In all haste they rushed towards the Dromedary freighter that was waiting outside at the landing pads. The group consisted of two women and two men, who seemed to be guards. One of the women was pregnant, which was easy to see as she was in her 38th week of pregnancy.
The signs of labor had started in an early phase. Something that had been expected for this case of pregnancy as the mother and her child had been through a lot already to get to this point. It already being a miracle enough that she had managed to keep up with the setbacks to this point.
The group boarded the vessel that was waiting for them on the landing pads. The pads being on the country side on the surface of Malta. Nearby was a small village where the group of people seemed to have been living for sometime, however they rarely came outside of the compound where they stayed. Some people that lived nearby found it all somewhat secretive, but the people here didn't care enough to dig into what actually was going on with these people.
Annabelle Blanca lived here, and for little more than half a year her daughter Anna Blanca lived with her at the compound. The two men that accompanied them were privately contracted security guards. They were hired since there was a safety risk for Anna and her mother, due to their 'foreign' relationships that went beyond Outcast borders. However, the secrecy and security had paid off well, even when it did cost them quite a lot to have decent and trusted people around them.
Soon the freighter with the four passengers set off towards the docking rings. Acting under the papers of a simple smuggling vessel that arrived and departed from Malta on a regular basis. Without any problems they left Malta orbit and set course for the Tau systems. Following that the pilot of the freighter sent out an encrypted message to the IMG, and the department of Jack Henderson. He relayed the ETA of the vessel and a quick summary of the status of his fiance, Anna Blanca. He also mentioned the woman was expecting to deliver soon as contractions had started. Which lead to the quick response of leaving Malta to head to a more secured location where all medical needs would be available for her special case.
Annabelle sat close to her daughter while she kept talking to her, wanting to keep her calm since Anna was freaking out herself. Thinking that everything was going too slow and that everything could happen at any second. She also felt nervous, hoping everything would turn out okay and that labor wouldn't hurt, unsure of how it would really feel.
The freighter soon reached the Tau's where it set course towards a way point between the Tau-39 and Tau-23 jumphole. Everything that was done had been planned months ago to have it all go smooth, and so far so good. They were a little ahead of their estimated times when they reached the Malvinas Cloud. An IMG patrol wing consisting of three Lhotse and one Nyx had left Falkland station as soon as the encrypted message had reached Jack, and the pilots he trusted most went with him.
In the meantime everything on Jakarta was also being prepared and a medical team was preparing to move to the landing deck where everyone would soon arrive. The IMG wing that had departed had Jack leading in his Nyx and right on time they caught up with the dromedary at the give coordinates. Acting and treating the vessel over local communications as a regular smuggler that had been intercepted and was now being escorted to Jakarta, while in fact it was just a show to keep any unwanted people away from the scene.
When Jack received the message, he could feel the rush of adrenaline in his body that made him drop everything that he had deemed important a second ago.
“I apologize, but I have to urgently leave this conference for private reasons. I’ll be a father soon, it seems…” he apologized to the gathering and rushes off without paying any attention to the reactions. They would figure out a way to deal with the topics that suddenly seemed very small and unimportant to him while he was rushing towards the elevators.
Fifteen minutes later he saw the shuttle on scanners that they would intercept for contraband allegations and escort it to Jakarta, Tau 39. Intercept vectors were updated by Falkland sensors when Jack ordered the course change. The pilots on this flight had been hand-picked to guarantee maximum security combined with discretion.
The interception was routine and luckily no Outcast vessels were close to decide to defend the smuggler or cause any incident that could have delayed or endangered his love and their baby. It took Jack all his will not to demand a direct line to the shuttle and request the status of Anna. From months of secrecy and covert communication, he knew that there had to be radio silence. For a few more minutes.
The wing crossed T23 fast and jumped into T39. Jack allowed himself to relax a little. A few hundred bad scenarios just had become a lot more unlikely.
“Set course to Jakarta. Jakarta, Dromedary has docking permission to MedBay 4. This is case Alpha-Bravo-Two-Two-Three, I repeat Alpha-Bravo-Two-Two-Three, we are just a little early.” he smiles when he remembers why he had chosen this codename to tell Medical on Jakarta about Anna’s arrival… “Alpha” for Anna. “Beta” for Blanca. “Two two tree” for “change two persons to three”.
Jakarta appeared on scanners, a minute later on visuals. Formation flight allowed him to keep an eye on the vessel that had the most important cargo on it that he ever escorted:
“Patrol Wing, return to your regular route. I am taking over this one. Good luck and thank you. I'll handle this one myself.” and the fighters turned off, leaving him and the ship alone next to each other: “You’ll be fine, Anna. Don’t worry.” and he felt another rush of excitement when he handled docking routines, messing up three Jakarta protocols from being so nervous, causing the docking operator to ask him whether everything was okay.
He missed Anna in the hangar even though he was running there, and also in the elevators and only caught up in the Medical Center when he arrived shortly after they had booked her in. A little breathlessly he arrives next to the floating bed on which Anna is being transported to the examination room. He could already see the room through the glass doors, prepared and ready to welcome its patient.
“Anna… I’m here. It’s going to be okay… love you.” he kisses her quickly, while he is keeping up with the moving bed…
"Ready to be a dad?" she replied with a small smile trying to hide her own worries. Her belly had become even bigger since they had met last time and she looks paler than normally.
"Trying hard to..." he admits with a smile, not completely hiding his anxiety about how things would go on: "... does it hurt bad?" he asks her while holding her hand and moving with the bed.
"I’ve been through worse" she replied rather vague, but Jack could read in her voice, her eyes, her whole appearance that it must be bad.
"They'll give you something against the pain... don't worry." he tries to calm her down, knowing that this was likely only the beginning. He tries to cheer her up: "We'll be a family soon..." and he massages her hand softly, while the door that would separate them is coming closer.
She squeezed his hand a little: "We got this far, don't worry." she replied, also encouraging herself.
"I know you can do it. Just... a little longer." he doesn't know what else to say. They had almost arrived at the door and the last thing he can say before their hands part: "I love you..."
"Love you too!" she said, calling after him when the doors slid open and then closed after the medical team and their patients passed.
Not knowing exactly what her status is, the medical team in charge of operation AB-223 did not take any risks. No one would be allowed past this point except those who needed to be there. A nurse told them that they would be informed about Anna’s status immediately after the initial examinations were completed and that they should relax and get themselves some coffee.
Jack felt in a fighting mood, but when the nurse told him that it would likely take many, many hours for a first birth and that he could be with her during that time and that she would need him much more then than now, he nodded. When the nurse was gone, he went to the coffee machine and got some for the whole party.
“Good to see you, Mrs. Blanca… thank you for your help. I… so much hope that everything goes well now…” he also nods to the security men that were following closely… “Thank you for keeping Anna safe. I owe you.” and feeling emotional, he hugs Annabel tightly, aware that it is Annabel’s daughter and also his own daughter that he would like to hold in his arms, but they were both in the examination room where the doctors were checking on the status of her and her baby’s health and how far the process had already progressed.
Annabelle, Anna's mother returned a tight hug to Jack. Being rather speechless herself as the whole situation with Anna was overwhelming to her. Being emotional about the thought she was going to be a grandmother, something she thought was impossible for a long time. This due to Anna having been lost for quite some time. Never having been able to say goodbye to her when she disappeared as a teen, and returned as a grown woman. It was all a bit too much for Annabelle who accepted a glass of water that she was offered and took a seat in the waiting room.
Anna in the meantime was being checked on her vitals to see how she was doing. The doctor in charge gave Anna some pills to induce her labor, as her water had already broken while the active labor contractions hadn't yet started. They kept a close eye on her while for now it was just a matter of waiting to see if the pills would have any effect on her, and if not they'd have to a cesarean delivery. . A nurse went to get Jack while Anna was awaiting her real labor. She felt nervous and already tired due to all the stress that came with the events and the living up to this day. In her mind she talked to herself to encourage herself to bite through this and have a family, already able to imagine how their family would look, only trying to imagine the positive things with a smiling and loving family. Just like her mother she felt special to be given the chance of establishing a family of her own. .
Minutes later the nurse and Jack arrived in the room. Anna even more pale than before was laying in a bed with white sheets. Another nurse was sitting on a chair in the corner just to observe and be there when the time comes. Anna gave Jack a weak when he came walking in, her able to see he was stressed out about everything.
Jack had trouble walking at the same speed of the nurse who was much cooler than he could ever be. When they entered, he immediately realizes how pale Anna is. He realizes that there are two nurses her and there are too many monitors that are connected to her and show numbers that he doesn't understand. He swallows, forcing a smile to hide the nervousness and walks quickly towards her:
-"Anna... hey... you look good." he sits on her bed, stroking her head softly, kissing her temple tenderly: "... the doctor informed me. Our baby will come... and if not, we are not alone here." he tries to sound optimistic, but he knows he is not good at looking at Anna suffering. -"Can I do anything to help you? Just tell me... and I'll do it." he asks her directly, feeling pretty helpless in a situation in which everything depended on the medication and whether Anna's body would react to it. The alternative would be surgery. Both was okay, as long as the baby and Anna were healthy. -"Come closer" she said quietly to him with a fainth smile on her still. Loosely taking one of his hands in her own.
He moves closer, making sure that he would not touch her anywhere near her belly and he puts his arm around her shoulder and starts stroking his shoulder softly. -"How do you feel?" -"Better now that you´re here." She replied, not wanting to mention how she really felt to him, only to keep up the impression she was having an easier time that it may look, in the hope to take some worries from Jack's mind.
Jack realizes that she is not really well, but what would he expect? The complete pregnancy was difficult at best. Sometimes he had the impression that they would lose the baby. Sometimes in his nightmares he had lost them both. His hand takes hers a little firmer and his fingers interlace with hers... -"... We are trying our best again... and hope that it is enough, hm? Like... we have done so often." he kisses his lips softly. -"It's more than enough" she replied quietly and gave him a soft kiss on his cheek following to that. -"can leave you two alone if you want some privacy, but make sure to call straight away when you feel something." The nurse that had been in the room said somewhat firm.
Jack looks at the nurse and nods after Anna didn't say anything for a moment: "... we will, thank you, Miss." he said and watches her leave the room. His hand slides carefully under the blanket and puts his hand on her belly carefully, hardly touching it... -"... our little one is pretty big for such a small belly like yours." he jokes, softly moving the hand. -"Guess it's a good sign that I feel like I'm going to burst?" She said quietly with a faint smile. -"You'll feel better soon." he promises with a smile, hoping that his words would come true... -"... I am so curious whether it is a boy or girl..." he kisses his softly... -"Same" she replied brief and quietly. Feeling a bit more content now that Jack was here to comfort her. Really feeling like a family already.
-"How long does it normally take to... get the labour started?" he asks her and strokes her softly, kissing her cheek softly again. -"When... will they look for the other option?" -"Doctor said it should start in about an hour." She said quietly, not really wanting to think about what would happen if it didn't happen. -"I guess... our baby must be bored in there anyway..." he strokes her belly that feels so firm and quite hard... -"... I guess, I'll talk to it." he tries to joke and then whispers to the baby in the belly: -"Hey... come out. We want to see you. And Anna is already really... weary now. You are scaring her a little..." -"Think he or she is scaring his dad more." She said with a small and tired smile, liking what she was seeing though. -"Yes, you little one... you are scaring me." he admits and bends over and kisses her belly softly... -"... Now, come on. Don't make us wait and come, alright? As a good Henderson, you should follow what your parents say, okay? So... come, okay?" he jokes -"Think our child will be stubborn." She said quietly in a joke. -"Looking at her mother... I fear this might be true." he smirks, looking up to her, putting his ear on her huge baby belly... -"Hey, baby... come out, alright? You do not want to listen to your Mum... okay. You listen to me, okay?" he jokes, stroking her belly a little more
-"Missed you." Anna said quietly, meaning to Jack as she got a little carried away in her own thoughts due to what she was seeing, the way Jack was acting.
He looks her in the eye and kisses the belly again: -"... missed you, too. and I am glad I can be here now, at least. We were seperated for too long... but now, we are together. That's what counts." he says quietly -"Those voice calls are nothing like this." She said quietly with a soft smile. -"They were what kept it somewhat... bearable for me at least." he says, with a smile that looks honest and he sees her tired eyes and realizes how pale she is: "... Can I bring you something? You look pale." -"Some water?" she asked on a soft tone, not wanting to deny the offer. -"Already on its way for my Anna exclusively." he gets up and gets her some water, brings her the cup and hands it to her: "... here. Take a sip." he sits on the bed again.
Jack would stay close to Anna, trying to cheer her up and to somehow make her feel comfortable. But it is not easy, as they both know that they were only waiting for one thing: the baby to come. Not talking about it was not a solution. Talking about it was none, as it made the waiting even longer. In the end Jack was only holding her tightly close to himself, with Anna resting her head against his shoulder, in silence. They were waiting both hoping for it all to work out the way they wanted it to be, to become a happy family.
In all haste they rushed towards the Dromedary freighter that was waiting outside at the landing pads. The group consisted of two women and two men, who seemed to be guards. One of the women was pregnant, which was easy to see as she was in her 38th week of pregnancy.
![[Image: anna_rp.jpg]](http://www.augedergasse.de/temp/anna_rp.jpg)
A nurse went to get Jack while Anna was awaiting her real labor. She felt nervous and already tired due to all the stress that came with the events and the living up to this day. In her mind she talked to herself to encourage herself to bite through this and have a family, already able to imagine how their family would look, only trying to imagine the positive things with a smiling and loving family. Just like her mother she felt special to be given the chance of establishing a family of her own.