Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Any day now" was the mindset Folly adopted to ease the anxiety she's felt ever since after that night. She remembered the feeling of bliss as her partner in crime became more than a partner in crime as he came in her. That was the first time she ever felt so warm, like she had bloomed into a new person. Folly never felt so loved before and Beauregard helped fixed that. He was like the white rose that bloomed amongst Folly's garden of oleanders. However, like all couples, they've had their disagreements. Such as when they were discussing names for their child.

"... I still think we should call it something cool." Beauregard said, crossing his arms. Folly looked back and glared at him. The due date was scarily near and yet the two haven't decided on a name.

"Beauregard Jr. is not a 'cool' name, imbecile." Folly responded. In response, Beauregard rolled his eyes. She sat down next to him at the table and went through her journal, searching for a specific page where she wrote down name ideas she and Beauregard came up with. After finding the page, Folly crossed out a few names. "I was thinking something related to space, like Jupiter or Astrid."

"Do we really need a specific theme?" Beauregard leaned in to look at Folly writing down some of the names she had in mind. He took the journal from her and took a pen off the table, thinking of what to write. He looked at his partner, then at her belly. He then read some of the names she had wrote down to himself.

"Well, no, but I wanted to name it something special. We don't have any idea of what it's going to be like, let alone what it's going to look like." Folly paused for a moment. She rested her hand on her chin. "So, why not something that makes it stand out?"

Despite not being ecstatic about some of the names she came up, Beauregard did know that she had a point. The two were very different appearance and species-wise. It was no brainer that the child was bound to look unique, or just be a unique being in general.

"I guess so," Beauregard muttered, still fixated on the paper. "but what if it gets bullied? I mean, what kind of a name is Danica?"

Folly furrowed her eye and took the journal from him, "It means 'Venus', that's pretty bold coming from someone named Beauregard."

Before he could complain, the elevator doors opened. "Good morning, you two lovebirds!" Wallter joked as he entered Beauregard's floor where he and Folly were. Folly stood up went over to her friend. She heard something muttered from Beauregard but didn't hear it clearly. It wasn't like she cared though, so she ignored it.

"Morning." Folly said back, holding the book on her chest.

"I see you have your journal with you, have you wrote anything amusing lately?" Wallter asked. He had an eight-pack can of grey stuff with him, as if it he was going to share them with Beauregard.

"I guess." Folly responded, opening her journal to where the lists of names were written. "Me and Beauregard were discussing names for the baby and we can't really come up with anything, mind helping us?"

She showed him the names they came up with, letting him hold the book to have a closer look. Wallter fixed his glasses a bit and took a glance at the names, amused over the difference in name ideas. "Well, I unfortunately don't have any ideas on what to name your newborn. But I suppose DrRETRO might have a few names you two could use."

From afar, Beauregard leaned back into his chair as he listened to them chat. He heard the proposal of visiting DrRETRO for baby names and nodded. He got up and went over to the other twos. "I can do that." He said simply, startling Folly a little bit. She remained curious however. Beauregard told her that he'll go and that she can just do whatever she wanted to. Folly agreed with that plan, and the two hugged. They and Wallter then spent their morning in Beauregard's floor, going over the names and just hanging out together like usual.

That night, Folly and Beauregard left and went to the elevator where Beauregard can go to DrRETRO's floor and talk with her. After waiting what felt like hours, the elevator finally reached the gumball machine floor. Before he left, Beauregard went to Folly and said his goodbyes to their child.

He rubbed and kissed her belly, "Bye, little guy! Your dad's gotta visit the doctor to see if she has any names for you, okay?" Beauregard whispered. Folly was amused, quietly laughing under her breath. She crouched a little to let Beauregard kiss her before he left her alone. The doors closed after some conversation was heard, letting Folly go into a corner and sit down.

Folly struggled a little but got on the floor easily. She watched the lights flicker as she waited, deciding that she would stay here and just wait for whatever happens until she gets bored or tired and leaves. It was probably around 9 or 10PM at this point, not that Folly knew. She was already tuckered out from being cooped up in her partner's floor for so long, she desperately needed to rest. Especially when the child needed to rest as well.

While Folly thought up some poetry she could write when she got to her floor, she had completely ignored the fact that Pest had just entered. He wore a big, puffy jacket over his usual clothes. The red of his jacket got the attention of Folly when she snapped out of her trance and the doors closed.

Folly noticed Pest's jacket and carefully stood up, using the rails of the elevator to help herself up. "What's with the new jacket, bug?" She asked, putting a hand over her stomach.

Pest groaned, hesitant to say anything. "Poob gifted it to me as an early valentines day gift, since he thinks we're best friends and all." He answered, looking away. Folly looked back to her direction. It was almost valentines day, two days before specifically. The child's arrival was expected to be on the eighteenth, so it meant that the child would basically be a late valentines day gift.

Folly tapped her foot against the floor as she thought of the coincidence, which was the only thing being heard besides the jazz music playing as the only passengers said not a word. After passing by some floors was when Folly finally said something.

She looked over at the beetle, "Hey, remember when you tried to take out the baby?" Folly immediately noticed the not-so subtle twitching of Pest's eye as he looked back at her.

"Don't mention that ever again." He said, crossing his arms and chittering to himself. Folly snickered at him.

"Oh come on, I'm just trying to spark some conversation." Folly responded. Pest clenched his fists before putting them into his jacket pockets. He clearly didn't care if it was for conversation, he had tried his best to block out the memory of that day when he got scammed into trying to prematurely end Folly's baby just for a reward of money he never received.

Folly was aware of how ticked off she was making Pest and amused herself just by seeing him look away from her. She went over to his side of the elevator before he noticed.

"Listen, I have to give you some credit." She said, getting Pest's attention and seeing that she moved from her spot. He didn't flinch and looked more annoyed than anything Folly was expecting. "If you hadn't done all of that, then the baby's first kicks would've been very dull. Kind of like you in a way." She mocked him.

Pest, being extremely tired and just needing some time to think, snarled at her. "Yeah sure, you're welcome. If you weren't pregnant right now, I'd definitely end you right now."

"Oh, don't worry about that," Folly responded, putting her arms up and mocking him further. "Any day now and the child will be born, and you can try to kill end me anytime."

Pest softened up a little, still pretty upset. "Anytime?" Suddenly, Folly bursted into a fit of laughter. Pest got more upset as she laughed herself off. She had to calm herself down just from how much her stomach was starting to hurt from how much she was laughing.

"I'm joking, you can't do anything. Especially since me and Beauregard won't be here anymore." Pest went silent for a second before his jaw dropped. Folly nodded, crossing her arms. "Using the knowledge I know of his home-universe, we'll be moving there to raise the child."

Before Pest could say anything in response, he noticed how suddenly uncomfortable Folly looked. Her arms moved to the bottom of her stomach and her foot tapping increased. Her eye squinted as well, as if she was in pain. He ignored it, as much as he could anyway, and took his hands out of his pockets.

"Yeah, sure, just run away with your boyfriend." Pest scoffed. "Just make sure you bring me with you, I wouldn't wanna live with the fact you could've killed us all if you didn't get your ass fucked by a guy who has a smoking problem." Despite his harsh words, his previous anger had died down. A part of it was still there, no doubt, but seeing Folly taking deep breathes weirdly made him calm down.

Despite her stomach hurting, Folly still had the audacity to be cocky. That was her plan after all, going into the elevator and terrorizing whoever went into the elevator. But it seemed like the plan was about to be put on hold when...

Splash

"Holy shit!" Pest backed away as a pool of water formed under Folly. She gasped and fell to the floor on her knees. She was swearing to herself as Pest looked around, he had no experience with someone going into labor. "Any day now, huh?" He sarcastically asked, secretly panicking.

Folly did her best not to scream at him as she was too distracted by how much pain she was in. "Just get me out of here, idiot!"

"Alright, alright! I'll call DrRETRO," Pest said before he pulled out his phone from his jacket and dialed DrRETRO's phone number.

On the gumball machine floor, DrRETRO and Beauregard were making a list of potential baby names when DrRETRO's phone went off. She excused herself and went to another room to answer the phone.

She put the phone up to her ear, "Mreow? (Hello?)" She meowed.

On the other line, Pest and Folly were panicking. Pest was spastic, trying to speak clearly. He calmed himself down for a second before answering.  "Uh, Doc, we've got a problem. A big one."

"(What's going on? Are you or anyone else okay?)" DrRETRO asked, concerned about how scared Pest was. It was unnatural for him to be this scared.

Pest gulped and looked back at Folly, who was kneeling over and holding herself as she shook. "It's Folly. She... Her water broke and I'm freaking out."

DrRETRO remained calm, "(Okay, okay. Just calm down.)" She paused in order to look around, hoping nobody would hear her. She looked back at the phone. "(Stay in the elevator, if you are in the elevator, and I'll come with Beauregard to take her to my hospital.)"

"Okay, thanks." Pest thanked her before sitting next to Folly and trying to calm her down.

"(No problem, sugar.)" DrRETRO responded before hanging up the phone and rushing back to Beauregard, who was concerned by how uneasy she sounded. He didn't hear what she said specifically but she sounded serious. DrRETRO looked at the list she and Beauregard made and gave it to him before taking his wrist and getting him up from the table.

"Wh... Woah! Doc, what's going on!?" Beauregard questioned her as he was dragged to where the elevator was usually. Folly must've told Pest where Beauregard was, as the elevator soon appeared on the gumball machine floor.

DrRETRO sighed as he let go and before the elevator doors opened.

"It's an emergency. We need to get to the hospital quickly."

Chapter Text

Anything. Almost anything painful. From the pain of being poked with a rusty needle, to straight up getting impaled in your crotch. Anything among the likes of those could not describe the pain Folly experienced as the beast that grew inside of her womb was finally coming out of her. Folly expected to feel relief that she was finally a mother. But she was hit with a horrific pain she hadn't felt since the last day she was ever Dreamer.

Luckily for her, she was close to being finished. She clenched the hands of both her partner and the beetle she was just tormenting hours ago as she pushed for the last time, her screaming dulling as the baby finally popped out of her.

The only thing Folly heard before passing out was the baby's crying and the other's collective gasps.

DrRETRO held the baby in her arms and felt petrified. Something wasn't right about him and it wasn't the fact that he was purely white with very, very pale blond hair. His body was covered with hard, dry plates of skin and his eyes and mouth were turned inside out. His ears fused to his head and his tiny hands and feet were swollen.

In a matter of seconds, DrRETRO already knew what was wrong. She froze then and there, not sure what to do but let Beauregard and Pest come over to see what was wrong.

"Doc?" Beauregard spoke up, his gaze on his son. "Doc, what's wrong with him?"

Silence. Silence was DrRETRO's only answer. she cut the umbilical cord and went to clean the baby, not daring to let them know what was going on. She calmed the baby down before placing him in an incubator. Finally, she looked at the two men with sorrow in her eyes. They went back to Folly, who had passed out from the pain and blood loss she experienced, and DrRETRO decided it was best that she'd tell them now.

She had to, it was her job, even if she really didn't want to tell them.

"(Okay, I really need you both to understand that what the baby's going through is nobody's fault, especially not your's,)" DrRETRO pointed at Beauregard who looked extremely concerned, biting his nails.

DrRETRO took one deep breath before pulling her laptop out and searching up the term she was going to use for the baby, making sure she believes that it's the right word to describe the baby. She then looked back at Beauregard and broke out the news.

"(Beauregard, your son most likely has Harlequin Ichthyosis.)"

"..."

Like before, besides the noises coming from the baby, there was silence. It was like his lungs were ripped out of his chest, or like his vocal cords were taken away from him. Beauregard couldn't say anything.  Slowly, his hands came to his mouth, where words should be coming out. "What's harlequin ichthyosis?" Pest spoke for him.

DrRETRO looked at the incubator where the baby was. "It's... It's a genetic disorder that affects the skin of newborns." She stood up and went to the incubator. The baby was clearly uncomfortable, wriggling his arms and legs around as he whined. DrRETRO pointed at his chest, "Those are hard plates of skin, they can cause complications for the newborn and could even lead to the baby's death-"

"Don't." Beauregard interrupted, already had heard enough. "Don't say that last part, he can't die. He can't." He looked at his son in anguish, shaking. He didn't shed a tear however, he couldn't. That so-called "crying shit" was lame to him. But it hurt not to.

"Well, harlequin fetuses have a 50% chance of survival, so it's both possible and not possible." DrRETRO said, rubbing his back. The baby must've noticed his father and tried reaching out for him.

"This shouldn't be happening" Beauregard thought to himself as he held his hand where the baby's was reaching out to and felt his heart shatter in a million pieces like glass. He should be holding his son in his arms as he's congratulated on having a healthy, beautiful baby. Instead, Beauregard is hoping to himself that his little angel makes it out alright and ends up among the 50% that survive.

Pest decided now was the time to leave, he wished everyone else good luck before leaving the hospital. DrRETRO went to work on helping Beauregard care for his and Folly's son while Folly was still passed out.

When Folly woke up after an hour, she had this annoying ringing in her ears. She tried sitting up but was still sore in her legs. DrRETRO told her that she passed out after giving birth and was going to have to rest in bed until she recovers. Beauregard held Folly's hand, squeezing it tightly, as DrRETRO told her the news.

And if Beauregard was mortified by the news, then Folly's reaction was like the same glass as Beauregard's heart exploding into a quadrillion pieces.

For the first time in her life, Folly didn't want to harm anyone for her baby being sick with something that could potentially kill him, she wanted to harm herself. She was the one to bring him into this world, so she felt like it was her fault that he's sick. And to think, things could've gotten better with a baby around. Sure kids are a pain in the ass to care for, but no child should have to be in an incubator where it's likely that they'll never get to grow up due to their illness. And certainly not Folly and Beauregard's.

After recollecting what she was told, Folly sat there and stared at the light above her. She tried her best not to burst into tears but it was no use. Folly leaned towards Beauregard and held him, letting her tears stain his clothes as she cried her heart out. Neither of them asked for this, but it wasn't like they had control over their baby.

But Folly knew what had control over her.

Folly stopped crying and let go of her partner, sitting up and looking at her hands. She clenched them as she remembered the Great One's existence and turned to Beauregard. She placed a hand on his shoulder, "Beauregard, go to Eternal Limbo and meet up with the big tree with the scratches."

Beauregard's eyes widen. "What? But I can't just leave you and the baby alone! What if the baby dies while I'm gone?" He panicked. Folly closed her eyes and sighed, her saddened look coming back again. Just the mention of her baby dying ruined a part of her that she never knew she had.

"(Sugar, you don't have to worry. I'll look after your child and make sure he's fine. You go and I'll make sure everything's fine.)" DrRETRO said, holding a bottle of moisturizer for the baby. Beauregard looked at the doctor, then at his partner, then at the incubator, and sighed. He kissed Folly on the cheek and went over to the incubator where the baby was pouting.

He couldn't bare to look away from his kid but his wife needed him to talk to that tree. So, Beauregard was going to leave.

"Beauregard, wait." Folly called out for him, Beauregard rushed over to see what was wrong when he's given a piece of paper ripped from Folly's journal. "I wrote this for you and the baby, and I thought you needed something to read to help ease your anxiety."

"Babe, I'm never anxious. I'm way too cool for that! But thanks for looking out for me," Beauregard smiled warmly and hugged her tightly before leaving.

In the elevator besides Beauregard was Poob and Uno. "Great, as if things couldn't get worse." Beauregard thought to himself when he looked at Uno.

"Uh, hai Beau!" Poob said with a nervous smile. "We, uh, herd wuts happening 2 ur and Folly's bby..."

Great. Now it seems like Pest must've told everyone about the baby. Beauregard ignored him and read the paper by himself.

"Hello. If you're reading this, I just want to say that I love you both dearly. Beauregard, my sweet, you've helped me regain the love I haven't felt in so long. And to our child, just know that me and your dad love you very much. Even if I'm not the best parent or lover, I wish you all very sweet dreams. And I hope you, our baby, grow up to have a happy life.

From, Folly."

Beauregard bit his lip as he finished reading, holding back tears. The elevator eventually led to Eternal Limbo, where Folly instructed Beauregard to go to. He leaped into the floor and looked around for the Great One. But just standing beside it was a fully grown palm tree that was half its size. It was Pure white with pink leaves, a contrast to the harsh reds and blacks of the floor. Much like Folly and Beauregard's baby, the tree had these fissures all around it. Beauregard looked at both the Great One and the palm tree, switching between both before stopping at the palm tree. He pointed at it, "Who's palm tree is that?"

"That would be the Apprentice, mortal being." The Great One spoke up. Beauregard flinched upon hearing the Great One talk but remained confident.

"My girlfriend asked me to come here and confront you about something." Beauregard said, now pointing at the bigger tree. "I don't know what she wants from you but it's probably something serious!"

The Great One would roll its eyes if it had any that actually responded to its movement. The Apprentice then surrounded Beauregard in a prison of vines, trapping him in. He tried to grab the vines but was pricked by them.

"We'll tell you if you give us that paper in your hands." The Great One said. One of the vines trapping the mortal pointed to the paper he had in his hands. He was defensive about the paper, obviously since Folly gave it to him and it meant so much to him, but eventually gave the paper up.

Reading the paper quietly, the Great One ripped it into pieces afterwards. "How childish, this is one of the reasons why I despise you being with her. She's straying away from true destiny because of you."

Beauregard got really mad and backed away before running into the vines, breaking a hole in and escaping the vine prison with a bunch of cuts and scars.

"Now tell me what's going on." He threatened, holding his back as if he cracked it. The Great One had a moment to think about it before letting the Apprentice answer.

"The Great One says it'll only tell Folly, you wouldn't understand a single thing about our plan." All of the shit he went through was for nothing.

"Now scram!" The two trees said before Beauregard was teleported back into the elevator.

"Woah, what happened to him?" Mach whispered before Beauregard opened his eyes. He groaned as Wallter and Mach helped him get up. They both waited until they got to the hospital to start answering questions.

"Why are you guys going to the hospital, anyway?" Beauregard asked, stretching his back. He's clearly been beat up by that small prison escape from the Eternal Limbo.

"We're just going over to visit the baby! I've got to give congratulations to the new parents with this gift!" Wallter answered, pulling out a small box wrapped with a large red bow from his back.

"Pilby even got you three a gift." Mach said. When their name was mentioned, Pilby popped their head from behind Mach's back and held a present out for Beauregard to see. Even though they were afraid of both of them, they wanted to do something nice for them since they're parents now.

Beauregard rolled his eyes and took the gifts from Wallter and Pilby. "Thanks, I guess." He said, unimpressed. The passengers of the elevator finally arrived at the hospital and Beauregard quickly rushed over to see if Folly and their kid was okay.

Luckily for him, they were both alive. Folly was looking over the incubator from her bed where their kid was asleep. His face was wet from all the tears he was shedding while crying. But at least the family were safe and sound. Folly looked over and saw how injured Beauregard was.

He went over to his wife with the gifts and handed them to her. "The one with the red bow is from Wallter and the one with the tacky wrapping is Pilby's." Pilby frowned upon hearing the wrapping they chose for their present but didn't say anything about it. Mach and Wallter spotted the incubator and watched the baby sleep while Folly opened their gifts. Wallter had given them a baby monitor while Pilby gifted them a box of diapers.

"These gifts are fine, thanks everyone." Folly whispered, her voice telling that she was still upset. Wallter sat on the edge of her bed and glanced at the newborn more, seeing the effects of being a harlequin fetus has on him.

Despite their concerns and worries about their son, Folly reassured them that he may be sick but he's got a high chance of survival. In reality, she was just trying to make herself feel okay. Again, the baby has a 50% chance of survival, so it's 50/50 when it comes to seeing him grow.

"What's his name?" Mach asked, standing over the incubator. That was when it hit both Folly and Beauregard, they had neglected to give him a name. But when their child is sick with an incredibly rare disease, giving him a name was the least of their problems.

Beauregard looked at the incubator, then at the child,

"We don't know yet."

Chapter Text

When Wallter, Mach, and Pilby left, the couple had been left with an itching question in mind: What were they going to name their little one? They held each other as they watched their son fall asleep, guilty over the fact that he didn't have a name yet. Beauregard let go and grabbed the list of names DrRETRO gave him out of his pocket and unfolded it to show Folly. The whole time she was in the elevator, he had to decide what their child was going to be named. And now that their kid came early, or just days before the initial due date, they had to decide quickly on what to name him.

Folly had looked over the names but wasn't really confident in any of them, that or her mind was pretty foggy after hours of pain-induced labor. She decided to ditch the theming all together to make it easier to decide.

She sighed before looking at the incubator, "I'm not exactly feeling it with these names, Beauregard." Folly said. "I want to name it something but I just can't think of anything right now." She gave the list back to Beauregard before getting an idea.

"Hey, we still have my journal," She said, cheering up just a little bit. Folly got up and sat on the edge of the hospital bed, letting her legs dangle off. "It must still be on your floor."

Initially, Beauregard denied going back in the elevator. He had chills just thinking about going back to the elevator and possibly meeting the Great One and the Apprentice again. But then he looked at Folly and warmed up to the idea. She had spent the whole night giving birth to their kid and she was still sore from it happening. She could stand up but not for long as her body was aching heavily. Of course, being the confident and supportive partner he is, Beauregard decided to accept going back and retrieving Folly's journal.

If she couldn't do it, then he could. Just for her, just for his family.

Beauregard sighed and shook his head but didn't seem like he didn't want to go, "Alright, I'll go get your book. Besides, I haven't told Eddie the news yet." He kissed his partner on the cheek, sharing a brief tender moment before he departed from her and the baby. Part of him wanted to go back and do anything with his kid in fear that if he goes, his son could possibly die before he came back. But Beauregard kept trucking and left the hospital.

No one else was in the elevator. This disappointed Beauregard since he wanted to ask Pest why he told Uno, Poob, and possibly everyone else about the baby's condition. He wondered if Pest had even told Eddie. Though, Eddie only stayed on his and Beauregard's floor. But it wasn't unlikely, NPCs come to their floor all the time whenever Beauregard was here. Though it was usually the so-called "players" that would come and screw up his floor. It was pretty much one of the disadvantages that having a boss battle floor had.

Beauregard chose to not think about it much and just waited to go to his floor and get Folly's journal.

While he was waiting and boredom came upon him, another NPC had came in the elevator.

Pest entered and was, like before when he left the hospital after the baby was born, pretty guilty upon seeing Beauregard. The two initially avoided eye contact with each other and didn't say anything besides a small "hey" when Pest entered. Beauregard was annoyed and wanted to tell him off for telling anyone but refrained from doing so, he was ready to go to his floor, retrieve Folly's journal, and come back to the hospital as fast as he could.

Finally after an agonizing silence, Beauregard decided it was now to ask what was going on. "Hey, bug." He called. Pest, who muttered something in Japanese when he heard the (in his opinion) stupid nickname given to him, turned to him with a small grunt coming from his mouth. "I just wanted to ask why you told Poob and Uno about Folly and I's kid?"

Pest put his hands in his pockets and scoffed, though his lips quivered before saying anything. "What? They wanted to know what was going on. Can't a guy tell anyone else what happened?" He heard Beauregard growl under his breathe and saw his fists clenched.

"No? I-" Beauregard cut himself off as he went over to Pest and held him from the shirt collar with both hands. "You can't just tell them that our kid could potentially die at any moment to some fucking disease! What in the actual fuck is wrong with you!?" His voice wasn't exactly loud but he was definitely very annoyed. Not angry, though part of him was ticked off, but more so annoyed and honestly betrayed that this beetle guy he was warming up to would tell people things that weren't his business.

"Okay, damn," Pest said, rolling his eyes and holding his hands up. "Just tone down the swearing for a second, Beau. I know that exposing the disease your kid was diagnosed with wasn't something I should've done, and you probably should've been the one to tell them yourself, but I was... I was just guilty, okay? I don't know why I was but I felt guilty that I told them out of impulse."

Hearing Pest confess that did make Beauregard put him down, though he was still somewhat irritated. He did calm down a little upon hearing how guilty he was to the point of telling them about the Harlequin ichthyosis thing. He wrapped his arm behind his back as he looked down away from Pest. "Oh, I guess that makes sense. Just a little, though." He faked a chuckle, which was very noticeable.

"Well, your stop is here. I think." Pest pointed to the door opening and revealing Beauregard's floor. He sighed in relief before leaving, neglecting to say goodbye to him. Pest just shrugged it off, not exactly caring since he was gone for a moment.

But talking with him did make Pest realize something, why did he feel so guilty?

Pest was, in lack of a better term, someone who lacked empathy. He'd disregard everyone but himself and wouldn't care much if someone he cared was in a time of suffering and pain. But for some reason, a reason Pest can't exactly describe or even make out what it was, seeing Folly suddenly go in labor while the two were just bickering scared him. Maybe it was the first time Pest had to deal with something like this. He was a thief, not a midwife. And yet, he was the one to call DrRETRO after Folly's water broke. He was the one besides Beauregard to hold her hand as she squeezed that thing out of her. He was the one to see the baby and feel like the world was suddenly a place he didn't know.

When the baby was born, and his skin condition was noticed for the first time, a collective gasp from him and Beauregard was heard. Between the baby's crying and the anxious tone Beauregard had when he was asking DrRETRO what was wrong, Pest was left in a state of confusion and shock. Maybe it was the fact that he just witnessed the birth of a Harlequin baby, said baby being the son of two people he despised. Maybe the guilt he felt as he stepped out of that hospital was just the two playing a trick on him just for watching and actively helping it happen. Whatever it was definitely led to something Pest never expected: A massive rush of shame, regret even, coming upon him like a rattlesnake strangling its prey.

So when he came into the elevator and saw Poob and Uno standing around the elevator and noticing how anxious he was, Pest immediately froze. And in an act of poor impulse control, he told them everything that happened. The suddenness of Folly trying to say something before her water breaking, the agonizingly long time it took for the kid to arrive, the realization felt from DrRETRO that something was terribly wrong even after looking at the baby... everything was told, at least in his perspective.

Even if it was some elaborate trick, something Pest wished it was, he had never felt so scared and shameful in his life.

The guilt had eaten him like Folly did back when he was just a prisoner.

Meanwhile, while Pest was having a crisis in the elevator, Beauregard came in to see the floor being exactly the way it was before he and Folly left yesterday. Eddie was asleep on the floor when Beauregard came up to him and woke him up. He told him about the baby, leaving out his health and lack of a name yet, and trying to make up for how anxious he was by talking about how Eddie was going to be a great big brother.

Eddie was a feral creature but even he felt excited to see the baby. He was told that Beauregard and Folly would bring the baby home in a few days and was unsure when that day would come and he'd finally meet his brother. Half-brother, since Beauregard had Eddie way before they met Folly and were brought into the Regretevator, but still Eddie's brother nonetheless.

Beauregard took Folly Journal's, which was left on the table by Wallter who had written a few name suggestions and even some poetry in some of the pages, and bid Eddie farewell. He came back to see Pest disassociating while crossing his arms. Beauregard ignored him and went to his corner with the journal in his hands. He wasn't as ticked off at Pest as before, though asking him why and how would count as him recounting a memory. And as what Beauregard said once, memories are lame.

Pest left the elevator before Beauregard did and went to the Happy Home Party to seemingly clear his mind. That, or he'll get hit by a meteor like usual. Obviously, it would be the latter.

In the meantime, Beauregard decided to be sneaky and read some of Folly's stuff in her journal. She had a lot more poetry about her depression than he thought. Reading through some of them left a sour taste in his mouth but he wasn't going to stop, even if some of the stuff she wrote broke pieces of his heart.

Then one piece of writing caught his attention, one Folly wrote while she was pregnant.

"As I write this, I'm currently awaiting the birth of our child. I know it's much too early to be wanting this to happen now but I desperately wish to see them in my arms. I can imagine it right now: me holding our baby gently as me and him love and care for it. I might be going insane but I feel as if this child will bring me the loving feeling I've been craving ever since the Great One betrayed me and bestowed its parasite onto me. I can already feel like the world is going in the right way whenever I'm with him, he's done so much for me. Sure, I feel as if he's doing it just for me to praise him and further boost his ego..."

Beauregard scoffed at the last sentence, feeling very offended, but kept writing as it intrigued him.

"... But I never met someone who genuinely cares about me, especially when I've threatened to take his life in the past. In reality, I've hurt him a lot sometimes. He's certainly did things I didn't like. And yet, despite the hell we put each other, we still love each other. Well, love is a strong word, but he does make me feel like I am loved. Yesterday, I came to his floor and gave him the cigarette box he misplaced on my floor and he left a bunch of lipstick marks all over my face. Sometimes he lets me scratch somewhere on his body, like his arms or his back. Sometimes I let him put out cigarettes on my wrists and kiss the scars left. Sometimes we come together to make someone miserable, like how I would when it was just me. I never felt so whole before I met him. He's helped me so much. And now, I've got to think of something to repay him for making me feel so warm."

At the hospital, Folly was staring at the light above her like she did when she found out her baby was sick. But this time, she was more ambivalent than sad. She was sad, no doubt, especially over her baby, as well as Beauregard being gone. She was missing having him in her arms, holding her pillow and pretending that it was him she was holding. While she waited, she hummed some melodies to herself before Beauregard gently opened the door.

He entered quietly and quickly went over to the incubator only to find it empty. Before he began to panic, he heard his partner's voice, "Don't worry, he's being taken care of by DrRETRO. He'll be back soon." Folly said, putting the pillow she was back where it was. Beauregard, seemingly more affectionate than he was before, chuckled to himself in relief before giving her journal back. Folly grabbed him and wrapped her arms around him as they laid in bed together. Despite how uncomfortable the bed was, Beauregard just loved being in her arms regardless of where they were.

"So, any specific names?" Beauregard muttered, letting his darling rub his back gently. Folly didn't respond, instead going through her journal. She suddenly had another idea, taking a pen DrRETRO left and writing something down. Beauregard didn't know what she was writing but was tired to hear what it was. He rested his eyes and inched closer to her, letting himself fall asleep after staying up the night.

After spending almost an hour of writing in a bunch of pages of her journal, she heard DrRETRO's voice call her, "Hey sugar, we're back. He's going to be back in the incubator if you or Beauregard wants to see him. He's getting a bit better but still needs his rest." She noticed Beauregard sleeping in Folly's arms as she put her journal and giggled. "I see Beauregard's getting his rest."

She put their baby in the incubator, making sure he calms down enough to go to sleep, before coming over to Folly and Beauregard. Folly rolled her eyes at the joke but did admit to herself how cute Beauregard was when he's sleeping in her arms, albeit in a "pathetic" kind of cute. But Folly loved him so much.

Neither had given the child a name yet but their love continues to grow.

Chapter Text

The night sky can represent many things.

It could represent what came before. It could represent the stars as messengers of gods. It could represent the beauty of nature when the lights are off and everyone dwells into slumber.

Everyone except for Folly, who watched the night sky luminate from the window. She was the only one besides her baby in the room. DrRETRO was somewhere else in the hospital, probably taking care of another patient, and Beauregard went back to his floor to find out what to do if they ever leave the regretevator behind. Folly was tucked in bed but couldn't close her eyes. Instead, she watched the stars twinkle as her mind drifted to the incubator besides her bed.

Begrudgingly, Folly pulled herself up from bed and looked at it. "Could I have been wrongfully cursed?" She thought to herself.

When Folly found out that she was pregnant, it was an unpleasant shock that began to fade once Folly told Beauregard and he reacted with excited. When she gave birth to their child, it was an unpleasant shock which hadn't yet faded.

He was just born not too long ago, yet he was already going through a pain no other child should go through. And if the baby was pained with an unfair predicament, then so was Folly. She couldn't bare the thought of becoming a mother just for her baby to have a skin condition like Harlequin Ichthyosis. That parasite didn't let Folly's body hold a hybrid of human and nonhuman for this. Whatever the parasite and the trees in the eternal limbo are planning, it was a plan that did not benefit Folly whatsoever.

Folly hesitated to cry and instead, she put her hands on the incubator. Hearing the child's sleepy cooing as she opened it, Folly was reminded of the dream she had before he came into the world. The dream where Folly met this young child with white hair and skin. He kept referring to Folly as 'mama' and had unexplained plant powers.

And with Folly's real kid, he also had white hair and skin. Well his hair was more of an extremely pale blond but it was close. And while he couldn't talk yet and had any powers, the baby was certainly like the toddler in Folly's dream. She couldn't believe that the dream she had prophesied half of what she dreamed of but the evidence was right in front of her. The only difference was the baby's hair didn't have glowing stars like the child's.

With that, Folly had a moment to watch her sleeping baby and think. She didn't want it to die but she didn't want it to live a life of pain either. A dire question came to her head: If the baby was born with a disorder that could kill it, then what other diseases would affect him when he grows up?

Thinking about it made Folly's heart shatter into more pieces than it had before.

She carefully picked up the baby with both arms, making sure the IV attached to him doesn't come off and he wakes up, and quietly analyzed the fissures and dry patches of skin on his body. That ointment wasn't exactly working wonders despite him looking a little better than when he came out of his mother. Folly could only feel the knotted feeling in her stomach and the crushing weigh of the situation as she sat on the bed and held him in her arms.

Finally, after being so hesitant for a moment, she let all of her emotions out which came in the form of crying and hugging her sleeping baby.

In the middle of her soft crying, Folly heard something shine. Her vision was blurry from tears, restricting her from seeing what was going on, but the baby was wriggling around in her arms while he slept.

He waved his little hands around and made moss grow from above the two. The moss covered the light above and nearly reached Folly's head.

She held her baby in one arm as she wiped her tears, only to feel some of the moss touch her elbow. That was when she noticed the baby's hair as well.

Like the boy in her dream, the baby's small pile of hair glowed with little bits of starry-like lights. He seemed to get uncomfortable with it however, as he began whining.

Folly didn't have enough time to react to his hair glowing and the seemingly inexplicable moss growing from the light due to this and quickly put him back in the incubator. The baby stopped whining and went back to sleeping. Folly felt relieved but confused and just sat there, dumbfounded.

It seems as the instantaneously magical plant growing Folly was experiencing during pregnancy has come to fruition.

Folly recollected what happened after realizing that the plant growing was the baby after all. Or in truer fashion, since it was definitely something the trees did, one of said trees made that happen.

The trees...

Now that Folly was thinking about it, she came to a realization that the Great One's creation was the cause of all of this. Thinking about the spontaneous plant growing, the harlequin fetus stuff, everything Folly knew about that tree, it was no coincidence that it had something to do with all of this.

But Folly didn't have it in her to investigate. She had the baby, she's still processing what was going on, and she just needed to rest. It was a long, long day.

"Goodnight, my little dreamer..." Folly muttered before falling asleep.

"Alright, you seem to be good now!" DrRETRO purred, finishing the last touches on the bandages on Guiseppe's arm. While cooking, Guiseppe had accidentally cut his arm twice while chopping carrots.

He whimpered a little before DrRETRO finished wrapping the last bandage. He looked at the bandages with gratitude. "Thanks, doc. I'll try to be more careful next time.." Guiseppe said in his usual quiet, whiny voice. He then slithered away content.

"Of course, sugar!" DrRETRO meowed, waving at him. Her mood then shifted from happiness to tiredness as she sighed. It's been way too long for this and DrRETRO desperately needed sleep. Her eye bags definitely said that better than if she used her words.

She took her gloves off and chucked them into the trash, taking her coat off afterwards. She fixed her hair in the mirror of the room she was just in before checking the time.

"By goodness, it's already midnight?" DrRETRO thought to herself as she treaded from the room to the hallway of her hospital. The elevator doors opened and DrRETRO heard footsteps. If she had to help another patient at this hour, God help her, she's gonna pass out on the floor.

In reality, it was Split, Bive, and Melanie. The couple dropped off their gifts for Folly at the waiting room before Melanie could. It was a gift she and Mozelle picked out for the baby after getting word Harlequin Ichthyosis.

Despite her hatred of Folly, Melanie felt remorse that the dream parasite's baby was born terribly ill. She worried if he'll ever get better anytime soon.

DrRETRO heard some muttering from girls before they left, noticing how solemn they sound. It was good to know that Split was making jokes even during these times but it wouldn't exactly be a good thing for the couple who are both scared out of their minds over their baby.

DrRETRO picked up the gifts and quietly brought them to Folly's room, putting them against the bed before she left the hospital for a moment just to take a quick breather.

But before DrRETRO left, she noticed the plants growing around the incubator, as well as the moss growing from the light above the bed.

"What...?" DrRETRO muttered to herself before going.

"I can't just call him, he's fucking stupid!" Beauregard whisper-shouted at Mozelle, who held his phone against his ear.

"He is not stupid, he knows what's up." Mozelle argued. She already went back and forth with Beauregard over calling him over and she was getting sick of it. She pulled the phone to her ear. "Fine, since you wanna act like that, I'll call him myself."

Ring... Ring...

Katz groaned before waking up fully to the sound of the telephone going off. He got up from bed and walked over to the nightstand where the phone is.

He picked up and scowled before saying anything.

"Are you crazy? It's almost one in the morning!" Katz whisper-shouted into the phone. Mozelle, being in her holographic state, didn't care enough about what time it was. She just wanted things to be fine so that Beauregard and Folly could leave.

"I know what the time is, Katz," Mozelle responded. "Look, this is very important. It's about the baby."

Katz raised an eyebrow, getting less mad than he was just moments ago. "I'm listening." He yawned, trying to focus on what she's saying.

"So, when Folly and Beauregard's kid was born, it was discovered pretty quickly that he had Harlequin Ichthyosis..." Mozelle stopped for a moment. "... You know what Harlequin Ichthyosis is, right?"

Katz was appalled that he didn't respond yet. He moderately knew what it was and he was fully aware of how awful it was. He hated Beauregard, ever since he revealed Frank's true purposes and was betrayed, but even he shouldn't have to worry about his baby being stuck in the hospital sick.

After a moment of collective silence, besides Mozelle trying to get Katz to speak, Katz just replies with a small yes. He wanted to say more but couldn't.

"Well, I'm with Beauregard right now, and he and Folly are still looking for names for the baby. So if you could, could you recommend some?" Mozelle replied, content that Katz finally answered after what felt like hours of silence and the occasional stuttering coming from him.

Katz, obviously, was pretty dumbfounded. Why on God's holy earth, or elevator, would his ex coworker, someone who abused and used him for so long, want baby names for his sick child? If it were Beauregard on the phone, Katz would've just ignored him and hung up on him.

He, of course, didn't know Beauregard couldn't find a name for his baby and was too stressed to, but Katz was still pretty adamant about not telling him.

Despite being a little irritated and tired, he still compelled with the request. "I guess I can. I still have tons of names me and Uno would've used on our monsters. Let me think, there's Sam..."

While Katz listed the names he had in mind, Mozelle repeated them for Beauregard to write down. They were pretty basic and bland, unsurprising for Beauregard coming from Katz. But it was either these names or nothing. And Beauregard was getting desperate.

"... And either Alexis or simply Alex. That's all the ones I could think of." Katz finished. Uno had noticed how much he was talking and helped him list some until the end.

"Okay, thanks," Mozelle said as she looked back at Beauregard. Katz simply hummed "you're welcome" before hanging up on her. He didn't even say goodbye, how rude.

Mozelle gave Beauregard his phone back and jumped off the couch she was on. "There. You got your stupid list. Now, can Eddie join me in the next tea party?" Her eyes sparkled as she acted cutesy.

Beauregard thought she was acting lame, like usual, and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I'll tell him you invited him to your lame ass party. Now go." He put his feet on the couch before taking an unopened can of monster energy from under the couch and opened it.

"By the way, you drink too much of those!" Mozelle shouted before leaving.

"Wow, as if I give a shit." Beauregard grumbled before drinking the monster and looking at the list. In his mind, he read almost all of them as lame besides a few.

One of the few being the name "Axel".

Chapter Text

There was just something about the name Axel that grabbed Beauregard's attention the most. It was among the few he didn't think it was lame. In fact, it was from it. Axel would be a name an extremely popular rockstar would have, like the lead singer of Gun's n Roses. Of course, his name is spelled "Axl", but it was close enough.

Beauregard was known for being "the coolest guy around", so this specific name would be perfect for someone of his kin. However, he didn't know just how perfect the name would be. That would have to be something to discuss with his girlfriend.

Holding the list in his hand as it dangled from the couch, Beauregard fell asleep with the plan to show Folly the list and see what she thinks.

The baby had been more quiet than usual. Yesterday, he cried so much to the point of almost losing his voice before he even said his first word. But today, he didn't utter a single thing as DrRETRO picked him u, wrapped him in his blanket, and gave him to his mother. Luckily, the baby was still alive but needed some time to get better.

It was pretty early, being around 6 AM and the sun not even up yet. Both DrRETRO and Folly, who held her son in her arms, were still pretty groggy.

Folly waited for Beauregard to come back and waited for what seemed to be hours. She couldn't be anymore impatient for him, she was begging for Beauregard to arrive quickly before anyone else would. Speaking of anyone else, Folly hoped that MR wouldn't come here. She didn't have it in her to listen to her boss possibly mock her for having a child, especially a sickly hybrid of human and beast.

Folly didn't want to think about it much and caressed her baby's hair. The baby responded with a small whine as he reached his arms out. His hand touched her finger, which lead to him holding it. Folly would smile if she could, as the baby grasped her finger. She let the moment get to her, and she gently held the baby closer. Besides letting him hold her finger, she made sure not to let the baby's skin touch her's in order to prevent irritating his skin. The little one was still pretty fragile.

After a few minutes of cuddling with her baby, he was taken back for his surgery. It would take hours, but DrRETRO made it her goal to help him in anyway she could.

After DrRETRO took the baby, Folly went to go use the restroom. Folly got up and stood in front of the restroom door. She used crutches she found on the floor to help get around without tiring herself out and making her legs sore. She entered the bathroom and looked into the reflection of her mirror.

Her hair was in a low ponytail, which was like that ever since she got to the hospital while in labor. But there was something new which Folly never realized until now: small streaks of white in her hair. Said streaks were much curlier than her regular hair and even glowed a little. This was so odd to Folly. How come nobody has told her that she was getting white hairs?

It was almost like she was coming back and Folly was recognizing this now.

Then more questions started to hit her: How could this even happen in the first place? Was this all Beauregard and the baby's doing? What would happen to the parasite infesting her body? How would MR and NULL react? What else would happen to...

A sudden knock on the door was heard, interrupting Folly's thoughts. She unclenched the collar of her sweater, which she wore under her hospital gown, and went to answer the door.

"Who is it?" Folly asked, putting her head against the door.

"It's me, babe!" Beauregard responded, holding the paper behind his back. Folly couldn't help but notice how shaky his voice was.

Without saying anything else, Folly opened the door and allowed her partner in. "Our baby's getting surgery, so he won't be here until hours or so." She said before getting back on her bed. Beauregard went and wiped his face with tissues from a cabinet. It was very irregular of him to be sulking, and it also caught Folly's attention.

"If you don't mind me asking," Folly spoke up. She pointed at Beauregard's face after the tears staining his cheeks were wiped. "Were you crying?"

Suddenly, Beauregard scoffed and laughed. "No, I was in the elevator and Split played a sick joke on me by shooting water from a fake flower at me. I-I swear I wasn't crying!" Beauregard stammered, waving his hands up. He turned around and looked at the floor, whispering to himself, "Heh, crying? Telling shit that happened to me? Lame. I'm the coolest motherfucker around..."

Folly's shoulders dropped, and she looked at Beauregard with worry in her eyes. But then she noticed the paper behind his back and got curious. "Hey, what's with the paper?" She pointed at it.

Beauregard perked up a bit and remembered what he was here for. That embarrassing breakdown he had after the situation got to him, and it marking the first time he ever cried over something, sort of made him forget about the list.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, he handed Folly the paper. "Oh, it's just a list of names I got from you know who," He said, cringing over the fact that Katz of all people would give him some actually promising names. Intrigued, Folly read the names before slowly becoming more disappointed.

"Beauregard, these are pretty basic," Folly said, showing Beauregard the paper. "You might also want to fix your atrocious handwriting, some of these aren't comprehensible in the slightest. Like this one." She pointed at one of the names Beauregard wrote, to which he responded with an eye roll.

"My handwriting is fine," Beauregard argued. "Look, let's focus on the real shit. That's supposed to say Axel, and I think it's a good name for our son." The last sentence made Beauregard soften up, smiling a bit as Folly read the paper more clearly.

"I guess Axel is a good name." Folly admitted.

Beauregard nodded, "Of course it is, you know who even had multiple names like it that he came up with! Like Alexis, and..." He was interrupted by Folly humming in surprise. She just came up with an idea.

"You wrote Alexus instead of Alexis..." Folly paused as she read the names in her mind over and over again. "That made me think... Why don't we combine the names? It'll make something unique for our child to be called." She put the list on her lap as she thought about.

Beauregard also thought about it, and came up with some combinations in mind. He perked up and got closer to his partner, who allowed him to be in her arm. "How about Axelus?"

Folly perked up as well, putting a hand on her chin. "Axelus... It's an amusing name, and it's perfect."

Beauregard held Folly's arm closely to him, "yeah! And his middle name could be Jimmy! Y'know, like Jimmy Urine?" He smirked as he looked away for a moment. He did admit how nerdy he was acting, but it didn't matter. He, as much as his partner was, were both ecstatic to find a name that fit right with their child.

Folly rolled her eyes, amused by how much he idolized the guy. "Sure, sure. Just don't let anybody else know that."

And so, the birth certificate was signed, and the family were blessed with the birth of Axelus Jimmy, or simply just Axel.

Or, only called by Folly, Dreamer.