"I understand you're both worried, but there's no need to wear a hole in the floor." Carla watched Rhodes and Elfman pacing outside the delivery room with folded arms and a helpless expression.
"Because my sister is in there!" Elfman waved his hands in agitation. "I've heard childbirth is dangerous. And it's been so long with no sound at all."
"No sound is normal. It may not have properly started yet. And it doesn't always begin with intense pain." Rhodes attempted to reassure Elfman while continuing to pace, his hands locked together in front of him.
Elfman ran a hand through his hair. "But how much longer is this going to take?"
"There's no rushing it. Four or five hours is typical. Six or seven is perfectly normal. Even longer isn't unheard of. It's fine, everything is fine." Rhodes was saying it as much to himself as to Elfman.
"You clearly know all of this," Carla said. "So why are you still this anxious?"
"Wendy and Porlyusica are both in there. Nothing will go wrong."
"I know. I know nothing will go wrong."
Porlyusica had been brought in personally. Wendy was assisting inside. Lisanna was there to help. Rhodes had even stationed several of his summons nearby on standby. By every reasonable measure the preparations were more than sufficient.
Knowing that and feeling it were two entirely different things.
Carla thought for a moment, then said, "Both of you sit down and rest. I haven't seen anything terrible coming."
That was genuinely good news. Whenever something serious was approaching, Carla tended to pick up on it in advance, and what she saw was rarely pleasant. Seeing nothing this time had to count as a favorable sign.
Rhodes and Elfman both settled fractionally.
Then Mirajane let out a suppressed cry from inside the room, and neither of them could stay seated.
Mirajane was not an ordinary person. Ordinary discomfort would not have produced a sound like that. Whatever she was enduring in there was beyond what most people could imagine.
Hearing it from outside and being able to do nothing was its own kind of pain.
Time stretched. The sounds from the room eventually faded. Porlyusica's voice came through the door, muffled but steady. Rhodes felt a shift in magical energy from inside, Wendy was using something. He remembered she knew a pain-relief magic that could significantly reduce suffering. With Wendy there, at least Mirajane wouldn't have to bear all of it.
Rhodes waited outside that door for half the night.
When the sky had turned the pale silver of early morning, a newborn's cry reached all three of them at once.
Rhodes and Elfman were at the door immediately, both with hands raised, neither quite pushing it open.
The door opened on its own. Lisanna's face appeared, bright with tears and smiling.
"Congratulations, brother-in-law. You have a daughter."
Rhodes said nothing. He went straight in.
Elfman's eyes filled. His arm came up. He was about to...
Lisanna caught his arm. "Keep your voice down, Elfman. Don't frighten the baby." She pulled him toward the stairs. "Porlyusica says Mirajane will be hungry soon. Come help make porridge."
"Oh. Right." The mention of his sister needing food was enough to redirect him. He followed Lisanna down a few steps, then stopped. "Lisanna, I haven't seen her yet."
"After the porridge. It's not a good moment right now."
Elfman was dragged away, still slightly bewildered.
Carla considered the scene, decided not to add to the disruption, shifted back to her kitten form, curled up on the chair, yawned, and settled in to wait for Wendy.
Inside the room, Rhodes was sitting beside the bed holding Mirajane's hand.
Her face was exhausted. The sweat had been wiped away but a few damp strands of hair still clung near her ears. Rhodes carefully moved one aside.
"That was so hard on you."
Mirajane looked at him and smiled. "We have a baby."
They held the same smile between them for a moment.
Porlyusica came forward with the baby wrapped carefully, and for once her expression was warm. "She's healthy. Strong." She held the baby out. "Congratulations."
"Thank you." Rhodes took her with great care and turned slowly so the baby's face was toward Mirajane.
Mirajane looked at her daughter with quiet wonder. "Black hair. She'll probably take after you."
She said probably because at first glance a newborn's features were still too new to read clearly. Going by hair and eye color alone, Rhodes seemed the more likely source.
"I think it would be better if she took after you," Rhodes said, not taking his eyes off the child in his arms.
This was his daughter. He had found another person to belong to in this world.
The little one opened wide, dark eyes that couldn't yet focus on anything, and fell back to sleep almost immediately under everyone's quiet attention. Wendy moved carefully to gather the changed bedding.
Rhodes looked back at the baby and sighed. "She's so small. She was crying so loudly a moment ago and now she's just asleep."
"Newborns sleep," Porlyusica said. She pointed to the four Dragon Slayer Lacrima sitting on the table. "Those things you prepared are unnecessary. Take them back."
"Right, right." Rhodes nodded without looking up. "It's a good thing they're unnecessary."
Implanting Lacrima required surgery. Having just held his daughter for the first time, he couldn't bring himself to put her through that. It meant her abilities might not reach the level of Laxus or those who had gone that route, but Rhodes found he didn't care at all. He only wanted her safe and healthy.
So this is what it feels like to be a parent.
Wendy looked up from her work. "What's her name, Rhodes?"
This had already been settled. Rhodes smiled and looked at Mirajane. "Jewel."
"Jewel," Porlyusica repeated softly, and allowed herself a rare, small smile.
Wendy leaned in gently, as if introducing herself. "Good morning, little Jewel."
Mirajane smiled down at the baby in Rhodes's arms. Then her expression shifted into something caught between fondness and mischief.
"I do love that name. But." She looked at Rhodes. "Didn't we agree on Tigress?"
Rhodes said nothing for a moment.
His dear wife had just given birth. And she was already doing this. To their own daughter.
He thought for exactly two seconds, then smiled. "That's not off the table. We'll tell her when she's old enough."
Tigress. What an absolutely domineering name.
Porlyusica said nothing.
Wendy said nothing.
Both of them looked at the peacefully sleeping newborn and privately thought the same thing: if they hadn't just witnessed the delivery themselves, they might not have believed this child had these two as parents.