Just a year and a half after the birth of Lydia, the other couple in Skyhold found themselves with a baby of their own.

It had come as a complete surprise. One of Dawn's contacts in the Grey Wardens had written to her about an abandoned dwarf baby in the entrance to the Deep Roads, that they had just narrowly saved. It was a girl, most likely the product of a noble hunter casteless woman that had, unfortunately, inherited her mother's gender, and thus a lack of caste. Left in the Roads without a name or thing to her name, the warden saved her and was left baffled what to do with her, leaning towards taking her to an orphanage or the Chantry on the surface. Divine Victoria had opened the priesthood to all races, of course.

Once Sera and Dagna read the letter, however, their minds were made up. They were going to try motherhood, and Dawn wrote back to the warden. Just a few weeks later, the couple, only married for a year thus far, found themselves with a baby. Both fell in love with the child, and began to fawn over her as only mothers could. Soon a crib, made generously by Blackwall, had been set up in their room. After their wedding, they moved in together into a large room in the guest wing of Skyhold, just over the garden, moving out of their smaller quarters, though Sera still frequented her former room above the tavern.

Sera had taken to calling her little one Dolly. "She's cuter than the cutest doll in the world, but it fits." she decreed. Dagna merely giggled and took to the name as well. The baby had come, coincidentally, right as Sera and Dagna were trying for one of their own. Under normal circumstances, this would never be possible, but Dagna was insistent on using a strange mix of runes, potions, and some helpful magic from Dawn to make herself pregnant. No one save for Dagna had a clue how it worked, but Sera allowed it. Once the baby arrived, however, these attempts ceased. They had been unsuccessful thus far, and were going to focus the rest of their attention of their new baby.

It was a sunny day, as clouds moved just after a drizzle of morning rain. The plants in the garden below seemed to perk up and reach for the sun, glistening with drops of rain still slipping off their petals and leaves and stems. Dawn and Cullen had been trying for another baby, and this morning Dawn had found herself throwing up. They left little Lydia, who had just learned how to walk, with her aunts while Cullen took his wife to the healer to confirm their suspicions.

Lydia had cried and cried at first, crying after her mama and papa in shrieking dismay. Cullen stopped several times on the way out at the sound of his daughter's cries, looking torn. "Shh, mama and papa will be back soon, love." Sera reassured gently as Lydia hung onto her, wailing. Dagna bounced their own baby in her lap, trying to soothe her, as the baby began crying at the other child's cries. The two sat on their bed in the far corner of the room, near a window. A kitchenette sat near the front, and a little sitting area not far from it. Shelves full of Sera's knick-knacks and Dagna's notes and curiosities sat beside a large dresser. An oak crib with red cloth, the same shade red that was in one of Sera's most beloved dresses, was against the wall opposite their bed. The sheets were still waiting to be made; Dolly kicked a great deal in her sleep.

"Ma! Pa!" Lydia shrieked. Sera shushed her and stoked her curly locks gently.

"I know, love, I know. 'S all gonna be okay. Auntie Sera and Auntie Dagna are here. We're not the same, but we love you, too. Mum and dad will come back very soon, but you'll keep your aunts and your cousin Dolly company for now. Shhh..." she soothed, bouncing her. Lydia sniffled but began to calm down slowly, hiccuping little sobs. As she began to calm down, Dolly began to calm as well, drifting off to sleep in Dagna's arms.

"Dolly's nodding off," Dagna said with a relieved sigh, "thank goodness."

"I'll say." Sera snorted. "She's been crying at night all the friggin' time, and most of the time it's not even for your tits. We're lucky whenever we can get her to sleep." Sera said with a stifled yawn. That was one of the magic means Dagna used to help with the baby. Using a potion and a spell from Dawn, she had begun producing milk for little Dolly. Dagna yawned and nodded.

"It's all worth it, though. I'm gonna have the best little research assistant in the world." Dagna said cheerfully.

"And a Jenny, too." Sera looked down to Lydia, who was looking up at the elf quietly, finally having settled. Sera bounced her gently. "We've got two research assistants and two Jennies. Maybe three, if Dawnly's preggers again."

"How'd this happen? All of us having kids?" Dagna asked incredulously. "I bet one day Bull and Dorian will adopt a qunari baby, and...just kids everywhere."

"Ooh! That'd be grand! I'm gonna borrow Dawn's crystal-thingy and tell that to Dorian."

"When you can get it away from her." Dagna snorted. "When she's not talking to Dorian on it, he's talking to Lydia with it. Dorian just loves talking to his goddaughter, for sooo long."

Lydia began to squirm, kicking her legs, looking at the ground. Sera gently put her down and smiled at the little girl as she stood up steadily. "What do you wanna do, Lyd? We've got all sorts of goodies and things to do until your parents come back."

The little girl already knew her way around her aunt's room, and she fumbled for a shelf with paper and well-used crayons. The Inquisitor had gotten them a long time ago for Sera as a birthday present, but they had since been turned into playthings for Lydia, who liked doodling.

"Yeah, you can draw, little one." Sera agreed, pulling blank pieces of paper out of her journal and taking the crayons down. "Have at it. Just don't chew on them. They don't taste good."

"She's very smart. Smarter than that." Dagna pointed out. Sera sighed.

"I know. She only chewed on one once before she spat it out and never did it again, but just in case."

"'Just in case'?" Dagna teased. "You have calmed down. These kids are making you slow down."

"Shut it, you," Sera scolded, though she turned to grinned at her wife, "you'll make me sound old."

Lydia had begun to ignore both women and pulled short, well-loved crayons across the paper, doodling incoherent lines and shapes. Her sniffling and tears had finally completely ceased, interested now in her art.

The next half hour was relatively peaceful, and consisted of the couple chattering lowly, giggling and flirting, and checking on the distracted toddler before them. Dagna had passed Dolly to her wife, who slowly, quietly, rocked her, humming a lullaby to their child as Dagna ran a hand through their daughter's hair, a pretty red color.

Sera stiffened and groaned. "Dagna, take Dolly for a bit. I'm not feeling great."

Dagna frowned worriedly. "Is everything alright?" she asked, conflicted between reaching for her wife's forehead and taking the baby. Sera nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Widdle. I'm probably just tired. Dolly cried all night last night." she reassured, turning her gaze down to Lydia. "How's it going down there, Lydia? Having fun?"

"Ye." Lydia murmured, distracted. Sera was trying to crane her head over to see what it was, but the door opened, causing her to shift her gaze up. Lydia gasped and dropped what she was doing, rushing for the door. "Ma! Pa!"

Cullen and Dawn stepped in, looking thrilled at the sight of their little one. Cullen lifted his child up, who giggled and squealed as he hoisted her. "There she is! Our little girl! We missed you." he said brightly, holding her tight. Lydia giggled as Dawn pressed a kiss to her daughter's forehead.

"Were you good for your aunts?" she asked, smiling at her before turning her gaze to the other women. Dagna nodded.

"She was very good, as always; she spent most of the time drawing."

"Good! That's my girl." Dawn praised. Sera approached, eying Dawn up and down.

"Soo? Getting another little Rutherford?"

"Yes," Dawn confirmed with a smile, "I'm pregnant again. Hopefully this time will be less nauseating than the first."

Her husband sighed. "I hope. I'll do my best to keep you comfortable. I'll need to send out word to my family."

"And the others. Maker knows they're going to want to drop by for the next baby." Dawn added. She smiled at a glistening crystal tied around her neck. "We already told Dorian, and he's ecstatic. He disconnected for a moment to go tell Bull and Maevaris he's going to be an uncle twice over now." she said with a laugh.

Lydia wriggled, grunting. "Down!" she ordered plaintively. Cullen sighed and gently put his daughter down, who scurried back to the drawing she had on the ground. She picked up the paper and presented it to Dagna and Sera. Crude stick figures, one short and one tall, the tall with straw-colored strands on her head, the short with a round bun. Around it, various lines of different colored crayons zigged and zagged all over the paper.

Sera and Dagna stared at the drawing. Dagna gasped. "Is this for us?"

"Ye." Lydia confirmed. "Auntie Sera and Dagwa. Love you!" she blurted, beaming up at the two. Dagna gasped and held a hand to her chest, then wiped a tear from her eye.

"We love you, too, Lydia. It's perfect."

Sera looked torn between genuine, overwhelming joy, sniffling at the drawing, wanting to reach down and scoop Lydia into her arms, against a roil of nausea rocking through her. She opened her mouth, about to say she loved her, too, but closed it quickly, realizing, to her dismay, what she was about to do. She hurried back and threw the window behind her open and retched, ignoring surprised cries. She moaned and coughed miserably as Dagna patted her back.

"Come on, we need to get you to the healer." her wife said gently.

"Okay, Widdle..." Sera said dazedly. She moaned, turning to the other couple. "Dawnly, Cully? Can you look after Dolly while I go chuck my guts up at the clinic?"

"Of course we can." Dawn said, taking the dwarven baby from Dagna, bouncing her in her arms. "Cullen and I can handle this. Go see the healer; don't do what I did the first time around."

Sera snorted. "'Course not. I'm not stubborn as a mule like you."

As the wives headed down to the healer, Dolly began reaching after them, screaming out and crying for her mothers. Sera stopped in her tracks and looked down the hall, heart wrenching. She was about to suck up her nausea and turn back when Dagna stopped her, grasping her wrist.

"She'll be okay, Sera. If you've got a stomach bug or something seriously wrong, we need to find out to keep Dolly safe." Dagna reassured. In truth, she had a lingering suspicion it wasn't just a stomach bug, but something else. Something like a magical experiment not going quite as they expected.

Sera slowly nodded before she gagged and retched over the rail, groaning. "You're right," she said weakly, "it's not just for me. It's for her. She and you are...you're the best things that ever happened, ever." She looked up to the baby in her friend's arms, knowing she would be safe. "We'll be back, Dolly. Be good for Aunt Dawn and Uncle Cullen, love."

An hour had passed when Sera and Dagna returned for their baby. Both were beaming brightly, and Sera announced what the healer had to say as soon as she entered their room.

"I'm pregnant! PREGNANT! I'm gonna pop out a baby!" Sera squealed. "Dagna and I are having another baby!"

Dawn and Cullen looked up, both sitting on the bed, babies in their arms long since fallen asleep. Both smiled at the couple.

"That's wonderful," Dawn said brightly, though she sounded tired, "looks like that experiment Dagna was doing went backwards."

"Yeah, but it's still grand!" Sera squealed excitedly. "You and me, we're gonna be pregnant together. Now you'll have someone to chuck guts with. Because it sounds like we're gonna be chucking a lot of guts for awhile."

"And shoving something the size of a watermelon through a funnel, but it's worth it." Dawn laughed. Sera shuddered.

"Yeah, not looking forward to that part."

"But it's worth it, right?" Dagna pressed. Sera bobbed her head up and down, thrilled.

"Friggin' right! I like being a mum and a wife and a Jenny and an aunt. I'd do anything for that."

Dawn giggled. "Pregnant buddies?"

"Preggo buddies!" Sera agreed. Cullen looked to Dagna and sighed, though he was still grinning.

"Uh...supportive spouse..."

"Supportive spouse buddies!" Dagna agreed quickly. "We've got so much to do, Cullen! Like, wow. So many things to do. Sooo many."