I’d Give Up The World For You - Chapter 237

The day they went in for the ultrasound was incredibly bittersweet. Rukelion refused to let go of Daisy’s hand the entire time they walked in and even after they were sat down in the exam room.

She flinched as the gel was applied to her stomach because it felt kind of weird and he immediately tensed. She had to reassure him she was fine before he relaxed. Her poor husband was hardwired for battle even now that there weren’t any external threats to deal with anymore.

“There’s the baby!” the technician announced happily once the ultrasound was up on the screen. “Congratulations—you’re having a girl!”

A girl! Daisy and Rukelion exchanged a glance and beamed at each other as their eyes filled with tears. “Roselia,” they said in unison before laughing and leaning closer to get a better look at the image on the screen.

They were given a copy of the ultrasound image to take home and ended up hanging it in a place of honor on the fridge. Though the image wasn’t exactly human-looking it was still the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. A daughter. They were having a daughter!

Daisy had already been starting to nest. Their nursery was done up as much as it could be in a gender-neutral way but what she really wanted to do was go shopping for baby clothes. And to make some herself since she knew how.

It would give her something to do while listening to the audiobooks for new parents Rukelion had gotten for them. She wasn’t sure whether it would ultimately be cheaper or not because of the cost of the materials but that wasn’t the end of the world.

She already knew kids were expensive. It was a large part of why she had wanted to wait until her husband was done with school.

The other part seemed to be mostly taken care of as well. At least he wasn’t randomly bursting into flame anymore. That had come as a great relief to everyone since it could not only cause property damage but blow his secret.

Daisy didn’t want anyone to find out who her husband truly was any more than he did. He would never know a moment’s peace if they did. He was harassed enough already simply for looking like himself. She knew better than to suggest he dye his hair though. She knew how much it meant to him to be able to show off the red proudly after so many years of hiding it.

He confided that he wasn’t sure his genes would pass on the same way in this world so he might be the only fire mage left. He knew he was an anomaly and wasn’t sure that would continue in a world without magic, especially since she was a normal person from here.

She knew it would mean a lot to him if Roselia was a fire mage but also knew that he would love her either way. All he really wanted was to have a family again.

Daisy, who had only ever had a broken family, was looking forward to this too but not nearly as much as Rukelion was. He talked about things he wanted to do with their daughter all the time and his earnestness made her laugh.

They worked together preparing for Roselia’s arrival and she had never looked forward to the future this much. Last time the joy had been overshadowed by everything else going on. This time was bittersweet because of what they had lost but overall more hopeful.

Her first contractions began in the middle of traffic on her way home from work one day. She called Rukelion and he wanted her to go straight to the hospital but she said she was supposed to wait until they had reached a certain point.

When he met her at home he paced wildly for hours, stressing her out until she told him to go for a run and she would call him if anything changed. He went reluctantly but seemed to accept that he was making things worse. She sighed and sank further into the couch. Would he ever stop worrying about her?

Sometimes Daisy wondered. He had already lost her once. As excited as he was about meeting Roselia, he was worried about losing her again too.

When the time came to drive to the hospital he was panicking far more than she was and she was the one who was about to give birth without having a mother or someone who had done this before with her! She was actually a bit irritated with him but knew she shouldn’t be.

Her poor, traumatized husband was doing his best. She needed to cut him some slack.

The labor and delivery went fine thanks to the help of an epidural and an experienced doctor so he didn’t have anything to worry about. Roselia Blaze made her entrance into the world around 6 AM and neither of them had gotten a wink of sleep so they were exhausted but overwhelmed with joy and love when they first heard her cry.

As a nurse began cleaning her up, she remarked, “What do you know, she has red hair! Just like her daddy.”

When Rukelion heard that and looked up to confirm it for himself he broke down sobbing. Daisy weakly patted his shoulder, understanding how he felt.

A moment later the nurse wrapped the swaddled baby in her mother’s arms. She didn’t even have time to panic about the fact that she was now responsible for this tiny, beautiful creature and didn’t want to screw up the way her own mother had. She was too overcome with love for her child to think of that.

“Isn’t she the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen?” Daisy cooed. “Hi, Rosie!”

They had already decided that Roselia was far too much of a mouthful for such a tiny baby. She would have a pretty name to fall back on when she was older but for the time being she should have something cutesy to go by.

Rukelion barely managed to speak over the lump in his throat. “I think it’s a tie, honestly. But she is beautiful. Just like you. You did a wonderful job, Daisy! I love you so much.”

He bent down and kissed both of their foreheads, his eyes still swimming with tears. That was when a nurse decided to ask if she could see one of their phones to take pictures of the three of them.

He collected himself enough to pull his phone out and she took several of the proud parents leaning close together with his arm around his wife as she cradled their daughter. Those pictures would later make it onto the wall with the others.

Rukelion refused to leave either of their sides the entire time they were in the hospital. He wanted to be sure they were safe and healthy for himself. He preferred sleeping on the rather cramped bed with Daisy than on the couch in the room so he could be closer to both of them. Roselia’s little bed was right next to it.

She couldn’t fault him for that. She was used to being held to sleep anyway. It would have felt weird if he didn’t have his arms around her.

He was so happy about the baby safely being born that he wasn’t even bothered about being woken up constantly throughout the night. He had consistently had issues with sleep so he said it was nothing new.

It was new for Daisy though. As much as she loved her daughter, she loved her sleep too and missing out on it made her cranky. Especially since nursing was incredibly painful and the baby refused to latch properly. After a few weeks of getting nowhere the doctor advised that she switch to formula.

She felt like a horrible failure but had to admit it was a relief not to deal with that frustration anymore. Rukelion was able to help with the feedings that way too.

Once that issue was taken care of things were a little easier but taking care of a baby was much more difficult than taking care of an eight-year-old boy. It was a constant barrage of crying, diaper changes, and feedings but despite her exhaustion she wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Daisy had a family again. And she wouldn’t let her daughter down no matter what.

She knew her husband felt the same way. He was as tired as she was and went back to work earlier since they couldn’t both afford to take three months of unpaid leave. He very reluctantly took less than a month before going back.

The compromise was that he wanted constant updates to be sure they were both alright. She ended up texting him every hour even though he wasn’t always able to check his phone.

It barely appeased him. He wanted pictures of every tiny thing Roselia did even though most of her day consisted of sleeping. His enthusiasm was both endearing and exasperating but that was a common thing with him.. He never did anything halfway.