Spy School: Family Ties

Chapter 1

Hale Residence
March 13th, 2027
2300 hours

Ben's POV

I was lying in bed beside Erica. She was playfully messing with my hair while I laid my head on her shoulder.

A lot had happened since the wedding. I decided to take on Erica's last name, as I didn't want to be associated with the leader's of an evil organization. We had taken time off from the CIA to spend with each other. Although they occasionally called us and asked about stopping our break early, we always declined.

Cyrus seemed to understand, which was nice. I suppose he didn't want to risk the chance of losing his first great grandchild. Alexander and Catherine had been happy to help in anyway, especially Catherine. She seemed ecstatic that Erica was pregnant and even happier to (hopefully) become a grandmother.

She offered up tips on how to manage the pregnancy. Even though I had read that it was supposed to be very stressful for the mother, Erica seemed no different than normal, other than the fact there was a huge bump on her belly.

Speaking of Alexander and Catherine, after they had been in a gray area for a while, they had renewed their wedding vows. It seemed especially important to them, seeing as they had a grandchild on the way. They probably didn't want our kid to have divorced grandparents. Also, they had started to liken up with each other more.

It was almost 9 months exactly since the time I had impregnated Erica. I didn't even mean to, I just got caught in the moment and forgot. However, Erica had seemed happy to keep the baby and I felt it would be nice to become a father, especially with the girl I was deeply in love with.

The baby was expecting soon. We decided to let the gender be a surprise, until they were birthed. However, it looked like we would find out in a couple of days. We had already picked names for each gender.

I rubbed Erica's belly. I thought I felt a kicking motion, so I went and put my ear to it. It was definitely kicking.

I just laughed. Erica laughed with me and then I returned to cuddling with her. She smelled amazing, as always. I buried my head on her neck.

"You're doing amazing with the baby," I whispered. She picked up my head and kissed me.

"I know I have a great father with me here," she said. I smiled.

Ever since we had gotten married, Erica had thawed out to a normal being. It felt good to talk to her warm side. I hadn't seen the Ice Queen in a long time.

I snuggled up with her and hugged her. She smiled and then she rested on my shoulder.

"What would I do without you?" She asked.

"You would be just fine," I said. "You're an amazing woman who can handle herself just fine."

"So I don't need you?" She asked, and I saw the Ice Queen coming out.

"Well, not really, but," I said.

"Stop, silly. You're my other half." She started kissing me and I kissed back. I felt her warmth spread through me, yet I got goosebumps.

Everything about her was amazing. I don't know how I ended up with the most perfect girl in the world, but I wasn't going to let her go. Not at all. She let go of me and went back to rest on my shoulder. I rubbed her head as I felt her drift off into sleep.

**timeskip**

I woke up to someone calling my name. I instantly woke up, fearing the worst, but then I saw Erica. She was dressed in pyjamas and had a robe over herself.

"Yes, Erica," I said sleepily.

"We need to go, to the hospital, now."

"Why's that?" I asked, still not understanding.

"My water broke."

I instantly shot out of bed and threw on whatever clothes I could find. I took her hand and led her down the stairs carefully, then out the door. I threw open the car door for her and the hopped in the driver's sear and turned the car on.

I drove a bit over the speed limit, but not too fast. I didn't want Erica to panic. I could already see she was losing her cool a little bit. I took her hand and squeezed it, and she held on.

I managed to get to the hospital in 5 minutes. I quickly led Erica into the emergency section and the doctor's took her away. I filled out some paperwork and entered the room.

I hadn't seen Erica so flustered, ever. Her face was reddening, and I could see sweat forming on her forehead. I quickly walked over and grabbed a chair, then sat next to her and held her hand.

She looked happy to see me. She gripped my hand and I felt her relax. I stroked her hand.

"You're okay. You can do this." I said. She just nodded. The doctors were still examining and Erica seemed to be hurting more and more.

"It's ok. You're okay." I said.

"It's time to start pushing," one of the doctors said.

"Ok, Erica, you can do this. I believe in you." I said.

She simply nodded.

"3,2,1 push!" The doctor from before said. I heard Erica scream quietly as she pushed. I didn't even look down. I kept focus on Erica.

"More," the doctor said.

"I can't do this," she said, whispering to me. I saw tears forming in her eyes.

"Yes. You. Can. Erica, look at me," I said. She looked at me and I saw the pain in her eyes. "What happened to the girl that could do anything. The girl that wouldn't stop until she was done. The Ice Queen. I need her now."

She let go of my hand and I saw her eyes turn into a cold glare. I looked away, not able to look at the force behind her stare. I heard her simply grunt and then one of the doctor's said:

"You can relax now, we are going to take it slow." I went back to Erica and held her hand. I kissed her forehead.

"You did it." She simply nodded and I smiled. After 30 seconds, I heard the doctor say "All done,".

"It's a girl," said the doctor. They handed Erica our daughter and she held her, looking down and smiling. I moved beside her and looked down at the baby.

I had heard that usually babies start crying when they exit the mother, but this one exuded some sort of calm aura. I saw that she took on the ice blue eyes of Erica. She looked from me to Erica, eyes wide.

Then the baby crawled down towards Erica's chest and began to nurse. We both smiled.

"Welcome to the world, Emma Hale," I whispered.

There's Chapter 1. I hope you enjoyed it and I am looking to publish Chapter 2 within the next 24 hours. Thanks for reading 😄