C Trying to Save the City w/ bhdire8

[lxcttrll]

Nick sobbed as Bead pushed down on his belly, pain increasing tenfold at the feeling of the tear. He continued to push with his contractions, trying his best to get the baby out. He let out a surprised whimper at the feeling of the head finally popping out, panting to try to catch his breath. "Is--will he be okay?" Nick gasped, just wanting an ice bath and to hold their baby.

[bhdire8]

Blood was continuously trickling down Nick's otherwise pale thighs, followed by a gush of massive fluids, the head popped out and Brad was curious enough he attempted peeking over the bump.... just the tip of the head was visible and the baby was appearing a tiny bit purple.

The doctor shook her head and held Nick's gaze. "You will play a pivotal role in this, Nick. You wil lhave to push very hard coming next, the shoulders had to be freed..." she said, while she was worried, her voice sounded solid and authoritative. "Brad, you too. Cooperate well to free your child." she muttered and again alerted everyone to push,not having the time to wait for the baby to turn - she herself was tugging on the baby's head, trying to ease his way out. 

[lxcttrll]

Nick wept as the doctor told him that the baby was in danger, pushing when she ordered him to. He could feel everything, the searing pain of the tear, the pushes on his belly, the feeling of the baby's shoulders slowly easing out--while also making the tear worse because he didn't have time to turn. The pain was awful, excruciating, so bad to the point that once Nick felt the baby's shoulders come out, he couldn't hold on anymore and lost consciousness.

Nick had no idea how much time had passed, but when he woke up, he was in an ice bath. His stomach and his opening still hurt, and when he looked at his stomach, there were bruises where Brad had pushed down. Nick sighed weakly, but knew it was an accident--it was a high-stress situation and Brad had superstrength. He was worried about Marcus, hoping that he was okay and the purple coloring was nothing to worry about, just a bit of a false alarm. Nick didn't move, trying to rest before looking over to the bathroom door when it opened.

[bhdire8]

Right from the moment Nick passed out, things were a blur for Brad and the dictor ordered for him ot press hard on Nick's open tear, while the lady herself yanked on the baby to pull him out. It was ugly and after the baby was freed, there was blood everywhere and all Brad could hear was the doctor shouting for him to press on the terrible tear of Nick's harder, while she herself focused on the resuscitating the baby.

He followwd rhe doctor's orders carrying Nick to the ice bath for him to recuperate, until the doctor cried for him again telling him to perform cpr on the baby while she blowed into the tiny chest of the enormous new born. After awhile she took over again and he knew from the increasingly desperate presses that the baby was in dire danger. She finally slowed her movement and looked at Brad with a devastation.

"How about you bring Marcus to spend some time with Nick...." she said, her voice broken, and that was when Brad appeared with the bloodied baby in his hands.

"Nick...." he whispered, coming over holding the newborn. With tears running down his cheeks, he stepped through the pool and helped raised Nick up to a reclined seat, then placed the baby, who was barely breathing, into his arms.

He was unable to utter a single word, but unknown to him, the momemt the baby was placed in the icy water, coming into contact with his daddy, there was changes in his body that quickly revigorated the fragile body.

[lxcttrll]

Nick knew from the moment he saw the look on Brad's face that the baby wasn't okay. Marcus wasn't cleaned or in a diaper or anything, he was still covered in blood and an alarming shade of purple. Nick automatically reached out for his son, tears brimming in his eyes again as the newborn was placed in his arms. He was surprised he had any tears left to cry, but the moment Marcus settled against his chest, he began to sob again.

"Daddy's sorry he wasn't strong enough for you," Nick murmured, kissing Marcus's chubby cheek. Nick began to scoop some of the water in his hand, wanting to wash some of the blood and fluids off of Marcus. He wasn't very concerned about the freezing temperature, thinking the baby wouldn't live very long. Little did he know, it was helping Marcus.

[bhdire8]

Brad came up beside Nick and hugged his 2 greatest love on earth in his arms. he was sobbing as well and holding the newborn too. The 3 connected to form a circle of energy, and finally, there was a light twitch from the baby and f the doctor was here, she'd see some marked improvement on the vitals of the baby.

The pair sobbed over their boy. The new life was working hard and while they hugged and closed their eyes, overwhelmed by sorrow, the baby twitched again, then a feeble cry could be heard.

[lxcttrll]

Nick leaned heavily against Brad, feeling the weak movements of the baby, but thinking they were nothing much. His heart broke at the quiet wail, shushing Marcus and rubbing his back. "It's okay, sweetheart, it's okay," he soothed through his own tears, gently rocking the newborn. "Daddy and Papa are here, it's okay."

[bhdire8]

Brad cried alongside, looking down at the baby, he was seeing more than Nick though. He rubbed Marcus' back and felt the baby was going cold, but far from feeling the tiny life leaving them, the cries sounded stronger over time. the wriggling become a bit stronger, and as he touched Marcu's bum, he could feel another wave of energy filling the baby and...

"Nick... this... DOC! COME RIGHT HERE. MARCUS... MARCUS' IMPORVING!" He yelled, noting the signs, and he couldn't help but become hopeful at the situation again.

[lxcttrll]

Nick swallowed thickly, not wanting to let himself get his hopes up in case this was a false alarm. He held Marcus close, gently cleaning any blood from his face, trying to remember his little boy as much as he could during the time he had. Nick held Marcus closer when the doctor came in, shaking his head. "Please don't take him, not yet," he cried.

[bhdire8]

THe panic was written all over Nick's face and the docotr realised this wouldn't work. She signalled for Brad to sit back down. "Hold your family, boy... " she said, kneeling down beside the tub herslef. "Shh.. Nick, no problem. I'm not taking him away from you.. Brad's also here, so you're safe." she smiled gently at Nick. "I only want to look at the baby's face, can you do that for me?" She said quietly.

Brad, sitting behind Nick, wrapped him up securely and stroke Marcu's head (slightly distorted from the long time he'd spent in Nick's birth canal). He cooed over the baby and overlapped his palm over the pale one of Nick's. "Shh babe, it's ok... look, Marcus... Marcus' a strong kid. He could make it.. just let the doctor take a look at his beuatiful face will you?"

[lxcttrll]

Nick sniffled weakly and nodded, still holding Marcus close, but letting the doctor look at his face. Nick had no idea what was happening, really, he was still exhausted from the birth and his body still hurt, so he was somewhat delirious. "Is he gonna be okay?" Nick asked, his voice tired and whimpery. He didn't know much about babies or the medical field, but all he wanted was his son to be okay. If Marcus lived, they could work everything else out from there.

[bhdire8]

The doctor's face was stillbintense and there wasnt much expression when she was checking the newborn, but what was unmistakable was the baby's whimpers kept on and there were tiny movements now, and finally, after some more check and a few pat on the back, helped by the doctor, there was outright cry....

"B yes, this boy's gonna be alright." She let out a big sigh and finally was all smiles at the new fathers.

[lxcttrll]

"Really?" Nick asked, barely audible over the sound of Marcus' strong cry. Nick couldn't stop himself from crying outright, bringing the baby close and pressing kisses to his face. "Thank you for being so strong, baby, I love you so much," he whispered. He finally let the doctor take Marcus, watching as she cleaned him off, putting him in a diaper and wrapping him in a towel. Marcus' cries quieted down once he was back in Nick's arms, latching on for his first feed.

[bhdire8]

By now Brad had entered the tub as well to hold up the completely exhausted Nick from his reclined position. The icy water remained, so part of the baby bwas immersed in the cold - he was using his inherited power to heal himself, but at the same time, as time passed by , that power exhausted and the baby started acting like a normal nerborn, his lips turned blue and his face looked pale, the cold beginning to catch up on him and the new parents reacted quickly, albeit clumsily, to again wrap theri baby up warm after that first meal.

Brad got up to put the baby inhis cradle, pulling it lcose so Nick could still see it - while he worked on relieving the swollen side of his breast that Marcus hadn't fed from, massaging it softly.

[lxcttrll]

Nick kept his eyes on the baby when Brad pulled the cradle next to the tub, the exhaustion and stress from the past few hours finally catching up to him. He fell into a deep, restful slumber, sleeping for nearly two days straight. His body slowly healed from the traumatic birth, waking when his body deemed it fit. He was still a little sore, but his tear was healed and the bruises from Brad holding him so tightly were gone.

Nick cracked his eyes open to the sight of Brad holding the baby, sitting next to the tub. Nick smiled, reaching out and running his hand over Marcus' light wisps of hair. "You and our boy is the best sight to wake up to. How's he been?" he asked. "Have you been using that helmet to fix the shape of his head?"

[bhdire8]

"Just started using it today.... you've been asleep fro 2 whole days you know. The doctor advised us to let the head heal a little first before fixing in the helmet, just so the change wouldn't be as much of a sudden change. Hello there Marcus... do you want to wake up to meet daddy?" he smiled cooing over the baby. "i've taken off the helmet for a bit... it was a bit heavy and would be a burden to his neck if we were lifting him up." he explained.

"And... i'm afraid Marcus had really lost his ability inherited from you." Brad also declared solemnly as he helped Nick sit up from the ice that had been surrounding him.

[lxcttrll]

"Two days? Haven't slept that long in a while," Nick commented, sitting up and gently taking Marcus into his arms. "I don't even care that he doesn't have that power anymore, he used it when he needed to," he murmured. He felt so terrified when he'd first seen Marcus, the boy looked like he was going to die. Nick settled with Marcus in his arms, smiling at the sleeping newborn.

"Have you told any of your family yet? I know your brother wanted to see him," Nick spoke. He hadn't met many people in Brad's family, but he knew that Brad was close with his family. It made Nick miss his own family, but he knew he couldn't go back to them with the Ice Crawler now part of his identity.

[bhdire8]

"i have told them...and they wouldn't let me off the line until i promised i would let them visit when you woke up and we're prepared for them." Brad scratched his chin, a little bit embarrassed that his family was so overbearing sometimes - especially to him as he was the youngest and always the 'pampered' one.

Noting his sad looks, Brad prompted. 'Do you want to reunite iwth your family? i mean... i'm sure they'd understand. Even though you looked quite different now, it's afterall your family." he offered. "I'm sure they'd accept you - you're still Nick. There's nothing changed other than the power you now possessed."

[lxcttrll]

"Hey, that's alright. I wouldn't expect anything less from them. Just means I need to get out of the bath and get dressed," Nick smiled, looking forward to showing off their little one.

He faltered at the question, though, not sure what to say. "A lot more has changed than just my powers. There's now you and Marcus in my life," he replied, not taking his eyes off of the little boy he already loved so much. "Marcus deserves to know both sides of himself, though..."

[bhdire8]

Brad smiled and cupped Nick's still slightly puffy middle, rather happy to see his boyfriend glow with pride at presenting their baby to the extended family. The sadness came just as quickly, though, when Nikc's family was mentioned.

"I think now could be a good time... i mean, your family couldn't quite get too angry at this little angel right? This little prince was much too adorable to be treated badly... he might be the key to reconciliation, isn't it?" Brad joined in, stroking the chubby cheek of the robust baby. He pulled Nick up from the icy tub as well, drying him and wrapped him in a big, fluffy bathing robe for the time being.