(Untitled)

[1000_cranes]

She's exhausted and she's hurting in ways that she never expected. She's close to tears, through exhaustion or high emotion or both, but her daughter is here, in her arms, safe and whole and perfect. It's something that Charlie never expected to happen, not for her. It feels like she's been waiting for this for a very, very long time

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[coffee_sir]

Ianto had heard stories about the horrors of childbirth and read up on it, but nothing could have prepared him for the real thing. He stood his ground and held Charlie's hand - when she wanted him to - through the whole thing, and felt it a little unfair that he would walk away from this only with cuts in his hand from her fingernails.

Some women did this eight times or more. Were they all mad?

It was worth it to see their daughter safely ensconced in Charlie's arms. For the moment, Ianto felt no uncertainty, no doubt, no worry about whether or not he was ready for this or whether or not he would be just like his father. All he wanted to do was wrap his arms around his wife and child and be happy in that moment.

He got an arm around Charlie's shoulders and kissed her forehead, pulling back to wipe the tears away from her cheeks. "I still can't believe it," he said, voice a little shaky, as he brushed his thumb very, very gently against Cadi's cheek. "We did it. You did it."

[1000_cranes]

"We did it," echoes Charlie, and she wants to look up at him, she does, but she can't tear her eyes away from the baby in her arms.

"Cadi suits her, doesn't it?" she says, finally. "That's definitely her name."

[coffee_sir]

"Definitely," he agreed. "Pure as the driven snow." She looked it too, despite needing a proper bath. All pale, pink skin and wisps of red hair.

"Wait until she's crying in the middle of the night though," he said lightly. "Then we might want to call her something else."

[1000_cranes]

"I guess we'll figure that out when we get there," she says, cradling the top of Cadi's head with one hand.

"You want to hold her, Daddy?"