(Untitled)

[beentodamascus]

He's seen a lot of things in his life, his career, but not a lot comes close to the birth of his second child. Tiny robots and a surgeon who looks about fifteen, a woman who isn't his wife but might as well be sleeping peacefully in clean sheets, the bloody ones taken immediately to the laundry by a midwife, and Adam Carter sat in a chair in the

Comments

[thedescent_into]

She drifts. In and out of a haze of pain and exhaustion. But she has her baby. She can remember seeing her, if only for a moment before she slipped back into unconsciousness. A beautiful, healthy daughter. Alive.

When she opens her eyes, she doesn't know how long it's been. She knows that she hurts, a deep ache all over her body, sharpening in her middle, but she manages not to groan, her head lulling and her lips tugging into a bleary smile when she sees them.

"Hello."

[beentodamascus]

He knew that she was alright; the doctor assured him that she was going to be alright, but there's a relief that can't quite be measured when she opens her eyes and looks at him. He rubs his hand against the baby's little back and shifts to lean closer.

"Back in the world?"

[thedescent_into]

"Getting there," she whispers, her throat sandpaper dry, and she wants to reach for him, for their baby, but her arms feel so heavy. She's just so tired.

"How is she?"

[beentodamascus]

He shifts closer, reaching out with one hand to touch her thigh under the blanket. He leans in so that she can see the baby clearly, so that she's close enough to touch.

"She's amazing," he says, quietly. "She's perfect."

[thedescent_into]

She manages to lift a hand, grazing her fingertip gently over the back of one impossibly soft hand, and she grins, wide enough to hurt. Her eyes are watering and it might be tiredness or it might be something else.

"Look at her. I can't believe it. She's finally here."

[beentodamascus]

"And she's so perfect," says Adam. Slowly, carefully, cradling the baby close, he slips out of his chair and perches on the bed beside her. "Believe me. I've gone over her, counted her fingers and toes." He grins, and he can feel his own eyes stinging.

"We did it, love."

[thedescent_into]

"I know you have," she says, laughing weakly. She wouldn't have expected any less.

Without thinking, she tries to shift higher on the bed, a stab of pain shooting through her middle which she bites back with a wince. "Bit of a bumpy road, eh?"

[beentodamascus]

"I was waiting on you," he says, and then he leans in and kisses her forehead, the baby cradled between them for a moment. She makes a soft, mewling sound and Adam shifts her a little in his arms.

"Do you need anything, love?"

[thedescent_into]

She's thirsty and she aches all over, but there's nothing worth asking him to leave her side, just yet.

"I'm all right. Tired, is all."

[beentodamascus]

"Ready to hold her?" asks Adam, leaning up to the bed, the baby cradled against his shoulder now. His hand looks huge against her tiny back.

"We need to name her."

[thedescent_into]

She nods, motioning him closer, because even if she hardly has the strength to keep her eyes open, she'll manage holding her own child, if only for a moment.

"We do. You've already spent all this time with her, what does she look like to you?"

[beentodamascus]

"Well, I keep thinking of Beth," he says, shifting to lay the baby gently against Sarah's shoulder. "I always said if I had another baby, I'd call it 'Harry', but you can't name a girl 'Harry'."

He grins, but there's a certain tinge of sadness. He misses Harry Pearce every day.

[thedescent_into]

"We could, but she'd eventually hate us for it," Sarah smiles, cradling the baby against her chest, a hand curled gently behind her tiny head, and for a moment, she's so distracted she can't remember what they were talking about. It's her daughter, there in her arms. Safe and sound.

[beentodamascus]

"What about Harriet?" he asks, leaning back in the chair, and watching Sarah and the baby, so in love with both of them that his heart aches. "Harriet Beth. To be known as Harry."

[thedescent_into]

"Harriet," she murmurs, testing out the way it sounds, the way it feels on her tongue. Brushing a hand over the fine hair on her daughter's head, she says, "What do you think, love? Are you a Harriet?"

The baby yawns, snuggling deeper against her mother's chest.

"She could be a Harriet."

[beentodamascus]

"Harry," says Adam, trying it out for size as he leans in, one hand brushing against Harry's back as he grazes a kiss against Sarah's temple.

"I think it suits her."