One week later, I woke with the worst stomach ache of my life. 

Felt like my stomach was caving in on itself, or being punched over and over. My due date wasn't for weeks yet, and all the recent tests at the doctor had seemed fine, but tonight? Something was wrong.

I didn't want to wake up Edison and worry him over a simple stomachache, so I got up and tried to walk around. Tried to take a drink of water. Tried stretching. Nothing seemed to help. If anything, it just made it worse. 

Finally, I bit the bullet and stepped back into the bedroom, gently rocking Ed's shoulder back and forth. "Hey," I whispered. "Ed."

His reflexes kicked in and a hand swatted at me with surprising force for a sleeping man. He never did like to be interrupted. 

My stomach squeezed in on itself again and the world began to swim before my eyes. Yeah. I needed him.

"Ed." I shook him a little harder this time. "Wake up."

With a groan like a dying cat he rolled over, looking up at me with the most "what do you want" look on his face I'd ever seen. 

"I'm sorry to wake you baby, but I'm not feeling so well." I braced a hand over my stomach as another cramp hit. I wouldn't call them contractions. Not yet. Not until I knew for sure.

At the sight of my pain he sat up straight in bed, the sleep all but gone from his eyes. "What's the matter?" He asked. "You think it's the baby?"

I winced again. "I dunno. Just feels like my stomach turned into a black hole or something."

Ed frowned. He ran a soothing hand up and down my back. "Anything else bothering you?"

I blinked the spots away in front of my eyes. "I'm...dizzy. Feeling kinda sick too."

Ed rolled out of bed and pulled on some pajama pants. "That doesn't sound good, Beck. What did they say at your last appointment?" 

I shrugged. "Everything seemed to be fine, and now..." I gestured. "This."

Another wave hit and I sunk down onto the bed, curling into myself. Felt like the universe decided to punch me, over and over, right where my baby was supposed to be growing.

"Oh, god," I moaned in panic. Once the idea settled in my head it wouldn't leave. "I'm losing the baby, aren't I?"

All the trials we'd went through. All the morning sickness, all the cravings. It could all end here. Everyone said vampires couldn't carry children. I should have known that. Shouldn't have gotten so damn attached.

"No!" Edison shouted more loudly than necessary. He rushed to me, placed his hands on my shoulders. "No, you're not losing the baby. You're not. You're gonna be okay, you hear me?" 

"Uh huh," I said, but my voice was weak. My head swum and the cramps came again and again. I hissed against the pain and braced my stomach, as if that would make it go away. Inside, my heart screamed out in panic. My baby! Our baby!

Ed moved like lightning, throwing a quick outfit on, grabbing a bag, and throwing a warm robe over my shoulders. "We're going to the hospital." He took my hand and let me lean on him, stumbling to the door. "Hang in there, baby."

"I will," I promised him. But would our child?

"You're right. He's in labor."

The words sliced through me like knives as the doctor talked with Edison and I. 

"But it's too soon—" Ed started.

"Plenty of babies are born premature," he assured us. "But they're...well, human babies. Beck's body is rejecting the fetus, and we've got to deliver it now or risk miscarriage."

The words filtered in through the hazy cocktail of pain meds. 

The baby was coming.

Now.

Even if they managed to deliver the baby, he or she would be hopelessly premature. They'd never make it. It would take a miracle. 

Lucky for us, Diamond Falls was known for miracles.

The world became a blur of pain and meds and doctors rushing to and fro. My mind slipped, sinking back into my old fears and guilt. What if I lost the baby? It was my fault for even trying to have one.

All my fault.

"I'm not fit to be a father," I told Ed at one point when the pain became too much. "Never should have done this"

"Shh," Ed soothed me, raking his fingers through my sweaty hair. Time ceased to have meaning, floating by without a thought. Perhaps I was in purgatory, stuck in that awful no man's land between life and death. All I remember was the calm surety of Ed's hand in mine and his soothing voice, muttering all the sweet things I'd always needed to hear.

"You're not a monster, Beck. And you know that, deep down. Vampirism doesn't make you evil. It's the choices you make with what's given to you. And you, my darling, chose to use your powers for good when you saved my life. Now work with me here and we can save one more. You are worth it. Today and every day. We will get through this together. I promise. Breathe, baby. Just breathe."

After what felt like hours (or was it days?) of struggle and labor, a warm rush of release passed over me at last, complimented with the biggest endorphin high of my life. My body tensed and relaxed against the mattress, my face covered in sweat, shaking and panting. 

And there it was. Not a cry, but a small, almost imperceptible whimper. I tried to raise my head to see my baby, but my brain felt like it was loaded with bricks. But they'd made a sound! I'd heard them!

And hope sprung anew, spiraling out through my heart and through every nerve in my body as they wrapped up the impossibly tiny child and rushed them to the NICU.

I wanted to go, to follow them, but my body betrayed me. I was too weak to do anything but look over at my mate with shining, half-crazed eyes. 

"Is the baby okay?" I asked, almost afraid to know the answer.

Koxerra had some of the most advanced medicine in the world. They could save my baby. They could. They had to.

Ed placed his other hand over mine, his face lined with the same concern mine was. "Let's see what they say." 

My heart thudded out each second we waited. Each second without knowing if my baby was alive or dead. I couldn't stand not knowing, and my blood ran high with every emotion in the book.

Love. Loss. Fear. Joy. It cascaded around me with each second that passed. Would I finally get my wish of a family to call my own? It seemed almost too good to be true, and now I was only moments away from finding out.

The doctor came back into the room after a lifetime of waiting. He stopped beside my bed. Took off his glasses. I nearly yelled at him to speak, to get it over with.

"Mr. Davis. Mr. Graham."

"Yes," we said in shaky unison.

"I'm pleased to tell you that your little baby boy is alive and stable. We have him in our NICU right now, and he'll be getting all the treatment he needs to get stronger. Signs are good, strong vitals. You should be able to hold him in a few days."

All the pent up tension I'd been holding released in the biggest, most relaxing sigh of my life. My face broke into a tired, delirious grin. "He's gonna be okay?" I said, still barely able to believe it.

"He's gonna be fine." 

Tears welled up in my eyes and spilled over. I couldn't hold back anymore. Through all the fear and guilt and heartbreak, I'd done it. We'd done it. I had someone that cared for me, I had friends surrounding me, and I had a beautiful little boy that would be my world.

"Congratulations, gentlemen. I've delivered a lot of babies in my time, but I mean it when I say that this one, the moment he came into this world, I knew he was special. And its no surprise, the child of a Guardian and a Vampire. He's truly a little miracle."

"I told you he was a miracle," Edison said, holding me close. "And you're my miracle, Beck."

The doctor cleared his throat before leaving the room. "One of the nurses will be by to take down a name for the birth certificate, but all you need to do now is rest."

Rest. That sounded nice. My eyelids drooped and my limbs sunk into the mattress like weights.  "Wow," I said, leaning back into the pile of pillows. "I can't believe it." 

"Neither can I, but he's over there right now. In one of those little incubators, I bet." 

"I just hope he's okay." I murmured, pulling the blanket up around me as the world began to fade away.

A few moments later, the nurse came back with a clipboard and some forms. Time for the moment of truth.

"So. Names."

"Names," Edison repeated. "I thought we would have more time to decide." 

That got a laugh out of not only me, but the nurse as well. "Well, what do you think?" I started. "I have a few ideas in mind, but I wanna hear yours." 

"Everything I thought of sounded way too vamp-y." He rolled his eyes. "Pretty sure you don't want a baby called Vlad or something." My mate's grin stretched from ear to ear, but it was the twinkle in his eye that told me he was teasing.

"And what's wrong with vampires?" I crossed my arms, giving him a fake pout. "You're mated to one."

Ed stuck his tongue out at me.

"What do you think about something like Alex? Alistair? Albert?" 

Ed shook his head. "That's gonna be a hard no on Albert, but Alistair isn't bad. Has a sort of regal sound to it."

"Yeah," I said, feeling the syllables. "Alistair. Little baby Al." 

"Sounds like Al it is then." Edison motioned to the nurse who wrote the name down on her pad. "Alistair Graham-Davis."

"No middle name?" 

"If he ever learns how to spell the first one, that will be good enough for me." Ed winked, and together we laughed. It was far from the happily ever after I'd imagined as a child, but now that I was here? I wouldn't have it any other way.

——

B

its because B is vamp, his body rejecting the fetus

is the baby going to be okay

he terrified, all the fears and guilt coming back

im not fit to be a father, i should never have done any of this

im a monster to society, etc

e is there for him the whole time, they will get through this together

affter a long period of struggle and labor, there's a cry

the baby is born, and alive

they'll need to put in incubator or nicu or something, but they think he'll live

we did it, omg we did it

thank you for believing in me

thank you for not giving up on this grumpy old gem