Fantasy Betrothed (Closed to Aina)

[Aina]

((I'm falling asleep in front my computer. I'm going to head to bed.))

Seraphine put her head against Aiden when he put his arm around her. She still was drinking from the blood packet but she was silent as he spoke. She wished things were back the way they were before her mom died. She missed her sisters too. All of the sadness around her confused her.

She seemed to perk up as Aiden mentioned the baby. "I can't wait to see her," she told him, "I know it's a girl. I had a dream about her."

"When will she be born? I hope soon cause I want to show her all of my toys. And I want to teach her how to swim."

Sarai nodded, "He scares me."

Cornelius, whoever he was wasn't the type to be messed with. All of this death and horror that he caused was so peculiar to her since they knew nothing about him. She feared that his endeavor to wipe out the remaining vampires would be catastrophic.

She had been thinking still about Cornelius and his overall plan. She realized her was speaking to her and she looked at him. She nodded after he scolded her slightly. To see him laugh made her so happy. She hated to see him sad. She still didn't want to bother Aiden just yet. She wanted him to drink a bit more blood first. She could worry about herself later.

"I promise I'll bother him later. But you need to get yourself into a bed," she pointed her finger at him, "I'm going to get some sleep but only if you do too."

 

[FursieTheFlixee]

Aiden chuckled. "Oh? You know its a girl?" He nodded. "Well, I hope you're right. Another little girl would be fun to have around." He laughed outright then and shook his head. "Let's hold off on the swimming, Sera."

Riccardo felt satisfied with her answer. He trusted her and Aiden enough to not feel too worried about her getting blood. Aiden wouldn't let her get away without feeding herself and subsequently, the baby.

"You know," he said, thoughtfully. "Bed sounds wonderful right now. I bet the servants washed my soft robe." He stood up, carefully, not eager to test his body's limits just yet. When he was securely on his feet, he reached out, offering a hand to help Sarai up off the ground. "I don't intend on getting up until late tomorrow night," he admitted to Sarai. "So don't worry about me if you don't see me until later. I am very tired." He felt much better already having gotten some blood in him, his body finally recovering from the poisoning.

"Sleep well, my queen," Riccardo said, giving a bit of a flourishing bow, a bit of a smirk crossing his face.

As he walked towards the exit, he scooped up another blood packet as he passed the crate. Making one last stop on his way to bed, he paused at Emmanuel's bed.

"I wanted to thank you again," he said, putting his hands on the end of the bed. "For everything tonight. From putting up with my stubborn will to be out of bed to risking your life for us. You are a remarkable person, Emmanuel and I truly appreciate what you did for us tonight. You and your people." He smiled softly. "If there is anything else we can do for you and your family, let me know." He glanced at the door. "I'm going to go to bed, now, though. Thank you. Again."

He left the infirmary finally, making his way up to his bedroom and looking forward to sleeping in.

 

[Aina]

"Get some needed rest Riccardo," Sarai told him when he lifted her up from the floor. She usually would have ignored him when he addressed her as his queen but for one she actually smiled. She was happy that he was already getting better. "I'll be getting some sleep myself," she told him before she went over to Aiden and Seraphine.

Emmanuel opened his eyes, shocked to hearing Riccardo speaking to him. He smiled weakly at him, his arm rested on his abdomen. "It was nothing," he grumbled under his breath. He was only being humble because he felt that any decent person would have risked their life for someone in danger. He shook his head at his question, still smiling as Riccardo walked away. He was so happy that Riccardo had thanked him the way he did. It made his actions all the more rewarding. He wished he could have done so much more.

~~

Time had passed so quickly that two more months went by. Sarai had been so focused on returning the deceased staff to their loved ones that she hardly had any time to prepare for the baby. Funerals were arranged for the people lost in those two days and it was an entire month before it seemed that everyone had gotten back to their regular duties.

Sarai still felt horrible for having not been able to do anything for the families. She could only provide them what little money she had for them in case they needed it. She even allowed the remaining servants and guards to see their own families for a while so the house was rather empty for about another week.

The werewolves and the demons remained guard on the house. Astraea was able to get another group of 50 demons to add to the safeguards for the house. She insisted on it since the baby was to be born soon. Sarai of course was not against it. She felt even more secure and her anxieties thankfully lessened because of it. Astraea also insisted that Sarai stay in bed the last trimester since it was crucial for the survival of the baby. Sarai was not keen on staying in bed for an entire month. She was against the whole idea in fact but Astraea scolded her constantly when she was out of bed.

Now that they finally had blood, their fears of starving were gone, the staff's spirits were much happier because of the upcoming birth. They were constantly doting on Sarai, making sure she was comfortable. That she had everything she needed for the nursery as well which Sarai didn't want at first. She liked the idea of the baby staying in her and Aiden's room for the first few months. She already knew she didn't want the baby to never leave her sight. Maybe it was a bit excessive but she feared for the baby's safety at all times. The reoccurring nightmares she had nearly every night were not helping either.

Not surprisingly, Seraphine wanted to help decorate the nursery with Sarai. She didn't allow anyone to really have a say in what was inside the room except Sarai. Sarai honestly found it hilarious whenever Seraphine would even scold Aiden when he tried to decide on what the color of the walls would be. Seraphine eventually decided on a pastel purple color, knowing that Sarai liked lavender. Sarai wanted to keep the room mostly neutral, with whites, grays and purples since they weren't sure if the baby was a girl or boy. Though, she doubted the baby would really care about colors.

Even though the last two weeks of her last trimester were dedicated to finishing the baby's room, Sarai didn't have the energy to finish decorating. All there was in the room was a crib against one wall diagonal from the window. And a rocking chair next to the window which Sarai found herself sitting in, rocking herself back and forth in the middle of the night when she couldn't sleep. Sometimes, she'd be woken up by Aiden, having fallen asleep in the chair.

Most of the restless nights leading up to the last week of her trimester she spent either in her father's study or in the library. After months, they were finally able to decipher the code that her father was using to contact Cornelius, or at least Cornelius' accomplices. It seemed like her father sold people from their kingdom in exchange for money. What he did with the money was still a mystery but Sarai thought it was more important to find the people he sold off to first. That was still a working progress as it seemed to have been a lot of people. It was frustrating and horrifying to think what had happened to them but Sarai was reminded by Dr. Seavers that she couldn't stress herself about that at the moment as she needed to be stress free for the baby.

So much focus on her and the baby, that Sarai was getting sick of it. She avoided mostly everyone, even Seraphine at times because she just wanted to be alone. She found herself snapping at anyone who bothered her, immediately apologizing for it afterward. She was always irritable and just impatiently waiting for the baby to finally arrive.

She knew she'd be scolded for it later but she was taking a walk on the beach, despite her feet aching and her scratchy throat telling her she was thirsty. She sound of the waves were relaxing to her. She had her hand on her swollen belly which had gotten twice as bigger and heavy. She smiled a bit to herself but it soon faded when she heard someone calling for her.

"Your majesty, Lady Astraea has been looking for you," the servant girl told her and she approached her. Sarai rolled her eyes. She was tired of everyone worrying over her. It was a constant battle with everyone telling her that she shouldn't do this or that. Even worse that Aiden's mother was there too. Sarai didn't blame her being excited about having a grandchild it was just that Sarai felt as if they were forgetting about how she was feeling emotionally. She also hated how they looked at her like she would break.

"What did she want?" she asked her.

The servant girl shrugged her shoulders. "She did not say your highness. I'm assuming she wanted to speak with you," she told her and Sarai sighed heavily. She nodded and headed back up to the house. Astraea was already waiting for her in the foyer with a bright smile on her face.

"You were out walking again?" she asked her and Sarai sighed, waiting for Astraea to scold her like she always did.

Astraea grabbed her hand gently, "I know you've been so tired lately. I wanted to show you something so close your eyes."

Sarai wasn't sure where this was going but she willingly listened and allowed Astraea to lead her down the hallways. "Me, Rosita and Seraphine worked hard to decorate the baby's room since you've been so exhausted. If you don't like it you can change anything you like."

Once Astraea stopped, Sarai opened her eyes and she looked at the room. The rest of the walls had been painted the lavender color. There were clouds, flowers and butterflies painted on the walls. "Rosita did them." Sarai was such in awe at the room. She walked inside slowly, taking in the canopy that hung above the crib. The bookshelf that had been placed next to the rocking chair. "It was Seraphine's idea to put the bookshelf. She put some of your favorite books in there," Astraea went to explain, gauging her reaction with worry. "Do you like it?" she asked her.

Sarai had to look away from Astraea so she wouldn't see the tears in her eyes. "Of course…I love it. Thank you for doing this for me," she went to hug Astraea tightly to her, "Now I feel really bad for being such a bitch." Astraea laughed but she hugged Sarai back and shook her head. "That's your hormones Sarai. We just wanted to do something nice for you for once," she told her.

 

[FursieTheFlixee]

((I suck because I added one small half sentence about their wedding in this because I couldn't find a place to make it flow in nicely.))

Aiden couldn't believe how quickly two months could fly. Though, he appreciated it at the same time. After the devestation of the poisoning, the only good thing he knew to look forward to was the baby being born. However, his mom being there did make things easier.

He hadn't realized how much pent up frustration and fear he held until the day his mother arrived. As soon as he saw her, he hugged her tight and didn't want to let go. Before bed that night, they talked. They talked for hours, Aiden nearly breaking down and crying several times as he told his mother everything that had been happening. He hated having to keep the secret of Riccardo being the baby's father, but he knew they couldn't even trust their own family. Besides, his mother and Sarai needed to reconcile anyways. He wasn't about to throw that in the mix yet.

After the first night of his mother being there, things felt tense for a little bit, but his mother apologized to Sarai and the relationship there started to mend. Aiden knew it would be a while before the two of them were close, but he was happy for the start.

His mother stayed with them. Aiden insisted. After everything that had happened, between the hardships they faced as new monarchs to his mother being poisoned, he wanted everyone he loved close.

As the months rolled by, he became more doting to Sarai. Her pregnant belly swelled and he found himself offering to help with more and more, fetching her anything she needed to prevent her from having to get up. He could tell at times that she was getting annoyed. In fact, the whole household was doting on their very pregnant queen and he could see Sarai's patience for everyone buzzing around her getting smaller and smaller. Aiden tried to back off a little himself, but it was hard.

While Aiden did not mind helping Sarai and dutifully helping her, he was annoyed at Riccardo for not doing it. He couldn't entirely say that Riccardo was unhelpful, becauseeven he could see the other man trying, but it was obvious he was not as invested in helping as much as everyone else was.

Riccardo had good and bad days as usual, days where he wanted to help Sarai and doted on her at every opportunity, and days where he seemed to avoid Sarai altogether. He seemed to flip flop back and forth so much on whether he was going to be helpful or aloof that Aiden couldn't keep up with his moods.

In the last trimester, it got worse. Between Sarai's irritability and Riccardo's unpredictability, Aiden had a hard time being around them if they were in the same room together. It got to the point Sarai ended up having only one or the other around at a time. It was all well and good, though, because Riccardo only seemed to get more aloof the closer it was time for the baby to get born and Aiden had Sarai to himself mostly.

The day Sarai was out walking on the beach, very close to her due date, Rosita was heading up to the nursery with a little more paint. She'd been working on the paintings around planning for her wedding, but she still wasn't quite happy with how they looked. She had seen a small spot that needed a bit of touching up.

However, as she got close to the nursery, she heard voices from inside. She walked in, surprised to see Astraea and Sarai. Rosita put down her paint cans and huffed. "Astraea, I wasn't ready yet!"

She smiled, though, realizing Sarai was happy with the room. "You like it," she asked. "Because you don't have to. I can paint something else."

Aiden stepped in and leaned on the doorway, smiling. "I think she likes it, Rosita," he said. He walked in and looked around, having at least been allowed to see the room while the girls were working on it. "You know, Seraphine wouldn't let me do anything in here," he told Sarai, walking up to her and grinning. "But!" He raised a finger and then pointed it in the corner where a set of steps sat. They were painted white and obviously led to nowhere. On the steps, though, was a huge array of stuffed animals. "I was allowed to do that." He grinned wider, obviously proud of himself.

As everyone was having their happy moment in the nursery, Riccardo was in the library, a map of the house and a journal in front of him. He leaned back in his chair, frowning as he stared down at the map, glancing at his journal from time to time. He had a list of their guards as well as shift schedules. The addition of 50 more guards made patrol duties much easier to plan, and made it so they could have more guards working at once, but he was still stressed about their security.

He was stressed about the baby for so many reasons, and his father was still one of those stresses. He found it odd that he hadn't heard from him in months. As far as he knew, Demetri was still ruler of the northern kingdom, but it seemed it was almost inactive. No big news came from up there. It was unnerving.

He was still afraid of being a father, still afraid of messing the child up, but he wasn't letting it stop him from protecting this soon-to-be new addition to his family. It was just that, while everyone else had been decorating the nursery, doting on Sarai, and all the like, he was finding his own way of taking care of the new baby.

He'd put what little bit of money there was in the royal accounts into some of the same companies his father had invested their money in. In the span of two months, Riccardo had nearly doubled that money. He'd hired on more serving staff, fixed more of the barracks for the new guards, had an emergency underground storage built for an extra supply of blood (he was hoping the situation would never get dire enough to need it again, but it was now there should they have need of it), was working Leighton more in that he was requiring updates of any news going on from the countries around them, and constantly tweaked the guard schedule for maximum protection to the baby.

He still wasn't happy with Leighton. The poisoning had had a massive effect on Riccardo's view of his performance. They'd lost people, he'd almost died himself, and he kept thinking 'what if it had been Sarai.' He had another informant working for them, now. He'd run through a massive candidate list, talking to many people and finally settling on someone who he thought could actually be trusted. They were new to politics, just some lowly nobody who had a passion for collecting information and had very creative ways to get that information. They insisted they knew about the poisoning and it was why he and his family had been safe from it. Riccardo wasn't sure, but he was willing to give the man the benefit of the doubt.

Leighton didn't know about this new person and Riccardo liked it that way. He wanted to see how quickly Leighton figured it out and then how long before he stood up to Riccardo about it.

Despite all these plans and changes, Riccardo didn't think he'd been doing enough. He was staring hard at the map in front of him, so certain there was some blind spot he was missing, some gap in the patrols, or something that put the baby at risk. He couldn't find it, though.

Finally, Riccardo rubbed his tired eyes and groaned. "What am I missing," he mumbled.

 

[Aina]

((That's okay, we'll add it in later. Its baby time!! I'm so excited!!!))

"I'm Rosita," Astraea apologized immediately as she had walked into the nursery. She looked sheepishly at her and pulled away from the hug that her and Sarai were sharing. "I wanted to show Sarai before the baby came," she told her. "Don't be mad please."

Sarai began to shake her head. She was going to say that of course she liked it when Aiden walked into the room. She laughed loudly when he pointed out the tiny steps in the corner. She went over to them and picked up one of the bears. She held it close to her for a second.

She turned to everyone, smiling widely. "I really love it. Thank you guys for doing all of this for me and the baby," she told them. It really warmed her heart that they put effort into the baby's room. And that they took the time to decorate it. She still felt bad for having yelled at them over the past two months.

She placed the bear back where she had picked it up and went over to Rosita. "I love everything," she told her again and hugged her. "You can finish the rest whenever you get the chance. She still wanted the baby to stay in her and Aiden's room for the first few weeks at least so Rosita would have time to paint in there in the meantime.

"And I love the stuffed animals," she chuckled when she looked at Aiden. She went over to hug him too. "Where's the littler mastermind behind all of this anyways?"

As if she had overheard them talking about her, Seraphine peeked her head from outside the door. She jumped excitedly over toward Sarai and wrapped her arms around her. "Do you like what we did sissy?" she asked her and Sarai nodded her head. "Of course. You did such an amazing job."

Seraphine turned her attention toward Aiden. "Aiden, remember you said you were going to teach me to play some more guitar," she told him.

Sarai laughed suddenly. She had completely forgotten that Aiden was doing that. Seraphine wasn't very good at it but she was determined to learn. "You're stealing my husband away again?" Sarai joked with her and Seraphine rolled her eyes. Sarai honestly didn't mind it. She had wanted some alone time for the past few weeks anyways so Aiden was entertaining her sister and leaving her be at the same time.

"Come on already," Seraphine insisted as she tugged on Aiden's arm, pulling him out of the room.

"I know you're going to say fine but how have you been feeling? I've been avoiding the question, knowing it annoyed you," Astraea stated.

Sarai looked downcast, she was still a bit ashamed for her behavior. But she touched her belly subconsciously and she looked up at Astraea to answer her question. "I've had a few cramps here and there but nothing major," she said and she sighed heavily, "Please tell me when I can have this baby. I am so tired."

"Then maybe you should rest in bed for the rest of the night?" Astraea suggested. She had a feeling that Sarai would protest against the idea but she was surprised to see her expression soften a bit as if she were actually thinking of doing so. Sarai shrugged her shoulders, it wasn't exactly a bad idea. She was really tired. And her back had been bothering her since yesterday. "I guess…I'll go lay in bed for a bit," she said.

"We'll try not to bother you too much alright," Astraea said with a slight smile.

Sarai left the nursery heading up to her and Aiden's room. She stopped on the way there, however, wondering idly where Riccardo was since she hadn't seen him in a few days. He spent a lot of his time in the library which was no surprise to her at all. It hurt her feelings a bit that he had been avoiding her but she figured she'd go bother him now. She went to the library, not even knocking as she walked in. "You spend way too much time in here," she told him once she closed the door behind her. "What are you doing in here anyways?" she asked, eyeing the map that he had sprawled in front of him.

((I was debating on whether Sarai should have a difficult birth but I decided to be nice and make is easy on her a bit.))

 

[FursieTheFlixee]

Rosita hugged Sarai back, squeezing her tight, very happy that she was happy. They'd worked hard to put the room together and she herself thought it had turned out very nicely. It was such a relief to see that Sarai loved it. She just wanted everything to turn out alright for Sarai and her family.

Aiden was overjoyed as well, gladly accepting the hug Sarai gave him and chuckling as she pulled away, looking for her sister. He watched as Seraphine joined them, ensuring once again, like the rest of them had, that Sarai was happy with their work.

He laughed when she turned, changing the subject to her guitar lessons, however. "Yes. I can teach you more guitar," he told her. He looked up at Sarai. "Sorry, Darling." He let himself be tugged away.

Rosita looked from Aiden and Seraphine leaving the room to Sarai as she mentioned being tired. She was worried, but it was understandable. Being pregnant didn't look like it was a joy ride. Sarai had progressively seemed to have a worse and worse time of carrying so much extra weight on her person.

"You should just go rest," Rosita agreed with Astraea. She watched as Sarai left the room and then turned to Astrea, grinning. "She liked it," she said, happily, practically bouncing on her feet.

Riccardo jumped when Sarai walked in, her presence quickly pulling him out of his thoughts. He smiled nervously at her, moving like he was going to stand and then pausing before relaxing back in his chair again. He wasn't sure what kind of mood Sarai was in, but he was getting tired of her snapping at him and everyone around her. He supposed he couldn't blame her. It did look like pregnancy was really uncomfortable, but he wasn't wanting a fight at the moment.

"Adjusting the guards' shifts at the moment," he answered her, gesturing to the map with all its color coded lines and notes. "Well, I'm not actually doing much adjusting. I'm mostly making sure there aren't any holes between shifts and that the schedules make sense. Having the demons here as well as vampire guards is really quite nice, you know? My father should have done this. We have some guards who are active during the day and some at night. The day guards can even be outside where we need them."

His brow raised suddenly before he picked up a marker and suddenly took a small note near a highlighted area of the map. It was the wing where Sarai and Aiden slept and where their new nursery was. It was the most elaborately guarded area with the most shift changes.

He looked back up at Sarai, eyes lingering for a moment over her swollen belly before he looked back up at her face. "I thought I'd let you know that everything is going well, by the way. Money continues to pour in for your kingdom, no news of any on-coming dangers, and people seem happy."

He wanted to ask how she was doing, tentatively curious about the baby as well, and how the nursery was coming along. It was such a nerve-wracking subject for him anyways, but with Sarai's snappiness, he shied away from the subject even more.

((That would kill the boys. Put them into shock. Haha.))

 

[Aina]

"Of course she liked it," Astraea chuckled, "Because you painted the walls so beautifully."

She smiled at how cheerful Rosita had become at Sarai's reaction. It seemed like everything was right and joyous with them. She never imagined to be after all that had happened in the last few months but she was really happy. There was so much excitement about the baby that Astraea had almost forgotten about Rosita and Leon's wedding. At that thought, she grabbed Rosita's hand.

"Save the painting for later. We need to pick a theme for your wedding. What colors would you like? What kind of flowers? What about the table arrangements? And your dress of course! We need to get measurements for that too!" Astraea was even more excited when it came to planning weddings if not more so since she never been to one before.

~

Sarai noted the way he had jumped when she walked in. She cautiously walked closer to the table and stood in front of him, hands resting on her belly as she looked down at the map. It took her a moment but she realized what it was and her eyes widened. "I suspected nothing less from you Riccardo. Going through all of these lengths to ensure our protection," she smiled faintly when she finally looked up at him. "I appreciated all your hard work," she told him but she frowned, "I just hope you're overworking yourself too much."

She rubbed her belly slightly and sighed. She didn't mean to bicker with him. She was just concerned for his wellbeing, since she knew that he overworked himself. "I didn't mean to bother you…I just want to see-" she looked down sadly, "See your face. I know I've been mean lately and that's probably why you've been avoiding me."

"I'm really tired…so I'll leave you alone so you can get back to work."

((Oh boy…poor boys. They have no clue what to expect. I feel bad though. She's had it so rough but then again, watching the boys suffer cause of her, I’m so evil.))

 

[FursieTheFlixee]

Rosita blushed and looked bashfully down. "All your hard work with the decorating is what she loved," she said, humbly.

She squeaked when Astraea suddenly grabbed her hand, but grinned brightly again. "I can't believe it's so close and I feel like we've got nothing done!" Her face fell a little. "I had my mama's dress a long time ago, but it got left behind with Cyri." She sighed. "I want to wear it, but I don't even know if Cyri would still have it and... she probably wouldn't give it back to me." She shrugged, trying to pick her spirits back up. "I'm sure something just as nice will come up, though. I need to go looking." She smiled, but it was obvious she was upset about her mother's dress. "I already know I want red and yellow roses and matching decorations! I think that will look so pretty."

--

Riccardo ate up the praise, chest practically swelling with pride in himself when Sarai acknowledged what he'd been doing. "Someone has to take care of your accident prone self," he tried to grumble, but it was obvious how much her compliments meant to him.

His face fell and he looked down with guilt when she mentioned wanting to see his face and him avoiding her. He was quiet up until she said she was going to leave him alone.

"Wait," he said, getting quickly out of his chair and reaching across the table to grab her hand and keep her there. "Stay. Please?" He looked around before spotting the more comfortable chairs by the fireplace. He moved around the table and gently led her over to them, helping her down into one of the seats.

"I apologize for being so withdrawn lately," he said, taking his own seat once he was satisfied she was comfortable in hers. "I admit it's been hard with us bickering so much lately again." He let out a dry chuckle. "But I know you're just uncomfortable and it's not personal." He glanced down at her belly, fascinated by the sound of the second heartbeat thumping from her shared body. "I've been far more brutish with you in the past, anyways." He looked back up at her face. "You know me too well, anyways. I don't do well handling the emotional aspect of... well, anything, to be honest." He ran a hand through his hair. "I like this side of things, arranging the guards for you and the baby, making sure everything is running smoothly and that we have adequate supplies of blood, knowledge of incoming threats..." He glanced at the fire, having a hard time keeping his eyes on her.

"It has been a few days since I saw you, hasn't it," he mumbled to himself.

He looked back at her again. "How are you feeling?"

((It is a lot of fun to make them suffer. Do what you have to. They are so lost and scared whenever something happens to her.))

 

[Aina]

Astraea looked at her sadly. She could understand how Rosita wanted that piece of her mother to be with her on her wedding day. She pondered on the idea of how they were going to get the dress. It would be a difficult task for sure. They were not on good terms with Cyri. The bitch was evil and Astraea wanted nothing more to give her a piece of her mind. But it was Archimedes who was also a problem. She'd have to talk to Leon about it. "Perhaps we can imitate the dress? I know it would not be the same but…I want you to be happy on your special day," she told her.

"And I love the color scheme already. Yellow and Red roses everywhere! Gold plates, red and yellow ribbons, also the cake must be decorated with flower too," she went on with a excited grin on her face. It only got wider as well as her eyes, "I'm thinking yellow napkins, candles that light up the tables beautifully. Oh…I might just get ahead of myself but we really need to be writing this all down. And we need diagrams so everything is organized nicely."

~~

Sarai was about to turn away to leave but she stopped in her tracks. She turned around and grabbed his hand. Sitting was a bit uncomfortable these days but she sat down anyways. She looked at him, shocked that he was apologizing to her. She touched her belly having felt a cramp but she ignored it when he continued speaking. "I-its okay Riccardo," she told him.

"I know, that it what you are best at. Being tactful," she said with a smile. She didn't mind that he had been focused on their security she just wished he had taken a bit of time to see her from to time. She guessed she couldn't blame him. She had been unpleasant to be around.

She fidgeted in the seat when he looked away from her. She knew him all too well. Riccardo was just saying pleasantries for her sake. He was still getting used to idea of the baby most likely. She had been focused on the second cramp that she hadn't heard his question at first. "Huh?" she looked at him with brows furrowed. She had been rubbing her back since it was bothering her again. "Honestly not good. I'm ready for this baby to come out of me already," she grumbled, "I'm so tired and-" She stopped talking when she felt a dull pain in her back much worse than the one before.

"Of course when you ask me, I'm in pain," she tried to laugh but it only worsened the pain somehow. The pain was mostly bearable. It was really only uncomfortable if anything. Sarai, however, could not remain sitting. She got up from the chair with some difficulty at first and starting pacing. She was breathing calmly fortunately but her eyes were shut, and she was cursing in French as she went back and forth. "This is normal," she muttered under her breath, "They're just contractions." She tried to convince herself that that was the case, though she knew that contractions in the first stage were rather short at first. They usually only last a minute in the beginning. Thankfully, the dull pain went away long enough that she could stop moving. She tiredly looked at Riccardo and she pressed her hand against her forehead. "I'm going to lay down for a bit. I am so tired," she told him.

((Poor Sarai is literally always in pain around Riccardo.))

 

[FursieTheFlixee]

Rosita smiled warmly at Astraea as she suggested an imitation. It wouldn't be the same, but it would still be nice to have a piece of her parents with her on the day of the wedding. Even if it wasn't exactly the dress that had made their special day, imitating it was still a good way to carry their spirit with her.

She tried not to look sad when she realized she would never be able to get an exact replication of the dress. Her memory wasn't that good to get down every detail, but it would have to do.

She lit up again when Astraea went on about the color scheme and she grinned. "You make it sound so beautiful, Astraea!" She could see the vision of it the way Astraea described and it was more reason to be excited.

"I'm so happy we'll be sisters," she said. "I'll sketch up what I remember the dress looks like." She tried not to get sad again. "I think Papa would have liked Leon. I wish you two were able to meet my parents."

--

Riccardo could feel anxiety creeping on as it became obvious that something was not quite right with Sarai. She was fidgeting, rubbing her back, and then she cut herself off mid sentence. He didn't feel any better when she expressed that she was in pain. He watched helplessly as she got up out of her seat, pacing and cursing in French. When she said the word "contractions", he lost a bit of color, eyes widening in fear.

His leg started bouncing, watching her, not feeling any better about the situation when she came to a pause and said she'd be going to lay down.

He jumped out of his chair. "No." He walked up to her and put an arm around her to help support her and then took her hand firmly in his, not intent on letting her go. "You're not going to go lay down for a bit!" He puffed. "I want you to go see Seavers. Right now!" He was scared and, as usual when he was scared for her, he sounded a lot harsher than he meant to. "So come on, let's go." He tried leading her away and out of the library.

((I know. Poor thing. She and Riccardo are just always in pain around each other. Cursed children.))

 

[Aina]

"I always wanted a sister when I was younger. When my mother was pregnant with Leon, I insisted that it was a girl," Astraea began to laugh, "You would imagine my disappointment when I found out he was a boy."

She knew that Rosita wanted her parents there. She also wanted that for her too. She felt bad that her father would not be the one to walk her down the aisle. It was a disappointing to say the least. She wished she could so much more for her than just preparing the wedding. She felt as if it weren't enough.

She smiled however when Rosita seemed more than excited about her ideas. "If I overstep you make sure that you have a say in what's decided. This is your day to feel special," she told her softly and she smiled warmly at her comment. "Our brother would have adored you for sure," she told her. "I say we get started on picking out what kind of plate arrangements you'd like. And how you'd want the flowers to be set up too."

~~~

Sarai was shocked at Riccardo for yelling at her. Her eyes narrowed at him and she wanted to tell him to let her go. His grip was rather firm on her hand though and she actually squeezed it as another contraction came on. "It's too early," she gasped out loud. It took longer for that contraction to subside and Sarai had to keel over because of the pain. "It's too early," she said again, she squeezed his hand again. "Dr. Seavers said another week," she inhaled sharply when the next one came on.

"Stop-stop," she gasped out loud, she didn't want to move. It hurt too much to move. "I can't walk," she cried out. She knew he was panicking at this point. She was as well. The contractions were quicker and much longer than normal which scared her. It was five minutes and nothing happened. She thought perhaps it was over for a bit so she relaxed. Her breathing has calmed some and Sarai was able to stand straight. "It's alright…I think it went away for now. They're just contractions," she told him, "They can last for hours before labor." At least that is what she had read. Dr. Seavers had also confirmed this. However, it was possible she was going through rapid labor. Sarai prayed to the Mother of Night that she wasn't.

"I really want to lay down now," she said again and gripped his hand in hers tighter. "Help me, to my bed," she begged him.

 

[FursieTheFlixee]

Rosita laughed. "Well, I'm glad Leon turned out to be a boy."

She listened, quietly, a fond smile slowly growing on her face until her eyes misted with tears. When Astraea mentioned planning the flower set up, she hugged her tightly. "I know we haven't done anything yet, but I know you're going to make the wedding so amazing and I just want to say thank you already."

She pulled away and wiped at her teary eyes. "I already know I just want something small. Me, Leon, you, Riccardo, Sarai, Aiden, Seraphine... Some of Leon's friends... Just something small with all my favorite people around."

--

Riccardo felt his heart skip a beat even as Sarai gripped tightly to his hand. He rubbed her back, really not sure what to do for her. Too early... He had had a suspicion. He didn't think he had lost track of the time that badly. The baby wasn't supposed to be due for a week.

He grit his teeth when she told him to stop and that she couldn't walk. His other hand held her by the waist, holding her to him. He needed to get her to Seavers. She was completely insane if she thought he wasn't going to take her to the doctor at this point. Still, he didn't move until she relaxed and stood up straight. He rubbed her back again, not as worried about supporting her, but his hand was there in case she needed it.

He was quiet as she tried to reassure him that she was okay, but he huffed when she begged him to let her lay down. "Sarai, are you that stupid?" He moved fluidly, bending and scooping out her legs from underneath her, holding her bridal style in his arms. He started walking. "Honestly, do you really think I'm going to take you to bed instead of the doctor? When you practically just crushed my hand from your own pain?" He was moving quickly, not sure what was going on and terrified that something was. A week wasn't too bad, though, right? There'd been earlier births, surely. He wished he had been doing more research. He knew so little about pregnancies.

"You always have to fight me," he continued, a slightly panicked edge to his voice, but talking was keeping him clear-headed enough to deal with this. "And I don't understand. I am understandably nervous and want you to see the doctor. You can't ignore things like this. I know I'm stubborn when I'm hurting, but my health doesn't affect the health of a baby's." He let out a frustrated sigh. "And the amount of times Aiden and I have had to remind you to drink blood is also ridiculous. If you were just a normal person who drank when you were supposed to..."

He let his voice trail off as they arrived at the infirmary. Riccardo was surprised to hear another voice coming from the doctor's room just off the infirmary. "Arthur," he shouted.

Seavers came from his room, chuckling, Finella following along behind him. "Riccardo, look who -" He frowned when he realized there was a sense of urgency to his and Sarai's visit. "Sarai, what's going on?"

 

[Aina]

Astraea yes widened as she saw Rosita's tears. She hadn't wanted to make her cry! She went up to her and smiled faintly as Rosita hugged her. She pulled her tighter to her. "Don't worry Rosita. I'm so happy I get to be a part of this with you," she told her. "And no tears alright," she chuckled, "If anyone should be crying it should be Leon when he sees you walking down the aisle. And if he doesn't cry I'll make sure he does." She laughed again and gave Rosita another hug. "We should check to see if there's any catalogs we can look at to get some inspiration."

~~

Sarai yelped when he picked her up, but she became annoyed when he insisted on yelling at her. "Calling me stupid is not helping!" she snapped at him. She was on the verge of baring her fangs at his point, she was so annoyed with him. She had no choice but to let him carry her off the infirmary.

"I will fight you till I die," she said in response to his comment. She wanted him to stop talking. The contractions were coming back again and the dull pain decided to turn worse. The pain was unbearable. She couldn't even focus on what Riccardo was saying to her at that point.

When they arrived in the infirmary, she frowned as she saw Dr. Seavers. She glanced at Riccardo a pained look on her face. "If you don't put me down Riccardo Tenepri I will throttle you," she gasped out loud however, her hand immediately going to her stomach again. That contraction radiated along her spine to her abdomen. "Get this baby out of me right now!"

((Sorry for shortness.))

 

[FursieTheFlixee]

((That's okay. I know my posts keep getting shorter. It happens and I literally don't care.))

Rosita let out a watery laugh when Astraea mentioned Leon crying. She shook her head. "Don't make him cry!"

She hugged Astraea back, though, and nodded as she pulled away again. "Catalogs sound great! They'll be a great place to start from!"

--

Riccardo had somehow forgotten he was carrying a whole person in his arms. He looked down, blinking in surprise when she yelled at him to put her down. He was almost hesitant to, however, when she gasped and put a hand to her stomach.

Seavers was understandably concerned when Sarai was noticeably in pain. "Riccardo, can you lay her on a bed please," he asked.

"Uh... yes... right..." He took Sarai to the nearest bed, gently laying her down on it, and then immediately taking a few steps away as Seavers swooped in.

Seavers put his hand to her forehead and listened carefully for irregularities in her heartbeat. Other than it being accelerated, it sounded healthy. As did the baby's. "Sarai, I'm going to help remove your clothes and do a quick pelvic exam." He didn't even look back at the two other people in the room before saying, "Riccardo, Finella, can you give the two of us some privacy? Riccardo, fetch Aiden for us, please?"

Riccardo hesitated before doing what was asked, leaving the room. He briefly wondered, as Finella exited with him, what Finella was doing there, but he had more pressing things on his mind. As soon as he left the infirmary, he tried to think of where Aiden may possibly be in their large home. Not wanting to waste the time to look for him, Riccardo pulled out his phone to give him a call instead.

"Hello," Aiden asked, questioningly when he answered.

"Get to the infirmary now. Sarai is... I don't know, but Seavers wants you here." Riccardo simply hung up with that, crossing his arms as he stared at the infirmary door.

Seavers did his best to help Sarai out of her clothes, all the while quizzing her on her own condition. "Think carefully, where is your pain starting from? Is it in your back? When did this start? Have you noticed any bleeding?"

At this moment, Aiden barged into the infirmary, having rushed past Riccardo and Finella outside the door, not really caring that the doctor had asked for space. He walked up to Sarai's bed, eyes bouncing about trying to figure out what was going on. "Sarai?"

 

[Aina]

Sarai sighed heavily as Riccardo finally put her down. She was forced onto a bed, a clear frown was on her face. She flinched as Dr. Seavers placed his hand against her forehead. She knew didn't have a fever.

Her face paled when he told her to remove her clothes to examine her. She cursed in French for the second time and she wanted to tell him no. However, he asked for Riccardo and the other woman who's name she had forgotten to leave. "Riccardo don't leave," she started to say but he already left.

She was alone with Seavers now and her mood only worsened. Part of her was anticipating the birth of the baby while the other was scared because of the pain. She never was good with pain so of course she was afraid. She was already uncomfortable with the contractions, so she could only imagine the pain during labor.

Focusing back on Seavers she realized he was speaking to her, asking her questions as he helped her take her skirt off. "The pain started yesterday. I didn't think anything of it. The contractions only just got worse," she stated with a quick exhale. She looked up as Aiden walked in and her face brightened only slightly. "Where's Riccardo?" she asked but another contraction came and she had to hunch forward. That time, it lasted for three minutes and she cried out in pain clutching her belly tightly.

After the pain subsided, her eyes widened as she felt something wet trickling down her legs. There was what looked like blood running down her leg. "Oh Mother of Night," Sarai gasped once before she groaned in pain as another contraction came on. She grabbed Seavers hand, which was closest to her and squeezed tightly, digging her nails into his skin.

 

[FursieTheFlixee]

Seavers nodded at her answers, thinking about what she said, trying to piece it together. He wouldn't really be able to confirm anything until he was able to do a pelvic exam. They'd gotten Sarai's skirts off and Seavers reached behind to grab a blanket from another bed, gently draping it over part of her to give her a feeling of some sort of privacy.

Aiden was surprised when Sarai asked about Riccardo, and he was about to turn around to go grab him, but Riccardo had heard and he entered the infirmary, coming up cautiously to Sarai's bed, still pale and wide-eyed scared.

"We're here," Aiden told Sarai, coming up closer to her bed.

Seavers gasped when she suddenly grabbed his hand, squeezing hard. His childish proportions made it so his hand was almost completely engulfed by her adult one "You're okay, Sarai. Just breathe," he said, soothingly, a bit of strain to his voice. When the contraction finally passed, he gently removed his hand from hers, trying not to show that it had really hurt him, but he carefully stretched his small hand. It hurt, but he was fine.

Aiden pulled up a chair besides Sarai's bed and took her hand in his. "Are you going into labor?" He turned to the doctor. "Is she going into labor?"

Seavers was pulling gloves on over his hands. He turned around and looked at everyone. "It's a likely possibility. Sarai, I'm going to examine your birth canal and cervix for dilation. At this point, my thought is you are going into premature labor. A week early still provides a high chance for a healthy baby, but there is a small risk for some complications that we are prepared for."

Riccardo inched a little closer to Sarai's bed as Seavers went in to examine her. Part of him wanted to run until everything was calm and okay, but he knew he couldn't do that. "Isn't there something for the pain you can give her," he asked Seavers.

"Not until I can assess where she's at," Seavers told Riccardo, still in the process of physically assessing her. After just a few minutes, he moved away from her and looked at the three of them, before his eyes settled on Sarai. "You are several centimeters dilated already," he told her. "You are rapidly going through the labor process by the looks of things. Unfortunately..." He sighed. "Unfortunately, I cannot give you an epidural as rapidly as you are progressing because it can cause complications that I am not willing to risk."

Aiden groaned slightly in empathy, his free hand, the one not holding hers, rubbing up and down her arm.

 

[Aina]

((I think you missed the part about the blood but that's okay. I'll repeat it.))

Sarai saw the way Seavers flexed his hand and she felt guilty immediately. She hadn't even realized she was holding his hand so tightly. "I'm sorry," she muttered under her breath, she laid back into the pillows on the bed. She looked exhausted already and she hadn't even gone through labor yet.

Her worst fear was that there was something wrong with the baby. Her head tilted back into the pillow as she closed her eyes, trying to remain calm while he examined her. When he was done, she looked at him. Her eyes were already heavy. She wanted to sleep so badly.

Her face paled as he told her he wouldn't be able to give her an epidural. She had been hoping that he could. She had remembered reading about rapid labor and it scared her. The contractions were enough already but she knew that the labor would be worse. She tried not to think too much on the pain so she focused on Aiden's hand in hers instead.

She looked at Seavers seriously and she had to squeeze Aiden's hand momentarily while another contraction occurred. When it passed she spoke, "You make sure that the baby is safe. You do whatever you can to save them if something goes wrong. That's an order Seavers."

Her face twisted into pain again and she squeezed Aiden's hand the same way she did Seavers. "I can't do this," she gasped out loud. She waited for the contraction to subside before she let go of his hand. "How much longer?" she asked him even though she knew the answer. It could be hours before she was fully dilated. Sarai didn't care what happened to her, as long as the baby was healthy.

She began to fidget in the bed. It was becoming uncomfortable even with all the pillows propped up against her back. She was going to say that she was thirsty but another contraction stopped her from speaking. She felt this weird sensation below her belly and her stomach did a flip because she felt something trickle down her inner thigh. Her first thought was it was her water breaking but she reached down there and saw that it was red not clear. Her heart sank to her stomach, she pulled the blanket off and lifted the skirt of her dress slip to show Seavers.

She screamed out in pain suddenly as another unexpected contraction hit her. It was more painful than the last. She had no time to grip Aiden's hand so she grabbed the blanket. It took five minutes before it finished and Sarai had tears in her eyes. "I want to push," she said tiredly before another wave of pain came on. She held her belly, tears streaming down her face as she cried.

 

[FursieTheFlixee]

((Ugh. I did. That's what happens when I reply right after I wake up.))

Aiden looked to Sarai, worry on his face as she squeezed his hand. He continued rubbing her shoulder, trying to be comforting. She already looked so uncomfortable, in pain, and tired already. All he knew about labor was that it took a long time and he knew Sarai would be suffering for a while longer.

Seavers nodded seriously at Sarai. "Your baby is in good hands, Sarai." He smiled comfortingly at her. "I know you are in pain, but your labor seems to be perfectly normal, just progressing at a more rapid pace." He frowned slightly at her question. "Even with a more rapidly progressing labor, your labor can go on for quite some many hours and it really depends person to person."

The three men in the room watched as Sarai shifted and fidgeted in bed with the pain. Seavers set about getting everything to be ready for the birth and labor while Aiden remained holding her hand, Riccardo standing awkwardly nearby.

"In a few hours we'll meet the baby," Aiden was trying to soothe Sarai. He was quiet as Sarai suddenly reached down and brought up bloody fingers. His heart skipped a beat.

Riccardo's eyes widened at the blood and when she pulled the blanket away from her and lifted what was left of her skirts, he got pale. "Seavers," he shouted in panic.

Seavers was there immediately, staring at the blood on her inner thigh. He pulled on another pair of gloves. "Sarai, don't be alarmed. I'm going to test the viscosity with my fingers." He touched his gloved hand to the red discharge. "Please do not push. Until you are fully dilated, pushing can be detrimental to your health and the baby's." He looked at the discharge on his fingers.

"Is she okay? What is it? Is she okay?" Riccardo crossed his arms just for some sort of comfort.

Seavers looked between them all. "Sarai, you lost your mucus plug. It is a perfectly normal thing to happen during labor. Sometimes it can be a little bloody, but this amount is nothing to be worried about." He took off this pair of gloves and threw them away only to replace them with another clean pair. He moved up to the head of her bed. "You are in good hands," he promised her. "If anything is going amiss, I will tell you and I will do everything I can to save you and the baby."

Aiden squeezed her shoulder. "Sarai, Seavers has saved two out of three of us from death, I'm sure he can handle the baby's delivery."

Riccardo felt like he was already going to fall apart from stress. He knew they had several more hours to go of Sarai screaming and wriggling in pain and the whole time he'd be scared to death of something happening to her or the baby. It was going to be a rough few hours.

"Do you want a heated pad for under your back," Seavers asked Sarai. "More blankets, ice? I'm so sorry I can't do anything for your pain."

 

[Aina]

((Lmao its okay. I'm going to skip if that's alright.))

Sarai let out a tired breath when the contraction finally ended. She was comforted only slightly when he explained what had happened. Still, the sight of blood made her uncomfortable and scared.

She shook her head slightly, "I'm not worried about your ability Seavers." She wanted to say that if anything went wrong, she still wanted him to save the baby over her. She didn't get a chance as she was distracted again by the pain.

She nodded weakly at Seavers question having ignored what Aiden had been saying. She didn't mean to but she shrugged his hand off her shoulder. It wasn't helping her at all. She honestly wanted to leave the room entirely. She felt suffocated in there but she knew that Seavers wouldn't allow her.

She leaned forward in the bed, having to press her fingers into her back in some sort of comfort. That wasn't helping either. She was so tired that she collapsed back into the pillows. The burning in her throat was becoming apparent and she wondered if she should drink something to help her a bit. "I’m a little thirsty," she muttered under her breath. She was staring up at the ceiling, her forehead was covered in sweat and her eyes were heavy. She wasn't sure if she could handle more hours of this torment.

Two hours passed and Sarai had become quiet for once. She was snapping at everyone around her, angry that she was in so much pain and she couldn't do anything about it. She apologized every time she did, knowing that it was the pain but she didn't want them to hate her for it.

She was still trying to breathe a bit slow, her heart had started pounding rapidly during the first hour because of the anxiety of the oncoming labor. She was scared to death something would go wrong. Seavers told her she needed to calm down, for her blood pressure could rise and it wouldn't be anything good for her or the baby. Still, she went through the long contractions with a cry of pain. She never had a chance to prepare for the next one since they came after one another.

Everyone was being really patient with her which helped somewhat. Astraea had joined them at some point, hearing that Sarai was in the infirmary and she was going to give birth soon. She walked up to Sarai cautiously, handing her another cup of blood that she had requested. "Thank you Astraea," Sarai whispered faintly. Her body ached from tensing so much because of the pain. She was scared of course but anticipating seeing the baby already.

She cried out in pain suddenly and she clenched her eyes. After it went away she had to give back Astraea the cup before she spilled it all over the place. "Can someone read me a story…or-" she paused to exhale, "Sing to me please?" Her voice sounded so tiny and fragile when she spoke. She didn't care who fulfilled her request just as long as she was distracted.

Astraea looked over the boys, she felt terrible having to watch Sarai go through all this pain. She wasn't sure what to do but she looked at Seavers then. "Maybe we should check how far along she is again," she said. She wanted all this to be over for Sarai.

 

[FursieTheFlixee]

Seavers mostly stayed at the foot of Sarai's bed as the hours passed, constantly checking on her progress and fetching anything Sarai requested, letting the boys mostly stay where they were to comfort her. Unfortunately, it was just a waiting game, checking on her vitals and progress while they waited for her to dilate enough to push.

Riccardo was glad when Astraea entered because it was hard. It was so hard to watch Sarai in pain, crying out the whole time and not being able to do a thing about it. She looked so miserable and he felt awful for her. He was only reassured by Seavers' lack of worry for the situation. This was apparently normal, Riccardo told himself, and it would be done with in mere hours. They just had to wait.

Aiden nodded gratefully at Astraea as she brought Sarai a cup of blood. He was still holding Sarai's hand, letting her squeeze his sore palm with every contraction and trying to help remind her to breathe and soothe her the best he could. He doubted he felt nearly as tired as Sarai did, but it was an exhausting few hours, watching her cry out and wriggle as her body went through the torment. He had no idea labor could be so painful. He knew it was worse because it was a rapid delivery, but he didn't think he could ever watch Sarai go through this again.

Riccardo looked down at Sarai's request, taking a seat on the other edge of the bed. He started to move his hand to touch her, hesitated, and then leaned back beside her. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small book titled "Dragons Around the World."

He cleared his throat. "This is all I have," he apologized. "Um... I... hope you don't mind a folklore about a Korean dragon?" He cleared his throat, holding the book out in front of him. Across the page, surrounded by Asian words, was a beautiful illustration of a sad looking dragon. "There was a village on the edge of the mountains that was watched over by an old dragon who stood on the edge of a waterfall to keep an eye on the people there. The village didn't get many travelers, but it was always uncannily lucky. People always had just enough food and money that they never went without even during lean times. One year that was really harsh on the country brought the village to the emperor's attention and he decided to send people to it to find out why the famine hadn't affected this village. When his advisors couldn't figure out what made the village so prosperous, the emperor promised his daughter's hand to whoever could bring the same luck to the rest of the country..."

As Riccardo told the story, Seavers nodded at Astraea's suggestion and examined Sarai yet again. It was almost time. She was close and he could see the baby was in position to enter the birth canal whenever Sarai was ready.

"Almost," he said softly to Astraea.

Riccardo continued to tell the romance story of the emperor's daughter and the dragon. The dragon visited the daughter several times, in dreams at first and eventually in real life, promising her country riches like the village if she would take his hand. When the emperor heard this, he tried to have the dragon killed. The kingdom got worse, the famine spreading disaster over the whole empire. Eventually, the emperor had to agree to give his daughter to the dragon.

"And they were overjoyed," Riccardo was finishing the story. "The dragon turned into a beautiful man once they were married. Everyone was surprised, but even more thrilled to see him take their princess' hand. He still held the same luck he had as a dragon, blessing their land with prosperity and joy for the rest of his long life."

Seavers smiled as Riccardo finished, but he didn't give everyone long to enjoy the ending of the story. "Sarai, your next contractions are safe to finally start pushing. Your baby is in position perfectly and your body is ready for it. Remember to breathe. We're right here for you."

 

[Aina]

Sarai actually laughed when Riccardo took the tiny book from his pocket. She could not be surprised that he carried a book with him but she was glad. She closed her eyes as he read the title. "I like dragons," she muttered softly and she listened to him as he read.

His voice was so comforting to her that she was starting to fall asleep. The contractions didn't stop but at least she focused on the sound of his voice. Her eyes were still heavy with exhaustion that she really did want to go to sleep. Her body was rather tired as well. She wanted this all over.

It was when Seavers checked how far she was dilated one more time and confirmed that she could push, she opened her eyes. She inhaled sharply, using Aiden's hand to help her sit some more. She squeezed it rather tightly since the urge to push was overcoming her. She was thankful that Astraea went to her other side because she needed something else to grab with her right hand.
"Whenever you are ready Sarai," Astraea told her and she brushed her forehead with a slight smile. "Push Sarai," she told her.

Sarai didn't waste any time. She pushed as hard as she could, straining every muscle in her to hopefully finally relieve her of the pain. She was screaming as she pushed the second time however, it hurt more that time. "You are doing amazing Sarai," Astraea said happily, trying to get her to not think about the pain so much. "The baby is almost there. Push again," she told her and Sarai pushed.

"I can't anymore," she breathed out. Tears streamed down her cheeks again.

"You're almost there Sarai come on," Astraea squeezed her hand, wiping her forehead of the sweat. "Take a breath and one more push," she told her. Sarai closed her eyes, she felt so tired but she breathed in and out quickly, just as Astraea had taught her and she pushed as hard as she could. The final release, and she felt the baby immediately that Sarai knew it was done.

"Sarai!! The baby's right there. Oh my god!" she exclaimed happily, she kissed Sarai on the forehead and she grinned widely. "You did amazing," she said to her.

"But…he's not crying," Sarai gasped after a second. She tried to look to see if in fact, the baby was a boy or not but her eyes fluttered closed. She was dizzy all of a sudden, and her heart wouldn't stop pounding quickly. Her breathing became erratic, yet her grip on both their hands become lax. Astraea wasn't sure what was wrong but she assumed Sarai was just tired, however the lack of sudden color in her face made her worried and she checked her pulse. It was weakening far too quickly. "Sarai?!" she touched her cheek, "Sarai? Don't pass out sweetie. You have to stay awake."

She looked up and the baby was still, not making any noises. Her panic only worsened as Sarai wasn't responding. "You have to wake up Sarai," she said, but it was futile. Astraea looked down and she noticed the bedsheets covered in a lot of blood.

((I wasn't going to let anything happen but...I want everyone to freak out some more.))

 

[FursieTheFlixee]

Seavers helped coach Sarai through the pushing, reminding her to breathe and reassuring her as the baby started to descend from her uterus to the birth canal and finally start to emerge. "You are doing wonderfully," he said. "The baby is almost here. You are almost done." He smiled, remaining down at the foot, ready with the required materials for the baby and for Sarai's care afterwards. He was glad Astraea was there and he had the extra hands to help comfort and tend to Sarai or the baby should he need it.

"You can do this," Aiden told Sarai, kissing her hand. He knew it wasn't helping a lot, but he wanted her to know he was there at least. He looked on in amazement when Seavers suddenly lifted a tiny person in his arms, wrapping the baby up in a clean towel, cleaning off some of the fluid still on the child. He was about to bring the baby to Sarai when he realized something was going wrong.

Riccardo watched in horror, probably realizing before anyone that Sarai wasn't doing well. She lost color and went limp and he started to move up to her side, but everyone was around her and he felt like he would be in their way. Why were they so damn slow?

"Riccardo, take the baby," Seavers said, urgently, passing the baby to him without any input from Riccardo at all. He looked down at the bloody sheets, and quickly assessed Sarai, pushing and prodding at her until he figured out what was wrong. She had torn badly on the baby's way out and it was obvious there was some other issue as well. He suspected hemmoraging from the inside. His stomach dropped.

"Sarai, Sarai!" Aiden was yelling, squeezing her hand. He had gotten up, gently shaking her.

"Astraea, I'm going to need your help," Seavers said, urgently.

The baby had started crying and Riccardo held her out awkwardly from himself, terrified for Sarai, but rooted to his spot, holding the infant. He looked down at her, fussing over the newness of the world and her discomfort but he couldn't be bothered with that, terrified for Sarai. He wished someone else would take the baby. The cord hadn't even been cut and Riccardo stayed very still afraid to ruin something should he move.

"Aiden, listen to her heart. Tell me if there is any difference. I can hear it getting weaker." Seavers was quickly taking control of the situation as usual. "Astraea, come down here. I need another set of hands!" He turned and grabbed his medical torch off the mobile table he'd set aside for any tools he might need. "Hook her to an IV immediately. We need a transfusion started and... and get the defribillator just in case." He really hoped he wouldn't need to use it yet again.

He held the medical torch and a thick, gauze pad in one hand before moving in and using the torch to quickly cauterize the tearing closed. The hemorrage was going to be the tricky part. She was losing blood rapidly. He reached for the table, grabbing a blood thickener and using that on where he believed the blood was flowing from. It was a difficult spot and he was truly afraid for her life.

"Seavers, she's getting really cold," Aiden said, nervously, holding one of Sarai's hands in his and the other on her cheek.

The baby was still screaming and Riccardo was holding her closer to him, watching the scene and feeling as helpless as the baby in his arms. He jumped when Seavers told Astraea to get the defribillator. He could hear Sarai's heart failing just as well as the other two vampires in the room and he was scared. "Seavers -"

Seavers didn't look back at Riccardo when he said his name, continuing his work. However, he did speak to him. "Riccardo, cut the umbillical cord, longer rather than shorter. I will take care of it better. Take the baby outside and make sure she is warm. Try to feed her if you can. Please."

Riccardo hesitated, wanting to drop the baby and go to Sarai's side rather than leave with the infant. He wouldn't dare, but Sarai's state wasn't looking great. His hand shook as he took the medical shears from Seavers' table and cut the cord, leaving about a foot of it. He finally got a glimpse of the baby and realized she was a little girl. He wrapped her up, the baby still squirming and crying loudly, but he left with her outside.

Riccardo stood outside the infirmary doors. Without everyone around, the stress of Sarai, and everyone rushing about her trying to help, it felt very very quiet. Even with the baby crying, he felt quiet and alone out in the hall. He tried to remember what Seavers had told him to do. "Warm. Make... Make sure you're warm." He could only think of the fire in the library. The library where everything was always safe and warm and he started for it immediately. As he passed a servant on the way there, he asked for blood in a bottle and told the servant that he would be in the library.

Riccardo was trembling, terrified of what was happening in the infirmary, but the baby was still wailing. He took a seat by the fire again and cradled the child to his chest. "It's... It's okay to be scared," he told the child. "But your mother is very strong. She can get through anything. It's okay."

The servant arrived back at the library, with the bottle of warm blood. Riccardo took it graciously and tried to offer the head of it to the upset baby. She didn't take it immediately. He gulped, setting the bottle back down and rocking the baby. "You're okay. You're okay."

((That's okay. Haha. Gives Riccardo a moment to be forced with the baby alone.))

 

[Aina]

Astraea nodded her head quickly, waiting to hear Seavers' next order for her. She removed the pillows from behind Sarai so she could lay her down. She ran over to put some gloves on, hooked both a blood bag and an IV into Sarai's arms. Hopefully, the fluids would help her get her strength back. She looked on as Dr. Seavers worked on her, worried that Sarai would die.

She was helping Seavers the best she could, taking and giving tools when needed. It didn't seem like Sarai was doing any better at this point and Astraea swallowed hard. The defibrillator was behind them, waiting to be used if needed. Astraea hoped that they wouldn't need it and was watching as Seavers continued working on Sarai.

Since he had gotten the bleeding to stop, Astraea swore she saw a little color coming back into Sarai's face. She was still unresponsive, however, which worried her even more. She looked over at Aiden and she was going to tell him to go help Riccardo but she looked over at Sarai laying there quite still.

Sarai's body was working hard to heal itself. Her body was quickly taking in the blood and her face wasn't so pale anymore. Astraea had no idea if her heartbeat was beating anymore but she grabbed the defibrillator, ready to use it as soon as Seavers was done. "She's not responding," she muttered her breath and she went to charge up the paddles, ready to shock her but Sarai's eyes fluttered open. She looked up weakly, and whispered, "Where's the…baby?"

((Wow this is really short. I'm so sorry. Wanted to get something up quickly before I went to work.))

 

[FursieTheFlixee]

Seavers worked tirelessly quick as he tried to save Sarai, paying no mind to Astraea and Aiden, really. He was getting her stable, but he was worried it wouldn't be fast enough. She'd lost so much blood so quickly.

Aiden just stayed by Sarai's head, listening for her heart beat to alert Seavers if it got too weak or irregular. As Seavers and Astraea worked, Aiden felt hope when Sarai's heartbeat steadied out and started getting slightly stronger with every beat. He felt some relief, but he wasn't sure if they were in the clear yet.

When Seavers realized Astraea was readying the defibrillator, he looked up, alarmed, wondering if she'd noticed something he was missing, but her vitals seemed to be balancing out and he started to put his hand out, tell Astraea the paddles weren't needed, when Sarai opened her eyes.

Aiden let out a happy sob when Sarai's eyes opened. He bent down and kissed her forehead. "Oh thank the mother," he murmured. He chuckled weakly at her question, glancing at Seavers and Astraea a moment before looking down at Sarai again. "Riccardo has the baby," he reassured Sarai, realizing he still didn't know the gender himself. "Astraea," Aiden said, turning to look at her. "Do you think you could go get them?" He didn't want to leave Sarai's side even to bring the baby to her.

Seavers felt so relieved that Sarai was fine, but he still had work to do. "Sarai, my dear, you suffered some heavy tearing and hemorraging from the birth. I stopped the bleeding and you are stable, but I do need to give you some stitches. You might feel some discomfort, but I imagine your body is tired and a little numb." He smiled at her. "But your baby looked healthy. She started crying not long after you left us. I will be able to properly assess her when Riccardo brings her back."

"She," Aiden asked, amazed that Seraphine was right. He chuckled. "Well, I'll be damned. Your sister is going to be so happy."

--

Riccardo was still cradling the infant in his arms, trying to soothe her. She was settling down, though, her cries turning into whimpers as she warmed by the fire and Riccardo's chest. With her calming down, Riccardo looked at her curiously, trying to keep himself from thinking about the infirmary too hard.

"You're very small," Riccardo told the baby, softly, furrowing his brow. "And skinny." But from the research he had done, this was normal for a premature baby. "But..." He looked at the thick, black hair that poked out from under the soft towel around her. "You have a lot of hair." He smiled just slightly. "Dark, thick hair."

He reached for the bottle again. "Do you want to try to drink now? Are you thirsty now?" He offered the bottle out to her, putting it at her lips. At first, she squirmed and turned her head, but then her lips parted and she took the head of it in her mouth. Her eyes opened finally. "You have very dark eyes," he told her. "It runs in the family, unfortunately." He looked down, his own dark eyes studying her.

A moment later, and she refused the rest of the bottle, and Riccardo put it to the side again. She turned slightly more against his chest and yawned. Riccardo felt like he was going to melt. He didn't think he could love something so much so fast.

"You're like a beautiful little light in the world," he told her, softly as she seemed to be falling asleep, her eyes closing again. "Your mom is, too. She'll be okay and you'll get to meet her soon."

((I didn't expect Riccardo to attach to her so quickly. I was planning to write about how awkward he was being, but he had his own plan in mind and his part was way different than I was planning on writing.))

 

[Aina]

Sarai smiled faintly. But for a second she panicked because she didn't see or hear Riccardo near by. "Where is he?" she whispered. It hurt a lot to talk but she wanted to know where the two of them were. She was desperate to find out that the baby was okay.

Astraea stepped back in relief as Sarai spoke up. She placed the paddles down, staring in shock. She was so happy that Sarai was okay. It took her a moment to realize she was frozen on the spot. She was full of joy that everything turned out okay. Shaking herself out of her daze, she nodded her head and turned around to go get Riccardo.

Sarai hardly heard what Seavers was telling her. She was so preoccupied with not seeing the baby yet. It was when he said "she" that her eyes weakly opened and they lit up. "It's a girl?" She subconsciously squeezed Aiden's hand. Her heart sped up but it was only because she was relieved that her baby was okay. A slight smile appeared on her lips at that thought. Her baby.

Astraea walked down the hallway, wondering where Riccardo was. She had to ask a servant if they had seen him. One finally told her that he was in the library. She opened the door cautiously and saw him, the baby cradled to his chest. Her eyes watered at the sight of him.

"Hey," she whispered softly, incase the baby was asleep. She went up to him, looking down at the infant and her face brightened immediately at the sight of her. "She's so beautiful Riccardo," she told him with a smile.
"Sarai's waiting. She's doing much better," she told him.

((I love it. It's heartwarming but also sad too. I'm so happy he got to hold her first.))