Happy Birthday To You [Open]

[theboywhowaits]

It had been a few hours since he had almost cautiously entered the room the young comatose woman had been in to find a quietly wiggling baby, tangled in medical cords that had formally been keeping her alive. She hadn't been crying, tiny hands waving quietly in front of her face, each gesture making her pause in confusion, as though her fingers were an alien thing not connected to her body.

He hadn't been sure if he should sigh in relief or feel more worried. She was moving under her own power, for the first time she was alive and not just existing. She was a baby, it had worked. But she wasn't crying. Which could mean any number of things, most of them not good and only a few of them tolerable. It could never be simple, could it?

She had been small in his arms when he picked her up, smaller than Conner had been a few hours ago, lighter than she should have been, he'd known that much.

It had taken hours to check for and repair any damage done to her. Tirelessly matching Mei-Xing's scans with the scans of the child until everything was as it should be. His head was throbbing; a low, constant ache that made him want to sleep for the next three days.

But she was cooing, soft and quiet in his arms, latching on hungrily to a bottle when it was offered and she seemed to have no problems eating. Everything matched. Just a normal, non-human baby. A beautiful baby girl. "Shhh...."

It had worked. Somehow, despite everything, it had worked.


ooc: Anything happening in this thread is assumed to happen after Amy's, no matter the order people tag in. The baby's name will end up being Molly.

Comments

[so-pregnable.livejournal.com]

He'd been looking for Luthor. Special Weapons was a possibility so he'd been on his way there, when he popped his head into Medbay and saw Rory with... Rory with...

"Whoa, you and your girlfriend work fast," was the flippant jibe he tossed Rory's way.

Who was she?

And why--why did she have pointy-ears?

And...wait, where was Mei-Xing's clone?

"Rory...?"

[theboywhowaits]

He shifted the baby, smiling tiredly at the doorway. "I wish. No, no. This is Molly. We had the clock, there wasn't anything really wrong with her. Nothing that a normal childhood could fix, nothing that hadn't been done to her. So we took a chance." He smiled down at the baby. "It panned out. Isn't she beautiful? Stacy helped me check everything that could be wrong with her. She's a bit premature, but developmentally sound and perfectly on target. Also hungry, I hope the formula tastes better than it smells."

The baby was focused on the bottle, not seeming to mind new people in her area. More interested in eating than being gaped at.

[so-pregnable.livejournal.com]

"Mei-Xing's clone."

[carrieswar.livejournal.com]

"Never imagine we'd hear something like the cry of a baby on this ship, huh?" Jr. spoke casually when he had the opportunity to address Kon once he came close enough, smiling with a glance back to Rory and the baby.

[thunder-ace.livejournal.com]

When Nanoha had filled her in on the things that happened while she was a child, it was understandable that the thing she wanted to know most about was the test surrounding Mei-Xing's clone. It was one of the few things she had dealt with on this ship that truly hit home for her; she still thought about the poor girl sometimes, still wondered if there was anything they could have done...

So when she saw Rory's post on the comms, she could barely contain her joy. She typed in a few quick replies, even as she was practically running out of her apartment. Thanks to her natural speed, she was there in no time at all, so she took a moment to pause, catch her breath, and scan the Med Bay.

It didn't take long to spot them; she didn't know Rory, but the infant in his arms was an obvious giveaway. She kept her distance for now, letting them have their moment.

[theboywhowaits]

Rory made a soothing noise, stroking the baby's cheek with a finger, not even noticing her for a moment. Most of his attention was focused on the baby cradled in his arms.

He startled a bit when he finally realized they were being watched, tucking Molly closer, automatically using his body like a shield. He didn't feel threatened, but he was exhausted. "Ah, hello. Can I help you? Are you injured?" They had exchanged a few short messages, but he'd never seen her before.

[carrieswar.livejournal.com]

Sometime after Fate was more or less done speaking with Rory and getting to know little Molly was when Jr. happened on in. But coming in knowing nothing more than 'oh, a baby. Wait, what?', his expression was easily readable as just that. Especially since the clock incident was over now.

"I ... never thought I'd see an actual baby here." Though sounding confused, there was also a touch of curiosity, and maybe even some worry in there. As lucky as the circumstances were for a baby like her to get a chance at life, this was certainly ... not the safest place and time in the omniverse with Ohm and weird clocks and villages that kidnapped you when you tried to help them out with something.

[carrieswar.livejournal.com]

Kids Jr. was used to-- hell, people who met him saw him as one at first glance -- once they spoke to him and noticed he spoke like a man who'd been alive for a long time and saw it all. But babies? He had to double take when he passed by, leaning backward and staring into the room to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him.

[theboywhowaits]

Rory blinked, forehead furrowing for a moment as he watched the adolescent hovering in the doorway. For a moment he'd thought-well, kids coming into medical looking confused hadn't been a good thing for the past few weeks. It was safe to leave it at that. "Can I help you? Are you injured?" He was still technically on shift. He thought, anyway. Shifts had been a little haywire with everything going on.

[hullo-sweetie.livejournal.com]

Oh Rory, you have no idea what seeing this has done to River. She looks pale as a ghost and she can't seem to move. Her eyes are uncharacteristically wide and locked onto the scene taking place right infront of her. Rory. A baby. Rory holding a baby. This....must have been what he looked like when he'd held her. All those long years ago. Even being an evolve human-timelord, her memory didn't stretch back quite that far.

It must seem odd, that she's staring for so very long. Barely breathing.

[theboywhowaits]

Rory was so tired he didn't even notice her at first, attention focused on the tiny baby in his arms. She likely had several moments to study the man and baby quietly regarding each other. "Oh, River. I didn't hear you come in." He smiled, face tired. "Is something wrong?" She looked off, and for a woman as in control of herself as River Song, her looking off meant something was deeply wrong on a universal level. He settled Molly carefully, taking her empty bottle away and rubbing her back as he stepped forward, eyes quietly concerned. "Are you sick?"

[itslikeimhappy.livejournal.com]

She had rushed over as quickly as she could. There wasn't anything to worry over at the moment, not necessarily, but Rory had stated wanting to introduce her to someone, and Amy didn't want to keep them waiting any longer than they had to. Her last guess, though, was that the mentioned 'someone' was a baby girl, gurgling away in Rory's arms.

For a few seconds, Amy lingered by the door, watching Rory and the baby with careful, questioning eyes. When she did finally step inside, though, she moved up to Rory's side quickly, almost excitedly. "Who's this, then?"

[theboywhowaits]

"There was a coma patient. A young woman. She'd been cloned to be an organ donor and the Council took her away so the person couldn't use her for that." His voice was soft, shifting to brush his shoulder against her's. "They'd done something to her head though, so she couldn't wake up, even once they'd saved her from that. We had the clock and the ability to rewind time. I talked with Magical, and they agreed we should give her the chance. Try aging her backwards to before the damage happened and cross our fingers."

He turned, offering Amy the baby. "She doesn't have a name yet. She wasn't made to be a person. Not even a weapon. Just a thing. But she's got a chance now. Loads of people offered to take her." He met her eyes, quietly questioning, lips quirking into a quiet smile. "What do you say, Ms. Pond? Ready to make a proper go at it? It won't be a dream this time."

[bonnypiperlad]

Now that Jamie was himself again, he's gone looking for a few people to see how they're doing. One of them happens to be Rory, and likely the best place to find him was Medbay.

Unaware of the most recent happenings, however, his greeting starts out in his usual not-quite-so-quiet sort of way. "Rory? Hey, Rory, are ye ab..."

One look at the small bundle currently held in his friend's arms, however, and the Scot actually shut up, caught completely off guard. Much more quietly, he walks over to the pair, eyes darting from the baby up to Rory.

"Who's this?"

[theboywhowaits]

"You look better." That was automatic, scanning Jamie up and down for any sign of the various injuries the man had suffered while he had been deaging. "Any lingering effects?"

He rocked the baby, smiling. "This is Molly, Amy and I are adopting her."

[couldputitback]

Faiza stuck her head in, glancing around. "Oh, Rory. There you are. I was wondering where..." She trailed off as she saw the bundle he held and looked...a bit in awe. "Oh. Oh, does this mean it worked?"

Medical was a small department and Rory had mentioned it to her.

[theboywhowaits]

He smiled, as exhausted as he was, this was a good thing. A pure, untouchable good thing and there had been few enough of those lately. Everything kept coming with prices, and while this wouldn't make anything easier for anyone, they had saved one person. One person who had needed their help. "It worked, Doctor. Look at her. Isn't she amazing? Stacy scanned her against Mei Xing's file and fixed the rest of the harm they had done, she's just a normal baby." The look of excitement on his face was mixed with pure relief, baby cradled gently in his arms.

[makeherblue]

Babies! The Doctor as a rule generally liked babies in all shapes, colors, size of horns and while it did get a bit dodgy with two heads and only one stuffed animal, he thought in the end that babies were cute. Adorable. Adorable and cute and even if they could be noisy drooly things, he still rather loved them.

Even though babies seemed to have a habit of coughing up on his coats. You could say he hadn't properly broken in a coat until he had to clean baby sick off it.

So far the Doctor in this new regeneration had somehow managed not to get baby sick on it, although given the presence of this baby onboard, that could easily change. The Doctor fussed with his tweed jacket outside the medbay, fiddling with the lapels and then tweaking his bowtie before running a hand through his hair. His fringe flopped back into his eyes and he has a brief moment to wonder if maybe it was a wind sheer thing or there was a perfectly reasonable explanation. Giving up on his hair, he stepped through the doors into medbay, his boots adjusting to that slight give Stacy's floors had. After talking with Analog, he was more than happy to welcome a new life into the universe -- even one that would seem less than a pin prick in Time to a Time Dragon, a brief flash and then they were gone.

To the Doctor, this new life was everything.

He materialized next to Rory, peering over his shoulder. "You didn't do her justice, Rory. She's beautiful!"

[theboywhowaits]

Rory hadn't been expecting the Doctor. Which, in retrospect, was likely a bad idea. He'd actually been half asleep, baby tucked securely in his arms, fast asleep and comfortably settled. She startled awake when he did, little hands waving around in near silent distress. He almost wished she'd cry, make some noise to show him she was involved. But she had been very quiet, for the most part. Still reacting though, still startling and looking and reacting. So she was there, she was paying attention, she just hadn't started verbalizing yet. He'd probably regret it, once she finally started crying. But for the moment, he wanted to hear it.

"Doctor, knock next time? Or cough, maybe. A little warning, anything. Dance a little jig. I'm holding a baby." But he smiled, tired and relaxing back against his seat. "I don't think I have the words to do her justice, Doctor. Not in this universe or any other. But she is beautiful, isn't she? Amy and I are calling her Molly."

[aaaiiiieeeeeeeeeeeee]

Miranda remembered the clone, back when she was an adult. A empty, damaged adult, who's fate had always Miranda feel both sad and fearful. The idea of creating a person, and then...taking away everything about them that made them a person, was horrible.

But she knew that Rory had wanted to try and save her, to let her grow up normally. So when she finally had a calm moment, she'd sought out Rory, so she could find out whether his plan had worked.

She peeked into the room, her eyes widening when she found Rory there, with the small bundle in his arms. "It worked!" she exclaimed, coming over to get a closer look at the baby. "Oh, she's so tiny..."

[theboywhowaits]

"She stopped a bit smaller than I would have liked, but everything is healthy." He beamed, angling his body to best show off the infant. "It worked. Say hello to Molly. Isn't she lovely?"

He had a feeling that everything happening had helped Miranda out, even if only a little. Confidence took quite awhile to build. But she was trying, it made him happy.

[ghost-bait.livejournal.com]

"She's cute," Miku announced herself. She wasn't in Medbay very often in the helping aspect any more, not when there was plenty of actual staff that didn't need her candystriping. Nowadays, she was just the quiet girl that sometimes came in with Steve Burnside when he had his treatments done, keeping him company until the treatments were over.

"I'm sorry for eavesdropping, but I'd heard that... that there was a baby aboard now, and I wanted to see her."

[theboywhowaits]

"Ah, thank you. She is, isn't she? Afraid I can't take much credit there. " He smiled, settling his daughter better and nodding in greeting. "Yes, there is, ah, as you can see. Suppose that was a needless conformation. Her name is Molly. I'm Rory. Have I seen you around?" She looked familiar, but he didn't think he had spoken with her. Just seen her.

[battorch]

Tim still felt guilty over what had happened, but at least he'd had his chance to talk to and explain to Conner-- he'd deserved to know, and it was something he could handle. Tim himself was biding his time, watching more closely again...

But there was something else he felt that he needed to do, now, now that it was all over. So that's why he headed to Medical next, seeking out someone in particular, to talk to him. Someone he found-- but not alone.

He was actually a bit surprised, having not expected to see a baby with Rory, watching for a brief second from the doorway. His first thoughts were ones of worry, assuming worst case scenarios of why there was an unfamiliar child with him. "Sorry," he said after a moment, breaking his own silence, though his voice was softer than normal.

[theboywhowaits]

Rory crooned to the baby girl, not noticing Tim at first.

She was a good thing to focus on, a tiny bright spot of pure love and light after everything that had happened.

He rocked her, watching tiny fists open and close against her blanket, tiny face relaxed, but eyes attentive. Aware. She was watching him even as he watched her.

"What? Oh. Tim. Sorry, didn't hear you come in." His own voice was soft, hand smoothing Molly's hair back from her face. "Everything alright?"