happy thanksgiving

[notsocommon]

Thanksgiving was not a holiday that Helen really celebrated outside of food and drink with close friends and this year, she'd been with just Will when the labor pains had started up in earnest. She'd ignored them for a while, considering it was common enough this late in pregnancy to have some false labor but when the pain seemed to get sharp and real and the contractions worryingly close, she and Will made the trek to the clinic and luckily found Dr. McCoy, who was happy enough to deliver a baby (for a given description of happy, anyway).

It was only after the hard part was done (and they'd both slept a handful of hours, to boot) that she felt comfortable enough sending Will out to tell everyone the baby had come and felt up to entertaining company.

[[OOC: This is timed anywhere from morning to afternoon on November 23rd in the clinic.]]

Comments

[notsocommon]

"Yes, so long as you're careful. Will you come to get him? I'd rather not get up if I can help it."

There would be the walk back to her hut later, certainly, but that was...later. Nikola could do the bulk of the work for now.

[thedevamper]

"Of course I will be careful, I have to have time to corrupt him after all." Nikola replied with a sly, mischievous grin before sliding up the bed towards Helen. Holding out his arms for Gregory, Nikola very carefully picked him up and even managed to remember to support his head and not hold him out like some sort of unwanted package. "You, young sir are going to make a fine addition to the family."

The vampire race. Nikola liked to plan ahead after all.

[notsocommon]

"He's already a fine addition," Helen said proudly. She'd hear nothing less about her new son.

"Who do you think he favors, Nikola? Will and I were trying to decide earlier and we ended up saying we'd just have to table it until later."

[thedevamper]

"When he can converse I will truly believe that, let's aim for a Nikola as your first word shall we. Ni-ko-la, Ni-ko-la..." Nikola said, holding Gregory close to him which was still slightly unnerving. Nikola touched Gregory's cheek with the back of his finger, smiling a little more honestly at the child name for one of his more dearer friends. "Let's hope he favours you and not dear William. Or he could even favour me, genetics only plays a part in how they grow up and even genetics can be manipulated after all. Wouldn't you like that Gregory? Yes, you would I can tell."

Not that he planned on manipulating Gregory James's genetics. Not yet at least.

[notsocommon]

"If my son looks like you, I think Will's going to kill the both of us," Helen said dryly. "But since I remember precisely the night he was conceived and unless you've somehow managed cloaking abilities, I think he'll look like Will and myself."

She hoped. Somehow, she didn't put anything past Nikola even if it did seem impossible.

[thedevamper]

Nikola smirked, flashing his teeth at Helen as held the small tiny mortal thing. He was no use now but in a few years... perhaps. Nikola always did like the long con.

"Looks are only one part of a person, he's going to be like me. I can tell," Nikola replied, before turning his head to steal a kiss from Helen. He kissed her forehead, almost chastely, for a change. "He will look more like you and if he doesn't well there is always hair dye. When exactly is he going to be able to talk?"

[notsocommon]

"Not for months, Nikola. In spite of popular belief, every baby starts out precisely the same. Even you wouldn't have been talking this early along and I'm certain if your mother were here, she could confirm it for me."

Helen had often wondered what, exactly, Nikola's parents were like considering Nikola was...Nikola.

[thedevamper]

"I doubt it I was her miracle child, the pride of the village." Nikola replied, touching Gregory's soft hair and examining him. He didn't really do anything interesting but he supposed he could see the hormonal appeal. And of course there was always the heir problem, Nikola had always tried to pass his genes on in more interesting ways. "I don't think they knew what to do with me to be honest. Always was advanced for my age. And demanding."

[notsocommon]

"Of course, how could I forget," Helen quipped. She softened slightly, brushing a hand against Nikola's wrist.

"You, like me, were too brilliant for the constraints society wanted to put on you. Gregory is lucky. He can be anyone he wants to be."

[thedevamper]

"And he wants to be an engineer, he wants to work with physics and electricity don't you Gregory?" Nikola said, looking at Gregory fairly adoringly. Not that he liked the child, of course not. Ridiculous notion. "It's strange to think of them, my parents. I left them so long ago, before Oxford, before everything."

[notsocommon]

"I don't even remember my mother," Helen agreed. "She seems so far away, two or three lives ago. Gregory, I hope, won't have such a burden to bear. No, my darling will be completely human."

Of that, Helen was infinitely grateful.

[thedevamper]

"Of course he will," Nikola said in a placating tone, his lips twitching a little as he considered his godchild. Nikola had far greater plans for Gregory than mere mortality. Completely human, ha not if he had his way. "But if he were to become immortal for whatever reason then he would never forget you not even after ten lifetimes."

[notsocommon]

Helen arched a brow. "Considering he's born of a human father and a mother whose immortality is rendered moot by a magical island, I don't think I'm going to be passing anything on to Gregory. Besides, Ashley was normal until they started tampering with her genetics and she was born of John and I. Gregory is going to be perfectly mundane and wonderful because of it."

[thedevamper]

"Of course he will be," Nikola replied in a tone that said he entirely doubted the truth of what he said. Nikola fully intended to give his godchild the best in life and the best meant immortality. "I love how you say that like it's a good thing."

[notsocommon]

"Because it is, Nikola," Helen said, warning creeping into her voice. "You are not experimenting on my child. I won't have it, ever, and if you think about it for more than five seconds I will have you flayed. Painfully slowly. While you're still alive."

Helen pursed her lips a bit. "Consider that, then?"

[thedevamper]

"I love it when you talk dirty to me," Nikola replied, grinning at Helen. His smirk all teeth as he looked wickedly at her at the prospect. "Of course I won't experiment on him."

It was hardly experimenting when he knew what he was doing.

[notsocommon]

"I mean it, Nikola. No testing. No experiments. No modification of any sort. If you so much as lay a finger on that child without my express permission, I'm flaying you. I can likely make a very convincing argument to the Council why I shouldn't be punished severely for it," Helen reminded him.

"That's not even taking into account what John and Will might do to you."

[thedevamper]

"Spoilsport," Nikola replied sulkily, stroking Gregory's hair and smiling fondly at im. "You make it sound like I don't know what I'm doing. Fine, fine, Gregory remains just as he is."