Chapter 15

It was close to dawn. The hardest part of the evening was finally out of the way. Nurses helped get Seras cleaned up while maids changed the bedding. Alucard stood watch over baby Mariah. He looked down into the crib at the cooing baby. With sunrise coming, she was getting sleepy. He sat down on the bed beside the crib and placed his hand against his daughter's cheek. Instinctively she wrapped her tiny fingers around one of his long, slender ones. He watched as she kicked her tiny legs and feet up in the air. His eyes gazed with absolute wonderment at this little being he and Seras had created.

"Our daughter..." he said to himself.

"Master Alucard, Miss Victoria is ready now." One nurse said politely.

Alucard turned from Mariah and went to get Seras. The other nurses did their best to help her stand as she got changed into a clean gown. Alucard approached and took Seras into his arms. Dismissing the nurses, he carried Seras back to bed and gently lay her down upon it. He could see in her expression she was exhausted. He sat down beside her after covering her up.

"Seras," he said.

"Alucard, I'm so tired. I can't hardly keep my eyes open." She replied wearily.

"Rest. You've done enough now. Sleep my Seras. And when you awake, Mariah and I will be waiting for you." Alucard said.

"Mariah, is she all right?" Seras asked.

"She's falling into slumber. Now get some rest. I can imagine she's going to be ravenous when night falls." Alucard answered.

"And Sir Integra?"

"She and her son are both doing well."

"When will she need me?"

"Shhhhh. You can worry about that later. You've been through a very rough night, and your body needs sleep. Rest now and regain your strength."

With that Seras closed her eyes and let herself fall into the daytime trance. Alucard gazed upon her as her eyes closed. He placed a gentle kiss upon her lips and got up from the bed. He walked over to the bassinette where their daughter now slept. He carefully picked it up and carried it over to the bed. He placed it gently next to Seras and then drew the curtains around the bed. All light flickered and died, and the room was completely dark. The door was closed with a sign explicitly instructing that the new parents not be disturbed.

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As morning came, Kenneth stood watching Henry in the nursery wing of the infermery. A nurse came in and removed him from the special enclosure he'd spent the rest of the night in. She and the doctor tested the child's reflexes and alertness. Kenneth observed anxiously wanting to make sure nothing was wrong with his son. Getting a positive responce, the nurse wrapped Henry in a blanket after putting him in his little sleeper walked toward Kenneth.

"We're going to take Henry to Sir Integra now for his first feeding." She said.

Kenneth accompanied the nurse to Integra's recovery room. She was a bit groggy but awake. She looked to see the nurse coming toward her. "Henry, is he all right?" She asked.

"He is just fine Sir Hellsing. I will instruct you upon how to hold him while you're nursing him."

"Very well." Integra said and opened her gown.

"Um, perhaps I should go outside." Kenneth said.

"There's no need for you to go outside. I'm not going to be completely naked. And besides it's not like you haven't seen my breasts before." Integra replied as she unbuttoned her gown. The nurse gave Henry to his mother and helped her position him for his first feeding. The infant greedily latched onto one nipple and began suckling.

"He seems to be quite hungry." Kenneth observed.

"Yes it would appear so." Integra said.

"Has there been any word on how Seras is doing?" Kenneth asked.

"Alucard informed me their daughter came through the birth well. I didn't ask what they've named her yet. Seras is very weak, but he said she will be all right. I would assume the three of them are sleeping since it's morning. Most likely they will remain in those quarters for a little while until the nursery is finished. There are a few touches left to be made to it." Integra answered.

"He has your eyes." Kenneth said looking down at Henry's face.

Integra said nothing. She looked down at the infant contently nursing. "Henry Wingates Ascott Hellsing." She said. "You're going to have a long road ahead of you."

"Right now he's just an infant." Kenneth replied.

"He is the next generation of the Hellsing family." Integra said firmly. "And he will be Alucard's new master when he grows up. And when that time comes he must be strong and have no fear. If he is to master Alucard as I have, he must know to give respect and command it as well."

"Yes, when the time comes. At the moment there is no need for him to worry about such things." Kenneth responded.

"I...suppose you're right." Integra sighed.

A few moments passed and Henry had taken his fill. She put the infant carefully across her shoulder and patted his back until he burped. She rested him back against her bosom once he was done. She watched as he squirmed impatiently in his blanket wriggling his arms about.

"You are going to be a handsome chap when you're all grown up." Kenneth commented looking down on his son.

"Why don't you take him for a while? I'm feeling very groggy. I need to rest." Integra said.

"Of course." Kenneth replied as he took Henry. "I think he's starting to feel a bit tired himself. He probably needs a good nap." Kenneth observed.

"Perhaps the three of us could use a rest. The doctor and nurses will watch over Henry for the time being." Integra said.

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Soon after the sun went down, the three vampires of Hellsing began to awaken. The loud cries of their daughter Mariah woke Alucard from his slumber. He looked down into the crib seeing the baby utterly screaming in protest of her hunger. He reached over nudging Seras to wake her. She groggily opened her eyes hearing her daughter demanding to be fed. At that moment there came a knock at the door.

"It's Megan. I've come to show Seras how to feed Mariah."

There was a click as the lock was undone and the door slowly opened. Megan walked in as the room was bathed in the glow of soft light bulbs. The drapes around the bed suddenly drew back as of their own accord. She walked toward Seras and Alucard.

"She must be very hungry after such a long nap." She said.

"Yes. She is very hungry." Seras replied looking down at her daughter.

"Alucard, take Mariah out of her bed, and hold her while I help Seras get ready." She instructed.

"Seras, you'll need to pull your gown from your chest so you can feed her."

Seras pulled her gown from her shoulders and down enough to expose one breast. She noticed a mix of clear, bloody fluid beginning to seep from the nipple. Alucard gave Mariah to Seras who nestled her against her breast. She guided her nipple into Mariah's mouth. The infant immediately clamped down on the bud and started sucking greedily. Seras gazed lovingly upon her child.

"She's so beautiful." She said softly.

"Of course she is. She is our daughter." Alucard replied.

"It's so hard to believe she's here, and she's ours." Seras said looking over at Alucard.

"I would never have imagined that after five hundred years another generation of my line would be in this world. Before she came along, I was the last of my family."

"You both have been given a very precious gift." Megan said. "I'll leave the two of you to bond with your daughter now."

Alucard watched Seras holding Mariah as the infant contined to nurse. "Seras, there is something I want to ask you." He said.

"What is it, Alucard?" Seras asked.

"When I turned you, in a sense that is the night we married. And while I do not regret turning you, I do regret that it didn't happen the way I'd hoped." Alucard answered. "Do you remember how we talked about this the night of Integra's engagement?"

"Yes. You told me about how you wish we could have had a wedding ceremony before you turned me." Seras answered.

"Well, I know I've long since turned you. But I still wish that we could have had the wedding." Alucard replied.

"Alucard, are you...asking me to marry you?" Seras asked.

"I suppose I am. I know it may sound foolish..."

"No, it doesn't sound foolish to me. Deep down, I wish my turning could have gone differently too. I guess every girl dreams of having a wedding." Seras replied.

"Let's do it then. Once you're feeling up to it that is." Alucard said.

"The only thing is, how would we go about having a ceremony. I don't think a conventional wedding will work for us." Seras stated.

"I don't plan on it being a conventional wedding ceremony." Alucard replied.

"What exactly are we planning on then?" Seras asked.

"Given the circumstances, it should be something private with only those closest to us in attendance." Alucard answered.

"That is understandable, but who would preside the service? Somehow I can't see you standing before a priest." Seras said.

"No, but I think there is someone else who could do it for us." Alucard replied.

"And that would be?"

"Megan Le Fay. She was there with us when our daughter was born. Why shouldn't she be the one to hold the ceremony. She is an unconventional person after all, and we are most certainly an unconventional couple."

"Could she do that sort of thing for us?"

"Why don't we ask her tomorrow night? I'm sure she'd be more than happy to do it for us."

Seras looked down at Mariah who had just finished feeding. She carefully removed her nipple from the infant's mouth and pulled the top of her gown back up. Then she placed her daughter over her shoulder and patted her back gently. After a moment a small burp was emitted from the child.

"I guess even baby vampires have to be burped." She mused softly.

Both she and Alucard gazed at baby Mariah. She contently cooed now that her hunger had been satisfied. Alucard reached out and stroked her soft hair. She extended one of her arms wrapping her tiny fingers around one of his much larger ones.

"She has a firm grip for such small hands." He said with a soft chuckle.

As he spoke, Mariah yawned widely. "I think she's sleepy." Seras replied.

"Well, seeing as she is only an infant there's not much she'd want to do after feeding. For now she will most likely want to sleep. As she grows she'll most likely settle into the normal routine of sleeping during the day and being awake at night. Of course, until then our sleep routine is going to be a bit upheaved. There may be times when one of us will have to be awake during the day until she learns to sleep when we do." Alucard said.

"Well, nobody said parenting was going to be easy. I can just imagine how many sleepless nights Sir Integra is going to have now that she is a mother as well." Seras added.

"Yes. While she's used to late nights, she can be very disagreeable if she's deprived of what little sleep she does get. I don't know who's going to be losing more of it, her or Kenneth." Alucard pondered.

"Speaking of sleep, I think I need to rest a little myself. I have a feeling Mariah's not going to be out of it for very long. The night is still young you know." Seras replied.

"It would be a good idea for you to feed first. You need to keep yourself nurished for Mariah's next feeding. I'll get you a few rations." Alucard said.

"All right." Seras agreed.

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Kenneth stood beside Henry's crib. He took a deep breath letting out a sigh of relief now that his son had finally quieted down for the moment. He'd made several unsucessful attempts to leave his son sleeping. Usually he'd wait til his father was right at the door and begin screaming once again. Of course since Integra was recovering from a c-section, Kenneth was the one who went to check upon his son. He moved as slowly and quietly as humanly possible. It seemed to take ages for him to make it a few feet from the crib to the door and even longer for him to open it. Finally he made it out of the nursery and carefully closed the door.

Kenneth walked back to Integra's room and sat down in a chair beside her bed. "Is he asleep?" She asked.

"Yes, finally. I thought it was mission impossible to get out of the room without waking him up again." Kenneth said with a sigh.

"Get used to it. Sleepless nights are a routine thing in Hellsing. Now that we have a son those nights are going to get even more restless than before." Integra stated plainly.

"I was afraid you'd say that."

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