16 June 1923
St Mungo’s First Floor
Labour & Delivery
5:00am
Gideon paced the room, back and forth in a steady rhythm. Looking far more rumpled than normal. Suit jacket tossed haphazardly somewhere in the private hospital suite. Tie discarded, white dress shirt wrinkled, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, hair disheveled after his fingers ran through the locks over and over. But the smile on his face was full of love, tired and sweet.
He hummed a simple tune, some sort of long forgotten lullaby as his blue eyes stared at the tiny bundle in his arms.
Theodore Rupert Blackwood came into the world with a war cry, very upset that someone would interrupt his perfectly lovely home. Weighing in at 8 pounds 2 ounces (3.69kg) and 21 inches (53.34cm), he was absolutely perfect.
After making his displeasure known to all those that would listen, he was placed on his mothers chest where he immediately calmed.
Gideon watched in awe at his wife during the entire delivery. They arrived at the hospital early in the morning when she woke up with the first contractions. Rose breathed through them like a practiced warrior, holding on to his hand through them all. He was the dutiful husband, terrified and worried every second that something would happen.
Just a few short hours after the contractions started Rose was pushing. Gideon would never be able to describe the strength and beauty of his wife in that moment. Pushing through the pain, literally, until little Teddy arrived.
She was sleeping now, needing every bit of rest.
Teddy’s little eyes were wide, looking at Gideon. Those tiny fingers wrapped around Gideon's much larger one. Strong little grip. For some reason making the man proud, as if a strong grip had anything to do with him.
The walk around the room continued, his exhaustion pushed firmly to the back of his mind while adrenaline stubbornly refused to loosen its grip. Every few steps, Gideon found his eyes drifting back to the hospital bed.
Rose. Still there. Still breathing. Safe.
His gaze lingered longer than he realized.
There had been moments throughout the night when he had feared the worst. Irrational perhaps, but fear was rarely reasonable. Too many years had taught him that happiness could disappear in a single heartbeat.
Swallowing hard, Gideon looked back down at Theodore, who had apparently decided his father's white shirt wrinkles needed to be studied. "You've caused quite the commotion," he murmured, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Your sister is going to insist on holding you before the day is over. Your grandmother will likely have an opinion about your hair."
He paused. "So will your aunt." The thought caused a quick chuckle, as he took in the brown hair that covered his son’s head, standing on end. There was a lot of it and it seemed to go against the laws of gravity.
"You'll learn soon enough that the women in this family generally get their way." He spoke softly, not wanting to wake Rose.
The room settled into a comfortable silence, broken only by Theodore's soft little noises and the sounds of the hospital alive and moving beyond the door. For years, Gideon wondered if he would get the chance to feel this happiness.
And here it was. Exactly one year after another of his happiest days. Their one year anniversary. June 16th was proving to be a very very good day.
Sleeping peacefully in the bed across the room. Curled around his finger. Waiting back at home with a little girl who would proudly announce to anyone willing to listen that she was going to be a big sister again.
Carefully crossing the room, Gideon lowered himself into the chair beside Rose's bed. He looked at his sleeping wife for a long moment before leaning over to press a kiss against her forehead.
Nothing ever could compare to this moment. He settled back into the chair, Theodore now asleep in his arms and simply took in the moment, not wanting to forget the smallest of details.
Teddy had come quicker than the other two. Rose’s body had kicked in with the familiar situation as soon as the contractions began. When she’d woken Gideon from slumber, he seemed a bit panicked in a way she found adorable. But they’d arrived at St. Mungo’s quickly and she was immediately ushered into the labour and delivery ward.
Once the baby left her body, her womb felt immediately empty. That was the hardest part. Then the baby was on her, almost a stranger for the first few moments of his life. It’d been the same with Fiona and Evander. As her body recovered from the trauma of giving birth, exhaustion covered her like a warm blanket. She fed him, and then drifted off to sleep.
Feeling pressure on her forehead as her husband gently kissed her, Rose’s eyes fluttered open a moment later. She spotted him sitting in the chair that had always been empty when she had her other babies. Her eyes took in the sight of him cradling their baby and she smiled. He was a natural with children, had always been a father-figure to Fiona.
But seeing him with a new baby, well… that was something that filled her heart with love.
As if that was possible.
“Hi,” she said softly, her voice rough with sleep and the remnants of everything the night had asked of her. She sat up a little bit, turning her body to lay on her side so that she was facing her husband.
For the first time, she realized that she was not alone. Maddox had been great from the beginning helping with Evander, but Rose knew that he would have preferred the child’s mother be anyone other than her. Gideon, however…
Did she deserve it? Her thoughts moved back to her first boy, the one who felt more like a stranger than a child of hers and she frowned briefly.
But as her eyes caught a glimpse of Teddy’s dark hair, she smiled. She couldn’t see him and not smile.
“Has he been asleep long?” she asked, before looking at Gid’s face. “You should get some rest.”
Gideon settled back into the chair beside Rose's bed, Theodore resting against his chest. The tiny boy's eyes were shut now, little breaths and the occasional sigh escaping him.
When Gideon looked up and found Rose awake, his own smile answered hers immediately.
"Hi."
Carefully adjusting Theodore against him, he instinctively rested one large hand over the baby's back, his thumb tracing slow circles between his tiny little shoulders.
"Hello, my love." His voice was little more than a whisper. He had imagined this moment more times than he cared to admit. His dreams never doing it justice.
"Has he been asleep long? You should get some rest."
His eyes drifted from Theodore back to Rose. Even exhausted, hair a mess, and still recovering from hours of labour, she was the most beautiful thing in the room. The strongest. He'd watched her bring their son into the world, he was still in awe.
"Not long," he murmured. "He spent a while inspecting the room." The corner of his mouth twitched. "Very observant. Clearly takes after me."
A pause, looking down on him once again. It was a problem, he was totally addicted
.
"He's already wrapped me around his finger."
Gideon shook his head slightly, his mind having trouble registering the way their lives were forever altered by the tiny bundle in his arms.
Sleep. He should. He knew that. His body knew that.
But every time he looked down at Theodore, every time he heard Rose breathe beside him, every intention of closing his eyes disappeared. There would be time for sleep later.
For now, he was happy watching his family rest peacefully within arm's reach. The only thing that would make this better, was for Fiona to be here as well.
Rose watched him for a moment, smirking when he mentioned that the baby was observant like him. And of course Gid was already wrapped around his tiny little finger. He traced slow circles on the sleeping baby’s back, the unconscious gesture making her chest ache in the best possible way.
This is what she’d been wanting. Through the birth of Fiona, and then Evander, this moment – all of it was better because Gideon was there with her. Her mum had died years ago, longer than she wanted to count, so when she had her other babies, she’d been alone. Yet now, she had an army around her. She knew that by the time the day was over, Lavinia would have been there, along with her in-laws.
She was never alone again, and Rose wouldn’t change that for the world.
Rose pushed herself up slightly, moving her hips back in the bed so she could sit up. She winced from the protest her body gave her with the movement but didn’t let that stop her.
“Hand him over,” she said softly, reaching out. Now that the initial drowsiness of the work her body had done, she was prepared to fully take in the child she’d birthed.
“And then you need to try to close your eyes, even for a little while.” She gave him the look that brooked no argument, the one that worked on Fiona and occasionally on him. “I mean it, Gid.”
Rose accepted the baby into her arms, his weight so familiar and so new at the same time. She pressed her lips to the top of his dark hair. None of her babies had her red hair, but she knew that they were not done building the family he wanted. Surely one of their future children would inherit it.
“Only a couple more hours and it’ll be a decent enough time,” she murmured, not looking up from their sleeping son. “You can go get Fi then. She’ll never forgive either of us if she has to wait any longer than necessary.”
The scolding their daughter would give them, her finger pointed at them and everything, would be adorable. Rose, however, was still worn out, and so the thought of that happening now was not very pleasant.
She closed her eyes as she breathed in the scent of the baby’s clean hair. Rose loved babies. She loved being pregnant, and she loved being a mum.
“Sleep, husband. I’ll feed him when he wakes up,” she said, finally looking over at Gideon while cradling their baby.
Gideon continued rubbing Teddy's back while looking at Rose. She was gorgeous, even after the events of the last twelve hours. He would never look at her the same way again. Her strength had been nothing short of extraordinary.
“Hand him over, and then you need to try to close your eyes, even for a little while.” She gave him that look. The wife and mother look. In one gaze she said more than words ever would. “I mean it, Gid.” Yep, he was in trouble.
Should he rest? Probably. Just thinking it made him yawn, his jaw stretching so wide it surprised even him. He blinked rapidly afterward, trying to chase away the heaviness settling behind his eyes.
”Your mother wants you back.” He whispered to his sleeping son. Looking at Rose, he became playful in his exhausted state.
Another yawn followed almost immediately.
Merlin.
He'd been awake for... he wasn't entirely sure anymore. The adrenaline that had carried him through Rose's labour was beginning to crash, every muscle felt his tiredness. His shoulders ached. His legs felt heavy after pacing the room for what must have been hours.
Yet somehow…
The moment he looked back down at Theodore's tiny face, he felt awake all over again. The little boy shifted against his chest, letting out a soft sigh before curling impossibly closer.
Gideon's smile softened. Handing him over completely forgotten.
"Comfortable there, are we?" he murmured.
Rose shifted in her bed causing Gideon’s eyes to lift away from Teddy. “Hand him over.”
Then slowly… He glanced down at Theodore. Back to Rose. Back to Theodore.
His arms instinctively tightened around the baby.
"..."
Hugging the boy close, he shifted a small amount away from Rose, acting like a petulant toddler with his favorite toy. "I'm not entirely convinced that's necessary. He's perfectly content where he is."
Teddy answered with a sleepy little snuffle, nestling even deeper beneath Gideon's chin. Gideon looked ridiculously pleased with himself. "See? Besides..." he said with a jaw cracking yawn, "you've already had him for nine months. Surely it's my turn."
He was absolutely serious. For perhaps half a second. Then the corner of his mouth betrayed him. The smile spread, followed by a quiet chuckle.
"I suppose..." he sighed dramatically, rising from his chair to pass over the small warm bundle. "sharing is an important lesson to teach him."
Even then, he was in no hurry to surrender his son. Leaning over the bed, he lingered for another moment, pressing one last kiss to Teddy's soft hair before finally settling him carefully into Rose's waiting arms.
"There," Gideon said with mock resignation. Putting his hand under Rose’s chin, he lifted her face up slightly so that he could give her a quick kiss. "...I expect him back later." Smiling, a sleepy smile.
He would take a nap. A short one, then he would get Fiona. He couldn’t wait for her to meet Teddy, but as his eyes lost focus and another yawn escaped he decided sleep might be important.
Of course his wife was right. She usually was.
Walking over to the small bed reserved for the father, Gideon took off his shoes and fell onto the too small bed. Within seconds of his head hitting the pillow, he was asleep.
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