Rememberance

                                        

                                              
Alice stood in the center of the hastily converted nursery and grinned at the final results. Her best friends had gotten married earlier in the year, announced they were expecting their first child and Alice and her own little family had moved into their first real house. It had been a busy year, and with Alice now heavily pregnant with their second child, she was glad they'd gotten the bigger space before the newest Vega came into the world.
                              
Like the first time she'd gotten pregnant, Alice hadn't wanted to know the sex of the baby, enjoying the surprise of finding out when the baby was good and ready to tell her. Though secretly Alice couldn't help but believe that she was having a daughter, and her subconscious belief had biased her decorating choices. Either Malcolm had found out from the doctor for sure, or he trusted his wife's instincts, because he'd never put up a fuss when Ace kept referencing the unborn baby as she, and the nursery had a faintly feminine air to it. Neither Alice nor Malcolm believed in specific themes only being for boys or girls, but while Nate's nursery had been decorated with geometric shapes and infant friendly color contrast, this nursery was more pastel and fantasy creature based. It was still gender neutral, but even little Nate was in the habit of saying that he was going to be the best big brother to his little sister as possible. Of course he still didn't understand that a little brother or sister won't be ready to play with him for a while yet, but Ace knew that her son was more than capable of getting into trouble on his own.
                              
Her scarred dog Monster, gave a soft whine in his throat and Alice smiled down at the dog. Two years ago a very scarred and broken Alice had found a very scarred and abandoned Monster and the two had been inseperable ever since. He only tolerated Alice going away from short periods of time, and was the best guard dog she could ever have hoped for. Even with Nathaniel gonig through his terrible twos and being a down right brat at times, Monster never lost his patience with the toddler. Ace looked out the window to see the first snow flakes of the year drift by and Monster's throaty whine caught her attention again.
                              
Alice frowned, seeing her son asleep in the new baby's crib, wanting to play Goldilocks and make sure the bed was 'just right' for his little sibling. He was fine, sucking his thumb and playing at still being a baby even though half the time he was proudly telling everyone who'll listen that he's a big boy now because he'll have a little brother or sister soon.
                              
Monster gave another throaty whine and Alice started to feel a little worried. He was a silent dog, barking only when there was a reson to, and he never whined. Not unless someone was hurt or something was about to happen, like an earthquake. But with Malcolm out and Nathaniel asleep, Alice had no clue what was making Monster worry so much. She was about to step over and check on the dog to see if he had an injury when her water broke. Ace gasped in surprised as the warm fluid suddenly drenched her maternity jeans and pooled to the floor. She was so gonig to have a hard time cleaning that up later, but she wasn't able to worry about it coagulating right now. Even though she wasn't expected to go into labour until next month, it seemed that Alice's second baby wasn't going to be a patient one.
                              
Monster was no longer laying down, but instead was standing right next to Alice and leaning against her a little. It helped somehow, gave her someone to lean against in return as another wave of pain hit her. She started to worry as this wasn't the same pain she'd had when Nathaniel was born. Another bout of pain hit her and Alice sobbed softly, suddenly afraid for her baby. Scrabmling with her cellphone, Alice called her husband, knowing that something bad was happening to her and their child.
                              
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Seventeen hours and an emergency cesarian section later, and little Adrianna Vega was born. Although born almost a complete month early, and with her umbilical cord tangled, Adri was born healthy and screaming.
                              
Alice was kept in the hospital for longer than when she'd given birth to Nate, and with the pain meds and anesthesia dulling her system, she was largely unaware of what had caused the early birth. The pain had been fetal distress as the umbilical cord had become tangled around inutero Adri's neck. Alice's water breaking had been due to the stress of nearly losing her child and luckily for all who loved Alice and her family, both mother and daughter pulled through the ordeal in excellent health.
                              
With the help of their friends and some old, familiar hospital staff, Malcolm was smuggled into the hospital with two year old Nate so that they could visit Alice and Adrianna. The hospital was quiet in the early morning hours, but Ace and Adri were both awake and thrilled to see Mal and Nate. Nathaniel saw no reason he couldn't join in the bed time cuddles with mommy, and he simply crawled into the tiny hospital bed next to his groggy mama. Malcolm laughed softly and left him there, knowing that his wife loved having her men close to her. He traded Alice, Adri for Nate and enjoyed the chance to hold his daughter without a million people around trying to get some cuddle time in.
                              
Malcolm felt the familiar prickle of tears in his eyes and blinked them away before he could embarass himself. He'd killed the man that had hurt his Alice , and yet here he was, about to blubber over how beautiful his baby girl was. It just touched him how his wife was more than willing to name their little girl after Malcolm's murdered sister.
                              
"You're gonig to cause me and your big brother no end of grief aren't you little one?" Malcolm whispered to his daughter in a soft, sing song voice.
                              
"I'm hoping that she gets your looks, my hair and someone else's temperment. I don't think we'll survive if she's anything like I was." Alice joked softly, cuddling with Nate and tickling his neck to make him squirm and laugh.
                              
Mal grinned at his wife, seeing that she was exhausted but also glowing with happiness. "I can't wait." he responded to her concerns and she rolled her eyes at him, but laughed.
                              
"Can I  please?" Nate asked from the bed. He still hadn't mastered the art of a proper sentence, but he seemed to have the pertinent parts down.
                              
Mal raised an eyebrow at his son, a silent question. Nate squirmed, looknig uncomfortable under his father's gaze. After a moment of fussing with how he was sitting and adjusting a blanket, the almost three year old was finally ready for the big task that was holding his little sister. Ace was ready to help support if it looked like Nate needed the assist, but otherwise both parents were trusting their son to be careful with the newborn. He was.
                              
Nathaniel stared down at his little sister, unaware of how very much alike they looked. They both had brown hair and big dark eyes, though Nate had paler skin, more like his mother's. Adrianna was looking as darkly Spanish as her father did though, and both were beautiful children. "Hello." Nate said to the baby, using his limited understanding of social etiquette to try and introduce himself. "I'm your big broder. You hafta do what I say and I'll take care of you. Because I love you." And with that Nate very carefully kissed his little sister on the cheek.
                              
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A/N: Just have to say that what little Nate says is word for word what my little cousin Jake said to his little sister Rebecca, the say she was born. It was SO CUTE. XD