Blessed by Night

Nadine: "Is he still in there with them..?"

Bianca: "Yes, he has been in that same spot for days now, what do you expect?"

Sei: "I'm glad to see that he's taken to her so well but I really…"

Luna: "I know, I want it too.. let's just give it some more time and then we'll go and jump on him."

Anna closed the comic book that she had been reading and looked over in bed.

There, she found her fiancé sleeping quite deeply with their daughter lying on his chest; Camille Monica Saint.

For the four days he had been back, Malachi hadn't put her down for any reason, nor had he left Anna's side.

The former was because he felt that he had already missed so much, and the latter was because he had become slightly paranoid and feared that something terrible would happen to her if she left his sight again.

Admittedly, Anna had let this go on longer than she should have because she was reveling in the attention and affection after so long.

But the other women they shared a bed with had missed him just as much as her, and they needed to be loved too.

Besides, by the way things were sounding outside, Malachi only had a short time left before Nadine broke in here and raped him.

And since Anna was also starting to feel just a little bit pent up, she figured it might not be long before she joined her.

'…I'll do it one last time.'

Smiling mischievously, Anna swung her feet off the side of the bed as if she were about to get out of it.

Immediately, Mal's eyes flashed open and he sat up smoothly without waking baby Cami, still a bit delirious but alert nonetheless.

"Ah, where you going? Do you need something? Lay down, I'll get it." He muttered drunkenly.

Anna snickered impishly as she let her body lean against the headboard and Mal finally realized that she never intended to go anywhere at all.

She just wanted to see him wake up and laugh about it.

"You aren't funny…" Mal muttered as he lay back down.

"Oh I think I'm quite funny. You just can't appreciate it at the moment."

"Yea, yea.." Malachi checked to make sure that Camille was still sleeping before closing both of his eyes and continuing to rub her back until he fell asleep.

Anna smiled softly at this scene as she kissed their sleeping child softly before moving to her fiancé's lips.

"…We need to talk, babe."

"I want you to remember you already said yes, so we're not breaking up anymore."

"It's not that." Anna laughed as she ran her fingers through his hair.

"I know that you're worried about me and you want to spend time with our daughter, but don't forget that I'm not the only girl who missed you while you were gone.

We're home now, and we have time. Don't neglect them because you're scared something will happen to me, or because you feel bad for missing Cami's birth."

Mal finally opened his eyes and he peered down at the small bundle in his arms.

Never in his life did he ever want to miss the birth of his precious child like this.

The night he found out Luna was pregnant, he planned the entire delivery out in his mind from point A-Z.

And yet all of his planning had been dashed away by a force that he didn't even place his eyes on.

And even though he knew it wasn't his fault, he felt so very guilty.

These four days had been some of the best and most challenging of his entire life.

But, Anna was right, and he needed to learn how to better manage his new life and not neglect the women he was in a relationship with who had given him everything so far.

Sensing that he needed something else to focus on, Anna bit his ear playfully as she ran her hands across his face.

"Why don't.. you take Camille upstairs to her aunts so that they can watch her for a few hours and we can have some time to ourselves, okay? I think we all need to feel… just how much we missed each other."

A small shiver ran down Malachi's body and he agreed in an instant without realizing it.

He got dressed quickly and grabbed a few necessities for the baby before heading out.

Along the way, he gave the girls scattered in the living room a small wink followed by a promise to 'really reconnect' when he got back.

Judging by the reddening that formed on their cheeks afterwards, they would likely be undressed already by the time he got back.

-

Dropping of Camille with Aubrey, Rose, and Aisha was every bit as awkward as Mal thought it would be.

Especially with his best friend.

They'd had a lot of arguments in their life, but something told him if the words 'I fucked your mom' came out of her mouth he would really lose it and kill her.

He also wanted to ask his sister how she and his favorite trainer got together when she seemed so apprehensive about starting a new relationship before.

They looked happy enough, but again, Mal could only ask more when he no longer felt awkward around his sister and the women she was dating.

'Maybe I'll ask one of them..?' During the walk back downstairs, Mal briefly thought about Serana, Aisha's parents, and Grandpa Rowan.

His favorite pink haired lunatic had apparently grown up a lot in his time away, and was currently leading a mission in the wastelands that she should be returning from any day now.

After the world ended, those in the base who had parents and siblings brought them in, so now the place was just a bit more crowded than before.

Malachi had seen the old man as well as his aunt and uncle for around two minutes when he first got back, but he'd been holed up in his bedroom ever since and hadn't had the chance to speak.

'That reminds me..!'

Malachi suddenly stopped right in the center of the hallway and started looking around for a very specific room.

In a whoosh of air, he appeared right in front of the futuristic white door and knocked on it without hesitating.

A moment later, Joanne poked her head outside and Mal immediately began to feel bad when he realized she clearly was having some trouble sleeping again.

"Mind if I come in?"

Joanne took only a moment to think about it before nodding in agreement and pulled open the door to let him in.

When he stepped inside, he realized that Joanne's quarters were relatively tidy, save for the several empty bottles of wine scattered across the coffee table and the one glass that seemed to have seen it all.

Joanne sat on the couch, and Mal marveled when he realized that she was just like Anna.

At home, she wore baggy sweatpants that almost slipped off her slender and seductive waist,, but she wore a tee shirt with the arms cut off instead of a simple sport's bra.

She looked a lot healthier than she had five days ago when he found her, as her skin was no longer deathly pale and she had begun to gain her weight back.

Her hair was also starting to grow back too, although it was currently only stopping at her shoulders.

In a few days, it would be back to it's beautiful normal length, but Mal had to admit that he was not against the short look.

Then again he found her to be beautiful either way.

"So... Done with your whole reunion already? Should I expect another child to pop up soon?" Joanne muttered drunkenly.

Mal did not respond, and instead he sat beside her on the couch as he gingerly took the glass of wine away from her.

The two of them sat in silence afterwards, with only them staring at each other with neither of them bothering to say anything.

Malachi finally tried to speak to the slightly drunk woman, but before he got his words out she balled up her fists and swung for his face.