#elsewhere

A brisk nod, "Right. We don't want to alarm you, especially Miss McCormick who needs to rest and recover. However, your second child was in acute fetal distress..." The doctor continues, the terminology is technical and a bit beyond laymen, even though who may have some first aid or medical knowledge.

"But what that means, is that this baby needs a little more care - born this early, and significantly smaller, she's just not as developed as she needs to be to thrive on the outside. She's going to need to be intubated until her lungs complete development and we're happier with her heart rate."

"Baby will be kept in the NICU for the time being, but once Piper is more recovered she can visit."

"How ... how long will do you think the baby will be..." Siv rallies her courage. Do I love this baby already? I don't even... amazing "How long do you estimate the intubation will need to be, please?"

Then something else occurs to her, "Wait, a she? The sonograms... we were told they were both boys"

A bit of a smile. "Well, those pictures are not always correct. You have a lovely little daughter. It's hard to say. It may be a couple weeks, she is very early and not quite fully baked, as it were."

"A daughter" Siv feels tears in her eyes, but she smiles and nods "That'll change the names up a bit I think. Good to know, good to know. We don't want to be away from her for weeks, may I and Jonas visit as well?"

"Of course. Now, we warn you, it does look a little frightening. But please know that all of the equipment is there to keep your daughter comfortable."

"Would you like to go now? Piper will need to be taken to recovery, but can visit later."

Siv nods again, "Yes I think I should go to see our daughter now. One of us should. I need to tell Piper I'll be back I.. oh dear. I don't want to lie to Piper but this will upset her. Jonas is outside in the hall, can he go with Piper to recovery while I go to see our daughter?"

"Certainly. She'll have a room ready and it does come with a bed for her support person as well. We'll have her wheeled in and moved to her bed, and this little one brought over once he's gone through some more checks."

A nurse is taking the little boy from Piper, who looks a little fussy about that, and has realized - "Siv? Where's..." Distress starting to color her expression.

Siv moves to Piper, "easy, Piper. Lots going on, it seems. All being handled, they tell me and I trust them" She channels the same confidence as her mother when others must see her as a constant point, and the same warmth as Aunt Kerri to ease distress before it starts, or so Siv hopes anyway, "First news first, the other twin? The photos were wrong.. she is a girl. We have a son AND a daughter. One of each. " She sees how Piper reacts before having to give the bad news

"Oh... oh. OH! A girl!" Piper is a little slow from the anesthesia, but she catches on quickly and she smiles brightly. "Let me hold her!"

"Oh I want to," Siv agrees "So badly it hurts, But there's been a complication, and she needs to go to the NICU right now. I'll go with her, and Jonas will go with you."

"That's the power of three, that is" She adds, assuring "You'll be able to visit our little girl, we all three will, now and then, but she'll need to gain strength over the next few weeks."

"What? No. I want to see her! Weeks?!" If Piper wasn't still anesthetized from the waist down, she'd be stomping a hoof! "We have to get home - oh, the nursery isn't ready yet... I thought we had over a MONTH..."

"So did I, so did I" siv shares her frustration, then uses that shared load to ease it "But the important thing is, they're here. We'll get the nursery up... it's already pretty far along. But for now, you go to recovery. I go to the NICU. Jonas goes with you. " She whispers "Don't you worry, the three of us, we're magic, aye? For now patience, love. It'll be right"

"...if you say so." Trust in her voice. She holds Siv's hand, squeezing tightly, until her bed is wheeled down the hall.

A squeeze back, not to hard, and then she watches the woamn she loves go. She turns to the doctor and to the new little girl "Lead on to the NICU, please. "

One of the nurses, there's been an entire flock in and out, leads Siv down the hall and over to another wing. She passes concerned looking folk, distressed, but also fierce optimism- it's an odd mix of bleakness and hope that tingles against her fae soul.

She texts Jonas as she does. Letting him know what's up. And that Piper is going to Recovery. It is not something she wanted to tell him by text, but right now there is no choice. As for the people who also wait for their babies? She feels a kinship with these strangers. They don't have cantrips or the like. She realizes Da is right. Sons of adam , daughter of eve, they can be quite brave

Once they are in the correct wing, they turn into a room which has the lights dimmed. Bassinets with lights atop bathe the scene in a blue glow that makes it look a little bit trollish, but also sterile and stark, not the cozy cuddly scene they had imagined together.

A nurse tends to an incubator with a tag on it that says 'McCormick, Baby A', even as Siv's son is deposited into another that they label 'McCormick, Baby B' after double checking a band around his little ankle.

"We'll want to keep him under observation for a while as well, they're both premature even if Baby Boy wasn't in distress. Don't worry about the monitors, feel free to come closer."

Siv does, and moves to Baby A "Here there, its me, your Mor. I'll tell you what that means when you're older. Okay. I'll tell you now. It's Norweigan for mother. And..well, you've got two of them. One dad too. Really complicated. But that's three folks who love you right out the gate. And wait till you meet your grandmothers. SO many grand mothers"

A smile from the nurse on duty as he checks the vitals and adjusts a monitor. "Looks like they brought out this little one first to treat her fetal distress - you have a firstborn daughter." He congratulates Siv.

"Though, if we're going by MacBeth rules, she wasn't born of woman..." A chuckle, and he looks a little embarrassed. "Sorry, I'm a bit of a Shakespeare nerd. I apologize, most moms don't want to hear their babies described as 'from their mother's womb, untimely ripped..."

The room is bleak and a bit cold, but this nurse is a bit of a bright spot, he hasn't been jaded yet by his profession and sheds a little warmth that gives Siv comfort.

"Never apologize for knowing grand old tales, and the Bard knew his stuff," Siv says with a smile "Oh, she was born first? SHe'll lord that over her brother for years to come." She's sure of it somehow, "THank you, Nurse." She looks for a name tag, but goes on "I'm Siv." A nod of resspect, and gratitude. It is good to know a brright spot of a nurse works here, near their children. She moves to the boy "Your sister needs a bit more time than you, so it may seem we're making a fuss over her, but we love you SO much too, fella. "

His nametag shows that he is Duncan.

"They'll be referred to Baby A and Baby B for now. Mama will be given the birth certificate forms, but they don't need to be filled out with names immediately. In fact, you can go home without names - you actually have up to six weeks before a name needs to be registered."

"Oh, we have names all picked out... " Then she laughs, "Though the girl has surprised us.. mm I guess it still works" She looks at the boy "Hello, Valr ," She pronounces it as 'Valor' "... Harper." giving the middle name "Yes, your name is Norweigan. Your mor will try to teach you the language. " Then she looks to the girl, "Guess that will make you Franklin Lyric? Or Franklyn Lyric? Oh dear, won't da be surprised? Pleased too I hope."

Baby Boy B... er, Valr, kicks a little foot in response.
Baby Girl A... Franklyn, it seems! Does not respond directly, but Siv thinks she might be looking at her - or she might just be staring into the void, it's hard to tell. A tiny red hand, only half the size of her brother's, grasps at air.

It is clear that at least for now, the parents will have no trouble telling the two apart

Siv's heart breaks just a bit, "oh, sorry young ones. I want to hold you as much as you want to be held" Now she DOES feel a new urge to cry "It'll be a bit is all. We'll be here for both of you , often. Wait till you hear your mother sing. SHe's got the most beautiful voice. I mean, I'm decent, but she's amazing."

She wipes at her eyes trying to keep the tears from rising

Duncan takes pity, perhaps, and steps over. "Here - use this sanitizer, then you can reach in and hold her hand." Opening a little side window - it's round, almost like a porthole in a ship!

The wires and sensors on her skin and tubes and beeps are intimidating to even the fearless Fiona...

"THank you, Duncan" she uses the sanitizer, one thing about Covid, it taught her to apply that stuff well, and then, reaches a finger in. By troll standards, Siv is shorter than most. By mortal, she's still a fit tall woman. So she is glad her hand fits. The wires do indeed make her skittish, as if she were afraid she'd brush one and hurt the precious child, but she finds a spot between such and takes Franklyn's hand SO gently. "Hey there, Franklyn"

The tiny fingers twitch, and grasp at the large appendage. Surely it's just reflex, but there is a bit of strength in those fingers that try to grip just one of Siv's.

Siv smiles as the little girl grabs at her finger, and lets her, making it easy "There's the fighter in you. Oh, you get a bit of that from Your King side, I'll be saying. You go ahead and squeeze as much as you wish, Franklyn , our little Lyric we've composed. You let me know you're hungry to see the world as soon as you can. There is SO much to show you and your brother. " I'm going to show them the sea. EVERY sea. I'm going to take them through woods. THey'll see their mother put on a show. Their dad is taking them to the park

The wee one is a bright spot of hope in a cold world, and Siv can bask in it.

Meanwhile, Jonas is lead to a room where Piper is fussing.

"I just don't understand why you can't put the babies in HERE!" She argues with a tired looking nurse.

Jonas does not want to take the nurse's side, but ... he takes Piper's hand, "Piper. Our children need medical care, because they were born so early. We knew this might be a situation. Our.. daughter ... "Wow, is that a mind scramble to say , "our daughter is in the NICU and needs more care than our son , it seems. But we'll visit her. And he'll be brought to us, soon I hope. you need to rest. You've been through a lot. The nurse doesn't have the authority to do what you're asking, and even if she did, it sounds like it wouldn't be the best thing for our babies."

He's ready if she snaps at him. She's been through a lot, and better she snap at him than anyone else. In some ways, Jonas is a lot more trollish than Siv. And he can do stoic support very well.

Inwardly, he wants to hold the babies so badly it aches.

Jonas is prepared for snapping, but is he prepared for... tears?!

oh damn He'd almost prefer the tears. He moves to Piper and gently puts arms about her, "Hey, it's okay. We got this." A look to the Nurse "I think we'd like to see our babies as soon as possible. If you can find out when that is, that would be wonderful"

"I'll see what I can do. For now, here- " She hands over a menu. "I'm sure it's the last thing on your mind, but order her something from the cafeteria. She needs to eat."

Piper leans into Jonas and snuffles, groping for a tissue from the bedside table. "It's just not fair. Ugh, these... HORMONES!"

He takes the menu "I'll get her something, thank you" And he kisses piper on the forehead as she gets a tissue "you've been very brave. Would you like a nice tomato soup?"

He feels like an idiot asking it

She looks like she might cry again, or slap the menu from his hand, but finally she just sniffs and says, "yeah, okay. I am hungry. I've been here for hours and they wouldn't even let me have water because of the surgery. Ugh, I'm going to have a huge scar, aren't I? Right in between bikini pieces, I'll have to switch to a one-piece."

"We'll use some of Sylvi's special ointment to spring that scar away" he reminds her in code, then looks to the Nurse "Tomato soup, please"

She sniffs after the nurse leaves. "I'm not really that vain, I just need the distraction..."

He nods "I figured you were doing it for my sake, bracing me for the loss of one of the cutest abdomens known to the world. It would be hard on me, very hard, but I..." A stoic yet dramatic pause "Would carry on" Yes, he IS trolling her, juust a little