Welcome to the World (Veronika, Jake + Ivan)

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JULY 31, 2017

No one wakes up knowing that they are going to have a bad day.

"What're you doing today, pumpkin?" Her father, Tristian asks her as he stirs her a chai tea. Veronika's fingers run over the huge bump that is her baby; her sweet, beautiful, healthily growing baby boy. Jake doesn't know it's a boy; he'd requested he not know, making their Healer, Healer Joznay, wary of speaking of the baby's development. Jake looked queasy each time she brought him in for a check-up, but she felt safer, better with him around whenever baby talk was in the air.

"Nothing really, continuing to look at houses most likely," she answers with a sip of her the newly poured and newly stirred tea.

"Mind if your old man spends the day with his favorite girl?" He asks with a small smile.

"You're not that old," she rolls her eyes and smiles, "but no, I don't mind. I'd be honored to spend the day with you."

"Then I'm glad that you're fathers out at some Quidditch game, I hear you teach his favorite Seeker's kids." Tristian notes as he sips his own coffee. Veronika can't even bite back a groan.

"I do, there's three of them this year and I'm told by the bubbly one, Phil, he's the oldest, that they've a younger sister and one more on the way." Tristian's eyes widen.

"Wait so there are technically five Brennham babies in existence?" His brows furrow. "You teach three of them?"

"Yeah," she shrugs and sips her tea again, this time taking a bite from her treacle tart, "they're triplets; Phillip, Caelan, and Ellie." Her father's eyes basically bulge out from their sockets from behind his glasses.

"But I've met Head Potioneer Ambassador Brennham, before the pregnancy, entirely too petite to have carried three children all at once." Veronika's eyes flash, she's heard the stories so she leans in forward with a wicked smile on her face.

"Rumor has it that by the time she was as far along as me, she was in a wheel-chair or on bedrest. Can you believe that?" She winced at the idea of being robbed of her mobility. Of course it was hard to walk, but it wasn't a hassle; just a bit of a struggle.

"How was she able to regain her figure?" Tristian wonders as he taps a finger against his lower lip. Veronika's smile widens further, more gossip on the tip of her tongue.

She spends the morning before her son's birth laughing joyously with her father and the lunchtime trying to fight the strange anxiety building in her chest and pits of her stomach. Something's wrong, she thinks as she rubs a hand over a fussy baby bump. Baby bump, she already had a name picked, but she had yet to run it by Jake, is never this move-y. She was standing to grab her jacket from the coat rack by the door so her father could take her to visit Healer Joznay in her private office when she felt it.

A gush of warm liquid from between her legs.

.

WARNING(S): GRAPHIC, ANGST

Veronika Rae Hollands went into labour at 14:25PM on July 31st, 2017. When the flying cab that had sped through the magical world to St. Mungo's landed he didn't even bother to collect money, just wished her a safe birthing and kicked her and her dadda out of the car. She was in an immense amount of pain. She read that contractions at the beginning were supposed to be six to eight minutes apart; these were five.

When she got in and they got a prognosis of what was going on down there, the doctors and mid-wife's faces were grim and worried. Between pants and sips of water that her father provided her, she was able to choke out the question: "What's wrong?" They merely informed her that she was already in the second stages of labour. If Veronika hadn't been pale before, she was as white as a ghost now. Panic was starting to set in.

Everything was happening too fast!

They assured her that premature and short labour were common for some women, but she knew what they weren't saying because she was giving birth; they were common, but not too common. Not to mention the two were a deadly combination. She was to start pushing in a few minutes; it had only been an hour and thirty minutes she'd arrived. She was already crying. She couldn't imagine what was to happen. She kept silently praying to whatever deities were listening that her baby bump just come into the world alive.

Please, I'll give you anything. Take me for all I care. Gods, just please please don't let these seven months have been in vain. I - I don't think I could live anyways if my baby boy doesn't make it out of this hell. She thought to herself as the Healer informed her she was at 10 cms and ready to start pushing. One of the mid-wife's offered her a pain-expelling potion which she readily downed.

It was then that Jake arrived; but she couldn't see him between the tears and couldn't really hear him between her own screaming. The pain-expelling potion wasn't enough to calm her. It was thirty minutes into pushing that she was offered a Calming draught. She took that with ease and began to absorb the situation as it was. She kissed Jake's hand, but cried into his shoulder too afraid to face the painful truth that was most likely to be upon them; a stillborn.

She was dawning on two hours and twenty minutes, when a cry broke through the tense room.

"It's a boy!" The doctor exclaimed, the nurse's took the baby and cleared it's nostrils so it could breath. Veronika watched with her heart almost in her throat ready to leave as vomit, when the doctor cast a spell. His face was a mix of relief and guilt.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Hollands, but we need get this baby into ICU immediately; it seems his lungs among other organs aren't fully developed, we can fix and help him develop them, but it will require months of heavy operation here in the hospital."

Veronika wanted to react; truly she did, but she couldn't. She let her eyes closed and the anguished tears fall from her eyes. Within minutes she was asleep.

.

When she woke up next, her room was filled with people. Jake saw fit to bring the bear she'd used to tell him she was pregnant and place it beside her bedside table. He was asleep in the chair next to her, his head down where her hands were. She gulped back more tears as she ran her fingers through the tufts of hair at the top of his forehead. There was a heaviness in her heart; yes she had a baby boy that made it into the world, but at what cost? She hadn't even held him yet.

She did this to him.

Her baby was in Intensive Care, because somewhere in all her careful tedious caution she messed up badly that her baby was in trouble. It was all her fault.

"Jake," she started, using her hand to push his shoulder, "I messed up, baby, I messed up real bad." She choked out before the tears began to emerge fully in fat streaks down her face.

.

July 31st, a normal working day for Jake. The school holidays had started, which meant that he was back in the Auror office six days a week. Jake had always been like that, working all the hours he could because he wanted to better the world. Wanted to keep people safe.

He knew, with a child on the way, that things would have to change, he'd still work there was never going to be any leeway on that, but he would need to be home at better hours of the day. He'd have to be there for Veronika, and their child. Jake didn't begrudge this, of course he didn't, he would simply have to learn a better balance.

But, on that Monday morning, Jake was led on his stomach, Omnioculars in hand, watching a building across the valley like a hawk. He was on a stakeout mission that day, with a colleague beside him. There had been intelligence on The Black Widows, but to Jake the house looked empty. The was nothing to worry about, either, Veronika was spending the day with her father, so Jake knew she was safe, and that she had everything she needed.

Jake's stomach was going numb from the duration of laying in the same position, but his spirits weren't dampened. The heat of the day was growing, but he knew from the weather forecast that it was not going to be blisteringly hot. Something he was quite relieved of, truth be told.

"How long do you think we'll be sat here?" Garry asked from his right hand side, and Jake let out a soft chuckle.

"For as long as we're told to, Gaz." Jake replied with a smile, putting the Omnioculars down and reaching for the water canteen to his left. There hadn't been movement in hours, so he had time to refresh himself. After a hasty drink from the bottle, Jake screwed the lid back in to place and stretched out a little, enjoying the soft crack in his joints for a brief moment. "But, you already knew that." Jake added with a light chuckle, lifting the Omnioculars back up and watching the house again.

Their luck was out, today, of that much Jake was sure.

The hours ticked by, and Jake was growing impatient. The information was seemingly worthless, and their time wasted. Considering sending his Patronus back to the Ministry for further instructions, Jake was just about to open his mouth to ask Garry his thoughts when a crack sounded behind them, rolling over, wand drawn, Jake took in the features of their boss, and he lowered his wand immediately.

"Sir." Jake greeted the man, still keeping low so not to blow their cover.

"Newbury, you're required at St Mungo's." His boss began, but Jake had already gone cold, the icy feeling running down his spine as the man before him continued. "Miss Hollands has gone in to labour."

"But-" Jake cut off saying that it wasn't time, instead concentrating hard on St Mungo's before he disapparated from the place he'd been. As his feet touched the floor, Jake was moving quickly to the front desk, his heart already hammering as he gave the witch behind the desk his name, and asked for Veronika. He was asked to go to the family room, but Jake took only a moment to persuade the witch that it was not the place he was going, and that if she wouldn't tell him, he would find the room himself.

Following the witch down the corridor, it took too many precious minutes to be shown in to Veronika's room. A doctor, or maybe a nurse, Jake wasn't sure, explained that Veronika was in some stage of pregnancy that he simply did not understand. All he could understand was that Veronika was screaming with pain, and it was his duty to ease that pain. Moving to her side, Jake took her hand (probably not the cleverest idea, Jake would learn through the labour process) and kissed her knuckles. "I'm here now, it's going to be okay." He tried to assure her, but even Jake could tell, from the fact he could barely hear himself, that the words were lost on his fiance in that moment.

The time ticked by, and Jake concentrated on Veronika, constantly reassuring her because he didn't know what else he could do. His whole body was shaking from fear, guilt and the unknown. But finally, from somewhere, a cry broke out in the room. Turning his head, Jake saw the small child emerge in the doctors arms, very red, and covered in... well, Jake didn't wish to think about that. He watched as the doctor waved his wand over the child, transfixed.

They... had a son.

Pride filled Jake in that moment, a smile growing on his lips for the briefest of moments. Until...

"I'm sorry, Ms. Hollands, but we need get this baby into ICU immediately; it seems his lungs among other organs aren't fully developed, we can fix and help him develop them, but it will require months of heavy operation here in the hospital."

The doctor left in a flurry, and as Jake turned his head back to Veronika, to tell her well done. To ask her a million questions about what they would do. He noted that she'd fallen asleep, a peaceful look on her face that had not been there at all. Leaning down, Jake pressed a very soft kiss to her lips, straightening himself up as he summoned a cloth from thin air. Gently he wiped the sweat from her face, before retreating from the room.

Jake had left only to send an owl to his parents, telling them that the baby had arrived, that the baby was a boy, and that his son was in ICU. He urged them not to come until he and Veronika knew more, and that he'd write soon to update them. From there, Jake had hurried along to ICU, collecting as much information as he could, before spending half an hour watching his son in his bed, supported by magical means.

It was difficult, but Jake understood.

This was the best place for their son for the moment, and no matter how much it hurt, it was going to be okay. In time.

With one quick apparation home, Jake had brought Veronika's hospital bag, and the teddy she'd announced her pregnancy to him with, setting it as a comfort on her bedside.

It couldn't have been more than half an hour later he was back, settling in the chair beside her bed. His hand reached out for hers, holding it gently. Doctors and nurses came, checking on Veronika and assuring Jake once more that things were okay. Tristian was still here, they had spoken - briefly - about what was going on, and when Jake had fallen silent, he believed Tristain knew what was going through his mind and had given him the space he needed.

When he'd fallen asleep, Jake really didn't know. But as fingers moved through his hair, Jake's eyes fluttered open. He stretched slightly, his left side had fallen asleep from the position he'd fallen asleep in, but as his eyes came in to focus, seeing Veronika awake, he couldn't care about that. Instead, a small smile touched his lips as the woman who'd brought their son in to the world.

A smile that lasted only a moment.

"I messed up, baby, I messed up real bad."

Jake's eyebrows creased in to a frown, his body moving on autopilot as he moved to sit on the edge of the bed, pulling her (ever so gently) in to him and holding her close. "Shhh," Jake soothed gently, the sound of Veronika crying was making his own eyes prickle with the idea of tears. "You haven't messed anything up." He assured her, pulling back only slightly to be able to look in to her eyes.

"Our son is going to be fine, I promise. He just... needs a little help now." Jake explained, because that's how the doctors had explained to him when he had looked confused. "This isn't anyone's fault, it's going to be okay. And you, you're going to be okay. When you're feeling stronger we'll go and see our son together." He assured her, holding her close to him once more.

"You didn't mess up, he's perfect." Jake breathed in to her hair, a single tear rolling down his cheek. He might not blame Veronika, of course he couldn't, but he was worried, terrified.

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» Where the Heart Is (Jake & Veronika)
» The Very Big Question (Veronika & Jake)
» In the mood for tea (Jake and Ivan!)
» But he calls his Mama back every chance he gets (Jake & Ivan)
» What We Are (Jake & Veronika)