InsaneJournal

Who: Nina and Gabe (Groot)
When: Late June
Where: Nina’s place
What: Nina tells Gabe about having a baby in the dreams, which leads to ‘the talk’
Rating/Warnings: Low, references to possibilities of losing a baby
Status: Complete.



Nina woke with a gasp and sat up quickly breathing heavily, most of the time her dreams didn’t affect her much but this one had been different. Laying back down she turned to Gabe when he moved, “Sorry, crappy dream” she said leaning over to kiss him, “Or weird dream anyway” she amended because there had been worse ones. Having a baby was weird considering she hadn’t ever even been pregnant.

Gabe had stirred when he felt Nina move suddenly, rolling over to see what was up. By the time he did she was already apologizing and kissing him. “Wha wazzit?” came the drowsy reply as he blinked at her with sleepy eyes; big hands tugged her closer as he slowly stirred from sleep. If it was a dreams thing with a capital D he wanted to give her his full attention best he could.

“It’s weird I warn you now” Nina said as she snuggled against him, feeling him wake up more before she explained, “In the dreams I just had a baby” she admitted. It had been an odd experience, she’d witnessed plenty of births in her day job but to feel it was strange.

“What isn’t weird about either of our dreams?” Gabe replied with a lazy smirk. “I’m a talking tree, remember?” When Nina elaborated, though, his brow furrowed. She usually gave him a general idea of what her dreams were about, but he didn’t ask too many questions when it came to her relationship with George in them. Being Nina’s ‘real world’ boyfriend he couldn’t help but be strangely a bit jealous and really didn’t want any details. As a result, the idea she’d been pregnant let alone given birth came as a bit of a shock to him.

“Wait...what?” He looked down at her, completely awake now. “George knocked you up?” Okay it was a bit of a crude way of stating things, but it was the middle of the night and he was waking up to a ‘I pushed out a baby’ dream description.

It was a fair point, she sometimes forgot about him being a tree since Gabe in the here and now was the one who was hers and he definitely wasn’t a tree.

“While we were both transformed on a full moon” she said, moving to snuggle closer to him. Offering unspoken reassurance to the jealousy she could feel coming from him. “I’m sorry, I probably should have said something but dream Nina didn’t realise for quite a while and then with everything that happens around here I guess I forgot”

It really wasn’t her fault. He didn’t ask, and kind of inferred he didn’t want to know what her dream relationship was about with George, so he was spoiling for a surprise like this. And Nina was right - the OC hijinks usually caught off guard people for days, if not weeks. Now he felt bad for being a jealous jerk; what was he, sixteen?

“It’s okay, babe.” He kissed her forehead. “You don’t have to tell me every detail if you don’t want to.” Including the now forming mental image of two werewolves having sex, one of them being Nina. Ew. He made a face a little at the thought. “You guys...while...werewolves?”

Nina snuggled into him a bit, until his next comment when she elbowed him in the side, not hard but enough to get her point across. “Animals have sex too you know” she told him as she rolled her eyes,.

“Hey! Okay, okay.” he chuckled, squirming at the nudge at his ribcage. He was silent for a moment after that, realizing the gravity of the dream. He knew Nina had never been pregnant or had a baby before so this had to be beyond weird for her. “That must have been intense. Are you hurting?” It occurred to him that some things from the dreams transferred over, including injuries and pain.

“No” she shook her head, “It was just really weird, I mean I’ve seen plenty of women give birth but to experience it without ever actually being pregnant was just...weird” she admitted. Almost off putting if she was honest.

“I bet.” he agreed. “Did the dream finish with you knowing if it was a boy or a girl?” His eyebrows raised suddenly at a thought. “Did it come out like a werewolf or a human?” Yeah he’d watched too much sci-fi and horror films.

“It was a girl and most definitely human” Nina told him, “The pregnancy was quicker though, like half the time it should have been. And the baby survived all the transformations which in itself is fascinating”

“For real? Wow.” Gabe sounded impressed, and was. He knew just how horrible the transition was, at least, from Nina’s descriptions. He’d kept his word and never actually watched it happen, even the one time they’d forgotten to lock her up and he’d taken care of her in wolf form. “Maybe….maybe she turned into a werewolf when you did? Still that’s pretty amazing.” He looked down at her, then kissed the top of her head, cuddling a little closer. “What’d you name her?”

Nina nodded, it was pretty impressive even she had to admit that. “Maybe, all I know is my dream self was very glad she was okay” It had been such a relief the first time she had turned after finding out she was pregnant. Nina settled into his arms, “I don’t know. We’re waiting to see what she is like a little. No pre-decided names. I kind of like that idea”

Gabe was quiet a moment, smiling a little as he got lost in thought. Merlin and he had briefly talked about whether not Nina and he were going to have kids, and it had dawned on him they’d never talked about it. Now he was imagining Nina with that glow of pregnancy he’d seen their friend Audrey have, and thought of where’d they live, and what if it was a boy or a girl, and...yeah, names. She’d just said something about names. His brow furrowed a bit.

“I thought...you needed a name for the birth certificate.” he said. He preferred knowing the sex ahead of time and having at least a few names to choose from. Gabe liked being prepared, unlike some of his brothers and cousins. He pursed his lips a little in thought again, then said softly, “Nin, you think about having kids? Here, I mean.”

“In the UK you get 42 days between birth and having to register the baby” she told him before shrugging, “I did before the werewolf thing but now...I don't know if it would be safe. It's a little scary” she admitted, she liked the idea of being a mum. Trying to give a child a good life.

“Wow,” Gabe said, startled at the number. “That’s a helluva long time.”

Gabe frowned and pulled back a little to look down at her. “I know it’s scary, but...so far you two are good in the dreams. Maybe...it would work out here too?” The idea of losing the baby, or Nina getting hurt being pregnant and then changing hadn’t really occurred to him. The uncertainty was in his face.

“Yeah but George is a werewolf too. I don't know if that made a difference” Nina said sighing and running a hand through her hair. “I'm sorry. You didn't sign up for this” it wasn't fair on Gabe and she knew that.

Now Gabe really looked concerned. “Wait, are you saying because I'm human you don't wanna try? I know it's scary babe, but...I mean...” Gabe came from a big family, a bunch of brothers, tons of cousins. His own parents had basically abandoned he and his siblings into the care of his grandmother. But that had only made him more determined to be a better father than the one he had. He looked almost desperate, but then Gabe looked away pained. “I'm sorry. It's just, I always figured someday I'd have kids. But it's not fair to ask you to take that risk.” He smiled a little ruefully. “I didn't even think about kids until we started babysitting Ben.”

Nina sat up, moving away a little to wrap her arms around her knees, “I want to be a mum Gabe, I’m not just being some scaredy cat. But I don’t want to die and I don’t want to have a baby die inside me because my body isn’t safe for it” she said, she was a nurse and she knew how awful it could be to lose a baby. “You aren’t the only one who thought they’d have children someday”

Gabe sat up too, and his heart broke as he looked at Nina’s own heartbroken expression as she curled up into herself. Scooting over hugged her and kissed her temple. “I’m sorry.” The way everything had come out had sounded extremely selfish, and he hadn’t meant it that way. He’d seen how good Nina was with Ben, and even when he’d visited a few times at the pediatric ward at the hospital he’d seen how much of a natural she was with kids. It just hadn’t occurred to him to actually start talking about it with her until it’d come up with Merlin the one time the two men had babysat Ben together. He sat there quietly for a while, just holding her close.

Part of Nina knew that he hadn’t meant it to sound that way but she was already carrying so much guilt that it changed her view on things and made the logical part of her brain get forgotten amidst the emotional turmoil. She had thought about it and knew it wouldn’t be easy which was why she’d not brought it up before. It was cowardly but had just been how she reacted.

“There might be a way to find out. The Agency have all kinds of technology and advanced science. Maybe there’s a way they can test me or us and see if it’s possible” But it wouldn’t be easy and would take time, a lot more hassle than if Gabe had been involved with a ‘normal’ woman.

“Yeah?” he said, looking at her. “I’m up for whatever will work. Whatever’ll keep you and the baby safe. And if we can’t…” he looked down, interweaving his fingers with hers. “We’ll figure something out.” He didn’t have the money for IVF and surrogacy, but he might have enough stashed for adoption. Maybe. He wasn’t even sure what it cost, truthfully. “I’m up for whatever you are, so long as you get to be a ‘mum’.” He smiled at her, using the British term.

Nina had no idea either truth be told, in the UK she had a rough idea but of course there the entire Healthcare system was different. That had taken some getting used to when she had first come to work in the states. “I love you” she told him, leaning close to press a kiss to his lips, she knew some men would have simply called it quits especially when they wanted a family as much as Gabe did.

“Love you too,” he smiled, returning the kiss, cuddling closer. It hurt his heart, as much as he knew it hurt Nina’s, that they couldn’t have kids unlike most couples out there - pretty much worry free aside from the usual risks. Something that was meant to be so natural was now so complicated. Aside from the questions about the pregnancy, how would full moon’s work for a half werewolf-half human? When would transformations start - in the womb? As an infant? Puberty? Would it even pass on?

He pushed the thoughts aside. They would take this one step at a time. First, talk to the Agency and see what they knew. Then go from there. Of course, he realized suddenly, they were talking about starting a family without even talking about something equally as important: marriage. He knew his grandmother would pitch a fit if he started having kids without putting a ring on Nina’s finger first. Gabe settled down back into bed, gently ushering Nina down with him. One step at a time, he told himself, one step at a time.