Chapter Text
It was about 4 am, Philip had just woken up to the sound of his phone ringing. Miika lay next to him in bed, slowly regaining consciousness as their boyfriend answered the phone. Their sight recovered faster than their hearing so the first thing they saw when they looked next to them was Philip, sitting on the edge of the bed, eyes wide and mouth agape.
“Philip, is everything ok?” They asked.
Philip didn’t answer their partner. He just continued listening to the caller on the other line.
“So do I just drive to the prison?” He finally said, voice drowsy yet also shaken. A muffled voice on the other line answered.
“Which hospital is she in?” The voice responses again.
“Ok thanks, ma’am, I’ll be there right away,” he said before hanging up.
“Philip?” Miika started to question. Philip turned his head as if only now noticing that his partner was awake.
“What happened?”
A brief silence filled the room as Philip’s face seemed to scrunch up in discomfort before he finally spoke.
“The baby’s coming.”
This seemed to suddenly snap Miika out of their drowsiness as they jumped out of bed to get dressed. Neither of them cared for privacy as they threw fresh clothes on and jumped in the car, driving through the darkness on their way to the hospital while trying not to wake Philip’s family. Miika offered to drive so Philip could text his family and tell them where he is.
About three years ago, after Manor of Madness, Philip relapsed on opioids and was sent back to rehab where he met a woman named Lillian, who for the past three years had made his life a living hell. The two were friends for a while, until two days before their discharge from the rehab, Lillian confessed her “love” for him, Philip rejected her, so she drugged and raped him while he was slowly losing continuousness. Once they were both out of rehab she began stalking him until he agreed to live with and be in a relationship with her.
For three years she degraded him, beat him and violated his bodily autonomy until one day Philip came back from work and she announced she was pregnant. Because of her pregnancy Philip was forced to return to MoM to win the money for their baby. However after meeting with Miika, the love of his life, and some other friends, Philip finally gained the courage to report Lillian and she was arrested on charges of domestic and sexual violence.
Now all that was left was the baby.
The couple had arrived at the hospital where Lillian had given birth and by the time they arrived she was still in labor. Miika noticed their boyfriend’s worried expression and started rubbing his back in circles.
“Philip, it’s going to be ok.” The goth assured. All this did was make more tears form in Philip’s eyes.
“Look, the doctors know why she’s incarcerated, they won’t force you to see her.”
“That’s not what I’m worried about.” Philip finally said, trying to blink away the tears building up in his eyes.
“Would you feel better if I got you breakfast after this?” Miika offered. Philip chucked painfully.
“You spoil me too much, amore.”
“You know I love to, rakkaus.”
Philip chuckled again. He thought his partner's culture was fascinating and their language was beautiful but Finnish certainly is not the most romantic language.
Miika smiled and kissed their boyfriend’s cheek as they moved their hand from rubbing the poet’s back to holding his hand.
“Philip I… I feel like I already know the answer to this but… do you plan on keeping the baby?”
Philip didn’t say a word. His expression shifted from the calm that Miika settled him in before. His eyes widened a bit, his mouth opened to say something, but no sound came out. The goth instantly regretted asking. Philip leaned against Miika's shoulder as they waited for a nurse to walk out.
About an hour passed before a doctor came to tell the couple that the delivery was successful and Lillian was moved to a different room so Philip wouldn’t have to see her. The pair walked in together to see the newborn, their hands still intertwined. A nurse was sitting on the hospital room couch, cradling the child in her arms.
“It’s a girl!” She happily exclaims, gently handing the baby to the new father.
For all the pain that horrible woman had put Philip through, she had given birth to a healthy baby girl. Philip held the bundle in his arms close, still unsure of what to do. Not in the moment but for the future. He knew he wasn’t ready for fatherhood or anything having to do with taking care of another living thing. He could barely take care of a potted plant. What would he have to do to prepare himself for this? How could he overcome this? Was it that big a deal? All these questions ran through his mind as he moved the blanket out of his new baby’s face.
At that point everything seemed to stop the moment he saw his daughter’s face. Her plump cheeks, her pouty lips, her dark brown eyes. She had brown skin like him, only a little lighter. He had expected her to have a dominant white gene since she only had a quarter of his Pakistani heritage but no, she had his features and everything. He noticed he couldn’t point out a single feature that looked like Lillian. But he didn’t just see himself. He saw Eden. His sister.
The realization made him burst into tears as he held his daughter closer to his chest. No matter what Lillian had done to him, no matter if she had given birth to this child, this baby was his. He imagined a future with him, his daughter and Miika. Miika had planned on moving back to Finland and taking Philip with them. Philip could work overseas as a ghost writer, maybe even publish his own works while Miika could still make money off of their online career making music. They would raise the child, their child together. He envisioned years of birthdays, holidays, watching her grow up, helping her with homework, comforting her after her first broken heart, showing her all his favorite books, Miika showing her all their favorite bands, speaking at her graduation ceremony. Just the three of them. In Miika’s small house by the lake. A small, odd, but happy family.