[A/N]: New week, new goal! Let's aim for 200 Power Stones and unlock TWO bonus chapters. You know the drill! Let's get this done quick and keep the streak going! 🔥
​Baxter Building - Medical Wing
Blue energy rippled.
Jay appeared exactly where he'd left. His absence had been maybe thirty seconds from Sue and Reed's perspective.
They looked up, startled.
Jay's expression was calm, but his eyes carried new weight. "Sorry about that. Had to handle something urgent."
"Is everything..."
"Fine. Everything's fine." Jay moved back to Sue's bedside, his hands already beginning to glow. "The city's got some excitement happening, but it's being handled. Right now, our focus is on bringing your son safely into the world."
Sue gasped as another contraction hit. "Oh God... they're getting closer together..."
Reed grabbed Sue's hand. "You're doing great, honey. You're so strong..."
"I don't feel strong. I feel like I'm being torn in half..."
"I've got you."
Jay's healing aura intensified. Green light pulsed in time with her heartbeat, targeting pain receptors, releasing natural endorphins and easing muscle tension.
"Better?"
"Oh, thank God... That's amazing..."
Sue looked up at Jay through sweat-dampened hair. Her voice was steady despite the pain.
"You'll do it? The graduated suppression?"
"The moment he's born. Before he takes his first breath. I'll take his powers and adapt it to be suppressed under levels of locks"
"And he'll still be him? Still our son?"
"Still your son. Just with training wheels until he's ready to ride on his own."
Reed had his tablet out again. His fingers moved across the screen, but slower this time.
"I've mapped out preliminary thresholds. The initial suppression matrix should target the reality manipulation specifically while leaving his baseline cosmic radiation signature at manageable levels. Approximately 0.05 rem per hour. Safe for extended contact. Then progressive reductions tied to developmental markers. Eighteen months, three years, seven years, twelve years, sixteen years, twenty-five years. Each stage carefully calibrated to match neural development and cognitive maturity."
Sue watched him, and despite everything, despite the pain and fear, she felt a surge of love for this impossibly brilliant, impossibly dorky man who processed terror through equations.
"Reed."
He looked up, saw her expression, and had the grace to look sheepish. "I'm doing it again, aren't I?"
"You're being you. And I love you for it. But maybe save the detailed analysis for after our son is born?"
Reed set the tablet down, took her hand properly. "You're right. I'm sorry. When I'm scared, I calculate. It's how I cope."
"I know." Sue squeezed his fingers. "But right now, I need you here with me. Present. Not in your head running simulations."
"Okay." Reed took a shaky breath. "Okay. I'm here. With you. Not in my head."
"Liar," Sue said fondly. "But I appreciate the effort."
They shared a brief smile, the normalcy of it cutting through the tension.
Then Sue's entire body went rigid.
The contraction was different. Stronger. Deeper.
Sue cried out, her force fields expanding to nearly fill the room before she wrestled them back.
"He's coming." Her voice was strained but certain. "I can feel him. He's ready."
"Then let's not keep him waiting."
Jay's hands glowed brighter. His null field extended carefully, precisely, targeting the specific cosmic frequencies that the baby was broadcasting.
"Sue, on the next contraction, I want you to push. Reed, support her. Everyone, get ready to birth a miracle."
The next contraction hit hard.
Sue screamed, her force fields exploding outward. Jay's null field met them, contained them, channeled the energy safely away. His healing aura pulsed through her body, giving her strength, easing the agony.
"PUSH!"
Sue pushed.
Her entire body strained. Sweat plastered her hair to her forehead. Her face flushed deep red, veins standing out on her neck and temples. The force fields around her pulsed in waves, visible distortions in the air, each pulse synchronized with her heartbeat.
Reed supported her, one arm around her shoulders, the other hand gripping hers. "You've got this, Sue. You're doing so well. He's almost here. Just a little more..."
Jay's null field wrapped tighter around the baby, an invisible barrier between the Richards family and catastrophe.
"Crowning," Reed announced, his voice cracking. "I can see the head. Blonde hair, just like you, Sue."
"One more. One more big push, Sue. You've got this. You're so close..."
"I can't... I can't do it..."
"Yes, you can. You're the Invisible Woman. You've fought Doom and survived impossible odds. You can do this."
"PUSH!"
Sue pushed with everything. Every ounce of strength. Every bit of will. Channeling all her power, all her love, all her desperate need to bring her son safely into the world.
Jay's null field wrapped around the baby, containing the catastrophic energy. His healing aura pulsed through her system, giving her strength for this final push, holding her together.
And then, with a final cry that was half agony and half triumph, Franklin Benjamin Richards entered the world.
Jay's hands moved fast.
Before the infant's lungs expanded. Before the reality-warping powers manifested Before the infant's lungs could expand with their first breath, before the reality-warping powers could manifest unchecked, Jay reached into Franklin's genetic code and took it away.
It wasn't painful. Jay made sure of that.
The baby's first sensation of life wasn't power, but warmth.
His mother's love, his father's joy, the gentle touch of the man who'd just saved him from himself.
The baby opened his eyes. Bright blue, like his mother's.
He looked directly at Jay, and for one impossible moment, Jay saw awareness there. As if the infant knew what had just been done, and accepted it.
Then the baby did what all babies do.
He screamed.
The sound was healthy, angry, perfect. The cry of a newborn demanding to know why he'd been evicted from his comfortable home.
Jay cut the umbilical cord with a precise light dagger, cauterizing and healing simultaneously. He lifted the baby carefully, six pounds and eight ounces of squalling infant, warm, alive and perfect, and handed him to Reed.
Reed took his son with shaking hands, cradling the tiny body against his chest. "Hello, Franklin," he whispered. "Hello, my beautiful boy. We've been waiting for you."
He performed the standard newborn checks with automatic precision, his scientific training functioning even through tears.
"Apgar scores... ten out of ten. Healthy lungs, strong heart rate, reflexes all normal..."
He checked his instruments, disbelieving.
"He's... he's just a baby. A perfectly normal, perfectly healthy baby."
Reed's voice broke on the last word.
Jay's hands stopped glowing. Sweat covered his forehead. The precision required had taken more out of him than he'd admit.
"Welcome to the world, Kid. Try not to break it."
Reed brought Franklin to Sue, placing him gently on her chest. Sue's arms came up instantly, cradling her son with fierce protectiveness.
The baby quieted immediately at the contact, recognizing his mother's warmth.
"Oh," Sue breathed. "Oh, Reed, look at him. Just look at him."
He was beautiful.
Tiny and red-faced and perfect, with his mother's delicate features and what promised to be his father's brilliant eyes. He squirmed against Sue's chest, one tiny fist finding its way to his mouth.
"He's perfect," Sue whispered, pressing kiss after kiss to Franklin's downy head. "You're perfect, baby boy. So perfect. Mommy loves you so much. So, so much."
Reed knelt beside the bed, one hand on Sue's shoulder, the other gently touching Franklin's back.
They stayed like that.
New family. Complete and whole, now lost in the wonder of their son.
Franklin made a small noise, a tiny grunt of contentment and both parents laughed through their tears.
Jay stepped back, giving them privacy. His work was done. Franklin was safe, Sue was safe, and the Richards family could begin their lives together without fear.
"Jay?"
He looked up.
Sue was watching him with those perceptive blue eyes. Franklin was nursing now, the baby's tiny mouth working instinctively, Sue's expression soft with maternal contentment.
"Thank you. For everything. For giving us this chance."
Sue reached out with her free hand and Jay took it. Her grip was surprisingly strong for someone who'd just given birth.
"You gave him the gift of childhood."
Jay's throat tightened unexpectedly.
"I didn't..."
Franklin made another small sound, interrupting Jay, a contented sigh. Sue smiled down at him, her entire world contained in that tiny, perfect face.
"We'll do our best. Won't we, Reed?"
"Our absolute best. Though I should probably start by not calculating optimal feeding schedules and sleep training methodologies..."
"One step at a time, honey."
Jay moved toward the door.
"I should go. Let you three have some family time. And I have other matters to attend to."
"The situation outside?" Reed's analytical mind was already making connections. "It's serious, isn't it?"
"It's being handled. But yes, it's serious. Nothing you need to worry about right now, though. Today is about Franklin. About your family. Let everything else be someone else's problem for a few hours."
Blue energy enveloped him, and just as he was in the middle of teleporting, he heard Susan.
"Be careful and come back safe. Franklin's going to need his godfather."
Jay's teleportation stuttered. Jay blinked, surprised. "I... what?"
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