Winter had rolled around and the pegasi were right on schedule to make it snow in the town of Ponyville where just about almost everyone was getting their Hearths Warming shopping done before the stores got too crowded and before the holiday was about to start. But for those who couldn't find any gifts to give to their friends or family, they had to go to a few shops to have their gifts made. Some of the gifts that were made would either be shipped to their buyers or the buyers would pick them up.
Hearth's Warming was one of the busiest holidays to go on a shopping spree. Even Carousel Boutique was one of the busiest shops in the whole entire town. But for the fashionista, Rarity, she couldn't do any work, mostly because she had other plans. But thanks to her husband, Spike, he was able to help fill in the orders and have some of them delivered or picked up at the boutique.
Spike and Rarity have been married for nearly 9 months and Rarity was expecting her baby to be born sometime around the holidays, but she didn't know when. Neither did Spike. But they kept their heads held high for the day their child was ready to appear before their very eyes. It was a difficult process during the earlier months when Rarity went through a few mood swings and picked these random fights with her husband for these ridiculous reasons, but the doctors said that it was normal for mares to experience mood swings when dealing with pregnancy.
Though his wife's mood swings were stressing him out, it never got in the way of how much he loved Rarity so much and still stuck by her up until now. Rarity only focused recently on preparing meals and coming up with these different designs of baby clothes for her unborn child. She and Spike chose to wait until the baby was born rather than know ahead of time beause they wanted to be surprised.
Rarity already had all sorts of ideas on what clothes to make. As of right now, she was in the kitchen, wearing this apron she made after marrying Spike. It was a purple apron that had bright blue diamonds in the middle shaping into a heart and her apron covered her long-sleeved white shirt. She also wore a long, black skirt that hung down past her knees and almost touched her ankles. She had a few gems ready for her husband, who was finishing up one of her customer's orders. She looked out the kitchen and saw Spike negotiating with what looked like Fancy Pants, her ex-boyfriend and smiled at them.
Spike handed Fancy Pants a dress that he ordered for his wife, Fleur. It was a Hearth's Warming gift that he thought would suit her well. It was a bright blue dress with the addition of a lovely matching summer hat that she could wear when the warm season would kick in. "I don't know how much I want to express my gratitude for the fine work you did, dear boy." Fancy said to Spike.
"I had a good teacher." Spike says, gesturing his pregnant wife in the kitchen. "Anyways, I hope you and Fleur have a great Hearth's Warming." Spike shook his hand right before Fancy gave him the bag full of bits and walked out the boutique. Fancy looked at his young friend and waved good-bye to him before closing the door, giving Spike the opportunity to walk up to the door and switch the sign from "open" to "closed." Spike loosened up his tie and took off his tuxedo jacket, putting it in the closet on the coat hanger.
"I take it that's the last customer, darling?" Rarity called out.
"Yup. That should do it for today. Business has really been booming for quite a while, but now it's time for us to close up shop and take a break." Right as he said that, the kettle started emitting a high-pitched whistle, signalling that the water was done boiling.
"Oh, Spike. Could you take the food to the table? I need to check on my red raspberry leaf tea."
"Of course, Rare-bear." Spike entered the kitchen and took the food from the counter to the table. Rarity got to work on finishing up making her tea. While he was helping with the food, Spike couldn't help but feel proud about the day of he and Rarity got married and when she told him she was pregnant. Spike had always wanted to be a dad, but it made him even more happy that he was becoming a dad to Rarity's child.
Sweetie Belle was excited at first because she now had a brother-in-law, but after Rarity and Spike told her about the whole pregnancy thing, she was even more excited to be an aunt. Telling the other girls about them expecting a child made them all excited to be aunts.
His thoughts finally stopped and his mind was focused on the sound of Rarity's tea set being placed on the table and his wife pouring herself a cup of tea. Spike went back to the counters and reached up in the cabinets to get a couple of plates. Spike walked back to the table and put both plates down on the table and served him and Rarity equally before kissing her on the cheek.
Rarity giggled. "Thank you, darling." she said before sitting down and taking a sip of her tea. Spike sat down and served himself his plate of food, including some jewels Rarity left for him to eat. Spike and Rarity grabbed their forks and knives and started eating, enjoying the food, from the fresh fruit salad to the vegetable omelette and Spike's delicious jewels.
It always puts a smile on Rarity's face to see her husband enjoy her cooking and even helping her around her boutique like a pro. She can't even wait for the day when Hearth's Warming arrives. She had made a little trip to Canterlot 2 weeks ago and picked out a one-of-a-kind present for Spike. After Spike had given her that Fire Ruby years ago, she hoped the present she bought might be to his liking.
So far dinner went by smoothly and as usual, Spike finished his food first. "Thanks for dinner, honey." Spike says, picking up his empty plate.
"You're welcome dearest. I don't think I can eat another bite." Rarity replied, suddenly letting out a burp. She blushed and patted her lips with a napkin. "Pardon me." she giggled. Spike laughed with her and walked over to take her empty plate back to the sink and start washing the dishes. "Spike, darling. I think I'm going to turn in for the night, so could you turn off all the light before heading off to bed?"
"Yeah, I can do that."
"Thank you, darling. And good night." Rarity walks up to Spike and hugs him. Spike turns to hug his wife back and kiss her on the lips. "I love you, Spike."
"I love you, too, Rarity."
Rarity walked out of the kitched and carefully walked up the stairs while her husband went back to washing the dishes and setting them aside on a tray so they can dry overnight. After that, Spike went back to the table and fixed up the table cloth before walking over to the doorway and flipped the switch on the wall, turning the lights off and turn the lights on to the staircase and started walking up the steps.
When he reached the 2nd floor, he put his hand on the wall where another light switch was, flipping the switch and turning off the lights. Spike walked to the door that was closest to him and had Luna's moonlight shining through the little gap on the bottom of the door. Spike opened the door and stepped inside before gently closing the door behind him.
Spike made his way quietly towards Rarity's bed where his wife was laying comfortably under the covers with her sleeping mask on her eyes. Though the covers did very little to hide her bloated belly. Spike never stopped thinking how beautiful she is as he slowly got into bed, trying not to disturb his beloved. He got under the covers and laid his head down onto the soft, fluffy pillow.
"Thank you, darling." Rarity said quietly.
"You're welcome, honey." Spike replied, quietly.
Rarity locked her hand with her husband as the two lovebirds slowly drifted off to sleep.
Later on, Spike and Rarity went down a trip to Memory Lane in the dream realm. They still held their hands together, even in sleep and they started strolling through each of their past lives from day they both met up until that faithful day when they joined together in holy matrimony. Both of them could still remember the day when Twilight and Spike first arrived in Ponyville and met all of their amazing new friends, though with Twilight, it took a little time for her to warm up to the girls. Spike, on the other hand, immediately took a liking to the girls right from the beginning, especially Rarity.
"You know, Spike. I kind of feel embarrassed." Rarity said.
"Why do you say that?" Spike asked.
"It was about meeting you and Twilight. She lived in Canterlot at the time and was checking up on the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration and when I heard she was from the rich city of Canterlot, I always had those silly dreams of living there and finding a wealthy husband."
"I see. Back when I was just a kid, I still had that one dream of spending the rest of my life with you the moment I first laid my eyes on you. But you know, Rarity that was only one of the two dreams I had when I was only just a kid, the other dream was to one day become a hero to everyone by putting a stop to any evil that threatened our homeland." Spike said, smiling.
"And you did become a hero. You helped Princess Cadence and Shining Armor save the Crystal Empire from King Sombra's wrath by delivering the Crystal Heart to her. You also saved the lives of everyone when you won the Gauntlet of Fire and stopped Garble from taking his revenge on us. And know this, darling."
Spike looked at his wife and felt her hands touch his own. She leans upwards and whispers, "You're not only a hero to all of our friends, but you're also my hero, too. You've been there for me countless times and I'm ever so thankful of how you've been by my side." Rarity lean back and spoke a little louder to her loving husband. "Even when I was losing my sanity from being rejected by my former crushes and that terrible book that almost made me turn Ponyville into a creative mess. I love you so much, Spikey-darling"
"I love you, too, Rarity." Spike replied, giving his wife a hug. She hugs backm feeling her whole world light up even brighter than it did before. But then, she felt a sharp pain in her stomach, scaring both her and Spike wide awake in the middle of the night.
The moon was still high in the sky and the clock on Rarity's nightstand said 12:45 A.M. Rarity pulled the covers off of her and saw a wet spot on her sheets. "Oh no! Spike, we've got an emergency!" Rarity said, panicking a little and getting Spike to look at the wet spot. "My water broke! AH--" Rarity screamed, feeling her stomach aching even more, "Spike, GET ME OUT OF HERE, THE BABY'S COMING!!!"
"R-Right!" Spike said, rushing out of bed and getting some warm clothes on before carrying his pregnant wife just as she grabbed her purse from her nightstand and ran out of the room and running down the stairs, not even bothering to turn on the lights. He immediately rushes over to the front door and pulls it open.
The snow was only slightly ankle deep, but Spike didn't care, he stepped outside before closing the doors behind him and with sheer determination, he rushed through the cold, dark town, with only the town's street lamps to act as his only guide. Rarity's groans and screams of agony were only getting worse the more she stayed out there, and Spike was doing all he can to hold her and keep her warm.
It had taken 3 minutes for Spike to finally reach the hospital, and Rarity was only getting more frustrated and angry from how long the trip felt.
"SPIKE, HURRY IT UP ALREADY, I CAN'T STAND THE PAIN!!!" Rarity yelled.
"We're here, honey! Just hang in there a little longer!" Spike replied, running into the hospital.
"ARE YOU TRYING TO TRY MY PATIENCE?!?!!" Rarity yelled again, still not bearing the pain. The loud yelling got the attention of the lady behind the desk. She sees Spike carrying Rarity inside and run up to the front desk with worry in his eyes.
"Miss, I need you get a doctor for me as soon as you can! My wife's going into labor!" Spike said, in a bit of a rush, taking in his wife lashing out at him.
"N-Not to worry! I'm on it!" said the lady behind the counter. She over looked at the intercom on her desk and turned in on, speaking into it. "Paging Nurse Red Heart, we've got a woman in labor, please report to the front desk immediately with a stretcher as soon as possible." her voiced echoed throughout the entire hospital and then turned off the intercom, turning her attention to Spike. "She'll be right with you momentarily." she said, making Rarity even more frustrated.
"MOMENTARILY?!" Rarity yelled, glaring daggers at her. "You'd best hope they don't arrive too late or you'll end up with one nasty stain on your TILED FLOORS!!!"
"Honey, calm down. Breathe! Just breathe." Spike said, doing all he can to stop her from getting more angry, but the baby inside her wouldn't stop moving. It wanted to get out. Spike tried to making breathing noises, but it only made her even more angry.
"Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP!" Rarity yelled the last one. Rarity's breathing was growing heavy. Spike was at a loss for words, not knowing what else to say. But, luckily, he didn't have to say anything because Nurse Red Heart arrived just in time and approached Spike.
"Go ahead and lay her down gentley! We'll take it from here!" Red Heart said. Spike went over to the stretcher and laid his wife down gentley.
"You'll be okay now, Rarity." Spike said lovingly to her.
"Spike, wait!" Rarity said, gripping his wrist. "I... I'm scared. Please... I need you!" she pleaded. Spike couldn't say no to her and looked at Red Heart for her approval. She nodded, allowing Spike to look back at his wife and nod at her before they all went down the hall and into the Emergency Room. While the doctors prepared Rarity for when she was going to deliver, Spike held Rarity's hand and stared into her eyes, showing her that she's never alone and he'll always be by her side. Rarity smiled back at him, crying.
"I won't leave you." Spike whispered.
"Okay, Rarity, we're ready for you. Now on the count of three, push as hard as you can." Red Heart said, getting in front of the mare in labor.
"O-Okay." Rarity said, nervously.
"It's alright, Rarity. If it gets too painful, just grip my hand as tight as you can." Spike said, reassuringly. Rarity nodded and breathed heavily.
"Alright, Rarity. 1... 2... 3... PUSH!" Red Heart said. Rarity closed her eyes tightly and gripped onto Spike's hand, tightly and screamed with her mouth closed. "That's it, Rarity! Keep pushing."
Rarity struggled and kept on pushing, holding onto Spike's hand even tighter. Her grip felt so strong, Spike flinched, but he beared with it. The pain Rarity feels, delivering her child was agonizing, but then with one last big push and shouting out from the top of her lungs, the sounds of a baby crying could be heard throughout the emergency room and this filled the married couple with joy.
Spike and Rarity could see Red Heart looking at them with a smile. "Congradulations, you two." Red Heart said calmly, "You have officially become mother and father to your new... baby girl." Red Heart showed the married couple their newborn child, who was still crying.
Rarity was crying tears of joy and reached out, wanting to hold her child. Spike was at a loss for words, feeling so proud that he had finally become a dad. Red Heart handed the baby over to Rarity, letting the proud mother gently rock her daughter left and right. "She's absolutely beautiful." Rarity said.
"Yeah, she is." Spike said, rubbing his daughter's cheek gentley. "Welcome to the world, sweetheart." he whispers before kissing his little girl.
"Isn't she lovely, Spikey-darling?" Rarity asked, adoring her daughter. She has purple hair and blue eyes that seemed to be a lighter blue than her mother's. Though she slightly has her mother's eye color, she also has her beloved father's eye shape. "I feel so proud to have such a wonderful child." she said.
"Yes, but there's still a few little things we gotta do. First, I need you to hand me the baby." Red Heart says, reaching for their newborn daughter. Rarity handed her to the nurse and let her do what she had to, meanwhile, Spike took a hold of Rarity's hand and kissed it.
"Thank you for staying beside me, darling. I'm ever so sorry I lashed out at you, that was just my frustration from me going into labor. I never meant any of those harsh things I said. You know how I love you very much, so please don't be angry with me, Spike." Rarity explained calmly.
"I know, Rarity. It's alright. It was a bit difficult at first, but it was well worth the effort. In the end, we both got the best gift ever on Hearth's Warming." Spike said
"True, but I've got something else I want to give you, too." Rarity said. She reaches into her purse and pulls out a perfectly folded present. She gives it to Spike and sets her purse down. Spike opens it and soon, his eyes widened and his mouth hung open in surprise. His present turned out to be a Fire Ruby necklace, identical to the one that he had given to Rarity.
"Rarity, h-how..." Spike asked.
His wife pulled out another Fire Ruby necklace from her purse, smiling happily. "I knew you didn't get to have your precious fire ruby because I so selfishly begged for it, so I went and asked this jewelry maker pony in Canterlot to make a fire ruby necklace identical to mine." Rarity explained. Spike's smile looked like it had gotten brighter and next thing he does is hug Rarity gently. She hugs him back and kisses him on the cheek. "I'm so glad you love your Hearth's Warming present."
"I'll wear this even on the day of my death bed. Thank you so much for this present, Rare-bear."
"You're welcome, Spikey-poo."
"Okay, you two lovebirds. I've got some great news." Red Heart says, getting Spike and Rarity's attention. "The tests came back and your baby is happy and healthy. So, here you go." she said, handing the baby back to Spike and Rarity just as she said to them, "Congradulations."
"Thank you, Nurse Red Heart. So Spike, what should we name her?" Rarity asked.
"Good question... I don't know. I never really planned that far ahead. I was always so focused on seeing my kid for the first time that I forgot to think about what her name should be." Spike says, a bit down.
"Not to worry, darling. I think I know the perfect name for our precious little girl." Rarity says, looking at her daughter, who was fast asleep. "I was thinking of naming her Crystal Clarity. What do you think, Spike, does that sound like a lovely name?" she asks.
Spike was about to answer, but then their daughter cooed adorably with a smile. Spike smiled. "I think our little girl likes the sound of that. So I say... "yes." Crystal Clarity it is." Spike said.
Rarity brought her husband in for a hug and gently planted her lips onto his for 10 seconds until she brought her daughter close enough for her to kiss Clarity on the forehead. Clarity still slept peacefully in her mother's arms, wrapped up in her cute, little purple blanket. Spike and Rarity looked at each other.
"Happy Hearth's Warming Rarity/Spike." they said in unison.
And in that moment, the snow outside the hospital began to fall, slowly starting to coat the town the Ponyville into a thicker blanket of snow in the cold winter night under the beautiful rays of the full moon.
Author's Note
Not sure if you guys like this, but I've finally completed this Hearth's Warming Special and if there are any errors I've made, I welcome the constructive critisism and I hope you all have a wonderful Hearth's Warming/Christmas and remember to stay tuned and brony on. And now I'd like to present you all with this wonderful song to bring this heart-warming story to a beautiful close
