Velma Kelly (jazzkiller) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2014-04-09 18:02:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, logan howlett (wolverine), velma kelly |
Who: Velma Kelly and Logan Howlett
What: Baby aftermath!
When: 4/5, evening
Where: UC Irvine Hospital
Rating/Warning: PG
Status: Complete
Anyone who said labor wasn’t so bad, even with drugs, was full of shit. Of this Velma was now convinced.
The doctor had told her that it had been fourteen hours, but it had felt like years, both in a good and bad way. She’d lost all sense of time, just concentrating on pushing out the baby, trying not to focus on the dull pain that was still there. And then, randomly, it had ended. A tiny, squalling thing had been held up in front of her, with a pursed little face and a fuzz of dark hair. Her daughter. Logan’s daughter.
Velma was lying back now, waiting while they weighed and cleaned the baby. Eli was napping outside, but Logan was here. She looked over, smiling wearily. “Hey.”
“Remind me to never give birth,” He joked, taking her hand and squeezing it. He’d taken it like a pro, but this wasn’t his first go round with a baby being born, just the first time it was actually his he was watching being delivered. “Never looks like fun.”
Logan, though, did look quite proud.
“I’m not sorry I did it, but that fucking sucked.” Velma closed her eyes, squeezing his hand back with a smile. “Shit, I can’t believe she’s actually here. You look like you’re about to crow it from the rooftops.” It was fucking adorable.
“Don’t give me any ideas….” He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it lightly. It really did feel like he’d made through some kind of gauntlet. He’d expected to lose everything by now. Part of him still worried, in fact.
“That’d be pretty cute, if you did.” Velma chuckled. “I’m just glad you’ve been through this before.” He’d actually really helped in keeping her from just freaking out. She’d done a lot in her life before, but not giving birth to a baby. He’d been a rock, as he so often was.
“Eh. I’m good with babies,” Logan said. His face was stoic, and it would be a surprise to anyone who knew him. But he really did know how to handle babies, and part of him enjoyed blowing peoples’ minds about it.
“Apparently you’re good with women in labor, too.” Velma smiled. “Jesus. Did he really say it was fourteen hours? I don’t think you slept at all, did you?” Maybe she’d simply forgotten. A lot of crap had probably passed her by during that time.
“Was a little longer, but yeah, you were in labor for a long time.” The worse thing about it was watching her be in pain. But at least there hadn’t been any disasters, it would take something world threatening to pull him away at this point.
“How are you awake? At least I had a really good reason.” Velma looked over at him, but then she looked past him to the white-coated figure in the doorway. The nurse was holding her baby, and she was smiling.
Velma tried to sit up, wincing a little as she pushed at the IV. She’d been about to ask for her back, but then she looked over at Logan. “Want to hold her now?” She’d done it right after Amy’s birth; Logan and Eli had stood there smiling. It was his turn now, if he wanted it.
“..yeah..” Logan wanted to hold Amy like he needed air to breathe. A chance to be there from the start instead of missing all those moments of growing up. And he could admit he needed to hold her to feel like he deserved to.
The nurse smiled, holding the baby out to Logan. They’d cleaned her up and wrapped her in a blanket, but her head and one hand were poking out. Velma watched her fiance take the baby, settling her against his arm, realizing she was sniffling a little. “Crap.” She chuckled at herself, wiping her eyes. “You two look good.”
“She takes after her mother,” Logan said, looking down at the wrinkly little girl. She smelled like them both and it was almost overwhelming. “Kid is gonna break hearts.”
“She’s a Howlett, I’d say so.” Velma grinned. “I’m not surprised she’s got hair, by the way.” The little girl had a solid fuzz all over the top of her head, and it looked black to her. “You knew she was going to be dark, given the two of us.” Frankly, she was surprised Amy didn’t have a full head of hair already, given Logan.
“Hopefully the girl gets your hair genes an’ not mine.” It had worked out with Laura, mostly.
“If she grows a beard by the time she’s ten, we’ll know.” Velma smirked, leaning back, eyes closed. “Wow, the drugs are still kicking. That’s strong stuff.”
“Amy, you’d look good in a beard, don’ let your mama tell you otherwise,” Logan said. The baby flailed a hand. “That’s my girl.”
Velma laughed. Then laughed more. Okay, so a bearded baby was funny as hell when she was still a little loopy. “If we have another one, I’m hoping it’s shorter. The labor. Not the baby.” She smiled at the little baby hands moving around. “You can let her take a finger. She grips pretty good already.”
Logan decided he’d have to give Amy a beard one night to give Velma a bit of a shock in the morning. Because he’s an ass like that. “Good chance she’ll be short too, so I hope she gets your legs.” He held up a finger for Amy.
The baby seemed to move her arm around, but eventually connected, latching one little hand onto her father’s finger. “See?” Velma murmured, blinking back more tears. “Good grip.”
“She’s a Howlett. We’re strong, even when we don’t look it,” Logan said, and prayed he was right. There was always a chance that Amy would be sickly growing up.
He looked somehow somber, and Velma had to ask even though she knew he might not want to talk about it. “You look nervous.” Was it just holy-shit-new-baby? Or did he know about a coming threat? Or was he just thinking about all the crap that had gone down in the last year?
“Nah, I’m good.” He took a seat next to her, still looking down at Amy. “Wonderin’ if she’ll be sick until her powers kick in like I was. Or if she won’t get any powers at all. I’d like for her to be just a regular person.”
“Can I have her back?” Velma felt awkward asking, but she wanted to hold the baby again. “And I don’t know if she’ll be sick, but if she will, we’ll look after her. I kinda hope she’s average, too, though.” Just because it would be so much easier.
“Yeah..” Logan held Amy out to his fiance, and grinned as he looked at them together. Had it really been nine months already? It felt like easily half that time.
Oh, Velma had felt it all. She took their daughter back, settling the baby in the crook of her arm. “Once I get home, everybody can come see us, if that’s okay,” she told him. “Like, Kitty, and Alyssa, and Laura and all the other people.” Being actually still at the hospital was parent time.
Fucking hell, she was a parent. She looked down at the baby, then back up at Logan, still smiling. “Just glad she didn’t have claws when she came out.” Talk about needing stitches after labor.
Logan nodded. “They’re all family, they need to meet the newest member.” He flashed her a grin. “Don’t think that’ll be a problem for a few years or ten.”
“Ten?” Velma echoed, jiggling the baby a little as she complained softly. “Is that about when you found out?”
“Closer to thirteen for me. Right around puberty. Got sicker, then had the claws an’ everything.” And they didn’t have anyone who knew how to look for an X-gene anymore, so he wasn’t sure how they’d be able to tell if she’d even be a mutant.
“Huh.” Velma fixed the blanket around the baby. “Did it happen all at once, or did you know something was weird?” She was mostly curious. She hadn’t wanted to ever ask Logan about it in case it brought back nasty memories, but now it was more important to know.
"Was sick for years, then one day ..." Logan shook his head. "Lets just say I got pushed an' when I got pushed my claws popped." He could be mixing up a couple different dream sets, but it didn't matter. The claws came and then he lost himself for awhile.
Velma nodded, looking down at Amy. “We’ll worry about it later on. I mean, nothing happened when you were a newborn, right?” She smiled tiredly at him, stifling a yawn. “I really don’t know how you’re awake. I feel ready to pass out - probably the last full sleep we’ll get for a while, huh.”
“Don’t worry, darlin’.” He stroked both of their heads. “I can live off of less sleep than you can. I can take one for the team.”
“You are a kind and gentle man.” Velma caught his hand and kissed it. “I should probably say you should take her, or put her in the bassinet, cause I’m probably gonna sleep.” She smiled, eyes closing. “You’re fucking wonderful.”
"Think I might hold her a bit longer," Logan mused. You never knew when you'd lose that chance.