8.66 – Family

We’re at the short time skip phase

Ambiance music ~

 

No one’s POV

Nikita’s soft gurgle managed to place a rare smile on James’ lips.

“Oh Charlie, isn’t she just precious?”

“She’s got such a cute nose…”

“I can’t help it guys, I’m feeling a little proud here.”

“Aaahhh Simon, it’s my turn to hold her!”

“No no, wait your turn! I’m holding our great grand daughter first.”

“Admit it Niki, everyone’s giving your daddies diapers and formula, but in the end it’s the present I gave, this rocking chair that’s the best!”

“It’s so weird…thinking you could’ve been a mom.”

“…”

“I can see why your daddies are so in love with you.”

“I’m…I’m a grandmother.”

“You’re still in your work outfit Nix!”

“Yeah, just got out of work. I wanted to say hi to little Niki!”

“Well join the line. Mister here is hogging her.”

“Alec! My turn! I have to head home soon!”

“Oh you’re so cute, I should just kidnap you!”

“…”

“Aw so adorable! Look at her Teo! Aren’t babies just so cute?”

“Um…er….yeah…”

“I’m definitely going to want one of these in the future.”

“…”

“Hmm, it’s a little weird.”

“Exactly like Xavier noticed.”

“She’s definitely a witch.”

“But her magic keeps fluctuating….”

“She might turn out like those supernatural babies that were born natural.”

“Hmmm”

***

Xavier was fine with it at first.

It’s completely normal. And expected. He knew a lot of people. They’d told a lot of people that they were getting a baby girl. They’d called a lot of people to happily announce the news of Nikita’s birth.

So of course when people started showing up at his doorstep to see his little girl, Xavier welcomed them in with a smile.

But eventually he got really fed up with it. And he’s pretty sure Nikita was just as fed up of being picked up and cuddled and cooed at constantly.

“Goodnight Niki.” Xavier said, tucking his daughter in.

And really at the end of the day Nikita was their child, so Xavier had every right to be jealous and annoyed of the constant visits.

Edmund smiled from the doorway, having already wished his precious baby girl good night.

“She’s such a cute kid…our kid.” Edmund said, wrapping his arms around me.

“It’s been months but I’m still not over the excitement. She’s too perfect.” Xavier said, and Edmund kissed his neck. “And you know I love her buuuutt, dibs out on getting up tonight!” Xavier said, slipping out of Edmund’s hold and hurrying out into the corridor.

“Oh no you don’t!” Edmund said, closing the bedroom door behind him and running after Xavier to catch him in a fit of giggles.

***

Edmund fed Nikita outside, with the soft sunrays filtering through the large trees in their modest backyard.

There was a period in the beginning where Niki was very fussy when it came to drinking from the bottle. Sometimes she’d go as far as crying and pushing the bottle away with all the strength her tiny little arms had. And one of those times, as Xavier was trying to calm her down, he ended up going outside and Nikita eventually calmed down and accepted the bottle.

Edmund and Xavier weren’t sure if the two events were really related, but they weren’t taking any chances, and when they could they fed Nikita outside, with the chirping birds as ambiance.

“Really?” Xavier said in response to Erin’s comment. “That surprises me.”

“It surprised me too. He’d seemed so enthusiastic when Lilith was pregnant with Nikita.” Erin said.

“But nope,” Erin said as they both glanced at her little boy playing with Xavier and Edmund’s console. “He practically gives the baby the cold shoulder.”

“Maybe he just doesn’t want to be a big brother.”

“When Evan and I told him he just shrugged and said ‘cool’.” Erin replied.

“Maybe give him a little more time to process everything. It’s not that obvious you’re pregnant yet. It might not have fully hit him.”

Erin sighed. “I don’t want him to feel overwhelmed either. Evan and I were talking about getting our own place. Max is about to have a new house, someone else living with us, and a new baby sibling. I’ve tried talking to him about it, but he just keeps shrugging and asking if he can hang out with his friends.”

Xavier gave his friend a sympathetic smile. “He’s still a kid. Give him some time.”

“How much!?”

“I don’t know Erin.”

***

The solar system hovered protectively over the adored little girl as her parents watched her drift slowly off to sleep for the afternoon.

Usually only one of the two would tuck her in and make sure she fell asleep, but this time Xavier had insisted they both stayed at her crib.

He had the impression Nikita was about to do something for the first time. And it was something he didn’t want to miss.

And Xavier’s sixth sense was right once again. As Nikita watched her solar system turn slowly around itself she reached out with her hands, as if to follow the rotational movement. For a few seconds Xavier felt his little witch’s magic spike, before him and Edmund were witness to a small spectacle.

At first it was a little unstable, a little unclear, but eventually Nikita’s magic took a soft gentle and harmless form over her. Her eyes clung to the little glowing lights she’d created, amazed, and she reached out to grab it, but the magic dispersed and came back together again, dancing in circles over Nikita.

The two fathers shared a surprised smile, before Xavier extended his hand towards his daughter, gathering a little bit of magic in his finger.

A small amount of magic was released, taking the form of a bird which flew towards Nikita’s own magic, joining the circle.

Nikita giggled happily, trying to catch the magic floating overhead. The little bird amused her so, that she didn’t even notice when her magic unexpectedly sunk, taking with it the little show she’d created.

Edmund smiled as he watched his daughter’s fascinated gaze as the little bird performed all sorts of aerial flights for her.

He glanced up at Xavier, noticing a slight frown on his face.

“What’s wrong? Didn’t you do this when you were a baby?” Edmund asked.

“No.” Xavier said, still with that barely perceptible frown. “I didn’t discover my magic until I was about ten.”

“Well maybe she’s an early bloomer. Looks like she inherited your magic hands.”

“That’s not what worries me. I’m just a little concerned with the way her magic fluctuates. I’ve never seen or heard of this. I mean, it’s normal for witches to have times where their magic is more powerful and present, but…right now, if I didn’t know better, I’d swear she was a natural. That’s how faint her magic is right now. And then there are other times, I’ve just climbed in the car to go to work and I can easily sense her magic from there.” Xavier explained.

“Maybe it’s a baby thing?”

“I don’t know.”

“I don’t think we need to worry.” Edmund said as the little bird started to fade. Xavier put his hands in his pockets with a small sigh.

“Yeah. Who knows, it’ll probably stabilize as she grows.” He admitted.

“Exactly.” Edmund whispered, watching as Nikita’s eyes slowly closed.

***

“Maybe keeping this baby was a bad idea after all!” Erin exclaimed out of the blue, startling Evan – not that he let it show.

“It’s a little late to back out now.” Evan smirked, gently tapping her large belly.

“Yeah, yeah I KNOW.”

“I don’t regret you getting pregnant. It brought us closer together.”

“I don’t regret it either, it’s just Maxwell that won’t give me a clear answer on this baby. Is he happy? I don’t know. Is he unhappy? I don’t know either!”

“He doesn’t seem to really care.” Evan replied.

“Exactly! That’s what worries me! The coming of this baby is changing a lot of things in his life and he just seems so neutral about it. Like he has other things on his mind.” Erin said, biting on her lip.

“Well maybe he does.”

“What could possibly be so important that it overshadows everything that’s happening at home?”

“Girls.” Evan replied with a smirk.

Erin slapped his leg. “He’s not old enough for that yet.”

“You’d be surprised.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s not that.”

“Maybe you’re looking for a problem that doesn’t exist?”

Erin ignored Evan’s last comment, causing him to snort. “And this is Maxwell. He never tells me things. Or to people in general. If you want to hear about it, you have to be there when it happens and Maxwell needs to be shaken up to the point where he has to talk about it. So how do I get him to tell me what’s on his mind?” At this point Erin was talking more to herself than Evan. As her thoughts drifted, her eyes went back to the watching tv.

A few moments later…

“I’m going to have to get a job.” The ex-sniper said, coming to the sudden realization.

“Probably. If we want to pay the bills.” Erin said, readjusting her hat.

“I hadn’t realized…I’ve never had a normal job before.”

“You serious?”

“Yeah…I mean I was basically born into the mob with my dad being part of it. There was only one period during which I wasn’t being trained to kill people. My mom kidnapped me when she saw what they were doing to me, and she and I went on the run. That’s what led to Edmund and I meeting. My mom had decided to take a small break to rest at a nearby hotel. It was a nice for a while, and then Edmund moved away and my mom and I were found out. They took me back in and punished my mother to the point where I haven’t seen her since. I’ve only had the one job.”

“I’m trying to see you working behind a desk and it just makes me want to laugh.” Erin said.

“I should probably start with simple right? Like a cashier at a grocery store or something.”

“Ohhh that’s somehow even worse! Haha!” She laughed, holding her sides. “’I can’t find Aisle 3 mister!’ ‘Right, not your fault you were born stupid. Let me help you out.’”

Evan laughed along. “Yeah okay, I admit that is something I could end up replying. Wait does this mean you know me?”

Erin smiled. “Well I sure hope so at this point. I like to think there’s more to you than what’s under those clothes of yours.”

Evan chuckled, leaning over to kiss her.

***

“You must be sooooo excited!” Emily exclaimed.

Maxwell shrugged. “Meh.”

“What do you mean ‘meh’? You’re about to be a big brother!” Emily said.

Maxwell shrugged again. A good few hours ago, his mom had suddenly started to go into labor, and while Evan followed her to the hospital, Xavier and Edmund had come to pick Maxwell up to take care of him meanwhile. Maxwell had eventually gotten bored of playing video games and watching his uncle write his story or his other uncle clean the house with magic. Edmund and Xavier had played with him for a little while, but eventually they’d suggested he called his friends to hang out.

“Don’t bother Emily. Maxwell doesn’t care.”

He hadn’t wanted to call Alistair, but his uncle Edmund had suggested he call Alistair as well to hang out and Maxwell couldn’t say no because then he would’ve had to explain how and why Alistair was the devil in a child’s body.

“But I don’t understand. I’d be excited if my mom was pregnant.” Emily said, sticking out her lower lip.

“Yeah, but it’s Max. He’s too focused on his new imaginary friend.” Alistair said.

Maxwell narrowed his eyes at his ‘friend’.

“Just because you can’t see him doesn’t mean he’s imaginary.” Maxwell grumbled.

“That’s right Alistair! You always say imaginary friends, but what Max sees are ghosts!” Emily said, nodding at Maxwell. “He’s special.”

“Some people might think that’s worse….” Alistair said glancing away and doing a not so subtle coo coo gesture.

“It’s not because of that ghost! I just…feel meh about the new baby. I don’t know what all the excitement’s about.” Maxwell said. “I keep wondering what my dad would think about it.”

“Oh your other imaginary friend?” Alistair asked with a smirk, making Maxwell regret having even mentioned it in the first place.

Alistair would’ve gotten a handful of dirt thrown in his face then if Edmund hadn’t called out to Maxwell.

Erin had given birth and she was waiting for her little boy to come see his new baby siblings.

 

 

Harr harr I gives you a cliffhanger again

Isn’t Niki just the cutest thing!? She’s not even a toddler yet, but I’ve never found a burrito baby so darn adorable before >.<

The fact that I’ve been planning her, her story, this girl, for like two months now is probably a factor on some level.

Note: This adorable baby does not cry. She’s a silent little thing. I needed her to cry at some point, so I made her needs go down and she was easily in the yellow for a good few hours and simply refused to cry! Just laid there with a smile on her face like the perfect little angel she is.

Had a little bit of trouble writing this chapter like I did with the last one…I think I’m just not used to normal happy chapters anymore -_-‘

CREDIT: All light shows are images found on google and modified.