fredrick maybank.

Later that day Otto's mum came to visit, she was shocked at how quickly it all happened.

Otto had mumbled something about it being too fast.

Laura held the baby that still was without a name, the new parents hadn't properly spoken about names and they hadn't even thought about it since the baby was born.

JJ had so quickly gone from panicked and overwhelmed, out of his depth, then elation. He wanted to hold the baby all the time, but while Laura was there she held the baby most of the time. What annoyed him was the fact the baby seemed to prefer Otto more than him.

"To be fair he only knows me, you're just some weird stranger." She smirked at JJ after her mum left.

"One day he'll warm up to me, just you wait. I'll train him to hate you." He was currently holding the baby and just staring at it.

He couldn't really believe it was real, an actually baby. An actual baby he played a (very small) part in making.

JJ Maybank was a father.

When he looked back up at Otto as she hadn't made any comment back to him, she was passed out. Her breathing deep and steady, eyes closed. The nap was very well deserved, with the baby asleep on his chest he stared at Otto.

He watched her for a long time, the rise and fall of her chest, her long dark lashes resting against her cheek, the long since dried tracks of tears that shined a little in the light.

He still felt awful that he couldn't help her. There was absolutely nothing he could do, even though he wanted so badly to be able to help.

But all he felt when he looked at her was love. He loved both the baby and Otto more than he thought was possible.

He'd die for them both in a heartbeat. It wasn't even a question.

Otto slept for a few hours, and when she woke up she saw JJ staring at her.

"I love you." He said very seriously.

He knew she wasn't going to say it back, but he just needed her to know. He'd been wanting to say it to her for so long.

She looked away from him and shuffled her position, "I'm really fucking hungry."

"Take him, I'll go get you something. Any requests?"

"A burger, with chips. And a diet coke, but it has to b--"

"Super cold? I've got it."

JJ handed her the baby and went off on his mission.

He didn't care that Otto didn't say 'I love you' back to him, if she did he'd know it wasn't genuine and that would be worse. He didn't know if she'd ever love him, but it was clear she cared a lot about him, and that was enough for him.

Of course he wished their relationship was something more, he hated the thought that one day she'd move on and get a real boyfriend, and their weird friendship would end.

JJ slept better with Otto beside him, she was like his new drug.

Otto just made his life better.

When he came back with a greasy burger, heavily salted chips and an ice cold Diet coke a nurse was walking in at the same time. It was the same nurse that taught him how to hold a baby.

She held a bottle, "Have either if you fed a baby before?" She asked.

"I have. Considering be hadn't even held a baby I really doubt he has."

Otto sat watching JJ learn how to feed the baby, his face was so concentrated, he looked up from the baby to the nurse every few seconds. He asked if he was doing it right so many times.

They stayed in the hospital for one day, the next morning JJ was tasked with getting things both Otto and the baby would need.

A nurse with a pinched, almost rat-like face walked in. She'd walked in practically every ten minutes wanting to know the baby's name since the baby was born.

And every time they would say the didn't know.

Otto couldn't stand the judgemental looks on top of her being sleep deprived and in pain, so she thought of the first name that came to her head. Which probably wasn't the best way to name a baby. But then again nothing about the baby's life had been conventional.

"Do you gu--" the nurse began to speak, judgement clear in her tone.

"Freddie. Just go with Freddie." Otto pinched the bridge of her nose, the woman was going to give her a headache.

"So Fredrick Maybank." She began writing the name on the paper.

"No. I said Freddie, and it's Moreau not Maybank." Otto's tone was clipped.

The nurse raised her eyebrows and pursed her lips, scratching out the last line she wrote it again. "Freddie Moreau." She said bitterly, like it tasted bad.

"Yes, that is what I said."

And with that the nurse left, Otto could see her head shake. And she flipped her off, she wasn't in the mood for maturity.

When JJ got back Otto was eating a packet of crips while Freddie was fast asleep in the little plastic bed. She pulled a crisp put of the bag and extended it out to JJ, he took it.

She hated sharing food. But she was in the giving mood.

"You ready to go?" He asked, when she nodded he picked Freddie up and put him in the car seat, once again he fussed over the clip, he did it and un did it because if did feel right.

"It's fine. You did it correctly the first time, and the second time and the thirtieth time."

Otto was exhausted in every way possible.

And she hated hospitals with a passion, she'd spent so much time in them as a child, and it was tainted with bad memories. Of her father sick, his hair falling out, him throwing up or simply looking like he was on death's door.

She was excited to go back home, but nervous they were going to screw it up.

Otto was signing discharge papers for herself and JJ was given for for the baby. "This is the wrong one, it's for a Freddie."

"Oh, about that, the nurse came back. I was hungry, annoyed and everything hurts so just said the first name that came to mind. So, he is currently called Freddie."

JJ didn't really mind, the name wasn't awful and if Otto chose it he would go along with it. Unless it was something awful like Quinnagen.

Otto almost punched JJ in the head on the drive home, it'd be quicker to just crawl, or hop. "You can drive the limit, the limit is there because it is safe."

Hearing the tone of her voice he decided he should probably speed up a little, once they got home Otto got out the car and went to get the car seat out if the car.

"No. Don't do that."

"Why the fuck not? I am perfectly capable of carrying a baby, I carried the damn thing for a while."

"Exactly, it's my turn now. Gotta even it out, it's a little out of balance right now."

Otto raised her eyebrows but let him do it nonetheless. They walked through the house instead of going around the side so Laura could see Freddie again.

He was asleep but she just stared at the baby with adoring look on her face, "Did you guys talk about a name?"

"No, the nurse kept bugging Otto so she just decided Freddie in the spur of the moment." JJ wasn't angry or frustrated, he sounded amused. It took the pressure of figuring out a name that he would have to live with for the rest of his life.

Laura looked up at Otto with wide eyes, "You guys are really strange." She looked between the two.

Eventually Otto and JJ walked out the back door and toward the flat, once again Otto went to grab the car seat and JJ practically slapped her hand away. It wasn't really what she expected, she thought he'd be a little more apprehensive, watching from a far. But he seemed very confident in what he was doing.

Otto opened the door and let the pair in before letting herself in.

They hadn't even told the Pogue's what had happened, although the fact Otto was 38 weeks pregnant and they had gone radio silent for two days probably made it obvious.

Otto texted them anyway, it was brief and blunt.

I am no longer pregnant.

Then she decided that was a little ambiguous and may be taken the wrong way so after a few seconds she added another text.

I meant the baby is born, it sounded a little morbid like that.

Happy with that she sat the phone down.

Over the next two days Otto barely lifted a finger, sure she held Freddie a lot and fed him occasionally but anything beyond that she was banned from doing.

While Otto was in the shower and on day three of them all being home he called the group telling them they could come over - he'd asked Otto of course, he wasn't in the mood to be murdered.

They decided to come over to the flat in pairs rather than them all just showing up at once, it would probably be less stressful that way.

When Pope and Belly came over they were each allowed to hold the baby for a little while.

But as soon as it started to fuss Freddie was taken away by JJ.

The problem was that Freddie wasn't overly fond of JJ, and only seemed to calm down with Otto.

"Just give him here." She reached out.

Much to JJ's annoyance the baby calmed down very quickly. He wasn't doing anything different to what she did, Freddie probably could sense Otto.

They kept coming in pairs, Kie and Maria - back together again, - then Sarah and John B.

All the pairs asked when they chose the name, and every time JJ loved explaing Otto's spur of the moment decision. She rolled her eyes, everyone seemed to find it funny. Even he could admit how painfully annoying the nurse was, and when you added Otto, the mother to a baby all of 48 hours old she couldn't deal with annoying people. She didn't have the patience for that.

The probably should've thought of some names first. But hindsight is 20/20.

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