Running Away ((Blair1216&&Lady_Squall_Lionheart))

Vera looked at Jason with wide eyes, watching him fight to get away from Carter all the way up until he was pulled from the room. Chad seemed unaffected, however, concentrating on Vera and the baby. He knew that Jason was just trying to protect the woman, who's screams were confusing his instincts. Not only that, but he wasn't too worried. Carter was quite strong, and he was just as protective of a Chad as Jason was of Vera. Carter was the first of the mutts that Jason rescued, and he did it when Carter was only fourteen years old. Because of that, Carter was forever grateful.

Looking up at Schuyler, Vera nodded and took his hand, squeezing each time she pushed. His presence was comforting, but that didn't help the fact that she was in a terrible amount of pain, and her lover was losing his mind downstairs...

Two hours later, Vera's screams finally ceased, and a baby's soft cries could be heard. Chad smiled as he cleaned the child up and handed it to Vera before going about cleaning the mess around them, replacing her blankets with clean ones. He turned to Schuyler and sighed with relief, happy that things ended up going smoothly. "Go tell Jason they are both fine," he murmured, "Make sure he's calm before allowing him upstairs."

Vera was in awe of the child in her arms. The beautiful seven pound baby had a thick sweep of her mother's natural blond hair, and the same color eyes as Jason. It apparently was true - whatever DNA she shared with Vera's brother in law, it was replaced with Jason's DNA, and it was clear in the baby's appearance... And Good Lord, Vera was sure that she was a little angel. How else could a baby be this gorgeous?

Leaning down, she kissed the baby and wrapped her up in a warm blanket.

Schulyer nodded as he slipped out of the room hesitating at the top of the stairs before walking down. Looking amused at the sight of a exhausted jason slumped over the table with carter sittiing nearby to stop him if he tried to get away again."they're both fine jason. Are you okay?"he man asked stopping at the door to see how the man would react swalloeing his laughter as the man stumbled to his feet.

"Need to see them...I'm okay..."he said sleepily stumbling and would have fallen if schulyer hadn't caught him. Between him and carter they got him upstairs pausing at the door."vera?can he come in?is that okay?"schulyer called wanting the woman to feel safe,even if he knew jason wouldn't her mother and child,he wanted to do what she wanted even if it meant fihting a exhausted man into the ground again

Vera looked up and smiled at Jason, seeing that he was clearly tired (much like herself) but calm. Gently, she cuddled the small baby and nodded, then looked back down at her daughter with an expression of absolutely awe.

"Let him in," she said, "He's okay. He'll be just fine. Come look at her, Jason."

It was clear in her voice that there was no doubt in her mind that she could trust Jason around the baby. It seemed that she trusted him more than he trusted himself. Anyone who was that protective of her while she was pregnant would be safe, she thought.

Gently, she tilted the baby upward so he could see her cute little chubby cheeks and pouty lips. "Isn't she beautiful?" she whispered, swallowing hard, "You want to hold her?"

Jason smiled a little as he looked at her, moving over to sit on the bed next to her, “She’s beautiful. So pretty.”he muttered gently touching her chubby small hand, closing the small fist in his as he felt a slight chill-real or imagined- and trying to warm her. Looking startled at vera’s words.”I’ve never held a baby…”he said looking worried before gently taking the baby from her.

Looking down at the baby he glanced up at vera, tilting his head a little. “What did you want to name here?”he said smiling softly.

Vera rested her head on his shoulder, looking down at him holding the sweet baby girl. He was a natural, and he didn't even realize it. The infant, swaddled and snuggled into two blankets to insure warmth, looked content in her father's arms, there was no denying that. "I don't know," she admitted, biting her lip, "She's just so perfect, Jason, I can't even think of a name that is good enough for her." At that, the baby's eyes opened to look up at Jason, and they were indentical to his. "What do you think?"

Chad chuckled as he listened to the two of them, shaking his head. "Jason, we will be downstairs," he said, nodding to the other men. "We'll order a pizza and stay around for a while incase you need it."

Vera looked up and smiled. "That would be great."

Jason made a humming noise at the sound of the other’s words, to enticed with his daughter to be distracted from her. “Food sounds good.”He muttered, though it was obvious he wasn’t really paying attention, before smiling a little at vera, “Gwen.”he said after a moment, biting his lip. Looking concerned as he thought about it, gently touching the babe’s hand. “Its my mother’s name….I… I cant have my old life, but I would like to remember her.”He muttered looking up at her, smiling slightly.

Vera laughed softly at Jason's inability to pay attention to anything but the baby. It was the most adorable thing she had ever seen, and it was also amazing. To think how far they had come was truly incredible.

At his words, she smiled and nodded, resting her head on his shoulder. She reached out and stroked the baby's cheek. "I love that," she said, surprised but softened by the mention of his mother, "Gwen is perfect..." Tilting her head up, she softly kissed him on the cheek, not wanting to alarm him enough to jerk back. Right now, she wanted to show him affection that he deserved.

"Will you be okay if I rest?" she asked, looking tired, but not wanting to inconvenience him, "I can feed her first if you want, but she seems pretty content right now."

Jason smiled, relaxing at her words, pleased that she liked the name. keenly missing his mother, though she was alive, se also knew he’d never get a chance to see her again. Swallowing hard around the tears he smiled, jumping a little as she kissed his cheek. “I’ll be fine. Sleep.”he ordered looking at her, wanting to take care of her as much as the baby, waiting until she was asleep before getting up. Wanting to check on the others as he made sure she was well wrapped up as he walked downstairs, amused to see the three having made themselves comfortable. “I wanted to come say hello, since I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself.”He said smiling slightly at the other two mutts, a slight nervous smile on his face. Despite having had helped him, they still made him nervous. Especially with the baby now here and depending on him to take care of her

Carter looked up at the man and tilted his head to the side. The man that was known for his strength was a quiet guy, and he usually kept to himself. However, like stated before, he was fiercely protective of Chad, the man who rescued him all of those years ago. "I'm Carter," he said, his deep voice assertive, but quiet, "Nice to meet you." He nodded to him and took a bite of his pizza, happy to be enjoying the greasy, tasty food.

Chad grinned at the sight of Jason and the baby. It was always interesting to see men after they have their first child, especially a girl. They visibly soften in the most interesting of ways... It was even more interesting to see a mutt like Jason be so careful with the baby.

"She's beautiful, Jason," he said, scooting over and making room for him, "How's Vera? She did a good job without medication... Much better than I anticipated. You, not so much." He smirked, clearly teasing the man's reaction to his lover's pain.

“Schulyer.”the dark haired man said looking amused to see a man who’d been raving pissed and exhausted, so calm and collected now the woman and child were safe, settling in to eating he decided to just observe the other man, not sure what to think about him, but not immediately hating him. Just nervous about having a normal human around, despite the obvious that the child was one of them.

“She’s well. Sleeping. So me and gwen here came to get some food.”Jason muttered as he sat down, shifting the baby around so he could eat with one hand, blushing slightly at the teasing.”Sorry…I didn’t mean to..”he shrugged helpless, knowing the other had probably anticipated more then jason had, just how Jason would react and totally lose his mind.

Chad shook his head and waved the man's apology away. "You had every reason to react the way you did," Chad said, "I'm just happy that Gwen is healthy and safe... which she will be very safe with you." He gave the man a reassuring smile, happy to see all was well. Going back to his pizza, he stayed with the other men for a couple more hours, just lounging about, eating pizza and watching television. It was not that he didn't trust Jason, he just wanted to make sure that Jason was sure he'd be okay alone around the child before he left him...

Eventually, however, Gwen eventually became hungry and started to cry. Chad smiled and stood up. "I believe the little one is calling for her mother," he said, "And I think it is our cue to go..." He patted Jason on the shoulder. "I'll call you to the morning. Tomorrow, we will need to do some tests and see what to expect out of the baby, and it will probably be a good time for you to come to the house and meet everyone."

Jason indeed had gotten comfortable with the idea of the baby, having tracked down one of the guys at work who had a little one, and asked everything he could think of, but despite that, he was glad the others stayed, not quite trusting himself either. Looking up at chad as she started to cry he growled quietly, bristling. Looking ready to injure whatever caused his child to cry, and if he couldn’t figure it out right away, he expected someone, or vera when she was awake, to tell him what needed to be done. Looking startled as he stood he realized indeed they had to feed her, blushing slightly as he looked at chad he nodded.

“Okay. That would probably be good.”Jason said looking worried at the idea but nodding as he saw the three out, and headed upstairs. Sitting on the edge of the bed he gently shook vera,”Vera…time to get up…”he muttered quietly.

Vera gently woke up, a smile on her face at the sight of Jason and the newborn. "Awe, Sweetheart," she said gently, scooting up in the bed to sit up against the head board, "I'm sorry, baby." Reaching out, she took the child from Jason and lowered her shirt. As the baby gently nursed on her (no fangs latching on, thank God), Vera leaned into Jason and sighed happily. "There was actually a point in my life where I could have had anything I wanted, but right now, I'm the happiest I've ever been in this little house and with this baby... and with you."

Her eyes rolled up to look at him as she talked, and she blushed every so slightly. "Do you mind rolling her crib in here? I want to keep her close for a little while, if that's okay."

Jason smiled a little looking amused as she woke, shrugging a little as he handed the child over. “See, now shhh, mom’s here.”Jason said trying to relax now that the baby was quiet before laughing softly, “Well, we could use a few things here and there, but I’ll be able to fix up the house now…”he said momentarily missing what she meant before flushing a little, smiling at her.”I’m happy to. I’m glad you found me.”He muttered before smiling as he stood, pulling the crib closer.

“I’m gonna lay down here and talk to you…”He muttered laying down next to her, looking tired himself, but loked ready to fall asleep.

Vera smiled, glowing with happiness. Never did she think her life would be this... peaceful. It was amazing, and she had him to thank for that - to show her what life could really be like. "I didn't find you," she said, "We found each other."

Gwen, in the cutest of ways, fell asleep while nursing. Vera grinned and cleaned the baby up before handing her back over to Jason. "Will you put her in her crib?" she asked, feeling a little helpless considering the was too sore to stand. "I'm sorry you are having to tend to me." She blushed. "I guess this is why most women stay a couple days in the hospital after giving birth."

Once the baby was settled in to sleep, Vera scooted over to snuggle against Jason's side. "You know, you can rest," she said, "If the baby needs anything, she will let us no." With that she smirked. Despite her teasing, she was having a hard time not holding her brand new daughter. A few feet away felt like miles away...

“I got her, don’t worry.”he said smiling as he took the baby gently nuzzling gwen’s cheek with his own, like a animal scent marking one of their own, making sure they smelled like him so anyone would know they were protected before climbing back into the bed. “It’s okay. I knew what I was getting into,vera. And its not like we could have done this in the hospital…they would have noticed fangs.”he muttered sighing softly.

Yawning as he snuggled into her, frowning sleepily, already starting to fall asleep though he tried to stay awake.”What if you need me?”He muttered, his eyes already starting to drop, his body obeying her words even as his mind struggled to stay awake.

Vera smiled softly, looking up at him with heavy-lidded eyes. "I will let you know," she whispered, "I promise." Slowly and carefully, she leaned up to place a kiss on his prickly cheek, then rested her head on is chest. Within seconds, she was asleep.

~*~

A couple days later, Vera was standing in the nursery, bundling Gwen up in pink footsie pajamas, blanket, and a hat. They were about to head over to Chad's house to do some tests on the child, and while Vera was all for it, she was nervous about getting the baby out in the cold. Surprisingly enough, it snowed the night before, and she was desperate for her child to not catch any sort of sickness... "Jason? Almost ready?"

She appeared in the door way of their bedroom wearing her old jeans and a sweater. Her dark hair was long and loose, falling around her shoulders in waves. Despite a little soreness, she as feeling pretty good. If anything, it was hard to adjust to not having her big belly anymore. Instead, she got to carry her little bundled up princess in her arms, and she was perfectly fine with that.

“Yea, I am.”Jason said smiling as he looked up from sitting on the bed, looking just as bundled up as gwen was. Looking like he was preparing for winter in snowy Colorado instead of Louisiana.Gloves, hat, scarve and winter boots, yep the man was definitely cold blooded and preparing. Smiling a little as he looked at the two girls, he bent his head nuzzling gwen a little before kissing vera’s cheek.”Lets go.”he said smiling, hovering to make sure they both were okay as they headed downstairs.

By the time they got to chad’s the man had relaxed some, though he was still nervous about meeting everyone. Picking gwen up out of the carseat, he settled the small girl in his arms, nervous enough about meeting the others that he wanted to be the one holding the defenseless child as he headed up the stairs with vera, knocking lightly on the door, waiting. Both father and daughter shivering a little in the cool, though not truly cold, but more responding to the cold that brushed against the bare skin of their faces.

Chad opened the door and grinned. "Well, there's the little family," he said, waving them inside. It was nice and toasty in the house thanks to a great heater and a few fireplaces within the house.

Once inside, he took their coats and offered them a cup of coffee, leading them into the living room. Vera sat next to Jason on the couch, grinning down at Gwen in Jason's arms. The baby was looking around the room in silent awe, and it was simply adorable.

"She's beautiful," Chad said, sitting in a chair across from them, "Today, I just want to do a test to see how much of the mutation DNA Gwen has, and is it's the same variation as Jason's. I'm thinking it is, but I want to be sure."

"She hasn't shown fangs," Vera said, looking up at the doctor.

"That's because she feels safe," he said, shrugging, "And I'm sure her instinct is not as strong as Jason's. She does have of your DNA too, after all."

Jason smiled a little as he shifted the baby to get out of his jacket, and while he unwrapped her some, he made sure she was still bundled up, settling into the couch as he sighed. “I didn’t show fangs at first either. My eyes changed first, and cold sensitivity. Fangs showed up later.”He said shrugging a ltitle before grinning, “I was human once to. Totally human I mean. Wouldn’t my DNA be the same as hers, or am I totally changed?”He asked curious, for the first time truly showing curiousity about the genetic mutation that had changed him so irreparably.

Chad frowned a little at Jason's question. "The mutation virus latches on to your DNA and transforms it, so no, you don't have any of the DNA you were originally born with. However, Gwen is half human, so I'm hoping that she will never have to suffer near as much as you ever had to." He sipped his coffee and leaned back in his chair. "Does she eat well?"

Vera nodded, "Oh, yes. Definitely."

"Good," he said, "What are her moods like?"

"She's a happy baby," Vera murmured, smiling down at the infant, "Only cries when she's hungry, and she loves when you sing to her." Reaching down, she took the baby's hand in her's. "Of course, I think she never cries because Jason doesn't give her a chance to. If she even looks like she's about to be upset, he scoops her up." With that, she smirked.

Chad chuckled a bit and nodded. "I'm glad to hear that," he said, looking amused, "I think the others are here if you'd like to meet them?"

“Ah, I see.”Jason said looking thoughtful as he considered what it meant. And glad that gwen wouldn’t have to worry about it. Listening to the others he thought about everything that they could expect, wincing a little at vera’s words.”I do not.”He said wrinkling his nose a little because he knew it wasn’t true. The moment gwen cried, the man expected her or vera to tell him what was wrong so he could fix it.

Biting his lip at the man’s words he looked thoughtful before nodding a little. “I would like that.
He said wanting to get a feel for the others and because he knew it would do gwen and vera good to have others who knew what was going on to talk to.

Vera looked over at him. "You do too," she argued, shrugging a little. She nodded at Chad's words, and the man grinned.

"Wonderful," Chad said, then looked toward the stairs as Carter came down. The large man paused at the bottom of the stairs, staring at the couple until he remembered who they were, then offered them a shy smile. It was odd to see such a large, intimidating man act so bashful, but that was his personality. He didn't like the idea he could crush someone's skull with his hand, and he was quite thankful that Chad was helping him control it.

"Oh, hello," he said, smiling. He looked at Jason and smirked, remembering how he had to contain him. "And, uh, sorry about the other night..."

Chad looked up at Carter. "Where's the others?"

Carter moved to sit in the arm chair beside Chad, his hands in his lap. "I think Schuyler is some where outside," he said, shrugging, "And Madison might be outside... Not sure about Sara."

At the mentioning of her name, Sara popped in the middle of the living room and squealed at the sight of the baby. "Oh, a baby!" she said, the eighteen-year-old grinning happily. "Oh, she's adorable. Can I hold her?"

Chad chuckled and shook his head. "Sara, why don't you let the new and very protective parents get to know you for a bit," he said, leaning up to grab the teen's elbow and pulling her away from the couple before Jason retaliated. "Where have you been all day?"

Sara sighed and sat on the arm of Chad's chair. "Flordia. What did I miss?"

Chad motioned over to the new parents. "This is Jason," he said, "He is new to our community. This is Vera, and this is their baby, Gwen."

Smiling, Sara gave the couple a little wave. "I'm Sara," she said, "This is my brother, Carter. He's not one for being talkative." Leaning over, she kissed her brother's cheek despite the fact that he rolled his eyes and gently pushed her away. Sara settled back on the chair beside Chad, a man whom she called "Dad" because of how long she had been with him, and how young she had been when she was rescued.

Vera laughed softly. "Nice to meet you," she said, looking a little surprised. It was odd to think that the large man and petite girl were siblings, even if they did have similar facial features. Their personalities seemed polar opposite as well, but like her brother, she seemed trust worthy. "You can hold her if you like?" Vera gave her a smile. She figured she needed to get used to these people and the idea that they will be in contact with her child.

"Oh! I'd love to!," Sara said excitedly, moving over to sit beside Vera on the couch. Gently, without bothering to look at Jason's facial expression, she took the baby out of his arms and placed her in Sara's.

Jason winced flushing a little as he looked up at the other man.”No problem. I don’t remember much but I’m pretty sure chad wouldn’t have survived had I got to him. So thanks.”He said truthful and blunt as always before looking around, barely checking the natural response to sara getting near gwen and not killing her. Swallowing hard as he jerked himself back from the instinctual reaction before rubbing a hand over his face.

“Does she have to?”Jason growled snarling as she actually lifted the baby out of his arms, flinging himself back a step before he’d give into the need to hit her. “Sara, I wouldn’t go taking gwen from Jason. Even if you do ask vera.”Schulyer warned softly, looking down at his girl as he stepped in from outside, closely followed by Madison. Though they had different talents, schulyer was helping Madison gain the mental calmness to calm the fire that raged inside, and were good friends as they sought to find a way to handle their different ‘curses’

"Hello...I'm Madison. Maddie."Madison said smiling, the 21 year old a calmer and more stable at times then sara, the long black hair a shining waterfall down her back. After seeing Jason's reaction to sara, was waiting to be accepted and invited to get closer to them, not wanting to put the man even more on edge. she didn't know him, but she recognized the signs of someone driven to the edge, and she didn't want to push him over

Sara didn't seem affected by the reaction Jason gave her, looking content to hold the baby on the other side of Vera. Grinning down at the infant, she cooed and stroked her cheek. At Schuyler's words, she looked up with annoyance.

"What? I'm not going to hurt her," she said, "I don't have a dangerous power, remember? I'm safe. Well, I mean, I could probably have her in Italy before you even knew what happened, but-"

"Sara, Sweetheart, I don't believe you're helping," Chad warned, letting out a little sigh. He loved Sara as a daughter, considering she had been in his care since she was five and Carter was fifteen (he's 28 now). He'd raised her, and he'd be lost without her companionship most days, especially after his wife's passing. However, he often had to warn her when she should and should not keep her mouth shut.

Chad nodded to Schuyler and Madison. Like Carter and Sara, he cared for them greatly. However, he wasn't sure that he liked the way Schuyler had been looking at Sara recently. He wasn't sure what was going on between the two of him, but it bothered him to even guess.

"Hi, Maddie," Vera said, reaching down to take Jason's hand. She squeezed it and rubbed her thumb over his knuckles, trying to keep him calm around all of the new people.