TW:Asthma
This is a Christmas Special, no spoilers, but it still might be a little confusing for those who haven't finished the series.
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"Ok, over just a little bit, no, no, Adrian, that was too much."
"Ok, left... No! My left!"
Nova and Adrian had just bought a real Christmas tree for their girls' first Christmas.
Growing up, Nova never really had Christmas trees, and Adrian always had an artificial one. Nova always had to rely on the big Tree Decorating Ceremony to see a real-life tree, which is why it was so special to her.
"Nova, I can't move it over anymore."
"Yes, you can."
"No, I mean I need help." Adrian said. "Plus the cat keeps getting in my way."
"OK, well, Ruby, Oscar and Danna will be here soon," Nova said.
Adrian sighed and let go of the tree, which was still very crooked.
Nova sighed as one of the babies started to cry. She rushed to the nursery. The babies were still very, very young. They were born in October (they were preemies); therefore, this is their first Christmas. They still couldn't understand anything, but Nova wanted to be able to tell them that their first Christmas was perfect.
Nova picked up the crying baby, Tala. Tala cried the most. Georgia mostly just laid in her crib and stared at her mobile, sometimes smiling at it, and only started to cry if they let Tala cry long enough that it started to annoy Georgia.
"I'm not saying I have a favorite, but why can't Tala be more like Georgia?" Nova sighed.
Adrian chuckled and started to bounce Georgia, who was smiling. Tala stopped crying and stared at her mother, cooing softly, her hands reaching into the air.
She knew Tala was reaching for her hair, which is why she cut it not too long after the twins were born.
The doorbell rang and Tala started to cry again. Nova sighed.
"I bet that's the others right now," Adrian said, leaving Nova in the nursery to answer the door.
Once Tala had calmed down enough, Nova joined Adrian in the living room, where Oscar and Adrian were moving the tree as Ruby instructed. Danna sat on the couch, eating some cookies Nova had left out.
"Hi, Nova," Ruby said, hugging her friend. Danna waved, not getting up. She was not letting go of those cookies anytime soon. Ruby's new infant son, just a few months younger than Nova's girls, laid in his car seat, which was right next to Danna on the couch. He was asleep, so he couldn't see the huge smile Nova gave him.
"No! Oscar, my left!" Ruby exclaimed. Nova giggled. That was very similar to what she had to go through with Adrian.
Finally, Oscar and Adrian moved the tree enough so it wasn't crooked.
"D you want our help decorating?" Oscar asked.
"Maybe later. For right now, we can just take a break." Nova said.
Because Nova and Adrian helped both Osby and Danna decorate their houses, the others were returning the favor.
"Did you hear that Genissa is spending the holidays in jail?"
"Oh, yeah, I heard. I can't believe she was arrested." Ruby said.
"What was it for, again?" Danna asked.
"Attempted assault on Alice's wife, Lily."
Alice got married to a girl she had been dating for about a year, and at the wedding as the couple was running out of the building, Genissa attacked Lily, who was Alice's new wife. Alice managed to fend her off, but Genissa managed to scratch Lily's arm with an ice dagger, and then backup came and Genissa was arrested. She wouldn't be in jail for long, unfortunately. And Genissa probably won't leave Alice alone, either. She was still in love with Alice.
"Poor Lily," Ruby said.
"Wasn't Lily the date Alice had when Genissa tried to ruin their date at the restaurant?" Danna asked.
Ruby nodded.
"I'm glad Genissa didn't ruin their relationship. Alice is awesome and deserves love from someone other than Genissa," Nova said.
"We all knew Genissa was a little crazy, but she really cracked," Adrian said.
"I almost feel sorry for her. Almost," Ruby said.
"Eh, serves her right," Danna said.
Oscar took a cookie and began nibbling on it, which earned him a dirty look from Danna.
"Eric is so cute," Nova said, changing the subject. Ruby smiled and rubbed her son's forehead with her thumb.
He was very, very new, born only about a week ago. That's why they needed help decorating their house.
"It's going to be a very new year. Not just because of the year changing, but we're going into the new year with a bigger family," Nova said.
"I'm going to check on the girls. They've been too quiet," Adrian said.
Ruby looked out the window.
"It's snowed quite a bit. Maybe we should start decorating," Ruby said. "And hopefully get it all done before it's gets too bad."
Nova nodded.
"Nova!" Adrian yelled.
He came running out with Tala.
"What?" Nova asked.
"Her breathing is really shallow." Adrian said, panicked.
Nova listened to her young daughter, who was taking fast and shallow breaths.
Ruby and Oscar looked at each other.
"Oscar will stay here and look after Georgia and Eric. Danna is driving to the hospital. You are going in an ambulance," Ruby barked as Oscar talked to a 911 operator.
The ambulance came, and it rushed Nova, Adrian, and Baby Tala to the hospital. Oscar stayed behind, and Ruby and Danna drove to the hospital in Danna's SUV.
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The EMT was trying his best to calm down the new parents. His co worker was sitting down with Nova, patting her back.
Adrian was freaking out and Nova was staying quiet, her head down, looking anywhere but at her baby.
So much for a perfect Christmas.
"If I had to guess, it's probably asthma. It's a nuisance, but most people with asthma go on to lead very full lives," The EMT said.
"If the ambulance doesn't get to the hospital soon, Tala won't have a life to live!" Adrian snapped.
The EMT looked at his partner, who was sitting next to Nova and patting her back.
She shook her head, sending the message of "Don't take it personally, he's just worried."
"It's good you called us, we can help her," The EMT said. The baby was tiny, but they had a small tube of oxygen going straight into her nose.
"Your baby will be fine, Mrs. Artino-Everhart," The EMT said soothingly.
"What's your power? Why can't you help her?" Adrian screamed.
"James can cauterize wounds with his finger, and I can summon cats. I'm afraid they're quite useless in this situation," The woman said.
Adrian wondered how a person who can summon cats became an EMT instead of a pet rescue worker or a vet. He didn't think about it for long, however, as Tala was still struggling to breathe.
The girl looked familiar, and actually, so did the guy. Adrian knew he's seen them before, and not at the hospital.
Before he could ask about them, the ambulance slowed to a stop and the EMTs sprung into action, rolling Tala out of the ambulance and into the emergency room.
Nova and Adrian ran inside as nurses started barking orders to one another and rushing Tala to the part of the ER where babies go.
Adrian and Nova were told to wait in the lobby. Nova was frustrated and wanted to scream. That is her child! She has a right to know what they are doing to her baby.
Adrian kept an arm on her back, occasionally rubbing circles in it, as he knew it soothed his wife.
Ruby and Danna arrived ten minutes later. They spotted Nova and Adrian sitting in the chairs in the corner of the room. Adrian was massaging his temples and Nova was looking down. The two girls approached them.
"Any news?" Danna asked.
Nova shook her head.
"They haven't told us anything," Adrian said.
Ruby empathized with the couple. If Eric was sick and in the hospital, she wasn't sure what she would do.
"Tala's always been the smaller one, but she's never been sickly," Nova said.
"I'm sure this kind of stuff happens all the time," Ruby said. She had no way to know, but there were many citizens in Gatlon, this kind of thing has to happen often.
"We're not going to have time to decorate the house before tomorrow," Adrian said. The goal was to finish decorating by tomorrow, which was Christmas Eve. They still had a lot to do, which is why they asked the others to help.
Adrian noticed the female EMT at the front desk. She could overhear them, and Adrian was pretty sure she was listening.
"Nova? Adrian?" A young nurse addressed them.
"Yes?" Nova asked.
"Tala is fine. It was touch and go, but she's stable now. The doctor is pretty sure she has asthma, but he's going to run a few tests to be sure." The nurse said.
"Can we see her?" Adrian asked.
"Yes, but be quiet. She's sleeping." The nurse answered. She led them to Tala's room. Tala was laying in a hospital crib and was sound asleep. She had a small oxygen monitor on her little finger and an oxygen tube going into her nose.
"They had me tell you because my power is calming living things. Dogs, cats, babies, adults, all of it," The nurse said. "I was the one who lured her to sleep."
Adrian did notice that he was much more relaxed now. He thought it was because her voice was soothing, but now that he thought about it, she did seem to radiate a sense of calm.
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An hour later, the doctor took Tala in for an x-ray, some tests were ran and they concluded that Tala did indeed have asthma.
The doctor talked to them.
"Asthma is common, and it is not curable, but there are many medications that can help Tala and prevent asthma attacks. She's a little too young to put her on anything strong yet, but I can prescribe a small medication for her. She'll be able to live a fine life as long as she's careful. Luckily, it doesn't seem that severe." The doctor said. "And Tala is doing fine. You'll be able to take her home tonight, just monitor her breathing and bring her here if she starts to have trouble breathing again."
The doctor led the couple out of her office. "I'm the head of the asthma department here, and if it's ok with you, I'd like to be her asthma specialist," The doctor said.
"My name is Maria Simmons, and I've been doing this for twenty years."
"Of course. You saved our daughter's life," Nova said.
"Great. I'd like to have a check-in next month. The receptionist can check you out." The doctor said as the same nurse, who they learned was named Rhea, handed Tala to them.
"Thank you," Adrian said as he took the baby and Nova went to front desk to make an appointment.
"No problem. You'll see me around," The nurse said.
Ruby and Danna drove Nova and Adrian home, and Tala was in Adrian's arms, his breathing back to normal.
Nova was so upset. This was supposed to be perfect, and now their tree wasn't even decorated.
How could her favorite holiday betray her like this?
But as they approached her house, she noticed the house was covered in shimmering green and red Christmas lights.
"What the-" Ruby said as they parked in the driveway. "Oscar couldn't have done this all by himself."
They exited the car. There were light-up reindeer in the yard and a wreath on their door. There were Christmas window adhesives on their living room window. Nova looked through the window and saw their tree lit up and decorated. Danna opened the door and saw Oscar, with a group of ten other people.
Adrian recognized the two EMTs, and a handful of their friends.
Kennedy and Oliver and Tara and Jesse were there.
"I should have known this was the work of the former Renegades Fan Club," Nova said.
"Unfortunately, it was so short notice that not all the members of the club could make it, but those of us who could help did," Kennedy said. "Two of our former members, Paige and James, notified us once their shift ended. Paige overheard you saying that your house wouldn't be decorated in time, so we came over, Oscar let us in, and we decorated for you."
"And we baked you cookies," Tara said, handing them a platter of Christmas tree shaped cookies, complete with green frosting and sprinkles.
Oscar was holding Eric, and James was holding Georgia. He handed her to Nova.
Nova looked at Tala, in Adrian's arms, and then Georgia, in her arms.
She realized that the girls didn't need a perfect Christmas. Not everything had to go perfectly. They could still have a wonderful Christmas, even if it wasn't perfect or according to plan. She took a deep breath and smiled as everyone in the house mingled.
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There is a guest on fanfiction.net regarding my last one-shot, the one before this, who said she thought Danna and Narcissa would end up together. Yes, it is canon that Danna and Narcissa are supposed to end up together, but it is no secret that I hate Narcissa, so she is not a character in these one-shots. I can't stand that chick for many reasons.
Anyway, this did not go according to plan at all. I dd not plan on giving a baby an asthma attack and I wanted this to be fluffier and more wholesome, so I think I'll write another Christmas themed one that's a little fluffier this week. And I was also thinking about writing another point of this where it tells what happened at the house with Oscar and the former fan club. I don't know. Let me know what you think with a comment.
Please vote, so I know I'm not totally ruining this story by adding new chapters. Remember, it was supposed to end awhile ago but a lot of people wanted me to go on, so I did.
I hope you all had an amazing holiday, and remember, this time of year is not about presents, though they're nice, it's also about family and giving. So please do something kind this holiday season, even if it's small.
I don't have time to edit this so I'm just going to hope I didn't make too many mistakes.
Until next time,
Keep reading!