Work Text:
After they’d made the announcement, when the men had started pouring drinks and slapping Daniel on the back in congratulations, Peggy had gently pulled Ana Jarvis aside.
Peggy had apologized for springing the pregnancy announcement upon her, for any pain it might have caused, but Ana had brushed it aside. Certainly, her friends expecting a baby had reminded her of her own inability to carry children, but even grief over what could have been would not dampen Ana’s enthusiasm for Peggy and Daniel.
A month later, the Sousas had asked her and Edwin if they would be the baby’s godparents, and the Jarvises could not have been happier. Ana had begun sewing clothes and knitting a blanket for the baby, and had immediately agreed when Peggy tentatively asked if she would be willing to sit with Peggy during labor. As a man, Daniel would only be allowed to be in the room for the very first stages of labor, and for much as the couple had asked, ordered, and pleaded with the doctors, they refused to make an exception.
Now, watching a sweaty, exhausted Peggy shed a few tears of joy as she clutched at her new baby boy, Ana felt herself tearing up.
“Peggy, dear, I’m going to go get Daniel. Will you two be alright on your own for a minute?”
Peggy looked up at her, positively glowing. “Yes, of course. Thank you, Ana, for being here.”
Ana smiled at her and quickly excused herself from the room. She took a deep breath to steady herself, then headed out to the waiting room, where a frazzled Daniel ceased his pacing long enough to see her wide smile, then hurried down the hall to meet his wife and child.
Ana turned to her own husband, seated in one of the waiting room chairs. His gaze was full of love but also sadness, and she knew that he, too, was grieving their children that would never be. But she and Edwin had made their own family, she figured, even if they weren’t related by blood. And now they had a new child to love.
And so she smiled and extended a hand to her husband, and he stood and pulled her into a tight hug, tucked neatly beneath his chin.
“Shall we go meet our godson?”