Chapter 9 - Chapter 8: Welcome to the World

🌙 "The First Introduction"

St. Sebastian's Medical Center — Postpartum Recovery Room

Moments after birth

The room had quieted.

The machines still hummed. The fluorescent lights buzzed overhead. But the worst of the storm was over. The adrenaline, the panic, the pain—it had all given way to something softer. Sleepier.

Nova was curled back against the pillows, her body still trembling faintly from the aftermath of labor. Her damp hair stuck to her cheeks, and her eyes were barely open.

The nurses moved with practiced calm—cleaning her up gently, changing the linens, monitoring vitals. One nurse patted her arm reassuringly.

"You did beautifully, sweetheart. Just rest now, okay?"

Nova gave a weak nod. "Thanks." 

Her voice was hoarse, cracked from screaming.

Across the room, Moira Queen stood cradling a pink-wrapped bundle in her arms. The proud-grandma glow was impossible to miss—soft eyes, tender smile, complete awe. She rocked slightly, humming something faintly under her breath.

"You have your mother's nose," she whispered to the sleeping newborn. "And maybe a little bit of your uncle's pout."

Allison made a small, sleepy sound and shifted in her blanket.

Nova smiled faintly at the sight, even as her limbs grew heavier.

"Tired?" Thea murmured, sitting on the edge of the bed, brushing damp hair from Nova's forehead.

"Exhausted," Nova croaked. "Feel like I got hit by a truck and then dragged by a horse."

"That's... vivid," Thea smiled.

"I did literally just push a watermelon sized human out of my vagina, Thea. Cut me some slack," Nova chuckled softly.

Moira gently stepped closer. "You need rest, darling." She looked down at the baby, reluctant but understanding. "Melissa wants a turn anyway."

She passed the bundle into Melissa McCall's arms. The Beacon Hills nurse looked like she'd just been handed a crown made of light. She smiled down at the baby girl, heart in her throat.

"Hi, sweetheart," Melissa cooed. "I'm your grandma Mel. I was there when you arrived, you know."

Nova's eyes fluttered half-closed.

"Thea..."

"Yeah, babe?"

"Can you... can you take her out? Introduce her? Everyone's waiting. And I need like... a hundred hours of sleep."

Thea hesitated. Her hand curled around Nova's.

"I don't want to leave you."

"You're not," Nova whispered. "You're just showing them who we made. Who we love."

Thea looked over at Melissa, who was still softly bouncing the baby. She nodded once.

"Alright," Thea said, standing. "But you get real sleep, okay? And no sneaking out of bed this time."

Nova smirked, barely. "Bossy."

"Baby, get some rest." Thea replied, kissing her forehead.

✧ In the Waiting Room ✧

15 minutes later

The hospital hallway was hushed. Thea moved slowly, carefully, arms curled protectively around the tiny newborn nestled in the pink blanket. Little Allison was awake now, staring up with unfocused eyes—green and hazel blending like sun through trees.

As Thea turned the corner, she found them all waiting.

Derek, Stiles, Lydia, Scott, Kira, Isaac, Noah, Chris. Laurel and Walter. Even Quinton Lance stood awkwardly near the coffee machine, hands in his pockets. They were pacing, murmuring, pretending to read magazines—but they all froze the second they saw her.

And her.

The room shifted.

Thea stopped in front of them and took a slow breath.

"Everyone... this is Allison Olivia Queen-Hale."

No one spoke.

Then Lydia clapped a hand over her mouth. "Oh my god."

Scott stepped forward first. His eyes were wide. "She's tiny."

"She's perfect," Stiles added, voice almost reverent.

Chris Argent didn't speak. He just blinked. Then his eyes dropped to the baby's name bracelet and lingered there. Allison. His jaw clenched—but he nodded, slowly, a complex emotion burning in his eyes.

"She's beautiful," Kira whispered.

Derek stepped beside Thea, towering and brooding as always. But his eyes softened as he looked down at the little girl.

"She's strong," he said finally. "Like her mom."

Thea smiled. "She's gonna be okay. Nova's resting. She's exhausted, but she's okay."

Laurel leaned into Walter, blinking back tears. "Look at her. That's a whole new generation right there."

Thea slowly lowered the baby so they could all take turns peeking. No one touched—just peered gently, quietly, like looking at something sacred.

Even Quinton muttered a quiet, rough: "She's got good bones."

And in that room full of past and present, heroes and losses and scars—

The next chapter of the Hale and Queen legacy blinked up at the world...

...and yawned.

"For the Ones We Lost"

The waiting room stilled the moment Thea stepped in.

Wrapped tightly in a soft cream blanket, tiny Allison Olivia Queen-Hale rested peacefully in her arms, her tuft of dark brown hair barely visible beneath the cap the nurse had gently pulled over her head. Her hazel-green eyes—somewhere between Nova's and Thea's—were closed, lashes like little ink strokes on her cheeks.

For a moment, no one moved.

Then Chris Argent took a sharp breath.

"Her name," he asked softly, voice already cracking, "Did you say... Allison?"

Thea nodded, her eyes misting. "Yes. After your daughter. Nova wanted her to carry the name of someone who died protecting the people she loved. She said Allison deserved to live again—through someone fierce."

Chris swallowed hard. His hands trembled slightly as he looked down at the infant. A storm of grief and something gentler—hope, maybe—rippled through his expression.

"She would've been honored," he whispered. "Truly."

Thea gently shifted, stepping closer to Derek.

"You want to meet your niece?"

Derek looked like someone had punched the breath out of him. His stony expression cracked wide open as he reached forward, almost hesitant. Thea eased the baby into his arms.

Derek Hale—a man who had lost a pack, a home, a sister, and so much more—held the newborn like she was made of glass and gold.

"She's beautiful," he murmured. "She looks like Nova... but there's something Queen in her, too."

Everyone took turns holding her—Laurel, Scott, Kira, even Stiles (with plenty of supervision). Soft laughs, quiet awe, and a thousand photos filled the moment. It was the kind of peace none of them got often.

Melissa sniffed quietly into her sleeve. Noah Stilinski took a picture (with permission this time) and murmured something about printing it for his desk. 

Lydia smiled softly, whispering, "She's got a legacy in those eyes."

But then—

Isaac's body suddenly tensed near the corner of the waiting room.

"Hey," he said sharply, already moving.

Everyone turned as he reached the far side of the room and snatched a phone camera right out of someone's hands. The man—a thirty-something with a lanyard badge flipped backward—froze.

"You think you're sneaky?" Isaac snarled. "You don't get to exploit this."

"I'm press—" the man began.

"Not anymore," came Moira Queen's voice like a whip crack as she stormed across the room with Walter at her side. Her eyes blazed.

"You're trespassing," Walter added. "On private family time. You're lucky we don't press charges for harassment."

The man started to argue but was quickly flanked by security, thanks to one sharp look from Moira and a quiet call from Walter.

Thea stepped protectively closer to Isaac, who handed her the phone.

"No photos got sent," he said, showing her the screen. "I made sure."

Thea smiled. "Thanks, Isaac. She doesn't need to be anyone's headline."

Once the man was escorted out, the warmth returned—but this time with a hum of protectiveness beneath it.

Nova's family wasn't just blood.

It was wolves and warriors, friends and found kin.

And now, at the center of it all, was a baby girl—new to the world, but already guarded like a treasure.

Thea pressed a kiss to her daughter's forehead and whispered:

"You're already so loved."

"Back to Her"

The baby had made her rounds—gently passed from one pair of hands to another, each person cradling her with reverence and quiet wonder. She slept soundly, tiny chest rising and falling in steady rhythm, unaware of the years of grief, hope, and history stitched into her name.

"She's going to change everything," Lydia whispered to Stiles as she rocked the baby in her arms.

"She already has," Stiles said back, softer than usual.

Melissa and Moira stood nearby, trading quiet smiles. Moira brushed a gentle hand over the baby's head.

"She's strong," Melissa murmured. "You can feel it. Not just physically. She's... grounded."

Derek nodded, arms crossed but expression softer than anyone had seen in a long time.

Chris Argent sat beside Kira and Scott, his gaze distant but not cold. "Allison would've liked her," he said at last. "No. Loved her."

Thea stood quietly beside them all, not saying much, just watching with a tired, glowing pride as everyone took their turn. But when her daughter yawned and blinked just once before dozing off again, Thea gently stepped forward and held out her arms.

"Alright, little wolf," she whispered. "Time to get back to your mom."

Isaac passed her over carefully, adjusting the blanket around her tiny form. Thea held her against her chest, one hand tucked protectively beneath her.

"She's out," she said, smiling. "Out cold."

The others smiled, some yawning, some preparing to say their goodbyes.

"We'll come by tomorrow," Laurel said softly, stepping up to kiss Thea's cheek. "You two need rest."

"Thanks for being here," Thea whispered back.

Derek lingered a moment longer, then gently brushed the back of one finger over the baby's soft cap of dark hair.

"Tell Nova... she did good," he said, quietly.

"She always does," Thea replied.

With that, she slipped out of the waiting room and made her way down the corridor—quiet now, after the storm of birth and visitors and flashbulbs.

Her arms ached, but in the good way. The way that said: this is yours. You're home now.

She entered the hospital room softly.

The lights were dimmed.

Nova lay asleep in the hospital bed, her face pale but peaceful, cleaned up and resting at last. Her hair was a little messy, cheeks still flushed, one hand resting near where her belly had been for the last nine months.

Thea stepped closer, cradling their daughter in one arm.

"We're back," she whispered.

She paused beside the bed and looked between the two of them—Nova, asleep, breathing deep and steady. Allison, nestled tight and safe.

Her entire world, right here.

Thea settled down into the chair beside the bed and curled her legs up under her, adjusting the blanket around the baby as she rested her against her shoulder.

She pressed a kiss to Nova's temple.

"You did it," she whispered, voice catching. "She's perfect. You're perfect."

Allison stirred in her sleep, sighing softly.

Thea smiled, eyes misted, and whispered to her daughter—

"You've got no idea how lucky you are."

"You, Me, and Her"

The room was dim and quiet, filled with the steady rhythm of a monitor, the distant murmur of nurses at their station down the hall, and the softest sound of infant breaths.

Thea sat in the reclining chair beside Nova's hospital bed, her head tilted back, eyes half-closed but still alert. She cradled their daughter to her chest, one hand gently rocking her as the other traced idle circles along the baby's back.

Allison Olivia Queen-Hale slept without a care, wrapped in a pink hospital-issued blanket, tiny fists tucked up near her mouth. Her soft tufts of dark brown hair peeked from beneath her little cap, and her eyes—when they'd fluttered open earlier—had revealed that perfect blend of Thea's hazel and Nova's green.

Thea smiled, eyes fixed on her. "You're so small. And you already own me," she whispered.

A quiet rustle from the bed broke the moment.

Nova stirred.

Her lashes fluttered open, hazy and slow. She blinked at the ceiling, then turned her head toward the soft cooing sound nearby.

And saw them.

Thea. Holding her.

Holding their daughter.

Nova's breath caught, throat tightening with emotion.

"She's really here," Nova whispered, voice raw from exhaustion and wonder. "She's perfect."

Thea looked over, her eyes warming instantly.

"You're awake," she said softly. "She was missing you."

Nova blinked fast, eyes glassy as she pushed herself up slightly with a groan. "She okay?"

"She's amazing," Thea replied. "Already giving me the same look you do when you're hungry and annoyed."

Nova snorted weakly. "Yeah, she gets that from me."

Thea grinned and rose from the chair carefully. "Wanna hold her?"

Nova nodded, arms already lifting before her brain could catch up.

Thea stepped forward and eased the baby into Nova's arms with the tenderness of someone passing off treasure. Nova immediately curled around her daughter, instinctive and protective, her lips brushing Allison's soft temple.

"Hi, Allie," she murmured. "God, you're so small."

Thea watched them for a moment—Nova glowing even through exhaustion, cheeks pink with lingering warmth, eyes filled with quiet awe.

Then, gently, she stepped over to the clear bassinet crib beside the hospital bed and fluffed the folded blanket inside.

"She just fell asleep again. You okay if I lay her down?"

Nova nodded reluctantly. "Yeah... I don't want to crush her if I pass out again."

Thea leaned in and carefully placed Allison in the crib, adjusting the blanket around her with military precision, then double-checked the ID bracelet on her wrist. She stood there for a moment, just watching their little girl sleep, her face soft with love.

Then she turned, kicked off her boots, and climbed gently into the narrow hospital bed beside Nova, easing an arm around her shoulder.

Nova leaned into her automatically.

Their legs tangled under the sheet. Nova's head rested just beneath Thea's chin.

"Now that our baby girl's finally here," Thea murmured, brushing her fingers through Nova's tangled hair, "that means you'll be able to come to school with me soon."

Nova snorted. "You mean I'll be waddling through a bunch of rich private school halls with post-partum hormones and wanting to be at home with our baby."

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

Nova tilted her head to look up at her. "You just want to see me in the uniform."

Thea grinned unapologetically. "You saying that like it's a bad thing."

Nova rolled her eyes, smiling sleepily. "Pervert."

"You're a pervert."

Nova sighed, her hand sliding over to where Thea's rested atop the sheets. Their fingers twined.

"Thank you," Nova whispered, voice cracking just a little. "For being here. For loving me. Thea Queen, I love you so much."

"You're stuck with me," Thea said, her voice soft and sure. "You, me, and her. Always."

Outside, the hospital remained quiet.

But in this little room, it was just them.

Their beginning.

Their family.