Prue Manson {Sorenson} (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
barbedbouquet) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
castleofglass2014-06-26 09:08 pm
barbedbouquet) wrote in castleofglass2014-06-26 09:08 pm
Entry tags:
fic: Second Chances
Fandom: NBC Kings | Bouquet of Barbed Wire (2010)
Characters: Jack Benjamin, Prue Manson
Rating: SFW
Warnings: fluff, slight angst, high chance of OOC and typos so brace yourselves.
Summary: It was just finally the right time for it.
“Now this is just quite ironic, I have yet to decide if it is ironic on a poetic or stupid way.”
Jack had just settled at her side, a small eased smirk on his lips despite that he was feeling anything but at ease at the moment. “Is that so now?”
“You’re so damn lucky I can’t move and deck you right now.” She narrowed her eyes at him, before looking away with a sigh. “I went nearly twelve hours of labor Jack, without any drugs, and mentally, not to mention, happily prepared for a natural birth only to now be here about to have c-section because your kid is apparently as lazy as you can be sometimes and couldn’t get in the right position.”
“Well kid is taking after me already.” He had no trouble following with her attempts at trying to keep at ease in this particular situation, “Maybe next time.”
“…At least I’m conscious this time around.”
Jack just ruefully smiled at that and lightly rested his hand against her hair, he was more than aware what had happened the last time when she had Robert and how important this was for her. Not that he could understand why she will willingly accept going through all the pain without the aid of drugs, she had been at it for twelve hours and had braced, just accepted the pain without much complaint, but then, in a way she had been robbed of the experience the first time before and she had been stubborn enough to want to experience it fully now that she had a second chance to do it again.
It was something that she decided she was going to do the minute she found out she was pregnant and really back then Jack had been more focused on the fact that they were going to have a kid together and all the changes this new presence was going to entail in the rather comfortable and established routines the three of them had created already, it was easy sometimes for him to forget that he wasn’t the heir of the throne anymore and that no child of his was going to have the same weight on its shoulders, to ponder on her words about how she wanted the birth to go.
And really it had all seemed to work perfectly, after the coup that had placed David in the throne and left him in the role as an advisor, they had both figured it was a good time as any to try to see if they actually had a kid (something they had both refused to do while his parents were still around) and it had all just fallen into place, the pregnancy was a relatively calm one and the whole twelve previous hours had been going as expected and normal up till the point the doctor mentioned that the baby was in a breeched position, causing it fetal distress and with Prue showing some signs of hypertension she just couldn’t go through a natural birth.
This whole scenario made him more nervous than he dared to admit, never mind the fact that Prue had assured him that she was going to be fine and that the best medical staff was in here with them, he still had that latent fear of something happening and she couldn’t help but tighten the hold he had on her hand, she looked back at him (and he really envied how serene and calm she looked) and she squeezed back before she winced a bit at the first incision against her skin.
“Hmm, alright it’s not that bad.”
He just took a deep breath; this was going to be just fine. “Well I will dare say it is the wonder of the drugs working its magic now, bet they are more than fine on your book right now.”
“For the love of…shut the hell up, Jack!” She rolled her eyes and scowled when he chuckled at her, well damn him, he wasn’t the one doing this. “So what do you think we’re going to have?”
“Probably a Banshee, though I am hoping for a baby dragon instead.” He winced when she dug her nails against his skin, his hand was still killing him since he hadn’t realized before just how strong she could be. “Sorry damn, but I don’t know, if we had let the doctor tell us the gender we would have saved ourselves a lot of trouble when it came to all the preparations you know.”
“Yes, but what’s the fun in that and just embrace a little mystery in your life, Mr. Benjamin.”
He just muttered something and really, he had embraced quite a lot of mystery in his life already, heck, she actually fell in that category, just being with her was enough to make a lot of people question their involvement but really he wouldn’t have stuck so long with her if he didn’t actually felt something for her or Rob (damn he really was fond of that kid). Sometimes it was really quite disconcerting to realize just how deep that something was, Prue was probably the only woman he actually, well, loved despite where his usual preferences mostly laid on and while she probably wasn’t as flashing or exotic as some of the women he had been seen with in the past she had been the only one that had actually seen him.
All in all, as far as standards procedures went, the whole cesarean didn’t lasted longer than what usually was but for Jack it had nearly felt kind of endless, this was after all Prue and their kid so he excused whatever nerves he might be feeling on that, till it was finally broken and quite effectively by the wails and cries that now filled the room, the relief was just instant and judging by Prue’s face she wasn’t the only one feeling it.
“Oh God, what is it? Jack…what is it?”
Before he could even hope to answer or inquire about it, a nurse, the one that accepted the baby from the doctors, beat him to it. “It’s a boy, a healthy and beautiful baby boy.”
“Well it seems that David was right then, you owe him.” Prue breathlessly chuckled before turning to look at him. “Oh I want to see him, please.”
He smirked just a bit, straining a bit to see what the nurse was doing. “Easy now, they are just cleaning him, we will get to see him in a bit alright, just be patient like you always tell me I should be.”
“…I just had your son, don’t talk back to me.”
Jack couldn’t help but laugh a bit at that, not due to how annoyed she had sounded or the last part of her comment, his mind had only processed the first part of it, trying to wrap his mind over the fact that he had son, over the fact she had thought and considered that he was ready for this, because God knows he didn’t felt ready for it, what was he supposed to do with a damn baby? He knew how to deal with Rob, he was older and that particular stage of his life had been dealt with already, but could he even handle a baby, they were delicate, vulnerable and dependant beings and he still didn’t quite trust himself with one yet and GOD what the hell had he been thinking when he agreed to this?
When the nurse started to walk towards him, with his son now clean and covered in white blankets, he started to feel his heart beating faster than he remembered it and almost instantly he moved away from Prue, knowing that he was about to be handled the bundle and he needed at least a measure of space to be able to accept it.
“And here we go, Mr. Benjamin.” The nurse smiled at him and carefully, so very carefully handed the newborn to him, arranging his arms to properly hold the baby. “Say hello to your daddy.”
Normally he would have just rolled his eyes at that comment, it was after all quite a ridiculous and nonsense comment, but at the current moment he was more focused on the little being he was now holding and all the things he was feeling, the sudden pang of fear at holding him to tight or not tight enough which could end hurting him, coupled with the sudden feelings of wanting to keep him protected and praying, for the first time in a long time, that he didn’t ended doing something that was going to screw up his life, it was just too many things to feel at once and he know understood why it had been such a life changing experience for Prue that first time, this was a new life he was now in charge of protecting, loving and shape into someone that was going to go out in the world and make it a better place.
And really, despite all that sudden realization, it still didn’t changed the fact that he still didn’t felt ready for this but he could, no, he was going to learn and he had Prue around to help him with this, they were going to be a team at this parent deal, and he thought he wasn’t doing a bad job in helping raising Robert and he could do this, they could do this. When he looked up, he found Prue looking at him, looking a bit pale and tired, but with a knowing smile on her face before he moved closer to her so she could see their new son.
“He’s so beautiful.” She smiled and slowly moved one of her hands to lightly brush her fingers against the newborn cheek. “All this work was worth it in the end.”
Jack stared at her for a few seconds, noticing the joy in her eyes at seeing the baby. “Thank you.” She looked at him a bit startled before she smiled at him, the smile he knew was meant only for him. “Now I really hope you had picked the name already and that’s something good, you know.”
She smiled at him before everything just erupted into madness when she passed out and all the machines hooked to her started beeping like crazy, and everything just started to move in slow motion for him, the flurry of motion around him, barely being able to register the sounds about stopping the bleeding, the only thing he could see was Prue, lying so still and pale not answering to his desperate calls, he barely even noticed when someone took the baby out of his arms and then he was being ushered, for not saying pushed out of the room, still calling to her and hoping to get an answer back from her.
And then he was out and she hadn’t said anything, not being sure of what exactly had happened, what had happened to her? They had said it was a simple procedure and that she wasn’t in any type of danger, it was something normal and they had more than enough experience to deal with it, then why…WHY…hadn’t she answered him back when he called her and why they had kicked him out of the room if nothing was wrong!? He wasn’t sure how long he was there, staying in the middle of the hallway and staring at the now closed doors, not even noticing when David had approached him.
“Jonathan!” And that enough to snap him and turn to look at David, and something must have showed on his expression considering the sudden frown on the king’s face, “What happened?”
“I…” He really wasn’t sure what to answer or more like what the proper answer was here, mostly because he wasn’t sure just yet. “…we had a son.”
“Didn’t I tell you it was going to be a boy? Congratulations, and you owe me.” David was sincere, he was really happy for him but something was wrong and he could tell as well. “Jack, what happened?”
“I don’t fucking know, alright!” Jack turned to glare at David, not annoyed that he was being questioned about it, questioned about something he didn’t even understand himself. “One moment we were talking about the kid, what to name it and then…and then Prue just passed out and all the machinery went ballistics and she was so, so still…didn’t even answered me back when I called her and I was kicked out while…they worked on her.”
“Jack…”
“This wasn’t meant to happen! It was supposed to be a simple procedure, for the love of God, she even has the best people in there with her and she still…” He stopped there for he wasn’t sure how to end that sentence; he didn’t want to say it out loud. “…She smiled at me before…”
“Jack, stop it, she’s going to be fine. Prue is a very strong not to mention stubborn woman, so don’t worry it will be just fine.” And God, David hoped that was the case, he refused to believe otherwise since it just wouldn’t be fair. “Now, where is your son? You might as well keep an eye on him for the time being, right?”
“I…I don’t know.”
David just frowned at the answer yet it’s not as if he could blame him, considering what had happened inside the room, Jack had his attention a bit compromised and it would be logical to believe the medical staff had taken a hold of the baby, especially if Jack had gone a bit into kind of hysterics, David looked around for a staff member to inquire about it knowing that right now Jack needed to have his mind on something else or at least be reminded of the child that was now going to need him in case…no, David refused to believe on that as well.
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“I guess that right now it’s hard to know after which one of you he will take the most, if the kid is lucky he will take more after her, God forbid he’s cursed with your horrible looks.”
That comment finally cracked a smile from Jack, he had been standing in front of the window with David mostly at his side (he had been absent here and there to either call Michelle to keep her updated and who knows what else) and watching the dozing newborn, if the nurses found it weird or strange they didn’t said anything mostly because it was probably the king and his advisor but that was the last thing on his mind at the moment, right now he was just considering the child comfortably resting and being unaware if his mother was still…
“You’re just jealous, but I wouldn’t mind if he took after her.” Jack crossed his arms over his chest. “I just hope he doesn’t get her stubborn as a mule attitude, she’s enough of a handle with it already.”
“Now I hope he does gets her stubbornness, it’s one of her most attractive features don’t you think?” David just ignored the mild glare he got from him and regarded the child that was labeled as ‘baby boy Benjamin’ for a few seconds. “What are you going to name him?”
“I really don’t know, we agreed that if it was a girl I was going to name her and if it was a boy it was going to be her.” Jack’s fingers tightened around his forearms. “I could name him I suppose, but I better wait for Prue to do it since I don’t want to deal with her if I take this from her.”
“Yeah, I guess that will be wiser.” David easily agreed and took a deep breath. “I have seen her angry only once and that was quite a rather worrisome situation, she actually scared me a bit.”
“That’s because she is damn scary when she’s angry and you really wouldn’t think such a tiny woman could have such a mean right hook.” Another small smirk appeared on Jack’s face, the last time he had seen her punching someone that had said quite a hateful comment at them when they had taken Robert to the park, his eyes fixed on his son then. “But really, don’t listen to us kid, your mother is a wonderful woman, being able to see what few people can, accepting it as it is and still love you despite of it.”
“And your dad loves her as well, right?”
“…even the question is a bit irrelevant and idiotic David, of course I do.” Jack rolled his eyes a bit, since that really should be obvious by now. “Now kid, some people might not think I do, but that’s because some are just plain idiots, and really I think that maybe one day even you will find it suspicious, but know that a lot of things happened in your father life, things that might have left me a bit broken, but your mother stumbled into my life not long afterwards and that damn stubborn woman somehow pieced me back together, I don’t know how to explain it one day I am sure you will get it. Now, I know we’re not going to be as disgustingly adorable as the parents of some other kids you might meet, God forbid that happens, and while what we have might not be perfect it is ours and that’s all that matters in the end.”
“…Why haven’t you married her already? I mean she has managed to make you sound a bit like a dignified sap.”
“She was married before and she was married to the biggest son of a bitch, only second to my father, in this world, one that made her go through things that someone like her shouldn’t have,” Which was why Jack had enjoyed so much to inflict as much pain as he had on the man, when the asshole had decided to show his face around again, though it had not been enough to even start to make up for what he had done to her. “So I don’t think marriage is something that she wants.”
“But is it something you want?” David waited for Jack to answer, but when no answer came like ten minutes later he knew he wasn’t going to get one, though he could already suspect what the answer could possibly be. “You do realize you wouldn’t be like him right?”
“Of course I will never be like that son of a…”
“Then…” David quickly and swiftly interrupted him when he noticed the look a nearby nurse was throwing at them. “…I am sure you are aware that she knows that as well.”
“Mr. Benjamin.” The sudden call caused them to look at the approaching nurse and Jack tensed just a bit the closer she got. “We have just moved your partner to the suite.”
Jack allowed a small wave of relief to wash over him. “And how is she?”
“Miss Manson is fine, it took a bit but they managed to control the bleeding and she should recover just fine from it with enough rest and if she follows all of the doctor’s instructions, she’s sleeping still but you can go and see…”
The nurse didn’t even had a chance to finish whatever else she was supposed to say then when Jack had just heard enough and made his way to the room, leaving David behind to deal with the woman if he wanted to do so, right now he needed to make sure to be at her side and wait for her to wake up and then maybe scold her for scaring the blazing hells out of him, though his thoughts of doing so quickly died when he saw her still pale and sleeping on a bed that now looked too big for her. With a small sigh he moved to sit at the side of her bed, which had been his spot through most of this, and stared at her for long moments, taking the now rather pale complexion that he hoped will get better later on and the steady and now perfect rise and fall of her chest every time she breathing in and out.
Carefully he took a hold of her hand and slowly raised it to light press his lips against her slender fingers, silently thanking everyone and any power up there for allowing her to stay in this world for a bit more.
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“Jack…Jack!”
Rather slowly his mind started to kick itself back into a conscious state, he didn’t even know when he had fallen asleep but he clearly had and he really even wasn’t sure how long he had been asleep, when his name was called again, his mind geared faster to realize that Prue was awake and grasping his hand, trying to get his attention, which she quickly got and she still looked so tired, not as pale as before, but she wasn’t as pale as before and that was a good thing, it really was.
“Dammit Prue!” Was the first thing that left his lips, loud enough to startle out David that had been dozing on one of the sofas in the suite that was posing off as a hospital room, “What the hell!? You’re not allowed to do something as stupid as that again!”
“Well sorry, it’s not as if I could help it you know.” And really she could have delivered a more barbed comment but how could she, not when she knew how worried he had been for her. “Can you yell and scold at me later, please? I want to see our baby now.”
“She seems to have her priorities straight, take a page out of her book, Jack.” David stretched and then stood up, walking to the door. “I will go tell the nurses you’re up and ready to see your kid, I might as well call Michelle and bring Robert and your bother over as well.”
Prue beamed a bit just at that. “Thank you David.”
“You’re quite welcome.” David stopped by the door and looked at her for a few seconds. “I really am glad you are alright.”
“Yes, I know. Thank you again.”
Once they were alone a heavy silence fell over them, not knowing exactly what to say to each other right now. While what had happened to her wasn’t exactly serious, it could have easily been and that’s what was making it a bit difficult for them to try to think of something to say since this wasn’t something they could shake off with their usual banter and teasing, this could have potentially been quite serious if things had been differently and they really didn’t wanted to think about it now, especially not now when their son was on their way so she could finally and properly meet him.
When a nurse finally arrived with their baby, the atmosphere in the room seemed to easy around them, rather carefully the older woman reached for the baby boy and with the same gentle care handed the small bundle to Prue, not needing to teach her or show her how to hold him since she already had the ease motions of someone that had been a mother before. Seemingly satisfied, the nurse decided to leave them alone reminding them that should they need anything, they just had to reach for the call button and then left them alone with their son.
Slowly Prue pried the blankets away from the baby, something he might have resented a bit at suddenly being exposed, but she clearly needed to make sure everything was fine with him, counting ten fingers and ten toes. A light giggle, a rather sweet and girlish one, the kind of sound Jack hadn’t heard before, escaped her when their son just whimpered in annoyance and she quite easily hushed him while expertly wrapping the blankets around him again, settling him on his arms, gently rocking him and she looked up at Jack with one of the most beautiful smiles he had ever seen on her face.
And it suddenly hit him while he watched her hold their kid, like a million buckets of cold water dropped on him, that he had and could have lost her. He will have been left in a situation he still wasn’t that well equipped to deal with on his own or more like a situation he didn’t wanted to have on his own, it was quite the startling reality to realize the full impact she had in his life and how he hadn’t even thought about what could happen if he actually did lost her. This wasn’t the same as when Gavin had showed up, that had been a situation he had been able to contain and to control, to get rid of the threat against her but what could have happened after the birth of their son, the unknown danger to her life, was something that no matter how hard he might try he wouldn’t have been able to control or change.
She could have died and how will he have dealt with taking care of a child on his own and Robert, oh, they will have tried to take him away since he wasn’t his father nor an immediate family member, they were still going through the process for him to finally legally adopt him (his parents hadn’t allowed him to do so back then) and without her there and the process incomplete, since it was taking it’s sweet time since they were not married, they would have sent him with her parents (which she hated) or worse Gavin and the mere thought of that was just so disgusting.
Among all those realizations was also the rather acute and piercing one that if she had died, he was sure something he couldn’t even properly name would have been gone with her. He looked at her hand again, watched her gently rock and hum to their son, revealed on the sudden pang of undiluted happiness that suddenly washed and wrapped over him, the kind of happiness that he had rarely if ever felt before.
“Marry me.”
She froze at that and turned to look at him a bit startled. “What?”
“Marry me.”
She just looked at him for a few seconds, before she shook her head with a small smile. “Yeah, okay.”
“See you can’t resist me.” He just smirked when she rolled her eyes and muttered something about being a damn an unromantic bastard, maybe he was but this had worked its purpose and it didn’t made it any less meaningful. “Are you going to tell me what name you picked with him?”
“Oh yes, I guess I didn’t get the chance to do so.” She slowly ran a finger against their son cheek and smiled rather sweetly, before again looking over at him. “His name will be Andrew Joseph Benjamin, what do you think?”
Jack was quiet for a bit and just looked at her for a few seconds, before a small smile appeared on his face. “It sounds just perfect.”
“Thank you.” She giggled again and shifted Andrew better in her arms. “And for what it’s worth I also liked the name you picked, I think Eva Alexandra Benjamin has a nice ring to it, maybe we can use it for the next one.”
“And how did you know that was the name I picked?”
“Well Robert told me, you apparently used him as a sounding board to test the names and you both agreed on that one.”
“That little traitor, he totally tricked me and even bribed a new book out of me to keep his silence.” Jack just laughed well naturedly, standing up and lightly prodding her side to cue her to move just a bit. “That’s my boy, so proud of him.”
Prue just laughed and shook her head before she carefully moved to allow him to sit on the bed with her, one of his arms going around her shoulders and being so careful not to lean to much against her, Andrew looked back at him with dark grey blue eyes and it was really going to take awhile before they found out whose eye color he had inherited, but it didn’t really mattered, it was their child and that was all there was to it. He really wasn’t sure how long they were like this, Prue was actually starting to doze off against his side and Andrew was still apparently quite alert fixing his eyes either on him or his mother, when the door to the suite nearly flew open and Robert dashed in, causing Prue to perk up a bit.
“Woah woah easy there,” It surprised Jack how quickly he reacted to gently stop him from jumping into the bed and jostling his mother, before he just picked him up and settled on the bed with the boy carefully on his lap. “Here we go, now Robert this is your new brother I guess…” Prue snorted a bit at that and he glared just a bit before ignoring her. “His name is Andrew.”
Robert leaned a bit and tilted his head looking at the baby that was staring back at him. “He’s so little; I guess I can’t play with him just yet.”
“No, but you will eventually and before you realize it, he will be helping you and Jack to wreck havoc around the house and my poor nerves,” And she was really preparing herself for it. “God better give me strength for it and for you to don’t try to flood the house again.”
“Mom that only happened once!” Robert pouted and turned to look at him. “Tell her it only happened once and that we have tried again, dad.”
Jack froze just a bit since it still took him by surprise that he was calling him dad now and it still give him a bit of a strange but good feeling, damn, he was a father through and through. “Yes it only happened once and we learned our lesson. Now Rob, did you got a gift for your new brother?”
Robert eagerly nodded and started to ramble about the gift he had brought over for him, but that he had forgotten on the car and had sent Michelle back to fetch it while he made his way here. Prue just listened attentively as always, holding Andrew carefully and he now really looking uninterested on what was happening now and was starting to doze off in the safety of his mother’s arms, meanwhile Jack just sat there, holding Robert and looking over at Prue and Andrew still not fully believing that somehow he must have done something right at some point to be able to have this.
This was truly his second chance, the one that had arrived when Prue had appeared with her down to Earth attitude and honest demeanor, the one he had actually dared to grasp and he didn’t regret a second of having done so.
Characters: Jack Benjamin, Prue Manson
Rating: SFW
Warnings: fluff, slight angst, high chance of OOC and typos so brace yourselves.
Summary: It was just finally the right time for it.
“Now this is just quite ironic, I have yet to decide if it is ironic on a poetic or stupid way.”
Jack had just settled at her side, a small eased smirk on his lips despite that he was feeling anything but at ease at the moment. “Is that so now?”
“You’re so damn lucky I can’t move and deck you right now.” She narrowed her eyes at him, before looking away with a sigh. “I went nearly twelve hours of labor Jack, without any drugs, and mentally, not to mention, happily prepared for a natural birth only to now be here about to have c-section because your kid is apparently as lazy as you can be sometimes and couldn’t get in the right position.”
“Well kid is taking after me already.” He had no trouble following with her attempts at trying to keep at ease in this particular situation, “Maybe next time.”
“…At least I’m conscious this time around.”
Jack just ruefully smiled at that and lightly rested his hand against her hair, he was more than aware what had happened the last time when she had Robert and how important this was for her. Not that he could understand why she will willingly accept going through all the pain without the aid of drugs, she had been at it for twelve hours and had braced, just accepted the pain without much complaint, but then, in a way she had been robbed of the experience the first time before and she had been stubborn enough to want to experience it fully now that she had a second chance to do it again.
It was something that she decided she was going to do the minute she found out she was pregnant and really back then Jack had been more focused on the fact that they were going to have a kid together and all the changes this new presence was going to entail in the rather comfortable and established routines the three of them had created already, it was easy sometimes for him to forget that he wasn’t the heir of the throne anymore and that no child of his was going to have the same weight on its shoulders, to ponder on her words about how she wanted the birth to go.
And really it had all seemed to work perfectly, after the coup that had placed David in the throne and left him in the role as an advisor, they had both figured it was a good time as any to try to see if they actually had a kid (something they had both refused to do while his parents were still around) and it had all just fallen into place, the pregnancy was a relatively calm one and the whole twelve previous hours had been going as expected and normal up till the point the doctor mentioned that the baby was in a breeched position, causing it fetal distress and with Prue showing some signs of hypertension she just couldn’t go through a natural birth.
This whole scenario made him more nervous than he dared to admit, never mind the fact that Prue had assured him that she was going to be fine and that the best medical staff was in here with them, he still had that latent fear of something happening and she couldn’t help but tighten the hold he had on her hand, she looked back at him (and he really envied how serene and calm she looked) and she squeezed back before she winced a bit at the first incision against her skin.
“Hmm, alright it’s not that bad.”
He just took a deep breath; this was going to be just fine. “Well I will dare say it is the wonder of the drugs working its magic now, bet they are more than fine on your book right now.”
“For the love of…shut the hell up, Jack!” She rolled her eyes and scowled when he chuckled at her, well damn him, he wasn’t the one doing this. “So what do you think we’re going to have?”
“Probably a Banshee, though I am hoping for a baby dragon instead.” He winced when she dug her nails against his skin, his hand was still killing him since he hadn’t realized before just how strong she could be. “Sorry damn, but I don’t know, if we had let the doctor tell us the gender we would have saved ourselves a lot of trouble when it came to all the preparations you know.”
“Yes, but what’s the fun in that and just embrace a little mystery in your life, Mr. Benjamin.”
He just muttered something and really, he had embraced quite a lot of mystery in his life already, heck, she actually fell in that category, just being with her was enough to make a lot of people question their involvement but really he wouldn’t have stuck so long with her if he didn’t actually felt something for her or Rob (damn he really was fond of that kid). Sometimes it was really quite disconcerting to realize just how deep that something was, Prue was probably the only woman he actually, well, loved despite where his usual preferences mostly laid on and while she probably wasn’t as flashing or exotic as some of the women he had been seen with in the past she had been the only one that had actually seen him.
All in all, as far as standards procedures went, the whole cesarean didn’t lasted longer than what usually was but for Jack it had nearly felt kind of endless, this was after all Prue and their kid so he excused whatever nerves he might be feeling on that, till it was finally broken and quite effectively by the wails and cries that now filled the room, the relief was just instant and judging by Prue’s face she wasn’t the only one feeling it.
“Oh God, what is it? Jack…what is it?”
Before he could even hope to answer or inquire about it, a nurse, the one that accepted the baby from the doctors, beat him to it. “It’s a boy, a healthy and beautiful baby boy.”
“Well it seems that David was right then, you owe him.” Prue breathlessly chuckled before turning to look at him. “Oh I want to see him, please.”
He smirked just a bit, straining a bit to see what the nurse was doing. “Easy now, they are just cleaning him, we will get to see him in a bit alright, just be patient like you always tell me I should be.”
“…I just had your son, don’t talk back to me.”
Jack couldn’t help but laugh a bit at that, not due to how annoyed she had sounded or the last part of her comment, his mind had only processed the first part of it, trying to wrap his mind over the fact that he had son, over the fact she had thought and considered that he was ready for this, because God knows he didn’t felt ready for it, what was he supposed to do with a damn baby? He knew how to deal with Rob, he was older and that particular stage of his life had been dealt with already, but could he even handle a baby, they were delicate, vulnerable and dependant beings and he still didn’t quite trust himself with one yet and GOD what the hell had he been thinking when he agreed to this?
When the nurse started to walk towards him, with his son now clean and covered in white blankets, he started to feel his heart beating faster than he remembered it and almost instantly he moved away from Prue, knowing that he was about to be handled the bundle and he needed at least a measure of space to be able to accept it.
“And here we go, Mr. Benjamin.” The nurse smiled at him and carefully, so very carefully handed the newborn to him, arranging his arms to properly hold the baby. “Say hello to your daddy.”
Normally he would have just rolled his eyes at that comment, it was after all quite a ridiculous and nonsense comment, but at the current moment he was more focused on the little being he was now holding and all the things he was feeling, the sudden pang of fear at holding him to tight or not tight enough which could end hurting him, coupled with the sudden feelings of wanting to keep him protected and praying, for the first time in a long time, that he didn’t ended doing something that was going to screw up his life, it was just too many things to feel at once and he know understood why it had been such a life changing experience for Prue that first time, this was a new life he was now in charge of protecting, loving and shape into someone that was going to go out in the world and make it a better place.
And really, despite all that sudden realization, it still didn’t changed the fact that he still didn’t felt ready for this but he could, no, he was going to learn and he had Prue around to help him with this, they were going to be a team at this parent deal, and he thought he wasn’t doing a bad job in helping raising Robert and he could do this, they could do this. When he looked up, he found Prue looking at him, looking a bit pale and tired, but with a knowing smile on her face before he moved closer to her so she could see their new son.
“He’s so beautiful.” She smiled and slowly moved one of her hands to lightly brush her fingers against the newborn cheek. “All this work was worth it in the end.”
Jack stared at her for a few seconds, noticing the joy in her eyes at seeing the baby. “Thank you.” She looked at him a bit startled before she smiled at him, the smile he knew was meant only for him. “Now I really hope you had picked the name already and that’s something good, you know.”
She smiled at him before everything just erupted into madness when she passed out and all the machines hooked to her started beeping like crazy, and everything just started to move in slow motion for him, the flurry of motion around him, barely being able to register the sounds about stopping the bleeding, the only thing he could see was Prue, lying so still and pale not answering to his desperate calls, he barely even noticed when someone took the baby out of his arms and then he was being ushered, for not saying pushed out of the room, still calling to her and hoping to get an answer back from her.
And then he was out and she hadn’t said anything, not being sure of what exactly had happened, what had happened to her? They had said it was a simple procedure and that she wasn’t in any type of danger, it was something normal and they had more than enough experience to deal with it, then why…WHY…hadn’t she answered him back when he called her and why they had kicked him out of the room if nothing was wrong!? He wasn’t sure how long he was there, staying in the middle of the hallway and staring at the now closed doors, not even noticing when David had approached him.
“Jonathan!” And that enough to snap him and turn to look at David, and something must have showed on his expression considering the sudden frown on the king’s face, “What happened?”
“I…” He really wasn’t sure what to answer or more like what the proper answer was here, mostly because he wasn’t sure just yet. “…we had a son.”
“Didn’t I tell you it was going to be a boy? Congratulations, and you owe me.” David was sincere, he was really happy for him but something was wrong and he could tell as well. “Jack, what happened?”
“I don’t fucking know, alright!” Jack turned to glare at David, not annoyed that he was being questioned about it, questioned about something he didn’t even understand himself. “One moment we were talking about the kid, what to name it and then…and then Prue just passed out and all the machinery went ballistics and she was so, so still…didn’t even answered me back when I called her and I was kicked out while…they worked on her.”
“Jack…”
“This wasn’t meant to happen! It was supposed to be a simple procedure, for the love of God, she even has the best people in there with her and she still…” He stopped there for he wasn’t sure how to end that sentence; he didn’t want to say it out loud. “…She smiled at me before…”
“Jack, stop it, she’s going to be fine. Prue is a very strong not to mention stubborn woman, so don’t worry it will be just fine.” And God, David hoped that was the case, he refused to believe otherwise since it just wouldn’t be fair. “Now, where is your son? You might as well keep an eye on him for the time being, right?”
“I…I don’t know.”
David just frowned at the answer yet it’s not as if he could blame him, considering what had happened inside the room, Jack had his attention a bit compromised and it would be logical to believe the medical staff had taken a hold of the baby, especially if Jack had gone a bit into kind of hysterics, David looked around for a staff member to inquire about it knowing that right now Jack needed to have his mind on something else or at least be reminded of the child that was now going to need him in case…no, David refused to believe on that as well.
“I guess that right now it’s hard to know after which one of you he will take the most, if the kid is lucky he will take more after her, God forbid he’s cursed with your horrible looks.”
That comment finally cracked a smile from Jack, he had been standing in front of the window with David mostly at his side (he had been absent here and there to either call Michelle to keep her updated and who knows what else) and watching the dozing newborn, if the nurses found it weird or strange they didn’t said anything mostly because it was probably the king and his advisor but that was the last thing on his mind at the moment, right now he was just considering the child comfortably resting and being unaware if his mother was still…
“You’re just jealous, but I wouldn’t mind if he took after her.” Jack crossed his arms over his chest. “I just hope he doesn’t get her stubborn as a mule attitude, she’s enough of a handle with it already.”
“Now I hope he does gets her stubbornness, it’s one of her most attractive features don’t you think?” David just ignored the mild glare he got from him and regarded the child that was labeled as ‘baby boy Benjamin’ for a few seconds. “What are you going to name him?”
“I really don’t know, we agreed that if it was a girl I was going to name her and if it was a boy it was going to be her.” Jack’s fingers tightened around his forearms. “I could name him I suppose, but I better wait for Prue to do it since I don’t want to deal with her if I take this from her.”
“Yeah, I guess that will be wiser.” David easily agreed and took a deep breath. “I have seen her angry only once and that was quite a rather worrisome situation, she actually scared me a bit.”
“That’s because she is damn scary when she’s angry and you really wouldn’t think such a tiny woman could have such a mean right hook.” Another small smirk appeared on Jack’s face, the last time he had seen her punching someone that had said quite a hateful comment at them when they had taken Robert to the park, his eyes fixed on his son then. “But really, don’t listen to us kid, your mother is a wonderful woman, being able to see what few people can, accepting it as it is and still love you despite of it.”
“And your dad loves her as well, right?”
“…even the question is a bit irrelevant and idiotic David, of course I do.” Jack rolled his eyes a bit, since that really should be obvious by now. “Now kid, some people might not think I do, but that’s because some are just plain idiots, and really I think that maybe one day even you will find it suspicious, but know that a lot of things happened in your father life, things that might have left me a bit broken, but your mother stumbled into my life not long afterwards and that damn stubborn woman somehow pieced me back together, I don’t know how to explain it one day I am sure you will get it. Now, I know we’re not going to be as disgustingly adorable as the parents of some other kids you might meet, God forbid that happens, and while what we have might not be perfect it is ours and that’s all that matters in the end.”
“…Why haven’t you married her already? I mean she has managed to make you sound a bit like a dignified sap.”
“She was married before and she was married to the biggest son of a bitch, only second to my father, in this world, one that made her go through things that someone like her shouldn’t have,” Which was why Jack had enjoyed so much to inflict as much pain as he had on the man, when the asshole had decided to show his face around again, though it had not been enough to even start to make up for what he had done to her. “So I don’t think marriage is something that she wants.”
“But is it something you want?” David waited for Jack to answer, but when no answer came like ten minutes later he knew he wasn’t going to get one, though he could already suspect what the answer could possibly be. “You do realize you wouldn’t be like him right?”
“Of course I will never be like that son of a…”
“Then…” David quickly and swiftly interrupted him when he noticed the look a nearby nurse was throwing at them. “…I am sure you are aware that she knows that as well.”
“Mr. Benjamin.” The sudden call caused them to look at the approaching nurse and Jack tensed just a bit the closer she got. “We have just moved your partner to the suite.”
Jack allowed a small wave of relief to wash over him. “And how is she?”
“Miss Manson is fine, it took a bit but they managed to control the bleeding and she should recover just fine from it with enough rest and if she follows all of the doctor’s instructions, she’s sleeping still but you can go and see…”
The nurse didn’t even had a chance to finish whatever else she was supposed to say then when Jack had just heard enough and made his way to the room, leaving David behind to deal with the woman if he wanted to do so, right now he needed to make sure to be at her side and wait for her to wake up and then maybe scold her for scaring the blazing hells out of him, though his thoughts of doing so quickly died when he saw her still pale and sleeping on a bed that now looked too big for her. With a small sigh he moved to sit at the side of her bed, which had been his spot through most of this, and stared at her for long moments, taking the now rather pale complexion that he hoped will get better later on and the steady and now perfect rise and fall of her chest every time she breathing in and out.
Carefully he took a hold of her hand and slowly raised it to light press his lips against her slender fingers, silently thanking everyone and any power up there for allowing her to stay in this world for a bit more.
“Jack…Jack!”
Rather slowly his mind started to kick itself back into a conscious state, he didn’t even know when he had fallen asleep but he clearly had and he really even wasn’t sure how long he had been asleep, when his name was called again, his mind geared faster to realize that Prue was awake and grasping his hand, trying to get his attention, which she quickly got and she still looked so tired, not as pale as before, but she wasn’t as pale as before and that was a good thing, it really was.
“Dammit Prue!” Was the first thing that left his lips, loud enough to startle out David that had been dozing on one of the sofas in the suite that was posing off as a hospital room, “What the hell!? You’re not allowed to do something as stupid as that again!”
“Well sorry, it’s not as if I could help it you know.” And really she could have delivered a more barbed comment but how could she, not when she knew how worried he had been for her. “Can you yell and scold at me later, please? I want to see our baby now.”
“She seems to have her priorities straight, take a page out of her book, Jack.” David stretched and then stood up, walking to the door. “I will go tell the nurses you’re up and ready to see your kid, I might as well call Michelle and bring Robert and your bother over as well.”
Prue beamed a bit just at that. “Thank you David.”
“You’re quite welcome.” David stopped by the door and looked at her for a few seconds. “I really am glad you are alright.”
“Yes, I know. Thank you again.”
Once they were alone a heavy silence fell over them, not knowing exactly what to say to each other right now. While what had happened to her wasn’t exactly serious, it could have easily been and that’s what was making it a bit difficult for them to try to think of something to say since this wasn’t something they could shake off with their usual banter and teasing, this could have potentially been quite serious if things had been differently and they really didn’t wanted to think about it now, especially not now when their son was on their way so she could finally and properly meet him.
When a nurse finally arrived with their baby, the atmosphere in the room seemed to easy around them, rather carefully the older woman reached for the baby boy and with the same gentle care handed the small bundle to Prue, not needing to teach her or show her how to hold him since she already had the ease motions of someone that had been a mother before. Seemingly satisfied, the nurse decided to leave them alone reminding them that should they need anything, they just had to reach for the call button and then left them alone with their son.
Slowly Prue pried the blankets away from the baby, something he might have resented a bit at suddenly being exposed, but she clearly needed to make sure everything was fine with him, counting ten fingers and ten toes. A light giggle, a rather sweet and girlish one, the kind of sound Jack hadn’t heard before, escaped her when their son just whimpered in annoyance and she quite easily hushed him while expertly wrapping the blankets around him again, settling him on his arms, gently rocking him and she looked up at Jack with one of the most beautiful smiles he had ever seen on her face.
And it suddenly hit him while he watched her hold their kid, like a million buckets of cold water dropped on him, that he had and could have lost her. He will have been left in a situation he still wasn’t that well equipped to deal with on his own or more like a situation he didn’t wanted to have on his own, it was quite the startling reality to realize the full impact she had in his life and how he hadn’t even thought about what could happen if he actually did lost her. This wasn’t the same as when Gavin had showed up, that had been a situation he had been able to contain and to control, to get rid of the threat against her but what could have happened after the birth of their son, the unknown danger to her life, was something that no matter how hard he might try he wouldn’t have been able to control or change.
She could have died and how will he have dealt with taking care of a child on his own and Robert, oh, they will have tried to take him away since he wasn’t his father nor an immediate family member, they were still going through the process for him to finally legally adopt him (his parents hadn’t allowed him to do so back then) and without her there and the process incomplete, since it was taking it’s sweet time since they were not married, they would have sent him with her parents (which she hated) or worse Gavin and the mere thought of that was just so disgusting.
Among all those realizations was also the rather acute and piercing one that if she had died, he was sure something he couldn’t even properly name would have been gone with her. He looked at her hand again, watched her gently rock and hum to their son, revealed on the sudden pang of undiluted happiness that suddenly washed and wrapped over him, the kind of happiness that he had rarely if ever felt before.
“Marry me.”
She froze at that and turned to look at him a bit startled. “What?”
“Marry me.”
She just looked at him for a few seconds, before she shook her head with a small smile. “Yeah, okay.”
“See you can’t resist me.” He just smirked when she rolled her eyes and muttered something about being a damn an unromantic bastard, maybe he was but this had worked its purpose and it didn’t made it any less meaningful. “Are you going to tell me what name you picked with him?”
“Oh yes, I guess I didn’t get the chance to do so.” She slowly ran a finger against their son cheek and smiled rather sweetly, before again looking over at him. “His name will be Andrew Joseph Benjamin, what do you think?”
Jack was quiet for a bit and just looked at her for a few seconds, before a small smile appeared on his face. “It sounds just perfect.”
“Thank you.” She giggled again and shifted Andrew better in her arms. “And for what it’s worth I also liked the name you picked, I think Eva Alexandra Benjamin has a nice ring to it, maybe we can use it for the next one.”
“And how did you know that was the name I picked?”
“Well Robert told me, you apparently used him as a sounding board to test the names and you both agreed on that one.”
“That little traitor, he totally tricked me and even bribed a new book out of me to keep his silence.” Jack just laughed well naturedly, standing up and lightly prodding her side to cue her to move just a bit. “That’s my boy, so proud of him.”
Prue just laughed and shook her head before she carefully moved to allow him to sit on the bed with her, one of his arms going around her shoulders and being so careful not to lean to much against her, Andrew looked back at him with dark grey blue eyes and it was really going to take awhile before they found out whose eye color he had inherited, but it didn’t really mattered, it was their child and that was all there was to it. He really wasn’t sure how long they were like this, Prue was actually starting to doze off against his side and Andrew was still apparently quite alert fixing his eyes either on him or his mother, when the door to the suite nearly flew open and Robert dashed in, causing Prue to perk up a bit.
“Woah woah easy there,” It surprised Jack how quickly he reacted to gently stop him from jumping into the bed and jostling his mother, before he just picked him up and settled on the bed with the boy carefully on his lap. “Here we go, now Robert this is your new brother I guess…” Prue snorted a bit at that and he glared just a bit before ignoring her. “His name is Andrew.”
Robert leaned a bit and tilted his head looking at the baby that was staring back at him. “He’s so little; I guess I can’t play with him just yet.”
“No, but you will eventually and before you realize it, he will be helping you and Jack to wreck havoc around the house and my poor nerves,” And she was really preparing herself for it. “God better give me strength for it and for you to don’t try to flood the house again.”
“Mom that only happened once!” Robert pouted and turned to look at him. “Tell her it only happened once and that we have tried again, dad.”
Jack froze just a bit since it still took him by surprise that he was calling him dad now and it still give him a bit of a strange but good feeling, damn, he was a father through and through. “Yes it only happened once and we learned our lesson. Now Rob, did you got a gift for your new brother?”
Robert eagerly nodded and started to ramble about the gift he had brought over for him, but that he had forgotten on the car and had sent Michelle back to fetch it while he made his way here. Prue just listened attentively as always, holding Andrew carefully and he now really looking uninterested on what was happening now and was starting to doze off in the safety of his mother’s arms, meanwhile Jack just sat there, holding Robert and looking over at Prue and Andrew still not fully believing that somehow he must have done something right at some point to be able to have this.
This was truly his second chance, the one that had arrived when Prue had appeared with her down to Earth attitude and honest demeanor, the one he had actually dared to grasp and he didn’t regret a second of having done so.
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LOVED bb. There's a difference.
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hopefully jack here will have no trouble dealing with a new baby in the house hahaha.
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He's got help. lol
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LMAO Sarabi and Mufasa
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Definitely!
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awwww
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heeeeeeee
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Mmmhm
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My fic writing muse hasn't been active in over two years. So we'll see what can be done.
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I love you. But not for that gif. lol
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is this one better...so pleeeeeeeeaaaaaaaase!
so thinking of this as like a Prue few years down the like, with longer and lighter hair haha.no subject
That one is WAY, WAY, WAY better. <333333
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She's VERY pretty
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GAH dammit Gavin...browsing channels and found BOBW, it's close to ending now but OMG you asshole.
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VERY much of an asshole.
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