Angel in the Snow

Chapter Eight

What?!

Laughter seemed to echo within the room. The lights dimmed for a few seconds as the snickering ensued. All six of the guardians looked around, they knew it was Pitch but they couldn't see him. Bunnymund held Jack tight and the boy gripped his staff for dear life. Sandy summoned his golden sand whips and North drew his swords. Tooth fluttered in the air and scanned the room constantly. None of them knew what Pitch was up to again but they all knew they wouldn't let him get away with it.

The phantom's voice echoed again. Declaring the child would be his and he would make sure it was evil as well. Possibly being the keeper of lies and deceit. Jack shot a glare at the walls in rage and shouted in protest. Bunnymund only held on to his lover even tighter. Sandy carefully examined the walls but could not spot Pitch's dreadful shadow on any of them, not even on the floor or ceiling. The Tooth Fairy beckoned for the Nightmare King to come out of the shadows and fight like a man. North gritted his teeth and clenched his blades with more power.

As soon as the laughter started, it stopped. The lights went back to normal and the room was quiet again. Jack wrapped his arms around his stomach as if to protect his unborn child. Bunny laid his head on the boy's shoulder and whispered calming words to him. Toothiana put a gentle hand on the winter spirit's other shoulder and looked at him with concern. Sandy patted Jack's knee and North looked on with worry. None of them wanted anything bad to come of the child.

"It'll be alright mate…" Bunny whispered. "I won't let 'im get to our kid…"

Jack shrugged everyone off of him and curled up into a protective ball. Bunny quietly asked the others to leave so they could be alone. The couple sat on the bed in silence, thinking of how to protect their child.

Two Months Later

It had been two months since Jack learned he was pregnant and since Pitch showed up at the Pole. He was once again back at Bunny's Warren as the warm climate was beneficial to the child's development. Jack's stomach was getting bigger now and he had to take it a lot easier. He still made an ice patch to skate around on but not as fast as usual, though he still managed to look graceful despite his girth. Bunny was watching his snow angel from the grass and enjoying the relaxing day they were able to have. Their day wouldn't be relaxing for long as Jack slid off the ice and reminded Bunnymund they had to go have the baby checked on at North's. The older man groaned and opened a tunnel that led to the North Pole.

When they arrived North was patiently waiting for them in the globe room. He hugged the pair warmly and led them to the infirmary. Tooth and Sandy were already in the room and there was an ultrasound machine next to the bed Jack was too familiar with. The boy took his usual spot on the bed and pulled off his hoodie, letting his growing belly show. Tooth couldn't help but let an "awe" escape her mouth, followed by a red blush from Jack.

North put a blue-green gel on Jack's stomach and turned on the machine. "All right everyone," he cheered. "Today we find out the gender of the baby!" Everyone smiled as North put the device on Jack and ran it across his belly. He pointed out various body parts then pointed to the defining feature that let everyone know the gender of the child. Then North noticed something to the right of the baby and ran the scanner over the area. Jack's expression suddenly became one of worry.

"Is there something wrong with the baby?" Jack started to pant from worry.

The older man shook his head. "No actually…it is just…" North studied the ultrasound carefully to be sure he was right. "Twins…"

"Twins?" Bunny questioned.

North moved his head out of the way and showed everyone what he was talking about. He pointed to the first baby they all just looked at then scanned over the second one that was there. Sure enough Jack was pregnant with twins; luckily they were the same gender. The room was glowing with joy that they would be welcoming two bundles of joy into the world instead of one. Tooth asked if they had at least one name picked out. The pair looked at the fairy and shook their heads to say they have not picked a name yet.

After a while everyone eventually left and the couple returned to the Warren to rebuild the room they had for just one child. Granted Bunnymund had to do most of the physical work Jack was still trying to help. It didn't take them that long luckily, all they had to do was expand the walls a bit and get a few more things. They were able to finish by Friday considering they were taking their sweet time. The room was a pastel yellow with colorful eggs lining the bottom line of the walls; both of the cribs were a mahogany and one had pastel orange sheets while the other had mint green.

Once the room was finished Jack and Bunnymund spent the next week on how to care for twins. Even though they were both guardians of childhood babies were a completely different territory for them. They asked Tooth for some advice since she had the memories of children threw baby teeth. Unfortunately the multicolored fairy wasn't of much help since she couldn't see the memories herself. She said her apologies and went back to her duties. The couple then went to ask North what he knew and he wasn't much help either then they realized Sandy was probably the most help. Sandy brought dreams to everyone, including babies. He was likely to know the most.

Considering they didn't know where Sandy was half the time they spent quite a while just looking for him. Eventually Jack and Bunny spotted him somewhere in Sweden. Jack flew over to him and asked to join him on the ground with Bunnymund. The younger spirit let the older guardians do the talking while he caught his breath. By that point his stomach was pretty big and he had less energy. His back hurt more and he kept eating the strangest things. Just the other day Jack had eaten strawberry ice cream with carrots in it. He was pretty lucky though. Each time his back was in pain Bunnymund was there to rub it and make Jack all better. He also smiled warmly and looked at his protruding belly whenever he felt the twins kick. It kept Jack's spirits up in knowing it would all be worth it come Halloween.

Bunnymund and Sandy finished conversing after a while and Bunny filled Jack in on all the important stuff; turned out that Sandy knew just about everything for the caring of twins. Jack felt relieved with all the new information they got and figured he would be able to sleep soundly for a while knowing what he needed to know. Or so he thought. When Jack went to sleep that night it was anything but pleasant.

The teen awoke in his dream and it seemed to start out nicely, the twins were born and they were around the age of three in the dream. Jack and Bunnymund were playing with them in the Warren. They appeared to be playing a game of hide and seek and Jack was the seeker. He finished counting and looked around, the first person he found was Bunnymund hiding behind one of the large trees. The two guardians walked together to look for the twins. Jack and Bunny searched for several minutes and started to get worried about their kids. They tried calling out to them but didn't get a response from either child. Jack started to panic and search around every corner.

The winter spirit flew in the air and even checked the higher places; Jack thought the twins couldn't get up there but he never knew. Bunnymund ran around on the ground, pushing things out of the way and lifting things but had no luck. Jack landed on the ground, his eyes were bloodshot and his cheeks were tear-stained. He was utterly distraught that the kids went missing. Bunnymund tried comforting Jack and tried to reassure him they would find them but it seemed useless.

Bunny and Jack turned around when they heard a noise from the tree behind them. There was snickering coming from it and Jack's face started to lighten up when he recognized it as his children's laughter. He ran over to the tree and looked around but couldn't see anything. Then some leaves fell from in front of him. Jack looked up and the twins were sure enough in the tree. The young guardian reached up to try and get them down but the twins seemed to "seep" away from him. Almost as if they melted into the shadows. Jack was perplexed, he didn't know his kids had their powers yet, let alone powers like...Pitch.

Jack continued to hear the snickering of his children and tried to follow it. At the same time his dream started to transform. Bunnymund had faded out and the area twisted into a single floor with a crimson carpet that had a golden trim. The walls were pure black and somehow the hall had a natural light in it. Jack didn't pay much attention though; he only wanted his kids back in his arms. He ran flew down the hall as fast as he could, it seemed to have no end yet the teen felt he was close to the twins.

Another gust of wind blew into Jack and knocked him to the ground; his staff flew out of his hand and vanished into thin air. The winter spirit didn't have time to care and continued the chase except on foot now. After a while he did see a light at the end of the long hallway. It wasn't until he was several feet from the exit that he noticed the laughter stopped. How long had it stopped for? Did he even hear laughter? Jack stood in place and listened carefully. He started to hear the snickering again, right behind him. Jack turned around to find his twins walking out the exit and towards a shadowy figure, Pitch Black.

It looked as though the guardian of fun wasn't able to move from his spot and save his children from the phantom. Jack struggled against whatever was holding in place but it was to no avail. "Pitch don't you dare touch my children!" Jack screamed with furry in his eyes. The Nightmare King paid no attention to the struggling guardian and only smiled warmly at the toddlers as they made their way to him. Pitch scooped them up in his arms and the twins curled up to him.

"Seems like the children know who will be better at teaching them to use their abilities," the phantom teased. Jack's eyes were filled with pure terror. "Oh come now, you must have known. The children wouldn't be very useful guardians given their birthdate," he continued. "They were best suited as the keepers of lies and deceit, it was obvious," Pitch melted back into the shadows with the twins in his arms and Jack was expelled from the nightmare. The young guardian shot straight up and was panting. He looked around to make sure everything was normal. His stomach was still big and Bunnymund was still fast asleep. Jack lay back down and tried to sleep again, he would tell Bunny about the dream when they were both awake.

The following morning Jack woke up sometime around noon. He left the comfort of his bed and got himself dressed; since his stomach was larger North gave him a larger sweatshirt to wear for a while. The winter spirit walked out into the Warren and found Bunnymund by the paint river. Jack walked over to his love and greeted him with a kiss. The teen sat himself in the grass and put his head on Bunny's shoulder. They sat like that for a while before Jack sighed. Bunnymund asked what was up and Jack explained the nightmare he had in detail.

Within minutes the two were at the North Pole looking for North. Jack wasn't too happy with such a rational move but was in no position to argue. One of the yetis pointed to the small crafting room while they searched. Bunnymund burst through the door and surprised North; Jack waddled in behind him. The oldest guardian asked what was going on and Bunny had Jack explain.

"Jack you need to stay here for the rest of the pregnancy," North said flatly. The boy argued but North wasn't going to have any of it. Bunny tried to make it better and said he would stay as well; he didn't have much choice anyway.

North lead them to a spare room he had for whatever reason. There was a king-sized bed with a red and white comforter, white pillows, and random Christmas junk lying about. The room was kind of like a small apartment except it didn't have a kitchen, just a bedroom, small sitting room, and bathroom. Jack tried to settle himself in while Bunny was already lazing about on a couch in the sitting room. The younger guardian knew North's and Bunny's intentions were good but he thought they were going a bit too far by keeping him at the pole for a few months. Just so Pitch couldn't do anything to the twins when they were born.

Jack tried to look at the plus side of it all though. He could have more people taking care of him and spend more time with Bunny. The young guardian felt a blush creeping onto his cheeks. Before Bunny could notice it Jack crept the bedroom and hid behind the door, allowing time to recompose himself. He took a deep breath then opened the door to exit only to find Bunnymund blocking his way. The older guardian took Jack into his arms and carried him to the couch. Bunny sat on the couch and held Jack in his lap. The Easter spirit rubbed the boy's back until Jack started nodding off.

"Hey Kangaroo?" Jack whispered.