Disclaimer in first chapter.
Barbara and Walt sat across from each other at a little cafe near Barbara and James' house.
"What did you want to talk about, Barbara?" Walt asked, taking a sip of his coffee.
Barbara took a deap breath,"I'm pregnant."
Walt choked on his coffee.
"Walt!" Barbara gaspd,"Are you alright?!"
With a final cough, Walt looked up at her.
"I'm fine,"he assured her,"I just...wasn't expecting that. When did you find out?"
"Day before yesterday," Baarbara said,"Other than James, you're the first person I've told."
Walt grinned,"Well, congratulations, My Dear. Do you know the due date yet?"
"September or October is all I know, right now," Barbara said, "I'm going to the doctor next week. That's when I'll get an actual date. Then, I'm going to finish the semester before taking some time of to focus on the baby."
Walt nodded,"If that's what you want to do, I'll agree that it seams like a good idea. But, just so you know, I will babysit any time you need it."
Before Barbara could thank her best friend, Walt continued.
"Oh! And I will be spoiling this child ABSOLUTELY rotten!"
Barbara burst out laughing," I don't doubt that for a second, Walt. I really don't."
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Barbara was three months along when James started taking more shifts at work.
"Money's gonna be tight for a while, Hon," he explained,"Especially after the baby is born."
Because of this, James was rarely home. It was Walt who ended up helping Barbara with a lot, if not most, of the baby preparations. When she was six months along, Barbara and Walter began working on the nursery. They painted the walls a pale grey and put sky blue carpets in the room. Barbara wanted to wait untill the baby was born to find out the gender. One day, Walt surprised her by spending THREE HOURS putting together the cot for her. But, threw it all, Walt was hiding something. He didn't tell anyone that he was reading every book on child birth he could get his hands on. If Barbara went into labor early, he wanted to be able to help her in any situation.
It was during Barbara's seventh month that Walt received a package in the mail written in his sister's handwriting. Walt ran several spells over the package, checking for curses, before opening the accompanying letter.
"Dearest Stricklander," It bee gang.
Walt knew his sister was being a sarcastic little shit. And he wouldn't have it any other way.
"It has come to our attention that your hooman friend is expecting a whelp. As it is unlikely that either of us will be invited to the 'baby-shower' we would like to ask you to give her our gifts. WE PROMISE THEY ARE NOT CURSED!!!!! But, you problebly already checked for that, didn't you? We know how protective you are of the fleshbag.
Your LOVING siblings,
Nomura and Otto"
Walt raised his eyebrows. Though the trio (secretly) loved eachother, Walt was still astonished that his "brother and sister" had gone out of their ways to congradulate his friend. Packing up the gift, Walt made his way over to the Lake household.
"Barbara?" He called as he entered.
"Living room!" Came her reply.
Stepping into the spacious room, Walt saw Barbara was sitting on the sopha, reading a parenting book.
"Hey, Walt," She greeted," What brings you over?"
"My brother and sister sent you something as well as their congratulations," Walt explained, "Otto sent his all the way from Germany!"
Barbara put her book aside and turned to her best friend,"They didn't have to."
"They wanted to, apparently," Walt lifted an eyebrow and shrugged,"Now, open it. I'm quite curious about what the two of them think makes good baby gifts."
Barbara smirked at him but complied. She gasped when she saw what the two changlings had sent her. Nomura had sent her a onesie with the words "Historian in Training" hand stitched (most likely by Nomura herself)across the front.
Walt buried his face in his hands,"Nomura," He moaned,"She is a museum curator in England and will, most likely, try to fullfill those words."
Barbara laughed and folded the onesie back up before holding up Otto's gift for the baby. A baby romper modeled after the X-Men character Nightcrawler, complete with tiny white baby mittens.
Barbara grinned," This...This is adorable! And kinda ironic, now that I think about it. James' troll form is blue so the baby's will problebly be blue, too. Right?"
Walt shrugged,"I'm afraid I can't answer that one, Barbara. I've never encountered a half-changing child before. Your child might even be human, like you."
Barbara smiled and hugged her best friend. Just in time for the baby to kick! Walt's eyes grew wide and he looked down at the red-head in his arms. Barbara laughed.
"You should see your face!" She squealed,"You act like this is the first time you've felt them kick!"
"It just doesn't stop being surprising to me," Walt admitted.
Barbara placed his hands over the place where the baby was kicking.
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Walt paced back and forth in the waiting room. It had been four hours since Barbara went into labor, Walt had been with her for the first three. That was when James had arrived and the nurse had told Walt that he wold have to wait outside. He sat, heavily, in one of the chairs and his leg began to bounce uncontrollabl.
"They kick you out?" Asked a young nurse.
Walt looked up at her,"Only one person is allowed in the delivery room. I thought itt should be her husband."
The nurse nodded and sat beside him,"But you're still worrying."
It wasn't a question. Walt hung hiss head.
"I don't think you'll be waiting much longer," the nurse assured him.
Walt knew she was just saying it to make him feal better. To comfort him.
"Walt Strickler?" The nurse from the delivery room called," You can come in now."
Walt lept to his feet and followed her back into the delivery room, forgetting all about the other nurse.
"In fact," the new nurse continued,"Mrs. Lake asked for you to be let back in. Even after the Doctor recommended she get some rest."
Walt refused to admit how happy that news made him. In the delivery room, James occupied the chair by the bed. But, it was Barbara who held Walt's attention.
"Walt!"She instantly perked, despite how exhausted she clearly was,"Come here! There's someone I want you to meet."
Walt obeyed and sat on the edge of her bed, eyes glued to the tiny bundle in her arms.
"Walt, this is James Lake Jr.," Barbara introduced,"'Jim' for short."
Then, without another word, she set the baby in Walt's arms. Having not interacted with a baby in nearly 100 years, the changling allowed his instincts to take over. He held Jim close to his chest, carful to support his head and neck. Jim reached forward and grabbed one of Walt's long fingers with his own tiny hand. And tiny he was, having been born almost a week premature.
As Walt gazed down at the newborn in his arms, he felt his heart warm. And, out of all the words in all the languages he knew, only one word came to his mind.
"Atlas," he breathed.
Barbara burst out laughing, "Of all the things to say when handed a baby! And you say,'Atlas'!"
Walt blushed,"I dont know why I said it. It was the only thing that came to mind!"
James was giving Walt a sour look,"His name is Jim"
"I know that James,"Walt said, tearing his eyes away from the precious bundle in his arms,"I truly don't know why I said it."
Jim chose that moment to coo, drawing Walt's attention back to him. As the green changling looked down at the baby, he realized EXACTLY why he had said Atlas. It was in that moment that Waltholomew Stricklander made a choice. A choice that he hoped was the right one. He gently handed the newborn back to his mother.
"He's beautiful, Barbara," he whispered, carefully prying Jim's hand from his finger,"Almost as beautiful as his mother. I have a meeting I have to get to but I'll come and visit the very first chance I get. I promise."
Barbara looked a bit put out but nodded,"Alright, Walt. Visit soon."
"I will, Barbara," Walt agreed and departed.
He drove to the Arcadia Canal and walked under the bridge.
"What are you doing here, impure?" A large blue troll in shining silver armor growled from the entrance to Troll Market.
Walt looked up at Kanjigar,"I wish to speak with you and Vendal about a proposition."
AN: Well...that was longer than I anticipated. And this is AFTER I cut a big part out of it! I might actually post that part later as, like a deleted scene. Ch3 may take a little while to get done but its in the works. For now R&R! TTFN Ta Ta For Now! 😸