foundoutthehardway-blog

[foundoutthehardway-blog]

akaherosandwich‌:

Jessica kept staring, unsure of what to do next. It was all real much sooner than she’d expected. She gently cupped a hand over her daughter’s soft skin and just breathed. Their daughter was beautiful, black, and so small. Jess could practically feel the sunshine radiating off of Luke’s smile. She didn’t care if their daughter was super- she’d almost prefer her not to be.

All that mattered was that she was healthy, and she was here.

“Danielle,” Jessica said, weighing the name on her tongue. It was strange, and she wasn’t sure if it suited the child. But it was good. It didn’t have any family weight to it that she could think of- not that she could think of much else right now. “Yeah, I think I like that. Danielle Jones-Cage. I should get first credit, I think.” She gave a weak smile as she tiredly turned the name over in her mind a few more times.

The raven-haired woman breathed slowly looking at the tiny baby, lost in thought and nearly missing Luke’s next words. “Wh- are you high?” Jessica craned her neck to the side, frowning up at Luke with disbelief. “I just popped out a baby, give me a minute. Jesus.”

She wasn’t answering him just yet. No, he could wait. Plus, she didn’t even know the answer- Jess thought she did, but… one new thing at a time.

“Let me just… get through this first. I’ll get back to you, big guy,” she said, running a hand softly against Danielle’s head. So soft, so small. Really, they made this? Not bad for first timers.

After a few minutes- or maybe it had been even longer, she was losing track of time- Jessica finally turned her gaze back to Luke, quirking her head slightly towards the baby. “You want a turn with this?”

Luke grinned — that definitely hadn’t been a no. He could work with anything that wasn’t a no.  

“Danielle Jones-Cage,” he repeated. “Yeah, that sound like a good name. Kinda name that says she could be anyone she wants to be.” And Danny was gonna get a kick out of it. Shhhhhh.

“I definitely want a piece of this action,” Luke said, easing himself out from behind Jessica, replacing his bulk with some cushions so she could rest comfortably. She probably needed to sleep for a week. “Come to daddy, little one,” he said.

She was so tiny. So, so tiny — she could have just about curled up on his hands, but he took her in his arms. She fussed a little, but didn’t scream her lungs out. Not yet. He was prepared to bet she got her mother’s lungs, so that was going to be fun.

“My god, we really did it,” Luke said, feeling something catch in his throat — the feeling of panic… would he even know how to do this? And awe — this was their little girl, and they were going to watch her grow up and do so many things. “Look at all that hair. Little twist on the top…” Not quite a cowlick, just a little pointy bit, rebelling in advance of Dani’s teenage years, most likely. Luke was aware of the people around hovering, and trying to act like they weren’t hovering. They probably wanted to take her, and clean her up, check things out, but they were going to have some trouble getting her out of Luke’s arms now.

“I feel like I already know her,” he said to Jessica, moving closer. All these months she’s been here, listening to the world around her — she knows our voices, right? That’s how this works? Hey, don’t you owe me a buck for knowing she was a little girl?”

aka; babygirl

[foundoutthehardway-blog]

princessxwakanda‌:

Watching him try to tear the shirt open was like something out of those sitcoms white people so dearly loved. It took all of her willpower not to burst out laughing and start filming it.  “At the Wakandan Design Group we’re usually about dark colours, sleek lines and tribal patterns…but perhaps I’d like to shake it up with a bit of yellow.” Other teenage girls would have probably shrieked at the concept of Luke Cage changing his shirt in front of them. He was objectively good-looking, in the same way that shirtless paintings were objectively good-looking. They just didn’t inspire any kind of spark, or however they described it in Teen Vogue. If he showed up at the school, though, that would be either brilliant or absolute chaos or both. “They would absolutely love that. My students were the ones who told me who you were, shortly after I started giving lessons. I think you have a fan club on Twitter, or something like it. The papers say a lot of things: I don’t listen to them unless T’Challa says I absolutely have to.”

Luke marveled again at the fabric, and shook his head, flashing Shuri a huge grin.

“Well, little sister, I owe you big for this one — I’ll come see your kids, tie up a meth dealer and leave him in the foyer at One Police Plaza, move a wardrobe, you name it. Save some cash on my shirts and I’ll be able to put my baby girl through college, one day, you know?”

He put his fist out for a bump.

“I don’t know about Twitter. The fan club thing still feels weird to me — I did my best to fly under the radar for a very long time, until Jessica Jones, love of my life, kinda barrelled straight through the whole radar apparatus and ruined my plans — can’t say I’m sorry, though. I don’t mind being a role model so much. Kids need someone out there doing right by them that looks like them. Captain America’s all good with me, but the man is white.”

He glanced at the time, and cringed.

“I’ve taken up half your afternoon. I was only supposed to be gone long enough to get some blue paint and a… diaper station, whatever that is. Might end up getting some stuffed or something. Nothing’s gonna be too much for my daughter.” Lame! Lame, so lame, she wasn’t even born yet and she had her daddy wrapped around her little finger; well, far as Luke could tell, that’s the way it’s supposed to be. He was good with it.

He scribbled his number on a scrap of paper on Shuri’s desk.

“You remember to take me up on that, okay?”

~complete~

get this man a shirt

[foundoutthehardway-blog]

princessxwakanda‌:

Shuri continued chatting away aimlessly as she made adjustments on the screen. It wasn’t something that needed all her attention. Vibranium fibre, for all its strength, was surprisingly easy to print once you’d cracked it. And, of course, they had to be selective with it, but it was a no-brainer to help out a brother.  “Most Wakandans don’t leave the country, and the ones who did before our opening went as humanitarians, so they spent a lot of time at the UN in Nairobi. Which is why it was Kenya and not Ethiopia.” She looked up suddenly. “The time-travelling car! My dad loved that movie. I grew up on American cult film classics.”  “I’m glad you have some assistance, and every super-powered woman I’ve met has been incredibly tough. So I’m confident she’ll be fine. I’m not wrong about anything.” She turned to look at the shirt. “Yes, that’s it. Went for standard-issue midnight black, for practicality reasons, although that can be changed fairly easily if you’re really attached to bright colours.” Shuri nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind, Luke. It’s always good to have friends around.” It was rare they would actually need assistance, but if for any reason they ever had to avoid the official state channels again…it was an important insurance policy.

Luke pushed and pulled at the fabric, and even tried to tear it — nothing. Unbelievable. If he didn’t object to guns on a basic level he would shoot it, just to see what happened — but he was confident of what he was looking at.

��Black is beautiful,” he said, eyebrows raised. He pulled off the ugly tourist monstrosity he’d been wearing (when he ended up in the papers in nothing but rags as often as he had lately, he’d lost all sense of modesty) and pulled the new one over his head. It fit perfectly, seemed to weigh almost nothing — it was like a second skin. “But you know, my woman, she does like me in a nice bright yellow. Because she has such a sunshiney demeanor herself. Maybe you could make me another one. That school of yours, you probably need someone big and burly to carry heavy things around from time to time.” Or not. It was probably all taken care of by robots but Jessica seemed to be very prone to pawing at him in that color. “Or if the kids want a little encouragement from a home-grown hero. By the way, that’s not my term, it’s what the papers say. I’m still not very good at being out of the closet, per se, but I ran out of choices about that.”

get this man a shirt

[foundoutthehardway-blog]

akaherosandwich‌:

Jessica complied with little resistance as Luke climbed onto the bed behind her. It was a bit awkward, but what wasn’t at this point? The bed had ample space for the both of them, and as Luke situated himself, the Asgardian lady’s maid helped arrange the requisite towels and things to keep them both comfortable as best as they could be.

“Names, you serious?” she panted. Jess realized it was a conversation she’d been avoiding because of her fear that the kid wouldn’t be a girl. Then what were they going to do? “Fuck. Okay, think of some, we’ve got time. I’m feeling brutally honest today.” Her eyes followed his hand as he touched her stomach. Their daughter was in there, ready to be let loose into the world. She tensed just at the thought of it.

Jessica listened as Luke kind of rambled. It was cute- he may have been over ‘blind panic’ but he was still nervous, she could tell. She just preferred to keep her mouth shut while nervous. And hell, was she nervous. And Luke was already talking about their child being a superhero? Jess couldn’t exactly say she wished that on the kid- nor did she wish a superpowered baby on the two of them as first-time parents.

Jane came back through the room to assure them Heimdall- their magic gatekeeper guy- was going to bring Dr. Thompson in as soon as possible. Jessica took ice chips and ground them between her teeth, because what else was there for her to do?

-

Doctor Thompson was magically teleported in sometime in the early evening. (Norse aliens had all the magic bullshit, didn’t they?) Without much of her equipment, the doctor was going to take things slowly with Jessica- no sense in hurting her or the baby by rushing things.

Meanwhile, Jessica exhausted every profanity she had at her disposal, grasping at Luke all the while for support or out of a sense of vengeance towards him each time she ached. The contractions were more painful than she had expected, and she’d been shot before. Sometime later, Trish arrived, as did some paparazzi (Jess caught wind of it after it mysteriously began thundering outside on an otherwise clear night). There wasn’t much for her sister to do, so Trish sat by idly and watched. Not keen on having an audience, Jessica was relieved that Danny and Matt hadn’t chosen to arrive yet.

-

Her game of tug-of-war with her uterus and the doctor persisted through the night. Jessica alternated between clinging to Luke for strength and making him the object of her anger, because she couldn’t take it out on the baby and he was the closest target. Nothing too mean, but after a while she wasn’t even sure if she was forming coherent sentences. She was panicking. What if she couldn’t do this? There was no way to back out at this stage. And once the child was out, there was no backing down from what came next.

But finally, some point early the next morning, Dr. Thompson’s voice lowered as she softly repeated, “That’s it. There we go. Just keep breathing. Here she is.”

Jessica craned her neck downwards and watched as the doctor and the Asgardian woman cleaned the baby- they said baby girl, right?. The new mother was dumbfounded. That was her baby. Their little girl. Damn, she couldn’t see his face but she could feel the joy radiating off of Luke. Dr. Thompson approached with the wrinkled thing that was her daughter and Jessica watched as the baby was lowered onto her chest. That squirming, newborn thing. Their daughter.

She froze up as the child was placed against her skin. Jessica chewed her lower lip for a moment before asking a million questions all at once-

“What…. what do I do now?”

The hardest thing was knowing he couldn’t really do anything to make this easier. This was Jessica’s body. He couldn’t take her pain away, and though he would have cheerfully let her hurt him, that was almost impossible. She did her level best and from time to time he made a noise to indicate that it was working.

(It wasn’t.)

All those Lamaze classes were completely forgotten, but he followed the lead of the Asgardian midwife. He whispered sweet nonsense in Jessica’s ear, told her time and time again how strong she was, and that she had this, she could do it. Sometimes, she seemed alarmingly frail and tiny; other times, she seemed like the strongest woman on God’s green earth, a Valk— okay, not that, now he knew they weren’t mythical, but powerful, Amazonian, miraculous.

“We made a life,” he murmured, more than once. She was coming. She was so close. He murmured ideas for names, mostly ridiculous ones that would have made her laugh if she wasn’t trying to push a watermelon out of her vagina. He kissed her neck and her shoulder and her hair and promised they were going to be the best parents any kid could ever hope for. That she was going to get every opportunity they’d ever wanted but couldn’t have. He briefly wondered if he was wrong, if they might have a boy, and decided it didn’t matter because he’d love a boy just as much and also, he was right.

By the time Jessica’s strength seemed to be completely sapped, Luke’s was definitely waning too. This was still normal, right? Doc Thompson and the midwife didn’t look worried, so he couldn’t be either.

And then…

And then.

“There she is,” Luke whispered, awed. “That’s our little girl, Jessie. I told you I had powerful genes — she’s black, black as her dad.”

Her tiny eyes were scrunched up and she was covered in things Luke didn’t want to think too hard about, but they cleaned her up, and moments later she was resting in Jessica’s arms. Not even crying too much, just little wails of confusion (and he could understand that, he really could). Luke pressed a finger against her tiny palm and she gripped him tight.

“Oh, yeah, she’s definitely super,” he said, keeping himself steady so that Jessica could rest. Somewhere in another room there were whoops of joy and if Thor hadn’t just called for ale Luke would eat his hat. Or someone else’s, since he really didn’t do hats as a rule. He watched as they severed the umbilical cord and dealt with the placenta, all of that. And just like that, their daughter was her own person, whole and healthy (and with a lot of black hair).

“Danielle,” he said. “Let’s call her Danielle. Dani for short.” Let her piece that together later; Luke kind of loved the idea of naming his daughter after his best friend, and Danielle was a pretty name, a name not burdened by intergenerational expectations or grief.

He had no idea how long he’d been looking at her, the red face, the tense little arms.

“Hey. Jessica,” he said, craning his head so he could see her face and be sure she hadn’t nodded off. Se was still awake, gazing in awe. “Jessie. Let’s get married. Marry me. I wanna be your husband. Want you to be my wife. ’Til death do us part, and all.”

He nuzzled against her cheek. Timing? Probably off, but the ring tucked into his underwear drawer at home wasn’t exactly on his priorities list once Jessica’s waters had broken.

aka; babygirl

[foundoutthehardway-blog]

princessxwakanda‌:

“There absolutely is, and no, please don’t cite examples.” Shuri always enjoyed bringing someone new into the lab, just to see their reactions. She could see it in his face that he was both bemused and impressed: which was a pretty common reaction. It still never got old.  Shuri genuinely laughed at that. “In Wakanda, we also have that phrase these days, but it’s ‘has a girlfriend in Kenya’. Yes, I helped her fix up some space tech. It was cool, even by my high standards. Funnily enough, I’ve met a few white boys like that recently. I might even invite them to the cookout. One of them can bring homemade cake.” No problem, Mr Cage. She continued to make gestures on the screen, looking up briefly. “Leave it on, the system will manage. Just don’t move until I tell you to, or we’ll have to recalibrate it again.” Shuri raised an eyebrow.  “You’re the second person to ask me that recently, and the first was Gamora. Quill had some malfunctioning tech in his head, and I would jump at that normally, but my top-grade surgical equipment is based in Wakanda. I’d only take someone in here if they wouldn’t survive from New York to Birnin Zana - that’s a 2 hour flight, we’ve got supersonic aircraft.” Shuri added, as if that was a mundane concept.  “I’m happy for you, but I think the Ambassador might burst a blood vessel if a US national had a baby in here. Our visa applications list is already -  I don’t even know how long, but it’s long.”

Was it weird that he felt like the AI was undressing him with its eyes? Or, well — eye? He tried not to react.

“Kenya. There you go — some things are universal.” He tried to keep still as he was scanned, wondering if the AI also had a notion of exactly how damn ridiculous his shirt was. It was probably uploading him to the internet. A scan this close? It was probably inventing a clip of Luke doing the white boy middle school two-step to a Jonas Brothers’ song. “Like the supersonic aircraft. Got one of those in the basement somewhere. Right next to this beat-up old DeLorean. Universal.”

Also — good thing he was unbreakable. Luke was pretty confident he’d get airsick at those speeds. Hell, he thought he’d get airsick at Jess’s speeds. The AI seemed to have stopped perving on him, and somewhere, Luke could hear the quietest buzz of servos.

“'s okay,” he promised. “We got a doctor. We got a hospital. I’m just expecting the best and preparing for the worst, you know? People — love ‘em, but they can  scare easy sometimes, and… wait. Is that it? Is that my t-shirt? Is that it? Are we done?”

Seems rude to ask if he can stab it. Seems rude to ask if he can have a couple extras, to cover for the fact that he’s about to spend a year or two regularly covered in baby puke.

“Damn, girl, you’re incredible. You make sure you keep my number, in case there’s ever a chance of anything I can do to pay you back.

get this man a shirt

[foundoutthehardway-blog]

akaherosandwich‌:

Jessica remained quiet as the kids came up to Luke- he was a hometown hero, someone Harlem really could be proud of. The small-time muggers and criminals in the alley weren’t always shadowy demon ninjas- a lot of them were kids in bad situations, people who didn’t see another way. So Luke helped. Sometimes help was a healthy smack upside the head, but… he was a role model.

Jess exposed perverts in the dark and got in trouble with the law. Not that she wanted this kind of attention herself- the stunt in the park reinforced the idea that she never wanted attention again- but… at least she didn’t have to worry about Luke not setting a good example for their kid. If she hadn’t had a mouthful of sandwich, she might have been smiling at the sight of him with the local youth.

“Wino, huh? That’s a bit of an upgrade from ‘alcoholic,’“ she mused darkly, bringing down the bottle. The investigator allowed herself to lean in slightly as he wrapped an arm around her- she only resisted because gravity was trying to bring her down. That and maybe she was nervous to hear what ‘profound’ thing he had to say. Leave it to Luke to make a picnic in a public park an intimate setting.

Her ear tips burned somewhat as Jessica kept her eyes down, listening to Luke. She switched her focus from the layers of her sandwich to the blanket beneath them, all the while listening to his words. She too had assumed that she fucked the one chance at a real family she got. What Dorothy and Trish were wasn’t… wasn’t typical family. Trish was her sister, of course, but Dorothy never made that house feel like a home. She knew in her gut that she and Luke would do pretty much anything for this kid- if only to make sure she didn’t know the same sadness they had.

“Glad to hear someone’s feeling light these days,” Jess muttered, joking if only to break her silence. She didn’t have anything terribly smart to say back to him. She just had to trust that he knew her feelings. Why couldn’t he be bulletproof and a mindreader?

“You don’t… have to thank me. You and I share the blame wholly here,” she said, looking up and cracking a bit of a shy smile. Jessica followed his gaze down to the pond. She couldn’t even imagine having a child- a grown child. She hadn’t met this one yet. There was no telling what their kid would become. “We’re going to make this thing work, somehow. Call it a gut feeling, or a baby pressing on my bladder.”

Jessica wanted to thank him for giving her another chance. To be more than her past. But she didn’t need to bring that up, not here and now. She just nodded quietly before taking another bite of her sandwich. “Couldn’t kill you if I wanted to,” she said. After a long pause, she spoke again. 

“You know, she’s going to adore you.”

~complete~

aka; all i got is you

[foundoutthehardway-blog]

Luke: Jess and I wanted you to be the first person to meet Danielle.

Danny: [choked up] Oh, wow. She's beautiful.

Luke: Do you want to hold her?

Danny: Oh...oh, yeah, sure, that'd be great!

Danny: [hugs Jessica]

Luke: The baby, Danny!

[foundoutthehardway-blog]

every mission becomes a date if you take your love interest with you.

[foundoutthehardway-blog]

akaherosandwich‌:

Jessica would have been more amused by Luke’s concern if she weren’t feeling like every other emotion and sensation at the moment. Confusion, fatigue, irritation, cramps from hell, a little nausea. She knew the man probably could only feel a few things- primarily excitement and helplessness in concert with one another. Luke would probably puff his chest around the Asgardian. 

“He’s got a toddler. He’s matured,” she said in a deadpan voice. “No, really, I promise we’re cool- he just owes me this one.”

Jess begrudgingly took Luke’s assistance to the door, as Jane Foster and the thunderer were there to greet them. Their daughter- was her name Tormund? Terran?- was wrapped around her mother’s leg as the couple arrived. “Hi, grumpy lady,” the child said as Jess stepped over the threshold, cradling her stomach.

Eventually, Jessica and Luke were set up in a guest room and were even given a lady-in-waiting, which was pretty weird. But apparently she was a somewhat qualified Asgardian midwife, so the investigator wasn’t really going to complain. Jane and the woman Kelda stocked the room with towels, a bowl of crushed ice for Jess to suck on, excess pillows, and other supplies. 

Jessica was happy to have her damp pants and underwear off, discarded with her shoes, while her leather jacket was hung from a coat rack in the corner. Everything else, she wasn’t so thrilled with. Her contractions were getting stronger and closer, and a mild sheen of sweat coated her forehead. She alternated between trying to look at Luke and staring at the decorative ceiling of their room. 

“Yeah, you let me know about the breathing stuff. Because I remember fuck-all right now,” she panted. “He really broke my ribs. Fixed ‘em too, with some Asgardian medicine crap and some really good booze. I may or may not have… pushed his buttons. He was hungover or I was, I don’t remember. I said something shitty about him losing his hammer. I don’t fucking remember.”

She asked Luke to also call Trish when he got a chance. This was gonna be a long day for all involved.

Chances were very good that they were both hungover, Luke figured, but he knew better than to say it out loud while she was in this state. Or any state. Maybe when she was sleeping.

He called Trish; unsurprisingly she was busy, but he left a message, figured a woman that connected would know where the Asgardian Embassy was. Unlikely she’d call back. She’d just come. To hear tell of it she was almost as excited as Luke was to have a baby on the way. Pretty soon it would be what all the cool kids were doing.

“Alright, baby. Think that’s all the calls I need to make. People will probably start showing up at the worst possible time, and you can shout at them.” He sat on the edge of the bed and took his shoes off. “Sit up a little. I’ll get in behind you.”

This, he’d liked, in the baby class. Being the support. The teacher had talked about how he’d be able to feel a lot of what Jess was feeling — other than the whole contractions thing, the passing a watermelon out of a lemon-sized hole, and the apparently inevitable tearing. She’d heal fast, at least. For his own part Luke was just glad that when she decided to start taking it all out on him he was easier to hurt than the average. Though he didn’t want to get cocky; if she really wanted to, say, tear all the meat out of his thigh in the middle of a contraction she’d probably find a way to do it.

“I promise, I’m over the whole blind panic thing. Just looking’ forward to meeting our little girl. We didn’t talk names! We been snoozing on the big issues, babe. Something classy. One day she’ll be heading up a superhero empire and I don’t want to be smacking myself on the palm every time I see her name in print. Nothing she has to spell every time she says it out loud. No grandma names. I mean, I get it, once upon a time there were babies runnin’ around called Mabel and Gladys but I just know how someone can do that to a kid.”

He wiped some of the sweat from Jessica’s brow with one hand, and smoothed over her belly with the other.

“You’re doing great. Just lean on me. You can always lean on me.” He kissed Jessica’s temple, and nuzzled against her cheek. “Gonna meet her soon. You just gotta do your thing. You want some ice chips?”

aka; babygirl

[foundoutthehardway-blog]

akaherosandwich‌:

“It is bullshit,” she muttered back to Luke. But what was even more bullshit was knowing that if she raised a scene, she’d be back in the papers. Even worse, she’d be back in Misty Knight’s precinct awaiting punishment for proving she wasn’t just a victim of circumstance but a repeat offender of violent super-powered crimes. Damn it.

“Might as well call the X-Men,” Jess added weakly as a joke. “That was some nasty anti-mutant discrimination going on there.” She followed as Luke led her outside, breathing as steadily as she could for the stress of the moment and the anticipation of the next contraction.

She leaned wearily against the planter box as Luke looked out for the taxi. Traffic was as it always was out here in New York. Maneuvering home to wait for Dr. Thompson to return was too much- and Jess didn’t want to risk having the kid pop out on their living room floor.

“We have a snowball’s chance in hell of getting let into the Wakandan Embassy, even with your beautiful black genes. But that does give me an idea,” she said, pulling out her phone. “I think I know a guy. He’s got good alcohol on hand and he owes me a hell of a favor.”

-

Jessica had another two contractions on the trip across town to the Asgardian Embassy but took it in good humor, knowing that she could at least persuade a shot of that Norse mead out of the God of Thunder after this ordeal was over. Plus, he and his wife had a super kid. Maybe they’d be equipped to help- though upon reflection Jess didn’t think Jane was that kind of doctor.

“He broke my ribs once in a diner,” the investigator explained to Luke as they pulled up to the large, ornate building. Surely they had a room that could handle the mess of Hurricane Jessica that was knocking at their door.

Oh, the Asgardian Embassy was a better bet than the Wakandan Embassy? Right, okay. Still, no way in hell was Luke gonna argue with Jess. Not while she was battling contractions and hormones. Not now. Instead, he waved down a taxi, and once he had one, helped Jessica into the back seat, writing an angrily-worded letter in his head.

--

The place was... really, really something, looked like it had been plucked out of another galaxy and plopped onto its grounds exactly like this; which, Luke had to concede, was actually plausible. But. Wow.

“Wait, what?” he said, snapping his head around. “He broke your ribs? He seems like such a nice guy. You really want to front up to someone in this state when he’s broken your damn ribs before?” This was starting to sound like a really bad idea. Maybe Luke should call Shuri anyway. But Jess didn’t look fazed, and it was her body, and if Thor tried to pull anything, Luke would take that damn hammer of his and shove it where the sun didn’t shine. 

He took a breath, gritted his teeth, and helped Jessica to the door.

Took a while to get themselves settled, but eventually, Luke was relieved to have Jessica stretched out on a bed, looking less tired, more comfortable, and without any obnoxious nurses trying to toss her out on the street. 

Luke sat on the bed and kept a hand between Jessica’s shoulders, rubbing firmly, keeping her connected, while he called Danny and Matt to give the the news and ask someone to bring the bag. And the car capsule. And possibly a bottle of whiskey and a bendy straw. Luke wasn’t in the mood to judge. 

“How you doing, baby? Contractions are getting closer together. I gotta remember all the breathing stuff. Thor really broke your ribs?”

aka; babygirl

[foundoutthehardway-blog]

akaherosandwich‌:

Jessica was now uncomfortable on numerous levels, both physical and emotional. On any other day ending in ‘y’ she would have gotten up and given this nurse a good public shaming for all of her weird anti-mutant, anti-powered attitude. But right now, she was trying to focus on her breathing like Luke had said. Trying to keep from losing her mind before the hard part had even begun.

She and Luke didn’t have the clout the other super heroes had. They certainly weren’t the Avengers. Hell, Jessica had been to jail twice (okay, once and a half?) and murdering a man on television is what she was most well-known for. Luke’s street cred wouldn’t do him any good in here either. They had no weight to throw around.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Jones, but we just have no way to guarantee that your child won’t have potentially dangerous powers of some sort. Nor can we account for any danger you may put our staff in while in labor. Dr. Thompson made notes in your file here about accommodations, but she’s not here and none of that is ready for Dr. Mattia to take over,” the nurse explained in a painfully polite voice. “Thompson was contacted but couldn’t get here until early tomorrow morning at the soonest, and we can’t keep you here until then.”

Jessica felt numb, shocked back to attention by the pain of another contraction. She moaned in discomfort, waiting a few seconds to see if Luke would totally fly off the handle at this woman. They were already gathering an audience, which wasn’t good. She slowly lifted herself out of the wheelchair, crushing the side handles entirely by accident with the effort. She swaggered to her feet, still holding her stomach.

“Oh, I don’t think you’re equipped for anything I can throw at you,” she muttered darkly, and for a moment it was clear the nurse was afraid of physical violence. “C’mon, Luke. If they don’t want to handle me, maybe they’d rather talk with Jameson and his newshounds from the Bugle. Call Matt Murdock or Jenn Walters. I think a settlement would be a nice start to our daughter’s college fund.”

“This is bullshit,” Luke muttered. He owed the swear jar so much, and she wasn’t even it late stage labor yet. This was exactly the sort of thing that made him want to lose his grip on his temper and go on a rampage -- but he couldn’t afford one, not now. Not with an audience, not when Jessica needed him. 

They should have gone to the house. They had that go-bag. Maybe once they’d figured out what to do, he’d get Danny to go get it for them. 

“I’ll call them both,” Luke said. “Let Matt and Jenn double-team these guys. See how it goes when they have to explain to a jury how they threw a woman in labor out on the street.” 

It wasn’t as if he didn’t understand. On some level. Yeah, maybe it would be dangerous. But wasn’t that the same for a whole lot of other parents too? Angry exes showing up, drunk family members... probably the only thing that would happen here would be Jessica swearing so much the pediatric wing was corrupted young. 

“You could at least call us a taxi,” Luke barked, supporting Jessica with both arms as she started to drag the remainder of their combined dignity to the door. The nurse, looking embarrassed but hardly remorseful, headed for the nurses’ station to make the call.

Outside, Luke helped Jessica sit on the concrete edge of a garden bed; a little high, but better than trying to sit somewhere too low and at least she could take the weight off her feet.

“Okay. Okay. Seriously, who are we gonna call? There’s a hospital wing in the Wakandan Embassy -- I could call Shuri.”

aka; babygirl

[foundoutthehardway-blog]

akaherosandwich‌:

“I think her emergency came first,” Jessica conceded. In any other circumstances, she’d be pissed. But right now she was scared, and there wasn’t much she could do about it. She smirked to herself somewhat weakly at the idea that the receptionist, probably reedy and blonde with a nasally voice, as telling a brick-built black man from Harlem to calm down.

“Okay, well, there was the one. I’ll let you know when the next one comes,” she muttered. Jess didn’t exactly want the wheelchair but she didn’t fight it, if only to make Luke feel better. She wasn’t in bad shape just yet, not really. “Sorry about the back seat,” she offered lamely to the taxi driver, noting the damp marks she left behind as she clambered out of the car. She left Luke to pay the kid while she was escorted inside by a staff member.

Once inside, Jessica explained that her usual was Dr. Thompson, but her paperwork had been left with Dr. Mattia. A nurse in blue scrubs came by and once more assured her to keep calm. This was nothing to be scared about. Jess kept her hands on top of her belly protectively, as if that might help keep the child inside.

“Ms. Jones, it says in your records that you are a, uhm, super-powered individual,” the woman said, flipping several papers with her clip board. “Can you explain how you got your abilities? You’re not a mutant, are you?”

Jessica pulled a face, frowning at the young woman. “Illegal laboratory experiment, try not to feel too bad for me,” she said.

“It says in your records you cannot take any anesthesia due to the rate at which your metabolism processes it.”

“These records say a lot of shit, don’t they?”

The woman flipped a few more papers. “Do you know if your baby will be born with super powers? Oh, is this the father?” She turned to Luke and looked at him. “Do you have any history with mutations, experimentation, radioactivity?” 

Oh, this nurse didn’t know when to choose a different tone. By the time Luke got back, Jessica looked... well, more fragile than her usual, but pissed off. Luke wanted to say something. Something he was bound to regret. He bit his tongue.

“We’re not radioactive, and we’re not mutants, not that there’s anything wrong with that,” he said, trying hard to keep a growl out of his voice. He had a hand on Jessica’s shoulder. She was sweating, had to be in pain.

“We were experimented on. And before you get all gushy, you’re welcome for however many times we’ve saved your asses, or the asses of people you love. This seems like a good time to show a little appreciation, by maybe finding us somewhere she can scream in peace. Now, where is Dr Mattia? We need to get him up to speed. And I think Jessica could use some ice chips.” He crouched by her chair, reaching out to express what little affection was appropriate in the emergency department, in front of an increasingly curious collection of hospital staff and patients.

“All gonna be okay, Jessie. Dr Mattia will be here soon and we can get this show in the road.”

aka; babygirl

[foundoutthehardway-blog]

akaherosandwich‌:

Luke’s insistence that he was calm was far from reassuring. If the fact that Jessica’s own insistence that she was calm was any indicator, the two were far from feeling zen about all of this. She felt a tightening in her abdomen, her breath catching and then releasing in a strained grunt. “Yeah, okay, that’s a real one.” Shit. Fuck. And it was only going to get worse from here.

Jessica might have been super strong with a good tolerance for a lot of things, but she could tell this was going to get old real fast.

“Just keep driving,” she said with less bitterness, noting the driver’s hesitation as Luke began to mutter with the receptionist on the other end. “On hold? Fuck me. Let me check my phone.”

Jessica scrolled through a number of unopened emails, missed messages, new voicemails. Sure enough, she found one from about three days ago, definitely sent while Jess had been asleep (around 11:30pm, earlier than usual for her), from Dr. Thompson. 

“Out of town for the weekend because of urgent family business,” the investigator repeated as she listened to the message. “Shit. Says that Dr. Mattia can step in if needed, he has copies of my file, but I don’t even know the guy. Just my damn luck- you don’t think there’s any way to put a cork in it and tell the baby to hold on for a few days, huh?”

Luke nodded, probably a little... well, like he’d been electrocuted. A lot like that, actually. Okay. So their doctor was away. So what? Anyone could do this -- hell, if the traffic didn’t start thinning out Luke was going to have to do it himself, right here in the back seat. 

“Right. Right. But Dr Mattia -- he’s probably great too, right? Better, even. I mean...”

Metro was only a couple of blocks away.

“I mean, doesn’t Thompson know we have a family emergency here too?” he asked, helplessly. It was strange to see Jessica in serious pain -- she was so tough. This kid, though. This kid was gonna be worth it. 

“It’ll be okay.” He turned his attention back to the phone. “I need to get a message back to a Dr Mattia,” he grumbled. “Oh, okay,” he added, clenching his teeth. “She told me to calm down. I am calm. I am an appropriate amount of calm right here, okay? We gotta time your contractions, I remember that bit.”

And at last, they were there, in the emergency bay close to the ambulances. Luke opened the door before it had really slowed to a stop and started yelling.

“Hey, I need some doctors over here! And a wheelchair! My woman’s in labor! Hurry up!”

aka; babygirl

[foundoutthehardway-blog]

akaherosandwich‌:

Jessica was now more acutely aware of just how uncomfortable she was, holding her stomach and wondering if everything she felt was a contraction or a kick from the child. Their baby had nowhere left to go but out. This was it. Jess was about to be responsible for a helpless life. Could Luke just take point the next nine months and they’d call it even?

She hesitated to sit down in her damp jeans, but the taxi arrived soon enough and Luke had her strapped in carefully as she tried to shift as little as possible- it seemed that she was still leaking a bit as it was.

“I’m fine. Can you text Dr. Thompson and see if she’s around? We’re headed to Metro-General.”

Jess narrowed her eyes at the driver- this is why she hated taxis. The investigator grabbed Luke’s hand and squeezed. “Yeah, well, you’ll be eating out of a tube if you don’t make this snappy. Run some reds, I don’t care. I just want this over with.”

Is Metro-General the closest, though? No, no, it doesn’t matter -- Jess is right, they have a plan, and Thompson knows their deal. Luke fumbles his phone from his pocket. For the first time, he’s worried about what exactly someone as strong as Jessica might have to go through to give birth.

Thompson knows the deal. She’ll sort everything out. 

“Gotcha,” Luke says, flicking through the numbers. “Yeah, hey. This is Luke Cage. I’m looking for Dr Thompson.” 

There’s a hesitation, and then on-hold music. Luke reaches across the seat to knead the muscle over Jessica’s shoulder. “We’re gonna be fine,” he said. “Look at me, I’m calm. See?” 

“Yeah,” he said, focused n the phone again. “Luke Cage. No, please don’t -- just put me through to Dr Thompson, okay? Just -- aw, shit.”

Dollar in the swear jar. Luke grimaced and gave Jessica a sheepish look. “On hold again. Did we miss a call from her the last couple of days?”

aka; babygirl

[foundoutthehardway-blog]

akaherosandwich‌:

“Oh god, is this it?”

Jessica put both hands on her stomach as if to demand an answer from the unborn child. This was it. The moment everything stopped feeling like a weird lie she’d been telling herself about how things were gonna be different and that she and Luke were going to be a family. This was that “nut up or shut up” moment that there was no taking back.

And she wasn’t ready.

“Jesus, shut up! You’re the one who needs to stay calm,” she snapped back as he began to rattle things off to her. “I don’t know if it was a contraction, I wasn’t paying attention. I thought it was pee, and now my jeans are wet, and we don’t know what we’re doing.”

Already, she was worried about fucking this up. Making a bad impression on her daughter’s first day of life.

“Call a taxi, call the doctor, I don’t know. Just figure something out.”

Okay, yeah, that sounded smart. Calm sounded good, and now that he was thinking about it, he thought the whole breathing thing was supposed to wait until she was lying down somewhere. With a hundred doctors on hand, and two hundred nurses, and now that he was thinking about it there was every chance he was going to need medical intervention himself. Luke scrubbed his hand over his face. 

He needed to call Matt. Matt could be calm. Or, no, he would be fine, all fine. 

“Okay, baby. Taxi. Just -- look, bus stop, okay? Sit down.”

It only took a moment to wave down a cab, and by some miracle, the driver was a good neighborhood dude who helped Luke wrangle Jessica into the back seat. 

“About to meet our daughter,” he said to Jessica, leaning across so he could fasten her belt. “You okay? Hey, man, heading to the nearest hospital.” He pulled his own door closed. “Carefully. My woman and my baby girl are right here in your back seat.”

“Ooooh, I know you,” the guy said. “I’m gonna be eating out on this for months.”

aka; babygirl

[foundoutthehardway-blog]

akaherosandwich‌:

Jessica had been restless and uncomfortable most of the day. A few people had told her she had “dropped,” to which she responded that she would drop them for any more smart remarks like that. Her stomach had ceased to be perfectly round and was more amorphously shaped, suggesting the presence of a large child ready to come out any day now. She and Luke had opted to take a walk around the neighborhood to burn off what little extra energy she had this morning.

“Thank god,” she muttered. “The humidity has been killing my hair.” One of her least favorite hormonal boons- thick hair meant big frizz in the sweltering summer of New York. That, and her determination to wear black leather meant her patience was severely tested on the worst days.

“Traded your varsity jacket for a big hoodie, huh? Honestly, I want to go back inside where we have fans. I’m feeling hot and sticky and I really have to pee,” Jess grumbled, one hand beneath her stomach. “I’m like… really sticky.”

She paused, narrowing her eyes. Okay, there was no way that was all sweat…down there.

“Luke, could you… uh, look at my ass, please? Not in a sexy way.”

“They never made a varsity jacket in my size,” Luke said, cocky. He slowed his pace a little; Jessica seemed to be struggling. “And I like your hair like that.”

Heading back inside seemed like a good plan, though. They were only a couple of blocks away. Which suddenly seemed like a very, very long distance, as Jessica tensed up.

“You know I can’t look at your ass any way but... oh,” he said. “Oh. I think... I don’t think that’s pee, baby.”

Alright: calm. He knew how to do this. Read all the baby books, paid attention at lamaze classes. Though it suddenly seemed like a lot to remember, when he mostly wanted to just start yelling to everyone who could hear that he needed an ambulance and was about to meet his baby girl.

“Okay, now, everything’s fine. Remember, women have been doing this a long time, Jessie. Just remember your breathing -- whoo, whoo, whoo -- no, not yet. We gotta time the contractions. Was it a contraction? I’ll get my phone. Just stay calm, okay? Calm.”

aka; babygirl

[foundoutthehardway-blog]

aka; babygirl

@akaherosandwich​

      “Summer’s turning tail,” Luke said. One of the first days when it wasn’t stifling outside, and there was even a cool breeze. “Which means... Halloween decorations start in a couple of days, right? Pumpkin spice lattés and come as you aren’t...”

He took Jessie’s hand in his own. Size of her belly was making her slow (don’t tell) and the heat had made her more uncomfortable by the day. Meant he didn’t want to crowd her too bad.

“Whaddya want to do, baby? Go get milkshakes? I’ll give you my class ring. Or we could meet Danny, see if he’ll tell us about the dragon again.”