OOC: I'm late - this post is set closer to March or early April BIC:
Ray had checked herself in to the hospital wing, complaining that she didn't feel like she needed to pee but somehow she just kept peeing. Welp, turns out that's a bit like how it is when your water breaks.
Three hours and a real crappy time later and a tiny baby boy had entered the world. Ray was grateful that Billy had been summoned for the event, although she wasn't sure she could ever live down the view that must be to watch someone give birth.
Now, sitting quietly with her new baby boy, her son, with a pile of books on her bedside table ready to be studied... the world felt as small as the baby and the baby felt as big as the world. Everything, every square inch of the universe, was contained in his perfect dimples, dark grey eyes, and curling red hair. It was auburn, darker than Billy's and more red than Ray's natural mousy brown.
It felt weird to have a piece of herself on the outside of her body now and her arms yearned to hold him, to feel his kicks against her skin the way she had not so long ago, but she also felt free somehow too. Like her body had served its purpose and now she was barely even attached to it herself, let alone letting this little creature be attached to her still. She'd opted for formula from the getgo, entirely squicked out by the idea of nursing a baby, and was glad she had; she'd gotten a nap nearly as soon as the sweet little thing had arrived.
Once they'd finished with the clean up and adrenaline come down of giving birth, Ray had felt like she just needed a minute and had asked Billy to go get her some food and a blanket that smelled more familiar than the sterile hospital wing ones. Both things could, of course, be brought to them, but she suspected maybe Billy needed a moment to himself just as much as she did. Of course, there was a decent chance he'd be yelling about his new son through the halls of Sonora but that was a risk she was willing to take. There was no hiding this and she didn't want to anymore; her son was not a crime, even if her own reckless choices had been a factor in bringing him into the world.
"Hi, baby boy," she cooed very softly, still weak. She reached a finger out to her son's palm and watched his fingers close around it. It was an insinct she'd read about, but it felt different to experience it in real life. It was odd; all at once, this baby was the most important thing in the world to her, and a complete stranger. She loved him so dearly as a concept but she didn't yet know how to love him as a person. "I'm your mom," she said, realizing she hadn't introduced herself. "My name is Ray, well, Reighleigh, but you can call me mom. Or mama? I don't actually know. Mom, mama, mommy... there's lots of options. I'll let you pick."
Billy appeared then and she looked up with a tired, sweaty smile.
"Thank you," she rasped. "I love you, by the way. In case you didn't already know that. And I love our sweet baby Cyrus," she said, shifting back into a natural cooing tone as she addressed her baby. "Do you want to be dad or papa? Or something else?" she added, again addressing Billy.
22Reighleigh Mae ThornMom and Dad or...? [tag Billy]152515
There were few things on Billy's mind, which wasn't unusual. He'd never considered himself a great thinker, or one to try to figure out more than whatever was directly in front of him. At this point, he had been given the task of getting things for Ray, and after that ordeal that she'd been through 'cause of him, he was more than happy to do whatever she wanted.
He'd seen plenty of critters giving birth,but that had been his first person. And it had been Ray, Ray and Cyrus. It had been a very different experience. He'd been there with her through it all doing whatever he needed to do, and in the end, everything was good.
The blanket was first on the list, and tge trickiest. She wanted something 'more familiar' which meant one of hers, from her room. Which he couldn't get to, he tries a time or two just to make sure, no luck. That occurred to him again as being a bigger problem than it was at the moment. He was supposed to help take care of Cyrus now, and he couldn't do that from the boys dorm if they were both in the girl's side… or would Cyrus be with him 'cause he was a boy and wasn't allowed on the girl's side? He was pretty sure babies didn't count, but…
He scrawled a quick note to Professor Carter-Xavier and shoved it under her office door. 'Ray in Hospital Wing, baby born, need to figure out sleeping living arrangements' . With that done he raced to his own room and rummaged around for a few minutes until he dug out what he was pretty sure he had packed. The blanket he'd taken with him on his journey to meet her over the summer. She might recognize it.
From there he raced off to the kitchens. This was good practice, he thought. He was going to have to provide for them good. It was good he was graduating and then…? The statement that had always followed that was 'set off and explore the world', but now… that wasn't going to work, was it? He couldn't run off and let them behind, and they couldn't join him on such an adventure, at least not yet. He actually did have resources to support them, but did that mean they'd be stuck living up on the mountain forever?
It was too much for his brain to process at the moment, as it was the last and every other time it had come up in his train of thought. So, as usual he sent it along its merry way to worry about later. Right now he was on a quest for food.
The kitchen folks had been unreasonable. He had gone in demanding all of Ray's favorite things, along with some of those odd things she'd been eating lately. He got some of it, but they mainly had given him a sandwich or two.
His tasks completed, he raced back to the hospital wing with his treasures in hand. Ray was waiting and smiling and beautifully radiant as always. Cyrus looked happy as well with his ma. He couldn't help but smile as he offered the blanket and food to Ray. "Sorry," he apologized, "I couldn't get one of your blankets, hopefully this will be ok." He planted a light kiss on her forehead. He decided against telling her about the note to Isis, she had plenty to worry about as it was and maybe their HoH would come visit and they could then work that stuff out.
"I love you as well, and Cyrus too." He grinned at his son who seemed to only have eyes for his mother at the moment. He couldn't blame the kid. He had a kid. The thought hit him again, hard. This wasn't some potential possibility in the future. He actually had a kid, a child, he was… then Ray's question cut right into the thought. "Umm.." he stammered and scratched the back of his neck. "I dunno, my pa was always just 'pa'. But that's him, so maybe I ought to be different? Dad maybe? What are you going with?"
That question triggered another thought in his head. He'd been ready all year, but it'd never seemed quite right. It probably never would be, so now was as good s time as any. "For that matter," his mouth started talking while his hands began searching his pockets, "Umm.. what should I call you? Girlfriend? Mother of my son? Or…?" Dangnabit, where…? There! Archie had it as always, for safe keeping. He pulled out the old, antique ring that Ulrich had given him for just such an occasion, with much nervousness. "Wife?"