Author: Sandra (Blissdementia on VX; Insanekittie19 on FF)
Title: Only the Beginning
Rating: R for a few curse words here and there; MA for sexual encounters that will eventually take place! All MA chapters are labeled with a warning.
Fandom: Riddick
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from the movie…sadly! I don't make any money from using them. But any other characters you do not recognize, I own!
Summary: A sequel to A Fresh Start. What happens when Riddick and Jack become first time parents? Will their peaceful lives stay the same or will it turn their whole world upside down?
Archive: Only on VX and FF
Pairing: Riddick/Jack
Feedback: Yes please, but only nice feedback!
Author's Note: In my world The Chronicles of Riddick never happened.
Author's Note:This is an add-on to a previous fic called A Fresh Start, but is designed to be read independently. I enjoy getting feedback on all of my previous fics, so feel free to read and leave feedback if you haven't already. Thank you and enjoy!

Many thanks to my wonderful beta, Evilgrin. Without her I'm not sure what I would do. Any mistakes in the posted chapters are mine.

Chapter 1:

After what felt like a full night's sleep, Jack opened her eyes and to her surprise the clock on the hospital room wall had only moved an hour ahead. Looking over to her right she took in the wonderful sight before her: Riddick sitting in a chair holding their newborn son.

"Is he sleeping?" she asked quietly, not wanting to ruin the picture perfect moment that she saw before her.

Riddick looked up and grinned. "After you managed to feed and burp him he went right off to sleep," he said, walking towards the bed Jack was laying in. "Want to hold him?"

Remembering the pain and discomfort she felt before she went to sleep, Jack did her best to move slowly and carefully into a sitting position. Once she was situated in a comfortable spot she raised her arms up to take the baby from his daddy.

"So do you think the name we picked out fits him?" she asked while running her fingers over his little nose; they hadn't taken into account the possibility of their child having shined eyes.

Riddick moved the chair he had been in closer to Jack's bed and thought back to the night they had finally chosen a name.

At almost eight months pregnant Jack was starting to become more and more eager to have everything ready for when the baby came. It was no surprise to Riddick when Jack called him while he was on his ship heading back to Urizane.

"We really need to start picking out names," she told him before taking a bite from her boiled cabbage soup. "The baby might come early and we won't have anything to call it besides, 'baby boy' or 'baby girl'." Early in the pregnancy they both agreed not to find out what they were having. After all, them getting together as a couple and Jack getting pregnant were surprises, so the gender of the baby might as well be a surprise too.

Riddick chuckled as he showed her the baby book he had picked up for them on the last planet he had been to. "Didn't I promise you we would choose a name when I got home?" he asked and set the book back down onto the console.

Jack's smile became bigger as she nodded. "You bought us a baby name book, Riddick?" she asked, very touched and happy that he would do something like that for her. "And you did promise me, but I thought that with loading the truck and the ship alone and being gone for almost two whole weeks you might have forgot."

"I'd never forget something that would make you happy, Jack!" he told her and then promised to be home within four hours.

That night as they relaxed in bed Jack randomly turned to a page in the book. "What about the name Valentine for a boy?" she asked after pulling a grape sucker from her mouth.

Riddick was lying beside her as she sat up against the headboard. He ran his hand over her large belly before giving her a serious look. "There's no way in hell I'm letting our kid be named after a holiday!" he went back to rubbing her stomach before he added in, "Try another page."

"I was only kidding about that name," she giggled and put her hand over his when he came to the spot where the baby was kicking. "What about Richard? It means brave power."

Feeling his child move inside of Jack made his face light up like all the times before. "As much as I wouldn't mind having a son named after me, I can't let him go through life having people ask him if he's related to a famous murderer."

Before she could turn to another page Riddick gently snatched the book out of her hands. "Hey, I was looking at that," she giggled and stuck her tongue out at him.

Riddick pointed his finger at her. "Don't be teaching our child any bad habits," he told her, mocking what she had told him when he had swore while near her belly.

"You're going to teach it how to swear like a sailor and walk through the house with muddy boots on," she reminded him as she moved to lay down. "So why can't I teach it to stick its tongue out at you?"

He shook his head and smirked at her, "Not even going to answer that." Turning to a random page in the book like Jack had, Riddick's eyes scanned the page. "Kayden, it means companion," he stated and handed the book back.

Jack thought about that for a moment. "Hmm, Kayden Richard Riddick," she said and finally smiled at him. "I love it. So that settles a boy's name, now to move onto finding a girl's name."

Riddick sighed. "But remember he will have to go by Kayden Richards if someone asks," he reminded her. He knew he could call on the acquaintance that had made him a new birth certificate to make one with Kayden Richard Riddick on it in the future if Jack wanted it done. "Making decisions about a baby is harder than they make it look in movies," he grumbled and covered his face with a pillow.

Riddick looked at Jack and nodded. "I think Kayden is the perfect name for him," he said as he leaned over to kiss her head. "How are you feeling?" he asked, noticing that she didn't look as pale as she had after having the baby.

"I'm feeling alright, that nap helped a lot," she said while looking down at Kayden. "Did you have to change his diaper yet?" she asked, finally looking up at Riddick.

Grinning, he shook his head, "Nope, but the nurse did say we should check it once he wakes up." Riddick sat back in his chair, running a hand over his unshaven scalp. "She mentioned something about if you don't change him often enough he might soak through the diaper, his clothes and onto either us or the blanket."

At that statement, Jack frowned. "Do you think the diapers we got at home are going to be big enough for him?" she asked. The doctor had told them that he was going to be a big baby, but she still didn't know if the size diapers they bought would be small on him.

He shrugged. "Didn't the weight on them say it was from like eight to fourteen pounds?" he questioned as he tried to remember what size the diapers were. They had purchased a lot of gender neutral items since they didn't know what they were having.

Jack looked back to Kayden as he moved a little in her arms. "I think so. Maybe we can ask the nurse," she suggested, knowing the doctor and nurse said they would try to answer any questions they had before and after leaving the hospital.

After a few moments of the room being silent, Riddick finally spoke. "What do you think about his eyes?" he asked as he watched Jack continue to look at the baby in her arms.

With a sigh, Jack looked over at him. "I don't know if we can find goggles small enough to fit him," she stated.

"From what I noticed I don't think we will have to," he stood up and walked over to the bed. Sitting down on the edge, he faced Jack. "He had his eyes open before in the delivery room and this room. The light didn't seem to bother him," he said with a small shrug.

Jack glanced back at Riddick. "How can that be though? I mean, I still don't understand how a baby can be born with shined eyes simply because his parent does, let alone him being able to see with them in the light."

Riddick didn't have a solid answer for her; he had never heard of it happening before. "The only thing I can think of is because," he looked over his shoulder towards the door and lowered his voice. "Is because I didn't have my eyes shined by a real doctor like the miners do," he told her and watched as Jack thought about his words.

Just then there was a quiet knock on the door. "Come in," Jack said loud enough for whoever it was to hear.

Dr. Weeks came in with a smile on her face. "Glad to see you awake, Jack. How are you feeling?" she asked as she walked to the side of Jack's bed.

Jack nodded and smiled back. "Besides feeling a little sore I actually feel pretty good," she said. "We were just talking about Kayden's eyes," Jack mentioned and looked at the doctor.

The doctor leaned her back against the wall. "That is one reason I came in here. I'll be the first to admit that your son being born with shined eyes is the first case like this that I have come across. And trust me, I have delivered lots of babies whose fathers are miners."

It was Riddick's turn to look at Dr. Weeks. "I'm sure other doctors have delivered babies with eyes like my son's," he said hoping he could convince the doctor to not make a big deal of the situation.

"I have actually called several different doctors that I know on other planets. They all deal with lots of miners and their families; none of them have had this experience," she told them.

Riddick put a hand on Jack's leg that was covered by a blanket. "If that's the case, I don't want my son's name and picture to be in some medical book somewhere," he stated in as nice of a tone as he could muster up.

Jack's eyes moved to look at Riddick's goggles; she could tell that he was making eye contact with her. "We don't really want to make a big deal out of this, Doc. Our main concern is if his eyesight is affected," she said and motioned towards Riddick. "His dad can see in the dark, but has to wear goggles during the day or when he's in a lighted environment."

Nodding again, the doctor smiled. "I'm sure you are wondering if he will be able to see at night since he seems to be fine with lights. Am I right?" she asked.

Before Jack could speak, Riddick did, "Yeah. And is there any way to tell if being able to see in the light with shined eyes will affect his overall vision later in life?"

Jack smiled at Riddick and placed her hand over his.

"When Kayden wakes up, I would like to do a little experiment with him," she said and saw the concerned look on Riddick's face. "When I say experiment, I mean I would like to make this room as dark as we can get it and see if he will move his eyes to look at an object," the doctor told them.

Jack looked a little confused. "I know I'm a first time mom and I'm not a doctor, but I read lots of books and stuff about babies. All of the books said that new born babies can't track things, like a toy, with their eyes until they are around three months. How will we know if he can actually see the object that you have?" she asked as she adjusted Kayden in her arms.

Riddick grinned; he loved Jack for so many reasons; one of those reasons was her way of not being afraid to ask questions.

Continuing to smile, Dr. Weeks responded to Jack's question, "We have an excellent optometrist who works here at the hospital and he specializes in children." She paused and looked at Riddick. "I was also wondering if I could run some lab work on your DNA to see if there is some gene that you carry that will make any of your future children have shined eyes as well."

Glancing at Jack and then back to the doctor, Riddick spoke. "Let me think about it and I'll let you know," he said before looking at the baby as he started to whimper.

Excusing herself, Dr. Weeks left the room. Jack took that chance to shake her head at Riddick. "You can't give them your DNA," she carefully moved Kayden to her shoulder and rubbed his back. "If your DNA gets out and someone smart gets a hold of it, there's a huge chance everyone will connect your name with the DNA and they will know you are still alive," she whispered, suddenly just wanting to take her family home.

Riddick nodded. "Only way I would give them my blood is if it dealt with keeping our son alive," he told her as he moved across the room to get a new diaper in case the baby needed it.

Sighing, Jack nodded. "If we do have more kids, I don't care if they have shined eyes like you. I just want to make sure that his eyes are healthy," she said as she laid the quiet baby down onto the bed.

"I know, that's all that I want too." When he came back with the fresh diaper and wipes he kissed Jack's head before sitting in the chair. Leaning over the bed he talked quietly to his son and placed small kisses on his bald head.

Jack smiled and unsnapped his white onesie. "You remember how the nurse showed us to change him?" she questioned as she opened the fresh diaper to get it ready.

Riddick shook his head, "I wasn't paying attention when she was showing us. I was too worried about why he was crying like that."

Giggling, Jack looked down at Kayden. "I have a feeling your daddy is going to be more protective of you then he has ever been of me," she winked at Riddick since she was only teasing him.

Watching Jack change the diaper made Riddick think. "Since I'm the protective one, you are always going to be the one that changes the smelly ones," he said with a smirk and gestured towards the diaper.

Sorry it took so long to post this first chapter, but real life kicked my butt for the longest time. Hopefully now I'm back on track and can post a chapter a week. As always I'm addicted to feedback.