Joke's On You (Jerome Valeska)

Chapter 18: Push!

The bed was cold and I knew instantly that Jerome was gone, the only indication of him actually being here last night is my whole body feels numb, I look down my body and see bruises, love bites, scratches and bite marks, "morning my little ones, let's go get some breakfast" I threw the covers off me and slipped on a dressing gown, I trotted down the stairs to run face to face with Oswald, great, "morning, surprised you're even up, what with Jerome using you as his personal play thing to just up and leave" I'm so sick of him "oh Ozzy, there's no need to be jealous" his faced contorted into shock but it quickly subsided "I'm not jealous, maybe those babies have finally started to warp your brain!" wait, why is he getting defensive? does, does Oswald like Jerome? "it was a joke" "jokes aren't your forte" he said preparing to storm away "you'll never have him" he stopped in his tracks and whipped around "what!?" he almost whisper yelled, I've got him right where I want him, "you can drip poison into his ear all you want, you can be his right hand man, you can be his best friend, but that's all you'll ever be Oswald" "I don't know what you're getting at miss Bloodsaw, but I'd quit while you're ahead" "you can pine after him, and admire him from a far, but you will never have him, he may not want to be with me and I may not be at the top of his list for a partner but I will always be ahead of you, you know why?" he just stood and shifted uncomfortably "because I'm a girl, I'm a girl Oswald and you're not, I'm sorry that you have feelings for him, but it doesn't give you the right to treat me badly over something that didn't have any affect on you" his face dropped and I can see the smug facade his was feigning disappear "you're.. you're right, I'm sorry" wait what? did Oswald just apologize to me?? he signed heavily "let me make it up to you? I make a mean omelette, my mothers recipe" I just nodded and followed him to the kitchen, after 20 minutes of some small talk and getting to know each other, I realized he isn't that bad, he's just a very sexually confused male with feelings for his boss, "alright, one omelette and fresh squeezed orange juice Jeremiah labeled for you" "huh?" Oswald limped to the fridge and opened it to stacks of food in containers and jugs of juice with my name and what day to have them labeled on them, wow, "since you're skipping the first meal you can have it for a snack later" his cool voice said from behind me, I spun my body around to look at the kitchen door "you did all this?" I asked and then popped a piece of omelette in my mouth "although I trust Jerome to look after you, as I heard last night, seems like he is, I don't think he understands the importance of a healthy diet. so I took the liberty to have set meals for you so we don't all have to stress over what you'll eat, every meal is healthy and delicious for your benefit of course" wow, he really did that, "oh, uh thanks" "relax this is not me trying to 'woo' you of sorts, this is just for the well being of your children my dear, there's a weeks supply there and once you finish it, I'll have the next weeks meals made" "I'll be here to make sure she eats all her meals" Oswald piped up from behind me "do I sense a new kin of friendship here?" Oswald and I looked at each other and shrugged "it's a working progress" Oswald answered "yeah, that" I added "hm, well I'll leave you both to it, and Mr Cobblepot, Jerome is requesting you meet him in his office" "of course, I'll just be a moment" Jeremiah nodded and walked out of the kitchen "good luck Ozzy" I said sipping my juice, he rolled his eyes "don't make me regret becoming friends with you" "awwh friends? Ozzy" I said in a teasing tone "drink your juice, I'll be back later" he said leaving the room as I cackled, maybe this won't be so bad.

4 months later.

I went to step into the elevator but a guy I've never seen before with a bag on his head stepped out and almost ran into me, it seemed like he was in a hurry, he looked me up and down rolled his eyes and went to walk away "rude much" I said and he spun around quickly, um maybe that was a bad idea "what was that?" he asked getting closer "oh, uh nothing" "are you scared?" he said inches from my face, a bag on his head and asking if I'm scared? holy shit! this is the scarecrow, he sprays something called fear gas on people and it makes them see their most primal fears, and I've just pissed him off, he went to reach for something that looked like a trigger and I heard a gun cock beside me "Crane, back away from her and I won't shoot you" Crane did as told and took a rather large step back "thanks bag-head" he said and slipped his gun away "sorry about him little monster, Crane this is Sky, you mess with her and we're gonna have some problems, Sky this is Crane, he's gonna be staying with us for a while", great, I fix up one hatred problem with someone in this house, and I gain another, "apologies Jerome" Crane said "eh no harm done, now go find Sarah our maid and she'll show you to your room" Crane just nodded and walked off, suddenly the elevator dings and the doors open revealing Ozzy "my apologies, I didn't mean to interrupt" he said scooching out of the elevator "you weren't, shall we go?" I asked and he nodded, we started to walked off but Jerome's voice piped up from behind us "go?" I turned to face him and Oswald did the same "Jeremiah told me there's some old clothes from when you both were babies in a box in the basement, I wanted to get started on the nursery and put some clothes in drawers" "need any help?" okay, what's with him? he hasn't properly spoken to me in months, he's so hot and cold I can barely keep up with what mood he's gonna be in each day, "sure if you want" I said and stalked off towards the basement stairs, Jerome took the elevator with Ozzy, after a few minutes I made it down and Jerome was going through an old box of weapons and Oswald was dusting off a crate, I walked over and picked up a box labeled 'JJ', I opened it and pulled out a little blue onesie "awwh this is so cute" I said catching the attention of both boys "huh, didn't know the old whore actually kept any of my stuff" Jerome said peaking into the box, I rolled my eyes at his choice of words, suddenly Jerome's phone started ringing "hello?" I couldn't hear who it was or what they were saying just what Jerome would respond with "seriously? how long will it take?" "just let us know when" then he hung up "the powers shut down for the moment and all the doors are powered automatically, so we're stuck here" he said "that's fine, more time to have a look at these clothes" I said and picked up another box labeled 'Miah' as I went to sit it down there was a warm rush of fluid splash down my legs "shit, did I just piss myself?" I asked looking at my soaking wet pants and the floor, Jerome and Oswald instantly looked to me and they were both shocked, Jerome stood up slowly, I think he knows what's going on, then a rush of pain shot through me, I know what's happening, finally Oswald caught on too, I'm in labor stuck in the basement. Oswald found a blanket and laid me down and Jerome attempted to kick the door down, to no avail, but he did make a hell of a racket, so people upstairs would probably get that we're in trouble down here, "Mr Valeska I won't say it again, the door won't budge!" Oswald said getting frustrated with Jerome's outburst "I'm not due yet! it's too early, they can't come out!" I was in a panicked state and Jerome wasn't helping, Oswald looked down and his jaw dropped "these babies are coming now Sky" "WHAT!?" "you're crowning, you need to push!" he said forcing my legs far apart "I can't, I can't!" the pain is agonizing, I can't do this "Sky you better start pushing" Jerome said "fuck you Jerome!" I cried out "breathe, take a deep breath" Ozzy said and I obliged "Sky, you need to push on three" Ozzy said trying to keep me calm "I can't!" I cried again "yes you can, on three, push as hard as you can" I shook my head but I know I can't delay this any further otherwise I'll be putting my babies at risk "one, two, three push!" I mustered as much energy that I had and pushed as hard as I could letting out a blood curdling scream as I felt the baby ripping it's way out, my scream caught Jerome's attention and he instantly rushed to my side and grabbed my hand "keep pushing, you're almost there!" Jerome said squeezing my hand "we're past the shoulders one more big push!" Oswald said growing excited, with the last of the energy I had I pushed as hard as I could, screaming and crying loudly, until I heard it, I heard my baby boy, and suddenly the pain became worth it, he had snow white hair like me and pale green eyes like Jeremiah, he screamed and cried and Oswald wrapped him up in a blanket and placed him on a makeshift bed of blankets, as I was distracted looking at my son another rush of pain shot through me, making me remember that I still have one more to go that wants to come into the world, I took a deep breath and began pushing, after the same reactions and just as much pain I saw Oswald lift him up and wrap him up, but something clicked, he's not crying, I jolted up "he's not crying, why isn't he crying!?" I said and Jerome's head snapped up too, him realizing the same thing, he let go of my hand and rushed over to my son pushing Oswald out of the way to tend to my other baby, he placed him on the ground and began CPR, cursing and mumbling under his breath as he tried to get his little heart started "come on little guy, come on" "please buddy" he choked out, tears fell from my eyes as I watched the scene in horror, I can't lose one of my babies, I rushed over to my little baby and pressed my mouth to his little one while Jerome worked his chest, and suddenly, by some miracle I heard it, I heard my little baby cry, flailing his arms around I lifted him and held him close to my chest, I looked over and saw Jerome with a tear streaked face, I looked up and saw Oswald too had been crying, I looked down at my miracle baby, he had red hair like Jerome's and white eyes like me, Oswald placed my baby in my other arm and I stared at them both in awe, I just sat there staring at them holding them close, neither Jerome nor Oswald attempted to take either of the babies, they knew that I just needed to hold them.