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This story is based an characters created by J. Parriott 
and B. Cohen for the TV series Forever Knight.
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Nick  drove towards Natalie’s apartment. It had been eighteen weeks
since Natalie had told him about her pregnancy. Ever since that day
everything had changed. Time was no longer the same; he counted in the
days and weeks rather than years and decades. It had taken him several
weeks to get used to the idea that he was going to be a father and even 
more time to figure out exactly what he was going to do about it. Nick
knew one thing, he loved Natalie and he loved his child. If he were
mortal he would be on cloud nine, but he wasn’t and that was a problem. 

Nick spent every spare moment with Natalie and his baby. At first he
thought it was odd, the way Natalie talked to the fetus as if it
actually understood her, but after he done a little research and found
that it was possible: he spent endless hours talking to Natalie’s belly
in various languages and even singing quietly when Natalie was fast
asleep.

It had taken some time for Natalie to reach a point when she trusted him
enough  to allow him  to stay with her and talk to the baby while she
slept.  Now they were almost back to the way things had been when they
were close friends who completely trusted each other. Nick understood
that it would taken even more time before Natalie would allow him to
hold her like he used to and he wasn’t sure he trusted himself enough to
be that close to her again.

When he was alone at night his dreams were filled with haunting images
of himself as a mortal man living happily with Natalie and his child. He
would wake up in a state of happy bliss until he felt the first pangs of
the hunger and then reality would tear at his heart. He could never
live with Natalie in that way. He couldn’t take his child for walks in
the park on a sunny day and he couldn’t do all things a normal father
could. On these days he wondered if he was doing the right thing by
trying to be part of their lives. Perhaps it would be better for them if
Natalie found someone else who could make her happy and be a real father
to his child.
 
 Nick was so deep in thought that he almost drove right past Natalie’s
apartment building. Once he had parked he took a few minutes to collect
himself. Natalie looked at her bedroom window and was surprised to see
Nick parked below. She watched him anxiously for over five minutes.
Natalie figured he must have gone into his usual dreamland mode. She
silently hoped their child didn’t inherit that trait, because it really
annoyed her. Finally he got out of the car and headed to the entrance
and he was carrying a large bag with him. Natalie sighed and slowly
wobbled her way to the living room. By the time she had reached the
bedroom door, Nick was already opening the front door.

"Hi Nat!" he said joyously.

"Hi Nick. What did you do run  up the stairs, at full vampire speed?" 

Nick smiled sheepishly, "I didn’t want to wait another minute to see
you." 

Nick had crossed the  room, put the bag down and was standing before
Natalie. He lightly kissed her cheek, then bent down, placed both his
hands on her expanded belly. 

"Daddy is here. How is my sweet baby tonight?" he cooed, in the soft
voice he saved for his child, as he did every night. Nick felt the kick
and heard Natalie’s groan. He looked up at her wearing an apologetic
grin. "Sorry Nat." 

"It’s okay Nick. The baby is just glad have his or her daddy here."

"How about you Nat, are you glad to have me here too?"

Natalie was saved from answering by another kick. "I think someone else
is demanding your attention."

Nick whispered to his baby for a few more minutes and then insisted
Natalie go and sit on the couch while he went to get her some juice and
vitamins. Once she had taken her vitamins he relaxed a bit and reached
for the bag. He pulled out a large wrapped box and smaller one.

"More presents Nick?"

"Yes."

"You really didn’t have to, you have gotten us some many already…"

"You can never have too many presents, plus how many times in my life am
I going to have a child."

Natalie smiled because she knew the painful truth in his words. It was
miracle that they had managed to have this one and they still weren’t
sure what to expect when the baby is born. Natalie opened the large box
first and looked at Nick.

"A car seat, don’t we have one of these?"

"Yes, one is for your car and one is for the caddie."

"Oh…okay." She smiled in approval. She began opening the other gift,
purposefully slowly.

"Come on Nat, just rip it open."

"Okay, okay."  When it was finally opened, Nat stared at it in complete
confusion. "Keys? Nick, what are these keys for?"

Nick smiled mischievously, "For your present, of course." 

"And what would that be?"

"You’ll see." With that Nick got up and retrieved Natalie’s coat and
shoes and helped her put them on. 

"Nick, where are we going?" She continued to question him as they made
their way out the door. Once they reached the stairs he whisked her into
his arms and carried her down the flight of stairs.

"What do you think you are doing?… Put me down! I may be pregnant, but I
am perfect capable of going down the stairs on my own….Nick!" Then she
was standing at the bottom of the stairs while Nick opened the door for
her. "Don’t try that again buster!"


Natalie sat quietly in the car staring out the window, after giving up
trying to get Nick to tell her where they were going. Although she was
slightly annoyed that all he would do when she asked a question was grin
devilishly and  say she would find out soon enough, she was also excited
by all the mystery. As they neared a high class residential area filled
with large expensive houses, Natalie wondered if Nick had taken a wrong
turn somewhere. She was about to ask him if he knew where he was going
when he pulled into the driveway of an especially beautiful house.
Natalie surveyed the house then noticed a for sale sign with sold
plastered across it. Her heart skipped a beat, surely it didn’t mean
that Nick had bought the house.

"Well, Nat, what do you think?"

"Of what?"

"The house."

"It’s very beautiful. Why?"

Before Nick answered he got out of the caddie and made his way to
Natalie’s side to open the door for her. Once she was out of the 
car he took her hand and led her up the four steps to the front door.

"Do you have those keys I gave you, with you?"

In a slightly dazed voice  she replied, "Yes….why?"

"So you can open the door to our new house." Nick grinned happily as the
shock registered on Natalie’s face.

"*Our* house?"

"Yes, *our* house."

"What does this mean Nick?"

"Let’s go look around first and we can talk about everything later."

As they strolled through the partially furnished house Nick acted as a
tour guide. Nick took her through main floor and each of the upstairs
three bedrooms and then finally down to the basement.

"The basement is like a separate suite, complete with a bar kitchen, a
main room, a bedroom and another room which I can use as an office. It
has a separate entrance so you’d have your privacy. I even had special
shutters installed on all the basement windows. So Nat what do you
think?"

"I think I need to sit down."

Nick led her to the sofa which she noticed looked a lot like the  one he
had at the loft. She took a moment to sort out her thoughts and
feelings.

"Nick, are you trying to say you want us to live together?"

"Well…..er…not quite. I know we aren’t ready for that yet."

"Then what is it you want?"

"I want…..to be…with…uh...near you and the baby."

"We can have always separate places near each other." 

"But it wouldn’t be the same."

"Why?" Natalie knew she was putting him on the spot, but she had to know
exactly where he stood.

"Because, Nat, it wouldn’t be close enough. You and the baby need me to
be there for you. I know we can’t be a normal family…yet, but our child
deserves to have us as close to a family as possible, considering
everything."

"Forget about what I need and what the baby needs Nick, what do you
want?" She was becoming tired of him not being able to admit his true
feelings. She wanted more than anything to be with him, but not like
this, not out of responsibility to her or to the baby.
  
"I told you what I want, Nat." 

"No you didn’t, Nick. I need to know, Nick."
 
There was a long silence before he answered. When he finally did, he
reached for her hands and held them tightly in his. "I want to hold you
in my arms at night when I go to sleep and to wake up with you by my
side in the mornings. I want to make love to you each and every night
and to have more children with you. I want to see you and all your
beauty in the sunlight. I want you to be my wife.  I want to be able to
be a father to my child; to take him or her for walks in the park while
the sun shines on us. Nat, there are so many things that I want that I
just can’t have until…if…I become mortal."

"I know Nick…"

"But it doesn’t mean all is lost. I want to be as close to you as
possible and this is why I bought the house. When I wake or go to sleep
you’ll be the first and last person I see. When our baby cries at night,
I can go and comfort him/her. I don’t want to miss all the moments that
are so important in the growth of a child. Nat, I just want to be with
you, both of you, any way I can."  

Natalie could see the blood tears forming in the corner of Nick’s eyes
through her tear blurred vision. She squeezed his hands. "I want that
too, Nick…..So when do we move in?" 

"Are you sure Nat?"

"Yes!"

"Oh, Nat." Soon Natalie was enveloped in a tight embrace. She relished
the feel of him. After a few minutes he released. "How about today?"

"But there is so much to do: packing, cleaning and unpacking."  

"I will have a moving company come over and pack up your place and then
unload and unpack everything here exactly the way you want. Don’t worry
about the cleaning either."

"That would be great. What about your stuff?"

Nick smiled sheepishly, "The rest of it will be arriving later tonight."
  
Natalie punched his arm lightly. "So you assumed I would say yes." 

Nick noticed a sudden change in Natalie’s mood. "Nat, what’s wrong?"

"Nick, what about Lacroix?"

Nick's body visibly tensed. "Nat, Lacroix is gone and he won't be
bothering us anymore."

"Nick, we don't know that for sure."

"He left the day after *that* night and he won't be coming back. He said
that it was time to move on, to let me go. He said he couldn't witness
my self destructive nature anymore. I believe him. He won't be back."

____________________________________________________________
Flashback to 'Last Knight'

Before Natalie knew what was happening she could feel the cold, hard
floor beneath her. Then, she could see her body laying on the floor with
Nick right beside her, tears in his eyes. She was filled with sadness as
she watched Nick's tortured soul struggling with the pain of his
actions. All she wanted to do was to reach out to him, hold him and tell
him everything was okay. 

Then a bright light beaconed her toward it. She could feel the peace and
warmth of it. Suddenly she heard it, Lacroix's voice, "Well... all that
remains now is to turn out the lights and lock the door on our way out."
and the light faded. She listened closely to their conversation.
Finally, anger overwhelmed her as she listened to Lacroix's stinging
words, "Don't be foolish Nicholas. Life is a gift as sweet as the
freshest peach, as precious as a guilded jewel. I have never been able
to understand the logic in wilfully surrendering such a treasure. How
dark can your existence be when compared to an eternal void? Or do have
faith that there is something beyond? What do you see from where you
are? A bright light at the end of the tunnel? A ray of hope? A glimmer
of something better? Or will it burn you like the morning sun? Are the
sounds you hear the trumpeting of Saint Peter's angels or the screaming
of Memnoch's tortured souls? You can't answer that can you? Because
you'll never know the answer until the deed is done. And is your faith
really that strong?...And so in your eyes I am the devil."

Her heart broke as Nick handed the Lacroix the walking stick and replied
tearfully, "No, not the devil Lacroix. You are my closest friend."
Natalie tried to move but it was no use her body would not budge. She
watched, horrified, as Lacroix said, "Damn you, Nicholas," and raised
the stake.

Natalie breathed a sigh of relief as Lacroix whacked Nick in the head
with the stick, rather than staking him. She struggled to move, to try
to get to Nick. She had to see if he was all right. Natalie managed to
blink her eyes. Within seconds Lacroix was leaning over her and staring
intently at her. 

She tried to blink again but it was no use. Lacroix smiled, "Dr.Lambert,
how good of you to return to the land of the living and just in time.
I'm afraid Nicholas won't be able help you right now, he is rather
indisposed." 

Lacroix walked over to the phone, picked it up and dialed 911. He
briefly stated the emergency and hung up. 
Lacroix walked back over to Natalie and knelt down by her side. "Do not
worry help will arrive shortly.  I see that my timing was impeccable as
usual. Poor Nicholas almost succeeded in destroyed all three of you and
I certainly could not allow it. The life of one so young and innocent
should not be sacrificed by the foolishness such as this. I will not be
deprived of this miracle. Just a Nicholas is bound to me by blood so now
are you and the new life that beats within the confines of your mortal
body." Lacroix stroked Natalie's cheek lightly.

"Now Nicholas and I must be on our way, we have a pressing engagement.
Oh, not to worry I will return to him to you…both of you, tomorrow
evening once I have said my farewells. Goodbye *for now* Dr. Lambert,"
with that he walked over and easily picked Nick up. Natalie listened
helplessly as Lacroix, with Nick over his shoulder, flew through the
skylight, into the night with the sound of the sirens closing in.   
________________________________________________________________________

"But what if he does come back?"

"Nat, he won't, so let's not worry about all the what ifs, okay?" Nick
knew Natalie was right, Lacroix might come back and if he did there was
no telling what could happen. Lacroix was the type of person who would
do whatever he had to get what he wanted and that was usually at Nick's
expense. Nick did not want to add to Natalie's worries especially not
now. He squeezed her hands. 

"You're right Nick, we have so many other things to worry about, like
the fact that the sun will be up in less than an hour."

"If we leave right now I should have just enough time to drive you home
and fly from there to the loft."

"If not you could always stay at my apartment, either way we had better
be going."

Secretly Nick hoped that they would make it to Natalie's apartment just
in time and that he'd be forced to stay there with her. He considered
taking the long way back or making a few accidental wrong turns, but he
knew Nat would know, she always did. 

The drive back to her apartment turned out to be a relatively short one
with the lack of traffic. Nick tried his best to hide his disappointment
when he had over half an hour to get back to the loft. 

"It looks like you'll have plenty of time to get back to the loft."

"Yes it does seem like there will be enough time unless the sun decides
to rise early just to teach me a lesson."

"Now that would be a miracle."

"You never know, stranger things have happened." 

"You had better get going then."

 "I should be going, but if you need me to stay, I can."

"I'll be okay."

"Are you sure?" Nick had to give it one last shot. 

"Yes, Nick, we'll be fine."

Nick leaned down and kissed Natalie's cheek and ran his hand lightly
across her belly.

"Good night. Sleep well and sweet dreams. I'll see both of later today." 

Natalie was abruptly awakened shortly after noon by a knock on the
door.  She pulled on a housecoat and wobbled her way to the door
figuring it was probably just some gift that Nick was having delivered.
Standing at the door staring through the peek hole she realized who it
was, the moving company. She decided to double check before opening the
door,  if working in her field had taught her anything it was to always
be cautious.   

"Can I help?"

"Triple A Movers, Miss."

"Okay, just a minute please." Natalie rushed to the bedroom to change
into something more appropriate. Within minutes she emerged fully
dressed and ready to greet the movers. 

After a brief conversation where they explained their explicit
instructions, the ten person moving team got started on their task.
Natalie watched from a comfortable spot on the sofa as they were
instructed not to  allow her to help out. She was amazed at how quickly
and efficiently they worked. Within five hours her place was empty of
all its contents including Sydney who had been placed in a carrying
cage. After a quick phone call to Nick to let him know  she would be at
the new house, Natalie said a quick good bye to the apartment that held
so many of her memories. It reality she was saying good bye to the life
she once lived  and the dreams she'd had for the uncertainty of a new
life and all the new hopes and dreams it held.  

The drive to her new home was filled with sadness and happy
anticipation. She thought about all she had lost and all she was about
to gain, but mostly she thought about Nick and how close he would be
every day. Natalie was pulling into the long driveway of her new house
when she was suddenly overcome with pain. The pain felt as though it
would never end and then as abruptly as it started it ended. Natalie
knew in her heart what it was but was couldn't bring herself to accept
it. She sat in her car for a few minutes waiting to see if the pain
would come again. Finally satisfied that was nothing she got out of the
car and headed up the sidewalk to the front steps. By the time she
reached the first step she was doubled over in pain. This time there was
no doubt, she was in labor, the puddle beneath her proved it.

Before she could call out to the movers within the house an audience had
gathered at the top of the steps and someone was at her elbow helping
her up the stairs. She tried to pay attention to what they were saying
to her but all she could think of was that it was too early, the baby
wasn't due for two weeks.

"Mrs. Knight, are you okay?...Mrs.?...Is it the baby?"

"What?...My water broke."

"Oh my God...call an ambulance. Now!"

"I better call Nick."

"Your husband? It's okay Johnny will call him for you right now. You
just lay back on the couch and try to relax, the ambulance is on its
way."

Relax? She wonder how he could possibly think she could relax at a time
like this, obviously he had never been in labor. Natalie could hear the
guy called Johnny on the phone with Nick and she was pretty sure Nick
was frantic. Within less then a minute Natalie was being handed the
phone.

"Nat!???"

"Hi, Nick."

"Is it true? Are you in labor?"

"My water broke and the contractions have started."

"But it is too early, you can't be in labor."

"It seems our child disagrees. I guess the baby is impatient just like
his or her father."

"Nat...Are the paramedics there yet?"

"No, not yet, but they were just called. I'm sure they will be here
soon."

"How far apart are the contractions?"

"I'm not sure exactly, but I would say...ooowwwww...uuuhh"

"Nat?" Nick began to pace frantically as he listened cries of pain
through the phone. He would fly to her within minutes if he could but
the sun was up. He checked his watch, another twenty minutes to sunset,
he didn't think he could bear it. Finally he could hear only silence. 

"Nat?"

After a few deep breaths Natalie was composed enough to speak to Nick.
"I would say the contractions are about fifteen minutes apart." She
could hear Nick's heavy sigh of relief and then his guilt.

"Nat, I would be there within minutes, but...the sun is.. ." 

Before he could finish she interrupted him. "I know, Nick. You still
have plenty of time to meet me at the hospital. Labor can last for
hours."

"I'm sorry, Nat. I should be there with you. I shouldn't have left your
side, not this close to the due date. I should have known better.."

"You have nothing to be sorry for and none of it is your fault." She
glanced at her belly and smiled, "..well, okay maybe some of it is...and I
wouldn't change that for anything."

"Neither would I."

Nick sharp hearing could pick up the sound of the siren over the phone.
He was relieved that she would finally be in the care of professionals
until he could get to her.

"Nick, the paramedics are here. They will be taking me to closest
hospital. I have to hang up now. I'll see you soon...Nick, I love you."

"I love you too." He glanced at his watch, five minutes left. " I'll be
with you very soon."

Nick stood below the skylight anxiously counting down the minutes. When
the time had finally arrived he was gone like a bolt of lightning. He
had arrived at the hospital only minutes later. It didn't take him long
to find Natalie who was just being wheeled down a hallway toward her
room. The nurse was telling her that her doctor had been called and was
on his way. Nick rushed to her side, surppressing the urge to move at
vampire speed. "Nat!"

"Nick! That was quick." Natalie was relieved to see him and reached for
his hand and squeezed it lightly. "The nurse says we have a bit of a
wait since the contractions are only twelve minutes apart."

After Natalie was settled in her room they waited together rather
impatiently for the time when they would be moved to the birthing room.
It drove Nick crazy with guilt and helplessness every time Natalie was
in pain. She had insisted on no drugs or attempts at whammying. Nick was
struggling with the last part. 

Finally after several hours of labor Natalie was ready to be moved to
the delivery room. Nick was gowned and ready to be a witness to the
miracle he and had created with their love. Nick was no newcomer to
childbirth since he had been a doctor several times in his past, but
this was different, this time it was his child. Nick was as tense and
anxious as any other expecting father. He wasn't sure if the breathing
exercises were for his benefit or Nat's. A some points he was sure
Natalie's pressure on his hand would have sent any mortal man screaming
in pain, lucky for him he wasn't mortal. 

"Okay Mrs. Lambert, one last time, PUSH....That's ittt.."

Nick held his breath and time seemed to stand still as he waited for the
defining moment when his child started to cry. 

"Waaaahh!!!"

Relief and unabashed joy washed over him. He felt as though nothing
could ever be as special as this moment. He leaned down and kissed
Natalie's lips.

"Congratulations, Natalie and Nick, you have a boy!"

 The doctor placed the wrapped up, wrinkled baby in Natalie's arms. As
Nick stared down at them he  realized Natalie never looked more
beautiful to him at that moment holding their child in her arms. Nick
leaned down and lightly touched he face of his son and was overwhelmed
with a feeling of pure happiness.

After a few minutes of reveling in their miracle, Natalie was taken back
to her room to rest and the baby was taken to the nursery. Nick stayed
with Natalie until out of pure exhaustion she had fallen asleep. Nick
soon found himself standing at the nursery window staring at his son.
After more then an hour standing just standing and watching his new baby
sleep, Nick headed back to Natalie's room to be with her.


The man silently walked down the halls of the quiet maternity ward
toward the nursery. He stopped at the glass window and examined all the
sleeping newborns. Immediately his attention was drawn to one baby who
was wide awake and staring intently at him. He smiled to himself as he
read the name, Matthew Richard Knight. He touched the glass and spoke
lightly.  "Hello, little one. I am Lucien Lacroix and I have been
eagerly awaiting your arrival."

The End

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