glacial_queen | The Estate, Sidra, Glacia, Thursday Evening (Fandom Time)

Karla stood, hands on her stomach, admiring the wall of the nursery. Dujae had finished the mural several days ago, but had decreed that Karla was not to see it until the paint had fully dried and fumes had dissipated. This morning was the first time she'd been allowed to visit and she was blown away by how lovely it was. She knew the sky would make Warren happy and the snake...

"Look," she whispered. "There's your uncle Jono. See? He's always watching over you."

With the mural done, everything was in readiness. The mural was done, the nursery was done, everything was done--except for the baby. She was now four days overdue and there was no sign that the baby was doing anything but getting ready to enjoy sleeping in on day number five. Karla was more than a little aggravated by this development (she was supposed to be drinking coffee by now!), but it was hard to remember her grumpiness at her daughter while standing in the middle of the nursery devoted to her existence.

"Listen, munchkin, you have another day before I getting really ticked," she said. "I'm cutting you a bit of slack because I'm in a really good mood today. But tomorrow, I mean it, okay?"

But yeah. Everything was ready and waiting for the guest on honor to make her first appearance. Everything was--

Wait.

"Warren?" Karla called. "We're supposed to be able to open the closet door, right?"

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Not even a chance, no.

"That could work. It can't hurt to have a couple of places to change her, anyway. I mean, like, around the estate. Babies kind of just poop wherever, right? And... it's a big estate."

Yes, he was fretting about this. Don't judge him.

"Well, yes, but we're hardly going to let her wander around in the whole thing," Karla said. "And we'll be good anywhere flat we can lay down a blanket. Though having some place you can get nappies and wipes from will be useful."

Because by then, Karla would have her Craft back and could just summon any number of nappies at will.

YESSSSSS.

"You know, we still haven't really settled on...on a name." If she wasn't Kayla.

"Well, yeah, I mean... some of us still have to get our diapers the boring way," Warren replied, smiling wryly.

And then that smile faltered slightly, and he was right back to looking like the nervous, fretting dad-to-be that he sometimes lapsed into, here and there.

"We... haven't, have we? Um, I mean... if..." That hand that he was waving there was sure pretty darn eloquent, right? "... You're trying not to think it too, aren't you?"

"Thinking? No. Worrying? Kinda." She looked away from Warren, unable to meet his eyes. "I don't want to be the kind of mother who is disappointed that her daughter isn't the girl she hoped for."

She figured Warren would understand that fear very well.

The corner of Warren's mouth twitched a little. Yeah. He got that fear.

"Damn it, Fandom," he murmured, nodding and making his way over to her, reaching for her hand. "But... here's the thing. Whoever she is... we already love her, don't we? I mean, we had Doctor Lecter show us her perfect little nose and everything. She has a heartbeat, and it's the single most beautiful thing I've heard in my entire life."

He pulled in a deep breath.

"Whether it's her or not... Whether Kayla and Nommy are two children the island threw at us at random or not... She's ours too. We made this one. You've actually been putting in a lot of long hours, making this one, I mean."

"Well, one of us had to," Karla grumbled, resting her head on Warren's shoulder and twining her fingers with his. "Even if it was more hours that I was told up front."

And she did love her daughter, the little girl inside who kicked and spun and thought of her as the Everything. But she was just worried it wouldn't be enough.

How insanely selfish was that?

"Does that mean I get dibs on naming her?"

"Just so long as you're not naming her, 'Warren.'"

That was his one rule! See? He was being reasonable.

"Though... I think... I mean... I don't want to say it, I'm afraid of jinxing it somehow. But there's a part of me that's certain that the name that we already have is the only one we could possibly use."

"I'd still feel better if we had a few to pick from," Karla said. "Like...I don't know, unjinxing us maybe? You know, like when you prepare for a bunch of bad things and none of them actually happen? Kinda like that."

It felt foolish even to say aloud; the Darkness didn't actually work like that. But one of the reasons she loved Warren so much was because she could say foolish things in front of him and he loved her no less for them.

"And besides, this way we don't end up naming her Sophronia or Inga or Warrenina in a panic." Before he could say anything she added, "That's not technically Warren."

"... Sophronia?"

Well, that was definitely... a ... it had letters in it? Wow.

"I'm trying really hard to not be that guy who looks up baby names on the internet," Warren added, pursing his lips. "But not many girl names are really jumping to mind that don't already belong to people we know."

And he was vetoing 'Raven' right away because things would get confusing. And vetoing 'Emma' on principle.

"I know some excellent ones," Karla said, trying her best to keep a straight face. "Odile, like from the ballet with swans. Or Agda. That was a popular name in Glacia for a few years. Vasilia?"

"... Vasilia sounds a bit like some sort of female medicinal cream," Warren noted, making a face. "But I guess the names I know aren't much better. Like, um, Halle? And... Famke?"

So, actress names. Good job, Warren.

At least they wouldn't sound too out of place in Glacia, right? Next to names like Amalasuintha and Leutgard.

"Did you just--?" Karla asked, before realizing that yes, yes he did. He had just made a Vagisil joke. "You are ridiculous."

There went trying to keep a straight face.

"How about...Dagda?"

"One of the hearth witches is named Dagda," Warren noted. "I think she's actually been collecting my dropped feathers and using them in hats. She does amateur haberdashery in her spare time."

And that was weird as hell. Just saying.

"We could get really creative with this," he mused. "I hear people were actually naming their baby girls Yolo last year on Earth."

Never. Nope. And not even technically accurate with the Blood anyway.

"I was wondering where I got that name from," Karla said with a nod. "And Yolo is getting a hard nope. Just so we're clear."

"No Yolo. It's not really accurate for a Blood baby, anyway."

Because not all of them OLO'd anyway.

"Moonberry. Stardust. Serendipity..."

Since they were being ridiculous, here.

"Even if it were, it would still be a no, because it's stupid," Karla declared. "Oooh! Let's name her Serenity! After Captain Chiba's boat!"

"I'm sure our friend the good Captain would get a kick out of that," Warren laughed. "Sure, we can put Serenity on the list."

Poor child.

On a scale from one to Yolo, Serenity was an excellent name.

"Vasilia Serenity, I think that sounds good," Karla said, looking around. Warren had moved the changing table out and was lining the stuffed animals along the wall. The crib was situated properly and the closet could open and close without issue.

"Looks like we're done in here," she said. "I...I guess we're ready?"

She didn't sound entirely certain about that.

"I don't think we'll be ready for years," Warren replied, walking back over to her and reaching for her hand, "but the baby's room is, at least. That's going to have to do for now."

He leaned forward to give her a gentle kiss on the forehead.

"Come on, my love," he murmured. "Let's go get ready to be not ready in bed, instead."

The Estate, Sidra, Glacia, Thursday Evening (Fandom Time)

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