mom always had when her nerves were getting the best of her. He swallowed thickly and grabbed a hold of one of his mom's hands. "I think mommy needs to nap and after she wakes up she should have some food. That's what she always tells me to do when I don't feel good."
"You're a smart boy, Sterling. And so is your mommy, huh? She knows how to take care a you when you're sick."
The young child nodded his head fervently while squeezing Lorna's hand tight in his smaller one. His lips curved into a frown knowing his mommy was sick. He exhaled a long breath and turned his head in direction of his other mom's. "Mommy always takes care a me, ma but not always herself. We needa take care a her, ma."
"We do need to take care of mommy, kid, she needs us. She doesn't want to sleep, but she needs sleep," Nicky nodded her agreement and lifted a free arm to encircle affectionately around the little boy's shoulders. She turned her head just enough so that her lips could brush a warm, maternal, kiss over the flesh of one of his temples. "Mommy's worried if she sleeps she won't be able to get all the Christmas stuff done that she has on her list."
Lorna swallowed a gob of saliva that had been piling up in the base of her mouth. She turned onto her side, too uncomfortable laying flat from how enormous her stomach was, and glanced up at the two people she loved more than anyone or anything. "Well, hon, it's the first of December today and Christmas is only weeks away, I gotta get everything done before it's too late—"
Holding up a small hand in the air, Sterling waved it about to stop his mom from going any further with her explanation. "Mommy, you have a lotta stuff already done for Christmas. Most of my friends' don't even got no Christmas trees up yet and we've had ours up since before Turkey day," he told her, his voice inflecting a slight desperation for his mother to stop fretting so much over the holiday list of hers. He might have only been a second-grader but that didn't mean he was naïve and blind. Clearly his mother was pregnant, ready to burst any moment, and spending way too much time fixated on accomplishing everything on that godforsaken list of hers when she should have been taking care of herself.
A faint smile molded upon Nicky's face. Sterling had one of the most caring hearts out there something she believed he'd gotten straight from Lorna herself. Nicky gave his hand that remained cradled in her own a tender squeeze. "You make a good point there, buddy. We have a lotta Christmas stuff done here and there's still plenty of other people who haven't gotten anything done yet," she nodded her head, patting his hand a final time before releasing it from hers and refocusing her eyes on Lorna.
The very pregnant Lorna who was supposed to be resting and taking it easy now that she was only weeks away from giving birth. The smile on Nicky's face quickly faded into a frown as she tugged Lorna closer, pressing her chin lovingly over the top of Lorna's head to secure it in place on her chest once more. "It's December 1st and you've already done way too much for the holiday, Lorna. You're weeks away from having our daughter, it's time to start focusing on taking care of yourself. Sterling and I can help with the list, okay? But you need to spend as much time off of your feet as possible. So, you're gonna lay here and sleep all morning while me and Sterling clean the house and shit. After you wake up, you're gonna have a nice, balanced, breakfast with a big cup of decaf coffee. All prepared by yours truly…and our kid, cause' he needs to learn how to cook."
"I love to cook, ma. Bushka' Red and me bake all the time when she babysits me. Can we make mommy some sushki's for breakfast?"
"Sushki's huh? Sure as long as you know all the ingredients cause' I don't have the recipe, kid."
The brown-haired child nodded his head enthusiastically, lips curving into a rather wide grin. He wrapped his short arms tight around his mommy Lorna's waist for a quick and loving embrace then jumped excitedly up from the bed. "I love you mommy; sleep good and me and ma will make sure ya got a yummy breakfast when ya wake up," he cheerfully assured her, then ran out of the bedroom in leu of the kitchen.
Lorna felt tears well up a second time and buried her face into Nicky's chest which was naturally pressed up against it from how Nicky happened to be holding her. "There's not a betta Christmas gift than you and Sterling, hon—and I, I don't know what I ever did to deserve either one a you. But, but I love you both more than life itself. And I will forever."
Stroking a warm peck over the top of her head, Nicky swallowed an unexpected lump which had settled into the back of her throat. Fingers brushed softly, slowly, through thick brown waves spilling out of Lorna's scalp. "You deserve every good thing this planet has to offer, sweetheart. Sterling and I love you so damn much right back. And I will always be grateful to have both you and him in my life. You two are the best things to ever happen to me and I know the sweet little one in your tummy will be, too. That's why I want you to take care of yourself. You're precious and you have our precious daughter inside you. Both of you need to be properly cared for."
"So, you lay here in our bed and have a nap, okay? You're allowed to take the time to rest, baby, you do so much for our family. You're carrying our fourth family member—that's a beautiful and exhausting thing. Of course you'll need to sleep more to get through the pregnancy, that's normal. It's normal to need a nap after just waking up when you're nine damn months pregnant. The world is not gonna fucking end just because you're spending a couple of hours outta your day taking care of your needs, Lorna. I promise you that. Let me and Sterling help you and take care of you for once. You are so fucking worthy of being taken care of by us, baby, and that's just final. You're going to have to let us help and look after you for the rest of the pregnancy, there's just no two ways around it. That's just what needs to be done and it will."
Christmas Eve Mass 2026. Lorna was pregnant as ever and hustling around the house making certain everything was just so. She called out for Sterling to get his church clothes on then waddled her way into the living room to sit down before she passed out from overexertion. Her back ached more than she ever remembered it aching when she had been pregnant with Sterling eight years ago in prison. She wondered if that was because this time around she was pregnant with a little girl. Did the baby's sex have something to do with the aches and pains she experienced throughout this entire pregnancy? It had to have been because she certainly hadn't experienced any of them in her last one.
The huffing and puffing emanating through the living room immediately enticed Nicky to come running in there from the hallway. She sat down on the sofa next to Lorna and grabbed a delicate hold of one of her arms. The closer they got to Lorna's due date the more concerned and protective Nicky became of her. "You okay, doll? Do you need a glass of water? Did you have a nap earlier, sweetheart?" Concern displayed on her face and encouraged the plethora of questions that easily fell out through her mouth just now.
Moving closer to Nicky Lorna pressed the side of her face tenderly against the side of hers. A warmth rushed through her body at the affectionate interrogation. An affectionate interrogation which only continued to demonstrate how incredibly sweet and angelic her beautiful Nicky was. Lorna cupped a hand tenderly around one of Nicky's cheeks and once their eyes met, Lorna nodded her head. "I'm okay, honey. I just feel ready to burst is all. This baby feels like two or three watermelons inside a me. I ain't ever had a back ache quite as bad this one. Even when I was pregnant with Sterling I didn't have no pain at all…well except when I gave birth," she admitted with a movement of her hand in the air.
Nicky frowned at the mention of Lorna's previous pregnancy. The pregnancy in prison where she remembered Lorna going into labor only mere seconds after she unfortunately left her in the closet during the volleyball tournament Annalisa had forced her to follow her to. Such a memory instantly had her arms wrapping fiercely around Lorna's body now. Now she was there with Lorna and would be there to help her the second she went into labor. Lorna wouldn't have to suffer through it alone this time.
Lips pressed onto the crown of Lorna's head from behind. "Maybe we should just stay home this Christmas Eve, yeah? You're in pain, sweetheart, you shouldn't be going anywhere. You need to be cuddled and taken care of. I don't think going to church is a good idea tonight. Do you, babe?"
"Nicky, it's Christmas—we have to go to mass. It's, it's a Morello tradition. I want Sterling to have the Morello Christmas Eve experience like we always do. I know, I know you're not into church and God and all that but I just want to keep the tradition going is all. I mean if you don't wanna go, I won't make you hon but I gotta at least take Sterling—"
"No, no, baby, of course I'll go with you two. I just—I don't want you to go if you're in a lotta pain. I know it's Christmas and Christmas Eve mass is a tradition but Lorna, sweetheart, if you're hurting you shouldn't feel shameful to stay home and rest. It's okay if we miss it this year. You're pregnant; God will understand. Your water could break any time now, it's probably better we stay in and take it easy, yeah?"
Lorna shook her head in protest while reluctantly pushing herself from Nicky's very warm and loving embrace. As enticing as it was to stay home, to stay there in Nicky's arms, Lorna refused to miss Christmas Eve mass. She felt she was already on bad terms with God for being married to a woman; she didn't want to worsen that by missing out on church tonight. "I'll be fine, hon. It's only one hour, let's just get Sterling and go. At least if we stay until the communion that'll be betta than missin' it altogether, ya know?"
Nicky sighed her frustration but gave a slow nod. There was no talking Lorna out of mass she realized and decided it was best to just abide by Lorna's request. So, she followed Lorna's gesture and got up from the sofa as well, walking over to where Lorna stood slightly hunched over the staircase that led to Sterling's room. Arms wrapped once more around Lorna's waist bringing her into her chest and away from the railing of the stairs. "Fine, babe, we'll still go. But if I see you even wince once, we're leaving. And you're going to lean on my shoulder when we're there so you can rest a bit during the mass, okay? I don't care what anyone says, you and your health are absolutely the most important things to me. I want you to be as comfortable as possible, Lorna. I didn't get to take care of you when you were pregnant the first time but I sure as hell am take caring of you this time. No matter what. I refuse to let you suffer alone or in silence."
Despite Nicky's reservations on their attending Christmas Eve mass this year, there they all were sitting in a pew with Lorna's older siblings and their kids on this very Christmas Eve. It wasn't long before the mass started and it wasn't long after it began that Nicky noticed Lorna holding a hand knuckle-paling tightly onto the pew's armrest. Nicky instantly turned her body all the way facing Lorna and grabbed a firm hold of the very same hand. "What's wrong? Your face is all scrunched up, Lorn, what's hurting?"
Lorna swallowed thickly and shifted uncomfortably against the wooden pew underneath her. Water soaked where she sat and her face immediately reddened when she realized exactly what the hell that meant. Her water broke right there in the middle of fucking Christmas Eve mass. "Nicky," her voice shakily whispered. Eyes widened in a panic. The church was packed full of people and mass only started a few minutes ago. And Lorna was sitting there in her own body's water breakage. This would certainly be one Christmas Eve mass she would never ever forget.
The panic easily became noticed by Nicky's searching eyes. Her arms quickly encircled around Lorna's faintly squirming body. "What's the matter, sweetheart? You look really uncomfortable…don't ya think it'd be best I take you home, yeah? Sterling can stay with his aunt and uncle and cousins—"
"Nicky, my water broke. I-I think I'm in labor and there's so many people here. How, how are we gonna get out with them here? How are—"
Nothing more needed to be said. Nicky scooped Lorna up from the bench and turned to Franny, who was sitting on the other side of Sterling, "Can you watch Sterling? I'm taking Lorna to the hospital now. She's in labor and I don't know how long it'll be before our daughter's born."
Franny immediately gasped an excited, and surprised, breath then nodded her head fervently. "Of course, of course. Just take care a my sista, will ya? Call me the second my niece is born," her voice loudened from the sheer excitement at the fact that her niece was going to likely be born on the most sacred day of the year.
The redhead nodded to her then started making her way out of the pew, and then the rest of the church. When there was a crowd of people halting her run, she cleared her throat a little louder than needed and gestured a free hand towards her pregnant wife, "I need to get my wife outta here, she's about to have our baby can ya let us through? It's Christmas for Christ sake." She exclaimed, not caring if she was using the lord's name in vain on the night of his birth. If she didn't get out of there her daughter would be born right there on the damn church's floor.
The pain was sharp, intense, and unrelenting. Lorna couldn't cease from crying out as she lie miserably there in the hospital bed. A couple of nurses came in to administer the epidural Lorna screamed for the second she had been brought back to the maternity ward, however, it had been a whole thirty minutes since then and the pain remained as strong as ever. Her OBGYN had moments ago stopped in to examine her vaginal area, checking the status of its dilation but it wasn't even close to being where it needed to be for the birth of the baby.
Nicky scooted her chair as close to Lorna's bed as it would possibly go, grabbing Lorna's head from the pillow and cradling each of her cheeks tenderly in her hands. "Is there anything I can do for you? Where's the pain at, baby? Is it your tummy? Your back? Huh? Tell me where it hurts and I'll massage it, doll."
It was everywhere. Lorna couldn't pinpoint an exactly location of where the pain was radiating from. Her whole body felt like it was continuously being electrocuted by a thousand volts of electricity. She wanted to die. It was an incredibly unbearable pain. A pain she knew she hadn't suffered through during Sterling's labor. Something wasn't right. This wasn't a normal labor pain. That much she fucking believed. This was hell what she was experiencing. This was actual hell.
A frown formed on Nicky's face each time she heard a sob escape from her wife's throat. She took Lorna's head and placed it onto her chest. All she could do was sit there and cuddle her. Even though she could tell the cuddling wasn't doing a damn thing to lessen Lorna's pain. This wasn't right, she deemed, her wife was in utter agony. Something had to be done. She grabbed the remote from the sliding bed table and repeatedly pressed the call button for the nurse.
Lips stroked lovingly over the flesh of one of Lorna's temples, "I know this is hell for you, Lorna baby, but I'm right here for you. Thank God you're with me this time so you can be held and loved on at least. I hate that you had to go through this alone during your last pregnancy—you poor, poor, sweetheart."
Their conversation was swiftly halted by Lorna's OBGYN entering back in the room. She came over to take a check of her vaginal region once more and was taken aback when it was obvious there was no dilation happening whatsoever. Eyes averted up onto both Lorna and Nicky; a concerned mien shaping upon her face as she looked the couple over. "I'm going to have the nurse administer a medication to induce labor. We'll give that an hour and if there's still no dilation we're going to have to take you to the OR and perform a cesarean."
Nicky held up a hand and pointed it desperately at her agonized wife. "A whole other hour? Do you not see how much fucking pain my wife is in? I can't sit here and watch my sweet wife lay here in this much agony—this is fucking inhumane to let a human being suffer the way Lorna is. Please can't you do that now instead of prolonging her pain?"
"I know this isn't easy for her or for you but we have to follow procedure I'm afraid. It's in the best interest of both your wife and your baby. Labor is the worst pain there is. Your wife is so strong for going through this. Any mother is, labor is not for the weak."
Two hours and one C-section later was all it took for Lorna and Nicky to welcome their first and only daughter into the world. A healthy, beautiful, baby girl who the couple named Stansie Galina after two of the most amazing matriarchs either had ever been graced with. This noel was the most precious one of them all, their baby girl was born only a half hour before Christmas morning. It would be a noel neither woman would ever forget. Stansie Galina Morello-Nichols was the best Christmas gift they could ever even hope to receive.
Nicky sat on the bed right next to her wife, arms encircled tight around her waist as they both peered at awe down on their tiny daughter. Or rather not so tiny daughter since she was born weighing merely nine pounds. "She's gorgeous; she has all of your beautiful features, Lorna. Your stunning brown hair and brown eyes. I hope she has my personality. Ma always said I deserve to mother a child who's just like me so I know what she goes through," she joked and they both shared a laugh.
"But really, I'm in love with her and you. You are absolutely amazing for going through the pregnancy and labor and giving birth to our little girl, kid. I love you even more than before. You're fuckin' phenomenal, Lorna baby. You, Sterling, and Stansie are all I'll ever need for Christmas. I love the three a you more than I ever believed I could love before. Fuckin' shit, you three turned me into a softie but I ain't soft for anyone other than you three."
There would never be another noel quite like the noel of 2026. The sixth noel Lorna and Nicky celebrated together outside of prison and it was, indeed, the most precious and special noel of them all.