...And Into the Light (Part 2) [Leela Kaz/Zero Alpha]

The baby in the chamber was already twitching slightly, creating waves in the amniotic fluid, continuing to feed the alarms. Zero's expression was both terrified and determined.

"Yes, I must birth Callion now before she attempts to breathe and is without oxygen to do so," she replied, grabbing a medkit and starting to press buttons on the side of the chamber. Her hands worked quickly, her mind processing the medical data flashing across various screens as a rapid rate.

Finally, she went to the chamber itself, opening it and plunging her hands inside to pluck her baby from the fluid, ignoring the fact that some splashed over the sides onto the deck. The baby was small, the countdown on the chamber still reading just over a month. Her thin chest spasmed slightly as the tiny being coughed before settling into a regular breathing pattern.

"I require a towel, a laser scalpel and a regenerator," Zero said quietly to Leela, unable to take her eyes from her daughter.

Leela watched in amazement as Zero brought life into the universe. It was quite the spectacle to witness. Being there to observe the moment caused Leela's mind to drift into old memories. She had such vivid memories of her own children being born. She couldn't help but to think of Heral. He was a doctor and had the privilege of bringing new life many times. Leela was snapped back into the present when Zero requested her assistance. She scrambled, "Of course of course." She replied. Leela ran into Zero's room and saw a towel neatly folded on the bed. She grabbed it hurriedly and then made her way to the tank. She reached into Zero's medkit and pulled out the requested equipment. "Here ya go Zero." She set the tools down on the table and began to place the towel under the infant.

Zero carefully lay the newborn on the towel before using the laser scalpel and the regenerator on the umbilical cord, cutting off Callion's last tie to the artificial womb. With the towel, she carefully dried the last of the amniotic fluid from her baby before fetching a blanket from a pile she had prepared for just this occasion, wrapping up her precious bundle. Then, she simply stood with the infant in her arms, staring down at her.

Callion had inherited features from both of her mothers. The augment's pallor with a fluff of white hair. The Romulan's delicate ridges and pointed ears and, when she opened her eyes, they were a bright, vibrant green.

"Callion," Zero breathed, seemingly in awe of the tiny baby she held.

Leela watched Zero with her new child. For as concerned as she was, her touch was so gentle. The instinct remains the same. No matter how different ones circumstances are. "She's beautiful, Zero. Is she alright? Tell me, what can I do. I may not be a doctor, but I was once."

Zero's gaze didn't waiver from the image of perfection in her arms. She could see herself in there, but there was so much of Jiseth too. It made her heart ache to think that the Romulan might never come back, that she may never get to meet her daughter.

She looked particularly reluctant to suggest such a thing, but said: "If you could hold her for me? I wish to take a few scans in order to ensure that her premature removal from the chamber has not caused any significant problems."

"Of course." Leela slowly wrapped the child in the towel and tucked her into the crux of her right elbow. She was magnificent. Leela could remember holding every one of her children for the first time and this experience was reminiscent of those fond memories. Having this beautiful bundle wrapped snugly in her arms made her wonder if she should have one of her own. But that was an issue for another day. As she held the infant she looked to Zero. "How's that?"

An intense surge of jealousy spiked through Zero at the sight of another woman holding her baby. It was almost enough for her to grab Callion back from Leela and never let the baby out of her arms again, but she managed to resist that urge. Instead, she picked up a tricorder, starting to take readings.

"A strong heartbeat. Regular breathing," she reported. "She is small and underweight, but that will be remedied. The captain has been assisting me in providing appropriate nourishment for her." She closed the tricorder. "She has suffered no ill effects from her premature removal beyond her diminished size and weight."

"That's good to hear." Leela smiled and looked deep into the eyes of the infant as the baby took its first breathes. Little hands began to flail as the baby started to shed her first tears. "She's simply perfect, Zero." She continued to be lost I her gaze into the infants eyes. "I'm sorry Zero, here, you should hold her." Leela slowly moves the infant from the crux of her elbow and slowly passed the child towards Zero. A warm smile radiated from the Trills face through the entire exchange.

Zero was all too happy to have her daughter back in her arms. The precious little bundle had let out a couple of screams, which was apparently perfectly normal for the child, but had now settled into quiet cooing. The young mother smiled down at her baby.

"Leela... there is some milk in the refrigeration unit to your left and a reheating unit beside it. I believe she could use nourishment."

Leela smiled as she saw the new mother cradling the infant. It was quite the sight for the Trill to take in. Leela couldn't help but think that this was conclusive proof that a motherly instinct could overcome any type of conditioning or hurdles. "I can handle that." Leela moves to the refrigeration unit and removes the formula. She then places it in the heating unit next to it. In a move that was somewhat instinctive, Leela tests the warmth of the formula on her wrist and then hands the bottle to the augment. "There you go Zero, should be perfect."

Zero took the bottle with a nod of thanks, still not taking her eyes off the baby. Callion latched onto the bottle quickly, starting to suckle and gulp down the milk. A slight smile of relief appeared on the young mother's face. She had been concerned about Callion rejecting it since it hadn't come from Zero's body. She couldn't provide what Callion would need, so she had asked Archangel to step in, since she had provided for her two Romulan/Human children.

"She... she is as perfect as I imagined that she would be," Zero murmured. "She resembles Jiseth greatly."

Jiseth... That was a name Leela hadn't heard in quite sometime. "You're right Zero." Leela took her hand and gently moved the towel as it had fallen in front of her face. "She is absolutely beautiful." Leela picked up a PADD nearby and quickly jotted down a few notes regarding the birth. "Ive made a few notes so that you can enter her birth into the record later. But for now you should just enjoy her presence."

"The record!" Zero gasped, realising that simply the presence of her new child had caused her to forget that she still had to record the event in the ship's logs and the Federation database. How could she have forgotten something so elemental to her profession? She bit her lip, looking torn between continuing to hold and feed her baby and doing the paperwork to document her arrival. Callion, on the other hand, finished her bottle and let out a quiet, almost lady-like belch.

"Zero, its okay. You don't have to do it right this second. Take the time and enjoy the moment." Leela moved across the room and took a seat on Zero's sofa. Somehow she seemed to think that she was going to be there for awhile.

Zero set the empty bottle down on a clear surface, returning her full attention to the baby girl in her arms. She was still torn between continuing to hold her daughter and doing the paperwork, but Callion won out for perhaps the first time in her life. Moving over to the sofa along with Leela, she sat down, cradling the precious bundle in her arms.

Leela was sitting on the sofa, in awe of everything that she had witnessed. Today is going to be interesting... She thought. She extended her arm along the back of the sofa. "So Zero, are you ready for this? Do you have everything you need, a crib, childcare?"

As Leela spoke, Zero looked up in alarm at the Trill. Everything she needed? Crib? Childcare? She had none of those things! She had been relying on Jiseth to assist her with such things, and she hadn't been anticipating Callion's premature emergence from the maturation chamber.

"I have nothing!" she replied, panic edging her voice. "The schedule for Callion's growth dictated that I had one month remaining in order to prepare!"

Leela stood up and moved towards Zero. She placed an arm on Zero's shoulder. "Its okay, we can figure it out. I know this was a lot to take in, but it will be okay. Didn't the Captain agree to help? Maybe its time that we gave her a call. I'm sure she can help us get some of this ready."

Zero flinched as Leela touched her, shuffling away slightly. Callion made a quiet sound of disapproval of being jostled, her tiny upswept eyebrows pulling together in a tiny frown.

"Yes, the captain has been assisting me in this endeavour. She has provided the milk for Callion. But Callion was not due to be fully mature for one more month."

Leela developed a small lump in her throat at the prospect of her Captain joining them. They hadn't gotten along during the few interactions that they had had. Her stance on reunification had driven a wall in between them. Which she was still perplexed by, the Captain seemed unable to separate Leela from Juval and it had made things quite uncomfortable.

"I wonder if the Captain is ready? Maybe we should go ahead and get a crib and setup a small nursery?"

"I do not know if she will wish to be disturbed at this time," Zero replied quietly. In truth, although she needed Archangel's help and experience in raising part Romulan children, especially since Jiseth wasn't around to guide her, she found that she didn't want to impose on the Captain or the little time she had to spend with her own family.

She looked down at Callion again, who seemed to have drifted off to sleep quite happily in her mother's arms. "Will we be able to take her with us?"

Leela gave Zero a warm smile. "Of course we can take her with us." Leela grabbed a small bag that was sitting on the nearby desk and tossed in an extra blanket and a bottle. "I think we should probably go ahead and head out, you won't be able to hold her indefinitely." Leela smirked at the thought of Zero having to hold the child forever.

Zero stood up, careful not to jostle the baby in her arms. She was reluctant to leave her quarters with Callion, but there was no force in the universe that could compel her to leave her behind. But she was still so small...

She chewed her lip, looking up at Leela, unsure what she was supposed to do. If the choice was left up to her, she would never put her daughter down. If she put Callion down, Corinth might manage to get his hands back on her and that would be the last she saw of her daughter.

Leela watched as the augment seemed lost and confused. She wasn't certain she would be able to handle this new responsibility, but she would have to learn. Just as she did with her first child. Leela slipped her uniform pants on over the leotard and changed out shoes opting for her boots. "It's okay zero, she can come with us. It probably best not to leave her alone with a holositter, not just yet anyways."

Seeing Leela pull on her uniform over the leotard the holodeck had provided her with, Zero realised that she was still wearing her own ballet outfit, which was hardly something that she could wear outside of the 'deck or her quarters for fear of someone finding out that she had been dancing again. But getting changed meant that she would have to put Callion down...

"It would be prudent if I also changed my garments," she said, yet continued to hold her baby, torn between the two options.