Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"What have you got there?" Kai asked.

"A pregnancy test." Irene said.

"Oh okay." Kai said. "I just need to get changed, and then we can go and get some dinner." He said, nodding and headed upstairs. She heard him trip up and then run back down the stairs. "You're pregnant?"

"It came back negative." She said slowly, looking down at the test. 

"You sound... Disappointed." Kai said slowly, sitting next to her. "Did you want it to be positive?"

"I didn't, until I saw that it was negative." She laughed and dropped her head to lean against his shoulder. "I was worried sick and then I saw that I wasn't pregnant, and suddenly I wish that it was positive." She flipped the test over so that she didn't have to look at the results. 

"You want to have a baby?" He asked in shock, he hadn't thought that Irene would have been the type to want children, she'd never displayed any interest in children before, let alone having her own. 

"I don't know." She confessed. "I had never wanted children until today when I realised that maybe... Maybe it would be nice to have a baby. Have a family. The Library wouldn't like it but I wouldn't give them a choice to like it." He laughed. "I want to have a baby Kai." She looked at him. "I want to have your baby."

"Are you sure about this?"

"I love you Kai. I have for... I don't even remember when I first started to fall for you but damn it did you get under my skin. And I fell hard." He wrapped his arm around her and kissed her temple. "Do you want to have children?" She asked and he nodded.

"You'd make a fantastic mother Irene, if that is what you really want."

"I do Kai." She said softly. He touched her jaw and kissed her. "Let's have a baby." He smiled and kissed her again, he set a hand on his hips as his lips parted against hers. He pulled her close, kissing her over and over again until they were desperate for breath. "We don't have to start right now Kai!" She said with a laugh.

"Why not?" He said, lips against her throat.

"Because I'm hungry, let's go out for dinner." She said, pulling away from him. She tossed the negative test into the bin before offering him her hand. "Let's get something to eat."

Chapter Text

"Stop stealing all of the pillows." Irene flickered her eyes open to see Kai stood in the doorway of their bedroom and reluctantly relinquished his pillow from the pile that she had accumulated. "Is your back hurting again?" He asked, slipping into the bed to join her. He wrapped an arm around her middle and felt the kick of their baby, due in a week or so, against the palm of his hand, and smiled.

"It's really bad." Irene said. "Across my lower back, I just can't get comfortable but I am just so tired right now." Kai sighed and kissed the back of her head. "I've tried everything, including stealing all of your pillows." She ran her hand across her bump. "I know I shouldn't wish them here any sooner, but I am growing tired of being pregnant." Kai chuckled, that didn't suprise him.

"Sit up." He said. "Let me see if I can help." Irene pushed herself out of her pillow Fort and Kai shifted to sit up behind her. He pressed his fingers into the tight muscles in her lower back, working them in small circles until he could feel her start to relax a little. She dropped her head back to lean on his shoulder as he made his way up her back, trying hard not to tickle her. Irene sighed.

"That feels really good, thank you." She said, Kai worked his way to the top of her spine before kissing her shoulder. "Oh don't do that, I'm fairly certain that's how we got into this mess in the first place." Kai snorted as his hands started to make their way back done her back, making Irene sigh again.

"Oh so it's my fault?"

"I could hardly get pregnant alone now, could I?" She replied. He dug his fingers into her lower back, already tensing up again. "Ow. Kai that-" She gasped and he froze. She blindly reached for his hand and he offered her it to to hold, she tightly squeezed before relaxing and slowly exhaling.

"Irene." He said slowly. "Was that a contraction?"

"I don't know." She said "That really hurt though. I've been having them all day but none of them hurt like that. I think they were braxton hicks."

"I don't think that one was."

Kai let Irene have all of the pillows as she nestled into them. He sat on the edge of the bed, intently watching the child in her arms. A girl. She was perfectly healthy, despite being eight days early, predicting due dates wasn't exactly a science after all.

Irene looked up at him and tiredly smiled.

"She's perfect. Isn't she?" She said. Kai smiled back.

"Absolutely. You both are." He leant forward to kiss her. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Chapter Text

"Nothing is going to happen to you." Kai promised. Irene had only fallen asleep ten minutes before hand. She'd showered and changed into a new nightdress and fallen asleep almost immediately. Kai wasn't ready to sleep yet. He was a little paranoid on a good day, but with his newborn daughter cradled in his arms? He'd doubled checked all of the windows and the front door, making sure that they were all locked up tight as that the bolt and chain was slid shut on the door.

Now he sat on his side of the bed, holding her close. She slept peacefully, just like her mother, Irene exhausted from giving birth, Ophelia exhausted from being born. She'd been tightly swaddled in a blanket, something he was glad for, it was cold in their bedroom.

"I won't ever let anyone hurt you." He said before he gently ran his thumb across her cheek, her skin was soft under his touch. "I promise." She didn't stir as he spoke, so he took the opportunity to kiss her forehead, not wanting to risk waking her.

"I love you." Irene said sleepily, watching him with tired eyes. He smiled at her before getting up to lay Ophelia in her own bed so that he could curl up with Irene and get some sleep himself, at least, until she was hungry. "You are already such a good father." Irene watched his careful and gentle moments as he tucked another blanket around Ophelia, just ot make sure she was warm and comfortable.

"I love you too." He said, stepping back once he was satisfied. "I thought that you were asleep."

"Nearly." Irene said. "I was waiting for you to come to bed." He smiled and got under the covers. Normally he would have pulled her tight to his chest, but he was more careful with her, curling himself around her and gently draping his arm over her hips. She smiled and kissed his lips. "She's so perfect. You are too."

"No where near to you." He said. "Go to sleep 'Rene, you need to rest." He kissed her forehead and she smiled before tucking her head under his chin and shutting her eyes.

For half an hour. Ophelia was very good at letting them know that she was hungry. 

Chapter Text

Kai would be back any minute and Irene was eager for him to arrive. He'd been away for a week and on the third day of him being away she received the news that they'd been waiting for for nearly a year. He'd promised that he'd be one week and it had already gone noon. She'd been trying to distract herself all day but hadn't been doing a very good job of it, unable to force herself to focus on her work.

Vale had arrived shortly after she had eaten lunch, looking for her opinions on a current case that he was working on, and asking when Kai would be back so that he could borrow him. She'd probably be unable to tell Kai until morning at this rate.

At half one they heard Kai at the door. He kicked his shoes off and hung his coat up. "Irene? Vale?" He called, having seen Vale's coat hung up on the usually empty hook in between his and Irene's coats.

"We're in the study!" Irene called back. Kai poked his head through the door.

"Give me five to ten minutes to get cleaned up?" He said, looking at them both and smiling, he looked a little tired to Irene, but happy to be home again. "And could you possibly make coffee if I need to do anything else today? That was a long trip." Irene nodded, already deciding what tea she was going to make for herself.

She heard Kai shout from the shower when she turned the water on to fill the kettle and snickered to herself before she put it on the hob and turned the gas on, grabbing the coffee pot for Vale and Kai, and a tin of loose leaf tea for herself. By the time the kettle was whistling, Kai was out of the shower and Irene was fighting a wave of nausea. It'd really ruin the secret if she threw up now. She slowly sipped from a glass of water, leaning on the counted, breathing deeply, glad that she'd decided to make herself mint tea.

Kai was sat discussing the case when Irene brought the tray upstairs. He frowned at it. "No coffee for you Irene?" He said, she shook her head.

"I didn't really feel like it." She said with a shrug. "I prefer tea. I fancied mint today." She and Kai had amassed a collection for nine different types of tea, ranging from green tea, which Irene hated, to a fruity tea, which Kai hated. Kai sorted out his and Vale's coffee whilst Irene added a small bit of sugar to her tea and sat back in her seat to enjoy it. "How do you feel?"

"A little worn out, I think it took me three or four hours to get back here." Kai said. "But other than that, good. I managed to stay out of trouble for a week. But I feel like that Vale is about to ruin that streak."

"Absolutely." Vale said. "If you feel up to it. I understand if you need to rest. And Winters did say that she needed to talk to you." Kai looked at Irene.

"It can wait." She said. She didn't want to wait, but she didn't want to tell him if he was going to have to rush off afterward. And if Vale needed his help, then that was more important in the moment, Kai may not want to go running off after he knew. "I'll tell you once you get back... Tonight?" She looked at Vale.

"It shouldn't take us more than a few hours at most." Vale said. "Hopefully."

"That does not fill me with much hope." Kai said.

"Then it can wait until tomorrow." Irene said. "It's not a particularly time sensitive thing, I can wait if you are out late."

Vale headed downstairs once they'd finished their coffee, Kai hung back long enough to lean down and kiss Irene, his fingers gently against her cheek. She craved to kiss him hard, she had missed him, but they didn't have the time for much more than a quick and light kiss that made her want more and... Her mind was wandering.

"Stay safe." She murmured. He smiled.

"I will. I'll be back before you know it." He said. "As soon as I can. I love you."

"I love you too." She said.

"Are you coming Strongrock?" Vale called and Kai smiled before kissing her again, quick and light.

"Stay safe yourself." He said, before pulling away from her and heading downstairs. A few minutes later she heard the door open and close again.

She ate dinner alone that night, silently cursing Vale for dragging Kai away. She had a bubble bath, using up the rest of it to fill the room with the heady scent of lavender, she hadn't slept too well without Kai in the bed behind her but she found that lavender helped more than a cup of tea most nights, she'd taken to keeping some in a little bag, tucked in with her night clothes so that if she had to spend some time away, she'd have it with her to help. Kai didn't complain, liking the smell that the flowers left on her skin, tasting it when he kissed her.

She was already in bed, at one in the morning, when Kai returned, trying to be as quiet as possible as he locked up for the night. She heard him go into the kitchen, probably to grab something quick to eat and she debated dragging himself out of bed to tell him then and there. She decided to wait a little longer, and surprise him in the morning, rather than when he was exhausted and hungry, and probably more interested in sleeping than anything else.

She sat up when he came into their bedroom. "Sorry, did I wake you?" He asked.

"No, I was trying to stay awake, so that I knew if you made it home safely." She said and he smiled. He had left his bag still packed in the corner of the room but he ignored that in favour of changing into pyjama trousers and getting into bed with her. "I've missed this." She said as he pulled her into his arms, once she had switched her bedside lamp off. "I've missed you." Kai kissed the top of her head.

"I've missed you too." He said. He was out like a light, his arms going lax around her a few minutes later, his breath slowing. Irene smiled, before finally allowing herself to slip asleep.

Kai awoke to the smell of fresh tea and toast, the bedroom door was half open and Irene's side of the bed was empty, the sheets rumpled and mussed up from her sleep. Even with him there, Irene did not sleep easy most nights, tossing and turning, even if she didn't have a nightmare, she would fidget. He sat up, sheets falling down to his hips as he looked around, his eyes settled on a note on his bedside table.

'Stay here'

Irene had quite elegant handwriting, neat cursive with a slight flourish to it. He smiled and leant back against the pillows, grabbing his book and tucking his other hand behind his head as he settled down to read. He got a few a couple of pages into it when Irene came back in and he perked up. "I absolutely love you right now." He said as she slid his bookmark into place and sat up again.

"You didn't before I brought you breakfast?" She asked as she set the breakfast tray down, she'd made them both toast, his with strawberry jam, hers with marmalade, and a post of strong tea for them to share.

"I did. But this just made me love you more. Thank you." He said, she settled on the edge of the bed to eat her food, before Kai ate his, he leant over to kiss her cheek. "You are absolutely perfect." He said, Irene smiled around her bite of toast. He poured the tea and in between drinking that and eating the toast, he told her about his time visiting his father (boring and lonely for the most part but she'd die for a chance to get into the Palace library, followed by a promise to take her there as soon as they had the opportunity.) She told him about most of her week, missing out the most important thing in favour of discussing a new book she'd got and spending Monday with a very bored Vale getting on her very last nerve, she wasn't meant to discuss Library work so she briefly mentioned that she'd spent a night in another world.

Once they were done and the breakfast things were cleared away, Kai sat in the edge of the bed and pulled her close. "What did you need to tell me?" He asked. "Is everything okay? Has something happened?"

Irene smiled and inched closer to him, she laced her fingers with his and gently guided his hand to her stomach, he looked down and then up at her face with wide eyes.

"I'm pregnant." She whispered.

"Really?" She nodded. 

"I took a test Monday night and since I was working Friday and yesterday, I took the opportunity to visit a doctors in a high tech alternate." She released his hand to get up and go to her bedside table and pulled an envelope out of the top drawer. "I would have liked for you to be there. But I wanted to make sure that everything was okay, and that the test was right before I told you." Kai opened the envelope and stared down at what was in it. A sonogram. 

"We're having a baby." He said slowly before looking at her, his eyes were glassy. "Irene, we're going to be parents!" He discarded the sonogram in favour of embracing Irene, pulling her close and kissing her, he cupped her jaw and peppered her face with tiny kisses. She clung to him, beyond happy in the moment. She finally managed to catch his lips with hers again, all but sitting on his lap. 

"Yes, we are." She said when the kiss finally broke. "We're going to have a baby."

Chapter Text

"Kai really, I feel fine." She said. Well that was a lie. She was exhausted and still a little sore, but she was doing better than she'd been doing a week ago, when Ophelia had just been born. "You don't need to worry so much." He touched her cheek.

"Are you sure? I can carry you downstairs and then come back up for the baby if you think that-"

"Kai, I said that I am fine." She said. "Just carry Ophelia downstairs. I have two working legs."

"You've barely slept."

"You haven't had much sleep either." She pointed out.

"I don't need as much sleep." He replied. She rolled her eyes before heading downstairs. Kai's worrying was sweet, but a little annoying at times. He'd insisted that she stay in bed, but she was finally getting annoyed with it and was determined to make dinner at the very least, going outside was a bit too far but he didn't need to know that she thought that.

"I'm far more worried about me dropping her down the stairs than I am about me falling down the stairs." Irene confessed.

"You wouldn't drop her." Kai said. 

"I would if I fell."

"Irene if you need help, let me help you."

"I can walk down the stairs Kai." She said, reaching the bottom step and turning to face him. "See?"

"Fine. You can walk down the stairs." Kai said, carefully shifting Ophelia to her when she held her hands out. "But you should really sit down."

"Kai!"

Chapter Text

She was exhausted, aching all over and desperate to sleep. But she didn't want to, there were more important things to be done. Holding her daughter was the priority right now. The baby didn't seem like a particularly fussy baby, until she'd got hungry and after a few minutes of panic, she'd managed to work out how she was meant to feed her. The nurse was still in the room, making sure that she had got the hang of things and that no further medical help was necessary, before leaving her and Kai alone with their daughter.
Kai hadn't held her yet. She'd been given to Irene as soon as the cord was cut, and then once she'd been taken to be cleaned and weighed and checked over, she'd been returned to Irene's arms. He was content to just sit there for now, watching the two most important things in his life. Irene was watching her like she was the most precious thing in the world. The baby was more interested in feeding than anything else as Irene ran her fingers over her head.

She sighed and shut her eyes. "She's perfect, isn't she?"

"Absolutely. You both are." He got up to lean over to kiss her. "I love you."

"I love you too." Irene said, before looking down. "I never thought I'd be here. And yet... Here I am."

"I always wanted a family." Kai said. "You're going to make a fantastic mother Irene." She sleepily smiled up at him and he kissed her a second time. A few minutes later, she was finished feeding and Irene quickly covered herself up again.

"You should hold her." Irene said. The baby was already fast asleep within a minute. Kai eagerly picked her up, holding her close to his chest with more ease than Irene had at first.

“I’ve waited for this moment for a long time.” He said softly. Touching her cheek. Irene had brought some baby clothes into their room whilst she'd walked around in the early stages of labour. Kai had picked out a green nightdress for her and the nurse had dressed her before swaddling her in the blanket that Vale had given them as a gift. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone quite as perfect as her. Except, maybe you." He said, looking up and smiling at her.

"You were so convinced that we were having a boy that we never chose a girls name." Irene said. "We should name her before we tell anyone that she's here." Kai nodded.

"Do you have any ideas?" He asked. Irene pondered, looking around the room until her eyes settled on the books piled up on her bedside table. Literature mixed with baby books. She smiled. Kai always made jokes that she could quote any Shakespearean tragedy. They stuck in her mind much better than the comedies.

"Ophelia." She said, looking back at him, her heart melting more and more when she watched how perfect he was, how quickly he'd taken to being a father. "I like Ophelia."

Chapter Text

Kai and Vale were talking about something or other, but Irene was distracted. She was used to the occasional bout of cramps, but they were worse than normal this month, and early at that. She frowned. The pain swelled and then faded away again. She took a deep breath and tried to pay attention to what Kai and Vale were doing, there were examining something at Vale's desk. She got up to see what it was, and she froze. 

A sudden and sharp pain seared through Irene's abdomen and she gasped, choking on the breath. She coughed, almost doubling over as it felt like someone had knifed her in the gut, she wrapped her arms around her middle, anything to relieve the pain. She tasted bile. "Irene. What's wrong?" Kai said, racing to her he grabbed her arm. She'd gone very pale and her eyes were wide as the pain got worse. She felt sick and dizzy, weak at the knees.

"I don't know." She whimpered, her voice barely a whisper. She tightly grasped his arm, struggling to catch her breath with the pain slowly intensifying. She probably would have fallen down had he not been holding on to her as tightly as she was holding onto him.

"Lay her down." Vale said. "I can send for a doctor." Kai scooped her up with ease, carrying her into the spare room.

"What hurts?" Kai asked as he carefully lay her down, he pushed her hair out of her eyes, cupping her face as his mind raced a mile ahead in a blind panic of what was going on, and what he could do to help. Irene had screwed her eyes up tight and she clenched the sheets in her fists, curling up on herself. "Irene, I need to know so I can help." He managed to make her release one hand in order to hold it himself, kissing her knuckles.

"My stomach." She said. "It's like cramps. Only worse." She took a deep breath through her nose, pressing her lips together, she thought that she would cry if she opened her mouth. She swallowed. "It never hurts like this." Vale touched his arm and nodded his head to the door.

"I'll be right back." He said before following Vale. "A doctor may be necessary. I've never seen her react this, to anything." Even after having the skin ripped off her hands, she did not react like this. Irene did not know what was wrong, and it was making her panic.

"Strongrock, there's not a chance that... That she's pregnant, is there?" Vale asked in a low voice, Kai glanced back through the door, to Irene who had curled up on herself, her breathing was rough and jagged. He swallowed and nodded. 

"There is, yes." Kai said slowly, he and Irene had been trying for four months now but so far, the tests that Irene had taken had all come up negative. Vale looked away and took a deep breath.

"She's bleeding." Vale said softly. "It was on the back of her skirt." Kai blanched; his mind having come to the same conclusion that Vale had done so as soon as he had that bit of information. "I'm getting a doctor here now, but I think you should prepare yourself, and Irene, to hear that it's not good news." Kai swallowed and nodded before returning. 

He laid down on the bed with her, pulling her close to him and kissing the top of her head. She was quivering, shaking with pain, her tears were wet on his shirt, Irene never cried. That was a bigger indicator that something was wrong, bigger than he nearly collapsing in pain. 

"Vale thinks he knows what this is." Kai said, unsure on how to broach the topic, how to even bring it up. He didn’t want to think about it, if Vale was right then he was sure that his heart would crack in two.

"I know." Her voice cracked. "I could hear you talking. I think he's right. I'm losing our baby." She clung to his shirt, holding it in a tight grasp as wave after wave of pain washed over her.

"You aren't." He said softly. "Whatever this is, it's not your fault Irene. You haven't done anything wrong." 

She didn't say anything else until the doctor arrived, Kai kissed her before slowly releasing her and sitting up. Vale left then alone with the doctor. Irene kept her eyes on Kai the entire time, answering the doctor’s questions as well as she could, occasionally having to stop as she winced in pain. She turned to press her face to Kai's chest when the doctor started a thorough examination. She was almost sobbing by the time that he was done.

Kai settled her down in the bed again, aware that there was quite a bit of blood now, staining the sheets and her skirt. He felt nauseated, forced to face the truth now, either Vale was right or there was something seriously wrong with Irene, possibly both.

When the doctor confirmed Vale’s hypothesis Kai felt his heart crack. Irene didn't even bother trying to suppress her cries anymore, she curled up again, face in the pillow and sobbing. "Do I need to take her to the hospital?" Kai asked.

"There is little point." The doctor said. "They will not be able to do anything besides maybe provide a painkiller." Kai nodded. "Personally, I think it will be easier for her to stay home, less stress for her." He began to pack up his things. "Are you her husband?"

"We aren't married." Kai said, shaking his head.

"Well, maybe this is a good thing then." Kai stood there in shock, had he not been so surprised, he would have broken the doctor's nose. He was leaving by the time Kai realised what was said and what he meant.

"I lost our baby." Irene whimpered. He turned back to her. It wasn't the time to be angry, that could wait. Irene needed him.

"No, you didn't." He said. "You couldn't have done anything to stop this from happening." He kissed her forehead. "This isn't your fault Irene."

"I didn't even know." She said. "I didn't even realise. I should have realised that something was..."

"It doesn't matter." Kai said. "There was nothing to be done. These things, as awful as they are, cannot be helped." He sighed and ran his fingers through her hair. "That doesn't mean it doesn't hurt though." Irene didn't respond. "How bad is the pain?"

"It's getting a little easier." She said. "I think I'm just getting used to it." He sighed. "Can you explain this to Vale? I can't and I don't want to." He leant down to kiss her. Her voice was shaking and cracking as she tried to keep it level and failed to do so. 

"Of course. And then I'm taking you home. I think we need to be alone for a while." He said as he got up. Vale was in his study, he'd poured out two measures of brandy and he handed one to Kai.

"She miscarried."

"I'm sorry." Vale said as Kai downed the drink in one. "Did you know?" Vale had never been one for sympathy, it was a waste of time, nor was he one for empathy, what was the point hurting for someone? But those two words made his chest hurt and his shoulders slumped.

"No. We decided a few months ago that we wanted children, but we had no idea that she was expecting until the doctor confirmed that... Nothing could be done." Vale touched his shoulder. "I'm taking her home. We need to be alone. She's heartbroken, and she blames herself." 

"Are you sure? You can stay if you need to." Kai shook his head.

"Irene needs rest, and the fact that she is openly crying... I want to get her home." Vale nodded. "Thank you though."

"Anytime Strongrock." He clapped his shoulder. "Let me know if you need anything, I'll do what I can to help." Kai wasn’t sure what there could be done to help. There was nothing could be done for them.

"Thank you." 

Chapter Text

"What are you doing there Winters?" Vale asked, she looked up from the muddle of wool and the knitting sticks she had tangled into it all.

"I'm knitting." She said. He snorted. "I'm... trying to knit." She said, looking back down at the mess she'd made and the few rows of stitches that she had actually managed to do. She'd dropped a few of the stitches.

"I'll say that you are certainly trying." He said, taking his normal seat opposite her. "You're bored."

"You can tell?" She said dryly. "I have nothing to do. I can't do Library work, I can't do embassy work, my position at the embassy is under threat because, well, I can't exactly be neutral if I'm carrying a dragon prince's child, or I won't ever be seen as neutral." She returned to her attempts of knitting.
"So you've taken to knitting?"

"Well I thought that maybe I could make the baby a blanket." She said. "I want to do something, anything, to keep myself busy. Being pregnant is really boring at times."

"Strongrock was quite excited to tell me that your baby was starting to kick hard enough for him to feel it now." She nodded. Kai took every opportunity to put his hand on the bump. He always slept with his arms around her, and now he always slept with a hand on her stomach. She was a little more worried, before hand, the pregnancy had been easy to hide, now it was getting harder to hide. And they did have many enemies. Enemies who would find her whilst she was pregnant, or their child once they were born.

"I'm glad that you are doing well." Vale said. "Even if it means that you've resorted to knitting out of boredom. You dropped a stitch by the way." She looked down and huffed. "You are really bad at that.

"You think you can do better?" She snapped. He looked at her. "Sorry. Sorry, I'm a bit touchy today. I didn't mean to snap at you." She stated down at her knitting needles. "I can't seem to do anything right now." She swallowed. Her eyes were glazed over, glassy as she tried not to cry, first because she had been rude, followed by the urge to cry be ause she was being so entirely pathetic.

"Are you... Alright?" Vale said slowly. Irene took a deep breath and nodded.

"Sorry. I don't know what is happening to me today, I'm snapping, and then crying." She rolled up the wool and set the needles down. "I'm sorry, I don't know what has come over me today." She rubbed her eyes with the cuff of her sleeve. "Sorry." She pressed her lips together.

"You don't need to keep apologising." Vale said, rather taken aback by her sudden change from calm to angry to quite teary. "Did you get much sleep last night?" She nodded, not trusting herself to speak. "Has something happened?"

"Well, I'm pregnant, that's a good place to start." She said. "I'm just blaming that." He smiled.

"Maybe you should try and get some more sleep." Vale suggested. "Do something that you find relaxing, rather than try and knit."

"Apparently knitting is relaxing." Irene argued.

"When you already know how to knit, maybe." He said. "You look ready to toss the whole thing into the fireplace."

"Don't tempt me."

"Vale gave me this today." Kai said, holding out a package wrapped in brown paper and tied with string. "He said that you will probably prefer it to knitting." He chuckled. "I told him I had to stop you from burning your attempt.

"Technically, he suggested that I do that." She said as she came around the table, grabbing a pair of scissors. "Do you know what it is?" Kai shook his head.

"He would not tell me, though he seemed pretty pleased with himself, and I can make a pretty good guess of exactly what it is. Shall we take a look though?" Irene quickly cut through thread and they pulled the paper back. She set the scissors down and lifted the knitted blanket out. It was soft as she held it in her arms. "It's absolutely beautiful." She whispered. It was made of wool going from dark blue, to dark green, passing through a range of shades in between.

She could feel herself tearing up and she turned to him and buried her face in his chest. Kai wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. "It's absolutely perfect." He said. "Our baby is going to love it." She pulled away so that she could put the blanket down before she flung her arms around him and gave up attempts to not cry. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"I'm just so happy right now."

Chapter Text

"I'd only be here if it was an emergency." Irene said, Ophelia clutched her mother's skirts, hiding in them as much as she could.

"What's happened?" Silver asked.

"I need a favour. Kai and Vale never made it home last night. I am going to go and find them. I need someone to keep an eye on Ophelia and there's no one to do it."

"You want me to look after yours and the dragon's spawn?" Silver said slowly.

"Personally, Kai and I prefer the term sprog." Irene said with a shrug. "Please Silver. I need to find them."

"What do I get out of it?"

"It will really annoy Kai." Silver looked at her for a long moment, and then down at Ophelia.

"Ophelia, right?" She nodded. "Okay, I'll keep an eye on her." Irene audibly exhaled.

"Thank you." She knelt down to her daughters level. "I'm going to be back as soon as I can little one." Ophelia looked on the verge of tears. "You're going to be alright. I just need you to stay here and be a good girl for Silver until I get back." She kissed her forehead. "I love you."

"Love you mama." She said, flinging arms around Irene. Irene hugged back but eventually, had to release her.

"Be a good girl." She repeated as she got up and looked at Silver. "Thank you for doing this."

"Make sure that they come back so that I can annoy the princeling." Silver said, he held a gloved hand out to the child and after a moment, she took it. Irene relaxed a little, she was worried that Ophelia's dragon heritage would make her automatically unhappy, or even sick around Fae, but it appeared that whilst the girl looked like her father, she took after her mother. Irene waited for the door to shut behind them, and left.

"What do you like to do?" Silver asked Ophelia. She was looking around the room with wide, curious eyes. "Child? Sprog? Ophelia?"

"Unca Vale calls me Phe." She said quietly, she'd put her right hand to her mouth and started to suck on her thumb.

"He's your uncle Vale?" She nodded. "Okay..." Truth be told, Silver had agreed to look after her for only one reason. It would really annoy Kai and Vale. He didn't actually know what he was doing or how to look after a small child. She had a small bag with her. "What's in the bag?" He asked.

"Toy." Ophelia said. Well, hopefully, that would make the day easier. He led the way up to his office, he could at least be a little productive (since he'd been roused well before midday), and she could play in there without getting into trouble.

He sat her on the couch in his study with an instruction to stay there whilst he worked. She pulled a stuffed rabbit out of her bag, a book and four wooden horses. Content that he could just leave her to her own devices, something he'd soon realise was a stupid idea, he sat down at his desk and pulled the first sheet of paper toward him, a message for Johnson to explain the situation.

He'd been working for about half an hour, though it felt like it had been a lot longer when he looked up and saw Ophelia peering at him, standing on the tips of her toes to look over the edge of his desk at what he was doing. "Can I help you?" He asked her. She was clasping onto the desk to help her balance.

"What that?" She asked.

"Haven't you seen your mother's work before?" He asked, looking for the lid of his pen, he'd lost it underneath paper sheets. She shook her head. "Your father's?" Another shake. She was not a talkative child, he thought. "How about your uncle's?" She nodded. "Well I may not be doing the science that he does, but I still need to keep records. Very dull busy work." She nodded in a manner that suggested she knew exactly what he was talking about. She released the desk and wobbled, before returning to her toys. He watched her tuck the rabbit under her arm, it was battered and had been patched up multiple times, the girl seemed to drag it around with her all the time. The horses seemed new, or at least better kept, and the book was very old, probably belonging to one of her parents first, and at a glance seemed to be a book of children's poems. He looked down again and sighed. Ugh, work.

The second time he looked up, she had vanished. He dropped his pen, spattering ink everywhere as he stood up and looked around. "Phe?" The study door was open, he hadn't shut it after they'd come in. Well, that was a bad idea. He looked around the room and she was definitely gone. Kai would be more than annoyed if he lost his sprog. All of her toys but a single horse were still on the couch.

She wasn't in the corridor outside of his office and when he stopped to ask a maid if she had seen the girl, the maid was more curious as to why there was a child in the house to begin with. He huffed and stalked off, trying to figure out where she may have wondered off to. His first thought was the nearest bathroom, but she wasnt in there. Nor was she in the ballroom. He grabbed Johnson as soon as he saw the man.

"I have misplaced a child." He said. Johnson blinked.

"Small, black hair, brown eyes?" Silver nodded.

"She's in the garden sir." Silver sighed.

"Excellent. How did she get out there?"

"I imagine that she walked sir, she seemed capable."

"I told her to stay put."

"Children don't usually listen. In my experience. Why do you have a child if I may ask?"

"Right, I never sent the message. She's miss Winters' daughter. Vale and mister Strongrock seem to be in a little trouble." Johnson nodded. "Where in the garden did you see her?"

"By the lavender bushes sir."

"Thank you Johnson. I spilt ink on my desk, have someone clean it up."

"Yes sir." Johnson said with a half bow. Silver left him to head out into the garden, it was semi decent weather with some sun filtering through the clouds. He found Ophelia exactly where Johnson had said, she was sat by a row of lavender bushes, watching as a pair of monarch butterflies flitted from one plant to the next. She watched with enchanted eyes as they flew back and forth. Unlike most children, she didn't try and grab them out of the air, or even pick them up more gently, she just watched.

"There you are." Silver said, making her jump and turn to him with suddenly wild, scared eyes. "You can't just walk off like that." Her lip wobbled and he realised that she was about to start crying. "It's alright." He said quickly. "I'm not angry." She still looked like she was about to burst into hysteria and he really did not want to deal with that. "Look." He reached out a hand and one of the butterflies settled on his fingertips and he carefully moved his hand to hold the butterfly level with her face. "Isn't it pretty?" She stared at it for a moment and then looked up at him.

"I want papa." She said, before bursting into tears. It frightened away the pair of butterflies as the child soon became hysterical and Silver stood, shocked and clueless as to what to do. Silver knelt in front of her.

"He'll be here as soon as he can." Silver said. "With your mother and uncle. I swear." Ophelia threw herself down into the grass, curling up on herself as she wailed. "Phe, you need to calm down." She was nearly screaming, red in the face as she beat her hands against the ground. "Ophelia!" She stopped and stared at him, tears streamed down her cheeks as she hiccuped and sniffed. Her cheeks were scarlet, and so were her eyes. Scales flickered to life down her throat.

"Ophelia. Calm down." His voice was layered with glamour, and she went lax, her breathing eased and her eyes half shut. He hadn't wanted to use his glamour on her, he wasn't sure how well it would even work, or if it would last, but she was young and it seemed to work perfectly. He leant forward and gathered her up into his arms, her head lulled against his shoulder. She didn't resist as he lifted her up and carried her back toward the house. He got a few funny looks as he carried her back up to his study and lay her on the couch. The rabbit had fallen to the floor at some point, and the maid was still cleaning the mess he'd made, but he ignored her in favour of fetching the stuffed animal and setting it in her arms. 

"Go to sleep." He said. She nodded, cheeks still sticky with tears. Once the maid was gone he got up and poured himself a glass of whiskey. He downed it in one, and then poured a little bit more. He sat at his desk, leaning back in his seat as he nursed the second glass, watching Ophelia. The scales were slowly fading away as she fell asleep, he breathing evened out and she dropped the rabbit again when her arms relaxed. 

He felt like he needed a nap as much as she did. 

He had coffee be brought up to his room. Responsibility for a child was quite possibly the worst thing in the world and he was very glad that he had no, as Irene put it, sprogs of his own. They were a lot of hard work, which he had very little interest in. Ophelia was handful enough after two hours. Hopefully someone would be by to pick her up sooner rather than later. She slept for long enough that he thought that maybe he could keep a handle on things from here on out. Clearly, she was overwrought and needed to sleep. It had gone noon when she did finally wake up and that was only because he woke her to get her to eat lunch. 

Ophelia picked at her food, rather than actually eating most of it. It wasn't that she was a fussy eater, she was too upset to be hungry and Silver had to keep cleaning her face because she kept crying. He had a splitting headache when someone knocked on his door and said that miss Winters was waiting for him. He quickly gathered Ophelia's things up for her and took her downstairs. Kai and Irene were waiting for them by the front door and Ophelia flung herself as Kai. 

"Papa!" Kai easily scooped her up and held her close, wrapping his arms around her tightly. 

"Thank you. She wasn't too much trouble, was she?" Irene said softly, taking the bag. 

"If you spawn again, do not ask me to look after them." He said. "She snuck off and threw a tantrum in the garden." 

"I'm so sorry." Irene said. 

"Vale alright?" 

"He's in the hospital. We're going straight there. He should be fine, just a few broken ribs, but they want to be sure." Silver nodded. "Thank you again." 

Chapter Text

Kai slid his arms around Irene and rested his chin on her shoulder. "Good morning, love." He said with a kiss against her cheek.  His arms were warm around her waist and whilst they was not yet a baby bump present, he'd been doing it more and more since they found out that she was expecting, and that the baby seemed healthy.

"Morning." She replied, leaning against him. She was making breakfast, it was her turn. "You're in a good mood today."

"Well I was thinking that maybe we could see about starting on the nursery." Irene laughed.

"Kai, I'm eleven weeks. No one but us knows yet, don't you think it's a little early?" He huffed.

"I'm excited." He said. "We're having a baby Irene." He slid his fingers across her stomach to hold her hips. "I can't wait to meet our little one."

"Well, you have a long wait to go." She said. "Eleven weeks Kai. That's still in the first trimester. Let's leave the nursery until we tell our families, alright?" He sighed.

"Fine." He said before kissing her cheek again. "When are we telling them?"

"My mother said that she and my father may have some time off coming up, so hopefully soon." She said. "It is probably easier to get ahold of your father to tell him. And what about your mother?" She felt him tense up. He rarely spoke about her and Irene wasn't entirely sure why because when he did it was with such happiness and love.

"She... She died, a year before I came to the Library." He said. "She would be so happy for us, and I wish you could have met her." Irene turned the hob off and turned to face him. "She would have liked you."

"I'm sorry." Irene said softly. He smiled, melocholia in his eyes.

"But you're right. My father will be easier to talk to than your parents, in the sense that I'll be able to talk to him. I'm not sure how he will react though. He could order me away. If its a boy, he very well could order me to take the child and leave." Irene shook her head. "Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere without you and I'm certainly not taking our child away." He put the palm of his hand on her stomach. "You are the most important thing in my life. I don't ever want to be without you." She smiled and kissed him softly. "How do you think your parents will react?"

"I do not have a clue." She said. "Hopefully well but we shall have to see. Should we tell Vale first?"

"He may have already worked it out." Kai said.

"Or we could wait until he does work it out and see how long it takes him?"

"That one. I like that option." Kai said with a snort. Irene smiled and turned back to finish sorting out the breakfast. 

Chapter Text

"Now... Were did you go?" Irene asked with a smile as she looked around the study. "Hmm." She could see Ophelia's feet, sticking out from underneath the curtains. "Well, if my little one isn't in here, then maybe she's in her room?" She left the study, smiling as she heard Ophelia giggle. "Oh, no, she's not in here." She said, loudly enough for her voice to carry back to the study. "Where is my little girl hiding I wonder?" She turned back and returned to the study. "Is she under my desk? No she isn't. Is she behind the door? Hm, no. I wonder where she is."

Ophelia came barreling out from behind the curtains and flung herself at Irene's legs, grinning up at her. "I'm here mama!"

"So you are." Irene said, picking her up and sitting her on her hip. "I found you." She tapped Ophelia on the nose. "And what shall I do now that I've found you?" Ophelia wrapped her arms around Irene's shoulders and squeezed as hard as a three year old could. "You want to cuddle?" Irene asked. Ophelia nodded.

Irene glanced out of the window, it was raining. "How about we go and find some puddles for you to splash in, and then when we get back, you can get into mine and papa's bed and we'll cuddle and read a story. Does that sound good?" Ophelia may not have the same strength as Kai, he'd tried teaching her a few basic things, things that he said she'd be able to do with ease, but other than making a few bubbles in a glass of water, she showed no sign of her father's gift. Though Irene did not enjoy her tantrums that left her eyes glowing red an her skin scaled. Despite the lack of an affinity toward the water, the girl loved the rain, and the shower, falling water in general really, and she never missed an opportunity to play in the rain, even if it meant putting up with Irene's fussing about wrapping her up warm first.

Ophelia grinned and tottered off when Irene set her down. Irene followed into her bedroom where Ophelia let her mother dress her in thick cardigan over her dress, boots and a heavy coat. Downstairs, Irene put on her own boots and coat before grabbing keys. "Come on little one. Let's fine a big puddle for you to jump in."

Chapter Text

She had only looked away for one minute, turning to reach for a book. Ophelia had her ink pot when she turned back. "Ophelia no you're going to make a-" Too late. The blue ink went everywhere, including the now stunned into silence toddler. Ophelia took a step backward and fell into a sitting position, still gripping the ink pot in hand.

"Irene I heard shouting what.... Happened..." Kai looked from her to his daughter and then back to her, clearly suppressing a laugh.

"Don't do it Kai." She said, jumping out of her seat. "You clean the ink up in here. I'll get her cleaned up, hopefully the ink won't stay her dress."

"How did she manage that one?" Kai asked a half hour later. Ophelia's hands were tinged blue and it wasn't because of her heritage and attempt to mimic her father this time.

"I turned away to grab a book. I looked away for... Less than a minute? She'd been trying to grab it all morning." Ophelia was sat on a blanket on the floor, surrounded by various toys and pillows stacked up so that she couldn't climb them, a system that they often used so that they could work without shutting her in her room when it was the day. She was usually content to play in there but Irene hadn't bothered with that earlier, she'd been more interested in books and playing with her mother's pens, and spinning around her father's desk chair and just watching it twirl. And Irene's ink pot. "I really liked that ink." Irene said and Kai laughed.

"I think she did too."

Chapter Text

"Kai." She shook his arm and he blearily opened his eyes and looked around their dark bedroom. He rolled over to look at her.

"What?" His voice was thick with sleep.

"I can feel the baby moving. It woke me up."

"Go back to sleep." He muttered. "'m tired." He rolled back over and pressed his face into the pillows. Irene stared at him, her eyes burning up. She gently cupped her baby bump, clear underneath the thin, clingy silk of her nightdress. She swallowed before slowly curling up underneath the sheets, fighting back tears, wrapping her arms around her middle, like she could protect the baby from the world.

When Kai woke up at a little after seven, he stretched and yawned. "Morning love." He said, reaching out to touch Irene's shoulder. "Did you sleep well?" She jerked away from his touch. "Irene, is something wrong?"

"Like you would care if something was wrong." She muttered as she got out of bed. He sat up, frowning.

"What's wrong love?"

"Guess." She snapped. "Though I doubt you remember, since you clearly don't care." She grabbed the first dress out of her wardrobe and all but slammed the bedroom door behind her. Kai stared after her in complete and utter bafflement.

"Irene?" He called after her but she'd locked herself in the bathroom to get dressed, he scrambled to dress himself. She was just finishing up as he stepped out of the bedroom. "Irene, what's wrong?"

"Get out of my way." She said.

"Why?"

"I don't want to be here right now." She said. "Move Kai. Let me go."

"You've been crying." He said softly. "Irene, tell me what's wrong, I want to help."

"Get out of my way!" She shouted and he took a step backward. A sob caught in her throat as she hurried down the stairs to grab her shoes, and leave. She flagged down a cab and when the cabbie asked for an address she realised that there was only one place that she could really go, she had no other friends. "Baker Street please." She said after a moment, glad that she didn't hear Kai open the front door behind her.

"I've misplaced Irene." Kai said to Vale, who looked at Kai over the top of his newspaper. "She isn't here, is she?"

"She's in the spare room." Vale said, observing the way that Kai visibly relaxed with a sigh. "She was hysterical when she got here. I don't think she's slept at all. I gave her some tea and convinced her to lay down." He folded the newspaper and set it down. "Do you want to tell me why she came to me, openly weeping, to the point where she couldn't explain why she was so distraught?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." Kai said. "She snapped at this me and when I asked her what was wrong she shouted at me to let her leave. I thought she'd just go to clear her mind and come back. But it's been a few hours."

"I don't need to guess."

"Fine. Your inference."

"No, I managed to calm her down enough for her to get her words out." Vale said, looking up at Kai. "Do you remember her waking you up last night?" Kai frowned.

"Briefly. But I was half asleep, I think I just feel asleep again." He said with a shrug. "She's mad that I didn't wake up?"

"She's not mad that you went back to sleep. She's quite rightfully upset that, when she woke you to tell you that she could feel the baby moving, you told her to go to sleep." Kai blinked.

"She... I don't remember her telling me that."

"She took that as you not caring." Vale said. "Which I'm aware is her overreacting a little bit but all things considered..."

"She's been worried that she couldn't feel anything." Kai said, slumping. "And I completely brushed her off when it finally happened." Vale nodded. "I'll apologise to her."

"Good. The stress cannot be good." Guilt washed over Kai. No. Stress was not good. Stress was very bad, for Irene, and it was even worse for the baby. The baby that she was terrified if loosing, not that Irene would ever say that outloud, it was obvious to him and Vale. At least she had come to Vale's, Kai thought, he would be unable to forgive himself if anything had happened to her, or the baby. Being into the second trimester meant that Irene was less likely to miscarry, but it didn't mean that it was impossible.

"Hopefully everything will be okay." He said, glancing toward the door.

"Do you want me to see if she wants to talk with you?" Vale asked, chuckling as Kai started to eagerly nod before he had even finished speaking. "Hopefully, she's asleep  right now. She looked like she needed it."

"Which probably is not helping things." Kai muttered. Vale nodded before he got up to check. He cracked open the door to the spare room. Irene was curled up on the middle of the bed, she hadn't bothered to get under the covers, or change into the offered nightdress. She'd been too exhausted by the time Vale had calmed her down and sent her to get some rest that she'd been out like a light, as soon as her head had touched the pillow. She was still asleep when he checked on her. He sighed and grabbed a blanket to throw over her, it was early November and the cold was creeping in.

"She's asleep right now." He said, softly clicking the door shut again. "It's probably best to wait for her to wake up before you talk to her."

"Agreed." Kai said. "Thank you for calming her down and getting her to rest." He sat down. "I was wracking my brain. I had no idea why she was so upset and angry with me. It's not like her to lose her temper. I can't count the number of times I have seen her lose it and each time someone was trying to kill us."

"She's exhausted, stressed and currently prone to mood swings." Vale said with a smirk. "I don't pity you one bit Strongrock."

"Don't forget the pregnancy cravings. Very strange. She cannot stand bananas or porridge and she's eaten them together for breakfast for the past two weeks."

"At least its healthy?" Vale said. Kai laughed.

"I suppose that you are right there." He said. "She was complaining about it tasting so bad, but it being the only thing that she wants to eat." Vale chuckled. "And I found her crying over a book yesterday morning. It wasn't even a tragedy, though she was crying at Hamlet last week. At the very least, it is an interesting experience." He swallowed and looked down. "If I haven't completely ruined everything between us." Vale shook his head.

"No, I don't believe that you have." He said, trying to sound reassuring. "She is rightfully upset but I believe that she will see reason now that she's had some rest and is a lot calmer."

"I don't even remember her saying anything to me last night." Kai confessed. "Which, when I told her that this morning, she took it as me not caring about her, or the baby." Both men looked up as they heard a creaking of floorboards. Kai got up.

"Good luck." Vale said, Kai ignored him as he went to knock on the bedroom door.

"Irene. It's me. Can I come in?" She didn't answer and he sighed, leaning on the door. "I'm sorry, alright? Can we just talk about what happened? Please? I didn't mean to hurt you." The door handle turned and Irene slowly opened the door. She glanced at him and then down at Vale.

"I said don't tell him where I am."

"And I told you that I wouldn't lie if he came here looking for you." Vale replied. Irene huffed before she stepped backward and away from the door so that Kai could step into the room. She shut the door again behind her.

Kai watched as she carefully paced across the room. She cupped the baby bump, running her hand over the small swell, only just big enough to be noticed. She smiled, looked down as she ran the palm of her hand over her stomach.

"I'm sorry Irene." Kai said again, when he realised that Irene wasn't about to be the first one to break the silence. "I truly did not mean to hurt you, to upset you." Her eyes were glassy and her cheeks stained with tears. "Oh Irene. Love." He took a step closer and reached for her, then he froze. "Can I touch you?" She pressed her lips together, and nodded. He closed the small gap and swept her up in his arms, holding her close. She rested her head on his collar bone. He swept hair out of her eyes and kissed her forehead. 

"You didn't care." She said against his chest. "Our baby is healthy Kai. And you didn't care." 

"Oh love, I do care." He said softly. "I really do and I am… It Is such a weight off my shoulders to know that you can feel our little one moving. I was just so tired, I didn't understand what you were saying to me." He could feel her hands grasping onto his shirt. "Do you feel a little better now that you have had some sleep?" 

"Mhmm." He chuckled. "Do you think that, last night and this morning is just the result of both of us being very tired?" 

"Can we just blame that anyway?" She asked, stepping backward to look at him. He swept a tear of her cheek with his thumb. He nodded and she smiled. 

"Can you still feel them?" 

"A little bit earlier." She said, her hands returning to her stomach. "It was only small though. Like a butterfly." 

"Our little one is a butterfly?" He asked with a smile. 

"Well, they'll be half dragon, so maybe they will have wings." She said. "I don't know. Do you?" 

"He'll take after me." Kai said with a nod. Vale had tried to insist that they would have a girl, Kai said it would be a boy, Irene just wanted the baby to be healthy, she did not care. "There have been plenty of dragons with human mothers, or fathers. They always still have the power of the dragons." She nodded, that could cause growing pains when they were a little older. 

"Well, that's something to look forward to." She said. He smiled before he ducked his head a little and kissed her. The kiss broke and he rested his forehead on hers. 

"I love you so very much Irene. You are the most important person in the world to me. I'd do anything for you, and anything to make up for the hurt that I caused you today." He put his hand on her stomach. "And I love our little one, I can't wait until we can meet them, and hold them in our arms." He kissed her forehead. 

"I love you too." She said, she was tearing up and her eyes burnt as she felt a tear trickle down her cheek. She sniffed before wiping it away. "Sorry. They're happy tears. I swear." She swallowed. "Why does everything make me cry? '

"Because you're pregnant." Kai said. "You're tired, and hormonal. Its fine. Don't worry. You don't need to apologise." He cupped her jaw. "Did you sleep well?" 

"Not without you."

"Let's go home love. You can get some proper rest." Irene shook her head. 

"I want to tell me mother and father." She said. "I'll send them a message since they probably won't be able to come here. I'm ready to tell them now. I've put it off long enough, but I want to tell them, now that I can feel them. I know they're alive." He smiled. 

"To the library then." 

Chapter Text

"Well well well, if it ain't mister Vale's friends." The Werewolf snarled.

"Get behind me." Kai said to Irene, she didn't argue.

"Oh you're expecting." He grinned and Irene pulled her coat tighter around her. "Shame if something happens to your pup."

"You lay a hard on her and I will rip your throat out." Kai growled, his eyes were red, rubies that glittered dangerously. He slid one foot back slightly, shifting to the balls of his feet, ready to fight if it was necessary. Irene wrapped her arms around herself, unsure of what to do, and what she could do. She could run but she didn't want to leave Kai, and she knew they could catch her if they tried to do so. The baby kicked her hard, clearly they felt her anxiety as much as she did, and she took a deep breath, trying to ease her racing heart.

"I'd like to see you stop me." The wolf replied, he grinned, a smile with far too many teeth for comfort. "Mister Vale can't keep you safe. And you can't protect her. The perfect revenge, in my opinion."

"Irene, run, go. Find the police, or someone. Anyone." Kai said. Irene shook her head.

"I'm not leaving you." She whispered. Scales were spreading over Kai's hands and whilst she could not see his face, there were probably on his cheeks and throat too. He didn't usually slip like that in a fight and she wondered if it was to do with her presence and pregnancy, the inherent urge to protect his young, and to do anything to ensure their safety. 

"You should listen to your fella." He growled. "Better get a head start now, maybe you will make it out of here." Another flurry of kicks and Irene wondered what she could do in the language to stop the situation. Irene didn't get the chance to decide, as Kai stepped forward in a sudden rush of fluid movement, and attacked. 

Irene stepped back, so that she could turn and run if she needed, clutching her skirt in one hand so that she wouldn't accidentally trip on the hem if she did have to run. 

The Werewolf didn't stand a chance, not with the mood that Kai was in. Before he could even get his claws into Kai, Kai had his in him. 

Irene could smell blood and it turned her stomach, she squeezed her eyes shut. Normally she had a better grasp of things but today... Now... No. She felt close to a panic attack, on the edge of breaking down. "Irene." Kai's voice had a rough, dangerous edge to it. "Open your eyes. It's okay. I'm... Okay." She slowly, almost unwillingly, opened her eyes. 

Okay was the wrong word to use. Split lip and bleeding nose, inevitable bruises red around his eyes. Okay was far from the truth. His eyes still glowed like embers and his temples were blue with scales. When he reached out for her, it was with clawed hands. He brushed his knuckles across her cheek. "No one is going to hurt you or our little one." He said, voice beginning to take on its normal tone. She took a shaky breath and shut her eyes again. "Did I scare you?" He asked and she nodded. "I'm sorry 'Rene. Let's get you home. No, let's go straight to Vale's and let him know what happened. I don't want you to be alone right now. Do you think you can move?" She forced herself to open her eyes, and to keep them open. He was fully human again now, offering her a slight smile. 

"We should let the police know too. For when they find him." Kai looked back before reaching into an inner pocket for paper and pen. He scribbled a note and dropped it on top of the Werewolf, dead? 

"They'll know where to find me." He said. "Let's get you somewhere safe. You need to sit down and have a cup of tea." 

"When don't I need a cup of tea?" 

Chapter Text

Kai carefully lowered the needle onto the record and turned to Irene, holding his hand out to her as the music started to play. "May I have this dance, Mrs Strongrock?" She laughed, taking his hand and letting him tug her close, setting her other hand in his shoulder, whilst his settled on her waist.

"How long have you been wanting to say that?" She asked as they slowly danced to the music, there wasn't a lot of space, but they made to.

"The dance bit or the Mrs Strongrock bit?" He asked. "Because we did not get our first dance yesterday and that I've been wanting to do. And the Mrs Strongrock bit, also from yesterday when I heard someone call you that." She smiled. "My wife."

"For someone set against marriage, you certainly seem to have taken to the idea of it very quickly." She said as he spun her around. "I'm not complaining though." The golden band on her hand felt a little strange, but she assumed that she would get used to the weigh after a while.

"Can I join?" They paused to look at Ophelia standing there and watching him. She walked over and held her hands out. "Up."

"Up..." Irene said meaningfully. She sighed.

"Up please." Ophelia said and Kai complied, releasing Irene so that he could pick her up and sit her on his hip. Irene wrapped her arm back around them, and kissed the back of Ophelia's head. Kai took her hand again and they started to dance again. "Why dancing?" She asked, leaning her head against Kai's shoulder.

"Whilst you were staying with your uncle, your father and I got married." Irene said, smiling. It had been a complete suprise, she didn't even know where they'd been going to, let alone what Kai had planned. "You have a first dance after the wedding, but we didn't get one, so we are having one now."

"Married?"

"It's something that people in love do." Kai said. "It's so that everyone knows that you are in love, and a promise, that we will be here for each other, always." The tune faded out, and the next one started up again.

"Can I get married?"

"Not until you're an adult." Irene said, silently wishing that her little girl did not grow up too fast.. "Until you're all grown up, and you meet someone who means the whole world to you."

"OK." She said. "Love mama. Love papa."

"I love you too little one." Irene said.

"I love you too." Kai said, kissing her forehead, before he kissed Irene. "And I love you Irene." 

Chapter Text

Irene felt something wet run down her leg, leaning on the wall as she struggled to breath through the contraction. After feeling the first few signs of labour, she'd been pacing the house, it helped a lot more than laying in bed did. Kai was asleep, probably. He'd been trying to help her, but there wasn't much for him to do when the contractions were so far apart, and his worrying had got on her nerves. She'd told him to sleep so at least one of them would be well rested when the baby came, but in reality it was because she wanted the peace. "Quick! I think the baby's coming!"

Kai was out of the bed a second later, rushing to her side. She grabbed his arm.

"Are you alright?" He asked, touching her cheek.

"I am in a lot of pain." She said slowly. "Can you send for a nurse or someone? My water just broke and-" her words were cut off as she felt another contraction and she groaned in pain, tightening her grip on him. She breathed again as the pain lightened up. "And the contractions are less than three minutes apart. The baby is coming. Soon."

"Let's get you into bed." Kai said. "Then I wi send got help. You should have let me carry you to my father's." It had been an argument that they'd had several times over. Kai wanted medical staff on hand and a hospital. Irene wanted to give birth at home so that they didn't have to travel with a newborn. Irene had won.

"Now isn't the time for that." She muttered.

"You could have had an epidural."

"I'm more worried about a needle being stuck into my spine than giving birth." She replied, laying down. Kai kissed her forehead and she smiled.

"You are doing so well." He said softly. "I can't wait to finally hold our little one." She smiled, she couldn't either. 

Chapter Text

Irene paced her Library living quarters. The space was small and crammed, her and Kai had tried to tidy it as much as they could but there were simply too many books, so she couldn't do more than a few steps in one direction before she had to turn back. Ophelia, barely bigger than she had been when she had been born, lay in her arms, nestled in her blanket and pitching a fit every time that Irene stopped moving. Kai was fussing with some of the mess in her room so that they could lay Ophelia down somewhere if she did decide to settle , but it didn't look like it was going to happen. Irene hummed a low lullaby that she couldn't remember learning but felt like she always knew. It seemed to be working a little bit.

Someone knocked on the door and Irene stilled. Ophelia's eyes snapped open and she opened her mouth to wail. Irene gently bounced her in her arms. "Hush little one. It's alright." She soothed, looking up at the door, and then to Kai.

"Time to face the music?" He said and she nodded. He opened the door, a man and woman stood on the other side. "Raziel and Liu Xiang?" He asked.

"You must be Prince Kai." Liu Xiang said. "The father of our grandchild."

"Father don't give him a hard time." Irene said, starting to pace again. "Come in." Ophelia started to settle again.

"Just Kai is fine." Kai said, stepping out of the way and shutting the door behind them. "And yes, I am." He seemed to be taking all of this in his stride, but he looked to Irene, to follow her lead.

"It's good to see you again." Irene said. Kai moved to her side and gently touched her back, smiling down at Ophelia. "I would apologise got the hysteria. But she's a baby. Right now the only thing I can do is..." She sighed.

" Cry too?" Kai supplied. "Here, let me take her love, you should be getting as much rest as you can." He easily took her, and Ophelia stopped crying straight away. 

"Oh I actually hate you right now." Irene muttered Kai laughed before turning his attention to Ophelia, and Irene sat down. 

"You two are actually together then." Raziel said. "Is this all just an accident?" Irene shook her head. "Irene, are you sure that this is what you want?"

"It is mother." Irene said. "Kai and I wanted to have a child long before we found out about Ophelia." She leant against her father as he came to sit next to her. "I had a miscarriage seven months before we found out that I was expecting Ophelia. We weren't really trying because I was scared that I'd lose another baby." Liu Xiang put his arm around her shoulder and smiled kindly at her. 

"Are you doing well now?" He asked and she nodded. 

"I'm getting used to the sleepless nights." She said. "Ophelia usually wants feeding every hour and a half, but sometimes more often than that." 

"I think she's finally falling asleep." Kai said. He looked to Raziel. "Would you like to hold her?" Irene thought, for a moment, that her mother was about to say no, but instead she nodded and stepped forward to take her. Kai very carefully lay Ophelia in her arms, making sure that the blanket was still tucked tightly around the baby, before he sat on the arm of the sofa next to Irene.

"Hopefully, she will stay asleep until her next feeding." Irene said, checking her watch. "Forty minutes of peace, if we're lucky, though she may sleep longer, she's been awake for nearly an hour."

"If she is anything like you dear, she'll sleep for a lot longer than you think she will, and then scream and scream because she's very hungry." Raziel said. "But she seems to be a sweet little thing, doesn't she. What colour are her eyes?"

"Blue." Irene said, before looking up at Kai. "She has Kai's eyes. They're beautiful."

"But I am hoping that she has Irene's curls when she's a little older." He said, running his fingers through Irene's hair. "Though I hope she doesn't grow up too fast."

"I think that's every parents dream." Liu Xiang said. "That they don't grow up too fast. And that they grow up happy."

"I am more than willing to give her whatever she wants." Irene said.

"Oh I said that too." Raziel said, looking up and smiling, her comment more aimed at Kai than Irene. "Until this one decided to ask for a pony for her fourth birthday, and got very upset when we said no. Thank goodness we did though, Irene hates horses."

"Horses hate me." Irene corrected. "And yes, I do know, as an adult, that that would be unreasonable. I'd get her a stuffed one."

"And maybe consider taking her riding once." Kai said. "A decent compromise in my opinion. We don't exactly have a garden. Though, Irene, I'm not judging, but how many stuffed animals do we have now?"

"Maybe two dozen?" She said. "In my defence though, Vale gave us four of those, I've received several from Librarians who gave them to me, two from Coppelia. And the polar bear I brought yesterday is for me, not her." He snorted and kissed the side of her head, his eager eyes on Raziel as she gave Ophelia to Liu Xiang. "Don't laugh. I want to go and get you one as well."

"Why?" He asked, perplexed.

"That's not a bad idea." Liu Xiang said. "If you have them around you a lot, you can give them to her to hold if you are absent, it'll smell like you and could help to soothe her."

"Oh I just thought they were sweet." Irene said. "Thank you for the tip though."

"Stuffed polar bears for the sake of polar bears." Kai said.

"Fine, I won't get you one next time I go out."

"No I didn't say that." Kai said, making them laugh. "But if there's no space in bed because there are stuffed animals were I sleep, I won't be happy."

"You two live together?"

"We have lived together since we met." Irene said. "Minus a couple of months were he lived with a friend because we got into some trouble and he left the Library."

"You were a Librarian?"

"Irene was my teacher." Kai said, Irene blushed and looked away as her parents stared at her. "But we didn't enter into a relationship until after I left and wasn't her student anymore, once I left the Library. She quite annoyingly kept rejecting me, and then had the gall to kiss me."

"In my defence, I thought that I would never see you again. I was only at Vale's to tell him and maybe have several drinks." He laughed. "I was quite upset Kai." He squeezed her shoulder and smiled.

"I'm just teasing you 'Rene. I love you." She smiled back, reaching out to take his hand and squeeze it.

"I love you too." He said. Both Liu Xiang and Raziel were watching them closely, before Ophelia made a small sound, and they looked down again, seemingly satisfied that their daughter was happy in her relationship, in her family.

"Does your family know?" Raziel asked, Kai nodded.

"We're visiting my father tomorrow." Kai said. "We are taking Ophelia for her first round of vaccinations this afternoon, and then he's taken the day out to see us, and meet her." Ophelia reached her hand out of the blanket, her eyes fluttering open. Raziel took her tiny hand, smiling when Ophelia grasped on to one of her fingers.

"She's such a sweet little thing." Raziel cooed. "And her eyes..." Irene smiled, leaning against Kai.

"She's the most precious thing I've ever seen." Irene said. "I'd give up everything if it meant she was happy and safe."

"Your work?"

"I'm on leave for five and a half months. And then I'm allowed to do embassy work." Irene said. "When she's a year old, I'm allowed back in the field. But I haven't decided if I will be going back like I did before. I don't know yet, but I cannot bear the thought of being away from her for long right now."

"I felt the same at first." Raziel said. "It's why we took you with us to start with." Kai looked at Irene.

"That's not happening." He said.

"God no. I wouldn't even think of it!" Irene said. "No, she can stay home, with you. Or maybe school but that's thinking far too far into the future, and I don't want to do that, not yet." Ophelia started to fuss and Irene picked her up again and started to pace the room, cooing to her softly.

"I'm glad you are happy." Liu Xiang said. "Both... All three of you. You deserve it." 

Chapter Text

Ophelia was sick, so Kai was laying on her bedroom floor, with the blankets that he'd carried in, and a pillow. She had a high fever and showed all signs of influenza, and he didn't want Irene to catch it. Most of the time, he and Irene would just carry her into their bedroom and she could sleep in the bed with them, but Kai was worried that Ophelia was going to get Irene sick, and since she currently had a lot on her plate, he didn't want that. So he was planning on sleeping on her floor, in case she needed him during the night.

"Papa sleep in my bed?" Ophelia said, her voice was raspy and thick as she sat on the edge of her bed, bundled up in pyjamas, dressing gown and a blanket, shivering despite her high temperature. She was cuddling a stuffed cat. Kai chuckled.

"I think I'm a bit too big for your bed." He said, it was chock full of stuffed animals and he didn't think he would even fit on it if he tried. Even if he curled up. "You're sleeping in there."

"Why can't I sleep with you and mama?" She asked.

"I don't want your mama to get ill too. She has been sick recently too, I don't want her to catch something else." Kai said. "So I'm going to sleep in here with you tonight." Ophelia dragged her pillows off the bed and dropped them next to Kai, then she knocked off a few stuffed animals and her duvet.

"Sleep with you then." She said as she got back underneath her blanket. Kai chuckled before wrapped his arms around her and pulling her close. "Cuddle me papa." He kissed the top of her head.

"Of course little one." He said softly. "Get some sleep." Ophelia lay her head on his chest, and sneezed. Kai silently groaned before sitting her and himself up. He grabbed his handkerchief and cleaned the snot off his face "Blow your nose." He said. Four years ago he would not have even dared do that, but after Irene's morning sickness, dirty nappies and spit up, snotty noses were a walk in the park. She blew her nose and coughed. Her eyes were bloodshot and her skin paler than usual, her normally neatly braided hair (his work) was a mess. She looked awful, or maybe Kai just worried too much.

"Better." She said, with a snuffle. Kai was not convinced. He put the back of his hand on her forehead. She still had a raging fever.

"Get back into your bed." Kai said. "I'll be back in just a minute. You'll get cold on the floor." He got up and swung Ophelia up onto her bed with ease, normally she'd giggle when he did something like that, the number of times she'd run up to him and asked him to throw her onto the sofa or her bed, Irene wasn't as happy with that as it was probably going to break the furniture one day. He grabbed a wash cloth from the bathroom and dampened it, pausing to check on Irene, fast asleep.

"This should help you feel a bit better little one." He said as he  carefully draped it over her forehead. She closed her eyes. "Go to sleep. I'll be here when you wake up."

"Love you papa." She said, pulling her stuffed rabbit closer, Irene was going to have to patch up the ear when she had the opportunity.

"I love you too, my little one. I'll be right here if you need me."

Chapter Text

Irene pressed her face against Ophelia's cheek and blanket, shutting her eyes and taking a deep breath.

"It's going to be fine." Kai said softly, rubbing her back in slow, gentle circles. "I swear."

"I know." Irene said, looking up. "But I'm still worried." Kai smiled and leant over to kiss her before he kissed Ophelia's forehead. "I have met your father once. And now here I am, with his grand daughter." They had been shown into Ao Guang's private rooms, into a beautifully decorated sitting room, Kai had pushed Irene onto one of the sofas of saphire velvet, before sitting next to her, to wait.

"He was a little shocked when I told him, but he took the news well." Kai assured her. "And he is really not the kind to order to me to leave you. He did invite us here after all." She leant her head against him and Kai wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "You're tired."

"Exhausted." Irene said. "And I'm still on the verge of tears everytime something goes a little bit wrong so... Well this could all be very interesting." Kai chuckled. "At least Ophelia is sleeping right now." She'd been fussy all the day before, through meeting Irene's parents, and her trip to the doctors. She'd screamed at her vaccinations and cried until she'd fallen asleep again. Neither Irene nor Kai had got much sleep, but Kai seemed fine, Irene was all but dead on her feet and unable to drink anything with a high caffeine content to take the edge off.

The door opened and they both stood up, Irene managing a sorry excuse for a curtsey whilst Kai went down on his knee. She wobbled and Kai shot to his feet and stabalised her.

"My apologies your majesty." She said, straightening up. Ao Guang's smile was kind and gentle, he had the same happy light in his eyes that she'd often seen in Kai's.

"You have no reason to apologise." He said. "Sit down, you must both be exhausted." Kai kept his arm loosely around her as they did so.

"I think that's a sure bet." Kai said, looking at Irene. "Ophelia was restless yesterday. Neither of us had the chance for more than an hour of sleep at a time." Irene touched her daughter's cheek, making sure that she was still sleeping peacefully.

"I think she knew we were taking her to the doctors." Irene said. "Would you like to hold her?" Ao Guang smiled as he sat at the other side of her, and Irene was very careful as she lay Ophelia in his arms.

"She's certainly peaceful today." Irene leant back against Kai and he held her tighter now.

"Thank goodness." Kai said. "We may get some sleep tonight if she stays like this." Ao Guang chuckled.

"Well, pray the she is quieter than Kai was."

"Well, apparently I was a fussy baby too." Irene said, "so we may be out of luck."

"Has she shown any signs of an affinity developing?" He asked curiously. "All of my sons were showing a sign of their gifts at around a month old."

"No. She hadn't shown any sign that she takes after me, except that sometimes her eyes go red when she is screaming." Kai said. "But even then, that doesn't last for very long. She likes the water though. It soothes her at times." Ao Guang laughed.

"Yes, you were like that too." His fingers grazed her forehead and Ophelia opened her eyes. "You like that petal?" He asked with a soft voice. She smiled at him, blinking big blue eyes. He did it again and she smiled. "She's a stunning little girl. Congratulations." Irene smiled, and looked up at Kai, who kissed her temple. "Have you been well since she was born?"

"Other than being tired all of the time, and a few days where I was..." She glanced at Kai. "I was very easy to upset for a few days after she was born."

"She cried at Vale. I've never seen him so scared than Irene being genuinely upset with him." Kai said with a smile. "I was used to the tears by that point so I thought it was hilarious."

"You'd think Vale would expect it too." Irene said with a shrug. "He must have seen me cry a dozen odd times whilst I was expecting her."

"You were nearly hysterical love." Kai said, his hands moved to settle on her hips, and he rested his cheek on the side of her head. "I was moderately alarmed until I realised that you were literally crying over spilt milk." He slowly rubbed his thumb up and down on her hip, she was wearing a simple dress in teal with cream accents, not too over the top but not plain either, it buttoned up at the front to make it easier to feed Ophelia and the fabric was relatively thin and Kai's touch almost tickled. "Who would have thought it of you? You are usually so well put together."

"Exhaustion and hormones." She replied. Ophelia started fussing, whimpering as her eyes flicked round, looking for Irene. "Sorry I think she's hungry." She said, before checking her watch. Ao Guang returned her to Irene, who glanced up at Kai.

"Here, I have something to show you." Ao Guang said to Kai, noting Irene's hesitation. With them up off the sofa and out of her sight, she felt a little more comfortable with feeding her and wished that they'd brought a blanket for her to use to cover up... There was a blanket in her nappy bag, in case she spit up, but it was across the room now. She could hear Kai and his father quietly talking behind her, but she focused on Ophelia, smiling down at her, holding her still as she liked to wiggle around when she was awake.

"Is that better little one?" She cooed, quickly buttoning her dress back up. Ophelia made a happy noise and Irene smiled. "I would think so too." 

"Here, let me." Kai said, taking her and grabbing the nappy bag so that if she did spit up, it wouldn't go over him. Ophelia squealed and Kai kissed her forehead. "We'll aren't you happy now that you've had something to eat! Think you are going to give me a smile? Or are you planning on throwing up on me again." Irene laughed. Since Irene did the feedings, and since she'd pretty much spent the first month of Ophelia's life napping in bed, Kai was usually the one to burp her and change her, and as a result, he was usually the one that she would spit up on. Vale once, Irene three times. Kai... Well, she had lost count of that. 

"This is for Ophelia. And for you." Ao Guang said, holding out a blue box tied up with golden ribbon, to Irene. She took it, it was light. 

"Thank you." She said, undoing to neatly tied bow so that she could open the lid. Inside was a bracelet, and a matching locket on a thin silver chain. "They're beautiful. Thank you." 

"The necklace is for her, when she's a bit older, there's the space for you and Kai to put a photo in there if you want to. The bracelet for you." He said. She lifted the bracelet out of the box, carefully examine it. "Here, allow me." He took it from her and opened the clasp before doing it up around Irene's left wrist, just above her wristwatch. The metal was cool as it brushed her skin. Ophelia coughed and both Irene and Ao Guang turned to watch her and Kai. 

"Excellent, you didn't get on me." Kai said and before Irene could inform him that he had in fact just jinxed the entire situation, Ophelia threw up on his shirt. "Touché." 

Chapter Text

Mother and father

I know it's been a while since we have had the opportunity to be able to see each other for more than a few moments, and sadly that doesn't look like it is about to change any time soon.

I have some news that I wish I could tell you in person, but I'm on leave from the Library, and I don't know when I am going to be back, not likely for several months at the very least, though hopefully, you will be able to come and see me.

I'm pregnant. We found out a month ago, but have only started telling people. I hope that you will be willing to visit me soon, and if you can't, I hope that you will meet your grandchild, as well as my partner.

I know that this is probably the last message that you expected to hear from me, but I am beyond overjoyed to find out that I am expecting, as is my partner. He isn't a Librarian, and there's quite a story that is more definitely easier told in person than email.

I hope to hear from you soon, or even see you (Coppelia has my address)

           Irene

###

Kai laced his fingers behind his back as he paced his father's studying, waiting for the dragon King to be available to talk to him. When the door opened he straightened up before putting his hand to his heart and going down on his knee.

"Kai. I was not expecting to hear from you, let alone see you today." His father said as he took a seat behind his desk, and waved Kai toward the empty seat opposite him. "What is on your mind? You are troubled."

"I would say that I am nervous father." Kai said before swallowing. "It's Irene." His father's eyes turned hard. "Nothing is wrong, you don't need to worry about that." He relaxed again. "Or at least, in our opinions, nothing is wrong."

"What is it?" Ao Guang demanded.

"Irene is pregnant." He said, Ao Guang arched a brow. "I'm the father."

"This is most unexpected." His father said.  "Is it what you both want?" Kai nodded and Ao Guang smiled. "Did she come here with you?"

"No, she gets vertigo and with her morning sickness, we decided that it was best that I came alone to tell you the news." Kai said.

"And what has the Library said of this? They have strict rules about their neutrality, whilst she had proven herself to be neutral, people will struggle to believe that once word gets out that her child was fathered by a dragon Prince."

"The Library hasn't come to a decision yet, this is the first time something of this nature has occurred, or as far as we are aware at least. Irene hopes that she'll be allowed to continue her work with them after the child is born, though on short assignments, or just in the embassy." Ao Guang nodded. "She's overjoyed by the news that we'll have a child. We were hoping for this."

"You were?"

"I lover her father and wish to be with her as long as we can be together." Ao Guang smiled.

"Tell her I wish you both the best." He said and Kai nodded. "When can I expect the arrival of my grandchild?"

"The baby is due mid march, and the doctor Irene saw when she found out says that everything looks to be fine, she and the baby are healthy." He reached into his jacket to show his father the copy of the sonogram. "I can't wait." 

Chapter Text

Irene, 

That was quite possibly the last email your father and I, he read it over my shoulder as usual, had ever expected to hear from you. It was quite a shock to read. 

And to he honest, we aren't entirely sure what to think on the whole situation. The father cannot be a Librarian, you would tell us if he was. 

I'm not sure when you will see this, if you aren't spending much time within the Library, but hopefully you will see it soon. 

Mother and father 

You sounded unhappy with me, I hope that isn't the case. 

And of course he isn't a Librarian. Librarians can't have children together, I know. 

#

Irene sighed, staring at the computer screen, unsure of what she could say, what she should say. She laced her fingers together and tried to decide if she was tired of the back and forth, of the lies; if she wished she could finally see her parents again; if she was hormonal; or if she genuinely had the right to be upset with her parents, and send them that email. 

#

Mother and father 

You sounded unhappy with me, I hope that isn't the case. Do you know if you will be able to come and visit me? Maybe this is the kind of thing that we should be discussing in person. 

Get back to me as soon as you can. 

Irene

Of course I'm happy! How far along are you?

Neither your father or myself are unhappy with you, it is just that we are surprised, you've never shown any sign of wanting to have children, so this was a conversation that we never expected to have.

I'll see if we can get a few days off to see you, but I don't know if it will happen, the plan right now is to be away for a month, we're going to be scouring the Paris catacombs.

Mother and father

On the day that I'm writing this I am sixteen weeks pregnant, though I'm not sure when you will see this. I'm into the second trimester and things look like they are going well right now, apparently I should be able to feel the baby moving in the next couple of weeks. 

I can't wait until I can, mainly because I do not trust the doctor when he says everything is fine. I'm worried that something will go wrong and whilst Kai tries to assure me that everything will be fine, I don't know if it will.

Mother and father

I hope your assignment has gone well.

We are starting to decorate the nursery today. You were right, this is the last thing that I ever thought I would be doing. It feels strange to be doing it, but I can feel the child moving, and often kicking me when I am trying to sleep, I think I trust the doctor when they tell me that they are healthy now.

We have quite the collection of stuffed animals building up. I think I have as much of a problem with buying those as I do books.

Looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Mother and father.

Is everything alright? I haven't heard from you in too long, I'm starting to worry.

Irene

When you say Kai...

You don't mean the Prince, do you? 

Chapter Text

"Kai." She gasped his name, his lips against her throat, her back pressed to the wall and her hips pinned by his hands. She dragged her nails over his shoulders and back, whilst she raked them over his shirt and not bare skin, he could still feel them dig in. She felt dizzy, it was hard to breath and she could feel Kai smirking against her skin, knowing that he was successfully driving her mad with each kiss. She tugged on his shirt and he almost growled as she felt his teeth grazing over her skin.

And then Ophelia started screaming. Kai groaned, leaning his forehead on her shoulder. "Every time." He muttered and Irene laughed, a touch breathless. He pushed himself away from her. "Do you think we could persuade Vale to baby sit so we can have an evening to ourselves?"

"It may be more challenging to convince me to leave her for an evening." Irene said as she headed into the nursery. "Come on little one, what's the matter?" Her voice switched to a soft coo as she leant over the cot to try and sooth Ophelia, running her fingers over Ophelia's cheek. She sighed when it did nothing. "Come to mama Little one." She scooped her up and held her close, laying Ophelia's head over her heart, it took a few moments to work but she slowly began to calm down.

Kai wrapped his arms around her hips and rested his chin on her forehead, smiling down at Ophelia. "She's such an angel, when she's peaceful." Irene chuckled. "Screaming banshee otherwise."

"She is perfect, even when she is screaming. I love her to bits." Irene said. He kissed her temple.

"You're right." He said. "How about I read her a story, and we trying putting her to bed again, since she's awake again."

"A good idea. Maybe one of the poetry books from the study?" Irene said as she sat in the rocking chair, gently tipping it back and forth as the cries began to turns to snuffles and sniffles. "Little one." She cooed, Ophelia watched with bright blue eyes, she cooed back, reaching for her mother with tiny hands. Irene grabbed her hand and kissed it. "Perfect little one." She lifted Ophelia up and brushed her nose over Ophelia's. "Even if you ruin my evenings. You must really want to be an only child."

"That she must." Kai said. "A shame really, siblings can be fun." Irene didn't look up. "You just want one child?"

"I don't know." Irene said. "I'm not ready to think about it though. Not yet." Kai nodded.

"Alright." He said before sitting on the floor by the chair. "Now, time for some poetry." 

Chapter Text

Irene realised that telling Kai that she couldn't remember when she had last gone on holiday was a mistake one day into their week-long getaway to the south coast of France with Ophelia. It had started off as the perfect dream holiday, fantastic weather, a view of the sea, watching Kai and Ophelia play in the waves as she read her latest novel. The perfection did not last. 

##

Kai wrapped his arms around Irene's hips, pressing his lips to her shoulder, just next to the strap of her lacy nightgown, purchased specially for the holiday as she doubted flannel was good for the near Mediterranean weather that they would experience, and besides, she liked the way Kai's eyes on her felt when he saw her wearing it. They were on the balcony of their hotel suite, Ophelia was in her own room, just next door. Irene shut her eyes and leant back against Kai, listening to the sea crashing onto the beach as the tide slowly ebbed away, it'd be back again by midday. 

"It's beautiful here," Kai said, taking a deep breath of the salt ladened air. "It's so peaceful. I could stay here forever." Irene hummed and he chuckled. "You look more relaxed than… I can remember ever seeing you." 

"I feel it." She said. "I'm going to sleep so well tonight; it is going to be fantastic." 

"Sleeping? That is what you are excited about?" 

"We have a toddler. Any chance to sleep I get I will treasure." She said, turning to face him, her hand on her heart as she leant on the wrought iron of the balcony railing. "But I know I will sleep well because you are here with me." She slid her arm around the back of his neck, pressing her body against his, her lips a whisper from his. "I love you, Kai. You and Ophelia are the best things in my life, more than I could ever deserve or even dream of." He cupped her jaw and closed the scant inch in between them as he kissed her. "Thank you for bringing me here." 

"I would give you the worlds if I could." He said softly, touching his lips to hers, before kissing her jaw, and her throat. Irene gripped his shirt and bit her lip, trying to not make a sound. 

"Kai." She whispered his name and he hummed against her throat, making her gasp. "Kai, we should go back inside." He made a small groan of complaint but relented and pulled back. "I will make sure that Ophelia is tucked in, and then…. Bed."

###

"Papa!" Ophelia's squeal was high pitched and pure joy as a wave crashed over her, soaking her in icy water, but she didn't care about how cold it was, for once Irene was trying not to worry too much about her getting sick, especially since she'd dry off in the sun. "Come play!" Kai leant over to kiss Irene. 

"Have fun." She said. "I have a book to keep me company."

"No paddling?" 

"God no." She said with a laugh. "Bring me back a pretty seashell. Or a starfish. Do they have starfish here?" 

"Let's find out," Kai said before he went running across the sand, scooping Ophelia up in the air, making her giggle loudly. Irene watched as Kai spun her round and deposited her back down into the water before she reached for her bag to find her book. Laying on a picnic blanket, weighted at the corners by her, her bag, Kai's bag and the picnic blanket, the seaside breeze rustled it every now and then, blowing sand up onto it. 

Irene was about three chapters into her book when she felt a prickling on the back of her neck, and she slowly sat up, reaching for her bookmark. She looked around, Kai and Ophelia were poking around a small tidal pool, and there was no one near them on the beach, the nearest people, a couple that seemed to be on their honeymoon, was maybe five hundred feet away. 

There was no one else on their stretch of beach. Was there? 

Irene scrambled to her feet, nearly tripping over the blanket in her rush to stand, the sand hot and uneven underneath her bare toes, threatening to upend her back down onto the blanket. 

There was a man walking the path at the top of the beach, he'd been behind her, so she'd been unable to see him. He was watching Kai and Ophelia. He suddenly looked down his eyes were pale and as soon as they touched hers, he looked away and quickly walked away. 

"Kai!" She kept her voice light, forcing it to remain that way. He looked up and grinned at her. "Hungry?" it was a little afternoon and she'd feel better with him closer, and Ophelia within arm’s reach, preferably sat on her lap. Kai took Ophelia's hand and urged her back to the blanket. Irene pulled out towels for them and Kai took one, she quickly wrapped the towel around Ophelia and pulled her onto her legs. 

"Mama!" Ophelia said happily, Irene was thankful that she hadn't picked up on Irene's worry, Kai had done. "Got shell aaaaand star!" 

"We left the starfish behind," Kai said. He reached his hand into his pocket and pulled out an empty nautilus shell. "But we did find this for you." He put it away again and sat next to her, leaning in to kiss her cheek, he dropped his voice to a low murmur and switched to Chinese. "What’s wrong?” Currently, Ophelia knew a few words in his native language, having picked them up from Irene and Kai, but she was far from conversational. 

"I think that someone was watching us." She said quietly. "He left when he realised that I had seen him. He was staring at you and Ophelia."

"Let's eat," Kai said, switching back to English. "And then… Little miss Ophelia. I think we need to go and get changed into dry clothes. Don't you?" 

"Want to play!" Ophelia complained as Kai opened the picnic basket. 

"We can come back tomorrow," Irene said. "You need dry clothes, a nice warm bath and a nap." 

"No nap." 

"Yes, nap," Irene said firmly. "Come on. Eat your sandwich, there's a cupcake if you eat all of it and drink your juice!" That at least mollified her, and she tucked in. Kai wrapped a damp arm around Irene's shoulders, and she leant against him with a soft sigh, eating her own lunch. Ophelia hated nap time if it interrupted her playing, which was usually because she overexcited herself and didn't want to sleep, but was in desperate need of it, resulting in a couple of temper tantrums over the past year, making Kai and Irene realise that they were well into the terrible twos, and hoped that the terrible threes, with Ophelia's birthday being in two months’ time, did not exist. 

Kai tried to get as much of the sand off him and Ophelia's damp skin once they were done, before struggling to convince her that, yes, socks and shoes were necessary and that she did indeed need to put them back on, even if their hotel was just down the street. 

She insisted on walking back herself and not being carried, clearly as stubborn as her mother, but she was too tired to argue about a bath and a nap once they were home and she let Irene wash her and redress her without a peep or struggle. Once she was tucked in bed, and Kai had taken the time to shower off, he and Irene curled up together on the couch. 

"Who do you think it was?" Kai asked. "It could have just been a coincidence." 

"I don't know." She said quietly. "He had very pale eyes, almost unnaturally so. He was staring at you Kai. He wasn't just looking at the sea or drawn by the noises. He was watching. I could feel it, the prickling on the back of my neck. I knew someone was watching us." 

"Okay," Kai said softly. "I believe you. Do you want to go home?" She shook her head. 

"Four days. Ophelia won't be any further than the next room the entirety of that time. We can keep her safe. And maybe you are right. Maybe he just saw you two playing and paused to see if you'd found anything interesting."

"A starfish and a shell. I'm going to see if I can find anyone who can put it on a cord, for a necklace." Irene smiled and kissed his cheek. "Let's walk into the town when Ophelia wakes up." He said. "We can find somewhere for dinner, and I believe there's an art gallery that we can look around." 

"That sounds perfect." Kai's skin smelled of salt, of the sea, that night, despite the anxiety, Irene fell asleep easily, confident that the room was secure. Ophelia was in the next room and her window was locked from the inside, Kai had checked and tested it. If anything happened, they would hear it and wake up. Kai pressed his face into Irene's hair, listening to her easy breathing before he shut his eyes to get some sleep of his own. 

###

Kai smiled, watching Irene. With Ophelia sat on her hip, she smiled and spoke to the girl, even when half of what Ophelia came out with didn't make much sense. He watched as she pulled her attention to the shopkeeper in front of her and switched to flawless French without showing any sign of struggle, her accent like that of a native, though probably closer to Parisian, rather than that of the men and women from Sanary-Sur-Mer, a seaside town not too far from Marseille, where they had flown on the Zeppelin to, before a train to the town a few hours away. 

She turned back to him and smiled, and he took Ophelia off her and set her on the ground, taking a tight hold of her hand, she liked to wander off if given the opportunity. "You're perfect, you know that, right?" He asked as she hooked her arm around his and the three of them strolled down the quiet street. Irene blushed and flicked her eyes away. "I mean it, love." He paused to kiss her cheek. 

"Digsusting." Ophelia tried to say, which made both of her parents chuckle. 

"I think you have been spending far too long with your uncle," Kai said firmly. Sure Vale usually resigned himself to huffs, sighs, and eye rolls, but there was the odd occasion when he'd snapped at them to stop acting like 'lovesick teenaged idiots.' He wasn't entirely wrong. Kai would consider himself lovesick. And Irene would consider Kai to be an idiot at times.

"Do you want to see the sea again little one?" Kai asked, reaching over to tap Ophelia on the nose. 

"Beach?" 

"Not right now. We're going on a boat!" Irene nearly laughed at how excited Kai sounded, his voice was filled with childish joy that brought fresh light to his sea-blue eyes. In London the people were prim and proper, here things were a little more relaxed and Kai was taking the opportunity to be as affectionate as he could, which was making him even happier. 

Irene wasn't usually one for boats, it wasn't that she got seasick, it was the fact that, if she fell overboard, she'd almost definitely drown, sinking down and down into the deep blue, unable to breathe, losing consciousness. Dying. Maybe she was being a little dramatic, but also, maybe she should learn how to swim properly. Maybe. 

Ophelia did not share her mother's caution and instead, her father's reckless abandon and more than once, Kai had pulled her away from the railings of the small boat with a stern warning about her falling overboard. She was not listening though and eventually; he gave up and looked to Irene for help. She joined them, trying to not look into the sea, and grabbed Ophelia's hand, Kai took the other one. 

"We need to be careful Ophelia," Irene said. "We don't want to fall in now, do we?" 

"We do." Ophelia replied and Irene bit back a sigh. 

"No, we don't. Because if you fall in, you can't go paddling at the beach later. So, which will it be?" That worked and she spent the rest of the trip a lot calmer, coming away from the railing as soon as Kai or Irene called her back. 

Irene didn't feel the prickling sensation of being watched until they were back at the hotel, in the restaurant, eating dinner. Kai had felt it too, stiffening as someone's eyes bored into their little family. His movement faltered for a second before he recovered. Irene noticed his sudden stillness before he returned to normal movement. He put his hand on the back of her chair before leaning close to whisper in her ear in a movement so easily misconstrued as a lover’s whisper and not a warning. 

"Someone is watching us." 

"I know." She replied in an equally low voice. "They'll know that we know that they are watching if we try and look." 

"I'll be back in a moment my love." He said in a normal voice again, touching her shoulder as he stood up. "I think I left my wallet in the room. I won't be a moment." Good thinking. That meant he could look at whoever it was without it looking strange. Irene forced herself to focus on Ophelia, to distract herself from the feeling of dread in her stomach. She leant over to cut some of the girl's food into smaller pieces, grateful that the restaurant was child-friendly when so many places in London were not, though, she supposed, if you bill yourself as a great hotel for holidaymakers, you should be prepared for an unruly toddler or two. Ophelia was blissfully unaware, with mashed potato around her mouth making Irene smile in spite of herself as she leant over to wipe it off with a napkin.

"Whatever shall I do with you, my messy little girl?" Irene cooed. Ophelia grinned, her blue eyes twinkling in the lamplight. 

"Bubbles." Ophelia replied, in a very matter-of-fact tone that made Irene laugh. Her father's child through and through. 

"A bath. An excellent idea." Irene said. "And what else before bed?" 

"Cot Hoclate? And book." 

"Cot Hoclate and a book, that I think we can manage," Irene said, she looked up as Kai sat down again. "Ophelia wants a cot hoclate before bed tonight." He blinked, staring at her with blank eyes. 

"What is a cot hoclate?" He asked. "Am I missing something." Irene laughed, leaning in to kiss his cheek. 

"It's a hot chocolate, love." She said, and Kai chuckled. 

"Oh, so it is." He said, smiling. Irene flicked her eyes over her shoulder and then back to Kai's face. "Pale eyes?" She nodded. "Let's get the check once we're finished, we can get them to bring dessert upstairs if we want some, along with the cot hoclate."

"After Ophelia has had a bath," Irene said, Kai arched a brow, expecting Ophelia to protest. "She asked for one." Ophelia liked playing in the water, but she did not like getting into the water, she hated getting out of the water and she screamed if she thought that even a little bit of soap got into her eyes. She usually let Kai handle bath times whilst she tackled bedtime and persuading Ophelia to eat food that she didn't like. Like broccoli. 

They finished quickly and Kai got the bill before they headed upstairs, his hand on the small of her back, Ophelia in her arms. Irene took the time to take a gander at whoever had been watching them and it was indeed the man that had been at the beach. He was back again and watching them. She swallowed, feeling tense across her back, she was not going to sleep well tonight. 

Ophelia was quiet upstairs, she seemed as on edge as her parents, picking up on their reeling emotions as Kai played with her, waiting for the bath to run for her. 

"Mama?" Ophelia asked as Irene rubbing shampoo into her brown curls. "Something wrong." 

"What is wrong little one?" Irene asked softly. 

"Don't know." Ophelia was grumpy at the fact that she didn't know. "Don't like." 

"Everything will be okay," Irene said. "Let's rinse your hair off and get you all nice and warm for bed. Papa has a storybook especially for you." Ophelia was fidgeting as Irene rinsed the soap out of her hair, not wanting to sit still, splashing around in the water, not quite playing but seemingly distracting herself from… Something. From whatever it is that she could sense. 

Kai was waiting with the waiting requested hot chocolate and story, as well as two glasses of wine and a piece of chocolate cake sat on a small plate with two forks. Ophelia crawled up to sit on his lap and he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close and tight, kissing her on the temple. Ophelia wrapped her arms around him too, tiny hands grabbing fistfuls of his shirt in a tight grasp. He ran his hand up and down her back over and over until she finally released him. 

"What's wrong my little one?" He asked her, softly pinching her cheek. "Is something the matter?" 

"My skin is itchy." She said. "Under my skin…" Kai glanced up at Irene. 

"You know how I'm a bit different from your mama?" He asked and she nodded. "You're a bit like me. Sometimes something sets off your other senses that can make you feel like this." 

"Don't like it." She said, shaking her head, neatly braided hair thwipping around. "Make it stop." 

"I'm sorry, I can't." He said, brushing his fingers over her cheek. "I wish that I could. But when you're so young, it can be hard to tune out." 

"I get scales?" 

"Maybe? One day you may get them." He'd shown her his half-human form before so that she wouldn't be scared if she ever saw it accidentally. "When you're older perhaps." 

"Mmkay." She hummed, resting her forehead on his chest. "Book now." 

"Say please." 

"Book now." Irene cleared her throat, to be honest, it was probably the only thing that stopped Kai from laughing. "Now...please?"

"Good enough." Irene relented, throwing herself down to sit by Kai, her head on his shoulder. 

"Drink your hot chocolate and listen to the story." 

"I know who that man is," Kai said, Ophelia asleep on his lap as he and Irene nursed glasses of wine and ate the occasional forkful of chocolate cake. "He's a dragon." 

"I thought he might be," Irene said. "Ophelia can sense him because he's like you." Kai nodded. "Do you have any idea why he might be here?"

"He worked for my uncle last time I saw," Kai said. "Ao Ji. I checked with the front desk, the first train to Marseille is at ten tomorrow I want us on it, and back home as soon as we can." Irene's throat felt like it was constricting. 

"There's plenty of libraries in Marseille. I can take us through into the Library, they'll need to know if something is going on, and… Maybe it will be a good thing to tell your father that he was here, we may be able to go straight to whatever world he is in if a Librarian has been in contact recently, or in a world he's been in. We usually hear about those kinds of things."

"That's a good idea. Ao Ji wouldn't dare attempt to strike at us if we are with my father." 

Ophelia slept in their bed that night, curled up between them, her head on Irene's chest, Irene holding her daughter close, like she thought the world was going to rip her away. She was fiercely protective of Ophelia, rivalling Kai's draconic possessiveness with her own brand of something just as strong. She hated to be away and even though she'd returned to Library work just before Ophelia's first birthday (she'd spent her first assignment back sick with worry that something would go wrong at home and her distractibility had led to her getting injured) she had yet to go away for more than one night at a time, refusing any assignments that would take her from her family for more than forty eight hours at most. She'd pushed it to fifty-odd a couple of times but had come home exhausted from pushing herself so hard to get home, and on those few days, she'd slept in Ophelia's room. 

She was scared that she'd lose another baby, even if Ophelia wasn't a baby anymore, she was Irene's baby and she didn't care if she was technically a toddler. Losing a child she had never had the chance of knowing had been a hellish experience that had torn her heart. To lose one that she had birthed and fed and loved for two years? She had nightmares about it, even if she wouldn't admit how bad they were, Kai knew that they were awful and often enough that Irene could describe the recurring terror from memory, without even thinking about it too hard. 

###

“Beach?” Ophelia asked Irene, holding up the stuffed rabbit she always had for Irene to pack away. 

“Sorry little one, we are going to visit your grandfather today.” That made Ophelia smile. “And maybe Nana and Grandpa too, if we are lucky, they will be in the Library.” Ophelia had yet to actually go into the Library except for when she had been a bay, which she, of course, could not remember. Instead, Irene’s mother and father had come to visit them in Vale’s world a couple of times. As had Ao Guang, an experience that had shocked Irene, though he was considerably more… down to earth than she had been expecting, it had somehow managed to be an almost casual visit, except for the obvious pair of bodyguards. 

Kai had refused his father’s offer of his own security personal, not wanting anyone around who may report back on his personal life, but also because he felt that it was going too far and completely unnecessary. He was beginning to think that that had been a mistake. He’d do anything to keep Ophelia safe, maybe looking into having someone around to ensure that safety wouldn’t be too bad of an idea. 

“Are you all ready to go?” Kai asked. Irene shut the case lid and snapped the catches shut. 

“All done,” Irene said. “Let’s go and get that train.” She nearly said ‘and go home’ but at some point, ‘home’ had stopped being the Library and had become their London home, she didn't dwell on that thought, except for the lingering idea that, yes, it was nice to have a constant in her life and that she would fight until her last breath to keep them safe. 

Kai grabbed the case from her hand and Irene held Ophelia's hand out of their suite, and out of the hotel. The man had been there when they had gone to get breakfast, further cementing the idea that they had to leave as soon as they possibly could. Sadly, there were no cabs and they had to walk to the station, it was only fifteen minutes away, what should have been a beautiful walk along the coastal road, watching and listening to the sea, maybe lingering to find a couple more shells to take home as souvenirs. 

Ophelia had accrued a collection of a lot of shells, Irene and Kai had begged her to leave some behind, she’d left some at the beach and kept ten that she deemed the prettiest, insisting that they were to show unca’ Vale because he’d like them. Irene and Kai weren't sure if he would ‘like’ them, but he would humour the girl at the very least. Irene had carefully packed them into the bag so that they wouldn't break, having first washed the sand off them. 

"Irene, pick Ophelia up," Kai said, his voice grew tense. Irene didn't even hesitate to obey, picking Ophelia up and holding her close to her chest. Ophelia did not complain, she made a small whining noise before wrapping her arms around Irene and tucking her head against Irene's jaw. Irene had a knife in her boot, but she was useless whilst holding Ophelia like this. 

She glanced back over her shoulder, the back of her neck was burning like she had caught the sun. There were two men on the street behind them, one was the pale-eyed man, and he was joined by something else. 

"I don't like it, mama." Ophelia whimpered. "I want it to stop." 

"I'll keep you safe little one," Irene said. "I promise you." Earlier the sea had been crashing onto the sand, but now it was eerily quiet, she looked at Kai, his eyes were a livid red. "Kai?" 

"No one will hurt either of you, you have my word on that. Come on, let's walk along the sand." He tried a smile, but it was forced and pure fakery. 

Irene nodded, she could already think of half a dozen things that Kai could do, the beach was wide enough that he could shift without causing property damage like he'd done in Paris years ago, even if that had technically been Alberich's fault, he could also control the sea to do something to defend them. 

She heard a rush of footsteps and a click. "Gun jam!” She shouted, not wanting to take the chance in case he was armed with something. Judging by the curse, one of the men, or both, had been. 

"Go!" Kai dropped the case, urging Irene into a run, which was hard on the sand, but she hiked up her skirts with her free hand and ran toward the frothing sea, as waves lapped up onto the sand, getting faster and faster as if whipped up into a frenzy. The water was about to hit her toes, Kai hadn't specified if he wanted her to run into the sea but there wasn't exactly anywhere else to run when it parted at her feet, and she kept running. There was a crack and a roar, two in fact and Ophelia was screaming and screaming. The waves rose around them to above Irene's head, but they did not fall down again as she stopped and turned back to the shore. 

The pale-eyed man and Kai had both shifted into the draconic forms and winged through the skies, clashing over and over as a storm began to brew. The remaining light glinted off scales, Kai a rich sapphire blue, like the sea on a clear day. The other was silver and was probably the reason why the wind was rising, and it was bitterly cold. Kai roared, trying to catch the other dragon in his claws, his fury clear as the waves churned and Irene looked up in panic, wondering what would happen if Kai were to get hurt, or distracted. Would the water crash down on them? Sweep them out to sea, caught in a tide strong enough to drag them under and away? 

###

Kai normally enjoyed the warmth that flooded his body when he transformed, warm all over from nose to the very tip of his tail. But he didn't this time, launching himself straight into a fight, attacking before the glow of the shift had even faded, though he could use it to his advantage as they had shifted too as soon as he'd started the change, he felt disoriented and off-kilter. 

But he wasn't about to take this insult, this threat to his family. How dare they? How dare someone try to harm his Irene? His Ophelia? 

They would pay for this, with their very lives if it came to that. 

His claws tried to find purchase on scaled hide, scraping over it and leaving shallow gouges, unable to breach it and do much more damage than just the scratches. He pulled away, wings spread as he gained altitude, circling them, before he brought his wings in close to him and hurtling down to attack them, not giving much forethought to what'd happen to him. 

The attack knocked them both out of the air and they both hit the sand. 

###

Irene watched Kai climb through the air and suddenly drop, a scream caught in her throat. Ophelia was still screaming, the sound ringing through her skull. 

"Put the girl down and neither of you get hurt." Irene had been so caught up that she'd missed the second man approaching. She tightened her grip on Ophelia. 

"If you want my daughter, you will have to take her from me," Irene growled, it was a struggle, but she managed to free her knife from her boot, and she flicked the blade open, holding it with practised ease, confident in its sharpness. The man laughed. "You have no idea what I can do." And, clearly, no idea what a mother is willing to do to protect her child. "Tell me who sent you here and why and I may let you walk away from here with your life." 

"Ao Ji." He sneered. That confirmed it. He must have been a human servant; he lacked the natural elegance of a dragon. The other must have carried him here. Unless there were more dragons around, but Kai would have surely noticed that. "Asked us to find a way to destroy the treaty, taking your kid seemed a good bargaining chip." 

"He didn't instruct you to take her?" 

"Nah, all our plan." He said, he sounded pleased with himself, a realisation that made Irene's temper spike and her patience completely drain away. 

"Shut your eyes Ophelia and keep them shut until I say you can open them again," Irene said softly. Ophelia pressed her face against the shoulder of Irene's dress, dampened with sea spray. "Call him off." She ordered. "We'll let you walk away, besides, Ao Ji will certainly punish you, we do not have to do that, but he may let you live, my partner will never be so kind as to allow that, not when you have threatened us and tried to take his kin.” 

"What makes you think I'm going to give up?" 

“Man’s bootlaces, tie yourself together.” Had Kai been next to her that would probably have ended badly but he wasn't even wearing shoes, nor was he within range of her voice. She quickly put Ophelia on the soft sand, she curled in on herself, crying loudly. Irene prayed that when she was older, Ophelia would have no memory of this day. 

The man scrabbled to release his laces but Irene all but pounced on him, her knife pressed to his carotid artery. "I have a message that you can either pass along for me, or I will write it on your corpse." 

###

Claws ripped through scaled hide as Kai's claws finally found purchase, finding gaps in scales and sinking in deep. The cry of the other dragon shook the earth and hurt. He pulled back, having no desire to kill him, just maim him, and question him. And then maybe kill him? But certainly not in view of Ophelia or Irene. 

Satisfied that this one wouldn't be moving for a while, he turned to look for them and his eyes widened. In her hysterical panic, Ophelia must have managed to open a parting into the sea, to protect her and Irene! He was torn between pride for his little one and feeling horrified that she was so young and had been shoved into a position that this was necessary. 

But the wall was faltering, threatening to collapse in on them at any moment as waves jerked uncontrollably. He threw himself into flight again with a flap of his wings, flying out over the sea and down to them. Irene looked up, the second man was on the floor in front of her, Ophelia behind her. 

And then the water dropped. 

Irene threw herself toward Ophelia, grabbing her and wrapping herself around her, hoping that it would be enough to protect her. Ophelia had passed out, still and limp in her mother's arms as the waves came crashing down, but they never hit. 

Irene looked up with wide eyes. Kai had thrown himself down, curling himself around them and spreading his wings above them, protecting them as the water crashed around them. She was nestled safely against Kai's chest as she breathed heavily, almost crying with relief. 

They were safe.

"Climb on. I'm holding the waves back." Kai's voice rumbled through her body. "I'll carry us straight to my father." It was hard to climb onto his back with Ophelia unconscious in her arms, but she managed it. "She's never going to forgive us if I don't go back for the rabbit, will she?" 

"Definitely not," Irene said, struggling to find a grip on him with his scales dripping wet, glistening brightly as the sun began to break through the sudden cloud storms again. "Are you able to grab the case?" 

"Yes, just make sure you have a tight grip of Ophelia," Kai said as he rose up into the air. "Is she alright?" 

"She's asleep." 

"That's probably why the water started to collapse," Kai said, lazily winging his way back to the case before scooping it up in a clawed hand. 

"That was her?" Irene asked in tones of shock, focusing on Ophelia, keeping one arm wrapped around her tightly, the other reached out to wind her hand into Kai's mane. "How?" 

"She must have panicked and done whatever she could to protect you," Kai explained, gaining height. 

He folded his wings close to his body. "I'm not sure if I should be proud of her or deeply disturbed." 

"I hope that she won't remember it," Irene said, clenching her jaw and bracing herself for their travel between the worlds. "I've got her held tightly. I think we'll be safe to leave." Kai's body rumbled beneath her as he roared and opened a tear into the sky, before plunging through it. 

###

Irene's legs were trembling as she slid off Kai, they gave out beneath her and she fell to the grassy ground. Ophelia was coming around now, it had been a couple of hours, and was blinking at Irene. "You're okay," Irene said softly, pressing her cheek to Ophelia's. "I've got you little one. I've got you. I love you." Ophelia grasped onto her sea-soaked dress. Her whole body was shaking. "We're all safe. It's okay. I promise you." 

"Here. Are you alright?" She felt someone's hand on her back, and she looked up, Ao Guang was knelt next to her, offering to help her to her feet. She could feel herself shaking and was grateful for the help. Kai was human again now, breathing deeply and showing signs of injury, thin lines of red blood showing through his clothes, down his arms and across his cheek. He wobbled before steadying himself and stepping forward to take Irene in his arms. 

"What happened?" Ao Guang's tone was entwined in power, demanding a response. 

"Ao Ji," Irene said slowly. "Can you get Ophelia her bunny?" She said to Kai, hoping that would help to calm her. "He wanted to find a way to break the treaty, two of his servants decided that taking Ophelia hostage would be a good place to start." She swallowed. "They were trying to take her away from us." 

"You're here now. You will be safe here." Ao Guang said. Kai was about to ease Ophelia out of Irene's arms, but she shook her head, so instead, he gave Ophelia the stuffed rabbit and wrapped his arm around Irene's waist so that she could lean on him. "Come inside. You can wash up and get some rest. I will send people to investigate what has happened." He snapped his fingers and a servant retrieved their case. "Follow me." Normally Irene would have been distracted by beautiful architecture and the paintings and statues, but she was tired and sore and wet. She just wanted to be able to get her and Ophelia showered off, clean up Kai's cuts, and crawl into bed to sleep. 

The rooms that he led them to were decorated in deep blue and silver. "A servant will bring you anything that you need." Ao Guang said, waving his hand to a woman waiting silently by the door, she bowed her head. "I will get to the bottom of this attack and threat to your family." 

Irene turned to the woman once the dragon king was gone. "Can you bring us some first aid supplies? Antiseptic, cotton pads and… She looked Kai over. "Butterfly stitches and bandages?" The woman gave her a half bow. 

"Of course ma'am." She said, leaving in a click of heels on the floor. 

Someone brought them dinner that night and they ate in near silence. They hadn't seen Ao Guang since he had led them to their room. Ophelia had been quiet the whole time, but she didn't seem to be showing any adverse effects from the attack, at least none that they had noticed. She was quiet most days, unless very excited or wanting their attention. So it wasn't too unusual for her to sit quietly, playing with her rabbit, or listening to her parents read books to her. 

Irene had cleaned Kai's cuts up whilst he sat on the bathroom floor, Ophelia in the bath at the same time, Irene didn't want either of them to be out of her sight if she could help it. And again she slept in their bed that night, curled up between them, clinging like she was scared someone would take her from them. 

###

"Are you sure that returning home is a wise idea?" Ao Guang asked Kai as the two walked together down a garden path, Irene and Ophelia were sat on a stone bench, under the shadow of a tree. "Perhaps you should stay here, all three of you." Kai shook his head. 

"Irene and I talked about this." He said. "Ophelia is going to stay with Irene's parents for a week or so, we are thinking of looking into increased security and working on that. If he wants to ruin the treaty, two of the ambassadors cannot hide when we can stop him." 

"I will see to it that he stops this folly." Ao Guang said. "You have said no before. But I wish to send people with you to ensure your safety. You won't even know that they are there if you chose for that." Kai nodded. "I'll see to that. Will Ophelia be kept in the Library with Irene's mother and father?" 

"Yes. I was trying to convince Irene to stay with them as well, she may for one or two nights but she wants to make sure that the house is secure. It's our home and neither of us want to give that up. We won't be scared by this threat. We have taken them on once and come out on top. We can do it again."

"Does Ophelia know what she did? What she can do?" Ao Guang asked, looking to his grandchild. She was smiling, babbling to her mother about the flowers near to them, and idly playing with a few leaves in her hands. 

"No. I don't believe that she does." Kai said. "She'd shown minimal signs of any affinity until the attack and I don't think she even knew what she was doing it at the time. Irene said that she was hysterical, seemingly unaware of what was going on, other than knowing that she didn't like it. I have no intention of telling her what happened. She's young, hopefully it will all feel like a bad dream. "

"And if it doesn't?" Kai sighed. 

"If it doesn't… I Don't know what we will do. Seek therapy for her? Move away? I don't know yet. Irene and I will have to discuss it in the future. Whatever that may hold." Ao Guang clasped his shoulder. 

"Come to me." He said. "If anything happens, bring her, and Irene here. I will keep them safe and well." 

"Thank you, Father." 

     ###

Locks were changed on the front and back door, as well as on the windows in the entire house. They had someone, a security specialist, provide them, he promised that they were amongst the hardest locks to break open, and there were two locks and a deadbolt on the front and back doors, making it even harder for someone to get access.

Ao Guang sent three of his servants to keep an eye on them, Kai sorted that out whilst Irene was with Ophelia and her parents, he had persuaded her to go back after she’d spent the night in Vale’s world tossing and turning, unable to sleep. He had stayed behind to make sure that they had everything sorted out.

Someone would always be watching the house at all times, and if they felt like they needed it, someone could escort them when they went about their daily lives, Kai didn’t think that would be necessary for the most part.

Things would get a little tricky when Ophelia needed to go to school. That was several years away in the future, but he had his mind set on either a private school, or a private tutor. Anything to ensure that she was kept safe at all times. He knew that Irene would love to be able to home school her, whether that was Irene’s trust issues showing, her fierce protectiveness, or just because it would be similar to her own bringing, he wasn’t sure.

Vale recommended a few different things for their security, Kai had gone to him and asked how criminals could get into their house, before and after the changes in security. He had recommended being more careful when they go out, switching transport once or twice when returning home, and took Kai out to get his own sword cane, one with a secure catch on it so that Ophelia could not hurt herself if she tried to play with it. He also got Irene a new knife whilst they were out.

When Irene and Ophelia returned, Irene set Ophelia and their small case on the floor before she slid her arm around the back of Kai’s neck and pulled him close into a soft kiss. She was exhausted and when his hands settled on her hips, his lips against hers, she could have collapsed against him.

“I’ve got you.” Kai said, sliding his hands across her back and bracing her against his body. “Have you slept since I last saw you?” He pressed his face into her hair, breathing in the scent of dust and paper and ink, the smell of the Library always lingered on her clothes and in her hair, and he absolutely loved it.

“A few hours.” She whispered. “I don’t like being away from you. I did have Ophelia sleeping in my bed, which helped a little bit, but it isn’t the same.” Ophelia yawned loudly and he smiled, glad to have his family home with him again.

“Let’s get both of you into bed.” He said. “I am glad that you are home again. I love you.”

Chapter Text

“She has grown so much, it’s hard to believe how little she used to be.” Irene said in almost rapture, sat on the floor of the nursery, she watched Ophelia, standing on shaking legs, use the bars of her cot to cling to.

"She'll probably start walking soon." Kai said with a sigh. "We need to put something at the top of the stairs, so that she can't fall down and hurt herself." Irene nodded, she was crawling a lot but chances were, she was in a room with a shut door, or she was downstairs, where there were no stairs for her to fall down. Now that she was standing...

"I can't believe that she's one next month." Irene said softly. "The year has gone by so fast. Its so hard to believe that she's gone from that tiny, six pound baby to... I am not sure, maybe triple that?" Kai smiled, leaning over to tuck a strand of Irene's hair behind her ear. "Oh, she'll start talking soon too."
"Probably." Kai said. "She's already trying to call you mama all the time. I haven't heard her try and say papa yet."

"I have." Irene said. "Whenever she wants you and you're not in the room." She leant against him. They were both sat on the floor, so that they could watch her together. Kai smiled.
"She's so precious. The best thing in my life by far." He said. "No offence."

"I'd say the exact same thing." She said. "Worth every scrap of hardship we've had to go through to get here." She turned to him and smiled, and Kai kissed her softly. "Come on, we should get her ready for bed. You find us a story, and I will get her changed."

Chapter Text

"You made cookies?" Kai asked as he entered the kitchen, there was a tray of them cooling by the window, and more in a jaw. Irene smiled, and nodded.

"I did. I... May have eaten seven of them already." She looked down. Kai laughed before he wrapped his arms around her, holding her as tightly as he could with a seven month baby bump between them. "They're pretty good for a first attempt. They have cinnamon in them."

"Cravings?" He asked and she shook her head. "Just hungry then."

"Pretty much." She said, with a shrug. "One I ate when they first came out, to see how they tasted. The second one was because I had burnt my mouth and couldn't actually taste the first one." He snorted. "Then one for a cup of tea. And then four more. They are really good whilst still a little warm." He kissed her forehead before releasing her to steal one off the tray.

Kai had spent the day out with Vale and honestly, the thought of coming home to Irene and freshly baked cookies was enough to keep him happy for a week.

"No, the pregnancy cravings came this morning when I found myself really wanting to eat coconut. Which, you can't easily get in this world." He took a bite out of the cookie and smiled around his mouthful. "I baked the cookies because I was bored and also because I was upset that I couldn't have coconut. I don't even like it, but it's all that I could think about!" She ran her hand over her stomach. "I do not like these pregnancy hormones. I'm either happy or I'm crying at something really stupid. Like coconut."

"This is surprisingly good." Kai said before taking another bite. "I'm tempted to eat seven too, but I don't have an excuse. 

"What do you mean surprisingly?"

"Irene, love of my life," He set his hand on her hip. "I mean this in the nicest way possible, but, you can't cook to save your life. I love you, but there's a reason why I do the cooking, and it's not just because I really like cooking."

"I hate you." She muttered, but she leant against him. Kai put his hand under her jaw and tilted her head up before kissing her, he tasted like cinnamon, it burnt on his lips.

"You'll get over it. I'll make you dinner, and I think I know where to find you coconut." Her eyes went wide and he chuckled again. "There's my beautiful Irene." 

Chapter Text

"One little shoe. Two little shoe. All ready to go." Vale said, Ophelia smiled and giggled before she jumped off the chair and held her hand out to him. He looked at Irene and Kai. "We'll be less than an hour." He said, more to assure Irene than anything. "And we are just going to be at the park down the road, just in case." She nodded.

"Stay safe." Irene said. "And hold her hand the whole time." He chuckled and nodded.

"Of course I will." He said. "She's safe with me Winters." Kai reached over to take Irene's hand and squeeze it.

"Behave for your uncle, Ophelia." Kai said and she nodded. "And have fun. We'll be here when you get back." She waved them goodbye and then they were gone. "She will be fine Irene." Kai turned to Irene and cupped her cheek. "You should go and get some rest. You know, we are going to have to tell her soon."

"She's four." Irene said, waving him off. He was right though, she did feel tired. "She wouldn't understand."

###

"So... There was a slight issue at the park." Vale said slowly. Kai looked up from his work and Ophelia had already gone running off to inevitably wake Irene. "Turns out, Phe is really bad at saying duck. Before you say anything, I did not teach her it. She just started... Shouting it."

Irene came running down the stairs. "You taught my daughter to swear?" She hissed. Shutting the study door, she turned to Vale with furious eyes. He stepped back, throwing his hands up in surrender.

###

Fifteen minutes earlier...

"Say goodbye to the ducks, Phe." Vale said, still holding her hand like he had promised Irene. Ophelia waved at the ducks in the pond.

"Bubye fucks!" She looked up at him and grinned, her front tooth a little wobbly. "Can we feed the fucks again?"

"The ducks."

"Fucks."

###

Kai laughed and Irene smacked his shoulder. "It isn't funny!"

"'Rene love... Its a little funny."

"She just came running up to wake me up to tell me about the," she lowered her voice, "fuck pond." He snorted and even Vale was trying to not chuckle. "Great. We have a foul mouthed four year old."

"I'm sure she'll learn how to say it properly." Kai said. "It's probably just because she's losing her baby teeth. Or as you pointed out, because she's four." At that moment, Ophelia pushed the door open and thrust a stuffed animal at Irene.

"Look mama. Fuck!" 

Chapter Text

"Mama play." Ophelia said, crossing her arms and pouting as she looked up at Irene.

"I'm sorry little one, I need to get this work done." Irene said softly. "I can play once I'm finished." Ophelia furrowed her brows and Irene wasn't sure if she should consider it adorable or drink the rest of her water before she could throw a temper tantrum. She stomped off before Irene could decide, she reached for the glass anyway, watching as she made her way to Kai's side of their office.

"Papa. Play." Her voice was hard but she was verging onto tears. Kai, knowing that Irene would get as upset as Ophelia if a tantrum occurred, sighed and set his pen down. He picked her up and sat her on his lap.

"Ophelia. Your mother and I love you very much. But we need to finish our work before we can play with you."

"Why?"

"Do you remember meeting your grandfather? My father?" She nodded, it had only been a few months ago that they'd last seen Ao Guang after all, for her second birthday. "My father is one of the dragon Kings. He's very important, and he's given me a task, and I need to complete it."

"But why?"

"Because we have an agreement with your mama's people, and your uncle Silver's. We have to maintain that agreement, and there's work that comes with it."

"Bad." Ophelia said and leant her head on his chest. "Want to play now."

"We can't." Kai said. "And it's not all bad remember? Remember how you managed to make the water move around for you?" She nodded. "That's because you're like me." At first they'd thought that she showed no sign of affinity. And then suddenly water was all over the kitchen. Turns out that it was just... Temperamental, Kai was working on that though. "And maybe one day you'll be able to travel through words like me."

"What about mama?" She asked, she seemed to be a little more content now.

"I'm a Librarian." Irene said. "It's why sometimes I have to go away."

"She has to save the world." Kai said with a grin. Irene shook her head.

"You know your picture books?" She said and Ophelia grinned. "I go and find books. So that we can help the worlds. I have to do my research for that right now." Ophelia slid off Kai's legs and returned to Irene, who sat her on the edge of her desk, moving her inkwell well out of her reach.

"See?"

"Maybe one day you can come to work with me." She said. "But it's dangerous, and I want to keep up nice and safe, with your father." She cupped Ophelia's chubby cheeks. "So sometimes, your father and I have to work, and you have to play alone, but we will play with you, as soon as we are finished. Do you understand?" She sucked on her thumb, and nodded, Irene pulled her hand out of her mouth. "Good girl." She kissed her forehead before looking at the work she still had to get through. "Why don't you go and do that new jigsaw puzzle papa brought you? And once that is done, you can set up a tea party, and your papa and I will join you." Ophelia nodded and Irene lifted her off the desk and put her on the floor, she immediately ran off to her room.

"How did you know about the puzzle?" Kai asked. "I thought I'd snuck it past you."

"You've never managed to successfully do that." Irene said, shaking her head and smiling. "I just let you spoil her rotten." 

Chapter Text

"You want to smile for me?" Kai asked, Ophelia was laying on her back in her crib. Irene was in the bath, he'd insisted that she take an hour or so, before Ophelia needed to be fed again, to herself, and that he'd keep the baby happy and occupied. "You want to smile for your..." He could not decide on what word to use. Father was too formal, and he wasn't particularly fond of daddy. Maybe Baba, like he called his father when he was a very young boy. "Smile for your papa." If Irene used Mama, it was a good match.

She did not smile for him, but she did reach a small hand up, reaching for him and he held his hand out to her too. Her fingers wrapped around his index finger, holding it tightly. He smiled before leaning down to kiss her hand. She released him and now with two free hands, he lifted her out of the cot to cradle her close to his chest.

"Come on Sweet one." He said softly, almost cooing to her. "Give me a smile so I can rub it in your mama's face when she gets out of the bath." She was more interested in pulling on the collar of his shirt as he carefully sat down in the rocking chair. He pulled her hand off before laying her on his legs. Now that she wasn't wrapped up in blankets, she kicked her little legs and with a grin, he gently grabbed one, running his finger over the sole of her foot, she burnt into a peel of laughter and Kai could have sworn that his heart melted.

"Who's my precious little girl?" He asked her and she laughed again as he poked his tongue out. "Are you my precious little girl?" He tickled her feet again and she kicked his hands. "It's you!" She clapped her hands together and laughed. He lifted her up and peppered her face with little kisses, loving the sound of her giggling. He kissed her chubby cheek before laying her back down on his legs so that he could look at her.

"I love you so much." He said, she was staring at him with fascinated eyes, wide and unwavering, the same inky blue as his own, framed with long lashes. "You are the most important thing in my life. You and your mama. The best things that ever happened to me." She smiled and he laughed. "Ah, finally a smile for your papa? You precious little thing."

"I could stand here and watch you all day." Irene's hair was still wet and stuck to her skin as she leant on the door jamb, wrapped up in her dressing gown. She was smiling. "You are absolutely perfect."

"Ah, no, the perfect one would be her mother." 

Chapter Text

Irene shook her head and Kai sighed. "It's a few hours Irene. She won't even notice that we aren't here and if she does, Vale will be here. She'll be absolutely fine." He grabbed her shoulders. "Irene, we'll be back before she even needs to be fed again."

"I don't want to leave her." Irene said.

"She's three months old Irene, she will be fine." Kai tried to assure her but she didn't even come close to looking convinced. "Nothing is going to happen, she'll be with Vale. He's good with her, she'll be absolutely fine."

"What if something does happened though? I don't want to lose her too."

"You are still beating yourself up about the -"

"Yes." She interrupted before he could get the word out. "And before you say it, I know I'm being irrational, she's already here. That can't happen again. But I still worry that as soon as I let my guard down, I'll lose her."

"I do too." He said. "Vale will do everything he can to look after her. And maybe it will be good for you to get out of the house without worrying about her getting too cold in her pram, or if the pollution is getting to her or... You get the idea."

"I worry a lot." He kissed her forehead.

"I know you do. But come on Irene. Give me two hours, we'll have dinner and be back before you know it, she'll be asleep the whole time." She swallowed and nodded. "We can go?"

"She'll feed at seven, if Vale's here we can leave as soon as she's done. She shouldn't want to feed again until ten, but I want to be back before then, just in case." She'd been cluster feeding and it was hard to know when she was going to be hungry, and how long she'd feed for. Kai grinned.

"I'll let Vale know."

###

Irene was trying to relax and enjoy herself, the food was good and the company, Kai, was stellar. But her mind wandered. She knew that Vale was very good with Ophelia, he had frequently visited through out the pregnancy and after she'd been born. At three months old, Irene had taken to insisting that he was uncle Vale, his protests were more for show than anything else.

Kai got the check at quarter past eight and Irene got their coats for them. "Let's walk back." Kai said. "It's not far." He offered her his arm and she took it. "This was nice."

"It was." She said. "I love you Kai. But I miss Ophelia. Maybe next time we can put her to bed and then cook dinner together?"

"That does sound good." Kai said. "And I love you too. Let's get home to our daughter."

###

Irene scooped Ophelia up out of Vale's arms. "She's only been awake for ten minutes or so." He said. "She hadn't stirred since you left."

"Thank you." Kai said. "It was nice to have a few hours together." Irene cooed to Ophelia, running her fingers over her hair. "Maybe less nice for Irene."

"No it was nice. It was just hard to focus on you and not be thinking about her." She said, looking up at him. "Sorry Kai, but I think I prefer her."

"I know you do love." He said, leaning down to kiss her temple. Vale smiled, watching the small family for a moment before he made his exit. "Next time, dinner and we leave her upstairs." He promised her. "Maybe we'll try dinner again when she's a little older."

"Thank you for understanding."

"Thank you for trying." 

Chapter Text

Irene, 

That was quite possibly the last email your father and I, he read it over my shoulder as usual, had ever expected to hear from you. It was quite a shock to read. 

And to he honest, we aren't entirely sure what to think on the whole situation. The father cannot be a Librarian, you would tell us if he was. 

I'm not sure when you will see this, if you aren't spending much time within the Library, but hopefully you will see it soon. 

Mother and father 

You sounded unhappy with me, I hope that isn't the case. 

And of course he isn't a Librarian. Librarians can't have children together, I know. 

#

Irene sighed, staring at the computer screen, unsure of what she could say, what she should say. She laced her fingers together and tried to decide if she was tired of the back and forth, of the lies; if she wished she could finally see her parents again; if she was hormonal; or if she genuinely had the right to be upset with her parents, and send them that email. 

#

Mother and father 

You sounded unhappy with me, I hope that isn't the case. Do you know if you will be able to come and visit me? Maybe this is the kind of thing that we should be discussing in person. 

Get back to me as soon as you can. 

Irene

Of course I'm happy! How far along are you?

Neither your father or myself are unhappy with you, it is just that we are surprised, you've never shown any sign of wanting to have children, so this was a conversation that we never expected to have.

I'll see if we can get a few days off to see you, but I don't know if it will happen, the plan right now is to be away for a month, we're going to be scouring the Paris catacombs.

Mother and father

On the day that I'm writing this I am sixteen weeks pregnant, though I'm not sure when you will see this. I'm into the second trimester and things look like they are going well right now, apparently I should be able to feel the baby moving in the next couple of weeks. 

I can't wait until I can, mainly because I do not trust the doctor when he says everything is fine. I'm worried that something will go wrong and whilst Kai tries to assure me that everything will be fine, I don't know if it will.

Mother and father

I hope your assignment has gone well.

We are starting to decorate the nursery today. You were right, this is the last thing that I ever thought I would be doing. It feels strange to be doing it, but I can feel the child moving, and often kicking me when I am trying to sleep, I think I trust the doctor when they tell me that they are healthy now.

We have quite the collection of stuffed animals building up. I think I have as much of a problem with buying those as I do books.

Looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Mother and father.

Is everything alright? I haven't heard from you in too long, I'm starting to worry.

Irene

When you say Kai...

You don't mean the Prince, do you? 

Chapter Text

"So we need a cot, drawers, shelves, changing table, for this little one to stop kicking me in the kidneys and a chair. Am I forgetting anything?" Kai smiled and took her hand.

"Toy chest." He said and she nodded. "And curtains." He wondered off, looking at different options. Irene stood by the shelves of stuffed animals. She reached out to pick up a white stuffed rabbit. She held it in two hands, squeezing it before she turned to look for Kai.

"We are getting this as well." She said upon finding him. He looked down at the toy and smiled.

"His first of many judging by the look on your face." Kai said, she smiled. "It's perfect for him."

"What makes you so convinced that we're having a boy?" Kai shrugged.

"I just think that we'll have a boy." He said. "Come on. I found the perfect moses basket, so he can sleep in our room got the first few weeks, and if we ever have to travel with him."

Chapter Text

Kai tried to soothe the girl, pacing up and down the hallway, bouncing her but no matter what he did, she wouldn't stop. When Vale knocked on the door he called out for him to let himself in. Vale winced when he heard the hysterics.

"What's wrong with her?" He asked, hanging up his coat and hat. Kai sighed.

"She's hungry. But Irene isn't here and she doesn't want to feed from a bottle. I can't get her to eat or calm down. Irene's not back until tonight if I'm lucky."

"What happened?"

"I don't know. She said it was an emergency, and she'd explain when she got back." Kai said and Vale nodded. "She didn't want to go. It's the first time since she was born. Irene is meant to be on leave for another six months!" Kai was getting frustrated with the whole situation.

"What are you trying to feed her? She's far too young for anything but milk." Vale said with a frown.

"We have some baby formula from a more high tech alternate." Kai explained. When Vale looked confused he carried on. "It's a powder that you mix with water, essentially everything in breast milk that a baby needs, minus the mother being there."

"Have you fed her it before?" Kai shook his head.

"We only got some incase Irene had any trouble feeding her." Kai  said.

"That's probably why she doesn't like it the, she isn't used to it." Vale gently picked the baby up out of his arms. "Go and mix a bottle, I'll see if I can get her to drink it." Kai reluctantly let him take her. And did so. When he returned, Vale was sat in the sitting room, when Irene usually sat. He gave him the bottle and Vale examined it.

"I would have thought Winters would have refused to leave." Vale said as he put the bottle to Opehelia's lips. She turned her face away, to scream against his chest. "She's incredibly protective."

"She is." Kai said. "But I don't think that Irene was given the opportunity to argue, or whatever she was told was very persuasive." He looked pained at the sounds of his daughter's screams. Vale reached into his pocket and withdrew a tiny stuffed cat and Opehelia's eyes went wide and she reached for it. Vale took the opportunity of her being calm to press the bottle to her lips again and she let him, starting to slowly suckle on it, before more eagerly feeding. Kai sighed, slumping in a chair.

"Thank you." He said tiredly. "I was going out of my mind."

"She just needed a distraction." Vale said, letting her take the toy from his hands, squeezing it. Kai looked at it. "I saw it at a market stall and thought she may like it." Kai chuckled. "Shut up." Vale say Ophelia up on his lap once she had finished the bottle. "Is that much better?" He asked, right as she coughed up milk all over his shirt. His eyes went wide as Kai laughed loudly.

"She does that a lot." Kai said, getting up to scoop her up and use his handkerchief to clean her face. He cooed at her and she clapped her hands. "Are you happy you spit up on your uncle?" He asked and she laughed. "I'll get you a clean shirt and you can use the shower."

"Thank you." He said. "She often does that?"

"You're meant to burp babies after feeding them, sometimes they spit up. You get used to it. And accept the fact that you have to do laundry three or four times a week." Kai said with a shrug. "Let's get you a new shirt, and Ophelia changed too. Hopefully, it's easy sailing from here on out." He had spoken too soon and ruined the whole day.

She didn't like having her nappy changed, and she didn't like the clean clothes Kai dressed her in. Both men took turns in carrying her around the house, she was a little quieter when moving then when she was still, but it wasn't much better. They managed to get her to drink another half bottle before she refused to drink any more. Vale's ideas had ended with managing to get her to take the first bottle.

Kai made dinner for them as Vale bounced Ophelia on his lap. Her screams slowly turned into cries, before whimpers and Kai looked over. "I think she is finally falling asleep." He said softly, before sighing as she sleepily blinked. She had Irene's eyes, soft brown, but her hair was black like Kai's it was still short and soft, but he hoped it would curl like Irene's did when she didn't want to tie it up. As a general rule, Ophelia was only in the next room at most. So he brought down her moses basket to lay her down to sleep in, and thankfully, she didn't start screaming when he put her down. Both men relaxed.

"I'm sorry for taking your day." Kai said, Vale shook his head.

"Glad I could help." He said. "Do you think she'll stay asleep?"

"Until she's hungry again." He said. "She usually feeds every three hours during the day, she has more in the evening and usually sleeps for about five or six hours at night now. Not quite all the way through but it means that Irene and I get a bit more rest now then six months ago when she was hungry every hour." He smiled down at her. "I can't believe how much smaller she was when she was when she was born. How much she has grown." She sneezed and he tensed for screams, but they didn't come. "It looks like she wore herself out." He remarked. "Maybe there is a god." Vale snorted. "I cannot wait for Irene to be home."

"Because Ophelia is calmer when she's around?"

"I am usually the one not here." Kai admitted. "But also because I miss her. I've been at her side nearly every day for over a year now, since we found out that she was expecting. I am pathetically co-dependent, and I love it." Vale shook his head.

"You too can be your typical married couple at some times."

"I suppose we are. Maybe we'll even get married at some point." 

Chapter Text

Ophelia wasn't the most talkative, she preferred to show and not tell, which usually worked pretty well. She stumbled into the study on little legs, and Kai looked up from his work. "Hello Princess." He said softly, she reached out to tug on his trouser leg. "Do you want to show me something?" She nodded, her thumb in her mouth, he and Irene had been trying to get her to stop doing that as it wasn't a great habit, but he let it slide this time and got up. She held her free hand up to him and he took it, letting her lead the way, tripping on the air but catching herself, out of the study and into her bedroom, opposite his and Irene's.

Ophelia had set up several of her stuffed animals, between Irene, who never thought that she'd be able to have children and was therefore willing to give her everything she wanted, Vale, who had softed quite a bit and regularly gifted her things that had caught his eye whilst working, and himself, she had quite the collection to chose from, ranging from the tiny cat that fit into her pocket, to the much larger tiger that Kai had got her for Christmas. The tiger, white rabbit and a pair of stuffed dogs sat around the tiny tea set that she had.

"Are we having a tea party?" Kai asked.

"Yes." She said, she released his hand and dropped to the floor, pulling the white rabit closer to her, she'd always slept with it nearby and regularly dragged it round the house by its ear. Only two and a half years old and Irene had repaired the poor toy countless times. Kai sat opposite her.

Kai and Irene often at in the study or sitting room drinking tea and if she was with them, they'd always pour her a cup of milk and it hadn't been long before she started trying to replicate it in her own little games. They'd brought the tea set after they'd heard her scream and raced downstairs to find her with a shattered tea cup and cut feet. Irene was already protective of the girl and she'd seemed all the more eager to keep her safe and within eyesight after that incident. Kai was a little more relaxed, but either way, she wasn't allowed into the kitchen or near the bath without them, and she was always on the same floor of the house as them, if not in the same room.

He watched as she poured the imaginary tea into the cups, before she grabbed a spoon to add sugar. "Princess, don't you think that six sugars is enough?" He asked with a laugh, she shook her head and he pondered just where her sweet tooth had come from. Finally, she passed them around. "You forgot the milk." Kai said, picking up the tiny jug between finger and thumb and going around the circle, pretending to add a little bit to each cup.

"Thank you papa." She said with a sweet little giggle. He smiled, he almost always did when she laughed. The only exception was when it was dark. Children laughing in the dark was always creepy.

Irene found the pair still sat on the nursery floor, surrounded by the animals, with Ophelia now on Kai's lap as they played with the toys. He looked up when he saw her before looking down at Ophelia again. "Are you going to say hello to mama?" He asked. Ophelia looked up and brightly grinned, dropping the rabbit to wave, before she picked it up again.

"Hello."

Chapter Text

A tired looking Kai answered the door when Vale knocked. "How are they?" Vale didn't bother with any preamble, Kai had sent him a message letting him know of the birth the morning after, so that they could have the evening to themselves.

"They're both doing really well." Kai said, shutting the door behind him. "Irene's quite tired still, and she complained of some pain earlier but she insisted that she was fine. We didn't get much sleep last night, new born are always hungry it would appear." He led the way upstairs, he'd left the bedroom door open and Irene was sat up against the pillows, she looked up and smiled at them.

"Good morning." She said.

"You look well." Vale said. "Given the circumstances."

"I feel well for the most part." She said. "Come round and meet our daughter."

"I told you that Strongrock was wrong." Vale said, shaking his head. He'd been adamant that they would have a girl, arguing against Kai's insistence that they would have a boy.  Vale came round the bed to Irene's side, the moses basket was on her chest of drawers so that the baby was within reach. She had had no experience holding a child before her own but she'd taken to it like a natural, which did confuse her because until a year and a half ago, she'd never had any wish to have her own child.

She held the child close, smiling down at her before looking up at Kai, who was watching with rapture. "Do you want to hold her?" She asked Vale. He nodded before sitting on the edge of the bed so that all she had to do was lean forward to carefully give her over.

"Did you pick a name for her already?" He asked. Irene nodded.

"She's called Ophelia." Vale smiled.

"Of course she is." 

Chapter Text

Tea. Bubble bath. Massage. Sex. None of them had worked in helping Irene get to sleep and Kai was running out of ideas and Irene was getting more and more irritable and emotional. Vale had accidentally made her cry the other day and it had been down hill from there.

"You should just go to sleep." Irene said, sitting on the edge of bed. "I'll read in the study, or something. Maybe sort out things in the nursery." It had been a joke before, one that Kai had started, that since she was carrying a half dragon, that maybe she wanted to nest like dragons did. She was starting to think that he was on to something, because there was only so many times that you could rearrange nightdresses and itty bitty socks that, yes, she'd cried over, before it was a touch ridiculous.

"No, I don't want to sleep if you aren't with me." Kai said, reaching out to touch her elbow. The issue was, other than her back being sore all the time, that Irene slept on her front and at six months pregnant, she couldn't exactly do that, there was too much baby in the way. "Just, try and get some sleep love. If not, we can go and organise those picture books you bought." She sighed and lay down again. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the back of her head. Twenty minute later, she was up again. Kai huffed and got up too.

"I'm sure I saw something in one of those pregnancy books you got about sleeping." He said. "I'm going to go and have a look. Why don't you have another cup of tea?"

"Because if I do, as soon as I'm asleep I will need the toilet." She said with a sigh. That was the other issue, staying asleep. If she did, something or other would wake her up all over again, usually Kai because turns out pregnancy involved snoring now, and that was keeping him awake.

She walked up and down their bedroom, her hands on the bump, at least the baby was quiet, they weren't intent on kicking her as hard as they could, clearly, that came from Kai. She couldn't really sing but apparently the baby could hear her and Kai, sometimes she'd read poetry out loud, sometimes she'd hum the old lullabies she remembered from when she was little.

Downstairs Kai threw himself down onto the couch to leaf through the books until he found was he was looking for. He could hear Irene moving around upstairs as he turned the pages. He snapped it shut again and grabbed a couple of the pillows that they kept thrown around and carried them upstairs.

"Apparently, if you sleep on your side with a pillow between your knees and under your stomach, it should make you more comfortable, and you'll sleep better." He said.

"Well, I'm willing to try anything at this point." She said with a sigh, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "I suppose this is just getting us ready for midnight feedings and nappy changing."

"I think we'll be able to get asleep in between the feeding though." He said. "Let's try this, and if not... I'm out of ideas. A bed time story perhaps?" She laughed and snatched the pillows out of his hand, positioning them like he'd said to. He got back into the bed, tucking her against his chest. "Maybe a lullaby will be better?" He sung lullabies in Chinese, ones that she did not know, usually whilst she lay on the couch and he sat on the floor next to her, excitedly holding his hands to her bump, waiting to feel a kick.

"Maybe?" She said, shutting her eyes and leaning her head on his chest.

"The moon is bright, the wind is quiet,

The tree leaves hang over the window.

My little baby, go to sleep quickly,

Sleep, dreaming sweet dreams.

The moon is bright, the wind is quiet,

The cradle moves softly.

My little one, close your eyes,

Sleep, sleep, dreaming sweet dreams." His voice was low and sweet and Irene could feel herself falling asleep by the third line. And by the end, she was fast asleep in Kai's arms. Snoring. 

Chapter Text

"Careful, don't get soap in her eyes." Irene said. They'd run the bathroom sink full of barely warm water, with a little soap. Irene was sat on the closed lid of the toilet, too exhausted to stay on her feet.

"I know love." He said softly. "Relax. I can do this." Ophelia cooed as he lay her in the water, keeping his hand under her head to support her. "I think she liked it." Irene pulled herself to her feet and leant on him. Ophelia certainly seemed happy, it was probably the longest she'd stayed awake for, when she wasn't being fed or changed that was and she'd fallen asleep midway through both of those activities multiple times!

"Maybe she takes after you." She said. They weren't sure how like Kai Ophelia would be, at a week old, there was no indicator that she was anything but a normal baby. Normal by Irene's standards. Not by Kai's. He would spend hours in the bath if she didn't yell at him to get out so she could wash to, and that time she used the language to open the door and proceed to toss cold water over him.

"Maybe. On the one hand, maybe it wouldn't be too bad if she could live a nice normal life. On the other hand..."

"You want her to be like you."

"I really do." He said softly, he pulled his free hand out of the water and with a flourish of his fingers, he'd pulled some of the water out of the sink, making them form small spheres, before letting them fall back down onto Ophelia who watched with glee in her eyes.

"Show off." Irene said. Kai kissed her temple. "Alright. Let's get her washed off, she'll be hungry again soon."

"Maybe we shouldn't wash her off in case she throws up on you again." Kai said with a laugh. Irene wrinkled her nose. At least breast milk didn't have much of a smell to it, or it would be a lot worse. And probably harder to clean out of her hair and nightdress.

"She'll catch a cold." Irene chastised. "Show me how to do this mister expert."

Chapter Text

Irene very nearly swore, Ophelia had been running a slight fever all day and had been miserable, refusing to feed, screaming, she only seemed to relax when Kai had ran her a cool bath and lay her in it, splashing the water around her; she'd finally settled down to sleep when someone knocked on the door. Kai was out with Vale and she was torn between soothing the baby and answering the door. She'd just been about to get herself ready for bed so she quickly buttoned her dress back up and peered out of the window, and actually swore.

Li Ming.

He knocked again and Ophelia started to truly wail. Kai's father knew, but she had no idea how much was known about their little family. She had little choice in the matter though and would have to just deal with Li Ming's reaction. She picked Ophelia up and held her close to her chest.

"Shh little one. It's alright." She whispered. "It's alright. I've got you." She flipped the lights on as she headed back downstairs. "Just a minute." She called to the door when he knocked again. She grabbed her keys to undo the lock and slid back the deadbolts before opening it. "Li Ming. Can I-" Ophelia was still sobbing. "I'm really sorry about this. She won't settle down. Kai isn't here right now. Is there something I can do to help you? He probably won't be back for a while."

"Some papers for the embassy to look over, the Fae want to negotiate for a slight change in the contract." He said.

"Come inside. I'll send Kai a message, hopefully he's just at Vale's" She said, stepping out of the way, she tossed her keys onto the side table and shifted Ophelia to sit on her hip so that it was easier to use her hands.

"Life as a mother seems to be treating you well. You look good. How old is she now?"

"Twenty-two weeks." Irene said. "Nearly six months now. Time has just flown on by." Ophelia's screams were turning to whimpers. "Sadly this little one hasn't been feeling too well today. I'll make us some tea whilst we wait for Kai." In the kitchen she hastily scribbled Kai a message and created a Language construct to take it to Vale's, hopefully he was there.

"Do you want me to take her for you?" Li Ming said. "Was the Prince out all day?"

"Most of it." She said. She reluctantly handed Ophelia over. She trusted Li Ming she just didn't know if he was any good wil children. Ophelia almost immediately stopped her whimpers. "How did you do that?"

"Cold hands miss Winters." He said with a smile. "When I chose it that is. It should help soothe her fever."

"Thank you so much." She said, shoulders slumping. "Kai was playing with her in the bath earlier, before Vale called. She likes water." She grabbed the kettle before it could shrilly whistle and disrupt the peace that Li Ming was giving her. "I haven't had much luck."

"Does she have her vaccinations?" He asked.

"The ones that she can have at that age, yes." Irene said. "I made sure of that. The Library makes sure that it's operatives are vaccinated and I managed to convince Coppelia to let me take her along with me for it." He smiled. Before looking down at Ophelia, who was fast on her way to falling asleep in his arms whilst Irene made some tea for them. They were sat at the table when Kai returned, the door shutting with a thud behind him, and waking Ophelia up all over again.

He was eager to take his daughter when he came into the kitchen, greeting her with a kiss on her head before he turned to Li Ming. "So, how can we help?" 

Chapter Text

"I think I can feel them kicking!" Irene had been half asleep and Kai's sudden exclamation dragged her back to full focus. She could feel the baby, and presumably their foot kicking her in the side, just under Kai's hand.

"You can?" She smiled brightly, wide awake now.

"I can." He ran his fingers over the spot, it tickled. "Just here." He kissed the spot and Irene ran her fingers through his hair. Despite it being midday, they lay in bed, it was the most comfortable place to read if they wanted to curl up together. Irene sat propped up against the pillow, Kai had lazily draped his arm across her, the flat of his palm of the curve of her stomach.

"Kai..." She cupped his face and kissed him. "Our little one." He laughed, he loved seeing how excited she was, each time something changed. How happy she was becoming each day, with each day her worry that they'd lose the child got further and further from her mind.

"We don't have long to wait now." Kai said. "Three months."

"Three months, but let's not wish them here soon. They need to grow still." Irene said. "I can wait these last three months before we can hold out baby."

Chapter Text

Irene held Ophelia against her chest, laying on the sofa, she kept her arms around her baby and tried to keep herself calm, from spiralling. She nearly jumped out of her skin when Kai opened the front door. She heard him quietly shut it, before Ophelia he would slam the door, but now her knew that waking her tended to be bad.

"You're usually in the kitchen." He said, stopping in the doorway, having noticed the small lamp that was on. "Is something wrong?" She nodded and he hesitantly made his way to her side. She struggled to sit up with Ophelia on her chest but she managed, before taking her right hand to show him. "What am I looking at?" She ran her finger along a small cut, barely noticeable even you didn't know it was there.

"I'm sorry." Irene said. "She had grabbed a piece of paper and when I went to take it back-" her voice hitched and she swallowed. "I accidentally cut her." Kai frowned before he leant forward to kiss Ophelia's hand. "I hurt our baby."

He sat next to her on the couch and pulled her close to him. "It's okay Irene." He said. "You didn't mean to do it. It's a tiny paper cut. She's going to be absolutely fine."

"You didn't hear her scream though." Irene said, looking up at him. "It broke my heart. And it was my fault. I was the one who hurt her."

"It was an accident Irene. You didn't mean to do it. And look, she is absolutely fine." Kai assured her. "Accidents happen. But she knows that you love her. She won't remember this Irene. She's too young and even if she were to remember it, she'd also remember how upset you are over the fact that she got a tiny papercut."

"But what if this is proof that I'm a bad mother?" She said, looking at him with teary eyes.

"Irene. You are three months post partum." He cupped her jaw and kissed her. "It's a learning curve, but you are a fantastic mother." She shook her head. "No, don't argue with me. You are a wonderful mother. You are fantastic. I love you, and our daughter does too, just look at her." Irene looked down. Ophelia was staring at her with wide eyes.

"She is just hungry." Irene said.

"She wouldn't want to feed if she was scared or truly upset." Kai said. "And you never would have got her to settle down. Feed her. I'll start on making us some food." He kissed her forehead. "Even if you don't believe it. I think you are a fantastic mother, love." She tried to smile but couldn't manage it.

When he returned, she was sat against the pillows by the sofa arm, Ophelia was eagerly feeding and Irene slowly dragged her fingers through short curls. "Do you feel a little better now?" He asked, Irene nodded.

"She's so perfect and so innocent." Irene said. "And she loves me."

"We both do." Kai said, kneeling in front of her. "One bad day doesn't mean a thing in the long run. She is going to be loved and looked after her entire life, one accident isn't the end of that, Irene."

Chapter Text

“You made me breakfast in bed? What did you do this time?” Irene sleepily smiled at Kai. She was sat propped against the pillows so that she could have Ophelia on her chest to feed, the newborn demanding breakfast before Irene could get her own.

"Do you know what today is?" Kai asked, setting the tray down.

"A Sunday? I think? I couldn't tell you the date, though I'm certain that I am not forgetting an anniversary. That's in November." He smiled before carefully leaning over Ophelia to lightly kiss her. "What's this for?"

"It, according to Vale, is mothering Sunday today. I thought I would treat you." Irene's heart melted and she smiled at him, her sleep clouded eyes brightening up. "So I made you tea and toast and thought that, when you were all finished, I'd run you a bath, I got some bath salts the other day for you." Irene was still sore from giving birth two weeks ago, she'd take any chance she could to soak in a bath for a while, even if she wouldn't be able to have too long, she'd need to feed Ophelia again in under an hour and a half. "And I have all of the things to make something really good for dinner." Irene leant over to kiss him but that caused Ophelia to unlatch and start to fuss. Irene sat back with a sigh and got her resituated again.

"I love you." Irene said, watching Kai fix up a cup of tea for her, adding more milk than she used to have, but during her pregnancy, she'd acquired a taste for really milky tea, no sugar, and she still was yet to find herself wanting a strong cup of tea again. "So much."

"I love you too."

Chapter Text

“Stomach bug?” Vale asked, noting the greyish tinge to her skin, the fact that Kai had made her a cup of ginger tea rather than coffee, and the fact that two minutes into their conversation she had dashed off to throw up. Irene flicked her eyes to Kai for a second, who gave her a slight shrug. She leant forward and picked up her tea cup, taking a sip and savouring the way that ginger burnt. Her stomach still felt a touch uneasy, and after a sip, she set it down again, so that she didn't accidentally spill it if she felt like she would be sick again.

"No." She said, leaning on the arm of the sofa, she was quite tired even though she had slept for nearly eight hours straight, and it had been a deep sleep at that. "Morning sickness." She put her hand to her stomach, hoping that the ginger tea would settle it a little bit. The sickness hadn't been too bad, yes it had been what cued her to the possibility of a pregnancy, but it came and went and was pretty easy to deal with. But she'd been up since six throwing up that day, and she hated it.

Vale stared at her and blinked in slow comprehension. "Congratulations." He said, giving them both a smile, bright for the normally stern and grumpy man. Kai slipped his arm around Irene's shoulders. "I thought that you may be pregnant, but I didn't want to say anything."

"Because there's no polite way to tell a woman that she's put on weight?" Kai asked with a grin, Irene pinched him. "Ow, hey, I'm just messing around."

"I don't even have a bump yet." Irene said.
"You've put on five pounds."

"Get out." Irene said, turning to Vale. He chuckled.

"You are partially correct Strongrock." Vale said with a nod. "It's impolite to make such comments." 

"Even if you did just make such a comment." Irene muttered. Well, he was probably right. But it still wasn't very nice to say and if she continued to be this sensitive for the whole pregnancy she was going to need new handkerchiefs.

"After the events if a few months ago, I thought it best not to mention it until you were ready to bring it up." Vale said. "I didn't want to cause you any unnecessary hurt on the chance that I was wrong, or if things didn't work out." Kai reached over to squeeze Irene's hand.

"Everything is actually going really well this time." Irene said, thinking of the sonagram upstairs in Kai's bedside table. The doctor telling her that everything was healthy and good and that they would be having a baby. "I'm nearly three months along now."

"Congratulations, both of you." Vale said. "You look happier than I have seen you in a long time." Irene looked at Kai, her smile bright and genuine.

"I am surprised that Kai managed to keep it from you for this long." She said, looking back at him. "We haven't told anyone else yet, I'm working up the courage to tell me parents."

"And I need to visit my father to tell him." Kai said. "I'll probably do that next month."

"And I'll... Probably get around to telling my parents before the baby comes." Irene said, making the men laugh. "You and Coppelia, I told her before I told Kai actually, since she asked why I had been to visit a doctor, and I couldn't lie to her, I wouldn't dare go on an assignment that's any more than walking into a shop to purchase a book right now."

"That gives you until March, right?" Irene frowned, and then nodded.

"Or early April." She said. "Since predicting a due date can be tricky. I'm not kidding, I refuse to give birth on April first."

"I don't think you can just decide that, love." Kai said with a snicker.

"I don't care." Irene said, shaking her head. "No baby in April first, they can come before, or afterward."

Chapter Text

“Mama?” Ophelia asked, swing her legs underneath the table, back and forth, knocking her heels against the leg of her chair. “Do you have a brother?”

“No I don’t.” Irene said as she went about making them some lunch. “I don’t have a sister either. I’m an only child.”

“Like me?” Ophelia asked. Irene swallowed. It depended, really, on whether or not one believed in the after life, and if a foetus went to heaven. But if she had carried that child to term, they wouldn’t have Ophelia. But then they wouldn’t know that. It was a complicated thing.

“You… I was going to have another baby, before you.” Irene finally said, as she put Ophelia’s plate in front of her. “But sometimes, babies don’t live very long and your papa and I never got to know them.” Ophelia looked up at her with wide eyes. “You’d have been someone’s little sister.” Her smile was sad. “Would you have liked that?”

“No.” Ophelia said, her blunt childishness nearly made Irene laugh. “Want to be the big sister.” That did make Irene smile. She and Kai had discussed the possibility of another child. Kai more keen on the idea of it than she was.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to have another baby, she’d love to in fact. It was that she had lost one child, people had tried to take Ophelia from her, they’d been attacked whilst she was pregnant and she was constantly stressed and scared through out, until Ophelia was born, and then she had a whole other thing to worry about.

“You do?” Irene asked and Ophelia eagerly nodded.

“I could have someone to play with!” Ophelia said.

“You cant play with babies, they are very little.” Irene said, she sighed. It didn’t matter though, not really. Kai didn’t want to get married and Irene didn’t want to have to deal with what some people said about that fact. Vale’s society had strict conduct rules, and having a child out of wedlock broke many of those rules, and as a result, brought her family a lot of judgement from complete strangers.

“Oh.” Ophelia looked down at her plate before finally picking up her sandwich and starting to eat it. “Can I read to them?” Irene had started teaching Ophelia to read, it wasn’t going spectacularly well, as Ophelia was either tired, or wanting to run around and play, and as a result, did not pay much attention. But she was getting there, slowly. Thank god for the many picture books her parents have brought them.

“Yes, you would be able to.” Irene said slowly. “But it is up to me and your papa if we have another baby, alright? It is a big decision for us to make. Babies take a lot of looking after. I would have to take time off work, and you would have to be very well behaved.” Ophelia nodded. “Now, eat your lunch.”

Irene picked at her lunch as she thought about it. Another baby. Little baby grows and teeny weeny booties. Baby laughter filling the house again. Kai singing lullabies.

“It could make me sick if I were to have another baby.” Irene said. “I wouldn’t be able to play with you until the baby was a few months old.” Ophelia looked up and Irene sighed, leaning forward to clean up her face and hands. “You would have to be quiet and very well behaved.”

“I can do that!” Ophelia said, Irene doubted that. “Can I have a brother?” Irene laughed.

“Well, there is no way to guarantee that you will have a brother, you could have a sister, if I were to have another baby, I am not saying that it is going to happen.”

“A brother or… a dog. No sister.”

“Ophelia was asking about brothers and sisters earlier.” Irene said, sat on the edge of their bed and watching as Kai changed. “She wants siblings, asked if she’d ever have any.” Kai’s movements did not falter as he finished buttoning up his shirt.

“What did you tell her?” He asked after a long moment.

“That it was for us to decide. And… I told her about before, about the other baby. It felt surprisingly good to be able to talk about it, even if I know she doesn’t understand.” He sat on the edge of the bed and reached over to take her hands, they were cold, and squeeze them tightly.

“That’s good, that you can talk about it now.” He said. Irene had barely spoken about the miscarriage, except to raise her fears of losing another baby when she was expecting Ophelia. “Do you want another baby?”

“It is very complicated.” She said. “I don’t want Ophelia to be an only child. It was lonely growing up and I struggled making friends up until adulthood, and lets be honest, I am still bad at it.” Kai laughed before he slid his arm around her shoulders and pulled him close, pressing a kiss to her hair. “But we had so many problems after Ophelia was born and I don’t know if I can put another child through that. It wouldn’t be fair to them. It hasn’t been fair to Ophelia!”

“Irene, Love, Ophelia is fine.” Kai said softly. “She is safe and healthy. Everything she has been through, she is fine. She is a strong girl.” Irene leant her head on his shoulder and sighed.

“I don’t like what people have said about us either.” Irene said quietly. “Because we aren’t married. Ophelia could get hurt if she hears what they say about us.” She swallowed. “I get hurt. I can only pretend that it doesn’t matter to me for so long but getting called a whore gets tiring, fast.”

“Dragons don’t get married.” Kai said. He moved to lay down, resting the back of his head on her thigh and looking up at her. Irene smiled at him, running her fingers through his hair.

“Dragons probably don’t have half human daughters.” Irene pointed out. “Would it be that awful if we got married? If anything happened, we would be next of kin to each other. Right now, if anything happens to you… I don’t know what will happen to me, or Ophelia.”

“You have a point there. And some dragons do have children with humans, it isn’t very common, but it does happen. Ophelia isn’t the only of her kind.” Irene smiled, that was nice to know that she wasn’t the only person like her.

“She asked if she could have a little brother.” Irene said softly. “A brother, or a dog.” Kai snorted. “I think a baby would be easier to look after than a dog. You don’t have to walk a baby.”

“I love you.” Kai said and Irene pulled her fingers from his hair.

“Come on. Let’s go to bed.” She said. “And then to sleep. Later.”

Chapter Text

"Are you sure that this is alright?" Irene asked, she looked unwilling to relinquish her hold of the child sat on her hip, idly playing with her mother's hair, before losing interest and chewing on her fingers.

"Yes." Vale said patiently. "It's one night Winters. I can look after her for one night. You and Strongrock haven't had a night off since she was born." Irene had either been with Ophelia, or she was away and working, she’d barely had an hour to herself in three years.

"We are her parents. We don't get nights off." Irene said, shaking her head.

"Yes you do." Vale said. "Hand her over and go and meet Kai.”

“Has Kai told you were we are going?” She asked, Vale smiled and nodded. She sighed. “He won’t tell me; he wouldn’t even let me pack my own bag. Tell me?” Kai had arranged everything and had told her the date that they were going away, and that they would be away for one night. He had even arranged with Vale for Ophelia to stay with Vale for the night, and for at least one person on their little security team, Irene wasn’t still entirely sure how she felt about that, to come by every now and then to make sure that everything was okay still.

“It is meant to be a surprise.” Vale said. “You’ll find out soon anyway, you will enjoy it. Trust me, Strongrock knows what he is doing. Now, I'll be fine with her." Finally, Irene sighed and let him take the girl, she started fussing and Irene frowned, wanting to snatch her back up. "Go. I've got her."

"If anything happens..." Irene said warningly.

"Nothing will happen." Vale assured her, Irene nodded. Pausing to kiss her daughters head.

“Be good for your uncle.” Irene said softly. “Behave. Your papa and I will be back tomorrow evening. We love you.” Ophelia’s eyes were wide and teary as Irene stepped out of the doorway and it was shut behind her.

"Alright Ophelia. Shall we go upstairs?"

"Mama." She looked to the door and reached out to it. "Want mama!" Sensing that she was near hysterics, Vale held her close as he carried her upstairs and away from the door.

"She'll be back tomorrow 'Phe, it's fine. She'll be back I promise." He shushed her. "You're fine." She sniffed, resting her forehead on his shoulder. "There we go. You're a brave girl, aren't you?"

"Big girl." She said in a wavering voice. "Papa says I'm best girl." Vale laughed. The girl had Kai wrapped round her little finger, she had done as soon as she was born. "Not a baby."

"Oh I think you are always going to be your mother's baby." He put her in the armchair that Irene always took. "Do you have toys in your bag, or do you want to be my assistant?"

"What that?"

"Do you want to help me?" Ophelia put her thumb in her mouth and nodded, he reached forward to take it out again and quickly dried her hand off. "Then you can sit on my lap and watch with me, I already have it all set up." She smiled, clapping her little hands together and Vale smiled.

##

"Unca Vale?" She asked as he was tucking her into bed. "Story?" He sat on the edge of the bed and smoothed her curls out of her eyes, he was no good at braiding it and if Either Irene or Kai wanted her to have tidy hair come morning, they would have to do it themselves.

"What kind of story do you want?" He asked. She pondered the question before shrugging.

“Mama and Papa?” Vale smiled.

“You know, I am not absolutely certain on their story, you will have to ask them yourself.” He said. “Your mother used to be your father’s mentor. She was teaching him to be a Librarian like her. Your father got into trouble, and she went to save him, she got into trouble and he went to save her.” Ophelia’s smile was bright as she sleepily blinked.

“They fell in love?” She asked and Vale laughed.

“And they fell in love.” He said. “Your mother got hurt and your father had to leave. When they saw each other again, they didn’t care about the rules anymore, and yes, they fell in love. And then they decided that they wanted a little baby, to love as well.”

“They should have ‘nother baby.” Ophelia said, Vale ruffled her hair.

“You mother told me about you asking for a brother.” He said.

“Or a dog.”

“Or a dog.” Vale said, smiling and shaking his head. “A brother or a dog. Your parent may never have another child, they nearly didn’t have you, you cannot keep asking about this, you don’t want to upset your mother, alright?” Ophelia nodded. “Good girl.”

He leant forward to kiss her forehead, and murmur goodnight to her before he flicked the lights off.

“Night night. Love you.” She said, her voice sleepy and sweet.

“I love you too ‘Phe.” He'd never thought he'd have a family, and sure it wasn't in the traditional sense, but he loved them nonetheless.

Chapter Text

“Okay, are you going to me where we are going yet?” Irene asked, having just dropped Ophelia off with Vale, to stay with him for the night. She met Kai at the zeppelin port near to Paddington station. There was a distinct lack of bears with marmalade sandwiches. He gave her a small case that he had packed for her.

“Not a chance.” He said with a smile. She would find out when their destination was announced, but for now, she had no clue about where they were going, or the ring box, safely nestled at the bottom of his bag. “Come on.” He held his hand out to her. “I don’t want to be late.”

Irene sighed and took his hand, letting him lead the way, she kept her eyes on the floor, not wanting to spoil Kai’s surprised for her. He’d been trying to convince her to go away, just the two of them for the past couple of months and she’d finally relented.

Their last holiday had been a nightmare that they’d all just about managed to get over. And both of them were hoping that this one would go a lot better. They were leaving early on a Friday morning and would return late on Saturday, Kai promising that their flight wouldn’t take too long, only two or three hours.

“We’re in Scotland.” Irene said, looking around at the small station, Kai smiled and held his hand out. “Gretna Green? Why did you bring me here?”

“Well, I think it is pretty obvious.” Kai said. “Come on, our hotel isn’t too far away. It’s a bed and breakfast, it looked quaint. I don’t normally do quaint but it’s next to a bookshop, so I thought that you would like it.” She smiled.

“I love you.” She said, squeezing his hand. “Lead the way then. I have never been here before.”

“I haven’t either.” Kai said with a shrug. “But I do know how to read a map, and how to memorise a route to somewhere.” It had been a handy habit when he had been a trainee Librarian, remember where the books are, and how to get out again.

There was a church in the centre of a small green, they passed under its shadow and Irene was reminded of why people used to run away to Gretna Green, why some people probably still did. She tightened her grip on his hand, and wondered if, just maybe, they were there for that reason.

The bed and breakfast was indeed quaint, an elderly woman at the desk greeted them and signed them in, giving a key and wishing them a good stay. Their bedroom was on the first floor and Irene set her case on the bed before moving to peer out of the window, looking down at the green that they had crossed, people milled about, the town was quiet but there were still plenty of people out and about.

Kai shut the door and leant against it, watching as she moved to stand by the window, pulling the lace curtains back so that she could look outside, the sunlight brightened her face and he could see the corner of her lips twitch into a smile.

“You are just breath taking.” He murmured. She turned to look at him. “Honestly Irene, I think you are the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on.” He smiled. She wore her hair loose for a change, it curled at her shoulders in thick locks of chocolate brown. He was ecstatic for Ophelia to have the same hair as her mother. “I am so lucky to have you in my life.”

“I’m the lucky one.” Irene said. “You and Ophelia had made my life absolutely perfect.” He opened up the case and Irene watched with a frown as he found something from the bottom of it and hid it in his hand.

“I think I can come up with a way to make it even better.” He said, standing in front of her and taking her left hand in his empty hand. “Irene, I love you. I have never felt this way for anyone before, and I didn’t think it was possible to find someone so perfect, your other half, until I met you. And damn woman, did you make me work for a place in your heart.”

Irene smiled, touching his cheek with her free hand, she pulled him in to a soft kiss.

“And then, we had Ophelia. We had the most beautiful, perfect little girl. And you gave her to me. And I fell in love with you all over again, when I saw you hold her for the first time. How strong you were, and then the look of pure love in your eyes. I fell hard, again.” Irene laughed. “You are just perfect Irene. And I love you, with all of my heart.”

“Kai…” Her voice cracked. Irene was at a loss for words, she didn’t know what there was for her to say, knowing that she was unable to put together a little speech as eloquent as Kai’s own. “I don’t know what to say.”

He took a step back and held up a small black ring box. “Say yes.” He said, flicking the lid open.

It was a simple ring, a silver band with a small emerald set into it at the centre, so that it couldn’t catch on anything if she wanted to wear it whilst she was working. It was absolutely beautiful.

“They don’t really do engagement rings here?” Kai said. “And to be honest, I have no idea what I am doing right now, but I have another band that matches for me, and I was thinking…” He flicked his eyes toward the church. “That we could get married straight away, if you say yes.”

Irene kissed him.

Hard.

Kai dropped the ring box, the lid snapped shut again as it bounced away. He caught Irene, arms around her waist as he kissed back. He was fairly certain that he would have a bruise (he bruised so easily, it was borderline ridiculous at times) and he didn’t care.

Irene slid her arms around his shoulders, pulling him close, moulding her body to his as she parted her lips against his. She made a small groaning noise at the back of her throat as Kai pressed her back against the wall. Her heart was pounding in her chest hard enough to ache and she was sure that there was a furiously red flush to her cheeks.

The kiss eased and Kai rested his forehead on hers as they both took a few deep breaths in an attempt to ease their racing hearts.

“Is that a yes?” He asked.

“Yes.” Irene said. “Of course.” Kai grinned and kissed her again before pulling back with a sudden realisation.

“Did you see where the ring went?” He asked, looking around. “I was preoccupied.” Irene looked around the floor.

“Maybe underneath the bed?” She asked, unable to see it anywhere else. Kai got on his knees and had a look, reaching his hand out to grab the box when he saw it. He said something but Irene wasn’t entirely sure what it was, his voice was muffled against the carpet and she was mildly distracted by the tight fit of his trousers.

He pulled himself up onto his knees, triumphantly holding the box, he opened it to check that the ring was still inside. It was. He looked up at her and smiled.

“I am going to put this somewhere safe, and then kiss you again.” He said. “I don’t want to lose your wedding ring before we even get married.”

“This doesn’t mean that I am one hundred percent going to want another baby.” Irene said in a quiet voice. “If that makes you want to take the proposal back, I would understand.” He looked at her like she was crazy.

“Irene, I proposed because I love you. Because I want to do everything that I can to make you the happiest woman in the world, on every world. I want to marry you for you, not for any more children that we may have.” Her heart clenched in her chest. “It took me a while to come around to the idea of marriage, and now that I have, I want to marry you more than anything. I would be just as happy with one child and you, as I would if we had more children. It doesn’t matter to me what our future may hold, because all that matters is that you are experiencing it with me.”

Kai managed to put the ring away this time, because Irene’s next kiss knocked them both onto the bed.

Chapter Text

Kai had thought of everything, he’d packed one of her nicest dresses in the case for her, presumably why he hadn’t let her pack for herself, so that she couldn’t figure out that he had something on this level planned. They had gone for a late lunch and a look around a bookshop, Irene had exercised some self-restraint and only purchased three.

They had returned to their room mid-afternoon. Kai quickly changed into one of his nicest suits, with a deep blue waistcoat and cravat underneath it, the chain of his pocket watch (a gift for father’s day the year after Ophelia had been born) caught the light, and he left her to wash and change, with a promise of one last surprise, informing her that she had an hour to get herself ready.

She took a half hour soak in the bath, putting her hair up into a bun so that she wouldn’t get it wet, if it got wet it would take at least an hour to dry and she didn’t want damp spots from her hair on her dress.

She dragged herself out of the bath and drained it, wrapping a towel around herself, and tucking it in to make sure that it didn’t fall, she set about taming her hair into a suitable style, choosing to leave it loose again, she tucked it behind her left ear, having parted it over her left eye, and left it curling down her right shoulder. She put a few pins in it to keep it in place, before she reached for her dress.

She knew that it was Kai’s favourite of hers. Mainly because it was one of the few blue dresses that she owned, which was partially to wind him up, and she had brought it on a whim, knowing that she would need it next time Silver threw a pointless party. She hadn’t worn it since she had purchased it, discovering that she was pregnant just two weeks after the purchase. She held her breath, praying that she could still get the buttons to do up.

It still fit perfectly.

She checked the time, she had two minutes until she needed to leave, before removing her wristwatch and putting it away. There was a jewellery box in the case, the one that Ao Guang had given her, and she removed her bracelet and struggled to do it up herself, she didn’t often wear jewellery, so often it resided on the vanity in their bedroom. She wrapped a thin shawl around her shoulders, it wasn’t too cold, but it wasn’t hot either, it was your typical British May, threatening rain, and promising that if it did rain, it would come with a rainbow.

She crossed the grass and into the shadow of the church. A man was waiting at the doorway. “Miss Winters?” He asked, she looked up and nodded, he smiled down at her before offering her his arm for her to take, she did. “We’re in the chapel, since it’s just the two of you. No family?”

“They live very far away.” She said, a part of her wondered if she should have said no, let’s wait, let’s have them here, let’s have our daughter here. But, to be honest, she was glad that it was just the two of them. “Kai surprised me with all of this. I thought we were just going on holiday.”

“Yes.” The man said with a laugh. “He wrote to me a few weeks ago, planning all of this.” Irene smiled, the hem of her skirt whispered over the stone floors. The chapel was tucked away in the corner of the church and it was dark inside, lit only by a few candles. “Shall we begin?”

Kai took her hands in his, smiling at her. She could feel her heart skip a beat. The ceremony was short and sweet and Irene spent most of it lost in Kai’s eyes, until the man turned to her, and asked for her to repeat her vows after him.

“"I, Irene take thee, Kai,” She thought back to the day that they had met, him dressed in that leather jacket and an air to him that made her need to know him, that demanded her curiosity.

“To be my wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward,” They would both have very long lifespans, they had decades and possibly centuries ahead of them, even if there would be logistics to discuss.

 “For better, for worse,” They had seen each other in their worst states, bloodied and bruised and utterly broken, and they had held strong through it all, growing closer and closer with each hurt.

 “For richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part, according to God's holy ordinance; and thereto I pledge myself to you." She finished, staring into his eyes and only seeing love in them.

When Kai spoke, she let herself be surrounded by his voice, swept up in the words as he pledged himself to her. She wanted to kiss him, but they hadn’t got to that bit yet. He slid her ring into place, the metal cool for a moment before it warmed to her skin. She took his hand to put his ring in place.

“You may now kiss the bride.” The man said and kiss her Kai did. He cupped her face and pulled her into a kiss that made her forget all of the troubles in the world for a moment, because he was there, because he would always keep her safe. He would always love her.

He broke the kiss and there was a look in his eyes that promised that there would be more later, but for now, they had to sign the registry and their marriage license. And also, they were in a church after all, neither of them were religious, but Irene decided that, if there was a god, she did not want to upset him, her, them. Whatever god was.

“Congratulations, mister and missus Strongrock.” Irene liked the way that that sounded, and she repeated it over and over in her head. Oh, she liked that. Irene Strongrock. Maybe Irene Strongrock-Winters, the same as Ophelia.

Kai took Irene’s hand, and they left the church hand in hand. “It’s meant to be unlucky if it rains on your wedding day.” Irene said, feeling the first drops of rainfall on her shoulders. She looked at him. “I think it is quite fitting for you.” She squeezed his hand. “For us.”

Chapter Text

Vale let himself into Irene and Kai's lodgings a week later. He could hear someone in the kitchen. "Strongrock?" Kai stepped around the door. "I came to see how you two were doing." He hung his coat and hat up. Kai sighed. 

"Irene's in bed right now." He said. "I don't think she'll come down, but I can see." Vale nodded. "She's not doing too well right now. She's barely said a word."

"She's taking this hard." Kai nodded. "Is there anything that I can do to help you?" 

"Thank you, but no, there's nothing. We just need… We are mourning someone that we never got the chance to know. Irene couldn't have been any more than… I don't know, two months pregnant? Possibly less than that. But there were no signs."

"Could it have been an inevitability?" Kai nodded. 

"I think so. One in three women miscarry, maybe it wouldn't be so bad if it hadn't been so painful or traumatic for Irene. But either way, it's just… Shit." For once, Vale did not comment on the foul language. Kai took a deep breath. "You can go up and see Irene if you want. She'll be in our bedroom, she was awake half an hour ago." Vale nodded before heading upstairs. 

"Are you awake Winters?" He asked, tapping on the bedroom door. There was silence and he frowned before turning the handle. Irene was curled up on her side, with the covers pulled up to her ears, her eyes shut. Vale crossed his arms. "Stop pretending to be asleep. I know you well enough to know that you're actually awake." 

"Go away." She muttered, rolling over to have her back to him. "I don't feel like talking." 

"Do you feel like listening?" He asked, losing the softness to his voice. She huffed. "I'm taking that as a yes." He leant against the wall. "You are in mourning, that I can sort of understand, even if I've never lost a child, I know what it is to lose someone. And I know that wallowing in your bed isn't going to help. Get up. Do something, don't spend your time here when Kai is hurting just as much as you are, only he has to hold it together for your sake." Irene pulled the covers over the top of her head, not wanting to listen to the truth. He sighed.

"I don't know how I can help him if I can't help myself." She whispered when she realised that her actions would not grant her peace. "How can I do when I don't know." 

"You may have felt it, but you both lost your baby. Don't push him away, you might lose him too." She didn't move. "I'm going to go back downstairs. Get up. Have a shower, and come and join us."

"Was she awake?" Kai asked as he came back downstairs, and Vale nodded. Kai slid him a cup of tea. "I don't know what I can do. She doesn't want to talk about it, at all. I've tried. I want to talk about it. I need to talk about it. But she won't say a word. She barely spoke to me all week."

"You said that she blamed herself." Vale said. "Maybe she is pushing you away to try and punish herself for what she believes is a shortcoming of hers. Or maybe she just isn't ready to talk just yet."

"She was in so much pain." Kai said. "I've never seen Irene cry. I know that she has cried before, but never in front of me. This week has been the first time I have ever seen Irene cry. And I felt helpless. I was helpless."

"Are you going to continue to try and have children?" 

"I don't know. It's Irene's decision. I still want a family but I worry that this has scared her." 

"Are dragons and humans even compatible, that is a good place to start."

"Its happened before. Rarely deliberately, but it does occur." Kai said. "We should be able to have a child. Unless there's something wrong with one of us. Which there could be. Not that I'm going to let Irene know that I think that's a possibility, she's blaming herself enough, even if it's something that she couldn't help." 

"Has she stayed upstairs since it happened?" Vale asked. 

"No, I managed to convince her to come for a walk with me yesterday, but that's it. She's been inside since. For the first few days she was still in pain, she tells me it's gone. I'm not sure if I believe her." The boiler started humming and Kai flicked his eyes up. "Well, I think you managed to convince her to get up. That's good. She hasn't eaten today." 

"Have you?" 

"I'm not hungry." Kai said with a shrug, trying to ignore Vale's glare. "Peregrine Vale you are a hypocrite." 

"So I have heard. I think between the three of us, all we do is hypocrisy and causing trouble." Kai snorted. "Maybe less so in the future if you two have a family."

"Oh we'll just end up with a kid that causes trouble." Kai said with a smile. "Maybe. I don't know anymore. I don't want to put Irene through that suffering again. We could get a dog." Vale laughed. 

"Or adopt." 

"Or that. That would… Be Nice. It'd be nice to have a baby, I've always wanted a family and let's find another topic because Irene will be down soon and if she hears us, it'll upset her. Tell me about your most recent case. A distraction would be good to be honest, I need to have a break from thinking about this." So Vale did and Irene came downstairs, damp hair sticking to her skin, to a discussion on the assumption that the wife did it. 

"Winters, support me here." Vale said. "Why on earth should you assume that it was the man's wife?" 

"The easiest explanation is usually the correct explanation. The wife would have means, and possibly motive." 

"Women usually poison." 

"I would rather stab someone than poison them." Irene said with a shrug. She curled up next to Kai and he draped his arm around her hips, holding her close and he kissed her temple, whispering sweet nothings into her hair for a short moment. 

"Would you stab me?" 

"That depends." Irene said, he blinked. "Did you drink all of the milk again?" Kai stared at her for a long moment. 

"I'll buy more later." He said, kissing her forehead. "Please don't stab me." 

"I'll let you get away with it this time." She said, resting her head on his shoulder and half shutting her eyes. "Anyway, Vale, whilst no one should assume that the wife did it, she's got the opportunity, she'll have the means, does she have the motive?" 

"He was having an affair."

Irene slowly nodded. "The wife did it." Kai laughed. "I don't know if you've been cheated on, but it hurts enough to make you want to stab someone."

"Seconded." Kai said. "To this day, I would still punch Zhang Wei if I ever see him again, and have the opportunity." Irene looked up at him. "What, I can like men and women." 

"No, I get that. One of my ex girlfriends are the worst. No its the fact that you're that petty." He laughed. "And you tell me off for being petty." 

"Because I'm a hypocrite." She replied. 

"That you are." Vale said, shaking his head. "Fine. I take your point. I still need to evidence to say that she did it though. I can't just go with 'the wife did it'. That is the stupidity of the police right there." 

"Vale you can't call the police stupid police. This is why they don't like you." Kai said. "They'll refuse to work with you if you keep calling them stupid." 

"Its yet to happen. They need me." Vale replied with a wave of his hand. 

"I'm a little surprised that you came down to talk to us." Kai said once Vale had left. Irene dropped her head. "You look tired 'Rene." 

"Vale may have pointed out that I was being a selfish idiot." She said. "And he's right. I'm not the only one suffering." Kai leant against the kitchen counter and she stood in front of him and buried her head in the crook of his neck. Kai slid his arms around her hips and pressed his lips to her hair. He was warm and it felt nice. He held her when she slept but she'd been sleeping on the edge of the bed since it had happened, debating going to sleep in the spare room, or even in the Library. She'd missed his embraces. 

"You're not a selfish idiot." Kai said. "You were struggling to cope. That's not idiocy. I just wish that I could have done something to help you." He cupped her jaw. "I love you." 

"I love you too." Irene had pretending to sleep for the past few nights when he'd said that he loved her. "Shall we go to bed soon?" 

"Tired?" 

"I just want you to hold me." Kai smiled. "I'm sorry for pushing you away. I need you."

"Let me clean up and shower, and I'll join you." 

Chapter Text

"Papa?" Ophelia sniffled as she pushed on her parents bedroom door, Kai was already awake. Still awake. Irene was away and as a result, he could not sleep. He knew Ophelia was awake as soon as she was out of her bed and he was waiting for her to call for him. He got up and opened the door for her since she couldn't reach the door handle and instead was just trying to push it open.
She looked up at him with wide eyes, they were watering, tear filled until they sparkled. She sniffed again. "I... I had bad dream." She said, Kai picked her up and held her close, tightly hugging her to his chest.

"It's alright." He said, kicking the door shut again and sitting on the edge of his bed. "I've got you. You're safe. Why don't you tell me about your dream? And then you can sleep on mama's side of the bed since she's not here tonight." Maybe he'd sleep better with her closer by since Irene was gone and that meant that the house was not warded, a thought that made him a little uncomfortable.

"I was in the sea." She sniffed. Kai ran his hands through her hair, she had dark, chocolaty curls to her jaw. He should probably put her hair into a braid or it would be a birds nest by morning. As it was there were a few tangles. He grabbed the comb off his bedside table and began to work it through her hair. "The sea fell on me." She said. "And mama." Kai felt his heart chill. "I didn't like it." She was shaking, crying on his shoulder.

"It's alright little one." Kai said softly, he dropped the comb to run his hand over the back of her head. "I've got you. You are safe. I love you. Your mama loves. We will do everything we can to protect you and keep you safe forever." He gave up with the hair and lay her down on Irene's empty side of the bed before pulling the covers up and cradling her to his chest like he used to do when she was a baby. "I will do everything to keep you safe. I promise that I will always look after you."

"What if you can't?" She asked quietly.

"I will do anything in my power to keep you safe." He said, knowing that if he promised to always protect her and keep her safe he would end up being forced to break that promise. "Your mother and uncle will always do what they can too. We will keep you safe. I swear Ophelia. You're my little girl, and no one will hurt you as long as I can help it."

"Promise?" She whispered.

"Promise." Kai kissed her forehead. "Now, go to sleep."

"Love you papa."

"I love you too."

Chapter Text

Irene reached into her bag and sighed as she felt around for her house key, buried beneath a book, receipts that she should probably throw out, a good dozen bobby pins, a pack of mints and god knows what else.

"Congratulations." The next door neighbour, a middle aged woman with greying hair and three children of her own said. "I didn't know you and your gentleman were married."

"We aren't." Irene said, fingers closing around her keys. Aha! "Thank you though." She looked up at the woman's now sour expression.

"Don't you think you're going to set a terrible example?"

"I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean." Irene said slowly, but she did know, she just wanted to be wrong.

"I suppose he can always leave if it isn't his." She said. "Don't act so surprised. Not married." She snorted. "Stay away from my children, I don't want my girls getting any ideas about sleeping around."

"How dare you." Irene hissed, her cheeks flushing an angry red. "What gives you the right?"

"I'm a respectably married woman. You're a strumpet. Swanning off with other men, yes I've seen that other fella around." Vale? Well, only Kai and Vale and the occasional Librarian came to see her, so she probably meant Vale. She slammed the door behind her and the loud bang echoed down the street. She threw her bag to the side, not caring that it knocked the bowl of keys to the floor. Her eyes were burning and she sniffed, trying not to cry.

She pulled her coat off, the tears started to run down her cheeks when her hand got caught in the sleeve, pulled inside out. She left it where it fell on the floor and kicked her boots off, they landed on top of some of Kai's shoes, and she ran upstairs, to shut herself in the bedroom to cry.

She was six months along, the baby bump now obvious, she wrapped her arms around her stomach as she pressed her face into her pillow. She curled her legs up, tucked her chin closer to her chest, like she could protect her baby from the world. Her cheeks were hot and sticky, with loose hairs plastering themselves to her skin. She didn't care.
She did care that she couldn't stop herself from crying. It was a stupid thing to cry about. She didn't care what that woman thought of her, or Kai. She'd been under the impression that she had been the decent sort, but evidently she had been wrong. No she didn't care what the neighbour would say about her or Kai.

She did worry about what she'd say to their child. Or about them.

She cried until she was too tired to cry anymore, and she fell asleep, only waking up again when Kai returned home.

He flicked the light on, it was already dark outside, and Irene blinked her eyes open, looking around in bleary eyed confusion. "Irene?" He quietly shut the door. "What's wrong?" He sat on the edge of the bed and cupped her face with both hands as she pushed herself upright. "You left your things all about the place." He was usually the tidy one, but she wasnt usually so messy as to leave her coat and bag on the floor. He ran his thumb over her cheek. There was no hiding that she'd been crying. She swallowed before wrapping her arms around him and pressing her face into his shoulder. She could feel the baby kicking hard, Kai could too as he wrapped his arms around her.

"The neighbour." She said. Kai frowned. "I saw her when I was getting back home. She said congratulations on the baby and asked when we got married, when I said that we weren't... She said that I slept around and that the baby probably isn't yours." She could feel herself tearing up again and she swallowed. Kai tensed up. "She said that I'd set a bad example for our baby."

"Irene." Kai held her shoulders and pushed her away a little so that he could look into her eyes. "She doesn't know what she's talking about. Our baby is going to be perfect and loved. It doesn't matter that we aren't married, I love you, and our baby is going to have everything they could ever need or want." He gently touched her stomach, smiling when he felt a kick against his fingers, he always smiled when he felt it. "I love you."

"I love you too." She said quietly. "It just hurt to hear her say that I would be a bad example for our child. She said that... If her children knew that we weren't married it would make them want to sleep around too."

"Well, I think we both know that she is an idiot." Kai said. "Ignore her." He kissed her forehead. "I'm going to run you a warm bath, and then I'll get started on dinner."

"I love you." She said quietly. "That sounds nice." Kai offered her a small smile, though she could see anger in his eyes. "But I'll have one after dinner. I like watching you cook."

Chapter Text

"Vale I upset Irene again. Oh hello inspector." Singh inclined his head to Kai as Vale steepled his fingers and sighed.

"She isn't here."

"Oh no, she's at home. I left before she could yell at me, or leave. I couldn't stop laughing at her, which started the whole issue. I'm not distracting you from a case am I?"

"No, Singh was just filling me in on a trial. Why were you laughing at Winters?"

"She won't stop hicuuping and I know it isn't that funny, but she was just getting so annoyed with it all and it was just so funny to me." Kai said as he sat down. Vale chuckled. "But my laughing at her frustration was not the right thing to do and she was getting very annoyed with me, which was making the hiccups worse. Which made me laugh even more." Both Singh and Vale laughed at that. "So I thought it was time for me to take myself elsewhere, before she stabs me."

"She does have quite the collection of knives." Vale agreed. "Hopefully, she won't stab you before the child is born."

"Yes, I'd hate to have to investigate your murder." Singh said. "When is she due?"

"She's a little under six months along, I think." Kai said. "So... Mid March, I think. Still a while to go."

"So three or so months of this kind of thing to go." Vale said with a smirk.

"I don't know why you're so amused. You know she'll come here if I really upset her."

"I just like seeing you in the doghouse, Strongrock."

"Our couch is surprisingly comfortable." 

Chapter Text

Vale picked up the stuffed polar bear by the ears, staring at it, before looking at the one on the other end of the couch, which, to be honest, raised more questions. They were almost identical, only one had a green strip of ribbon tied around it, and the other was teal. Ophelia had quite the menagerie of stuffed animals, he'd certainly added a good few to that stock. But he'd never seen these two before, and they clearly weren't knew. He'd been in her room, and every room but Irene and Kai's, so surely, he would have seen them before. And yet he hadn't.

"That's Byronson." Irene said. "The other one is Belaqua. I forgot I left them down here. Kai decided we needed to make a pillow Fort last night. Ophelia loved it and Kai seemed to enjoy it a lot too. Heart of a child that one."

"They're yours?"

"Belaqua is." She said, scooping it up. "That one is Kai's."

"Why do you have stuffed animals?"

"Hormones are hard to deal with." She shrugged, gave the bear a squeeze and tossed it back onto the couch. "And my father said that it could help to soothe Ophelia to have something that we usually sleep with, if we aren't here. So if I'm away, my bear goes in her crib, and the same for Kai." Vale nodded slowly. "Apparently they smell like us? I don't get it from mine, Kai's usually smells of cologne. It seems to do the trick though." Vale put the bear down.

"You will end up having as many bears as Ophelia has soon." Vale said, shaking his head.

"Not if you keep buying her more." Irene said. "Unless you plan on getting them for Kai and me as well. Please don't. Our bed is pretty small." Vale chuckled.

"I was thinking another baby blanket."

"Is it that obvious?" Vale nodded. "Well, you'll probably make me cry again, let's be honest."

"Congratulations." He said. "How far along are you?"

"Nine weeks." She said. "Early days still. Ophelia doesn't know yet, so please don't tell her." He nodded.

"Of course. I bet Strongrock is excited."

"He is." She started tidying up the room around him, she took the bear from him and sat it up in Kai's normal seat. "My parents are visiting for Ophelia's birthday in two weeks, we're telling them then. And his father... At some point. We'll probably be away for a couple of days, if I go with them."

"Morning sickness?"

"A little. Nothing like the first time though." She said. "And the doctor said that everything is going really well, no worries."

"That's good. Strongrock is going to sulk when he you have another girl." Vale said, Irene smiled, her hand on her stomach, she wasn't showing yet but she liked to do it. "I suppose that's a good reason to get more stuffed animals." 

Chapter Text

Coppelia stared at her, not sure what to say to Irene's confession, what there was to say, and what Irene wanted to hear. "When did you find out?" She finally said.

"Two days ago. A doctor confirmed it this morning though." Coppelia nodded slowly. "I'm only four weeks along."

"Alright." She reached for a pen and sheet of paper. "Are you keeping it."

"Yes." Irene said, not even hesitating, it was hard to hide her excitement, but she couldn't help but smile.

"Alright. Well, obviously, you can't be doing your normal work, going out into the different worlds, there is simply far too much risk. And... Do I want to ask who the father is?"
"Its not a question of wanting to ask, but do you really want the answer?" Coppelia chuckled.

"A good point." She said, making a few notes. "Though that does answer it, even with no definitive answer. 

"Well, you can't report that I've done something wrong if it don't give you and answer, and you can't punish me for not answering if you do not ask." Irene said, nestling into the couch cushions.

"Maternity leave is not a policy that we often have to enact." Coppelia said. "But we do have a policy. You'll be off field work until six months post partum, and then it's limited to just research and low risk jobs, nothing over night until one year." Irene nodded. "Have you told your parents?"

"Not yet." She said. "I don't know when I will tell them, or if I will until the baby is here. We don't talk as much as we used to."

"I'd let them know before the baby comes, so I don't have to tell them." Coppelia said. "I should probably say congratulations." She capped the pen again. "And pass my congratulations on to whoever the father is. Does he know yet? I'll be telling him as soon as I can."

"Not yet."

"Do you know if he'll also want to keep it? Assuming you two are in a relationship."
"We are, and I know that he will." Irene said. Kai would be over the moon to find out that they were going to have a baby, especially with the doctor telling her that the baby was healthy and the pregnancy looked to be going well. "We did discuss the possibility of this, quite a while ago in fact."

"So you were planning this?"

"Not so much. Just hoping it would happen." Irene said. "I want to have a child, my own family."

"Even if it means postponing your career?" Irene shrugged.

"I'm not in this line of work for power or anything." Irene shrugged. "I'm happy to stay where I am."

"Well, we certainly won't be reassigning you away from your child's father. Even if we don't approve of outside relationships as a principle, I think it is unnecessarily cruel, and unfair." That eased a worry that Irene hadn't even realised that she had, knowing that she'd be able to stay with Kai to raise their child together. "Stay in touch, won't you? Let me know how it's all going and if you need anything."

"Of course. And I have a couple of jobs that I can still arrange for other Librarians to do." Coppelia nodded. "I'll be in touch."

Chapter Text

"You really are your mother's child." Vale said with a sigh as he started picking up the books that Ophelia had pulled off his bookcase. He'd be the first to admit that his study was not a child friendly place and that turning his back for even a minute was a bad idea, he'd done it anyway though. Ophelia, at two and a half, was a very curious toddler, she wanted to get her little (and often sticky) hands on anything and everything within reach and the books in his rooms appeared to be today's target.

"Story." Ophelia said, tightly gripping an anatomy book, holding it to her chest. Vale chuckled.

"No, I don't think that is," He said, shaking his head and trying to ease it out of her hands. "Come on Phe, I need to put it away again. Isn't it heavy?" She shook her head, curls tied up into pigtails. "Ophelia, that's not a story book. Those are on my desk remember?"

"Pictures." She said, wide eyes looking at the book as she struggled to open it up and nearly dropped it. "See?" She said, pointing at the drawn image of a labelled cranium.

"Yes, it has pictures. But that doesn't make it a story." Vale said, finally tugging the book out of her hands and showing her a few of the other pages, picking the less gruesome ones, he knew that Winters would break his nose for traumatising her, and probably revoke his 'uncle' rights, and he quite liked having Ophelia around, not that he'd confess that to anyone. "Let's put this one away, and I can read you an actual story. How about that?" He stood up and found space for the book back on a random shelf, Winters was constantly nagging at him to at least sort them by genre, she'd called him a heathen when he said that he liked it the way that it was and would not be wasting his time rearranging them all for her sake. He'd caught her trying to organise them when she thought he wasn't paying attention, Strongrock telling her not to bother. And both of them groaning in annoyance when they were caught, and again when he put them into an even more nonsensical order the next time that they visited.

Ophelia had chosen another book whilst his back was turned and was sat on the floor reading it, this time it was a botany plant, it was nice to know what was poisonous. He sighed. "Definitely your mother's child. Come on, up, let's read you a proper story. And then, someone will be here to pick you up and take you home."

"Flowers." She said, looking up at him. "Pretty."

"Or we can learn about..." He looked down at the page to see what it was. "Belladonna. Of course you picked that page. You know what? Fine. Let's learn about nightshade." He sat on the floor with her, leaning his back against his couch and pulling her onto his legs, pressing his lips to the top of her head for a second. "You're a strange child. I like that. Don't change."

Chapter Text

Vale huffed, crossing his arms as he stared at the door, painted a deep green with a brass set of numbers above the knocker. He knocked again. The lights upstairs were on, and he knew that Irene and Kai never left the lights on if they weren't home, and they would have told him if they were out for the day with Ophelia. Finally, he heard the sound of the bolt being pulled back. Irene opened the door a few inches. "You took your time." He huffed.

"Have you had chickenpox before?" She asked him in lieu of a greeting. He stared at her and frowned, before nodding. "Alright, you can come in." She undid the chain and let him in. "Sorry, I didn't want to expose you to it if you haven't had it before."

"Ophelia?"

"Yes. No idea where she picked it up from, but loads of the children on the street have it apparently. I had it when I was younger."

"Strongrock?"

"He was not so lucky. Tea? Coffee?" Vale snorted.

"He caught it too?" Irene nodded, clearly trying to not laugh at it all. "Unlucky."

"You're telling me." Kai called. Vale glanced up the stairs to see Kai and Ophelia sat on the landing with a tea set in front of them. "She won't let us come downstairs."

"I also told them both to go to bed." Irene replied. "But someone isn't the brightest button in the box. And by that I mean I told Kai he would catch it, and he told me he would be fine."

"I was very wrong." Kai said. "This is miserab- Ophelia, stop scratching, you're going to make it worse. This is miserable." He sighed and tipped his head back. "Of all the things to catch, I get chickenpox? I thought only children caught that."

"Sounds about right." Vale said, leaning on the bannister. "It could be worse, it could be shingles."

"What that?" Ophelia asked.

"Really nasty chickenpox." Kai said. "I suppose that you are right."

"You're less likely to have shingles if you have had chickenpox." Irene pointed out. "Do you want some real tea Kai? Or is make believe good enough for you?"

"Real please. Sorry about all of this Vale. You didn't need my help with anything, did you?" Vale nodded. "Sorry."

"It can't be helped." Vale said. "How do you feel Phe?"

"Scratchy." She called back, Kai reaching out to take her hands when she raised them to itch at one of the bright red spots on her forearm. "Bad." He sighed before sitting her on his legs and holding onto her when she tried to pull her hands free of his. "Stop it."

"Not happening. You are going to make it worse." Kai said, trying to be firm, but he hated to watch her feeling so ill and unhappy, the occasional cold and fever were one thing, but she was absolutely miserable, unable to go outside, her skin burning and uncomfortable. Kai had some self control, sometimes, and he wanted to be scratching at his spots too, anything to relieve the itch, but he restrained himself.

Irene was trying to be sympathetic, but Kai's whining got on her nerves after a while, Ophelia's fussing made sense, she was three, he was ten times that, he just never got ill, and was a pain in the arse when he did.

He sighed and got up when she started to cry, carrying her into her bedroom. "Sorry about all of this." Irene said, giving him a cup of tea. "You didn't need him for anything urgent, did you?"

"Not particularly." Vale said, shrugging. "I'm sure Singh will be able to lend a hand. How are you doing?"

"I'm tired. Ophelia was up all night, crying quite a bit because of the fever and it hurt." Irene said, she sat in her usual seat in the sitting room, tucking her feet up underneath her skirts as she curled up, Kai normally sat with her. "And I have loads of work that needs to be done, that isn't being done anytime soon, because I don't want to." He chuckled. "Dealing with those two being sick and a heavy work load is not fun. For the most part, Kai is dealing with it all pretty well, but he's sick too, it's not fair to leave it all to him." Vale nodded. "Hopefully, they won't be sick for too long. I am going away this weekend, short assignment, but don't want to leave them alone if they're both still quite ill."

"I'll come and look in on them if you do have to go away." He said.

"Thank you." Irene smiled. "What was it that you needed help with?"

"A suspect is lying about his alibi, I have a couple of leads to follow up on and-" and someone knocked on the door. Irene frowned. "You're not expecting anyone, are you?"

"Not to the best of my... What is the date today?"

"The eighteenth."

"Is it? Damn it. That's Bradamant." Irene scrambled up, smoothing out her skirt and running fingers through her hair before hastily trying to braid it. "She's doing an assignment I set up. I completely forgot that she was coming." There was another knock. "Bare with me for just one minute." She hurried out of the room, aware that she looked like a harried mess of a woman, she was, but she didn't need anyone to tell her that.

"Took you long enough." Bradamant snapped when she did finally get to the front door.

"Have you had chicken pox before?" Irene asked.

"What?"

"Have you, or have you not had chicken pox before?"

"I... Don't think so? I don't remember being a toddler and I certainly haven't had it as an adult." Irene pressed her lips together.

"Alright. Wait here." She shut the door again.

"Excuse me!" Bradamant shouted as the door was closed in her face. She knocked again, louder this time. Irene ran up the stairs to grab files from her desk in the study, her purse and her shoes.

"Bradamant?" Kai asked, poking his head out of Ophelia's door. 

"I forgot that she was coming." Irene said as she looked for her notebook. "I won't be long. An hour at most. I love you." 

"Love you too. Have fun?" Irene snorted. "Don't kill anyone." 

"That's more accurate." Irene said, she gave him a quick kiss and headed back downstairs. "Sorry, I'm having to run out." She said to Vale, grabbing her coat. "I completely forgot all about this."

"Its fine." He said. "Go, I'll see myself out." 

She opened the door again, calling a final goodbye up the stairs. Bradamant glared at her. "Come on, there's a decent cafe around the corner. Far too early for a bar." 

"What is going on?" 

"Kai has chicken pox." She said, shouldering her bag and shoving the file into it, nearly tripping on an uneven paving slab. "Oof. Sorry. I would have let you in, but you can't remember if you have had it, and I don't want to expose anyone to it who may catch it too. I'm immune, or should be at least." Bradamant nodded slowly. 

"That's... Reasonable I suppose." She relented. "I heard rumours about you two shacking up together." 

"Shacking up? That's what you are going with?" Irene glanced down the road to check it was clear before crossing. "He lived with me whilst he was my student, the only time he hasn't lived with me, since we met, was in between him leaving the Library, and the embassy opening. I quite like having him around." That was one way of putting it. She wasn't sure how far word had spread of Ophelia, and she wasn't about to mention it if Bradamant didn't know already.

"I suppose he requires less training than a dog." She said. "How did he get it?" 

"All the children on the street have it." Bradamant pressed her hand to her lips as she gave a delicate laugh. 

"Oh, that certainly sounds right." She said. "Still, you'd think he'd be able to avoid it. You aren't going to give it to me, right?" 

"The virus can cling to clothing." Irene said with a shrug. "But I really doubt that you'll catch it. You should be fine." 

Kai was sat on the penultimate step when she got back in. "How was it?" He asked. She shrugged, pulling her coat off. 

"Fine." She said. "How are you?" 

"Do you really need to ask?" 

"How's Ophelia?" 

"I gave her a bath and put her to bed, she's sleeping right now." Irene nodded. "She's got a fever still, it's not coming back down." Irene cupped his face, running her fingers over his forehead. 

"You do too." She said, pressing her lips to the top of his head. "Go and have a cool shower and get some rest yourself. Sadly, I have work that needs to be done today, or I would join you." 

"For a shower?" She rolled her eyes and tutted. 

"For the nap. I showered this morning. Now go, you will feel better." He gave her a cheeky, lopsided grin, ignoring the way it made the pox on his cheeks burn. "I'll make us some dinner later. Don't you look at me like that, I can cook!" She ran her fingers through his hair and mussed it up. It said a lot about his condition that he didn't neaten it again. "I'll check in on Ophelia in a bit. You look exhausted."

"Hard to sleep." He said with a nod. "I'll try though. If you feel like ignoring your work… I wouldn't say no to you joining me for that nap. I sleep better with you there." He squeezed her wrist, running his thumb over the pulse point. "I always do, no matter what." 

Ophelia was curled up in her bed, deep in fitful sleep. Irene lay a cool cloth across her forehead, sitting on the edge of the bed to run her fingers through her hair for a moment. She picked her up and carried her into the master bedroom. Kai cracked an eye open when the door opened, smiling when he saw them. 

"Mmm. My girls." He hummed as Irene put Ophelia in the middle of the bed and got in too. Kai reached over to hold both of them. 

"Go to sleep." Irene said softly. "Dinner can wait." 

Chapter Text

Irene sat on the couch, watching Ophelia playing on the study room floor, Kai was sat at his desk, trying to work but his eyes were drawn to wife and child every few minutes. She got up and leant on the edge of his desk. Kai finished his sentence, capped his pen and looked up at her. Irene laced her fingers with his before leaning close. "Shall we tell her?" She asked in a low voice, her other hand lightly touching her stomach, her baby bump was too big to hide, though Ophelia had made no comment on it, other than saying that Irene's lap was now less comfortable to sit on.

Kai looked from her to Ophelia, who was still playing, with her backs to them. "Ophelia, can you come here for a moment? We want to tell you something." Ophelia got up and came around the desk, Kai picked her up to set her on his legs. "How would you feel about having a little brother or sister"

"A brother."

"Well, we don't know about that for definite." Irene said. "But you are going to be a big sister in a few months time."

"Can't we just get a dog?"

"It is far too late for you to ask that." Irene said, laughing a little, even if it did make her heart sink a little bit. "I'm pregnant Ophelia, which means that I'm going to have a baby in a few months time. There's going to be a baby, even if you want a dog instead." Ophelia wrinkled her nose.

"Well, I want a brother."

"Well, you can't decide it." Kai said. Vale was convinced that they'd have another girl, even though they didn't find out in advance when given the opportunity. "None of us can."

"Fine."

"This isn't going to change anything." Irene said. "Or at least, it's not going to change how much we love you." She wriggled her nose again and Irene smiled before cupping her jaw and kissing her forehead. "We love you so much."

"Love you too mama." Ophelia said, giving her a gap toothed grin. "Baby too." Kai pressed his lips to her hair.

"Little one." He said, she twisted around to fling her arms around Kai's neck, nearly smacking him in the process. "I love you very much. I promise."

"And the baby?"

"And I love the baby too. Love, are they kicking right now?" Irene nodded, brushing her thumb along where she could feel it, Kai guided Ophelia's hand to where she'd indicated. "Can you feel that?" She nodded, with eyes wide. "That's your baby brother or sister, moving around."

"Why did you eat them mama?" She asked in shock. Irene snorted, laughing, pressing her hand over her mouth to try and stifle it. She snorted again, which made Kai laugh.

"No. No, I didn't eat them." She managed to say in between laughs. "I didn't eat them. No, little one. I'm... Keeping them safe until they are big enough to be born, they would be very sick if they were born too soon."

"How did it get inside of you?" Ophelia asked, Irene looked at Kai.

"A bird?" Kai said, Irene pinched him.

"No, not a bird." Irene said, kneeling down in front of them. "No, you know how I love your papa?" She nodded. "Well, when you love someone, you can make a baby with them, but only when you're an adult, with someone that you love." Close enough. "I'll tell you a bit more when you're older, when you understand a little more." Ophelia nodded. "But no birds are invovled. Papa is just a silly man."

"Very silly." Ophelia giggled. "How does the baby get out?" That made Irene think.

"That's for another day." She decided. "Alright? When you are a bit older than you are now."

"I'm very grown up."

"You're four. And only just."

"Four is a bigger number than three."

"You've got me there kid." 

Chapter Text

It was tea time in the Winters-Strongrock household and Ophelia was adamantly insisting that brocoli was poison and that she would not be eaten her vegetables. Irene had given up on arguing with her and was just eating her own dinner, trying to tune out Kai insisting that she needs to eat them, because Ophelia was as stubborn as she was, neither would win the argument.

Someone knocked on the door and she set her cutlery down. "I'll get it." if there was a problem, security would have gotten to it already. If someone made it to their front door, they were probably safe. Or security was dead. Probably the former though. "Ophelia, eat half of your brocoli. You can leave the rest, but only if you eat half of them."

"Yes mama."

"All of them and there's a cookie afterward."  Kai stared at her. "There was always a cookie for her, I just won't let her have it if she doesn't eat everything, same as always."

"You let me argue?"

"Of course." Another knock. "Who is that?"

"Let me." Kai said, "Sit down. Keep an eye on her." They looked to Ophelia who was attempting to sneak brocoli onto her father's plate.

"Good idea." Irene took her seat again, Ophelia gave up and Kai left to see who it was at the door. She heard talking in low tones and she set her fork down again. "Ophelia."

"I'm eating it." She complained around a mouthful of brocoli.

"Good girl." Irene said. "I'm going to see who that is." She headed out of the kitchen, they rarely used their dining room unless they had company, and down the hall. Kai was stood in the doorway. Talking to Li Ming. Kai turned to look at her, a sour expression on his face. "What's wrong? Has something happened?"

"Treaty renegotiations." Kai said softly. "Father wants me there as soon as possible." Irene's fingers strayed to her stomach, it was impossible to hide her second pregnancy, though Li Ming likely knew about it already.

"How long will you be away for?" She asked.

"I'm not leaving you here." He said, shaking his head. "You need me here a lot more."

"I doubt that is true." Irene said, she looked back to the kitchen. "How long will it be?"

"Hopefully, two weeks." Li Ming said. "However, we don't know. Getting the treaty signed in the first place was hard, the renogitations may be a bit easier." Kai wrapped his arm around of her hips.

"I'm not going." Kai said. "I'm not leaving you here alone."

"You can bring both of them with you." Li Ming said.

"I don't want to leave." Irene said, shaking her head. "And Ophelia has school anyway. She can't skip it for two weeks. Besides, if it takes much longer... I don't want to be away." Kai nodded.

"Sorry Li Ming, can you pass it on to father that I cant go."

"You should go Kai." Irene said. "Ophelia and I will be fine. And the baby too."

"You uncle, his majesty Ao Shun is there to negotiate for our side this time, your father wishes you to go in order to report back to him. Your uncle has asked that I stay here to keep watch over your family whilst you are away, and to come for you if you are needed back here."

"That does make it a little better I suppose." He said, looking down to Irene. "Are you sure?"

"We'll be just fine." She said. "When will he need to leave?"

"By tomorrow evening." Li Ming said. "At the very latest." Kai nodded slowly. "I really am sorry for having to come here to tell you this, but there is no one else as knowledgeable on the various aspects and issues of the treaty, and no one that your father trusts to do this as much as he trusts you."

"Who's going in Irene's place?" He asked curiously.

"Madame Coppelia, along with three other Librarians, Bradamant, Medea; both of whom were at Paris, and one who wasn't. Everiste?"

"An interesting choice." Irene said.

"Mama?"

"Will you excuse me?" Irene said. "Actually, no, come in. We were just eating dinner. You're welcome to some if you want, there's some left."

"Thank you." Li Ming said with a smile.

"Ophelia, this is Li Ming." Irene said softly as they all entered the kitchen again, the child was scrutinising a piece of brocoli. "I don't think you would remember him, but he came to see us when you were very little."

"Its nice to see you again." Li Ming said, bowing his head to her as Kai sorted him out a plate of food. "How do you do?"

"Brocoli is trees and I don't want to eat it." She said as seriously as a four year old could manage. Li Ming smiled.

"But if you do eat it, you will be stronger and smarter, just like your mother and father, don't you want to be like them?"

"'m eating it because mama says I can have cookie." 

Chapter Text

When Kai got up to check on Ophelia in the early hours of the morning, like he always did, he was alarmed to realise that there was light already underneath her door, and he knew that he had turned the nursery light off. He threw the door open, and found Irene sat on the floor, Ophelia in her arms and her face against her daughter's cheek.

Kai went pale.

Irene's face was white as a sheet, where it wasn't purple and red with livid bruising, with deep lines of pain creased into it. She was bruised, like she'd been beaten about the face, with more circling her throat and hands. There was blood too. Not enough to throw him into a blind panic, but there was enough to worry him. She had a split lip, and a cut into her temple. "Irene." She dragged her eyes up to look at him with empty eyes, staring right through him, before looking down to Ophelia again, muttering to her. "Irene, come on. You need to get off the floor. You need medical help." Irene swallowed, before pressing her lips to Ophelia's forehead.

"Irene, you need to give me Ophelia." Kai said, reaching his hands out to take her. Irene tightened her embrace. "Please 'Rene. Love? Come on. You need help." He went to he knees in front of her and reached a hand out. She stiffened and he dropped his hand. "I'll be back as soon as I can." He said. "Don't move." He wasn't sure that she could move, even if she had wanted to. She was wound tenser than piano strings.

It took him a lot longer to return to her than he would have liked, but he didn't know what to do. When he returned, a tired but worried Vale was at his side.

"Take Ophelia." Vale said. "I'll deal with Irene."

"She wouldn't let me." Kai said, it was rare to hear Vale use their personal names, it only happened when worried about something, usually them. "I tried, it's why I fetched you. I don't know what to do." Vale could hear the desperation in the younger man's voice.

"Winters." Vale knelt in front of Irene. "Irene. I think you're in shock." He softened his voice. "Look, I know that you would never hurt your daughter, but if you keep holding onto her like this, she may get hurt. Please, let us put her back into her crib so that we can get you medical help." Irene shook her head. "Irene. I know that you don't want to let her go. But you have got to do it. Please, let me or Kai take her. I know you don't want to hurt her. So let us help you." Irene's eyes were burning.

"I don't think i can let her go." She whispered. Vale knelt up and carefully eased Ophelia out of her arms. The baby was awake, staring at him with deep blue eyes. He looked around the room, for her moses basket, it was usually tucked out of the way unless it was needed.

Kai helped Irene to her feet, holding her close and kissing her forehead. He swept her off her feet into bridal carry. "Bring her into our bedroom." Kai said to Vale, nodding to Ophelia. "The basket is on top of the wardrobe."

He lay Irene on the bed and got out the well stocked first aid kit that they kept, though they hadn't needed it for a while. Vale lay Ophelia next to Irene whilst he got the moses basket down and quickly transferred her into that. "There we go." He said. "She's close. She's safe, alright?" Irene gave a small, jerky nod of her head, before Kai started attending to her wounds.

"What happened?" Kai asked as he doused a cotton pad in alcohol and started to dab it to the wound on her forehead. Irene shut her eyes right, it was burning.

"I don't know." She whispered. "It wasn't meant to go like this."

"Its alright." Kai softly said. "You're alright. Talk to me, tell me whilst I clean you up." 

"It was just meant to be an exchange." She reached out to put her hand in the moses basket, running her finger over Ophelia's cheek. Ophelia made a soft noise as she drifted off to sleep. "I just wanted to buy the book from them. They wanted more money. But I didn't have any more to-" She sharply inhaled.

"Sorry love." Kai said softly. "Vale, do you think that this needs stitches?" Vale came round the bed to scrutinise the wound.

"Hmm." He said, gently probing the wound. Irene bit back a yelp of pain. "I think that it wouldn't hurt if we put a few in." Kai moved out of the way to let him do it. He started pacing the room as Vale threaded the curved needle. "Go and make some tea or something, Strongrock. Your pacing is ruining my light. Actually, when did you last eat Winters?"

"I don't remember." She said faintly.

"Some toast, just in case she's sick." Vale said. "Sweet tea for the shock too." Kai nodded, and left. "Are there any other injuries that need being seen to?" He grabbed her hands to check those, tutting at the cuts across the palms of her hands and the bruises on her knuckles. Her left hand had bruises on the wrist to, stretching up to her forearm and across the back of her hand. "This needs to be wrapped." He said. 

"I think my ankle is sprained too." She said. "I tried to run." Vale nodded. All in all, it was no worse than a normal thugs beating, if was the shock that the worst part of it, she was rattled and scared. 

"Alright. Left or right?" 

"Right." Kai came back in, setting tea and toast down for Irene. "Thank you." He touched her jaw and softly kissed her forehead. 

"How are you feeling?" He asked. "Will you be alright?" She nodded. "You scared me Irene." 

"I'm sorry." 

"You don't need to apologise." He said. He looked down at Ophelia before sighing and picking her up, she was starting to fuss. "Come on little one. You're alright." 

"I didn't hurt her. Did I?" Irene asked. 

"No." Kai said, shaking his head. "She's absolutely fine. Just perfect, like usual. I think she's just a little hungry. Do you want to try and feed her or should I mix up a bottle?" 

"Let me try." Irene said, holding her arms out for her. It helped to relax her when she was stressed, as much as it soothed Ophelia. She hadn't liked feeding in front of anyone but Kai if necessary to begin with, but over the past eight, nearly nine months (it was so hard to believe that she'd been there for almost as long as Irene had been pregnant) she ha got used to others being there. 

Vale started to examine her ankle as Irene unbuttoned her blouse. Ophelia reached for her with tiny hands as Irene readjusted her hold so that she could latch and feed. "There we go my little one." She cooed. "That's all better, isn't it? Mama's here. I've got you." She watched Ophelia's sleepy blinking, ignoring the slight tickling sensation of someone's hand on her feet. 

"Did they hit your head?" Kai asked. Then he blinked. "Other than your forehead." She shook her head. "Good. Good." He sighed, putting his hand to his forehead. "When did you get home?" 

"I don't know." Irene said. "Three, maybe a four? When did she last feed?" 

"Not a peep out of her since eleven." Kai said. "I got up to check on her at about one." 

"You two are the most paranoid parents ever." 

"No. You haven't met my parents before." Irene said, shaking her head. "We are protective." 

"You can be both." Vale said, tucking the bandage in and putting a safety pin in it to stop it unwinding. "You are both." Ophelia coughed and Irene pulled her away and hurridly covered herself again. Kai took her. "Eat. Drink your tea." He was looking a lot more awake now, being awoken by Kai banging on his door had been a shock, especially when he told him what had happened. 

"Take the spare room." Kai said. "Get some sleep. Thank you for coming out here." He returned Ophelia to the basket. 

"Any time." Vale said, he paused to reach his hand down to Ophelia and touch her cheek before going. Irene started eating the toast before it could get too cold, watching Kai busy himself with pointless tasks. 

"Why didn't you come to me?" He said, he had his back to her. 

"I don't know." She said quietly. "I don't even remember getting home Kai." He sat on the edge of their bed. He cupped her jaw and kissed her. 

"You scared me." 

"I'm sorry." 

"You don't have to be." He said, shaking his head. "You don't ever need to apologise to me for getting hurt. For being scared." 

"I could have hurt Ophelia." 

"No you couldn't." He said. "You would never hurt her. I know you wouldn't. Let's keep her in here tonight. You need to get some sleep. Did you come here and not go to the Library?" She nodded. 

"Good. You can check in when you're feeling up for it. After a nice hot bath in the morning and breakfast." 

"Thank you." She said. "Now, get in bed and cuddle me until I fall asleep." He chuckled and complied, folding his arms arms around her, tucking her against his side. He kissed her forehead. "I love you." 

"I love you too." 

Chapter Text

"Ophelia, come sit by me." Irene said softly, Ophelia stood still on the doorway, staring at her mother and baby sister, before she moved to sit by Irene. "This is your little sister. She's called Celeste. Would you like to hold her?"

"I wanted a brother." She said quietly.

"I know Ophelia, but we can't chose if we have a boy or a girl. We were given a little baby girl, like when we had you." Ophelia frowned.

"Can we swap it for a dog?" Irene looked up at Kai, who was failing to hide his laugh behind a cough.

"No. No we cannot." Irene said. "This is your little sister. And she's here to stay, just like you."

"Ew." She said. "I'm going to play in my room." She jumped off the bed and tried to run off but Kai stopped her and picked her up, sitting her back on the bed and kneeling  on the floor in front of her.

"Ophelia. You know how hard the past few months have been. You shouldn't be so rude. Celeste is just a baby, she was born yesterday." Ophelia frowned. "And I know that she isn't what you wanted, but she's here. And I hope that you love her the way we love you and her."

"Would you like to hold her Ophelia." Irene asked, swallowing a lump in her throat, this wasn't going as well as she'd hoped. Ophelia shook her head. "Alright then."

"Nice name." Ophelia said and Irene smiled.

"Your father picked it, since I chose your name." She said. "He says she looks like me though." Ophelia reached out to touch her hair, running her fingers over her head. "She'll be a bit loud for a while, she can't tell us when she's hungry, so she cries, but she'll be sleeping in here for the first few weeks, so you shouldn't be too disturbed.

"Your grandma and grandpa are going to come and visit us in a few days." That was actually just good timing, Irene has arranged for her parents to visit around her due date, thinking that they'd either be there just before she gave birth, or they'd be there. But, like Ophelia, Celeste had been early. She grinned at that. "Is uncle Vale downstairs?"

"He said he was going to make you tea."

"Oh thank goodness." Irene said. "I could do with a cup."

"No change there then." Kai said, leaning down to kiss her forehead. "I'll go and lend a hand. Well be up in a minute."

Vale was happy to hold Celeste when he came up, Irene took the opportunity to relax into the cushions and drink her tea. "She's smaller than Ophelia was." He remarked, sat in the armchair by the window, one of Kai's shirts was draped over the back of it. 

"Thank god." Irene muttered. "Yes, she is, even though, Ophelia was a few days earlier. Kai does think she takes after me, whilst Phe takes after him."

"I'd say that she does too." Vale said. "Certainly more like you than Phe is." When she started fussing, he returned her to Irene.

"Papa?" Ophelia asked looking up to Kai. "How did she get here?" Kai looked up at Irene and Irene looked at Ophelia, and then to Kai.

"Um... The birds brought it?" Kai snorted.

"No, you said that I couldn't use that excuse." He said. He picked Ophelia up and sat her on his hip, whilst she was a loy bigger than she had been when she was a toddler and he had carried her around the house like this, he still did it and he dreaded the day where she didn't want her father to hold her. "You know how the baby was in your mama's tummy?" Ophelia nodded. "Well, yesterday, she was all fully grown and..."

"And I pushed her out of my tummy and here she is." Irene said, when Kai floundered. "Are you sure that you don't want to hold her?"

"Is that how I got here?" Ophelia asked, playing with Kai's collar. "Was I in your tummy?"

"You were, yes. You decided that you were fully grown whilst I was trying to get some sleep and kept me awake all night." Irene said. At least Celeste had the decency to decide to be born whilst Irene was wide awake and just trying to eat a late breakfast. "I had to spend all night pushing you out."

"Does it hurt?"

"It can do, yes." Irene said. Kai rolled his eyes. Irene had had some rather choice language for him when a few of the more painful contractions subsided, along with a promise of never ever have sex with him again. "But it's worth it in the end. I have you and your little sister to make it all worth it." Irene set her tea cup down as Vale got up and laid Celeste in her arms again. Kai sat Ophelia by Irene.

"Come on little one." He said softly. "Why don't you just hold her for a little bit?"

"Okay." Ophelia said after a pause. Kai sat next to her and kept a hold of Celeste whilst Ophelia held her, just in case. Celeste blinked open her big, brown eyes and looked up at Ophelia. "She's like the dolly." Irene and Kai had got her a doll after they told her about the upcoming baby, to show her how a baby was held and dressed, not that Ophelia would be od enough to really help, but to get her used to the idea. "Hello dolly. I'm your sister." Kai kissed the top of her head.

"Yes you are, her big sister."

Chapter Text

Irene pondered the kitchen cabinets, trying to decide what she was going to make for breakfast, working out what she wanted was hard when battling pregnancy cravings. She felt a particularly strong kick and leant on the counter, taking a deep breath.

"Are you okay mama?" Ophelia asked, sat up to the kitchen table.

"Yes, just the baby doing somersaults." She said. She took another deep breath. "Could you go and get your father quickly?" She felt a cramp in her stomach and tried not to gasp aloud as the pain intensified. Ophelia ran off. She heard footsteps on the stairs as she slowly released her breath. She didn't feel another one as Kai came running downstairs.

"Irene?" Kai touched her shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"I think the baby is coming." She whispered. "I think... Can you take Ophelia to Vale's? Or maybe I could take her through to the Library very quickly, I don't know if my parents are available right now."

"It's alright." Kai said, rubbing circles on her back. "I'll send Vale a message. If not, Li Ming is still here. I'm sure that Vale won't complain if he finds both of them in his rooms." She nodded. "Come on, I'll run you a warm bath. How many contractions have you had?"

"Just one. But I had a couple of practise ones earlier and last night." Kai nodded. "I need to make Ophelia breakfast." He kissed the side of her head.

"I'll make both of you breakfast." He said. "We have the things in to make pancakes." Irene smiled.

"Alright. I will allow you to tempt me." She said. "I'll go and tell Li Ming what's going on, and pack some clothes up for Ophelia, I think it's best that she isn't here when I give birth."

"Agreed." He said. "I am sure everything will be fine, but I do recall some choice language when you were in labour last time, and it was bad enough when she couldn't say duck." She laughed before groaning, putting a hand on him to lean against him. "They keep kicking me really hard."

"Alright. It's going to be okay." He kissed the top of her head. "We are going to get to meet our little baby soon." She smiled.

"I can't wait." She said before heading upstairs. Ophelia was sitting on the stairs, clutching a stuffed penguin. "Come on, we need to get your bag packed, I think you are staying with your uncle Vale tonight."

"Why?"

"The baby is hurting me right now and your papa and I think it's best that you stay with him tonight, just in case anything happens. I may need to see a doctor."

"Why?"

"The baby will be here soon." Irene said. "Come on, go and find out some clean pyjamas, and you can choose one stuffed animal and a book to take with you."

"A stuffed animal and the dolly. And a book." Irene laughed.

"Alright. Go on, I'm going to talk to your uncle Li Ming quickly." Ophelia nodded and did as Irene had asked as Irene turned to the spare bedroom and rapped on the door. Li Ming opened it. "Sorry, did I wake you?"

"No, I usually wake up early." And went to bed very late after making sure that the door was locked and checking in with the security team. "What's wrong?"

"I might be in labour." Irene said. "Or the baby is just kicking me a lot and it really hurts. We're sending Ophelia to see if Vale is free to keep her with him for the night. Could you take her there and stay if he isn't in at the moment?"

"Of course." He said. "Doesn't she have school today?"

"Oh yes. I completely forgot." She winced, leaning on the door. She took a deep breath. Li Ming grabbed her arm and pulled her into the room, sitting her down on the edge of the bed. She could hear him calling for Kai but her brain felt fuzzy as a wave of pain swept over her and dragged her down. She opened her eyes and Kai was on his knees in front of her. "Ophelia needs to go to school." He blinked, and then laughed.

"Of course that's what you're thinking about." He said, shaking his head. "I am sure that she can miss one day. And it's Saturday tomorrow. She can have a long weekend." She nodded. "Right, warm bath whilst I get everything sorted out and then bed would be best, I think."

"It's too early." She said. Ophelia had been eight days early, and the doctor had only predicted her due date to be two days later, but she'd been under a lot more stress this time, and it was beginning to get to her. "It's too early for the baby."

"I know." He said softly. "But that isn't something that we can control, we can just hope for the best."

"She still needs breakfast too."

"I know 'Rene. I can sort that out. Li Ming, could you possibly help Ophelia get ready and take her to school? Hopefully by the time she's finished we'll know a bit more about what's going on." Li Ming nodded. "Alright. Let's get you up, I will bring something up for you to eat." He carried her to the bathroom, ignoring her telling him that she was far too heavy for that. He ran her a bath and helped her with the buttons of her dress before she lowered herself into the water, sighing when the heat soothed her. Kai kissed her on the forehead and disappeared, hearing Ophelia loudly protesting against going to school, before there was a loud, happy exclamation when she was told that she didn't actually have to go today. Irene shut her eyes, resting her head on the edge of the bathtub.

"Say goodbye to your mother." Li Ming said.

"Bye mama!" Ophelia called through the door. Irene called a goodbye back before she sharply inhaled, wincing through a contraction. She heard the front door open and shut before Kai poked his head around the bathroom door.

"How are you doing?" He asked, concern in his eyes.

"It is really painful." She said. "They're already five minutes apart." Kai nodded. "I don't think it's going to be long."

"Alright." He said with a nod. "Do you want me to help you out and into bed, or do you want to stay there for a little longer?"

"I think the warm water is helping." She said. "I'll get out when they get closer. You couldn't possibly-"

"Bring you up a cup of tea? The kettle's already on." She sighed.

"I love you."

"I'll remember that when I'm getting threats. I love you too." He said with a smile. "Shout if you need me."

"Kai I always need you." She said softly. He fully stepped into the door and bowed so that he could kiss her. "The pain is going to be worth it though. I don't regret it, even if I may get a little mean." He kissed her forehead. "I love yo-" She choked as she felt her muscles tense and she squeezed her eyes shut as she took a shallow breath, slowly exhaling it. "Ow."

"How long was that?"

"Five minutes." She said. "I had one just after Ophelia left." Kai nodded. "It's fine though. I can cope with it. We'll have our baby soon." He smiled and kissed her forehead. "I love you."

Kai helped her out of the bath a little under an hour later. She'd tried to eat something but only managed a few bites before giving up. She pulled on an old nightdress and lay on the bed. Kai sat by her side, holding her hands and softly talking to her, ignoring the pain in his hands as she squeezed them tightly. He'd sent for a nurse, but so far hadn't heard back.

"That was less than a minute." Kai said, anxiously fretting. "I love you but I really don't want to deliver our baby myself." She laughed. Sweat was beading on her forehead and she was a little out of breath, laying curled up with him holding her so that she could press her face against him to muffle the painful cries. She was trying not to scream but it was hurting.

"I don't want you to either." She said. "But I don't know what choice we have." Li Ming knocked on the door. "Oh dear god please let that be the nurse." It wasn't and she groaned against Kai's shoulder.

"I still haven't heard anything." Li Ming said. "How are you doing?"

"My water hasn't broken yet, but contractions are really close." Irene said. "I think I'm holding up okay though."

"Its simultaneously going better and worse than Ophelia." Kai said. "Labour has progressed faster, but since her water hasn't broken yet, it's not good. Lack of medical professional is not helping."

"It's fine though." Irene said, trying to be as positive as possible. "It's fine." She squeezed Kai's hand as she felt another contraction, and then the pop of her water breaking. "OK, I'm not fine. I'm…" She took a deep breath. "I need a doctor, or someone." Kai rubbed her back. 

"I'll see what I can do." Li Ming said. "But it looks like no one is going to make it here in time." Irene groaned. Kai looked at Li Ming, who jerked his head towards the door. Kai followed him out after pressing a quick kiss to her forehead, ignoring the slick of sweat on her skin. "We have to have a plan for if help doesn't arrive in time." 

"I don't know what to do." Kai said, trying not to sound quite as hysterical as he felt. "Irene is in pain and I don't think the baby is going to wait around."

"No,its not healthy for her or the baby." Li Ming said with a nod. 

"I don't suppose you feel like delivering the baby? I really don't want to do it." Li Ming frowned. "Please. I don't know what to do, I don't know how to help."

"Alright." Li Ming said, and Kai sagged. "I need warm water and towels. Will Irene be okay with this?" 

"I think she'll be glad for any help." Kai said, clasping Li Ming's shoulder. "Thank you." Li Ming nodded. "Really, I can't say how much this means to me." Irene had no complaints about the suggestion, she was just grateful for any help that she could have, the thought that she didn't particularly want Li Ming down there not even passing her mind until he was already sitting at the end of the bed, sliding a towel under her hips. 

"I think you're already fully dilated." Irene just nodded, it hurt too much to talk. "Do you want to try pushing on your next contraction, and we can meet your new little one soon." Kai was sat against the headboard so that Irene could sit between his legs and lean on him. She squeezed his hands until he winced, feeling one of the bones make a popping sound. Irene cried out in pain as she pushed. 

"That's it." Li Ming said. "I can see the head." Irene was breathing heavily, gulping down air between one contraction and the next. "I think maybe two more pushes and you'll get the head out." It was three pushes in fact. "Don't push on the next one, just catch your breath, I think the cord is around their neck." Kai tensed. "It's fine, I can sort that out, you just need to not push." Irene nodded, taking a deep breath. 

"There we go." He said. "Alright, you can push on the next one, get the shoulders out." Irene gritted her teeth, feeling another contraction gripping her stomach. "That's good. There we go, keep going. One more and…" The baby slid out and he caught them on a towel. He started rubbing them dry and there was a cry from the baby, a high pitched keen. He quickly cut the cord and started to dry the baby off properly. 

"Are they okay?" Kai asked, holding his breath, watching everything that Li Ming did, itching to take his child and 

"I believe so." Li Ming said. "Congratulations. You've got a beautiful little girl." 

"I want to hold her." Irene rasped. "Please." Li Ming got up and carefully lay the baby on Irene's chest. 

"Hello." Irene said softly. "Oh she's perfect." She was small, skin still red, face damp as she struggled to open her eyes, dark already. She had fine, brown curls on her head. Her cries were turning into soft whimpers. Irene pressed her lips to her forehead. She was exhausted and in agony but with the baby laying on her chest, looking at her with wide eyes, she knew that it was all worth it, that their baby was all worth it. She looked up to Kai, who was staring at the baby like she was the most perfect thing in the world, like she was the stars in the night sky. 

"She needs a name." Kai said. He brushed loose hairs out of Irene's eyes before he softly kissed her. Li Ming took a step backward, leaving the family to themselves for now. 

"You should name her." Irene said. "I named Ophelia." They'd been making a list of names that they'd liked but hadn't picked anything yet. They both wanted to meet the baby first. Kai leant close to the baby, cooing at them, they were already fast asleep. 

"May I?" She nodded and Kai picked her up and held her close, kissing her forehead. He carefully tightened the towel around her, to keep her warm, he'd fetch blankets and clothes for her as soon as he could pull himself away from his wife and daughter. "Perfect. I… I like Celeste." Irene smiled, sleepily blinking. 

"I like it too." She whispered, clearly too exhausted and drained to stay awake much longer. "I love you." 

"Rest love." He said. "I'll get her dressed and wrapped up in a blanket." 

Chapter Text

"What were you dreaming about?" Kai asked Irene. Irene blinked and rubbed her eyes.

"I don't think I was. When did I fall asleep?" She said, her throat was dry and she coughed to clear it. Vale's study was dark and the detective was sat at his desk under dim lamp light, with Ophelia sat on his lap. Irene softly smiled at the scene.

"About two hours ago." He said, slipping his arm around her shoulders. "Merry Christmas." She looked to the mounted clock. It was indeed Christmas day now. She smiled and leant up to give him a soft kiss.

"Merry Christmas." She said. Vale got up to carry Ophelia over to her and Irene took the baby, eight months old now, and kissed the top of her head. "I can't believe you are working on Christmas day." Vale chuckled.

"I'm all done actually." He said. "I was enjoying my time with Ophelia."

"Were you behaving for your uncle?" Irene cooed. "Were you being a good little girl?"

"You don't have to make me a part of your family."

"But I want to." Irene said, before looking to Kai, who nodded. "Vale, you would have been her godfather if we had her christened."

"I thought that was just a given." Kai said with a shrug.

"Exactly." Irene said. Ophelia chose the perfect moment to reach her hands out to Vale, babbling loudly. "See? Even she wants you to be her uncle." Vale softly smiled and gently touched Ophelia's cheek with a long finger.

"Well, as far as nieces go, she isn't half bad." He said.

"That's a strange way of saying that she's absolutely perfect." Kai muttered. "She really is." He stole her from Irene's arms, picking her up to spin the giggling baby around. Irene watched, she was still half asleep but nothing made her quite as happy as watching Kai play with their child. She got up to join them and Kai pulled her into a hug.

Vale tried not to sigh to audibly, watching them. But Kai looked up. "Either you come over here and join us, or we will come to you." He said. Vale shook his head but got up anyway. Irene wrapped an arm around his shoulders. 

"Merry Christmas, Vale." She said. He gave her a small squeeze.

"Can we open presents now?" Kai whispered. Irene had to pull back and laugh. "It's Christmas day now!"

"How about one, and then we go and get some sleep." Irene said. She still Ophelia back. "Look how excited he is." She said. "Look at your silly papa."

Vale had a small Christmas tree tucked into the corner and they had crammed presents underneath it. The second bed had the moses basket in it for Ophelia so that they could spend the night. Kai plucked a small box off the top of it and held it out to Irene. "This one's for you." He said.

"I thought that you wanted to open one. " She said.

"I can wait. I want you to open that." She frowned, before awkwardly opening the box with one hand. She stared down at the contents.

"Kai... Its..." She smiled. "It's perfect." It was a small knife, specifically a needle pointed knife that she could easily hide away. The hilt of it had leather strips to protect her hand, and small flowers along the narrow guard. She gave Vale Ophelia in order to wrap an arm around his shoulders and kiss him.

"Look at your parents." Vale said. "How disgustingly in love they are." Irene pulled away from Kai.

"Yes we are." She said firmly. "Let's get to bed and get some sleep."

"Fine." Kai said. "Bed. And in the morning, more presents." Irene tucked Ophelia into the cot and Kai wrapped his arms her and kissed her cheek. She smiled and leant against him.

"Merry Christmas." She whispered. He spun her to face him and pressed his lips to hers. "I think that this year has been quote possibly, the most perfect year in my whole life." Kai smiled and kissed her again.

"It really has been. And I can't wait to see what the next year brings us." They both looked to Ophelia.

"She's growing so fast."

"She is." Kai leant forward to kiss Ophelia. "Let's go to bed."

Chapter Text

Irene pondered the kitchen cabinets, trying to decide what she was going to make for breakfast, working out what she wanted was hard when battling pregnancy cravings. She felt a particularly strong kick and leant on the counter, taking a deep breath.

"Are you okay mama?" Ophelia asked, sat up to the kitchen table.

"Yes, just the baby doing somersaults." She said. She took another deep breath. "Could you go and get your father quickly?" She felt a cramp in her stomach and tried not to gasp aloud as the pain intensified. Ophelia ran off. She heard footsteps on the stairs as she slowly released her breath. She didn't feel another one as Kai came running downstairs.

"Irene?" Kai touched her shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"I think the baby is coming." She whispered. "I think... Can you take Ophelia to Vale's? Or maybe I could take her through to the Library very quickly, I don't know if my parents are available right now."

"It's alright." Kai said, rubbing circles on her back. "I'll send Vale a message. If not, Li Ming is still here. I'm sure that Vale won't complain if he finds both of them in his rooms." She nodded. "Come on, I'll run you a warm bath. How many contractions have you had?"

"Just one. But I had a couple of practise ones earlier and last night." Kai nodded. "I need to make Ophelia breakfast." He kissed the side of her head.

"I'll make both of you breakfast." He said. "We have the things in to make pancakes." Irene smiled.

"Alright. I will allow you to tempt me." She said. "I'll go and tell Li Ming what's going on, and pack some clothes up for Ophelia, I think it's best that she isn't here when I give birth."

"Agreed." He said. "I am sure everything will be fine, but I do recall some choice language when you were in labour last time, and it was bad enough when she couldn't say duck." She laughed before groaning, putting a hand on him to lean against him. "They keep kicking me really hard."

"Alright. It's going to be okay." He kissed the top of her head. "We are going to get to meet our little baby soon." She smiled.

"I can't wait." She said before heading upstairs. Ophelia was sitting on the stairs, clutching a stuffed penguin. "Come on, we need to get your bag packed, I think you are staying with your uncle Vale tonight."

"Why?"

"The baby is hurting me right now and your papa and I think it's best that you stay with him tonight, just in case anything happens. I may need to see a doctor."

"Why?"

"The baby will be here soon." Irene said. "Come on, go and find out some clean pyjamas, and you can choose one stuffed animal and a book to take with you."

"A stuffed animal and the dolly. And a book." Irene laughed.

"Alright. Go on, I'm going to talk to your uncle Li Ming quickly." Ophelia nodded and did as Irene had asked as Irene turned to the spare bedroom and rapped on the door. Li Ming opened it. "Sorry, did I wake you?"

"No, I usually wake up early." And went to bed very late after making sure that the door was locked and checking in with the security team. "What's wrong?"

"I might be in labour." Irene said. "Or the baby is just kicking me a lot and it really hurts. We're sending Ophelia to see if Vale is free to keep her with him for the night. Could you take her there and stay if he isn't in at the moment?"

"Of course." He said. "Doesn't she have school today?"

"Oh yes. I completely forgot." She winced, leaning on the door. She took a deep breath. Li Ming grabbed her arm and pulled her into the room, sitting her down on the edge of the bed. She could hear him calling for Kai but her brain felt fuzzy as a wave of pain swept over her and dragged her down. She opened her eyes and Kai was on his knees in front of her. "Ophelia needs to go to school." He blinked, and then laughed.

"Of course that's what you're thinking about." He said, shaking his head. "I am sure that she can miss one day. And it's Saturday tomorrow. She can have a long weekend." She nodded. "Right, warm bath whilst I get everything sorted out and then bed would be best, I think."

"It's too early." She said. Ophelia had been eight days early, and the doctor had only predicted her due date to be two days later, but she'd been under a lot more stress this time, and it was beginning to get to her. "It's too early for the baby."

"I know." He said softly. "But that isn't something that we can control, we can just hope for the best."

"She still needs breakfast too."

"I know 'Rene. I can sort that out. Li Ming, could you possibly help Ophelia get ready and take her to Vale? Hopefully we'll know a bit more about what's going on soon." Li Ming nodded. "Alright. Let's get you up, I will bring something up for you to eat." He carried her to the bathroom, ignoring her telling him that she was far too heavy for that. He ran her a bath and helped her with the buttons of her dress before she lowered herself into the water, sighing when the heat soothed her. Kai kissed her on the forehead and disappeared, hearing Ophelia loudly protesting against going to school, before there was a loud, happy exclamation when she was told that she didn't actually have to go today. Irene shut her eyes, resting her head on the edge of the bathtub.

"Say goodbye to your mother." Li Ming said.

"Bye mama!" Ophelia called through the door. Irene called a goodbye back before she sharply inhaled, wincing through a contraction. She heard the front door open and shut before Kai poked his head around the bathroom door.

"How are you doing?" He asked, concern in his eyes.

"It is really painful." She said. "They're already five minutes apart." Kai nodded. "I don't think it's going to be long."

"Alright." He said with a nod. "Do you want me to help you out and into bed, or do you want to stay there for a little longer?"

"I think the warm water is helping." She said. "I'll get out when they get closer. You couldn't possibly-"

"Bring you up a cup of tea? The kettle's already on." She sighed.

"I love you."

"I'll remember that when I'm getting threats. I love you too." He said with a smile. "Shout if you need me."

"Kai I always need you." She said softly. He fully stepped into the door and bowed so that he could kiss her. "The pain is going to be worth it though. I don't regret it, even if I may get a little mean." He kissed her forehead. "I love yo-" She choked as she felt her muscles tense and she squeezed her eyes shut as she took a shallow breath, slowly exhaling it. "Ow."

"How long was that?"

"Five minutes." She said. "I had one just after Ophelia left." Kai nodded. "It's fine though. I can cope with it. We'll have our baby soon." He smiled and kissed her forehead. "I love you."

Kai helped her out of the bath a little under an hour later. She'd tried to eat something but only managed a few bites before giving up. She pulled on an old nightdress and lay on the bed. Kai sat by her side, holding her hands and softly talking to her, ignoring the pain in his hands as she squeezed them tightly. He'd sent for a nurse, but so far hadn't heard back.

"That was less than a minute." Kai said, anxiously fretting. "I love you but I really don't want to deliver our baby myself." She laughed. Sweat was beading on her forehead and she was a little out of breath, laying curled up with him holding her so that she could press her face against him to muffle the painful cries. She was trying not to scream but it was hurting.

"I don't want you to either." She said. "But I don't know what choice we have." Li Ming knocked on the door. "Oh dear god please let that be the nurse." It wasn't and she groaned against Kai's shoulder.

"I still haven't heard anything." Li Ming said. "How are you doing?"

"My water hasn't broken yet, but contractions are really close." Irene said. "I think I'm holding up okay though."

"Its simultaneously going better and worse than Ophelia." Kai said. "Labour has progressed faster, but since her water hasn't broken yet, it's not good. Lack of medical professional is not helping."

"It's fine though." Irene said, trying to be as positive as possible. "It's fine." She squeezed Kai's hand as she felt another contraction, and then the pop of her water breaking. "OK, I'm not fine. I'm…" She took a deep breath. "I need a doctor, or someone." Kai rubbed her back. 

"I'll see what I can do." Li Ming said. "But it looks like no one is going to make it here in time." Irene groaned. Kai looked at Li Ming, who jerked his head towards the door. Kai followed him out after pressing a quick kiss to her forehead, ignoring the slick of sweat on her skin. "We have to have a plan for if help doesn't arrive in time." 

"I don't know what to do." Kai said, trying not to sound quite as hysterical as he felt. "Irene is in pain and I don't think the baby is going to wait around."

"No,its not healthy for her or the baby." Li Ming said with a nod. 

"I don't suppose you feel like delivering the baby? I really don't want to do it." Li Ming frowned. "Please. I don't know what to do, I don't know how to help."

"Alright." Li Ming said, and Kai sagged. "I need warm water and towels. Will Irene be okay with this?" 

"I think she'll be glad for any help." Kai said, clasping Li Ming's shoulder. "Thank you." Li Ming nodded. "Really, I can't say how much this means to me." Irene had no complaints about the suggestion, she was just grateful for any help that she could have, the thought that she didn't particularly want Li Ming down there not even passing her mind until he was already sitting at the end of the bed, sliding a towel under her hips. 

"I think you're already fully dilated." Irene just nodded, it hurt too much to talk. "Do you want to try pushing on your next contraction, and we can meet your new little one soon." Kai was sat against the headboard so that Irene could sit between his legs and lean on him. She squeezed his hands until he winced, feeling one of the bones make a popping sound. Irene cried out in pain as she pushed. 

"That's it." Li Ming said. "I can see the head." Irene was breathing heavily, gulping down air between one contraction and the next. "I think maybe two more pushes and you'll get the head out." It was three pushes in fact. "Don't push on the next one, just catch your breath, I think the cord is around their neck." Kai tensed. "It's fine, I can sort that out, you just need to not push." Irene nodded, taking a deep breath. 

"There we go." He said. "Alright, you can push on the next one, get the shoulders out." Irene gritted her teeth, feeling another contraction gripping her stomach. "That's good. There we go, keep going. One more and…" The baby slid out and he caught them on a towel. He started rubbing them dry and there was a cry from the baby, a high pitched keen. He quickly cut the cord and started to dry the baby off properly. 

"Are they okay?" Kai asked, holding his breath, watching everything that Li Ming did, itching to take his child and 

"I believe so." Li Ming said. "Congratulations. You've got a beautiful little girl." 

"I want to hold her." Irene rasped. "Please." Li Ming got up and carefully lay the baby on Irene's chest. 

"Hello." Irene said softly. "Oh she's perfect." She was small, skin still red, face damp as she struggled to open her eyes, dark already. She had fine, brown curls on her head. Her cries were turning into soft whimpers. Irene pressed her lips to her forehead. She was exhausted and in agony but with the baby laying on her chest, looking at her with wide eyes, she knew that it was all worth it, that their baby was all worth it. She looked up to Kai, who was staring at the baby like she was the most perfect thing in the world, like she was the stars in the night sky. 

"She needs a name." Kai said. He brushed loose hairs out of Irene's eyes before he softly kissed her. Li Ming took a step backward, leaving the family to themselves for now. 

"You should name her." Irene said. "I named Ophelia." They'd been making a list of names that they'd liked but hadn't picked anything yet. They both wanted to meet the baby first. Kai leant close to the baby, cooing at them, they were already fast asleep. 

"May I?" She nodded and Kai picked her up and held her close, kissing her forehead. He carefully tightened the towel around her, to keep her warm, he'd fetch blankets and clothes for her as soon as he could pull himself away from his wife and daughter. "Perfect. I… I like Celeste." Irene smiled, sleepily blinking. 

"I like it too." She whispered, clearly too exhausted and drained to stay awake much longer. "I love you." 

"Rest love." He said. "I'll get her dressed and wrapped up in a blanket." 

Chapter Text

"Kai?" She called his name and opened the bedroom door. Okay he wasn't in there. Ophelia's room perhaps? There he was, the girl was sat on his lap, her head against his shoulder, evidently lulled to sleep by a story her father had read her. He looked up and smiled.

"Is everything alright?" He asked. Irene nodded. Kai got up and put Ophelia into her bed. "What is up?"

"Guess what." She said, smiling brightly, she leant down and tucked blankets around Ophelia to make sure that she was all snug. In her sleep, she reached for her stuffed rabbit.

"Uh, I have no idea." He said, shaking his head. "But you look really happy. Something good has happened."

"Something fantastic has happened." She said, grabbing his hand and tugging him out of the bedroom, flipping the light off. Kai discarded the picture book on the side table, letting Irene pull him down the hall and into the bathroom. She grabbed something off the counter top and held it up to him. He stared at it for a second.

"You're pregnant." He said slowly, Irene nodded, she put the test down before flinging her arms around his neck as he wrapped his arms around her hips and lifted her off the floor. Irene laughed as he spun her around. "Irene, my love, we're going to have another baby." He kissed her. His fingers were warm on her jaw.

"I love you." She said. "Our perfect little family is getting a little bit bigger." He touched her stomach.

"Do you know how far along you are?" He asked.

"I've only just found out." She said. "I didn't want to tell you that I thought I may be pregnant until I knew. But it can't be any longer than two months. Probably less, I've only missed one cycle." He kissed her again. "I'm so happy right now."

"You are just perfect." Kai said. He grabbed her hand and kissed her knuckles, by her wedding ring. "I love you Irene. And Ophelia, and this little baby that we're going to have. I can't wait to tell everyone."

"No. Not yet." Irene said. "Not until we know that everything is okay. Until I'm further along." He nodded.

"Alright." He said before kissing her. "I love you." 

Chapter Text

“Welcome to fatherhood.” 

It had all happened in a flurry. Irene looked just about ready to scream, holding his hand in an agonisingly tight grip (he wasn't about to complain, she was the one in labour after all), and then she went limp, breathing heavily in shaking gasps, chest heaving. Her eyes were wet with tears as she slowly released her grasp on him.

"The baby..." She managed to mutter between gasps. Kai looked to the nurse, his heart leaping into his throat, and then they heard the baby scream, a high pitched wail. 

"You've got a nice healthy girl." The nurse said. "Do you want cut the cord?" She asked Kai, he kissed Irene on the head before getting up to do so and then Irene was given the squirming, still bloody baby. Irene felt too tired to move but it was like an instinct to wrap her arms around the baby and cradle her close. The baby looked at her with wide, bright blue eyes. And she smiled.

"Hello little one." She croaked. "I'm your mama." She smoothed a finger over damp hair. "Oh she's perfect." The baby coughed and began crying again.

"She'll want feeding." The nurse said. Irene looked up with wide eyes before realising that that was something that she needed to do and managed to unbutton her nightdress so that the baby could latch and begin to feed. It felt weird.

"Welcome to fatherhood." The nurse said to Kai, watching as he stared in awe and Irene and Their child. How nice that felt to say. Their baby. Their little one. 

Chapter Text

"Kai! Kai! Come here!" Kai choked on his tea, Irene's sudden shout had made him jump. He put his tea down and all but ran upstairs to Ophelia's bedroom. Irene was sat on the floor, and Ophelia was stood up in front of her. The toddler looked up at her father and gave him a gapped tooth grin. She made a babbling noise and took a step forward.

"My precious little girl." Kai knelt by Irene. "Oh she's got so big."

"Don't tell me." Irene said softly. She looked at him, he had tea on his shirt. "Sorry, did I make you jump?"

"I thought something was wrong." Kai said. "I was drinking tea." Irene snicked as he sat down and he leant on him. Kai sighed, and leant on her as much as she leant on him.

"Do you want to walk to mama, little one?" Irene cooed. "Come on. Take another step!" Ophelia gurgled. She'd been standing up for a few weeks, usually leaning on the bars of her cot so that she didn't fall down again. This was the first time she had tried to walk, the first that they'd seen that was. She laughed as she lifted her foot and took a wobbly step, her hands waving as she tried to balance herself. Kai was itching to reach out and hold her, she could fall and get hurt!

Irene held her hands out and Ophelia took another two steps forward and fell toward her. Irene caught her before she could fall and brought her to rest on the thick fabric of her skirts, pressing a kiss to Ophelia's cheek, making her squel and laugh. "My little one is getting bigger." She said, before looking up at Kai. "She's just so unbelievably perfect." Kai smiled.

"That she is." He moved to sit several feet away from her. "Let's see if she'll walk to me." Irene helped Ophelia stand up again. "Come to papa little one." Kai held his hand out to her, and Ophelia sat down on Irene's lap again, content to stay with her mother. Kai pouted.

"Go on little one." Irene said softly, standing her up again. "Go to your papa." Ophelia looked at her, babbled a few nonsense words, and sat down again. "Don't you want to take another step? Go on, you get a big hug from you papa if you do. Come on, you can do it." But she did not want to, happy to just sit on Irene's legs and shove her fingers into her mouth, chewing on them. Irene sighed and eased her fingers out of her mouth and dried them off with her handkerchief.

"What are you doing?" Vale's voice made them jump, they'd been too absorbed in trying to persuade Ophelia to walk that they hadn't head him come in.

"Ophelia walked." Irene said with a smile. "Only now she's refusing to do it again. So Kai is sulking a bit." Vale chuckled.

Ophelia pushed herself to her feet and took a few short steps toward Vale, he knelt down and she took a few more before tripping and falling into his arms. He scooped her up and sat her down again.

"Oh come on!"

Chapter Text

"What do you want?" Irene asked as they sat in bed, Kai against the headboard, Irene between his legs, her back against his chest and his arms circling her, hands on her stomach. "Another girl? Or a boy this time?" Kai hummed, before pressing his lips to her cheek.

"Is it bad that I have a preference? I mean, I wouldn't be any less happy, proud or in love if we had another girl, but a son would be nice."

"Your heir?"

"I don't really care about all of that." He said, waving his hand before resting it on the baby bump again, only now beginning to be obvious. Ophelia still had no idea, Irene wanted to save telling her for when they could feel the baby moving around a lot. "I don't know what it is. But a boy would be brilliant." She twisted slightly so that she could kiss him. "Do you have a preference?"

"No." She said, leaning her head against his shoulder, and shifted so that she was sat across his legs, slipping an arm around the back of his neck as she rested against him. "I just want them to be happy and healthy." She ran her fingers over the side of her baby bump.

"They will be." Kai said.

"And I suppose, that if you wanted to find out, when we go for the next scan, you could always ask."

"No. I want to wait." He said softly. "I'll find out when you do."

"That is quite a way off still." She said. He shrugged.

"I can wait." He kissed her forehead. "I am a patient man." She arched a brow. "OK, I'm not the most patient. But I can wait five minutes. In the end, I guess it doesn't really matter if we have a boy or a girl. They are going to grow up well protected and loved."

"They will." Irene said. She got up. "I am really hungry." Kai laughed. "Oh shut up."

"Its nearly midnight." He said. "Midnight feast?"

"I was just going to make toast." She said with a shrug. "Do you want some?"

"Am I a bad father if I say let's get Ophelia up, she's not in school tomorrow, and make hot cocoa?"

"Yes... But let's do it anyway." Irene said. "Hot cocoa and I think we have marshmallows in still." Kai grinned as he got out of bed. "Why not do things like this every now and then? She can stay in bed later tomorrow if she needs to sleep in."

"Lazy Sunday mornings and late night hot cocoa." Kai said. "It sounds absolutely perfect to me."

"Everything is with you."

Chapter Text

Irene sat on the edge of the bed, her hands on her on her stomach, feeling the flurry of kicks that the baby had decided that she deserved. It was hurting, but she didn't mind it too much. She quite liked it that the baby was active, it meant that she knew they were healthy.

"Irene?" Kai's voice was soft, and she looked up. "You look like you're a million miles away right now."

"What if... Do you think I'll be a good mother?" She asked softly. "What if I make mistakes? I could ruin everything."

"No you won't." He said, kneeling on the floor in front of her. He took her hands and kissed her knuckles. "You won't ruin everything. Every child is different, and we're going to learn as we go, it's new for both of us. But neither of us are going to ruin this."

"I don't know what to do though." She said. "I don't even think I've ever held a baby before. And now we're having one and I'm scared Kai."

"I am too." He confessed. "I'm terrified but that doesn't mean that I'm not going to be trying my hardest to be the best father that I can be." He leant forward and kissed the baby bump. "I love our little one so much already. Nothing will ever be perfect. But that doesn't mean that they can't be good. We won't be perfect parents. But we love our baby, and that's enough." 

Chapter Text

"Kai!" Irene's half panicked yelp startled him and he took the stairs two at a time. She was in Ophelia's room and Ophelia...
Ophelia was a dragon.

"Oh." He said softly, walking close to kneel down by her. "Oh my little one." He ran his hand over the top of her scaled head as he broke out into a grin. She made a soft, chirruping noise when his fingers ran through the short hairs that would be her mane eventually. She was a deep blue, but not quite as dark as he was, sea in sunlight, not the depths. She looked at him with wide, red eyes, blinking as she looked around in confusion. 

"What is this?" She asked in a low voice. Irene finally moved to crawl forward and run her fingers over her wings, folded up. "Mama..." 

"Shh, its alright." Irene said softly. "You're alright it's... Just..." She didn't know what to say and instead looked to Kai. Who was staring at Ophelia in the exact same way he had looked at her when she had first been born. He stared, mute but in complete aw of their child, about two feet in length, curled up on the bedroom floor. 

Ophelia shifted to rest her head on Irene's thighs and look up at her mother. She opened her mouth to reveal sharp teeth and a long tongue as she chirruped again, Kai's hand still running over her head and back to between her wings. "Feels strange." She said. 

"You're perfect." Kai said softly. "Ophelia you're... You are just like me." He was still grinning. 

"What is it?" She asked. Kai sighed, other than when he had carried her and Irene to his father's world, she had not seen her own kind.

"You're a dragon." Irene said. "Just like your father is." She scratched between Ophelia's wings, laughing when Ophelia made a soft and happy noise. "I'm a little surprised by... This."

"What caused her to change?" Kai said softly.

"There was a spider." Irene said and he laughed. "It was a rather big spider." Ophelia whipped her head around to look for the spider, which was on the wall. She hissed and tried to reach out to claw it. "No, Ophelia!" Irene said, Kai reached forward to stop her.

"Okay. We are going to have to do something about this." Kai said softly, he was still smiling giddily.

"How does she turn back?"

"I don't have a clue." 

Chapter Text

Irene paced up and down there bedroom, Ophelia in her arms and the baby screaming until she was red in the face, unwilling to settle down, not even to feed. She pressed her lips together, trying not to yawn.

"Here. Let me take her." Kai said as he came into their room with a large mug of tea. He put it on Irene's bedside table. "Drink that, and get some sleep. I'll take her until she's calmed down."

"Are you sure?" Kai pressed his lips to her forehead and slipped Ophelia from her arms and brought her against his chest in a secure grip that wasn't too tight.

"I'm sure. Sit, before you fall down." He said. "I'll take her downstairs so you can sleep, at least until she's calm enough to feed." Irene nodded, he was right. She was exhausted and the thought of crawling under the covers was tempting. She kissed the top of Ophelia's head, and then Kai's lips.

"Alright." She relented. "Just for a little while, and then I'll take over again." Kai snorted, there was no way that he was going to let her stay awake for any longer. She needed her rest more than he did.

"Come on little one." He whispered. "What's wrong? Come on, nothing is this bad, is it?" He sighed and lay her on the loveseat. She didn't seem to have a fever, her forehead didn't feel any hotter than normal. Stripping her out of her nightdress revealed nothing like a rash or anything on her skin that may be causing upset, and she didn't need a clean nappy. Eventually he gave up and just lay her on his chest, running his hand over her back.

"I wish you could tell me what was upsetting you so much." He said softly. "I'd so anything for you, my little one. I'd take on the world if it meant that you were happy." He slid his fingers through her soft curls, just like Irene. She'd ended up being the perfect combination of both of them, rather than favouring one over the other.

The clock struck four in the morning and she was still crying, probably keeping Irene awake, thought hopefully not. Irene had trained her body to sleep in worse situations than near a screaming baby.

He sat up and laid her on his legs so that he could look down at her. Again he checked that she didn't have a fever and that nothing was wrong with her, and that she didn't need to be changed. And again he found nothing. He was about to give up when he was struck by a thought.

"Open up little one." He said softly, pressing on her lips to open her mouth and run his thumb over her  gums. There it was. "You're teething." He scooped her up. He could deal with teething. He wet a wash cloth and as soon as Ophelia had it in front of her mouth she tried to bite it. "There we go." He said as the cries turned to whimpers. "Is that better? yes?" He cooed in a soft voice that always made Irene smile. He grabbed a second wash cloth to wipe drool off her face. "Alright, let's go back upstairs. Please don't start crying again."

"Is she alright?" Irene asked.

"Did you sleep at all?"

"Maybe half an hour." Kai sighed. "I was worried about her, I couldn't have slept if I wanted to. And she was meant to be fed an hour ago, which is really uncomfortable for me."

"She's teething." Kai explained. "Hence the wash cloth. It seems to be doing the trick for now." Irene slumped against the pillows. "She'll be fine. It's just a few more restless nights. We've done eight months. We can do this." 

Chapter Text

“Shh, it’s okay, you don’t need to cry.” Li Ming said softly as he picked Ophelia up. "I think she doesn't like you." He bluntly told Silver.

"I came to speak with miss Winters. Is she busy?" He asked, looking around. "I did not expect to find to you with the miniature dragon." He looked around. "Maybe the Prince since it is his. Not you though." 

"Half dragon." Li Ming corrected. "And she's here. But she's resting. I said I would keep an eye on Ophelia whilst I was around, so that she could get some sleep." He stood up, keeping Ophelia safely held against him, making Silver wonder what experience he had with babies. "If I can't help you, you can come back some other time."

"Maybe you can help me." Silver said with a casual shrug. "Who knows."

"You know, you just aren't telling me in order to play some game." Li Ming replied. "Be useful or get out. Preferably before you upset the baby any further, or wake Miss Winters."

"I'll only tell you because you're such excellent company." Silver said, he draped himself over an armchair by the fireplace, Vale's usual seat by his guess, the other two probably curled up on the couch together, they had spent so long hiding their relationship, and they didn't have to any more and he doubted they'd gotten over the new found novelty of being able to display any sign off affection for the other. Or they were genuinely that in love. Gross.

"I know that a group of Fae are hoping to make move on London, seize my power and hopefully some more on top of it." Li Ming nodded, pacing the room when Ophelia started to fuss a little bit.

"So you want Miss Winters to help you because you may lose?" Li Ming snorted condescendingly. "Get out before I make you leave."

"Has it occurred to you that this could also put the Prince's little family at risk? I don't know what side of the treaty they stand on, they could be a threat."

"Alright. What else do you know then?"

"Not much." Silver confessed. "I have my people trying to find more out, but there's only so much that they can get." Li Ming nodded. "They seem to be based out of Camden, or, at the very least, they seem to meet there regularly. My people are looking further into this to try and find their identities and more information on them."

"I'll take a look into it as well." He said. Ophelia stretched her hand out of the blankets to try and grab his hair, he carefully tucked her arm back underneath the blanket and sighed. "I'll see if Miss Winters is awake."

"I am." Irene said, she was still in nightdress and dressing robe, her hair hastily tied back. She took Ophelia, softly cooing to the baby before curling up on the sofa. "What's wrong?"

"I'll deal with it." Li Ming said. "Will you be alright alone?"

"Of course. Thank you for lending your help." She said. "It's greatly appreciated. Is something seriously wrong?"

"Don't worry about it mouse. Look after... The mousling."

"You look so pleased with yourself." Irene said as Silver grinned at his joke like it was the funniest thing ever said, before he pouted when neither of them laughed. Irene doubted that Li Ming would ever laugh at any of Silver's 'jokes', even if they were the funniest thing ever. "Are you sure I can't do anything? I could see if my parents could take Ophelia."

"You need rest." Li Ming said. "Not to mention the fact that I can name several people who'd have my head if anything happened to you under my watch." Irene pressed her lips together, and nodded. "Stay here, I'll contact you or the Prince if there is anything worth worrying about."

"Mousling?" Irene asked Silver whilst Li Ming put on his jacket. "You do know that a baby mouse is called a pup? Or a pinkie?"

"Well, I'm not using either of those, it doesn't have the same ring to it." Silver shrugged, rising from his chair. "Give the Prince my best."

"You know that I won't."

"A shame." Silver said with a sigh. "At least tell him I was here, I do love getting a rise out of him." Li Ming rolled his eyes.

"I did have to stop him tossing out the flowers you sent me." Irene said. "Thank you for those by the way. I don't recall if I sent you a note." She looked at Ophelia. "I probably meant to, but babies do tend to keep you busy. So does napping."

"Glad you liked them." Silver said. "I'll see you around little mouse." He left with Li Ming. Both men stepping out onto the street. "Come on." He said to the dragon. "We can take my carriage."

"You aren't coming with me." Li Ming said with a sneer.

"Of course I am." Silver said, practically bouncing. "Let's not waste any more time. We have things to do." He linked his arm with Li Ming's, who was surprised by the strength of the Fae when he tried to wriggle his arm free. It was creasing his suit. "Off we go!" 

Chapter Text

"Your turn." Irene said with a groan, Ophelia's cries echoed from her room opposite theirs and seemed so loud to her half sleeping brain. Kai muttered something before he kissed her and got out of the bed, bare feet silent as he went into the nursery to check on the baby. He sighed, changing her nappy and dressing her in clean nightclothes, before carrying her into the bedroom.

Irene had fallen asleep again, but woke as she felt the bed dip and hear Ophelia's quiet crying, stifled by the chubby fists that she pressed against her lips. She pushed the covers away a little bit so that, when Kai lay her down, Ophelia could curl up on her chest.

"Maybe we put her in the nursery a little too early." She said, running her hands over Ophelia's back until she stopped crying. Kai lay by Irene and wrapped his arm around her and Ophelia. "I don't know what I'm doing."

"I don't either." Kai said, kissing her cheek and then Ophelia's head. "Let's keep her in her for the rest of the week, and try again on Monday."

"Maybe." Irene said. "It makes it easier to feed her when she's sleeping in here."

"Yes, but the longer we leave it, the harder it will be for us to put her in there for the full night." Kai said. "And she'll find it harder to sleep if she's used to us being here."

"I find it harder to sleep." It had taken an hour before Irene could settle down in bed, she kept going to check that Ophelia was okay, now that she couldn't just reach over to her. "What if something happens?"

"I'll hear it, even if you don't." Kai said. "Irene, I'm not going to let anything happen to her, or you, alright?" Irene turned her head to rest it on his chest. "She's just next door. We're safe here."

"I know. It's just hard to not worry that something will go wrong. What if she's sick?"

"She's fine right now." Kai said. "And if she was sick, we'd know when we got up to check on her. I know that losing a baby was hard, but you can't put those worries on her as well, not when she's healthy, it's not good for her, or for you. You are borrowing troubles that we may never have."

"And if we do?"

"We deal with them when we get them, not now." Ophelia started crying and Irene had to sit up so that she could undo her nightdress to feed the now hungry baby. He watched as Irene started to relax as Ophelia fed, by the time she was full, Irene was half asleep and he eased Ophelia out of her arms and lay her in the moses basket. He kissed her head and got back into bed, Irene was snoring in his arms ten seconds later. 

Chapter Text

Ophelia stared up at the dinosaur skeleton with wide eyes and her mouth open in aww and shock. Kai grinned, watching as she flitted between one thing to the next, dragging Irene behind her, tugging on her sleeve until she followed. Normally one of them would have put a stop to this behaviour, but for her fourth birthday, they were letting her be the one in charge, just this once. Next year, she'd have a sibling to compete with anyway.

Eventually Irene shot him a tired, desperate look over her shoulder and he joined them by the small skeleton of a velociraptor (he could have sworn they were bigger than that, though he certainly was no expert), slipping one arm around Irene's hips and holding his other hand out for Ophelia to take.

"How about we give your poor mother the chance to sit down for a bit?" Kai said softly. Ophelia wrinkled her nose. "Just because you aren't tired doesn't mean that she's not tired too. So, why don't you show me your favourite bits whilst she catches her breath, and then we're going to get some tea." Ophelia nodded. Kai held her to his side for long enough to kiss Irene's forehead, before he let the hyper child, he wasn't sure what was giving her so much energy but he knew that the crash that would come later would not be pleasant, pull him off to show him a fossil encased in amber in one of the adjoining rooms.

He picked her up and sat her on his hip as she excitedly told him how pretty it was, trying to read what it said on the card, but it was dusty and she was four, four year olds, as a general rule (he was sure that Irene was a precocious brat that drove her parents up the wall at a very young age), were pretty bad at reading, so he helped her with some of the bigger words. They looked around a for a little while longer, Ophelia was very interested in the fossils and wanted to try and read what they were to her father.

"Did you have fun little one?" Irene asked as Kai deposited her on the bench next to Irene, before sitting down himself. Ophelia had enough energy to run London, Kai could have claimed to have done that at some point too, but getting Ophelia to go to bed the night before her birthday had been difficult, and then she'd woken them up at six o'clock that morning because she was so excited. Irene had dragged the covers up over her head to get some more sleep and pretended that she hadn't woken up at all until eight, when she'd got up to help Kai make breakfast for them all.

"Yes!" Ophelia's exclamation drew a few looks but that didn't last long, excitable children were forgivable. Even so, both Irene and Ka tried to shush her. "Yes." She whispered. Irene laughed, wrapped Ophelia up into a tight hug and kissing her soft curls.

"I'm glad." She said, thinking of when she and Kai had come to the museum, when they had just met. Looking for the Grimms book. It was so strange to look back and see how far they had come from that day to the present, with their family and marriage and friends. "Happy birthday." 

Chapter Text

"I can feel them kicking." Irene said, Kai smiled, slipping his arm around her middle to put his hand on her baby bump. He couldn't feel anything, but he didn't mind that. He knew he'd feel something in the coming weeks. "We should tell Ophelia once you can feel it too." She said, twisting her neck to look up at him.

"Good idea." Kai said, before catching her lips and kissing her. "Are they moving a lot?"

"They are." Irene said. "It feels strange. I don't think that it's a sensation that I will ever get used to." He laughed and Irene rolled over to face him, putting her head on his chest. "I still can't believe we are here. We have a family. It's everything I never thought that I could have." He kissed her forehead. "I can't wait to meet this one." 

He put two fingers under her chin and tilted her head up to kiss her. "I love you." He murmured against her mouth. "So much Irene. You are... Perfect." Irene slid her arm around the back of his neck and kissed him. He held her tight and close, at four months along, it wasn't too hard to do that, her baby bump was still small and easily missed, sinking into a deep kiss.

"I love you too." Irene said, pulling back to breath. She put her hand to her stomach, feeling them move. "I think that baby does too." Kai snorted, nudging her onto her back before he shifted to lean down and kiss her stomach.

"I love them too." Irene smiled, running her hand through Kai's hair as he rested his head on her hip bone. "And Ophelia. Our little ones." He flicked his eyes up to Irene. "Five months to go. I can't wait." 

Chapter Text

“So… the baby is fine, I want you to know that first, they are absolutely fine.” Irene's eyes widened with each word that spilt of his mouth in quick succession, tumbling and blending together in his haste to assure her that nothing was wrong. Which, of course, made her think that something was very wrong. 

"What did you do?" She got to her feet, ready to go racing up to the nursery, even if racing up to the nursery would probably hurt. A lot. Ophelia was just under two weeks old and right now, the only thing Irene felt like rushing to do was nap.

"I don't know? She's fine though. I swear Irene." He put his hands on her shoulders so that she couldn't run if she wanted to. "Look at me. Ophelia is fine. You know how they left a bit of the umbilical cord attached?" Irene nodded. "It fell off?" She blinked, and then snorted, putting her hand over her mouth as she tried to not laugh at him. She schooled her facial expression and pinched him. "Ow! Irene!"

"You came in here and worried me! It's meant to fall off!"

"I don't know anything about babies! Sure I have nephews but I never see them and I certainly haven't been around them for more than a few minutes to meet them as toddlers and the likes." Irene cupped her jaw, Kai nearly flinched away from her cold fingers.

"You are so lucky that I love you Kai. Because you are an absolute idiot at times." He sighed and slid his arms around her waist.

"I panicked alright? She seemed fine but I don't know what I'm doing. You're the one that read all of the pregnancy and baby books. I just listened to you talk about it all. And you never mentioned that."

"How did you think that people got belly buttons?" She asked with a laugh before kissing him. "I love you but please don't scare me like that again, unless something is actually wrong." Kai pressed his forehead to hers.

"I love you too. I'm sorry."

"And maybe pick up one of the baby books?"  

Chapter Text

Ophelia was asleep, curled up on Raziel with traces of chocolate icing still on her lips from the piece of birthday cake that she'd happily scoffed down.

"Thank you for inviting us." Liu Xiang said. "It was good to be able to see you, and her again." He wrapped his arm around his wife, looking down at Ophelia. "Both of you. Though I sense that there is something more to this visit than just Ophelia's birthday." Kai looked at Irene, leaning against his side with his arms around her. He kissed the back of her head.

"I'm pregnant." Irene said with a smile. "Four months along." Raziel would have got up to hug her had Ophelia not been napping on her legs.

"Congratulations." Liu Xiang said. "You both look very excited with this news."

"We are." Kai said. "I've always wanted a family and Irene is a fantastic mother."

"Is Ophelia excited?" Raziel asked.

"She doesn't know yet. We decided that it was probably best to wait until I was visibly pregnant." Irene touched her stomach, underneath layers of chemise and cotton, you couldn't tell that she was pregnant. "She'd probably forget anyway. Or she wouldn't understand."

"Does she want a sibling?"

"She's been asking for as long as she knows what a brother or sister was and was capable of asking." Kai said with a chuckle.

"I wasn't so convinced." Irene said. "But I realised that I did want another child."

"I did sometimes regret that you were an only child." Raziel said. "Though I don't think another child in the mix would have been a good idea. You are in a much more stable position than we were ever."

"There's something else." Irene said and her father arched a brow. "We got married about six months ago." Both Raziel and Liu Xiang stared at them in shock and suprise. "Surprise?"

"It certainly is..." Raziel said slowly. "Why didn't you tell us sooner?"

"It was a last minute thing." Kai said.

"There were a lot of hurtful things said to me whilst I was expecting, I didn't want to have any more children without being married, so that they didn't have to hear what they said about me. So Kai convinced me to go away for the weekend with me."

"Gretna Green?"

"I thought it would be romantic." Kai said with a smile. Irene tilted her head back to smile up at him.

"It was, though most definitely a suprise." She said and he leant down to kiss her forehead, she blushed.

"Well, you two certainly didn't waste any time."

"Father!"

"Liu Xiang!"

Kai laughed. "You're the second person to say that to us." She swatted his arm.

"Do you know if you're expecting a boy or girl?"

"We want it to be a suprise, but Vale thinks it will be a girl, and he was right with Ophelia. So I think it'll be a girl." Irene said, Kai laced his fingers with hers, hands resting on the slight bump of her stomach.

"Does your family know?" Raziel asked Kai.

"We went to tell them a week ago." Kai said. "Father is happy for us, my siblings aren't really bothered, but I'm fine with that." Ophelia yawned and stretched. "Get up love, I'm going to put Phe in her bed." Ophelia briefly woke up as Kai lifted her up, she sleepily blinked before kissing his cheek, he grinned, and laying her head on his shoulder, before falling asleep again. Irene got up in order to kiss her daughter goodnight, before Kai carried her off.

"We have the perfect gift for you." Raziel said, she reached for her bag. "When you were little, my favourite worlds were the ones where we could get cameras and take pictures of you growing up. It may not be fully alternate appropriate, but it was the closest I could get, and with your family growing, we could not have picked it up for you at a better time." She held a box out and Irene opened it up, to find an instant camera and a box full of plenty of film. She smiled, eyes full of tears. Damn pregnancy hormones.

"It's perfect." Irene said, voice scratchy as she swallowed to not cry. She quickly loaded up some film. "If you don't mind, I want to try and catch Kai tucking Ophelia in."

Chapter Text

"Mama's sad." Ophelia said, curling up on Vale's lap. She put her head on his chest and grasped little hands onto the front of his shirt. "Want Papa."

"Your father will be home as soon as he can." Vale said softly, pressing a kiss to her hair, it has darkened over the few years of her short life, until it was dark as her father's, with the same sheen of magpie wings. Her eyes were hazel like Irene's. "Your mother doesn't sleep well. He helps." Irene was in fact currently in his spare room, hopefully asleep. "Do you want to have a nap?"

"Want to watch." She mumbled. "Can I?"

"Of course."

Irene, expecting her second child, Kai, away dealing with renegotiations, and they weren't sure if he would return before the child was born. At first it had been two weeks, then a month, and now into the second month, with Irene barely able to look after Ophelia when exhausted in the midst of the third trimester. Ophelia had the energy of every four year old, far more than Irene could cope with alone. Vale took Ophelia when ever he was free to do so, giving her the chance to sleep, or just take a few hours to herself without worrying.

Ophelia was clearly missing her father. The girl was getting quieter and quieter with each passing day, preferring to sit with Vale than play with her toys, she missed being able to play with her mother, which just upset Irene even more, she wished to be able to spend more time with her daughter but just didn't have it in herself most days.

Irene had come over just after lunch, Vale had insisted that she get some rest, and he'd keep an eye on the child. Vale just hoped that Kai was back soon. His wife and child needed it.

An hour of Vale's work later, and Ophelia was yawning. Vale smiled before picking her up and carrying her into the spare room. Irene blinked her eyes open. "Go back to sleep." Vale said softly. "Phe needs to get some rest too." Irene smiled, holding her arms out. Vale lay Ophelia close and the girl smiled and cuddled closer, clinging to her mother. He closed the door behind him and returned to his work.

He worked until it was dark and his eyes were tired. He rubbed at them. Irene was awake again now, sat reading the news paper whilst Ophelia played with a small set of wooden dogs she'd been given for Christmas. She frowned before rubbing a spot on her stomach as the baby kicked her, hard. The baby was very active for a change, whilst she'd always been able to feel Ophelia, kicking and moving, but with this one, they'd be still for days at a time, before kicking hard, and settling down again.

"They're kicking you a lot?" Vale asked, looking over the top of his book. Irene nodded. Ophelia looked up, and then down again. Irene felt another flurry of kicks to ribcage and kidneys.

"A lot more than normal." She said frowning, feeling each kick and trying to not jump and wince each time. She wrinkled her nose. "Did you know that babies can actually break ribs if they kick hard enough?"

"Well, I do now." Vale said. "Maybe it's because it's getting close to your due date."

"They can wait the last five weeks." She said. "They will be far too early. That's not healthy and this world had horrible medical care." Vale chuckled.

"You aren't tired of being pregnant?"

"On the one hand, I can't wait to meet this little one. But I want Kai to be here, and I want them to be healthy." Vale nodded, moving to sit next to her, she squeezed his hand when she felt another hard kick. "I don't want them to be early. I need-" Someone knocked on the door.

"Stay here." Vale said, listening to the housekeeper answer the door. "I'll see who that is. It may be a client. Or someone else." Irene nodded.

"Into the spare room little one." Irene said, Ophelia nodded and did as she was told. Irene followed, leaving the door open slightly, so that she could still keep an eye, and ear, on what was happening. She heard feet coming back up the stairs. 

"Irene?"

"Kai!" She rushed back out of the room and he swept her up into his arms in the blink of an eye, kissing her, not caring that Vale was still there, he cupped her jaw, holding her as tightly as he dared with a baby in the way. She kissed him back, clinging onto him as she sunk into his embrace.

"Where's Ophelia?" He asked a little breathless, his cheeks were pink and he was smiling.

"The spare room." She said. Kai rushed off to see her and she took a step backward. She turned to Vale, hands on her stomach. "They knew he was coming." She said, looking down. As soon as she had been in Kai's arms, the flurry of kicks had stopped. Vale chuckled.

"Well, Strongrock can sense his kind, maybe this child can sense him." Vale said as he sat down. Kai came back in with Ophelia say on his hip. She was chattering absolute nonsense but he did not care, he was just happy to be with his family again.

"What was that?"

"Just before you got here the baby was kicking like crazy." She said. She slipped her arm around his hips and he kissed her temple. "And as soon as you were here, they stopped again." He smiled.

"Maybe they knew." He said. "How did you know?"

"I didn't, until you were here." Irene said, shaking her head.

"You left me a note at home." Irene blushed a little.

"I've left you a note every day since you left. Just in case you got home whilst I was out." She confessed and he laughed. "I didn't know when you'd get home, I didn't want you to worry if we weren't there."

"What am I going to do with you?" He said with a sigh.

"I don't have a clue." She said with a sigh. She leant on him. "It's so good to see you again." He kissed her forehead.

"I missed you so much." He said. "Come on, let's go home, I am dying to sleep in my own bed." He kissed Ophelia's head. She was definitely going to end up sleeping in their bed that night. "Is Li Ming still here?"

"He's off doing some work for the embassy this week, he should be back in a few days." Irene said. Kai nodded.

"Let's go home." Kai said. "It's been good to see you again, Vale, I'd love to stay and chat, but I want to get these two home."

"Of course. It's good to have you back." 

Chapter Text

Vale opened his door and looked down at his god daughter, stood on his door step. She had a small bag in her hand and had clearly buttoned up her all coat because it was all wrong. "Hiya." She grinned and waved at him. Vale looked down the street.

"Where are your parents?"

"They only care about the baby so I came here." She said, the smile fading before she pushed past his legs and ran up the stairs. Vale shut the door and followed up after her, more confused than he was before hand.

"Ophelia?" She was pulled her coat off and he knelt down to help with the buttons. "Did you walk yourself here?" She nodded.

"They only care about the baby." She repeated. "They don't want me anymore." Vale picked her up and held her close as he sat in his armchair, seating her on his legs. "They don't... Want me." And she started to cry. Vale just held her, he wasn't really sure what there was for him to say, if there even was anything that he could say.

"You know that's not true." He finally said, he pulled out his handkerchief and set about cleaning her face of snot and tears. "Your parents love you so much. You have no idea what you really mean to them. They're probably worried sick right now."

"They don't care." She shook her head.

"I'm taking you home right now."

"No! I don't want to go!" She shrieked, thrashing around in his arms, but he ignored it, she was five, nearly six, and incapable of injuring him. He tightened his grip on her and stood up, shifting her so that she was sat on his hip, she beat her fists against his chest and back and he was well aware of the water bubbling out of the glass on his desk. He could see the scales on her hands. This was probably going to be harder than anticipated. He awkwardly draped her coat over her and grabbed the bag.

It took a few minutes to flag down a cab, no one wanted to take the screaming child, which was fair, it was beginning to make his ears hurt. Eventually, one stopped and he gave the address and got Ophelia inside. She was staring at him with red eyes, her cheeks were wet again and she was breathing heavily. He opened up her bag, pulled out the stuffed rabbit that he knew was in there, and sat it on her legs. She knocked it to the floor.
"Your mother brought that just after she found out that she was pregnant with you." Vale said softly, as he picked it up and held it, not giving it back. "She was so excited to be having a baby. Your parents had wanted to have a baby for so long. They were scared that it would never happen. So when they found out about you... Well, I don't think I remember seeing your mother that happy, except for maybe just after you were born." He held the rabbit out, but she didn't take it. "You see, before you were born, your mother lost a child. She was in so much pain for months after that, scared to try again because she didn't want to lose another one. But they decided to keep trying and were rewarded with you. More than once your mother has called you her miracle. A baby that they thought that they were never going to get." Ophelia slowly stretched her hand out for the rabbit and he let her take it.

"I know that they have to spend a lot of time on Celeste right now, but she can't look after herself right now. It doesn't mean that your parents don't want you, it just means that, right now, your little sister needs them." Irene's postpartum depression certainly wasn't helping, but she was trying her best. Kai was doing all that he could as well, and with frequent visits from him and Li Ming, and Irene's parents, they were managing to keep going. "You are you mother's little miracle and she is never going to stop loving you and your father won't either."

He carried her up the steps to the Winters-Strongrock residence and rang the bell. Irene opened the door. "You have her. Oh my... Thank you." He carefully gave a Ophelia to her mother.

Irene had to lean on the wall to keep herself from falling to her knees as she pressed her lips to Ophelia's hair. "Oh my little one. I've been so scared."

"Fire your personal security." Vale said as he shut the door. He put his hand on her back and helped Irene into the lounge. She collapsed onto the sofa, still holding Ophelia. "She walked all of the way to my lodgings. She is a very lucky little girl."

"Oh god." Irene whispered. "Kai left as soon as we realised she was gone. You must have just missed him." She sniffed and pulled out her handkerchief to dry her eyes. "Why did you leave, little one?" 

"You don't want me! You have the baby now." 
"We want you. You're always going to be my little girl." She kissed her forehead. "You are so very wanted. I love you. Your father loves you." 

"No you don't." 

"Yes we do and I'm sorry that we ever made you feel like this. I am so, so sorry." Irene said. "I love you so much. Please don't ever leave. I don't know what I would do without you."

"But the baby is more important." 

"No, you are both very important." Irene said, pulling back. "You are so important to me. But the baby needs someone with them all the time, but you're able to play alone, or go to school." She slowly exhaled. "I'm sorry that we made you feel this way. We do love you and I promise we are going to try harder to make you feel loved." Vale left them to go and make tea. Ten minutes later Kai returned. 

He called Irene's name before stepping into the lounge. "Oh thank god." He breathed before wrapping his arms around Ophelia and Irene. "Where was she?" 

"She walked to Vale's." Irene said. "He brought her back. Kai, our little girl thinks that we don't love her." 

"Ophelia, we love you so much." Kai said, pulling her to sit on his legs, he got out his handkerchief and cleaned her face off. "You are so important to us. You are always going to be our little girl. Our miracle."

"But you spend more time with the baby."
"I know we do." Kai said. "Right now, we have to. Your mother has to be there to feed her, someone has to change her and wash her and hold her. That doesn't mean that we don't want you. We want you. We love you."

"Please don't ever run away like that again. I don't think I have ever been so scared." Irene said. She kissed Ophelia's cheek. "I love you so much. I really do."

"And I love you too." Kai said.

"Let's go and get your face properly washed off." Irene said. She stood up and scooped Ophelia up. "Then lunch."

"Ophelia?"

"Papa?" She shuffled before rubbing at her eyes with the cuff of her coat. 

"We love you. Please don't ever forget how much we love you." 

Chapter Text

Kai slid his hand across Irene's stomach and pulled her close to him. "Don't." She said softly, clearly still half asleep. "Just... Please don't touch my stomach right now."

"What's wrong? I didn't hurt you, did I?" Irene rolled over and pressed her face to the crook of Kai's neck. She slowly sighed as she slid her arms around him and Kai's hand settled on her hip.

"I just don't feel quite myself yet." She said. "Or look myself." Celeste was two weeks old, yet Irene still felt like there was too much of herself there, too much fat on her stomach and hips.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't like the way my body looks." She whispered against his skin. "I feel fat."

"You're not though." Kai said. "You had a baby Irene. Your body had to go through a big change, again. You had Ophelia, you had Celeste, you gave birth two weeks ago, you're breast feeding. Your body won't just snap back to how it was before you had a baby. That's okay, it doesn't make you any less beautiful. Maybe even more beautiful." Irene sighed, and shut her eyes, Kai frowned. It wasn't her usual sigh when she was relaxed and falling asleep. She was annoyed. "What do you need to hear me say to make you feel better? I'll do almost anything to make you happy and feel... Better."

"I don't know." She said, she rolled back over to have her back to him and dragged the covers up over her head. "I don't know how to feel better."

##

"Irene's been very quiet today." Raziel remarked. "Has she said anything to you?" Kai held back a sigh. He ruffled Ophelia's hair.

"Phe, can you stay here and finish your lunch whilst I speak with Nanna?" Ophelia nodded and Kai kissed her forehead. "Alright, I'll be back soon." Raziel followed him out into the hallway.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know. But she has barely spoken to me since this morning. She's been picking at her food for the past few days. She's not happy, and I cannot quite work out why."

"You don't think that it could be post partum depression, do you?"

"I don't know. I don't know enough about it to say. She hasn't been herself for the past couple of days but she was very withdrawn this morning. She asked me to not hold her, because she felt fat and didn't want me to touch her." Raziel arched a brow. "That's not like Irene. She's made a couple of comments here and there about it but, at least not that I've noticed, has she ever been particularly self conscious about that kind of thing. And then this morning-" He broke off as they heard Celeste begin to cry upstairs. "She just completely shut me out. She has... There's only been a few times when she's done that. A few times when she's had a rough day at work, and when she had the miscarriage. She barely spoke to me for a week after that. It took Vale telling her to pull herself together for her to start getting out of bed in the mornings again."

"I'll go and talk to her." The baby was still crying. "This isn't like Irene. It's really not." Raziel knocked on the bedroom door and pushed it open without Irene calling a response. Irene was curled up in the bed, covers up over her head, Celeste screaming in the cot. She picked the baby up to soothe them. Irene didn't shift. "What is wrong my precious baby?" Raziel cooed. "Aww come on, give me a bright smile you beauty. Come on. Do you need to be changed? No? Hungry? Irene, sweetheart? I know you're not sleeping. It's a nice attempt, but I know you far too well." Irene slowly sat herself up and Raziel perched on the edge of the bed. "You aren't feeling well. Are you?"

"I'm just tired." Irene's throat was dry and she rasped a little bit. She held her hands out for Celeste.

"I'm going to make you a cup of tea. And then we need to talk." Irene didn't say anything, she simply cradled Celeste close and undid her nightdress. Raziel knew exactly how Irene liked her tea and made her a cup, and herself a coffee whilst she was in the kitchen. "Here. Now, we need to talk." Irene pressed her lips together. "Kai is worried about you. I am worried about you, if your father were here, he would be worrying too."

"I'm just tired." Irene said. "Thank you for the tea. But you don't need to worry about me. I'll be fine."

"I don't believe you in the slightest." Raziel said. "You aren't the kind to mope around in your bedroom, yet here you are. You weren't even getting up to feed Celeste. That's not right Irene, that's not even the first indicator that something is wrong. But it's certainly one of them." Irene looked up at her mother and her eyes were burning with unshed tears.

"I'm an awful mother." She whispered. "I can't do this. I really can't."

"Where is this coming from?"

"I just keep letting her cry. I can't bring myself to get her. I want so badly to love her. But... But I don't. I should. She's my daughter. But I just feel... Like I'm behind glass and I can't love her. I don't know what's wrong with me."

"Nothing." Raziel said. "You are trying. That's enough. You are trying to be there for her. For your whole family." She reached forward and tucked some of Irene's hair out of the way. "Once you're done feeding her, I'm going to run you a warm bath, you'll have an hour of peace, then we are going to get some fresh air after her next feeding. I refuse to let you mope up her for the rest of the time I am here to help."

"I don't feel like I have the energy." Irene said, shaking her head.

"I don't care. You're doing it." Raziel sternly said. "I'll get her cleaned and changed whilst you're in the bath, a short half hour walk will do you some good, even if the air here isn't the freshest, Kai can keep an eye on the children. He is their father, I still can't get around him being my son-in-law to be honest. He's a Prince Irene. A dragon prince. "

"And now he's stuck with me."

"He loves you."

"He shouldn't." She said. "I'm a mess. I'm an awful mother. I shouldn't... He shouldn't love me. I'm not a good person. I'm a terrible mother. I'm unattractive." Raziel stared at her.

"Let's talk about this all later." She said. "Give me Celeste. And I'll start running your bath, get up and get yourself some clothes out. And go and give your husband a hug. Because you both need it right now." Irene let her take the baby, she'd have fussed with Ophelia, which was most of the reason why she felt so bad. How could she have loved her first child so much, but feel nothing for the second? She hated it. She hated herself. "Up Irene. I will not tell you again." Irene bit back childish retorts as she suddenly felt thrown back into teenage habits. She slowly swung her legs off the edge of the bed, watching her mother coo to Celeste, telling her that she was the most perfect little girl in the world. Irene should have been there, saying that, feeling that. Not feeling like she was in a glass box, watching everything through frosted windows. She shut her eyes and sighed.

"I'm sorry."

"You don't have anything to be sorry for." Raziel said. "You haven't done anything wrong."

"I feel wrong." Irene muttered as she got up. "Everything is wrong. I just want to be happy and love my family. But I can't do it. Something is wrong with me!"

"Nothing is wrong, you're just struggling. That's fine, you're only human."

"My children aren't. My husband isn't. I am. I'm human yet... My children aren't human. They look it now but... I've seen Ophelia turn into her dragon form, I know that Celeste will turn one day too. There's a part of them that I can never reach."

"You don't need to reach them." Raziel said. "There was a part of you that me and your father could never reach, and that was okay. We just needed to be there for you when you needed us. Even if we weren't very good at that."

"You were good."

"No, we weren't. But we tried. And that was all we could do, try." Raziel said. "Come on, let's get your bath run. You'll feel better after a good wash."

"I don't know about that." Irene said.

"And go and see Kai and Ophelia. Keeping yourself up here and away from them can't be good for you or them." 

She bowed her head slightly and pulled her dressing robe on. "I'll get clothes out later." Kai was sat on the living room floor with Ophelia nearby as they both played. Both looked up and smiled when they saw her. Kai scrambled to his feet.

"How do you feel?" He murmured.

"Awful." She replied in a low voice. "How are you my little one?" She said to Ophelia before she carefully knelt down to embrace her. "Your Nana and I are going out for a walk, would you like to come with us?"

"Now?"

"In an hour or two." She said. "I'm going to have a bath and then we're going out." Kai joined them on the floor. "Papa is staying home to look after the baby."

"Am I?"

"Yep." Irene said, nodding. "According to my mother at least. She said that I was going out for fresh air. She also said that you would be looking after the children. So maybe she means it to just be us."

"Fresh air? Here?"

"My thoughts exactly. She just wants me out of the house I think. I'm not about to argue with my mother though. I'm not that stupid."

"You said stupid was a bad word." Ophelia said. "And I couldn't call people it."

"I'm calling myself it." Irene replied. "Which you also aren't allowed to do. You should be nice to yourself."

"You should be too." Ophelia replied, before she went back to playing.

"She's right." Kai said. "You should be nice to yourself." He kissed her forehead before helping her back to her feet again. "I'll be back in a minute Ophelia, do you want a drink?"

"Juice please!" At least they managed to raise her with good manners. Kai wrapped his arms around her hips and pulled her to his chest as soon as the door was shut.

"I love you." He said into her hair. "Remember that, no matter how bad the days feel, I love you. More than anything." He kissed her forehead. "I love you. Please remember that."

"I'm trying." She whispered. "But everything just feels so wrong. I feel wrong."

"I know." He said. "I know when you aren't feeling yourself and you haven't for a while, have you?" She shook her head and made a small noise of negation in the back of her throat. "Your mother asked me if I thought that you might have post partum depression. I don't know enough about it to give her an answer. Maybe it's something that we should look into though."

"I don't want to feel like this." Irene wrapped her arms around herself. "I want to be able to be happy and love Celeste. I just can't do it."

"I know." Kai said softly. "Go and have your bath. Do you want me to bring you up some breakfast?" Irene shook her head. "Well I'm bringing you toast anyway. You need to eat. I'll put marmalade on it."

"Thank you for knowing me." She said. "Mother is changing Celeste. So she should be quiet for an hour, I just fed her."

"I thought she was hungry, not easy to settle?"

"I couldn't make myself get up." Irene confessed. "I just let her cry until mother came in and tell me to get myself up. I'm sorry."

"You don't have anything to apologise for." Kai said. "Irene. The past few months have been hard on you. You have had to deal with a lot, you had to do it all alone. I'm sorry that I couldn't be here to help you earlier."

"You had to work." Kai shook his head.

"I should have come back after two weeks, you needed me here. I am sorry sorry that I didn't come back."

"You were here when I gave birth, that is enough for me." Irene said. Kai kissed her forehead.

"Go and have your bath, we can talk more later, but thank you for opening up a little bit more." Kai said. "I know that you probably don't want to talk about this."

"I really don't."

"I know. But maybe it's a good idea if we sat down every now and then and talked. I know that therapy is probably the best option but I feel like I would lose the battle in trying to convince you." She smiled.

"You really would. Ophelia can't miss school." Irene said. 

"I know. So if before the baby we'd have a night where we'd put Ophelia to bed early and have dinner, why not put both girls to bed a little early, and talk?"

"Because that would involve me feeling vulnerable." Irene said. 

"I know it would." Kai said with a soft sigh. "But you're going to have to be vulnerable. We can talk later though. Go." She kissed his cheek. "I love you." 

"I love you too." 

Chapter Text

Kai lay waiting for Irene to waddle into the bedroom before he got into bed. She looked tired with one hand cupping her heavy stomach and the other kneading her lower back. "I'm so tired." She complained as she sat on the edge of the bed. He pulled her down to the covers and pillows, against his chest. "Mm, that's better." She sighed.

"Yeah?" He kissed her hair as he slid his arm across her waist and stomach, the baby was kicking hard. "I'm so glad that I'm home. I've missed you so much."

"Me too. It's hard to sleep without you here. This is the first time in weeks I haven't had Ophelia sleeping in here with me because of it."

"Yes, I did tell her that she could come in here if she couldn't sleep. I don't know if the bed is big enough for the three of us."

"Four." Irene said, running her hand across her stomach before lacing her fingers with his. "There's practically four of us in this bed."

"How long until you're due?" He asked. "It's less than a month now, isn't it?"

"Five weeks." She said with a sigh. "Maybe a little less. I don't know. I haven't been keeping track, but we haven't got to it in the calendar yet."

"Five weeks." He said slowly. "I'm just glad I'm back before you gave birth. I'm sorry that I was away for so long, I'd have been back sooner, but they needed me."

"I understand." She said. "And I wasn't alone. I had Ophelia and Vale, Li Ming was checking in on me all the time. And the work is important, it needed doing, even if neither of us liked the fact that you were away." She winced, feeling the baby kicking hard. "Ow." She frowned before taking a deep breath. "Mm, they are active right now."

"I can feel." Kai said, running his hand in circles. "Do you want to go easy on your mama, little one?" Irene felt a kick aimed at her kidney and gasped. "Are you alright?"

"It'll stop soon."

"Are you sure? Should I get anyone?"

"I don't know yet." She said, squeezing his hand. "It's not contractions, it's just a couple of really hard kicks, they've been moving more often than usual today, I think it's because you're back, I'm using that as an excuse at least." He smiled, kissing her shoulder. "I think it's going to be fine though. I haven't had any braxton hicks recently, and last time I got them all the time." 

"Alright." Kai said. "Hopefully they'll wait a little while longer, for their sake." They felt the baby kicking and moving for another half hour, Irene wincing in pain every now and then, unable to sleep but stuck on the edge of exhaustion.

Finally, Irene slowly exhaled, it had been a few minutes since the last few hits. "There we go, the little one is asleep, and now we can too." He smiled and kissed her, before wriggling down the bed a little bit to kiss her stomach, Irene laughed, watching him do this, before dragging him up again and burying her face into the crook of his neck. "I have missed this so much." She whispered. "I love you."

"I love you too." Kai said, kissing the top of her head. "Go to sleep."

"Yes, sir." 

Chapter Text

"Come to papa." Kai said softly, picking up Celeste before she could start to loudly fuss and wake up Irene. "There we go, that's a bit better, isn't it? Yeah? You just want some attention, don't you?" He smiled, sitting at the foot of the bed, he cradled her to his chest. Whilst Ophelia seemed a mix of him and Irene, Celeste seemed to be much more like Irene than she did Kai, brown eyes and brown hair, though she was as pale as Kai was.
He pressed a kiss to her forehead and she made a soft noise, slowly blinking her eyes as she tried to decide if she should stay awake or go back to sleep. The clock said six in the morning. She'd been fed thirty minutes ago, though he knew from experience that new borns did not keep to as much of a pattern, he was sure she wouldn't be hungry just yet, leaving Irene the chance to get a little more sleep. She certainly needed it.

She'd started feeling contractions early the morning before. Kai had dropped Ophelia off with Vale, and by the time he'd got back, Irene's contractions were minutes apart and her water had broken. Things had moved a lot faster than either of them had been prepared for or had expected, and they had their baby before nightfall. Ophelia was still at Vale's though, he'd agreed to look after her so that they could have the first night to get themselves together again, and introduce Ophelia to her little sister when Irene was feeling a little more up for it. Kai couldn't wait to have both of his little girls home together.

"Is she hungry?" Irene asked, shifting as much as she could without causing herself a lot of pain.

"Not yet." Kai said softly. "I think she just wanted some attention. You should get some more sleep, it's so early." Irene smiled, watching him and her.

"I wish I had the camera for this moment." She said. Kai was lit by the soft light coming through the thin curtains, his skin pale in the gloom as he watched Celeste with complete and utter love in his eyes, unmarred by his exhaustion or anything else. "She's sleeping?"

"She is." He said. "She was waking up so I got her before she could start to cry. Woke you up anyway. Sorry."

"You're sat on my feet." Irene said with a laugh, Kai got up, moving to sit by her hips instead. "That's better." He chuckled, leaning forward a little so that Irene could see the baby properly. "She looks so peaceful. Absolutely perfect."

"Of course she is." Kai said. "She looks just like you after all." Irene wrinkled her nose. "She does, love. She's got your eyes."

"I suppose she does." Irene said. "Ophelia has your eyes. One each." He kissed her forehead. "Can I hold her?" Kai carefully transferred her to Irene, though she was still laying down, Celeste was happy to curl up on Irene's chest in her sleep, Irene holding her tightly to her body. She ran her fingers through the soft, short hairs on her head, smiling down at her little baby.

"You should be sleeping." He said. Irene shook her head.

"No." She said softly. "I want to hold her for a bit, whilst she's quiet." 

Chapter Text

"You're pregnant, again?" Raziel wearily rubbed at her forehead. "Irene, I do love your little family, but... Are you sure that this is what you want?" Irene very rarely found a reason to visit her parents' Library apartment, they often came to see her instead. Ophelia was at school and Irene sat with Celeste on her lap, perched on the over stuffed couch in her parents rooms, crowded by books.

"I think it's a little too late for me to say no." Irene said, shaking her head.

"You don't have to keep it if you don't want to." Her mother said. "If you need my help..."
"I do want another baby." Irene said. "Kai and I never talked about how many children we wanted. We probably should have done really. And we didn't plan on having another baby so soon, but we are happy about it."

"I'm just worried about your health." Raziel said. "You were really struggling. I've never seen you like that, for goodness sake, you and Kai nearly ended up getting divorced."

"No we didn't." Irene shook her head. "Yes it was mentioned, but only because we wanted to do what was best for our family. We spent a week apart and I think our relationship is going so much better since then."

"Obviously." Her mother dryly muttered. Irene bit back her response of 'well its not like we have been having sex all of the time' whilst she wasn't shy about her and Kai's love life, it was her mother she was talking to.

"We didn't plan for this little one." Irene said. "But we are happy about it. Can't you be happy for me too?"

"Oh I am, Irene." Raziel moved books out of the way so that she could sit next to her. "I am so happy for you. But I do worry about you." She wrapped her arm around Irene's shoulders. "You deserve all of the happiness in the world. I just don't want you to push yourself too far. Raising children, well, you already know, it's a lot of work. I couldn't begin to imagine what it'll be like to have two children under the age of two."

"I know. I'm... Taking a long break from my work. That's mainly why I came here today. This is my last day for at least eighteen months. That's my choice, I want to be with my children more."

"How far along are you?"

"Four months." Irene said. "Kai and I are moving. We want a bigger place so that they don't have to share bedrooms."

"Hoping for a boy this time?"

"Kind of. I wouldn't be unhappy with a girl, but a boy would be nice." She smiled and looked down. "A little boy that looks like Kai."

"I know that you would never have looked like me or your father, but I wish you did. I wish that you had your father's eyes." Irene smiled."I suppose that you won't often be coming into the Library then." 

"No. I'm setting up a job for someone else to do, and after that, nothing. We won't be moving until after the baby is born though, so you should be able to easily get in touch."

"Won't it be easier to move first?"

"We're staying out of London for a while." Irene explained. "One year, we found a cottage, it's small but I love it. We're staying there until after the baby is born, we move there next month." Raziel nodded. "Someone will be taking over my duties until I return to full duties, they'll be able to pass along the new address if you stop by. I meant to write it down, but I forgot." Raziel chuckled."Pregnancy brain is real." Celeste babbled and both women chuckled. "Mm, yes, you turned my brain into cotton wool, didn't you?"

"You'll be okay, won't you?"

"I will be. And if I'm not, I'll come here. I'll come to you and father if anything goes wrong." Raziel kissed Irene's forehead.

"Of course you will." She said. "You know your father and I will do anything to help you. Will you be staying until he gets back?" Irene checked her watch.

"I said if pick Ophelia up from school." Irene mused. "I can stay another hour and a half, but then I'll have to leave."

"He should be back by then. I'll make us some tea."

Chapter Text

"Your daughter is going to end up speaking half a dozen languages by the time she is six." Vale remarked. Irene had sat Ophelia on her lap and was talking to her in an almost conversational tone about anything that she could think of.

"She is." Kai smiled, slipping his arm around Irene's shoulders. "So?" Vale shrugged.

"All I can imagine is her throwing a tantrum and screaming at you in English, Chinese and is that some Russian, Winters?"

"It is." She said, looking up and smiling at him. "I thought you spoke it."

"Very little." He shrugged. "I read it much better."

"Well Kai wants her to speak Chinese." Irene said. "And I don't exactly have a mother tongue, I just learnt whatever my parents were using at the time. The younger they are the more that they will learn." She looked down at Ophelia, who was staring at her mother with wide eyes.

"What language do you think her first words will be in then?"

"English or Chinese." Kai said. "Those are the languages we use around her the most. If I'm getting up to change her or anything in the middle of the night, putting her to bed or getting her up, I always speak to her in Chinese."

"I usually stick to English." Irene said. "But will use any language that comes to mind, and a lot of Chinese if Kai is using it. We are a long way off first words though."

"I don't know." Kai said. "Time has gone by so fast, it seems like it was only the other week that you were complaining about the pregnancy making your back ache."

"Don't say that, I'm trying to not think about how fast it's gone." Irene shook her head before she leant in to kiss Ophelia's forehead. "You're not allowed to grow up too fast, understood?" Ophelia squealed and clapped her hands together.

"She has to grow up eventually." Vale said.

"I know." Irene leant her head against Kai's shoulder and slowly exhaled. "I just want to hold onto her for as long as I can, when she's this little." Kai moved his arm to around Irene's waist and circled the other around Ophelia. Vale wished that there were cameras more readily available for these kinds of moments, he knew that they'd want pictures of these years, but would, for the most part, be unable to obtain any.

"Irene, she's always going to be our little girl, even if she does have to grow up." Kai said. "You like that Ophelia?" He tapped her nose. "You're our little girl, aren't you?" She tightened her hand around his fingers and tried to chew on them with toothless gums. "Little monster more like." 

Chapter Text

The door to Irene's room was half open with the light streaming out of it despite the very late hour. Li Ming frowned when he noticed this, she'd retired a few hours ago and had seemed exhausted and he hadn't heard her get up. He tapped on the door and poked his head around. It  was empty and he frowned. She had gone to bed several hours beforehand, and she certainly hadn't left the house. He would have known, he'd have heard her. 

Turning on his heel, he entered Ophelia's bedroom and found both mother and daughter. Ophelia was in her bed, blissfully unaware of her mother's struggles. 
And Irene was laying on the floor, skin a pale grey in the gloom, eyes dark with circles underneath them. She'd taken the stuffed polar bear that Li Ming regularly found around the house, and it was tucked underneath her arm. 

"This isn't a good place for you to be sleeping." He said softly. Irene didn't jump, she'd known that he had entered when a shaft of light had fallen across the floor, and she hadn't been asleep anyway. "What are you doing?" 

"I can't sleep." Irene muttered, she had a small pillow and blanket with her too. "Thought being closer to her would help." 

"Well, sleeping in the floor will not help you at all." Li Ming said. "It cannot be good for you. Come on, let's get you up and back into your bed. Have you been doing this a lot?" 

"Maybe every other night." Irene confessed. "Sometimes I sleep in the chair." 

"No wonder you look so rough." Li Ming muttered, going to one knee to offer her a hand, she struggled to sit up, being heavily pregnant made a lot of things harder than they should have been. "You need some proper rest, Irene."

"The bed is too big and empty." Irene said, he stood up and pulled her up with him. "I can't sleep without him and its getting worse and worse."

"I know." Li Ming said softly. "Do you want a cup of tea? We can talk downstairs, so we don't wake Ophelia." 

"Thank you." Irene said, she turned to watch the slow rising and falling of Ophelia's chest, and she tucked the covers around her. 

"She's okay." Li Ming said softly, touching Irene's shoulder. "Come on. You can check her later on." He steered her out of the room. Downstairs in the kitchen he filled the kettle and decided on roobios tea, it had no caffeine and Irene owned several fruity variants. "How long has this been going on for?" 

"Two, maybe three, weeks." Irene muttered. "I can't sleep, but knowing that I still have her, makes it better."

"He'll be back." Li Ming said. "You know he will be. All reports say that his father is struggling to keep him on task because he wants to be here." 

"But the treaty is more important." 
"I wouldn't say that, just that it has importance to more people." Li Ming shrugged. "I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Prince Kai would destroy the treaty if it meant keeping you safe. He'd do it in a heartbeat." He slid the cup of tea over to her. 

"I like to think that he's smarter than that." Irene said, with a little smile. "Maybe." She ran her hand over her stomach. 

"Can you feel them?" 

"Not really. But that's normal. Ophelia was so restless, I could hardly sleep some nights because of how bad it was. But this one seems to be much calmer. They seem to have a schedule though. They're more active quite early in the morning. It's why I've taken to getting up at six or seven o'clock. I've never been much of a morning person."

"I could tell." Li Ming said. "Drink your tea." Irene blew on it before taking a sip. "Your Prince is going to be back to you as soon as he can. He'd been here in a heart beat if he was able to. And promise you, I will bring him back here as soon as you ask me to. He will be here for when your baby will be born." 

"You don't have to." Irene said, shaking her head. 

"Miss Winters, it is taking a great deal of self restraint to not go and get him right this minute. I just found you sleeping on the floor of Ophelia's room because you cannot sleep. Does that sound like healthy behaviour to you?" She shook her head. "No. It's not. You need to rest, properly, in your bed. And if bringing him home does that, so be it. I haven't gone yet, because I know that you don't want me to. Don't make me go against your wishes. Please." 

"I'll try." Irene said, her voice soft. She took another sip of her tea before she yawned. 
"Have you been having nightmares? Or is it just insomnia?"

"Just insomnia." Irene said, nodding. "Both Kai and myself used to get terrible nightmares but..." She shrugged. "I haven't had any particularly bad ones in a long time. But sleeping continued to be a struggle. It's common when you get to your third trimester, most women report struggles sleeping. Kai helped. Now he isn't here and I don't know what to do." She wiped her eyes on the cuff of her nightdress, realising that she had been tearing up. "I miss him." 

"I know." Li Ming said. "Ophelia does too, and it's hard to watch you both struggle through this."

"Its going to get better." Irene said. "It has to."

"It will. I promise." Li Ming said. Irene yawned again, frowning at the cup of tea in her hands. "I may have added some valarian extract to your cup. Don't worry, it's perfectly safe if you're pregnant. I very thoroughly checked before hand." She set the cup down, it was completely empty anyway.

"I don't know if I should be annoyed or thankful." She muttered.

"Decide when you wake up again. Come on, let's put you into bed."  He helped her to her feet and kept an arm around her so that she could lean against him, and he helped her up the stairs. "I may have got the dose a little wrong. So let's get you to bed to sleep it off." He was mentally trying to calculate the correct dosage, or if Irene's sudden fatigue was a build up of sleepless nights, the chance to talk about it all, and the spiked tea. It was hard to tell. He'd probably have to do some more research.

He helped Irene into her room and sat her on the edge of her bed before he went to retrieve the stuffed bear and blanket from Ophelia's room. "Call if you need anything." He said firmly. "I'll be here."

"Thank you." Irene's eyes were already half shut as she curled up in the bed, Kai's bear tucked under arm. "Thank..." He draped the covers over her and flicked the light off as she started to snore. He checked in on Ophelia, wondering at what point had he decided to take this little family under his wing, and smiling when he saw her sucking her thumb, even though Irene disapproved of that, and clutching one of the stuffed animals that he had bought for her a few weeks before hand.

He turned off all of the lights and returned to the spare room that he had been using for the past few weeks, listening to the sounds of London outside the window. He was beginning to like this world. 

Chapter Text

“Come on, walk to papa! You're doing it! Come on, just take one step more!” Kai said, clapping his hands together, watching Celeste giggle as she took another uneasy step toward Kai, sat on the floor of her nursery.

 “What? They're walking? I want to see!” He heard Irene exclaim from the next room, where she was supervising Ophelia tidying up her bedroom. He heard her feet and then the door swinging open. Kai looked from Celeste to Irene, and then back to Celeste again. “Oh, little one!” She dropped to her knees just behind Kai. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and rested her chin on him. “Call for her again.”

“Come on, Celeste, come to your mama and papa.” He said, smiling as he reached his hands out for her. Celeste made a babbling noise and sat down to try and put her foot in her mouth.

“Celeste,” Irene called in a sing-song voice. “Come on, your papa wants a big hug from his baby girl.” Celeste stared at them and slowly let go of her foot.

“Come to papa,” Kai said softly. “You can do it.” Celeste stood up again and started to take slow, staggering steps toward them again.

“You’re doing it!” Irene said. She kissed Kai’s cheek. “She’s growing up so fast.”

“I know.” Kai said softly, he kept his hands out to Celeste. “Ophelia is so big now, and Celeste is walking now.” Celeste fell over again. “Sort of.”

“And she’ll be a big sister next year.” Irene said softly. “What have we gotten ourselves into?”

“A big happy family? Just like we wanted.” Kai kissed her cheek. “Look at our baby.” She was nearly at Kai now, smiling at her parents.

“She’s perfect.” Irene shifted to press her foreahead against Kai’s back, feeling her eyes begin to sting with tears.

“I know she is… are you crying?”

“No.” Irene lied, she felt his body vibrate as he laughed. “Shut up. I’m allowed to have my emotions.”

“I know, I just think it’s sweet that you are crying because our little baby isn’t so little anymore.” Kai said, right as Celeste got close enough for him to sweep her into his arms, she loudly laughed as he peppered her chubby cheeks with tiny kisses. Irene looked up again.

“I want my baby back.” Irene whispered. “And I want Ophelia to be a baby again, so I can have them forever… is that a weird thing to say?”

“A little bit. They have to grow up at some point, Irene. I can’t wait to see who they grow into, even if having them as little babies for a bit longer would be… lovely.”

“So, it’s not that weird.”

“Mildly weird.”

Chapter Text

Irene put her hand to her head, sagging a little and staggering until she felt the wall and she had something to lean against, the world was suddenly very blurry and it felt like her skin was burning.  "Kai?" She mumbled before remembering that he wasn't there. She slowly exhaled and took another step forward and her knees buckled. She cried out before she could help herself, thankfully catching herself before she could do any damage to the baby. She carefully lay down on her side, unable to even imagine standing herself back up again.

The house was completely empty, she was alone.

It wasn't until half an hour later when Li Ming returned to the house that anyone found her. He very nearly swore, his self control slipping for a moment as he felt a rush of relief that Ophelia was with Vale for the day, and not with him.

He quickly kneeled by Irene, who was dipping in and out of consciousness. He searched for her pulse on her throat, her eyes flickering open at the touch of his icy fingers. She made a soft groaning noise as she tried to push him off.

"Stay still, miss Winters." He said. Her pulse was a little slow and it had taken a while to find it, but he didn't know if that was reason to worry. "What happened?"

"'m dizzy." She muttered. Li Ming slid his arms underneath her shoulders and the back of her knees, easily picking her up off the floor and carrying her into her bedroom, laying her on top of the duvet covers. She made a soft groaning sound again.

"Are you in any pain?" He asked, checking for a fever with the back of his hand. "Miss Winters?"

"Technically... Its Mrs Strongrock." She muttered, again trying to brush his hand off her. "My head hurts a little bit."

"I'm going to fetch a doctor." He said. "Stay here, I won't be long." She tried to sit up. "Irene, stay laying down. I won't be long."

"I'm fine." She mumbled.

"No, you're not. Let me get the doctor, if not for you, to make sure that the baby is going to be okay." She slowly exhaled.

"Alright." She said. "I'll... Stay here." Li Ming fetched her a cup of tea and glass of water before he grabbed his coat and headed out again.

Irene fell asleep fast, she'd sat herself up to drink some of the tea, but she only managed half of the cup before she put the cup down, worried that she was about to fall asleep and spill it. She put her head down on the pillows, reached over to grab Kai's bear (but it no longer smelled like him) and shut her eyes again, feeling the baby moving around a little bit as she fell asleep.

She woke up yet again to Li Ming by her, he was stood at the side of the bed and the doctor sat next to her. "What time is it?" She mumbled, tongue feeling a little wrong in her mouth.

"A little after four." Li Ming replied. "I told mister Vale to keep Ophelia with him unless he gets called out for a case. I wasn't sure if you'd want her here right now."

"Are you in any pain, madame?" The doctor asked as he pulled a stethoscope out of his back.

"I have a headache, but I have had one all afternoon." She said. "I get them all the time."

"Before you were pregnant too?"

"Yes." Irene said, nodding. "My whole life. No reason really." The doctor made a humming noise.

"May I?" He asked, holding up the end of the stethoscope. Irene nodded, laying still as he found her heart. "So, you were feeling dizzy when you fell over, and you had a headache. Are there any other symptoms that I should know of?" Irene shook her head. "Are you sure? What have you eaten today?"

"I had some toast for breakfast, and I wasn't hungry at lunch." He made a tutting sound.

"You need to make sure that you are eating enough. And properly. It's possible that this is from that, or my other possible diagnosis would be an iron deficiency. In which case, again, you need to take a look at your diet."

"But what if I'm not hungry?"

"Not want I want to here, Mrs Strongrock." He pulled out a blood pressure cuff and Irene sat up and rolled her sleeve up for him. "You may not be hungry, but the baby certainly will be, you need to feed the baby." He slipped the cuff around her upper arm and started to inflate it.

"I'll make dinner tonight." Li Ming said, already making plans to fetch Kai as soon as Irene was asleep for the night. "Do you want Ophelia to stay with Vale tonight?"

"Can you bring her home?" Irene asked, Li Ming nodded. "Thank you."

"Your blood pressure is low, its meant to be one-twenty over eight and it's currently ninety-eight over sixty-three. Eat properly, get plenty of rest but do try and get some light exercise in. Get in touch with me in a few days if the dizziness is ongoing."

"Of course." Li Ming said before Irene could insist that she'd be fine. "The bill?"

"I'll send it." The doctor said with a nod. "Get in touch if you have any other worries. Do you have a midwife Mrs Strongrock?" She shook her head. "The hospital?"

"No, we had a nurse with us for the birth of my first daughter and that is our intention for the second one too." The doctor nodded.

"Whilst that may have worked the first time, I would recommend putting other plans in place, just in case." He said as he started to pack his things away again. "If you collapse like that again, you need to get in touch and we will have to see about further tests and maybe a stay in the hospital. Which I imagine is the opposite of what you want, since then it could have to escalate to the point where you'd need to be in the hospital when you give birth, and we'd have to take the option away from you."

"You can't do that."

"We can if we fear that you are making decisions that are risking the life of your child as well as yourself." He said firmly as he stood up. "Like I said, call on me if this continues over the next few days, and if you collapse, as soon as you can get someone to fetch me." Irene pressed her lips together, and nodded. She put her hands on her stomach, the baby was kicking and she could feel it against her palms.

"I'll be in touch if we need you." Li Ming said, walking him out of the room, leaving Irene alone to wallow in self-pity for a while. She needed Kai but her pride stopped her from asking Li Ming to bring Kai home to her, she knew how important the treaty was, even if the renegotiations were dragging for weeks on end and she had no idea how close they were to settling the differences. She forced herself to sit up to drink some of the water he'd fetched for her before he'd gone to the doctors.

She supposed that he was right, she hadn't been looking after herself as well as she should  have been, it was hard to motivate ones self when drained of energy and in a low mood. Admitting that to herself didn't make it any more convincing to go and make herself something to eat.

"Will you be alright if I go to fetch Ophelia back now?" Li Ming asked. Irene stared at the blanket, and nodded. "Can you feel the baby?" She ran her hand across her stomach, and nodded again.

"I must be miserable to put up with." She said softly.

"You aren't." Li Ming replied. "You just need to rest and look after yourself a bit more, that's all."

"That feels like it's so hard to do though."

"Then ask for help." When Kai returns it would be so much easier for her, she could admit her problems to him much easier than she could to anyone else. Though he knew that she talked to the baby, he could hear her doing it. The baby could hardly respond though. "I won't be long." Li Ming headed out, planning the next few hours. Collect Ophelia. Make dinner. Wait for Irene to fall asleep. Go and get Kai. 

Chapter Text

Someone knocked on the door to Kai's office and he sighed, rubbing his temples before he straightened his back and pinned a bland smile to his face. "Come in!" He called out and the door opened. Li Ming stepped into the room and Kai's heart jumped into his throat.

"Lord Li Ming!" He started. "Is something wrong?"

"Your highness." Li Ming bowed. "I have come to bring you back to your current home, I have already discussed this with your father."

"What's wrong?" Li Ming shut the door behind him.

"Irene collapsed yesterday." Kai's fingers bit into the desk. "I summoned a doctor who gave her a check over and came to the conclusion that it was a result of an iron deficiency. She wouldn't let me bring her to this world to be with you, so instead I've come to take you home."

"She asked you?" Li Ming shook his head.

"You know better than I do that she would never ask for it, even though she wants to, and needs to."

"Too stubborn for her own good." Kai muttered. "Is the baby okay?"

"Seems to be." Li Ming shrugged. "She was asleep when I left, but reported that she could feel them moving around. She's been recovering in bed since it happened."

"Let me gather my things and speak with my father." Kai said, Li Ming nodded.

"I have permission to remain and assist you for as long as you need me, provided that no emergency arises."

"Thank you." Kai said, almost sighing in relief. "For coming to get me. I need to be home right now." Li Ming nodded. Kai began to hastily pack away all of the things on the desk, haphazardly filing them and hoping that whoever picked up where he left off could make sense of the mess. "Ophelia?"

"She's doing well for such a young child." Li Ming said. "But she needs her father back, Irene needs to rest. And sometimes both myself and mister Vale are working and can't give her the attention that she needs." Kai sighed.

"I should never have left." He shook his head. "Or begged Irene to come with me."

"We can't change the past, only try to make their futures better."

"Yeah, well I can still be bitter."

"Has anyone ever succeeded in stopping you from being bitter?" Kai gave him a look before huffing, knowing that Li Ming was right. 

"I'll meet you back in Vale's world if you don't want to wait around." Kai said. "Does Irene know that you came here?" Li Ming shook his head. "Good. Don't tell her anything. I want to suprise her." Li Ming bowed.

"I need to speak with your uncle, so I won't be there to tell her until you should have already arrived." Kai nodded, tucking a few folders under one arm and grabbing a few more.

"Right. I'll see you later then. Did you tell her that? She does tend to worry a lot about everyone."

"She knows not to expect me soon, I said that I'd be reporting to your uncle with some recent discussions that I've been having, which is true. He's asked to be kept fully informed and I am obliged to fulfil that duty."

"Of course." Kai locked the office behind him. "Thank you for doing this for us. For looking after her for me, it's been the only thing stopping me from being in a blind panic, I trust Vale to look after her whilst I am away, but he can't come and get me in an emergency."

"Well hopefully this isn't an emergency and is instead just a precaution." Li Ming said. "I will see you soon, your highness." Kai couldn't help but smile as he hurried off to his fathers personal office, knocking on the door and almost flinging it open before he could be called in. Ao Guang set his pen down and held his hand out for the files.

"I think that we will survive without you from here on out." He said with a smile. "I can see that you're happy to be going home."

"Is it that obvious?" Kai said, handing the files over. "Yes, I cannot wait to be home. Did Li Ming tell you?" Ao Guang nodded and Kai's shoulders slumped. 

"If she needs medical attention, I urge you to bring her here, where we can treat her better than they can in the other world." Kai nodded.

"Yes, I wasn't planning on letting her argue with that one." Kai dropped into a seat opposite his father's. "They think its just an iron deficiency, but I'll be keeping a close eye on her from here on out."

"Of course. Thank you for coming here despite everything else, but I cannot justify asking you to stay when you are clearly required elsewhere." Kai nodded. "Give your family my best, and call on me if you need anything."

"Irene is due in a little under two months, I think, you should come and visit us after the baby is here." Kai said, Ao Guang smiled.

"Thank you, I would like that, best to check with the wife though, as I believe the humans say."

"Yes, Vale has said that a good many times and likely saved me from a good many arguments." Ao Guang chuckled.

"I'll walk you out." Ao Guang said as he got to his feet. "The work can wait." Kai smiled as the two of them walked through the halls.

"I can't wait to hold my girls again." Kai said softly. "I didn't know that you could miss someone this much. I have loved Irene for so long, yet I had no idea that I could fall in love as fast as I did when I got to hold Ophelia for the first time... No, I think when I first felt her moving in Irene's stomach."

"I remember when I first held you. You burst into tears straight away and wouldn't stop crying."

"Ophelia didn't cry much, she was a quiet baby, very settled. Threw up on me a lot though." Ao Guang laughed. "And Vale a few times too. Irene had gone to... I don't remember now, she was doing something in the Library and I couldn't get Ophelia to settle, she didn't like formula milk, anyway, I gave her to Vale so that he could try, and she fed just fine. And then threw up all over his shirt."

"If I'm remembering correctly, she threw up all over you shortly after I first got to hold her."

"That she did." Kai sighed, shaking his head. "I know that I should say to call on me if you require further assistance..."

"I may find your relationship to be unorthodox but I wouldn't ask you to brush it aside." Ao Guang said. "Even if I do not understand it, it is still what makes you happy and I could never take that away from you." He clasped Kai's shoulder. "I wish you the best and hope that whatever is wrong with Irene isn't serious, and that she will recover soon. Enjoy your time with them, I'll make sure your workload is lightened until you're ready to return to work, after the birth." Ao Guang released him. "Go. Your family needs you."  

Chapter Text

"You know, if someone had warned me about how much everything would ache when you were pregnant, I'd have rethought the idea of having children." Irene said as she sat next to Kai on the couch. Her feet and ankles were swollen so walking hurt, she had a baby kicking her in the kidneys at all hours, her back was aching and her head hurt too, just for good measure.

Kai wrapped his arms around her and pulled her down so that she was laying across his lap. He entwined his fingers with hers and splayed them across her stomach, waiting to feel the kick. "Would you change it though?" He asked. "Being able to feel them move and grow, and the thought that in just two weeks, we'll be holding our little baby?"

"If they're on time, and the doctor said that predicting due dates wasn't an exact science." Irene said. "It's not like we can think back to a forgotten pill to track down exactly nine months ago." She smiled up at him. "But no, I wouldn't change it. It'd be nice to see my toes though." Kai laughed.

"Your feet are pretty swollen, so it may be a good thing." He said. "Actuall, sit up a moment."

"Excuse me, you made me lay down, you can help me up again, it's hard enough already." He helped her up and rearranged the pillows for her to lean on. He sat at the other end of the sofa and put her feet on his lap. Irene smiled and shut her eyes as he gently rubbed her feet. She softly exhaled.

"Does that feel good?" She hummed her acsent. "Good. It's the least that I could do. You are carrying my- our baby. The least that I can do is make you comfortable after you've done all of the hard work." She brushed her thumb down her stomach, she could feel the baby's back, or at least, that's what they'd said at the last ultrasound. It was like a small row of bumbs but the baby seemed to kick less when she or Kai did that. "I love you so much. And I love our baby so much." His fingers touched the soles of her feet and Irene flinched. "Sorry, did that tickle?"

"... No." Irene would have pulled away and curled up but that was hard with a baby in the way. "No I'm not. Thank you for the footrub though." Kai hummed before squeezing her feet.

"How would you feel about a nice bath whilst I cook dinner?" She sighed, eyes half shut. "I take that as a yes."

"That sounds perfect." She said. "Thank you." He got up and bent over to kiss her before leaving the room. He slowly walked back into the room.

"You're not going to be able to get up if I don't help you up, will you?"

"I'm essentially a beached whale whenever I lay down."

"Well you're a beautiful beached whale."

Chapter Text

"Phe what are you doing here?" Vale asked with a frown. He'd returned home and heard her talking loudly in the kitchen, chattering to his house keeper. She jumped down from the chair and flung herself at him. He scooped her up and sat her on his hip.

"Uncle Vale!"

"Mrs Strongrock is upstairs. She popped by to see if you were in, looked frightfully tired. I insisted that she get some sleep, and that I'd keep an eye on Ophelia." The house keeper said. Vale nodded. "She was asleep when I checked on her twenty minutes ago."

"She's mad at me." Ophelia said, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Were you being naughty?" Vale asked as he carried her upstairs.

"Just want to play."

"Your mama is having a baby, remember? She can't play as much as she used to, not for a while." Vale said softly. "Your papa will be home soon, he can play with you until she feels up to it again." He sat her down on the couch and knelt on the floor in front of her. "I know that things are hard for you two right now. Your mama isn't mad at you. She's just tired, and she's worried. How about we see how she's doing, and since I closed a case today, we go and feed the ducks afterward, she can come to if she's feeling up to it." Ophelia grinned and nodded. "But you have to promise that you won't pester her if she says no, alright?" She nodded again. "Alright, stay put, I'll see if she's okay." He messed up her hair before going to tap on the door of the spare room before pushing it open.

Irene's face was tear stained, but she seemed to sleep peacefully now, her breathing was deep and even and she showed no sign of waking up at the noise of the door opening, or him knocking. He shut the door again.

"Phe, let's leave her to sleep, so that she'll be up for dinner tonight." He said. She jumped off the sofa. "I'll leave her a note."

"Can I kiss bubye?"

"Yes, but be quiet." He said. "She needs to sleep." She ran off and was back a minute later, she grabbed his hand and pulled with all of her might, not very much.

"Duck time!"

"Shh."

"Duck time." She whispered and Vale could not help but laugh.

Chapter Text

Irene pressed the hot water bottle to her stomach, feeling the heat making its way through her clothes to warm her tender abdomen. She sighed, half shutting her eyes, glad that the painkillers were working their magic on her migraine, even if the throbbing pain of cramps was still at the forefront of her mind. Ophelia was quietly having a tea party with half a dozen stuffed animals in her bedroom, Irene's desk held the days work, but she wasn't in the mood for it, and Kai was off doing god knows what and would surely come back with an interesting story and a new bruise, possibly a new book of stuffed animal for Ophelia as an apology for missing bed time the night before.

Days like this weren't ever good, she never looked forward to it, and now she loathed the days. Because it meant that she still wasn't pregnant. They'd been trying for several months now and whilst Irene knew that it wouldn't happen straight away, she was still dissapointed with each negative test, and the start of each cycle.

The door downstairs opened and Ophelia squealed 'Papa!' had it been a human child, Irene would have called it a sixth sense, but Ophelia was half dragon, and she could sense her parents and uncle very well. She bolted down the stairs, Irene calling out for her to be careful as she hauled herself to her feet and discarded the water bottle.

She lingered at the top of the stairs to watch Kai effortlessly swing Ophelia up into his arms and kiss her cheek, apologies already out of his mouth for not being home the night before, and the promise of a brand new story for that night, before he paused and looked up the steps.

"Coming my way?" He asked with a cheeky grin. Irene managed a smile in response before walking down the stairs and wrapping an arm around him and giving him a quick kiss, pulling away before Ophelia could claim disgust. "I missed you. Sorry I didn't make it back last night."

"Its fine. Are you alright?" She asked, leaning against him and slipping her free arm around Ophelia.

"Of course." He said a little cockily. Which meant two new bruises but he didn't want to worry anyone. "How are you?"

"I've been better." She said with a shrug, "I am sure that I will survive though." He frowned before nodding. "Ophelia, why don't you go back to your tea party and I will call you for lunch in about an hour?"

"Ohtay." She said with a nod. She kissed Kai's cheek (he grinned like an idiot, which he always did when she did that.) He set her down and they watched her run back up the stairs before he wrapped Irene up in a proper hug and kissed her again.

"What's wrong?" He asked, putting two fingers under her jaw. "I know you far too well for you to say it's nothing."

"Its just some cramps." She said with a sigh. "My cycle, and I'm just dissapointed each time."

"Love, we've been trying for a couple of months,"

"Four." Irene interrupted. "That's two couples." He chuckled.

"Alright. We've been trying for four months, these things take time. It took a year with Ophelia."

"I know." She said softly. "I thought that we'd never have her, I had given up hoping. What if we can't have another baby?" He grabbed her hands, squeezing them tightly before kissing her knuckles.

"Then we don't have another baby." He shrugged. "It's not the end of the world. I'm thankful that we have Ophelia. And I'm thankful that I have you. If we don't have another baby, that will not change."

"I love you."

"I love you too." He said. "Look, if we can't have another baby, I know it is going to hurt you. But I'll be here for you every step of the way. And if we really want another child, we can adopt, or maybe see about surrogacy or IVF, I know it's not ideal, but we'd still have another little baby." She smiled, and nodded. "It'll be okay. I promise." Irene rose to her tiptoes and pulled him into a kiss. Kai smiled against her lips before her wrapped an arm around her hip and pulled her closer, deepening the kiss with the ease of knowing exactly what Irene wanted. 

"Could you stop being gross?" Ophelia asked. "Play with me instead." Irene slowly pulled away from Kai.

"Do you want to play?" Irene asked Kai. "I haven't actually done any work today and there is no way I am sitting on the floor."

"I'll play with her." He kissed her forehead. "You can do your work, but you are definitely taking a lunch break." He said firmly. Irene nodded. "Come on then little one. What are we playing?"

"Tea party. I have yours and mamas bears." He glanced at Irene.

"She slept with yours in the bed last night." She said, "I gave her mine this morning. Have fun."

Chapter Text

Normally, Li Ming would protest against baby sitting, but Ophelia was a relatively sweet child, Celeste was his god daughter and Wen preffered to be inside with his mother and father. He could manage the two girls and they seemed content to play in the snow, Celeste now three and Ophelia at age seven and three quarters (and dont you dare forget those three quarters) were trying to make a snow man. They had both been bundled up in thick coats and scarves with furry mittens on their hands, Irene had never, and would never, let go of her fiercely protective nature.

He bent over to help Celeste compact snow into a ball and watched as she turned to pass it to Ophelia, who went about rolling it in the snow to build it up to a bigger size. He watched as she carefully lifted it up to go on top of the first ball that they'd made, and the structure collapsed. Ophelia stared at it for a long moment, her lower lip wobbling.

"Why don't we go back inside?" He said, standing up and offering both girls his hands. "We can try again later, when you have warmed up a bit." Celeste immediately grabbed his hand but it took a moment before Ophelia nodded and took the other one. The coats and scarves were pulled off and he hung them up to dry, taking their gloves into the sitting room to put them in front of the fireplace. Irene and Kai were on one of the couches, Irene with her back against his chest, and Wen laying on top of her.

"How did the snowman building go?" Kai asked. He stretched a little bit but couldn't really move from where he sat without Irene having to move as well, and she appeared to be half asleep, he didn't want to disturb her.

"It collapsed." Ophelia said. "Uncle said we could try again later though." She made Celeste sit on the floor with her, both girls holding their hands out to the crackling flames.
"Its cold." Celeste said. "I don't like it." She looked at Li Ming. "It's not fun."

"It can be." Li Ming said. "But you don't have to go out to play again, if you don't want to." She nodded and turned back to watching the flames. He took an armchair and sat back, he didn't feel the cold like the others did, but to him there had certainly been a chill in the air, gone now that he was inside and by the roaring fire.

"Don't you want to build a snowman?" Irene asked.

"Want to watch." Celeste said after a long moment.

"Why don't you sit in the window to watch?" Li Ming said. "Then you don't have to go out into the cold again." She smiled, and nodded.

"Get up love." Kai said. "I'm going to make some hot drinks." Irene grumbled and pushed herself up, she set Wen on the floor and he toddled over to sit with his sisters. Li Ming waited for everyone to be settled, the children with hot coco and the adults with tea, and turned to face the window. He waved a hand and watched the snow build up more and more, sticking to the window panes. The sudden flurry seemed unnoticed by the small family, Irene had woken up a bit more, though she was still draped over Kai, and she was talking with the children, tea cup cradled in hand.

"Look out the window." He finally said, and they did. Celeste gasped before scrambling to her feet and running to climb the sofa and look out of the window at the snowman waving through the frosty window. He had to focus a little bit to keep the snowman together and moving as this went a little outside of his normal abilities, but the children crowded around the window with gleeful exclamations. Kai had got up and watched too.

He'd done something similar years back, when the Prince had been a child visiting his uncle and it had kept him out of trouble for an hour or so. Irene had grabbed her camera to take a couple of pictures, but she set it down to look too, forgoing telling the children off for standing on the furniture. "Can we go back outside?" Celeste asked, turning to Irene.

"I thought you didn't want to."

"Its alive!" Celeste exclaimed, pointing at the snowman. "Want to play."

"Coats and gloves first." Kai said. "Come on. Do you want to come out, Wen?" He nodded. "Alright. Irene?"

"Of course." She smiled before turning to Li Ming. "I don't know how you're doing this, but thank you."

"My pleasure." Li Ming inclined his head slightly. "It was a favoured trick when the Prince was little. I thought your little ones may enjoy it as well." 

Chapter Text

Ophelia had been running Kai ragged, glad to have her father home again, glad to have someone to play with again. Irene was sat on the sofa, with her legs stretched out onto the other seat, and a book open, propped up on her stomach. "If the kid can nap, am I allowed to as well?" He asked with a sigh. Irene had heard the protests against the order to nap, she hadn't realised that it was because Kai needed a break as much as Ophelia. She smiled and nodded.

"We could go upstairs and curl up for an hour?" She suggested. "Ophelia will wake us if anything is wrong of if she needs us, and I can read whilst you rest." He smiled.

"That would be bliss." He said. "Are you tired?"

"No, I just want to spend my time with you." She said with a shrug, sliding a bookmark in between the pages and getting up. 

Li Ming was in the study being genuinely productive, though Irene had already started maternity leave, Kai technically wasn't on leave until she went into labour, however Li Ming had agreed to stay until after the child was born to catch Kai up on what he had missed, though there wasn't much since Kai had been helping to renegotiate the treaty, and then cover the work once their baby was born. Kai was meant to be doing work, but Li Ming had insisted that he take the week to be with his family again after a two month absence. He gave them a nod as they headed past to their bedroom.

Irene sat against the headboard and opened her book again as Kai lay his head on her legs. She smiled, looking over book, and baby bump, to see him, it was quite hard as there was quite a lot of baby in the way. 

"Comfortable?" She asked, reaching down to stroke his hair.

"I am when I'm close to you." He said, eyes heavy, he was already falling asleep. "I love Ophelia but she has far too much energy." And he had been up with her until nearly three in the morning, waiting for the insomnia to fade away. She laughed. "We are having a quiet day tomorrow, I've already made her promise that." He sighed, feeling her drag fingers through his hair, running over his scalp.

"Does that feel good?" He hummed a response which she took as being a yes. "Go to sleep, you need it." She returned to her reading, keeping one hand running through his hair until she heard his breathing slow down, a clear sign that he'd fallen asleep. She'd have kissed his forehead if she could. 

Chapter Text

"Kai?" He looked up. He and Vale had been discussing a case, Irene had fallen asleep on the sofa, too tired to stay awake and join in. Until the nightmare came. He frowned as she struggled to push herself up, he'd grabbed a blanket to drape over her and it half slipped to the floor. Her breath caught in her throat.

"What's wrong?" He asked, kneeling in front of her and taking her hands. "Irene?" She could feel her eyes burning. "Did you have a nightmare?" Irene nodded. "It's alright, I've got you."

"I'll make some tea." Vale said quietly, to give them some privacy. Kai pressed a kiss to the side of her head.

"I..." Irene swallowed. "I was dreaming that I was losing the baby. Again." Kai moved to sit next to her and pulled her into a tight hug.

"You are fine." He said softly. "The baby is healthy." He took her hand and laced their fingers together before setting the palm of her hand on her stomach, hoping to feel a kick, and they did a moment later. "See? Healthy." She rested her head on his shoulder. "It's alright Irene. I've got you."

"I'm scared that something will happen." She said softly. "That... After they're born, someone will try and take them from me. I can't lose this baby Kai. I won't."

"Irene, I would do everything I could to keep you and our child safe, no matter what, I will protect you both." He kissed her, the touch of his lips was the barest graze. She clung to his shirt, not wanting for him to be out of her reach. "No one is going to take our baby, and if they did, I wouldn't let it happen. It was just a nightmare. You're just stressed becuase you're due soon."

"But someone did threaten us!" Irene couldn't keep the hysterical hitch out of her voice.

"I know they did. But you're safe. Our baby is safe." He pulled one of her hands off his shirt and rested it on her stomach. "You and our little one is safe."

"I like it when you call them that." She sniffed. "Our little one. Our baby."

"They are our little one." Kai smiled. "I mean, they must be nearly fully grown now, there's no more space for them to grow. Soon we will have our little one to hold. And when we do, I will continue to keep them, and you, safe. I promise, Irene. I swear it on my family's name and power." She weakly smiled. He wipe her tears away with his thumbs. "That's better. Come on, give me a proper smile, gorgeous." He kissed her forehead. "Do you want to go back to sleep?"

"I don't think I'd be able to sleep." He nodded.

"Alright." He looked up. "You can come back in Vale, stop lurking."

"I'm not lurking, I was waiting for you to finish talking." Vale nudged the door open and walked in with a tea tray. "I didn't want to interrupt. Tea, Winters?"

"Thank you." She said with a small nod. "I just need to go and wash my face." Kai gave her a hand up. "I'll just be a moment." Kai wrapped his arms around her when she came back in, pulling her close and kissing the side of her head, before pulling back and handing her a cup of tea, Irene couldn't really bend over to pick it up herself.

"Thank you." She said. "This is really good tea."

"I still don't know how you can drink it when it's nearly fifty per cent milk." Irene shrugged.

"Baby likes it." She said. "It's not the strangest craving that I've had."

"Oh god." Kai rolled his eyes. "You craving food that isn't available here is the bane of my existence." Irene turned to face him. "Not like that!" He quickly said. "I want to be able to get it for you but I also don't want to leave you alone for the sake of... Whatever it was last time."

"Coconut." She said. "And... Some kind of chocolate, I think." Kai's thumb was rubbing circles on her hip. "You at least tried to get me those things, which I am incredibly grateful for." She smiled at him, her eyes were still a little teary and he leant down to softly kiss her. She made a quiet noise of contentment, almost like a purring cat, which made both of the men chuckle.

"Shush." She said, smiling. "What were you talking about whilst I was sleeping?"

"My case." Vale tapped the newspaper at the top of the pile. "It's quite an interesting one. A woman was murdered in a locked room, she had locked it from the inside and no one else had the key."

"Curious." Irene remarked. "Windows?"

"They have bars on them." Vale shook his head. "There's a small vent but there is no way that an adult, or even a child bigger than maybe four, could have fit through. "Unless a highly trained cat managed it." He chuckled at his own joke whilst it had merely drawn sighs from Irene and Kai. "Perhaps a mouse, apparently they can be very well trai- Winters, is something the matter?"

Irene had gone very very still, the cup held tightly in hands. She pressed her lips together and nodded. "Irene?" Kai asked, voice full of alarm. She was due in two weeks time, but the doctors had been very clear that babies did not come when predicted, and it was her first baby, which, apparently, made it even more likely that they would come early.

"Its just braxton hicks." She said after a moment. "It'll pass in a minute. It's just uncomfortable. It doesn't hurt."

"Are you sure?" Kai asked. Irene nodded.

"I'm sure. It's a practise contraction." A moment later, she slowly exhaled. "It's passed. I'm fine."

"You've been having quite a few of those." Kai said.

"I've noticed." Irene replied as dryly as she could. "We don't have long left to wait, but I really don't think that I am going to go into labour tonight."

"Why's that?"

"I don't feel like it. I'd rather be in my own home."

"I don't think that's how it works, love." Kai said with a soft smile, trying to not laugh. "And are you sure that going to the hospital is off the cards?"

"Unless something is wrong, I do not want to be in the hospital." She said, shaking her head, Vale assumed that this was the rehashing of an old argument.

"Well, I suppose that it will be better for you if you are more comfortable." He said, tilting his head a little bit. "And you won't have to worry about getting the baby home afterward." Kai opened his mouth to argue but instead wilted.

"Hospital have pain medication."

"And I don't trust them. I trust them less than I trust the doctors. And I know that most doctors don't wash their hands here. No thank you."

"There have been many advancements in the use of chloroform as a pain killer during child birth."

"Yeah, Vale? In my world chloroform is used to knock people out to make kidnappings easier." Kai said, Vale tilted his head again.

"Well, I suppose that it could be used for that too."

"It gives me really bad headaches." Irene said. "And apparently it completely numbs you so you don't know when you need to push so the baby could end up getting stuck and honestly, that sounds like my worst nightmare right now."

"Breach?"

"Not even thinking about that one. No. Not happening." She shook her head. Kai knew that Irene was scared about childbirth, about all of the things that could potentially go wrong more so than she was about the pain of it. "I'm trying to stay positive. So I will only be going to the hospital if I absolutely have no other choice, Kai."

"Alright." He said, nodding. "It really is your choice."

Chapter Text

The door to Irene's room was half open with the light streaming out of it despite the very late hour. Li Ming frowned when he noticed this, she'd retired a few hours ago and had seemed exhausted and he hadn't heard her get up. He tapped on the door and poked his head around. It  was empty and he frowned. She had gone to bed several hours beforehand, and she certainly hadn't left the house. He would have known, he'd have heard her. 

Turning on his heel, he entered Ophelia's bedroom and found both mother and daughter. Ophelia was in her bed, blissfully unaware of her mother's struggles. 

And Irene was laying on the floor, skin a pale grey in the gloom, eyes dark with circles underneath them. She'd taken the stuffed polar bear that Li Ming regularly found around the house, and it was tucked underneath her arm. 

"This isn't a good place for you to be sleeping." He said softly. Irene didn't jump, she'd known that he had entered when a shaft of light had fallen across the floor, and she hadn't been asleep anyway. "What are you doing?" 

"I can't sleep." Irene muttered, she had a small pillow and blanket with her too. "Thought being closer to her would help." 

"Well, sleeping in the floor will not help you at all." Li Ming said. "It cannot be good for you. Come on, let's get you up and back into your bed. Have you been doing this a lot?" 

"Maybe every other night." Irene confessed. "Sometimes I sleep in the chair." 

"No wonder you look so rough." Li Ming muttered, going to one knee to offer her a hand, she struggled to sit up, being heavily pregnant made a lot of things harder than they should have been. "You need some proper rest, Irene."

"The bed is too big and empty." Irene said, he stood up and pulled her up with him. "I can't sleep without him and its getting worse and worse."

"I know." Li Ming said softly. "Do you want a cup of tea? We can talk downstairs, so we don't wake Ophelia." 

"Thank you." Irene said, she turned to watch the slow rising and falling of Ophelia's chest, and she tucked the covers around her. 

"She's okay." Li Ming said softly, touching Irene's shoulder. "Come on. You can check her later on." He steered her out of the room. Downstairs in the kitchen he filled the kettle and decided on roobios tea, it had no caffeine and Irene owned several fruity variants. "How long has this been going on for?" 

"Two, maybe three, weeks." Irene muttered. "I can't sleep, but knowing that I still have her, makes it better."

"He'll be back." Li Ming said. "You know he will be. All reports say that his father is struggling to keep him on task because he wants to be here." 

"But the treaty is more important." 

"I wouldn't say that, just that it has importance to more people." Li Ming shrugged. "I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Prince Kai would destroy the treaty if it meant keeping you safe. He'd do it in a heartbeat." He slid the cup of tea over to her. 

"I like to think that he's smarter than that." Irene said, with a little smile. "Maybe." She ran her hand over her stomach. 

"Can you feel them?" 

"Not really. But that's normal. Ophelia was so restless, I could hardly sleep some nights because of how bad it was. But this one seems to be much calmer. They seem to have a schedule though. They're more active quite early in the morning. It's why I've taken to getting up at six or seven o'clock. I've never been much of a morning person."

"I could tell." Li Ming said. "Drink your tea." Irene blew on it before taking a sip. "Your Prince is going to be back to you as soon as he can. He'd been here in a heart beat if he was able to. And promise you, I will bring him back here as soon as you ask me to. He will be here for when your baby will be born." 

"You don't have to." Irene said, shaking her head. 

"Miss Winters, it is taking a great deal of self restraint to not go and get him right this minute. I just found you sleeping on the floor of Ophelia's room because you cannot sleep. Does that sound like healthy behaviour to you?" She shook her head. "No. It's not. You need to rest, properly, in your bed. And if bringing him home does that, so be it. I haven't gone yet, because I know that you don't want me to. Don't make me go against your wishes. Please." 

"I'll try." Irene said, her voice soft. She took another sip of her tea before she yawned. 

"Have you been having nightmares? Or is it just insomnia?"

"Just insomnia." Irene said, nodding. "Both Kai and myself used to get terrible nightmares but..." She shrugged. "I haven't had any particularly bad ones in a long time. But sleeping continued to be a struggle. It's common when you get to your third trimester, most women report struggles sleeping. Kai helped. Now he isn't here and I don't know what to do." She wiped her eyes on the cuff of her nightdress, realising that she had been tearing up. "I miss him." 

"I know." Li Ming said. "Ophelia does too, and it's hard to watch you both struggle through this."

"Its going to get better." Irene said. "It has to."

"It will. I promise." Li Ming said. Irene yawned again, frowning at the cup of tea in her hands. "I may have added some valarian extract to your cup. Don't worry, it's perfectly safe if you're pregnant. I very thoroughly checked before hand." She set the cup down, it was completely empty anyway.

"I don't know if I should be annoyed or thankful." She muttered.

"Decide when you wake up again. Come on, let's put you into bed."  He helped her to her feet and kept an arm around her so that she could lean against him, and he helped her up the stairs. "I may have got the dose a little wrong. So let's get you to bed to sleep it off." He was mentally trying to calculate the correct dosage, or if Irene's sudden fatigue was a build up of sleepless nights, the chance to talk about it all, and the spiked tea. It was hard to tell. He'd probably have to do some more research.

He helped Irene into her room and sat her on the edge of her bed before he went to retrieve the stuffed bear and blanket from Ophelia's room. "Call if you need anything." He said firmly. "I'll be here."

"Thank you." Irene's eyes were already half shut as she curled up in the bed, Kai's bear tucked under arm. "Thank..." He draped the covers over her and flicked the light off as she started to snore. He checked in on Ophelia, wondering at what point had he decided to take this little family under his wing, and smiling when he saw her sucking her thumb, even though Irene disapproved of that, and clutching one of the stuffed animals that he had bought for her a few weeks before hand.

He turned off all of the lights and returned to the spare room that he had been using for the past few weeks, listening to the sounds of London outside the window. He was beginning to like this world. 

Chapter Text

"Your brat keeps kicking me in the kidneys." Kai smiled as he sat on the floor by the sofa that Irene lay on, Celeste tottered around the room on unstable legs and Ophelia was working on school work in her bedroom.

“How come you say they’re mine whenever they are doing that?” she raised a shoulder in a half shrug. Kai touched her stomach, he had never tired of the feeling of their baby moving around, like he hadn't tired when it was the girls. "Hey little one. I know there's not much room for you left in there, but could you go easier on your mama?" She combed fingers through his hair. "It won't be long until you're born, there's only one week left until you'll be here and we can finally hold you, but until then, maybe be a little nicer to your mother?" The kicking stopped and Irene slowly exhaled. "That's better." He kissed her stomach.

"Thank you." She said. "You seem to have a knack for getting him to settle." She sat up so that Kai could sit with her, but found herself pulled down again to rest her head on his thighs. "Only one week left."

"I know. It feels like it's gone by so fast." He said, absentmindedly winding some of her hair around his finger before pulling his finger free and doing it again. "Do you really think that we'll have a son this time?" She knew that Kai was refusing to voice his want to have a son, but Irene wanted one too, she wanted a little boy that had Kai's eyes.

She did sometimes regret how long she waited in between pregnancies, though not in between Celeste and this one, that was just birth control that decided to do utterly nothing. But there were nearly five years between Ophelia and Celeste and there'd be six between Ophelia and their third, a large enough age gap for Ophelia to find the younger siblings to be a nuisance, too young to be playmates with her. Celeste would have a sibling less than two years younger than her.

She felt a kick, though this one aimed at her ribcage. "Ow." She rubbed circles on the spot that was aching. "It's going to be another day like this then, isn't it?"

"Curled up on the sofa?" They'd had quite a few days where they had been curled up on the sofa, Kai wasn't about to complain about a chance to spend a lazy day with his family.

"Getting beaten up by a baby." She replied. "There are definitely yours. No paternity test needed."

Chapter Text

"Tag, you're it!" Ophelia darted off down the bottom of the garden.

"You're meant to chase after her." Irene said, she was gently bouncing Celeste on her knee. "It's a game, Vale."

"How do you play?"

"Well you're it, which means that you have to catch someone else to make them it, and then you run away as well." He reached over and she slapped his hand away. "I can't play. I'm pregnant and playing with Celeste. You're going to have to run after her. Or tag Kai in." Vale looked at Ophelia. "I can hardly run, can I?" She muttered. Vale rolled his eyes. And went inside. A moment later he came running out again, followed by Kai.

"Did you tell him that I'd play tag?" He asked. Irene nodded. "I'm cooking dinner."

"I'll keep an eye on it." He leant over and kissed her. "Have fun." He rolled his sleeves up and adjusted his braid slightly.

"You're going to have to remind me why this is fun later on. How did you get Vale to play?"

"I smacked him." She replied, lifting Celeste up so he could kiss her cheek. "I'm not about to go running off after her."

"That'd probably be a bad idea." He agreed.

"Papa come catch us!" Ophelia shouted from the end up the garden and he looked up.

"I'll be just a minute. Why don't you teach your uncle how to play hide and seek and we'll play that instead." Ophelia grabbed Vale's hand and pulled him back toward the house. "Stay out of the kitchen and our room please!" Kai called before leaning back down to Irene. "Dinner shouldn't take too long to finish. I'll keep them entertained until the time goes off. Just make sure nothing burns."

"That I can manage." He offered her a hand up and they headed back inside, it was starting to get dark out anyway. The house was completely silent except for the babbling of Celeste as Irene put her into her high chair.

"Alright, I'm coming to find you!" Kai said loudly as Irene filled the kettle up. "Right after a cup of tea." He said softly.

"You can't just leave them hiding." Irene said as she reached for her favourite pot of tea. Kai slid his arms around her, palms pressed to her stomach to try and feel the baby moving. "They've settled, you won't feel anything right now." He tried not to pout as he kissed her temple.

"It'll only take ten minutes to drink some tea."

"Because our impatient little daughter is going to wait ten minutes for you to find her. At least pretend to look whilst the kettle boils." He chuckled and leant his cheek against the side of her head. "I love you."

"I love you too. Let's just take advantage of the peace before she gets bored." He said. "And stay like this until they come back."

"That does sound nice." Kai was warm and she always liked it when he held her tightly, she felt safe in his arms, like she belonged within them. "Fine. But if she gets upset, you're dealing with it." Kai groaned.

"Alright, I'll go and find her. But she's having an early bed time tonight."

"Deal." 

Chapter Text

"You're perfect, my little one." Kai said softly, wrapping his arms around Celeste and holding her tight to his chest. "It's alright." She whimpered and held a fistful of his shirt in her small, chubby hands. "Let's see if we can make you some milk up." He knew that she hated formula but Irene was having a bad day and had spent much of it buried under the covers.

He carried her out of the study and down to the kitchen before carefully settling her on his hip. "Now, I know that you think formula is yucky, but it'll have to do for now, alright? And we'll see how mama feels later on. She's tired." He managed to spill some of the powder on the work surface and huffed before managing to measure out the right quantity and add it to a bottle of water. He shook it up and used a pan of water to warm it up a little bit.

He paced the kitchen as he warmed up, gently bouncing her up and down as he walked. "Heavens you're just perfect aren't you?" He softly said. "You look just like your mama does." He swallowed and looked up at the ceiling. She was probably asleep. "She does love you. She really does. It's just hard for her." He grabbed the bottle before it could get too hot.

It took a minute before Celeste was willing to drink from the bottle but she did start to drink, slowly at first and then hungrily sucking until it was all empty and her eyes were half shut. He sighed and put the bottle down. He kissed her forehead. "Let's get you cleaned up and back to bed." he burped her and was impressed by how little mess was made.

He carried her upstairs to their bedroom and slowly pushed the door open. Irene had pulled the duvet over her whole body and put a pillow over her head for good measure. He put Celeste in the cot and sat on his side of the bed. "I know you're not sleeping."

"Is she hungry?"

"I've just given her some formula and changed her. She'll sleep for a few hours now." She shifted to slide her hand out to grasp his. "Did you want to hold her for a bit?" Silence. "It's alright. Why don't you do the next feeding instead?"

"I'll try." He squeezed her hand and he squeezed back.

"Do you feel like getting up?" She moved her head out from underneath the pillow and he tried not to laugh and her messy hair. "We could go and pick Ophelia up together? Some freshish air and exercise cannot hurt."

"Okay." He smiled and leant down to kiss her. "I love you."

"I love you too, you're doing so well." He said softly. "I know you're probably sick of me saying it."

"I like hearing it." She said, shifting closer, curling up against him. "It keeps me going. Knowing that you believe that I can do this."

"You can. I know you can." 

Chapter Text

"Kai, I don't mean to alarm you," He looked up from blowing raspberries on Celeste's stomach. "But I haven't had my period this month." Kai stared at her and mentally counted back the days to when they got back from the therapists and came to the same conclusion that Irene had done.

Well, her parents had been looking after the children and they'd been happier than they'd been for months and one thing led to another.

"Are you sure you're not just late? It's not like it's been a regular thing recently." Irene tried not to blush.

"I took a test. It's in the bathroom."

 "Is it..." She nodded. "We're having another baby?" She nodded again. He put Celeste down and took a step toward Irene. She took a hesitent step forward, before throwing herself into his arms. Kai staggered before catching her around the waist.

"Its okay." He said softly. "It's going to be okay. If you aren't ready... If you don't want to keep it, I won't make you. You don't have to go through it all again."

"I love you." Irene whispered. "I'm scared that this will make me sick again, but I can't give up this life."

"Then we'll do things differently." Kai said, he held her at arms length. "We'll... Keep doing the therapy. I'll take leave from my duties so that I can support you more than I did last time. I'll be here for you this time, Irene. I'm sorry that you're scared."

"Its not your fault."

"I could have said no. I could have stayed." He cupped her jaw. "I love you and I will do everything that I can so that you and our children," He gently laid his fingers on her stomach. "Our growing baby, are happy and healthy. That's all that matters to me now. Our family. I'll go and tell my father as soon as I can." Irene laced her fingers at the back of his neck and kissed him.

"There's only going to be a year and a half in between Celeste and this one." She said.

"Well, you did say that you regret how long we waited the first time." He winced. "This isn't ideal, I know. You're still finding the days hard sometimes and I know that this will not fix everything. But I will do anything in my power." He kissed her forehead. "I'd marry you again in an hour if we could."

"We could."

"What?"

"We could go to another world and have a proper wedding, with our whole family." Irene tucked hair behind his ear. "We could wait until after this one is born, and all go and have a wedding in another world. I loved our wedding Kai, I truly did. But... Maybe we could do a fresh start." He broke into a smile.

"I do wish that we'd had, at the very least, our parents there. Yes, let's do that, for our anniversary after the baby arrives."

"Really?"

"Really. I will buy you the most beautiful wedding dress in all of the worlds. You deserve it. If the Library would allow it, I'd also like for you to be recognised in the court as my bonded partner." She frowned. "Dragons don't usually get married, and it's rare that someone of my birth would chose to only take on one partner, but I don't ever want anyone but you, and I want that to be recognised. You're the only one for me Irene. Forever."

"I..."

"You don't have to say anything. I don't believe in love at first sight, but I do believe in soul mates. And I know that you're mine, even with everything that we have gone through, we always have had each other." He brushed a tear off her cheek.

"I bet this wasn't how you expected your birthday to go." She softly said, resting her forehead on his shoulder.

"It's the best gift that you could have ever given me." He held her tight to his chest.

"I'm buying you condoms next year." 

Chapter Text

"How is the little mignonne?" Ao Shun asked and Li Ming smiled as he looked up from Celeste.

"She sleeps." He replied. "Miss Winters and Prince Kai seem to have accidentally taken a nap." Ao Shun arched a brow before peering around the doorway. He chuckled.

"They must be shattered." He said. "Ophelia is..."

"Quite happy to quietly play by herself for the time being. She'll probably get a little antsy soon." Ao Shun nodded. "It makes me think."

"You want another?"

"Goodness no. One is enough to last me the rest of my life time. No. That maybe we put too much pressure on one person to raise their child, always just the father or their mother, and not everyone has the support of their families." Li Ming frowned. "Miss Winters needs help now, and maybe she wouldn't have done if the Prince hadn't been called away for two months. Imagine what it's like to be alone the entire time."

"She is a human."

"Is she? Tell me, when was the last time you saw a human like her? She may physically be a human, but it could be her binding to the Library, or her bond to the Prince and their children, but no, I wouldn't call her a human."

"Metaphysics isn't my area of study."

"No, neither is it mine. But she's different. She's strong, but she has still needed a lot of help, from myself, from the Prince, and now a psychologist."

"I'll look into the support networks in place." Ao Shun said slowly. "See if there are places that we need to improve on, if you feel so passionately about this then I trust your judgement." Li Ming softly smiled.

"Thank you. Miss Winters may be 'only' human to a good many people. But she's a lot more than that now."

"You're fond of them." Li Ming looked to Celeste.

"Miss Winters asked if I would be Celeste's god father, and I said yes. They asked if it would be okay for her to call me uncle, and for Ophelia to do so as well. Miss Winters only has her parents, no other family members. I said yes, my ties to them will not impede my duties to you, but I would like to be able to... Help whenever I can."

"I love you." Ao Guang said. "Yes, just let me know when you'll be with them in case I need your assistance."

"You don't have to say yes because you love me."

"I want you to be happy." Ao Shun touched his cheek. "If you are happy, then I am happy. And if this makes you happy, then I will not complain. I'll arrange for you to speak with my brother, he has his people watching them, I'm sure that we can reach an understanding with him again."

"Just to give them some extra help when they need it. Heavens knows that neither would ever ask."

"No, they'll just fall asleep in my sitting room." Ao Shun said, shaking his head. "Let's leave them a little bit longer."