10 weeks: 

"Steven!" Connie called excitedly. "Come here!"

It took everything in him not to speed up but he attempted to casually poke his head into their bedroom. Connie giggled, he must not have been very discreet but there she was: his pregnant wife, his pregnant knight, his pregnant Connie... standing sideways in front of their full length mirror with a huge smile. "I think I'm starting to show, what do you think?"

She was. The tiniest little baby bump made his heart flutter with emotions as he sank to his knees right then and there to pepper it in kisses. He was obsessed with this concept he was living, it was his reality now. Their baby was in there, and he'd done that. "You're right," He told her adoringly. "It's beautiful. You're beautiful, both of you."

Connie swooned and rubbed at his head, pleased when he resumed the kisses. "You really think so? I feel gross and tired and fat."

Steven nipped at her waist to a squeak. "You stop that, you're gonna hurt Baby's feelings!" He cooed at her stomach and rubbed. "It's okay, Mommy didn't mean it. She's beautiful but kinda blind. I hope you aren't as blind as Mommy when you come out."

He anticipated her smack and dodged it with a mischievous grin. They locked eyes for a moment and he blushed, his wife was so gorgeous and breathtaking. He loved her pregnancy with every iota of soul he had in him, and then her even more for doing this for him, for them. She was creating a new life for them to nurture and nourish, a new being that would have feelings and ideas different than theirs and would explore the world on their own one day with everything they taught them. He just hoped against all hope he'd be the kind of father they needed for this life.

Lifting her did feel different, and he loved that about her pregnancy too as he brought her to bed to cuddle and spoil with attention. "Can I get you anything?"

She stretched and grabbed at him. "Come cuddle me! I'm cold and you're being annoying with that question again."

He grunted and buried his head in her breasts. "Well deal with it, Ni. It's in my job description that I have to be the absolute best husband I can be right now," Steven asserted firmly. "That means waiting on your hand and foot. Not a tear will shed because of my negligence."

She propped her head up on a hand and tilted his up so she was staring at him with those warm eyes. "That was sexy, you should kiss me about it."

Steven was all for that, he was so attracted to his Connie pregnant he could barely stand to exist in the same room without her. "Don't threaten me with a good time."

*

15 weeks:

Connie was trying her very hardest not to snap at Steven but oh, he was getting on her very last nerve.

Pregnancy hormones were always something she'd tittered at. Despite her much looser adulthood she was still the level headed and responsible one between her and Steven, and she had felt strongly that hormones wouldn't change that for her.

Until around three weeks after she found out she was pregnant. Suddenly the foods she liked made her sick to her stomach, she couldn't even smell her aloo gabi without sprinting for the bathroom in a panic and throwing up just at the memory of the smell. Not having her favorite foods made her emotional and crabby, she felt crippled like this. Steven wouldn't approve of any kind of heavy lifting or exertion past an average limit because of their growing child, so he politely declined sparring with her. While he was right about handling a sword during her pregnancy with a technically royal child she was still out of sorts over anything he did. She didn't ask to be royalty, but she supposed he hadn't either.

He wasn't doing anything at all now, he was literally just making breakfast topless and being a wonderful partner but it irked her. He was so loving and patient and impossible to gross out, it was irritating. "Are you even present when we're together, Steven?"

He turned off the burner and turned around to do that annoying thing he did: thinking before he spoke. Ugh, she wanted him to quit thinking so much. What was he even holding back? She wanted to know, she was his wife and she should be allowed to know. It was like he just zoned out for five fucking minutes before he answered anything that sounded "hormonal" and Connie hated that label. She hated it, hated it, hated it!

Instead of arguing his side he observed her posture and expression, then carefully crafted a perfect answer. "I am always present when I'm with you and I think about you every second we're apart," He told her with a genuine love in his voice and on his face. Steven was smiling at her being hormonal, like this was fun for him.

She stormed off but found herself in his arms three seconds later, with him rocking her back and forth with a soothing motion. "Would you like to argue about something?" He asked pleasantly. "We can argue about anything you want, I can take it. If you need to blow off some steam, you can always take it out on me, Connie. I know this must be hard."

Like he'd hit her, she started sobbing and clinging to him. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I don't want to fight... I'm just mad for no reason and I'm disappointed..." He cupped her cheeks to look into her eyes while she spoke, urging her to go on softly. "I'm sad I don't get to spar anymore with you. I hate being on the sidelines and we're not even doing music anymore and I'm so bored!"

Connie collapsed into harder sobs and felt like a toddler throwing a tantrum, she didn't know what she wanted anymore. She wanted to be close to him but she was embarrassed and wanted him to go away. Everything felt messy and overwhelming.

He hummed and ran both thumbs along her jawline. "Let me fix it," He whispered. "Give me a few minutes and a little planning after I make you your tea."

Connie nodded listlessly. Now the idea of him leaving made her anxious and more sad, she didn't want him to go anywhere she wasn't. She wanted to see her giant of a husband and be near him. "Do you have to go? I want to come with you..."

His eyes brightened with joy and he kissed all over her face before uttering passionately, "Don't leave my sight, okay?" When she nodded again he crouched to let her sit on his shoulders while he cooked. He just let her be moody and hot and cold at him with so little reaction, he was such an incredible husband she dropped him kisses every once in a while to show that.

"You smell good," She told him shyly. "Like flowers and shampoo and that sexy cologne."

He glanced up at her and moved over to the plates. "Yeah? You're smelling my hair so it checks out that you smell my shampoo. Normally you're too little."

Connie giggled and wrapped her arms around his head. "I love you."

Steven fed her veggie omelettes and the anti nausea tea until she complained about being sleepy and fell asleep with her entire body wrapped around his side as much as her bump would allow.

When she woke up he was gone and she was totally fine with that, she suddenly wanted nothing to do with anyone else.

*

Connie groaned and gently brought herself onto the floor to groan, "I hate being pregnant!"

Jasmin was half preoccupied with Jacob strumming his guitar while he laid on her lap, humming to her baby bump. "I dunno, I kind of like being pregnant. The morning sickness sucks ass but I kind of..."

She slowed to a stop as Jacob ceased strumming and grinned at her. "No worries, love. You'll be pregnant again, and again after that."

Connie wrinkled her nose through a giggle. "You guys are gross, I need someone who hates this as much as I do."

Adam lifted his head off the table and directed the glare he wore 24/7 since he hit nine weeks at his hands. "You have found him. This is an actual living hell, I cannot believe I agreed to this."

Silence.

His poor partners looked so guilty, Anna looked close to tears and Hazel was about to say something but he held up a hand. "Shut up, do not address me right now or I will lose my shit." He took a deep, cleansing breath and blew it out. "I'm sorry, that was probably mean maybe, I don't fucking know." Finally his eyes went to Connie. "We're in this shit together."

Hazel and Anna shuffled over to hug him and his face turned bright red, signaling a rage if they didn't quit. But then he huffed out a laugh and rested his head on Anna. "I'm sorry. Remember that you asked for this."

"We did," Anna expressed kindly. "And you're welcome to take out your anger in healthy ways at us." She nudged Hazel. "Right, Hazel?"

He poked out a lip and sniffled a little pathetically as his eyes welled with tears. "But I don't want you to be mad at me."

Adam pulled away to watch his face and chuckled. "Come snuggle with me and Connie."

He slouched over and collapsed on the floor like a sad little boy and Adam lumbered over with Anna's hand in his to have her join. "I'm sorry, the hormones are driving me nuts. I don't like being so irritated all the fuck— I mean, I don't like being so upset all the time. It's not your fault and I'm happy to start a family with you guys."

Connie wrapped her arms around him and kissed at his neck to distract him. "You wanna take turns complaining?"

"Ow!" Jasmin cried suddenly. "Son of a bitch, what was that?!"

Jacob sat up and grabbed her face. "What do you mean, Jasmin? What's wrong?!"

She swatted his hands away and crossed her arms. "My nipples hurt! For no reason!"

He cracked a smile and she growled so hard at him he scrambled away in a minor panic. "I'm sorry, love. Is there anything I can do?"

Jasmin grunted at him and sat down next to the snuggle pile. "I also hate my nipples hurting."

Adam motioned her closer and the pregnant parties quickly fell asleep instead of complaining loudly, which was rather welcome as the rest of the house released a sigh of relief.

Steven buried his head in his hands and silently screamed all of the pent up irritation he'd been holding back expertly as Connie snapped at him over and over again. "It's for the baby, it's for the baby, we're dealing with this for the baby and it's not that bad, she's just hormonal and I will not yell at my wife when she's pregnant because she'll cry and I'll feel horrible for the rest of my life."

Anna crawled over to sit on his lap. "It's okay, we got this. You wanna partner switch for a bit?"

He groaned and pulled her onto his lap hungrily, nipping at her neck to hear her adorable squeals he was suddenly craving. "I didn't hear what you said, you look adorable today."

Anna bit her lip and pulled him into a daring kiss. "You wanna take out some stress, Daddy? It's okay, I like it."

"Just don't break her," Hazel chuckled as he stood up to pull blankets over their pregnant spouses and rest their head on pillows, then started for Jacob. "No promises for this one though."

Jacob yelped as he was lifted easily and placed under Hazels arm like a sack of flour. "Ugh, yes please. Just break me. I'm so stressed."

*

20 Weeks:

When Connie and Steven came home, he was walking on air and grinning as big as he could.

Connie crossed her arms in amusement and watched him jump around like he was in space. "Gee, Steven, did you get the gender you wanted?"

Jasmin gasped in excitement. "Oh my stars, tell us!"

Alex grabbed Steven's foot to keep him from getting stuck on the ceiling and chuckled at Connie's waddle. "Nice limp, who gave it to you?"

She slugged him in the arm and took the soda he was offering. He'd gotten a little soft on them all since they started their pregnancies, it was actually really nice though she missed his cattiness. "This heavy frickin girl. And she was so bold, legs spread and everything. I'm afraid I'm birthing an ill mannered daughter and it's all his fault."

Steven looked down at her and whooped his joy. "A daughter! We can play princesses and dress up and make flower crowns and color together! It's going to be so much fun, how are you not bouncing off the walls?!"

Adam snorted and then started belly laughing. "That's cause you've never been a teenage girl. Good luck." He patted his bulging stomach proudly. "Our boy is going to be easier to manage."

"But stinky," Hazel pointed out with a chuckle. "Little boys get into everything and have zero chill."

Jacob stood and raised both hands to the heavens. "And what have I done to deserve the blessing of both, a boy and a girl, a son and daughter? They'll be best friends."

Anna scoffed. "That's cause you never had a little brother, I hated my little brother."

Steven free fell from the air and landed on sure feet with wide eyes matching everyone else's. Anna's face reddened and she cleared her throat. "I still don't wanna talk about it."

They moved on reluctantly though Adam got a dark look to him and went silent, and soon Steven was sucked into talking about baby clothes with Hazel and Jacob. Adam preferred to stay home, getting him to leave was a task but his Connie preferred to stay home with him when she could, they hated pregnancy together. It was... kind of adorable, if not a little sad.

Connie sighed happily as Jacob rubbed her tummy and observed it. "So pretty," He murmured between kisses. "I wonder if she'll look like Stevonnie..."

Steven raised his eyebrows. "That had never once crossed my mind." He grinned and joined with a kiss to his cheek. "I bet she will."

Jacob blushed and turned into his chest to hide it. "She's going to be beautiful."

Connie grumbled at Steven's hands cause they were too warm and he raised them in surrender. "Can we go shopping? I wanna do something."

He grinned. "We just did something, are you sure you don't want a nap first?"

The sheer force of the look she gave him drained the blood from his face as they lapsed into a short silence. Quickly he cleared his throat. "Of course, Darling."

She softened her gaze and sighed. "Can we bring everyone?" Before Adam could protest she clumsily scooted to bury her head in his neck and whine, "I want you to come with, please? I promise, no one cares."

They expected an explosion but he snorted and pulled her into a testy kiss. "Cutie pie. Fine, but I'm wearing the biggest hoodie possible and clinging to everybody." He pointed a finger between them. "If you leave me alone I'll scream so hard I destroy the universe, I'll Code Mistake this bitch and finish the job this time."

Steven blanched all over again. "No, thank you! Buddy system, except all of us are your buddies and I'll collapse onto the mall floor and cry if we can't find you."

Adam smiled at him, then Connie and squatted to kiss her tummy. "Deal."

*

39 Weeks:

Connie waddled into Steven's arms the second he got home and started kissing at his chest feverishly. "Take off your clothes," She muttered as she undid the buttons of his shirt.

Steven was absolutely speechless and then aglow at her burying her head into him and running her tongue over his nipple. "C-Connie, you forgot to say hello."

The second they got to the bedroom Connie was practically grinding against him, full of their baby and ravenous. "Let me give you a blowjob," She begged breathlessly, already wrestling his jeans. "I've been thinking about it since you left to get the oil changed. Ugh, you're so sexy, Steven."

All he could do was groan at her lips and tongue teasing at him to get him to full mast, then enveloping him in her mouth. "Fuck, Connie, good girl."

She blushed for him while sucking on his cock and it was so cute he grabbed her face to force her to look into his eyes. "St- Slow down, do you want more?"

Big brown eyes batted up at him as she shrugged shyly. "Mhm..."

He was a man possessed as he kicked off his jeans and lifted her onto the bed. He stripped her and tore off the rest of his clothes with a rumble of satisfaction, then licked his lips. "Not yet."

She was sweeter, really he didn't know if it was hormones or just the fact that he was generally aroused by her body's fullness, but he was an addict. Anytime she'd let him he'd go down on her for as long as she could tolerate it. "Oh, Steven, yes!"

And that. He loved to hear her praise.

He brought up his pressure and chuckled against her clit at the soft squeak she let out. Her sounds had gotten gentler, she was prey for him in her action of holding her arms above her head. "I haven't even started with you yet. Hush."

Her legs trembled just at that and he shushed her again, brushing his lips over her thighs. "Stop it, you're gonna have me here all night being so fucking cute, I wanna fuck you too."

Connie's back arched to meet his tongue. A sweet mewl accompanied by her gripping the sheets made it all the better, soon her breathing was shallow and quick and her words unintelligible. "Mmm! St- Oh my, fu—uck yes!"

This woman was ridiculous, he hadn't used an iota of his magic yet.

He stuck two fingers into his mouth to gently push inside of that mess she'd already created and smirked at her. "You're drooling all over yourself," He scolded playfully as he shook his head. "Shameful."

Her lips parted with a smile to attempt to bully him back but faltered with the flick of his literally magic tongue brought on a full body shaking. His fingers forced inside of her, pushing choppy words to fall from her lips. "I c-can't help it! Feels so good..."

She gasped when he sped up and Steven smiled, it was so easy to get her to cum now it was inflating his ego. He barely had to put any work into it, not that it wasn't as fun as it always had been. "Problem solved, are you feeling better?"

Her hands went to rest on her belly and she spread her legs. "Still horny, there's so much pressure down there."

Connie's eyes locked with his adoringly while he slid his cock into her with a drawl of her name. "Connie... you're s-so good for me."

Her tongue ran over his lips enticingly and his groin tightened, she was definitely trying to get him off as fast as possible. "Just go, maybe your big dick will knock something loose."

Steven blushed above her. "Don't remind me, please."

Her chuckle turned into a drawn out moan a key under his, then a squeal. "F-faster. Harder!"

Despite his precautions he loved when she yelled at him she was so desperate and he was starved of her pleasure. Her pregnancy had revealed something to him: he didn't necessarily get touch starved, he was so hard on himself internally with holding himself to an unfair and ridiculously high standard that he got pleasure starved.

Steven leaned back suddenly to stare at her tummy and groan, "Fuck you're so g-gorgeous, NiNi."

He brought her orgasm after orgasm and it released stress with every one. Pre-Parental panic was very real but giving his Connie her release made it better. He was saving his for his favorite new little trick he'd learned to get her to drench their bedsheets, but chuckled when she clenched around him in frustration. "Almost there?"

She moaned his name and nodded quickly. "Steven, I love your dick. S-sleep in me tonight."

His Connie had found a new kink during pregnancy too, she liked to cockwarm him and dammit, he liked letting her because she was so much warmer in there being pregnant. "Fuck, yes you can a-always cockwarm me, I love it."

Connie frantically pulled him into a kiss and met his thrusts with a cry as she ruined their bedsheets. "Oh my—,"

Her silent scream pushed him over the edge so hard he whined and gripped her neck as he fucked her through it. "There we go, all better," He cooed warmly, slamming in deep with every vicious thrust.

"I feel so much better," She affirmed, leaning up a bit to kiss him. Then she stopped. "O-ow..."

Steven pulled out and opened his mouth to ask her what was wrong but his eyes dropped and he gasped sharply. "Uh oh..."

When Connie squirted on him there was normally a little puddle that brought him joy but this wasn't a puddle, it was a lake.

Suddenly he wasn't so sure she'd just squirted. His eyes moved to hers and he smiled nervously. "I think your water just broke because of my massive, unmatched penis."

She wiggled out of bed and stretched. "Why do you look so nervous?"

Steven picked her up delicately and brought her to the toilet to sit while he filled the tub. "Did you ever think about the fact that we are royals birthing a princess?" His eyes started flickering as he tested the temperature and turned it up a bit. "I think about it all the time, especially on Homeworld when everyone's asking her due date. There's so many gems who'll want to meet her, and the
Diamonds—,"

"Steven, take a deep breath," Connie comforted with a pat of his shoulder. "We don't have to do anything we don't want to, remember? There's guards down our driveway on shifts."

A bit of his tension dissipated and he stripped to sit in the tub and motion her in. "Let's do this together."

She swallowed but nodded. "Together."

*

Stevonnie labored for around ten hours on and off before they realized this was really it. Between light snacks and a lot of water, they made sure their body was ready for this as much as possible. Doing this together for the first time just felt right, at least until things started moving along faster.

Anxiety poured into them as contractions went from twenty-five minutes apart to ten out of nowhere. "St-stars, fuck, shit!"

They couldn't even describe it, it was like pins and needles to the most extreme degree, and pressure. "O-ow..!" So much pressure down below was making them feel queasy and faint.

Steven wanted them to get up, but their legs wouldn't move. The pain was excruciating, he'd never really had to experience pain this bad for this long. "L-Labor is no joke," Stevonnie grunted. "Can we get out and go get someone?"

They tried again but by the time they'd nearly gotten up another contraction had them screaming. "I-I think we need to call someone!"

They reached for Steven's phone with shaky hands and called up Hazel.

"Hey, Puppy!" He exclaimed immediately. "What's up?"

Stevonnie blushed and rolled their eyes. "N-not Steven, Stevonnie." Before he could answer they started to sob. "I think this is it but we can't move! We need h-help!"

They heard rapid movement on the other side and grimaced, remembering Connie had locked their door for no reason. Hazel was a formidable force though between his apparently enhanced strength and his own initial muscle, he rammed himself against the door three times until it just broke.

Jacob could handyman it later.

Downstairs they heard heavy footsteps as another nasty contraction barreled upon them. Subconsciously they noticed they were glowing like a super nova, their gem was aching too.

Hazel skidded in and cupped their cheeks. "I'm here, how long have you been in labor, Stev?" The watery answer was so disjointed he couldn't understand, his eyes went wide and sad. "It's okay, you're okay. Tell me when it's stopped so I can pick you up to lay down. Adam called an ambulance."

As soon as he picked them up they felt the pressure increase and growled as hard as they could. Time was flowing differently for them, they could've sworn an outline was trailing behind their hand for what felt like forever.

But their giant husband was a perfect bedside nurse. He got them ice to chew on, a bucket for their nausea, and a damp towel to dab at their sweat. "Deep breath in, Stev," He encouraged firmly enough that they listened. "And quick bursts out, I'll do it with you, baby."

They giggled a bit, Hazel looked a little ridiculous with his cheeks puffing out like that. An urge to cuddle came over them and he coddled them like their soon to be newborn daughter. "You're doing so good, you've got this." His hand brushed through their hair tenderly over and over as more time passed.

Stevonnie bared down for a second, their body just did it. "H-Hazel! Where's the ambulance?"

Adam, Jacob and Alex burst in and Jacob took Stevonnies other side. "Okay, minor hiccup: we have to deliver this baby."

Alex chuckled as he put on gloves and pulled off Stevonnie pants. "Correction: I have to deliver this baby, Adam's my assistant."

"What?!" Stevonnie shrieked. "No, this isn't in Connie's plan!"

"How close are contractions?" Adam cut in. He wanted to tell them that sometimes plans didn't go the way they wanted them to, but it wouldn't be helpful. He timed the next few with a hand on their stomach and got a panicked look to him. "You're able to give birth fused, right?!"

It was a definitive no, they were positive they couldn't and shook their head to relay that. Alex didn't like that answer by the way he went pale. "Stevonnie, you have to unfuse now!"

They tried, but every time they had almost gotten it another contraction stole their attention. Yelling and panic ensued, no one knew what to do and Jacob said something about the road they lived on being blocked by a car accident, so the EMT's were calling in a helicopter.

"Stevonnie, you have to unfuse!" Adam demanded again. "You have to do it now!"

They grabbed his hand and squeezed so hard he went pale. "I can't! We're stuck!"

Alex threw up his hands. "I don't know how to do a fucking c-section and I need you and this baby to come out okay in the end!" He watched them cry and looked to Hazel. "Help them!"

Hazel got up to stare at their gem. It had something to do with all of this, right? "I'm going to have to touch, I wanna try something but you have to trust me." He held the apprehensive gaze as best he could, he hated pushing Steven's boundaries but he didn't have a choice. "I don't want to force you like this, but I need you three."

Stevonnie swallowed Steven's fear. No one but Connie had ever touched his gem on purpose, it was something he was still working on. "O-okay! We trust you!"

"Try again and push!" Hazel set a hand over their gem and tried to remember how to connect to it. He had to look deep in himself, he had to find his own power like when he and Steven fused because of Hazels longing to be closer.

"What are you doing?" Adam mumbled as he watched out the window. "How do I help?"

Hazel groaned as a distinct discomfort filled him. Not sharp pains but almost like he'd been electrocuted. "We need Heaven!"

Adam lit up. "Ask Steven to fuse with you, it always helps me."

He nodded and looked into Stevonnie's eyes. "Steven, fuse with me!"

Stevonnie bellowed so hard the windows shivered on impact and Jacob slid backwards to tumble over himself, but Steven tried to imagine what it was like to be Heaven through the crippling pain.

Warm, safe. Steven felt as safe being Heaven as he did Stevonnie, they melted together better than everyone else but Stevonnie.

Hazel cried out with Stevonnie and pulled every iota of authority into his voice. "Steven, fuse with me!"

A flash of light and Hazel was Heaven again with Steven intertwined safely within them.

Alex cried his relief as he checked and ordered Adam to grab a towel. "Connie, you need to do what I tell you to."

"Fuck you, this is hell!" She snarled. Already she could feel their baby's head pushing through her cervix and stars and diamonds, it hurt. "I fucking hate men!"

He chuckled in agreement. "You're fully dilated, I can feel baby's head. Push when the pressure is unbearable!"

All of it was unbearable, but Connie was drenched in sweat and ready to be done, so she dug for her inner warrior and waited until she was absolutely certain she was going to explode. "Okay, now!"

Heaven gritted his teeth as Connie indefinitely broke one of his fingers. "Keep going!"

She panted for all she was worth, swearing and cursing Steven out in creative ways that almost made Heaven want to laugh.

Alex grabbed Adam and placed him next to him. "Baby is coming, I need you to cut the umbilical cord."

He dug Abyss out of his pocket grimly. "Done."

Connie threw her head back and groaned. "Dammit, don't use y-your favorite knife, asshole!"

Adam grinned at her and rolled his eyes. "Focus on yourself, Ni."

"Push, Connie!" Alex shouted as his fingers slipped out again and he placed a towel under her. "Three more pushes, we don't want you to tear."

Each push was excruciating, every time she wanted to keep going Alex would tell her to stop and she hated him for it. She was done, this was scary and painful, she just wanted someone to tell her it would be okay without looking afraid she would die. She couldn't blame them, she was afraid of dying during childbirth herself. The torment Steven would go through was not something she wanted to discover this early in their lives, they had so much of their human ones left.

Heaven stroked over her cheek to get her attention and smiled. "One more push, NiNi." He shut his eyes and Hazel fell over purely exhausted, but Steven held her gaze.

"One more push."

She gave that push her all, every iota of strength she had she put into it.

Crying. She realized she'd blacked out and thought for a moment that maybe she had died as her eyes reopened weakly.

But no, it was small and angry, and Alex was swaddling a baby in a towel as Hazel rose off the floor. "I'm going to carry the damn stretcher if I have to. Jacob."

They charged out the door together and Connie's world changed dramatically when a fussy little girl was placed into Steven's arms.

His eyes were wide and mystified as she slowly stopped whining and hiccuped. "My lucky little girl," Steven whispered adoringly. "Look at you, you're gorgeous."

"Lakshmi," Connie whispered in awe. Steven's eyes met with hers, welling with joyful tears. "Lucky for short."

He looked down at their daughter again and smiled big. "Welcome, Lakshmi. We've been waiting so long to meet you. Everything's gonna be okay."