I have traveled through madness to find me

It had hardly taken long for Tobias to settle within that hospital room. Not once that television and those games had been presented to him. Tobias, after all, was distinctly used to being awake at such times. The lanky young man so rarely given to any normal sleep pattern and as such he hardly felt the tiredness that seemed to weigh upon others. That tablet filled with games and too- an endless supply of snacks seemed to satisfy the deviant thoroughly as he remained nestled in the chair beside Raven's bed. Tobias havin dragged it diligently from across the far side of the room to be next to his wife exactly. Even despite his near fixation on those games the young man simply....refused to be terribly far from Raven's side. Those protective instincts were decidedly potent tonight. In every way. Each and every nurse that approached, no manner the reason, was watched with those fathomless dark eyes that refused to blink. He could sense their discomfort, even as they pretend to remain unconcerned by him. A part of the deviant was nothing short of satisfied with making their nervousness turn within them and yet he so hardly moved from that chair or his mates' side. Tobias so simply a watchful guardian- for now. One driven near potently by those animalistic instincts that saw him linger close. He had seen the birth of a child before. The near dramatic birth of Nadya's twins had been...distressing for the young man in every sense. He had not forgotten that night even if it lingered only in tattered fragments within the expanse of his mind. Tonight was far....calmer. He liked that. Even if he did not like waiting. No. No. Waiting was a wholly difficult concept for his mind. That baby, Raven insisted, was coming. Tobias inclined to believe her even if that notion of contractions was lost upon him. Each and every cry of pain from his companion readily prompted his gaze towards her- that concern clear within his features as he nearly struggled to comprehend why Raven hurt when she looked well, when nothing existed to his eyes that would cause her that pain. Tobias, despite his games, remained distinctly....on edge for much of that night.

Raven's sudden inclination to walk prompted a near curious head tilt from the shaggy-haired man and yet how he loathed to let her from his sight even if he did not truly understand why. Tobias rose from his chair to take his mates hand, the pair wandering out and into that garden. Tobias content to eye this very thing near curiously and yet Raven, he was certain, so often did curious things. The deviant content to simply accompany her even if he hardly understood the meaning behind them. After all, there were a great deal of things Tobias so hardly understood in life. The boy was given to merely mimic those around him in an effort to be as they were, to take part in life as they did. Raven's request to walk was one he understood. A task he could fulfil. Tobias seemingly content with that very thing as they strolled beneath that full moon. That desire to shift near tugged at his veins and yet- for the first time- the WereLeopard made no effort to do so. Those instincts to remain in his human form were....stronger. Far stronger. At least for tonight. Raven's sudden cry of pain prompted Tobias' gaze to shift sharply toward his wife as she clutched at her stomach. The man once more inclined to search for some sort of visible threat before that nurse who followed behind them came forward. Her sudden appearance and the way in which she reached for Raven prompting a near violent snarl from Tobias' throat- one that sent the nurse hastily stepping backward.

The nurses insistence that they needed to go back to their room was met with a veritable glare from the lanky leopard- his features softening only at Raven's assurance that the baby was coming now. Tobias' head titled ever so slightly once more, his mind so clearly contemplating this information. The baby was....very slow in coming. Yes. Very slow. They had waited and waited for this baby. Why it did not hurry he hardly knew. His head, at last, readily nodded, the nurse wisely choosing to lead them back rather than attempt to reach for Raven once more. The appearance of the Doctor Tobias had met before within the doorway seemed to...relax his mate. Ravens clear acceptance of the woman, for now, prompting the Leopard to accept her presence as well as Raven hurried into the room. That near flood of nurses was....displeasing, the sudden influx of activity equally overwhelming as Tobias stepped to the side, his gaze watchful of his wife all the same. He understood to some degree that they were....helping. Raven's clear acceptance of them seeming to sooth his metaphorical heckles. She wanted the people they were not....harming her.The doctors request that he not harm anyone in that room was met with a near wary nod as Tobias moved to ravens side once more, that position having been his own for much of the night.

Raven reached near suddenly for his hand then, the sudden feel of her grasping it drew his fractured thoughts away from that flurry of activity and onto his mate alone, before another traction prompted her to grip his hand sharply. How very...confusing his mind found this! That pain seemed to come from...within Raven herself, those nurses and the doctor hurried about in a flurry. One that prompted Tobias to desire to force them all to stop, a part of him near fed on that chaos while another part was loath to have it distress his wife in those moments and yet too- another part within the deviant was near....fascinated by watching them work. That conflict of emotions turned like a silent tirade behind his eyes as Raven began to deliver their child. Just what Tobias understood of that process so remained to be seen. He had seen a child born before, that, perhaps, taking away at least some of that confusion. He understood just what was happening to some level- even if this birth involved far more people then the last. Raven's grip on his hand was firm, grounding, even if those tears within her eyes near confused him. Tobias was unable to understand that she was hardly sad so much as she was in pain. Those differing emotions a complexity he simply could not comprehend. The deviant instead content to all but glare at the nearest nurse in belief that she was making Raven cry. It was the sudden sound of the baby's wail, however, that seemed to prompt Tobias' head to jerk suddenly toward it. The sight of his newborn son seeming to readily fascinate the young man. A look of clear...awe seeming to find him then. One that prompted a shift of sorts within those protective instincts. Tobias so hardly left his mates' side and yet those very instincts seemed to...expand, dramatically and potently, to encompass that child near instantly. Tobias' gaze watching that baby with a sharp intensity as if near daring but a single one of those beings to distress it.

Raven's hand released his own as the nurse returned with their child, the young woman reaching to take the baby and hold it to her as his crying lessened. Their son seemed to settle in his Mother's arms. That baby, as Raven had promised, was so finally here. The nurses and doctors had slipped quietly from that room. Raven and Tobias left alone with their newborn as Raven smiled up towards him- that grin on her face so distinctly.....peaceful. Tobias' own fingers extended, his touch near ....hesitant as if he feared...harming that child in some way before, ever so gently, allowing his fingers to brush along the child's cheek. That baby skin was so soft. That feel one he had not felt in the longest time. Tobias near fascinated with that discovery as he withdrew his hand. The boy seemed to...debate within his own mind before his gaze shifted to Raven once more.

"Can I.....hold...him?"

That near curious request to hold the child was uttered with no small amount of uncertainty. Nadya, after all, had constantly forbidden him from near any interaction with her children. Tobias was hesitant to prompt any distress in Raven and yet that desire to hold his son was distinctly clear. His lanky figure shifted slightly to seat himself within his chair beside her once more, Tobias pausing only to reach into his pocket and fish that mobile phone from within. His finger tapped lightly at the screen, Tobias content to choose several emoticons before sending them to Tetradore, the boy so doing his best to explain that trip to the hospital and the subsequent arrival of that baby to his beloved companion before his dark gaze shifted to Raven once more- his hands held out expectantly and near cautiously all the same for fear Raven might deny him that chance to hold his child.

"I will....be....careful."

Tobias

A sweet moment of

Clarity