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Frannie couldn't stop staring at the sleeping baby in her arms. She watched every intake of breath, every exhale. Her pulse spiked when his little face twisted into any expression other than serene sleep.

She was waiting for him to cough. She was expecting him to sneeze.

Even though she knew the flu wasn't here - it was contained to their world and it hadn't followed them here on their clothes (even if it had, she'd burned hers shortly after coming through to the Nexus, even the time she'd just walked into her bedroom in Maine for a few minutes before backing out in horror.

Still, Frannie watched her son sleep, listened to the soft silence of breathing unencumbered by snot or phlegm or whatever had choked the life out of her world. Against every odd there was, she was here, Stu was here, and her baby had survived arguably the most stress filled pregnancy ever, to arrive a respectable 6 pounds 9 ounces, with a pair of lungs announcing his arrival. Loudly.

If Frannie could remember how to pray, she would have right then and there.

Gathering type post - tag Frannie, tag each other (feel free to top level with Frannie asleep if you want, or just outside the room). If your pup saw the stationery post, feel free to jump to the conclusion that the hotel's only pregnant woman popped.)

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"I think so," Raleigh says, pitching his voice low. He hasn't been around a lot of babies in his life, especially since people were more hesitant to have kids because of the kaiju.

"So everything seems A Okay with him? No problems or anything?"

"Picture perfect, according to the doctor. Ten fingers, ten toes, a good set of lungs," Frannie said, then looked up him. "And not a sign of the illness that took so many where I came from."

The relief about that was palpable on her face.

Edited 2014-01-31 00:02 (UTC)

"Good," Raleigh says, letting out his own sigh of relief. He knows about coming from a world that seems to be at the end of things and while kaiju have destroyed half the planet, they're at least contained to the Pacific rim. There's no containing a virus, not when it can jump from person to person without stopping.

"Maybe you can just keep him here and never have to worry about it, right? That's an option?"

"I plan on looking at any doorway close before I walk through it, that's for sure," Frannie nodded. "I won't run the risk of what happened a few months ago happening again. Not with him."

The backs of her fingers brushed Peter's cheek. "There are always the gardens here if I start to feel stir crazy or anything."

"I can always test them if you want," Raleigh offers. "I'm not going to let you go through anything that might hurt either of you."

He feels pretty protective over her and this kid, even if he doesn't need to be.

Frannie gave him a wide, warm smile. "Thank you, and I appreciate it, but I wouldn't want you to try on the off chance one of them is from where i come from. When I say this thing gets you sick fast, I mean fast. You only had to be in the same room with someone sick to catch it."

Raleigh shudders a little. That's some sick shit and he hopes that it never comes through to the Nexus. He can't help but worry about people like Fiona, who have families back home they need to take care of. He hopes it doesn't become an issue.

"But hey, there's a good thing about him being born here. He's never got to worry about it, right?"

"A very good thing," Frannie agreed, exhaling the worry that had plagued her, no pun intended, for months both in the trip across country and when they'd reached Boulder finally.

"Now I just have to figure out the whole how-to-be-a-mother thing."

And most importantly, how to not be a mother like the one she'd had.

"I guess they don't give you a manual along with the kid, do they?" Raleigh thinks he knows a little about being a parent from modeling what his own parents did but he doesn't think he would be completely comfortable just being handed a baby and told to go.

"Any natural maternal instincts kicking in yet?"

"Nope. They hand you a tiny little human and say good luck. We were given more instructions for a television set than I got for this little guy," Frannie laughed a little. "The only real instincts I'm feeling so far are of the Mama Bear variety."

"Mama Bear is good!" Raleigh elects not to tell the story about the pregnant kaiju they found because that had been one fierce fight. Probably not the best for a recuperating mother to hear.

"I mean, ensuring the survival of the species and all that. Really, though, what are they going to tell you when the kid's walking and talking and a danger magnet? That's what you need the manual for."

"I guess I'll just wing it, trust my instincts and hope I don't completely fuck it up?" Frannie offered with a half-smile.

"I think it worked for my parents," Raleigh says, flashing her a broad grin. "And look at me! I turned out mostly okay."

"I'd say you turned out more than okay, Raleigh. You actually turned out pretty fantastic."