Firstborn

The corridor was sterile and old. Bleu had stated that she found the facility met her standards, and Dustin was in a weird way glad that this was where things were happening but still… The cheap plastic cover on the seat cushions creaked underneath him as he shifted uncomfortably. The building itself predated first contact in places, having been part of one of the towns that Contact City had grown to absorb in the years since. Most of it had been modernized, but the corridor leading from the visitor’s area (where secondary spouses, family hangers on and friends could wait for news of a birth) through to the maternity ward remained part of the old fabric of the place - all fluorescent lighting and ceiling tiles. And plastic bench seating.

Dustin wasn’t alone in his nervousness. While (with the obvious exception of Bleu) his other lovers had been asked politely but firmly by the hospital staff to wait in the visitor’s area, he was not the only expectant parent in the corridor that day. It seemed that Contact City was going through something of a baby boom of late - and apparently had been doing so since about nine months after his departure from Sol space over a year prior.

Any thoughts about his own responsibility for that particular uptick were drowned out by the crushing weight of waiting for some news - any news - from Bleu. The medic had whisked Meli in through the double doors leading to the delivery rooms some time ago, while Trea’k was being monitored by one of the Queri’s assistants close by. Dustin had wanted to go to sit with at least one of his two loves, but Bleu had more or less shooed him out of the room while she worked. Given the unvoiced fears he was pretty sure every new father went through about something going wrong during delivery, he’d bowed to the Queri’s request - in any case, culturally speaking, Meli and Trea’k both came from species that didn’t have a real role for the father during the delivery process.

Emely on the other hand… Dustin’s eyes flickered back through the door to the visitor’s area where the redhead was animatedly talking with Rye and Naera. He was pretty sure that when the time came for her to give birth, even a nuclear blast wouldn’t be able to prise her from his side, and for a moment he wondered how the two of them would explain that to Bleu.

One good thing about the stress he was under was that all of the other expectant parents around him were equally stressed, and so he wasn’t being mobbed for an autograph or anything. Normally, he wouldn’t have minded playing the role of humanity’s champion, as little as he felt it fit - but right now, all that mattered was… a cry echoed through from the delivery rooms, causing every head in the corridor to swivel. A moment later, a second cry rang out - slightly higher pitched, clearly from a different set of tiny lungs - and Dustin scrambled to his feet.

The appearance of Bleu’s azure form clad in a surgical gown and cap as she poked her head around the door confirmed what Dustin had somehow intrinsically known at the sound of those two infant voices. “Dusty? If you head down to the end of the corridor, we’re moving them out to a private ward now. Everything went fine, but I need to hurry up and get ready for Trea’k, so go and meet your sons while I…” everything else the medic said after that descended into static as Dustin staggered forward, a few of the other waiting parents-to-be pausing their own pacing to pat him on the back as he passed.

Doors opened and closed around him in a blur as he stumbled through to the series of private rooms, pausing outside the door when he spotted Meli’s exhausted looking face on the far side of the partially frosted glass. Taking a moment to catch his breath, he straightened and pushed the door open.

On the far side, the room was warm, lit by twin lamps either side of the bed rather than by the overhead fluorescents. His wife lay propped up in the bed, her hair still damp with sweat from her exertions and a tired but happy look on her face. Twin bundles were resting in cots on either side of the bed, comfortably within her reach, and as Dustin approached she smiled up at him. “Come and say hello to Duv’an and William, husband.”

Dustin stared down in awe, a tiny hand clamping around his finger as he reached out to one of his sons. “Which is…” he began, before pausing in wonderment at the new life in front of him. A drop of liquid hit the back of his outstretched arm - and Dustin suddenly realized he had been crying without noticing it.

“That’s William. It felt right that your firstborn have a name from your world.” Meli’s voice was soft as she watched him tenderly. Dustin’s heartbeat seemed very loud in his ears as he wiped his eyes and turned to his other child, Duv’an mirroring his brother’s action and grasping Dustin’s thumb as soon as a hand came within the reach of tiny digits.

The twins were not, as Dustin had for some reason expected, identical. In fact, they were far from it. While both appeared to have inherited their mother’s dark hair, Duv’an had Dustin’s ears and nose, although his massive eyes and general face shape were pure Velca. Duv’an’s brother on the other hand looked far more like Dustin, at least as far as his face was concerned. William’s ears, though, extended almost past the tip of his head and had the clear split lines that marked them as being his mother’s gift to his physical makeup.

Regardless of their different, otherworldly appearances, Dustin found himself lost for words at how precious they both were. He was dimly aware of some stumbling comments about how much he loved all three of them coming from his mouth, his tongue apparently working on autopilot to try and communicate his feelings to his wife, but it was all done without any conscious thought.

Time passed. He wasn’t sure how long he’d just been stood, holding Duv’an while Meli fed a rather petulant William when the door behind him opened and Bleu entered. “Dustin? Whenever you’re ready, Trea’k says your daughter would like to meet you.”

Dustin was torn; on the one hand, he wanted to see the newest arrival to his family, on the other, he didn’t want his wife to feel he was abandoning her so soon after birth. Meli, as always, knew exactly what to say. “Hand me Duv’an, husband. William is just about done with feeding so if Bleu wouldn’t mind settling him in his cot while you go to see our love and your child, I can manage here. Besides, as soon as Duv’an has eaten I’m going to hopefully get some much needed rest…”

Leaving the Velca and Queri women behind to settle his sons, Dustin walked slowly around the corner to the room where Bleu had informed him that Trea’k waited. He wasn’t sure what to expect, and hoped the insect woman didn’t feel slighted by the delay in his arriving at her side. Reaching the door he paused, his head in a whirl as he stood and tried to collect his thoughts before pushing it slowly open.

Inside, in contrast to Meli’s room Trea’k had opted for just a single bedside lamp, the room lit warmly but dimly where she lay with her legs tucked up beneath her. “My mate…” she smiled, a far larger bundle than either of Meli’s offspring resting in her arms. “Come join us.”

As Dustin approached, he could see that the tiny figure Trea’k held was busily feeding, the insect woman only wincing slightly at the insistent hunger of her offspring. As he reached them, his presence seemed to cause a reaction. The infant’s head turned away from Trea’k’s chest, four eyes blinking up at him from an otherwise human face before the tiny mouth curled into what might have been a smile.

“I have decided her name, my mate,” Trea’k said softly as that tiny face returned to it’s meal. Dustin blinked - he knew Trea’k had said that they would wait to name their daughter until they knew what she was like, but he’d presumed that meant personality which could take years to develop.

“Y…you do?” He stammered, glancing from his daughter to her mother and back again.

The Vex’ess woman nodded, her free hand tenderly stroking their child’s cheek. “She cares. I can feel it in everything she does. Understanding our offspring’s intent is… something to do with how Vex’ess have children. In any case, in the tongue of my people, ‘she cares’ would be…” Trea’k paused, then let out a low set of the clicking, chittering sounds that Dustin associated with her kind.

Normally, those sounds wouldn’t make any sense to him - but this time around, they almost sounded like a word he knew. Or rather, a name. Trea’k it appeared had noticed his look of puzzlement and smiled as she continued. “Yes, my mate. It does sound like a name. So, that is her name. C’harl’ette. Or, if you say it with a more human pronunciation, Charlotte.”