Another Six Months - PG-13

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PNWgal
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Another Six Months - PG-13

Post by PNWgal »

I felt so badly for putting up such a sad challenge fic yesterdy that I felt I should make it up to y'all and write a happier one.

Not exactly canon (ok, it's so NOT canon) and completely fluffy, but I hope it makes you smile, just a little bit.

A shout-out to GuardianAngel who cheered me on during this one.


Usual disclaimers apply.


SIX MONTHS



The receptionist glanced over Beth's paperwork and insurance card.

"Has anything changed since your last visit, Mrs. St. John?" she asked as she handed the card back to Beth. Beth tucked it back into its customary slot in her wallet, then slid the wallet into her purse.

"No, nothing's changed." Nothing except...everything.

The brunette behind the counter smiled and pulled Beth's chart from a mountain of manilla folders stacked behind her. "Have a seat, please. The doctor will see you shortly."

Beth nodded and waddled into the waiting room, choosing the most comfortable chair she could find. As she eased herself into it, the child she carried gave her a fearsome kick, causing Beth to gasp and double over.

"Do you always have to go for the ribs?" she murmured as she rubbed her burgeoning belly. As if it could hear her, the baby responded with a slow roll and a gentle push against Beth's hand. Beth smiled and continue to stroke the bulge. "Strong and impatient - just like your father," she whispered. "And now Daddy's just as excited about you as I am." The kicking quieted and Beth eased back, remembering.

When she had begun sharing Mick's bed, she had cheerfully thrown away her birth control pills. Being with Mick put a whole new spin on the phrase "safe sex" and she celebrated her newfound sexual freedom with gusto every chance she got. At first taken aback by her boldness and enthusiasm, Mick had quickly and happily adapted. One of the downsides of going off birth control was the return of her erratic periods - she'd taken the Pill to regulate them. Consequently, a missed cycle didn't concern her until the morning Mick took her in his arms for a hug, inhaled and turned whiter than he usually was. When he'd made a beeline for his office while mumbling an excuse about an urgent case, Beth had gone upstairs and showered, then dressed and headed straight for Josef's. He had often provided explanations for Mick's sometimes quirky behavior and this time was no exception. While she had blurted out her story, Josef had caught her scent. In carefully modulated tones, he had suggested through narrowed silver eyes that she make haste to the nearest drug store and pick up a pregnancy test.

It didn't occur to her until she was in the car heading for home, small white paper bag in the passenger seat, why Josef had been so angry.

Vampires couldn't have children.

Beth had flushed with her own fury and had barely refrained from heading back to Josef's so she could kick his ass. He had assumed the baby, if there was one, couldn't possibly be Mick's and that she had been unfaithful. She had stewed all the way home - she was going to show that suspicious old relic how foolish he'd been when the test was negative. She hoped he'd choke on his assumptions. She hoped--

She'd suddenly slammed on the brakes, earning her a honk and an annoyed middle finger, as horror had hardened into a cold ball in her belly. What if the test was postive? What if Mick made the same leap in logic? Would he think she had gone to another man's bed? Having not been ready to face Mick, she had turned the car around and headed for work, locking herself in the ladies' room. When the test was positive, Beth ran to the store and bought another. After three more trips and three more positive tests, she'd sat in the stall, the latest test as heavy as lead in her hand.

She had hoped to avoid Mick when she'd finally decided to go home, but she had opened the door to find a frantically pacing vampire. Mick's head had snapped up at the sound of the door; before she could take her next breath, he was there, holding her against him. She had buried her head against his chest and burst into tears.


"Don't ever scare me like that again." Mick's shoulders sagged as he hugged Beth. "I was just about to go looking for you."

"I'm sorry," Beth mumbled against his chest and sniffled. "I just...I was afraid to come home. I'm...I'm..."

Mick slid a fingertip under Beth's chin and brushed the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs. "I know." He laid a finger on Beth's lips as she continued to stammer out the words. "It's ok. If you're happy about the baby, then I am, too."

Beth dared to hope. "Do you mean that?"

"Of course." Mick closed his mouth over hers briefly. "I love you and I understand why you did what you did."

"Wait." Beth took a step back, her temper beginning to spike. "What do you mean, 'you understand'? What do you think I've done?"

Mick cupped her face in his hands. "Beth, I know the baby's not mine. Vampires can't make babies, but if this is how you want to build a family with me..."

"Mick." Beth said it firmly. "I haven't been unfaithful to you. How could I and not have you know it? You would be able to smell another man on me and I KNOW you can tell when I'm lying." She laid her hands over the ones on her cheeks. "Am I lying right now?"

Mick searched her face, then laid his forehead against hers. "This isn't possible."

"So I keep hearing."

Mick sighed, hopeful but still dubious. "Well then. If it's true, then it's time I stepped up and made an honest woman out of you." He grinned suddenly. "How does tomorrow sound?"



Mick had hustled her to the courthouse and slid an ornate gold band on her finger while swearing to love, honor and cherish her for the rest of her life. Beth looked down at her bare hands and swollen fingers and grimaced; she hadn't been able to wear her wedding ring for weeks since she had ballooned up to the size of a barn.

Once Josef had been convinced that Beth was indeed incubating a future little St. John, he dispatched Ryder to discover how any explanation for Mick and Beth's miracle. After four days of burying himself in ancient texts, oracles, and chronicles and Internet searching, he had finally found something.


Ryder sat at Josef's desk, surrounded by dusty, leather-bound tome and loose pages of parchment and papyrus. Mick and Josef leaned over his shoulder.

"Here." Ryder ran his finger down a yellowed, dog-eared page and tapped on a line of writing. "I think this is what you're looking for, Mr. Kostan."

Josef squinted at the lines of text. "Enlighten me, Mr. England. My ancient Romanian is not what it used to be."

"Mine's not so great, either, but from what I can make out, this is an account of live births throughout Europe during the French Revolution after vampires had taken the cure. By and large the stories were dismissed as old wives' tales, but it's been bandied around since then that one of the lingering effects of taking the cure is a return of some human capability, including the capacity to reproduce."

"But the cure only masked vampiric characteristics," Josef pointed out. "Undead is undead, Mr. England, and that includes sperm cells."

Ryder shrugged. "Don't shoot the messenger, Mr. Kostan. You wanted me to find an explanation and I did." He swiveled his head towards Mick. "Looks like the cure did more for you than make you human. It made you a father, too."



After some discussion with Mick and Beth, Josef declared the best course of action would be to treat the pregnancy as a normal one. Beth found a good doctor close to home and began to prepare to bring her child into the world. Her face clouded as she recalled the difficulty with Mick; the further her pregnancy progressed, the more distant he became. She knew he was afraid of the unknown, worried about her and their unborn child. He changed the subject when she tried to discuss the baby and refused to go with her to medical appointments. He wouldn't touch her belly. Finally, she'd had enough and lost her temper when he wouldn't accompany her to the ultrasound.


"Fine." Beth waddle-stomped to the door and grabbed her purse. "Stay here and pretend we're not going to have a baby in four months. I'll do this myself, like I've done it ALL so far!" She yanked her arms through her coat sleeves and heaved her purse over her shoulder. "For God's sake, JOSEF shows more interest in this baby than you do!"

"Beth, wait...I'm sorry." Mick stopped her with a hand to her arm. "I don't mean...I'm sorry."

Beth hardened her heart against Mick's sorrowful expression. "I know something's bothering you, but if I can't rely on you now, what's going to happen when the baby comes? I won't let a child of mine feel unloved, especially by its father." Beth's eyes filled with tears. "Is that what's going on? You don't think you can love this baby?"

"No." Mick was adamant. "No," he said again in a whisper. "I love whoever's in there as much as I love you." Now Mick's eyes misted. "I'm scared, Beth...I'm so scared something might be wrong. We're sailing into uncharted waters here - NO ONE has ever heard of a half-vampire birth. What if there's complications? What if the baby's born with vampire characteristics? What if...what if you die when it's born?" Undone, he pulled her close to him and buried his face in her hair. "I couldn't stand it. I couldn't stand losing you and knowing it was because of something I did to you."

"Oh, Mick." Beth held her shaking husband tight against her. "Nothing's going to happen to me. So far, all I've experienced is swollen ankles, heartburn and a compelling need to pee every ten minutes."

Mick chuckled through his tears and Beth laid a hand on his cheek. "Mick, I know you're scared. I'm scared, too. All new parents are and they're not facing nearly the obstacles we are. But I need to know you'll be here for me. For us. If something happens to me--"

"Beth, stop it."

Beth continued, undaunted. "If something happens to me, I need to know you'll be here for our child."

The baby chose that moment to make itself known with a series of kicks. Mick felt the movement and looked down at Beth's belly in wonder. "It moved."

"It does that, frequently." Beth took her husband's hand and laid it over their child. "Whoever's in there is anxious to meet you."

"I want to be a good father." Mick's face was sombre. "Can I be a good father even though I'm a vampire?"

Beth smiled. "You're a good husband even though you're a vampire. You're going to be a wonderful father as well."

The baby moved against Mick's wide palm as if to reaffirm its mother's words. "I'm going to try," he whispered to the life inside his wife. The life he helped create, his child. "I'm going to try."



Beth's reverie was interrupted when a woman sat in the chair across from her with an audible oof. Beth wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand and smiled at the new arrival. The woman let out another breath and returned Beth's smile with a weary one of her own.

"Two more weeks. I am SO tired of this," the woman grumped. She held out a slim hand. "I'm Joanie Stark."

"Beth St. John."

"Nice to meet you, Beth." The woman glanced down at Beth's belly. "How far along are you?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Beth noticed the dark-haired man enter the clinic, his hand up to shield his face from the afternoon sun as he pulled off his sunglasses. She smiled as an uncomfortable Mick looked around the waiting room, his relief evident when he discovered her. As her husband settled in the seat beside her and took her hand, Beth blinked back more tears and answered Joanie.

"Six months."
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francis
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Re: Another Six Months - PG-13

Post by francis »

Awwww. That was so lovely, sad and happy and real. Wonderful!
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Re: Another Six Months - PG-13

Post by laurapesada »

Ok Now , That was so nice to read .
Yes, you made me smile .
Just so sweet , I loved it! :clapping:
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Re: Another Six Months - PG-13

Post by helloeeze »

Sounds better than the other "six months" story but Mick is acting withdrawn. The man is hard to figure out sometimes. I loved Josef and Ryder's contribution to the story, too.
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Re: Another Six Months - PG-13

Post by wpgrace »

Well this was sweet... and I enjoyed it... and I'm always delighted when you write ANY fic. But you SHOULDN'T feel bad about your OTHER 6 Months story! It was excellent!

And we know that you write all kinds of Mick stories. Sometimes you write darker ones... we can take it. Even when we *itch about it... we can still take it and love it... cause you are just a superb writer. I'd follow you down ANY path, honey.
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Re: Another Six Months - PG-13

Post by kpyle »

This one was definately sweater! Very touching! Just loved it!

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Re: Another Six Months - PG-13

Post by starbucksjunkie »

Lovely! And so sweet.
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Re: Another Six Months - PG-13

Post by seamus3333 »

Phew! That's better. I've apologized to everyone I snarled at yesterday including you :flowers:
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Re: Another Six Months - PG-13

Post by coco »

This was lovely PNW, very sweet. :heart:
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Re: Another Six Months - PG-13

Post by fairytoes »

:biggrin: Aww, I enjoyed reading this story! But sometimes I just could smack Mick, and I could smack him hard! But then again, I think most men are a bit scared if they will be a good father???
Nice story PNWgal! Thank you!
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Re: Another Six Months - PG-13

Post by librarian_7 »

Oh, nice. She just needed to smack him a little...to paraphrase another vamp, Mick may be a vampire, but he's also a man.

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Re: Another Six Months - PG-13

Post by allegrita »

Awwwwwwww... :hearts: :hearts: :hearts: :hearts: :hearts:

See, you old softy, I knew you had it in ya! :laugh:

NOT to say that the other one wasn't fabulous--because it was! And this one really is fluffy...and fun, and boy does it make me remember my pregnancy... :snicker:

By the way, my husband (who is most emphatically not a vampire, and who is the most supportive, kind, and lovely man who ever walked the planet) acted very much like Mick when I was pregnant. He didn't want to go to my appointments, he didn't want to listen to the baby's heartbeat or feel him kick, he refused to help set up the nursery... and after 6 months or so, I burst into tears one day and let him have it, kinda like Beth let Mick have it... :blushing: ...and he confessed that he was scared to fall in love with the baby in case something went wrong. And he was scared of losing me. And after we had a good cry and a snuggle, everything was good... and now, 24 years later, we have two grandbabies. :hug:
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Re: Another Six Months - PG-13

Post by cassysj »

That's so sweet. I do wonder about that cure and what the lasting effects are.
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Re: Another Six Months - PG-13

Post by bank1115 »

wpgrace wrote:Well this was sweet... and I enjoyed it... and I'm always delighted when you write ANY fic. But you SHOULDN'T feel bad about your OTHER 6 Months story! It was excellent!

And we know that you write all kinds of Mick stories. Sometimes you write darker ones... we can take it. Even when we *itch about it... we can still take it and love it... cause you are just a superb writer. I'd follow you down ANY path, honey.
Just so you know, I'll be following close on Grace's heels! Loved it, kays
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Re: Another Six Months - PG-13

Post by redwinter101 »

*happy sigh*

This is soooooooooo lovely, PNWgal. Just lovely. And I particularly enjoyed this:
PNWgal wrote:Beth waddle-stomped to the door and grabbed her purse.
Perfect.

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