Alas, Babylon [IC - Still Accepting]

[Oran Tarlin]

Nick had felt almost ravenous when the doctors pushed him away. There was an animalistic need to be with her, and admittedly he wasn't quite sure what was happening until he had a hold of Alyssum's hand. He knew his words weren't being heard, he could hardly understand them himself, it was all a bunch of sound and fury that was culminating in one apparantly cosmic moment.

Alyssum's powers were obviously going out of control, and Nick understood. He was torn at the thought of how much pain she was in, he loved her for choosing all this pain for the sake of the children, but he knew it would all be over soon.

The yells, the beeping monitors, the shattering glass, it was all just some odd dull roar. The first baby was crying, oh thank god it didn't have a chord around its neck, that it was crying right away. He urged on Alyssum, who at this point was absolutely tearing into Nick's forearm. The second baby, another cry, Nick had never felt so overjoyed, so useless.

When Alyssums whimpering finally died down, he pressed his head against her shoulder, whispering words he could hardly make out into her ear.

He brushed the hair out of her face, it was really a beautiful thing. He had always thought the moment was horrible, painful, loud, disgusting. It was absolutely unreal.

All Nick really heard was "son."

Dammit all he was crying. He felt so wrong to hold the child, having watched his love do everything while all he had was a strong forearm to scar. But really it was all just so unwarranted an-

Then he looked at the little child, really looked at him. For once in his life, Nick's head wasn't roaring with questions. It wasn't loud, it wasn't busy, it was just, taking it all in.

"Our...our..." He saw himself already in the little boy. There was his chin, there was his eyebrows, he had a cuter nose, Alyssum's, and he had a beautiful mesh of their bone structures. It was like he was not just looking at the little child with his eyes closed, but seeing every moment, forever onward and onward.

He gently rested the child back in Alyssum's arm, gently touching his daughter. Oh she looked like Alyssum, and he'd never been happier. The little child's eyes closed, he wondered how bright it all must have seemed.

Of course, he didn't really know the whole story. Right now he was just in an unheard of bliss. Past? What past? There was only the future now, with these two and his wonderful, wonderful Alyssum.

[SithFaced]

Alyssum watched with a smile as Nick held his son for the first time. On his face was expression of just pure wonder. She could see the love in his eyes for the small little sleeping bundle he held in his arms. She could feel that love too, as she looked down upon her daughter - their daughter.

Alyssum could not help but think that she looked quite like herself. Cradling the small baby in her arm, she looked back up at Nick again, a small tear resting in the corner of her eye. "They're both so beautiful..." she whispered out, looking back down on her little girl.

After a moment, Nick carefully placed the small bundle that was her son into her other arm. He gently touched his daughter for a moment before pulling away. Gazing down on the two sleeping babies, Alyssum couldn't help but smile, a happy tear finding its way down her cheek. "Nick... What are we going to name them?" she asked, looking back up at him again, a feeling of absolute love and joy filling her heart.

She had him, and she had two perfect and beautiful little babies. What more could she ask for?

[Oran Tarlin]

Nick smiled, names, they had names? These wonderful things, what could possibly echo out that really justified it? What sounds could bring justice to their perfection?

"What names come to mind?" He asked, it really was her decision. Compared to her, Nick had simply stood idly by, the scars on his forearm would be nothing compared to the pain Alyssum had to go through.

He wasn't sure what he liked and didn't like. He liked vowels, how they hung in the air, he wasn't sure how he felt about the letter "D." He wasn't sure about a lot of things, something symbolic, something foreign, something relating to their own life experiences?

Of course, Nick wasn't adverse to calling them "Son" or "Daughter" or "Boy" or "Girl" or even just "Baby" for a while, if a name was going to come, it would feel right.

[SithFaced]

"What names come to mind?"

Alyssum looked down upon the two small bundles sleeping in her arms. With a smile, she really studied each one of them, her mind clear. With a small breath, she began to spill out names as she thought of them, all while really looking at the two children in her arms.

"Landon... Zachariah... Mason... Aiden... Lucas... Elijah... Gabriel... Xavier... Wyatt... , " she began, looking down on her son. With a smile, the fit two names together, her smile growing even more. "Mason. Mason Xavier." With the biggest smile that had ever graced Alyssum's face, she looked up at Nick.

"His name is Mason Xavier Summers." Looking down on her little girl, she paused. "And her name..." A million different baby names ran through her head, but she knew that she had to pick the right one.

"...Victoria Alessandra Summers."

Alyssum felt like she had picked the right names. Looking up at Nick, she hoped that he agreed.

Not a second later, one of the nurses came back over and carefully took the sleeping twins from Alyssum's arms. The new mother was reluctant to let them go, but she knew that they needed to make sure that everything was running well enough.

A few moments after that, the doctor that had delivered the babies came back over. "I hope that all is well with you, Miss McAllister, Mr. Summers. But, in accordance with the laws governing the United States, I need a name for both of the twins. Have you yet to pick out names?" He looked expectantly between the two new parents.

Alyssum looked over at Nick questioningly. She had picked out names that she liked, but she didn't know how he felt about them...

[sxxy_pup666]

Kyra, smelling them out, burst into the room quietly. The two babies caught her eye. "Ohmigod! They are adorable!!" she yelled, then covered the bottom half of her face from the out burst, "Sorry." She said quietly. Walking up to the side of the bed, the doctor looking at her like she grew another head. "What?" She snarled at him, not likeing the look. Shaking her head, she looked back down at the twins. "What are the names?" She asked, playing with the little girl's tiny hand.

[Oran Tarlin]

Nick turned triumphantly, "Mason Xavier and Victoria Alessandra" he was absolutely beaming at the thought of it all.

He'd silently counted the fingers and toes, he'd stared at their closed, tired little eyes. They'd been through a lot, but thanks to Willow, and to Babylon, they wouldn't have to face all the problems Nick and Alyssum had. It was a parent's ultimate goal, to create a life that was better than there own.

Nothing could possibly tarnish it.

[SithFaced]

The doctor smiled as he wrote the names down, and with a glance up at the two parents, he made his way into another room, connected to the current room on the far wall. He spent some time in there with the babies, running checks to make sure that everything was okay.

Kyra came bounding into the room just as the doctor was leaving with the babies to check them out. She was a bit loud around them, but they didn't seem bothered by it, and Alyssum couldn't help but laugh. After Kyra played with Victoria's hand for a little bit, the doctor excused himself with the twins, and made his way into the other room.

Alyssum motioned for her to come over to the bed with her. Nick had spoken their names, and she turned to Kyra with a smile. "Aren't they just beautiful?" she asked, as she rested herself back against the pillows behind her head. She laced the fingers of her right hand with Nick's as he stood by her bed, and a smile was thrown in his direction as well.

A little while later, the doctor came out of the room he had been in with the babies. He walked up to the foot of the bed, an unreadable expression on his face. He stood there at the foot of the bed, looking back and forth between the two new parents, before he sighed.

"There are some things I have to talk to you about. As expected, there are mutant abilities in your bloodline, and one of your children seems to have powers." He paused, looking down at the clipboard he held in his hand. "Mason doesn't appear to have any abilities. He just seems rather curious now that he's woken up. But Victoria..." He paused again, stopping his thought process. "You two must understand now that this changes nothing for you. Any help you need in raising your children will be given to you." He looked back and forth between the two, before looking back down at his chart. "Well, your daughter Victoria appears to be blind." He continued to talk right away so the parents didn't have a chance to interrupt him. "She does seem to be able to see though, but myself and the others on staff believe that this is just her power. When any of us moves an object in front of her, her eyes follow it. But from any tests we've run, she's blind. I know that this is a lot to take in, but please realize that this changes nothing for you two. She is healthy in all aspects of the word. Your son is too. You should both be very proud."

He left the clipboard of information on the twins with Alyssum. She clutched the clipboard tightly in her hands, a blank expression on her face, before she broke down crying. She knew that the doctor said that nothing would change for them, and that they should be proud - and god, she was proud of the two beautiful babies in the other room - but she couldn't help but cry. Her beautiful baby girl was blind, and though the doctor said she could 'see' in her own right, her baby girl was still blind.

*****************************************

Headmistress Hunt had been in the room since Alyssum had gone into labor, and it was now that she decided it might be best to leave. Alyssum had just been informed that her baby girl was blind, and she wasn't taking it exactly how the doctor had wanted her to.

With a small sigh, the Headmistress quietly closed the door to the infirmary behind her. She felt it best to leave the two new parents alone for now. She had some business to attend to with a certain genie anyway...

[Oran Tarlin]

Nick's face still had the shadow of a smile. It was like he had forgotten how to make any expression but one of joy, and now this new one sat on his face, inhuman, ill-fitting.

He heard Alyssum cry. "It's okay, it's okay." It was.. it was... was it? He couldn't doubt or Alyssum would doubt.

He couldn't possibly imagine, oh god did she blame herself? She couldn't possibly... but don't say that, maybe she isn't if you bring that up then she might.

Suddenly his head was filled with a thousand nervous thoughts. He pulled himself halfway onto the bed, holding Alyssum tightly, not letting her go.

"Alyssum, it's okay. These are your children, you don't love them any less, they have a great life ahead of them. Don't worry, it's okay. I'm here, we're here, nothing's changed." He sort of lied. Could he even imagine? His daughter would never know color. He could never mention a blue sky or a purple orchid. He couldn't talk about the scary darkness in a ghost story, he couldn't mention the beauty of the stars.

His daughter would never see the stars.

Now he realized why Alyssum had felt such a burden. What would dreams be like? What had happened?

"It's okay. It's okay" He tried as hard as he could to hide his own pain.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ian had changed his outfit a few times, redone his face, his hair. It was very boring all this waiting. Finally he had put on Willow's favorite outfit of Sean's, one she often picked out for him, and loved to see him in. He slipped under the covers of the bed for a rest.

When she walked in, he said, quite suddenly. "I can't help the baby. Don't ask, I can't. There's limitations, and since she was born that way I'm not exactly comfortable trying to change it."

He rested his head on his arms, sighing.

"But you can tell me whatever else you think could be bettered by a wish or two."

[SithFaced]

"...I'm here, we're here, nothing's changed."

Alyssum let herself wrap her arms around Nick as he held her close. He was her rock - he was always strong when she got down in the dumps. He was always the constant in her life. Resting her tear stained face against his chest, she listened to the sound of his heart beating.

He was right, and she knew it. They had each other. And they had the two most beautiful babies in the entire world. And even though her little Victoria was blind, she was still Victoria all the same. Wiping her eyes with the back of her hands, she closed her eyes.

"It's okay. It's okay."

Alyssum wanted to believe that it was okay, but she could even feel the slight strain in Nick's voice as he spoke. Slipping her hand into one of Nick's larger ones, she leaned herself so she could give him a light kiss, before resting her head against his chest once again. After sitting with Nick like that for a little while, happy in the feeling, Alyssum called out for the doctor - she wanted to see them once more.

The doctors brought them both out, but only one at a time - when Alyssum was holding her son Mason, Victoria was in the back sleeping. When Alyssum was holding Victoria, Mason was napping peacefully.

Cradling Victoria in her arms, she watched her little baby girl as she looked around the room. She seemed to register whatever she was seeing, but just from looking at her eyes, Alyssum knew the truth - they were bright blue, but they seemed to have a white glaze in them. She couldn't help but be in awe though - her daughter knew what she was doing as she was doing it.

Letting the small baby grab onto her finger, she smiled down upon her daughter, the feeling of regret from before slowly passing away. By some grace, she could see in her own respect, which was quite a relief for the new mother.

Kissing her baby girl lightly on the head, she handed her back to the doctor, who placed her in the small hospital bassinets, which were now sitting right next to the bed, where both parents could easily see their new children. Comforted by this, Alyssum leaned back against Nick, really feeling for the first time that day how very tired she was.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I can't help the baby. Don't ask, I can't. There's limitations, and since she was born that way I'm not exactly comfortable trying to change it."

Willow was slightly startled by the sound of Ian's voice, but she calmed when she realized who it was. "Don't worry..." she began, as she moved into the room, taking a seat on the bed next to him. "I wasn't going to ask you to change anything. I wouldn't have wanted to be changed because of my gift... or disadvantage, or whatever some call it... I would never ask that of another."

But she listened to him speak, mentioning the wishes. She frowned, a thought passing through her head.

"Its about Sean..." she began, biting her nail nervously. "He hasn't really been around lately. And I just don't know... Well, he hasn't really been here for me... when I... you know... needed him..." Glancing over at him briefly, she realized he was wearing an outfit exactly like the one she loved to see on Sean, and it pulled at her heart to see him in it - she had missed spending time with Sean. She really had...

[Oran Tarlin]

Nick smiled, letting the profoundness in the sterile, medical chemical scented air seep in. He let Alyssum rest against his strong chest. There was an incredible beauty in the moment, and he longed to cherish it. However, he took a deep breath, and it felt like a great weight was lifted and he could breath in the darkness.

He slept willingly into a deep slumber. His forearm, marked by Alyssum's pain-struck grasp, was healed as he slept, as though some outside force was mending him. He felt entirely at peace, safe with his dearest loves, safe behind the strong walls of Babylon, finally, finally safe, truly safe.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ian sighed. He knew and he didn't know. He remembered the last moment he had spent with Sean. It was, heated, to say the least. Ian had come to intervene in an incident with another human and a police officer. The situation had become tight, and it ended in leaving a few innocent humans passed out on the street. He wanted to tell Willow this, he wanted to explain every glorious, gruesome detail, retell and relive it.

The very thought stirred something in him.

He pulled himself up from the bed, walking over to a mirror, examining Willow's distant face in it. She was obviously made uncomfortable by his choice of attire. It was what Willow and Sean spent much of their deepest time in.

"I cannot, really, answer your questions." He said, pondering. "I could summon him here, which may hint to his whereabouts, I could bring you to him, but for whatever reason, I cannot tell you where he is. Something's... fogging that up." He said, as he looked inquisitively into nothingness. It was strange, he couldn't find his brother anywhere.

"I may bring him here, or you there, but that is all. I have no means to contact him otherwise."

[sxxy_pup666]

Kyra was surprised about the news about the baby girl. 'Blind, but not blind. Confusing. I bet she will grow up just fine.' She thought to herself. Sitting down, she watched as Alyssum held her babies one at a time. She fell asleep after awhile. dreaming of carrying the babies on her back when they get a little older. Smiling, Kyra shifted into her wolf form without realizing it.

[Oran Tarlin]

And Ian let out a calm breath. The spores were dying, all at once and one by one they were withering off faster than they could reproduce. The dust simply blew away to the corners of the earth, eaten up by plants, remade into the endless cycle of nature.

Ian's parting gift, a blessing on this place, Babylon, where he had successfully carried his family. His father was lost to him, still in the Ukraine somewhere, and with no love left but for women and wine. Xen was lost to him, with no love left, in fact, he no longer saw anything human in her. So he cut her off, and cast a light on Babylon that his two brothers might be fertile, happy, and above all, safe.

He saw his nephews, they were babies, now children, now adolescents, he saw them all at once and not at all, he placed the little bottle of his in a dusty corner of a dusty storage room, behind one of the support beams of the house. And he let his power simply melt into Babylon, and give everything there new life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nick awoke to feeling so unnaturally comfortable, but nearly falling off the small hospital bed. Alyssum slept serenely beside him, fully deserving that sleep. He got up carefully, and walked over to the baskets holding his sleeping children.

He was young, but he was humbled. It was all true, everything they said was true, looking at a child was too wonderful to imagine, and oh to look at your own.

He laid a hand over his heart, beating like it just found out it could, he saw the marks on his forearm, and it felt like he could see his children growing up, felt their giggling in the air, smelled their joys and sorrows, truly heard their youthful demeanors.

It was a moment of silence to begin a noisy life, a moment of silence to take in just how lucky he really was.

[sxxy_pup666]

Kyra wimpered, her dream turning into a nightmare. She was running from someone, her wolf form injered. In the real world, her legs were moveing franticly, like she was running while laying down. Whimpering again, Kyra's legs moved in a fast pace, her lips pulled over her sharp teeth in a silent snarl.

In her dream she was facing her mother, the large white wolf infront of her was growling ferocially. Another silent snarl, Kyra fled from the large wolf. Again, her legs were moving franticly as she ran laying down.

[SithFaced]

((Pardon my lack of existence. I just got through a relatively rough patch with my now ex-boyfriend. :/ So yeah. Oh, and Pup, can you text me again from your new number? I accidentally deleted that message before I saved it >.>;; heh *sweatdrop*))

Alyssum did not get to sleep for too terribly long - her body decided that sleep wasn't something that she needed all that much at the moment. Groggily, she sat up from the hospital bed, immediately noticing that Nick was no longer in the bed next to her. Her eyes searched the room only momentarily before she spotted him standing over the small bassinets that held Mason and Victoria. A small smile crept its way onto her face at the very sight of it.

But her eyes were soon pulled towards Kyra, who was laying on one of the chairs in the small hospital room. She had transformed herself into her wolf form, and it appeared as if she was having a sort of nightmare. A small growl escaped her throat every so often, and her legs would move a bit, almost as if she were running. It sort of worried Alyssum, so she called out to her friend just to wake her up.

TIMESKIP
(This time skip is only moving the story forward by about two days)

Alyssum milled about her room in Babylon, a happy smile on her face. She had just finished tucking away all the babies clothes and supplies, making sure that each and every thing had a place of its own. The two small twins were fast asleep in their small cradles not more than a few feet away from Alyssum's own bed. She had been allowed to bring them back with her to her room not more than a few days after she had given birth to them, and she was thrilled. This meant that she could really finally start her new life with Nick, Mason, and Victoria. A big smile found itself just plastered all over her face at the mere thought of it all.

Thats when Mason's crying rang out in the air. With a small sigh, the blond made her way over to the cradle her son was laying in, and gazed down on him. He was crying, and she just had a gut feeling it was because he was hungry. So, she picked his small frame up in her arms, and brought him over to her bed with her, where she immediately sat herself down, and began to breast feed the small child. Apparently, her gut feeling had been right, because almost as soon as he was finished, he was happy again. Satisfied, she straightened herself out, and cradled her son in her arms, humming things to him as she lay back slightly against the beds headboard. He just gazed up at her, a look on his face that she couldn't quite place. She just chalked it all up to curiosity. He was, after all, a newborn.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Willow lay in bed, her strength finally back with her. She'd had a hard couple of days the past few days, but she felt like she was finally strong enough to resume her duties as Headmistress of Babylon once more.

Making her way from her bedroom to her office, Willow checked in on the emails she had been having between herself and Kyra's father. She had located the man, and he had agreed to come out to see his daughter. She was a bit hesitant about the whole meeting herself, as she didn't really know him, and she felt like Kyra really didn't know him either. But he was, after all, her father. "And what right do I have to deny her the chance to see her father?" Willow questioned herself as she checked her computer.

With a smile, she closed her email down as she read the last one from Kyra's father. He was on the way to Babylon this very minute, and he expected to be there within the hour.

[sxxy_pup666]

Kyra woke up in her own bed, her clothes were thrown all around her, 'Must have changed while I was sleeping.' She thought shrugging her shulders, it wasn't uncommon. If she was dreaming she was a wolf then she shifted into her wolf form. Standing from her bed she went to her closet and chose a peasant blouse that was green tie dye, under the bust it turned black and skin tight, a medium sized belt accented her waist, skinny jeans underneth her blouse, and black heals that were covered slightly by the jeans.

Walking out of her room her heals clicking with the floor she wondered where Alyssum was. Walking towards her room, she knocked on the door. "Alyssum, it's Kyra. I was wondering if you wanted to hang out."

[Oran Tarlin]

Nick had begun spending his morning ritual out on the balcony. It was summer now, and the weather was absolutely gorgeous. But mostly, he wanted to make sure any collatoral damage was kept far away from Alyssum and the kids.

Every morning he got up, changed into just some shorts, stepped outside, and worked out the excess energy he had built up over the night. Vigorous work outs, and a bit of sculpture, had usually been the case, though now Nick had taken to using his power to trimming hedges and pulling out weeds. He had become quite proficient with his mutation, and the gardens of Babylon had never looked better.

Nick pulled himself up on a railing, looking up at the window that looked into Alyssum's room. He pulled a little box out of his pocket, opening it slowly.

Now that the craziness had finally settled down, he felt it only right to try and make it official. He looked down at the gem-less ring in the box, and with one more absent minded look at the window, closed it and put it back in his pocket, walking back inside to shower and put on some clothes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sean woke up late, he had been spending later and later nights beside Willow, tending to her, worrying about her, and usually apologizing. It had taken days, and finally he could get some substantial sleep. He groggily arose, feeling his face still hot, red, and stung with the days before.

He took a deep breath, knowing now that the wounds were cut as deep as they could go, they could only heal now, and he hoped, desperately, that the scars would fade.

[SithFaced]

Alyssum glanced over at the door upon hearing a knock. Kyra's voice soon rang out from the other side: "Alyssum, its Kyra. I was wondering if you wanted to hang out."

Standing from the bed, Alyssum tidied up her appearance while balancing her son in her arm, before making her way over to the door. Opening it up, she placed the newborn baby against her torso, so his head was resting on her shoulder. He was asleep once again.

"Hey Kyra, come in." Alyssum stepped back to allow room for her friend to step into the room. She made her way over to a high backed relaxing chair where she sat herself down at, as she held her son lovingly. Smiling a bit at the girl, she shook her head slightly. "I'd love to hang out, but unless you don't mind hanging out in my room with the chance that I might have to tend to Victoria or Mason, then I don't think I can. If you don't mind though, we can hang out for a bit here."

[sxxy_pup666]

Kyra smiled and walked into the room, noticing her baby boy resting in her arms. "Of course I dont mind. I love my neice and nephew. Hi Mason." Kyra said, rubbing Mason's little head. Then walked over to Victoria's bed, "Hi Vicky." Kyra said, lifting the sleepy baby up into her arms, craddling the head.