Ready or not, here they come. (Private)

[Selena Ile Andra]

Fourth cycle of Melora, Season of Spring

Life In Nexus Prime had soon become routine as Selena went through day to day, each day bringing her closer to the brightening when she would bring her twins into the world. She had been staying with Aydyn and that made things easier on the young elf, knowing fully well that she would be bringing up her two kids alone, no father to speak of. Well she knew who the father was, but she would die before she allowed that murdering bastard near them. Selena was unsure if Keldon would want to take care of another man's infants and being that he was involved in politics, Selena could see him very busy, so even if she did stay with him, she would most likely do most of the parenting.

She had felt especially tired that day as she woke up late in the brightening. Aydyn wasn't there in the apartment when Selena woke that morning and while she didn't know where her friend had gone, she figured she would see her again later that brightening, maybe she was at the gardens. Deciding that Sania had missed Selena since Selena hadn't really been riding since returning to Nexus. She slipped into a light blue cotton dress and soft slippers and began her walk to the stables which boarded her beautiful pitch black mare.

Springtime in Nexus was so beautiful, the air smelling sweet and fragrant, though nowhere near as beautiful as Natura had been. Wishing to take her twins there someday, she smiled as she walked along, the sound of footsteps coming up behind her and she had to roll her eyes. Keldon had been protective of her and since he couldn't leave Paxia and his post, so he sent guards with her. Three guards had arrived with her back to Nexus Prime and while she usually allowed one to follow her around, there were times when she slipped away from them, it was fun at times, though they didn't like it.

One of the guards who Selena had gotten used to now followed her, a look on his face just daring her to try and get away. He realized that she had such a stubborn streak in her that made it hard to guard her, didn't mean he wouldn't try. He could imagine Keldon's anger if Selena came to harm while they were there, wouldn't be pretty. They had been told to view Selena as though she were Keldon's wife or heir.

Arriving at the stable, Selena slowly groomed her horse, smiling as the guard chose to help with her. The guards really were friendly, just very irritating at times. She had just given Sania water when she felt a sharp pain in her stomach, causing her to bend over in pain. Was something wrong with the babies or was it time? She felt panic overwhelm her as another pain came over her, this one not as bad as the first one. "Oh Gods, it hurts." She said, her voice filled with pain. She needed to get back to the apartment or at least somewhere because they were coming soon and there was nothing she could do about it. Walking slowly, with the guard's help, they began walking back to the apartment, slowly, stopping every so often to give her some rest.

Once they made it to the apartment, Selena lay on the bed and lay her head on the pillow. "Please get Aydyn." She said to one of the guards, Aydyn had wanted to be her midwife and would know what to do. "She's either at the Gardens or the tavern." She was confidant the guards would be able to find Aydyn and bring her back, while one went in search of Aydyn, the other two stayed behind. "I need one of you to ride to Paxia and tell Keldon the twins are born." She knew the twins would be born by the time Keldon was told about it, perhaps he would come visit them.

[Aydyn Blair]

It was seldom that Aydyn found her way to the tavern, very seldom, for she greatly disliked the bustle and the noise and found it a poor atmosphere for Noah. That brightening she had taken Noah to the gardens, the babe strapped to her chest as they walked along the path. She was largely quiet as they walked, absorbed in her own thoughts. Nexus was not the place she would have chosen to stay for several months as her friend lay thick with pregnancy. The smells were harsh when she thought back to Acumin and the city was crowded. Too crowded. Why did people want to live this way? She didn't understand it. She didn't understand it at all. But despite that she humored her friend. She had promised to stay and help her, a promise that Aydyn had no intentions of breaking regardless of discomfort the city and its atmosphere pushed down on her. Selena was her friend and she cared about what became of her. She wouldn't bail on her. Not now.

She turned a corner, her finger briefly clenched in Noah's tiny hand and released almost as quickly--the infant was growing in what she could and could not do, but she still could not hold much for own--and smiled at her daughter's delighted giggle as a butterfly fluttered past. "I know, very pretty." Aydyn smiled and kissed the girl's head of dark hair...and came to an abrupt stop as she saw a guard hustling towards her along the path. He looked a little winded, as if he'd come from somewhere quickly. Her first thought was of Selena for obvious reasons, her second thought of what dangers could have possibly come to pass.

She did not wait for the guard to come to her, but moved forward to greet him.

The news was passed and although there was excitement in the announcement--Selena had gone into labor!--there was a swell of alarm, too. Something could go wrong. Something could always go wrong. Had she even found a midwife? Aydyn hadn't thought to ask. She should've asked.

With her arms holding Noah steady against her chest, she followed the guard back to the apartment and hurried in, unstrapping Noah and handing her quite nimbly into the arms of one of the guards regardless of any protests. "Are you okay? The contractions, do you know how far apart they are? Did you call for a midwife? Did you speak to a midwife about being here?" The words tumbled out, alarmed as she grasped for her friend's hand.

[Selena Ile Andra]

Selena lay on the bed, the poor guard standing there next to her, unsure of what to do in such a situation. He had been asked by Keldon to keep watch over the young woman and keep her from harm, but that was possible in this situation. He was a trained soldier but he had no use as a midwife and Selena hadn't told him if she had sent for one or even where to find one in Nexus. He only hoped this woman Aydyn was a midwife or knew what she was doing, perhaps Aydyn would know if a midwife lived nearby, he didn't know the young woman well enough to know she had just come to Nexus herself for the first time.

Another spasm of pain hit Selena and she clenched the sheets below her, she didn't know anything about birth and had always been to shy to ask. Was it supposed to hurt this much? She couldn't help but feel sorry for the soldier who had been left behind with her, the look of worry on his face was touching, though who knew if he was really worried about her or worried about getting in trouble if anything happened to her. Oh Gods let them find Aydyn soon. Selena hadn't thought this day was coming for a little while longer, so her preparations for a midwife had been held off, foolish of Selena since she had gone into labor earlier then expected.

She cried out in pain after a few moments went by, the contractions being about nine minutes apart and growing closer, she just wanted to close her eyes and die from all the pain she was feeling. She heard the door to the apartment open and looked over to see Aydyn come in, Noah in her arms. Selena would try to muffle her cries of pain so not to scare Noah, knowing the little girl wouldn't understand what was going on with her.

A new mother's fear came into play as she lay there, would the infants be born safely, they were being born early and she knew the chances of survival were slim the earlier they were born. Selena had looked away for a moment and then looked back to see Aydyn at her side, Noah had been given to a rather relucant looking guard who didn't seem to know what exactly to do with the baby. Aydyn took Selena's hand and despite all the pain she felt, it gave her comfort to have Aydyn there now. How far apart were the contractions? "I think about nine minutes." She said, her face wincing from the pain in her stomach. She couldn't get over the fact that there was something wrong, something wrong with her or her babies, she wasn't sure which. "No, no midwife." There was a bit of shame in her voice when she spoke, but she figured she couldn't really feel guilty at the moment.

She tried her best not to squeeze Aydyn's hand too hard as another spasm of pain passed through her, her cry muffled as best she could. "Oh gods it hurts." She wanted to be strong, to get through this and she would. "Could someone find a midwife or someone to help me, I think there is still some time." She hated putting this responsibility on Aydyn or the guards, but she had no choice at the moment.

[Aydyn Blair]

Aydyn did not complain as the young woman clamped her hand down hard, working through the pain. She remembered feeling the pain during her own labor, although she'd been surprisingly unaffected by it, as if a calm had descended upon her and kept her from the panic that Selena seemed to be experiencing now. She brushed a hand over Selena's face to reassure her. But Aydyn didn't remember it being like this. Nothing like this. Everything had gone quickly for Aydyn...and her baby hadn't been early.

"No midwife?" Oh feth. That could be a set back. She glanced at the guards, not at all sure if they knew the first thing about a woman giving birth to a baby. Men didn't really belong in the birthing room. It was a woman's place; men only managed to get themselves underfoot. She'd learned that attending the birthings of her nieces and nephews. The men were given tasks to do, to keep them otherwise occupied while the women saw that everything went smoothly. Hopefully went smoothly. Right then things weren't going so smoothly.

Though she would have preferred to do it herself, she pointed at the guard not holding her child. "You, go find a midwife. If you don't know where to find one ask. Be quick, go go," she shooed him out the door, turning back to Selena before she saw his back leave through the doorway.

"He'll go fetch you a midwife. Is there anything to boil water with? Do you have any clothes handy?" She'd learned a little of what to do while helping her mother and the midwife with her sister-in-law. Water and clothe were essential. "Even if it's just a shirt or something that can be ripped up, that's fine, too." She kept her hand in Selena's grip, painful as her friend's iron squeeze was. She'd promised her support and wasn't going anywhere...unless, of course, she had to.

[Heartbreaker]

Word passed quickly through the crowd just as all information normally did. Anything out of the ordinary of normal life was something to be gossiped about.

On this brightening however, fate was with Selena. As word passed, it encountered a midwife that just so happened to be passing by. She didn’t know whether or not there was already such a person overseeing the birth but felt it part of her duty to at least inquire.

Pushing her way through the people, the elf found it rather difficult to figure out exactly where the would-be patient was…but that didn’t stop her. She kept pushing and almost literally crawling her way through the patrons before stumbling…-almost- literally…into a laboring Selena.

By then, however, she was rather short of breath.

“ Midwife….baby…..labor….time?”

Assuredly, she was an extremely competent midwife. It just didn’t –sound- like it at that moment. Once she caught her breath, everything would be fine.

[Selena Ile Andra]

Selena had to close her eyes a few times, the sheer pain of it all enough to take her breath away. What would happen since there was no midwife, the men all stood around with puzzled looks on their faces, a lot of good they were. She wanted to yell at them to get out and leave her alone, everyone except Aydyn of course who's hand Selena grasped tightly. It was a good thing Selena wore no finger jewlery or Aydyn would be in a lot more pain then she most likely was at that moment.

This would be hard because this wasn't just one baby that coming but two of them, thank the gods Hsin had told her as such or she would have never known. Another spasm of pain hit hard and she couldn't hold back a loud cry of pain, hopefully not scaring Noah though it wouldn't be a surprise if the small infant started fussing or crying. It was regretable that Selena had not gotten a midwife and now she was afraid that her mistake would cost one of her infants or both.

It was thankful that Aydyn had taken charge of the situation, giving orders to the men and having them do as she said, though they seemed frozen for a moment, one of them still holding Noah tightly. Would they even be able to find a midwife, would they know where to look to find one. All these worries might have possibly made the pain worse then it should have been. Something to boil water in? "Uh yeah, there should be a bowl over in the small kitchen area." Her hand clenched the sheets below as another spasm came over her, the contractions were coming closer together. "In my bag, I have a spare dress that you can use."

Selena had no idea that Nexus Prime would be gossiping about the fact that she had gone into labor, she didn't see people around her when she had felt the sudden pains, though if nothing else had transpired that was remotely interesting. It was fate that a passing midwife had heard of her labor and came to investgate, thank Gods above.

She came over to Selena who cried out in pain again, the woman was breathless, looking over at her for a moment, Selena wondered for only a second who she was, her first word telling of what she was. Selena only hoped this midwife was good at what she did, Selena was afraid that something was wrong, her heart pounding loudly in her chest. "Please help...help my babies." She said softly, fear in her voice and jade eyes. There was no definite that there was something wrong with her babies, but she couldn't help but think that way.

[Aydyn Blair]

Aydyn jerked around in shock as the midwife came barreling through the doorway. That was certainly lucky, wasn't it? "Yes, she just went into labor. She's early. Too early. She's carrying twins," she informed her, squeezing Selena's hand even as she turned back to her friend. "It'll be fine. Everything's fine. See? The midwife's here. Everything will be fine."

She pried her fingers from Selena's grasp a little reluctantly, knowing that she would be of better use getting the water heated and the ready, the dressed pulled into strips. "I was going to get some water ready, some clothe set out. Did you need anything else?" she asked of the midwife, even as she stepped past her to start towards the kitchen area. She directed one of the guards standing around not holding her baby to get some water ready and boiled and looked for the bowl herself, then the dress.

Because she needed both hands to rip apart the dress she could not hold her friend's hand, a task she felt important. She shoved the dress at the guard after he'd prepared the water and instructed him to rip them. "I just want a few. You don't need to decimate the whole thing." There. That should keep that one busy. The other one already had his hands full with Noah.

She sat back down beside Selena, sliding her hand back into her friend's. "Don't worry. It'll be fine. Everything will be fine," she reassured, as if she were the mother and this her daughter. She sat back then and tried to push aside her panic, to meditate and reach clara. She would twine the ara and the vis, combining it with the nature essence and shaping the spell with Divination. She would then release the Calming spell over her friend. The babies were early, but her friend would need to calm down and breathe before any structure could be had in the room. "Just take a deep breath, Selena," she murmured.

[Heartbreaker]

The midwife was coming into the situation at the worst place: Smack in the middle. Never good but she would make the most of it. Kneeling down next to the laboring woman, conscious of where the other woman was, she placed her palms against the mother’s belly and closed her eyes, seemingly slipping into an advanced state of meditation.

When her eyes opened, she smiled and spoke softly to Selena.

"The babies are fine…just early, as twins normally are. I sense no signs of distress whatsoever. These things are usually easy to spot and I sense nothing out of the ordinary. The babies seem anxious so let’s get them into the world, shall we? Tell me, are you feeling at all like pushing? The reason I ask is because a woman’s body will naturally want to push the baby out when its time for that to occur. It is a very obvious thing. If you don’t and just feel the contractions then we aren’t there yet. Do you understand?"

Appreciative of what the other girl, Aydyn, was doing although she wasn’t sure exactly what was going on, it was obvious that this birth was going to move along very quickly.

[Selena Ile Andra]

Everything will be fine. Selena chanted that to herself as she lay there, the pain was coming closer together and she knew soon it would be time to push them out. This wasn't right, they were too early and shouldn't be coming yet. Though who could argue with them, they were coming whether Selena liked it or not, thank the Gods that Aydyn was there with her and of course, thank the Gods for the midwife who had somehow found Selena. She felt bad for the grip she held on Aydyn's hand and reluctantly allowed Aydyn's hand to slip from her own, knowing Aydyn had other things that needed to be done. Her gaze was on the ceiling for the longest time, trying to keep her shrieks of pain down, if only something could ease the pain she was feeling and the fear for her twins that she felt.

She could hear the sound of fabric ripping but didn't much care, she had many dresses thanks to Hsin and losing one meant little if it helped her during this time. She heard Aydyn's voice again and felt the comforting feeling of Aydyn's hand in hers, though this time Selena did her best not to squeeze her hand too hard. "Everything will be fine." Once again she was thinking that, perhaps this was normal in a birth, this much pain and fear going through a mother's mind, if that was the case, it was a wonder people wished to be pregnant. She couldn't help but curse Dimitri in her mind, he was the reason she was going through so much pain, if only she could find a way to pay him back for all the suffering he had caused. She had been given the choice back when Hsin had agreed to repress the memory of the rape. He had given her the choice to seek out Dimitri and have the power to destroy him, but in exchange she would give up her infants, she had chosen to keep her babies in exchange for revenge, who knew if she had made the correct choice.

She didn't see what Aydyn was doing, so lost in her own thoughts, but she felt the effects of the spell that had been cast. It took a few moments, but Selena slowly began to calm down, her breathing returning to almost normal, the pain was still there and so was the fear, but the panic was lessening. Doing as she was told, she took a deep breath and released it, feeling some of the tension escaping with the breath. She looked up at her friend and mouthed "thank you" to her, her voice too shaky to really use.

A hand touched Selena's stomach and Selena's attention refocused on the midwife who was so kind to help when she didn't have to. Selena knew better then to speak, knowing that the woman was most likely meditating, though how she could go into meditation so quickly and with all the noise around her, Selena couldn't tell. Selena simply watched her, biting back the pain as best she could in hopes the woman could tell her the state her children where in and if they would be ok. When she did finally open her eyes, she smiled softly, which caused her to sigh in relief, a smile meant something good hopefully.

They were fine..Selena never felt so much relief as she did then, her twins weren't in danger and hopefully neither was she, though surely the midwife would know that as well. So twins were normally early, that was good to know, her fear lessened with this information along with the spell that Aydyn had cast. Girls? So they were twin girls, how could the woman know for certain. Selena had been so sure that they were both boys, dreams of two boys had come often as had dreams of a boy and a girl. Not that Selena was picky of the gender of her children, just so long as they were healthy. Pushing had come to Selena's mind a few times as she lay there and now she knew why, there was so manay things Selena hadn't known about giving birth and really she should have looked into getting a midwife before this had happened, but Selena was a procrastinator and she had thought she had more time.

She nodded her head to show she understood and braced herself against another wave of pain. "I feel...like pushing." She said quickly, not sure if she should start pushing or wait, she decided to start pushing and would stop if she was told by the midwife to stop. She gripped Aydyn's hand as she began pushing.

[Aydyn Blair]

Aydyn clung to her friend's hand as she began to push. "Squeeze as hard as you want," she assured her friend...although she was more than certain that she wouldn't pay any mind to just how hard to gripped Aydyn's fingers at all--it wasn't the sort of thing that really seemed to matter when you were trying to squeeze a living being out of your body. And in this instance there were two.

The druidess wrapped her free hand around Selena's as her friend clenched her fingers around Aydyn's, a gentle, reassuring touch. She was here for her friend. She wasn't going anywhere. The midwife's words...ah, but they were reassuring! Twins...they were just early, that's all. No harm there at all. She hoped it was true.

[Heartbreaker]

The midwife was trying to concentrate on Selena’s body and the signs that were being presented. The time was close at hand and hearing the girl proclaim that she wanted to push just confirmed that fact.

“ Good..then push. Your body will tell you what it needs. If you listen to your body and do what it asks of you, you will never be wrong. Push with the contractions and rest inbetween. It may take a little time but with the babies being early, they will probably be small and not that difficult to push out.”

Giving the scene a good look, she took a deep breath and watched the progress of the birth. One of the things that midwives had to accept is that they were really a supporting role in the whole birthing business. A woman’s body would do most everything needed to expel the infant and only in a few cases would a midwife really be needed.

The first few pushes did what they supposed to and she felt the first baby proceed down into Selena’s lower body. Another push brought a beautiful little head into her hands, which she promptly flushed out its mouth with fresh water.

“Good girl…the first baby’s head just came out…another few pushes should see it clear.”

[Selena Ile Andra]

The pain was still great as the contractions continued, but because of Aydyn's spell and presence and the midwife's assurance that the infants were going to be fine, she was able to calm down, the panic nearly gone. She closed her eyes for a few moments to try to regain control of her heart beat and breath, wishing there was a way to rid herself of the pain, but she figured it was something every mother went through at this time. She had felt ready to push and when the midwife told her to, she began, squeezing Aydyn's hand tightly with each push.

She would clench her teeth and push hard and then stop to rest when she felt she needed to, she was doing what the midwife had said, she was listening to her body and while she didn't know what she was doing, her body did. Being that they were early, they would be small and would require extra care to keep from getting sick, but Selena was just happy they were going to be safe. The first few pushes were the hardest and caused the most pain, but as she continued, it got a bit easier, though the pain didn't lessen all that much. She would have to thank Aydyn after this was all over for being at her side through all this, she was such an amazing friend.

She had stopped to rest again and smiled faintly when she heard the midwife speak again, her first baby's head had come through and would soon be out. Gritting her teeth she began to push again, trying to get her first baby out quickly so the other could come out, she just wanted this over so she could hold them both in her arms and then rest. At that moment, Selena took the time to look around abit and noticed with some amusement that only one guard remained, the one that held Noah in his arms, he was far off near the kitchen speaking with Noah and trying to ignore Selena and the others as best he could, poor guy. The other guard had hopefully left already to tell Keldon of the birth.

Come on babies, I'm anxious to meet you both.

[Aydyn Blair]

Aydyn folded her other hand around Selena's as she squeezed. Feth but the girl had a good grip, elvish though she was. She didn't try to loosen the young woman's grip, but merely stroked the squeezing hand with her free fingers, murmuring gently as she sat by. There was little else she was able to do until the babies came out, for surely the woman would need some assistance if there were, in fact, two and not just one.

"It's all right. Almost there, Selena. It's all right," she murmured gently, her tone soft and reassuring.

She looked back at the woman, becoming a little anxious. This was happening quickly. Hopefully everything would be all right. She hoped. "You're almost there, sweetie. Just a little more."

[Heartbreaker]

Selena’s body was giving her all the right signs, and it was a good thing that she was listening to them. After moments of waiting and hoping, the first baby was finally expelled out after a vicious push by the anxious mother, straight into the midwife’s arms.
Smiling, she finished clearing out the baby’s mouth, cutting the cord and running some water over the infant’s face, causing him to finally give out a loud cry of irritation.

A very beautiful cry though.

Smiling, she carefully wrapped the baby up and nestled him onto Selena’s chest for a moment. The other baby would be ready to make her apperance shortly so time was of the essence.

"Congratulations. You have a beautiful baby boy. Say your hellos and let your friend finish getting him cleaned up. Your body is allowing you a precious few moments to rest but soon enough, his sibling will be along."

For the moment, the world was perfect.

[Selena Ile Andra]

After a final push and a cry of pain, Selena could feel a certain weight out of her, she was covered in sweat and her voice was coming hoarse from all her cries of pain, but it was all worth it and more when she saw the midwife hold her son in her hands. She rested from all the strain he had caused on her body, panting a bit and then smiled as she heard the most beautiful sound, the sound of an infant, her infant boy crying. While she wouldn't enjoy the sound of crying later, right now it was wonderful because it meant that her son was born and was perfectly fine.

She couldn't help but beam as the midwife carefully wrapped the crying baby and lay him in Selena's arms. He was so tiny and beautiful, she now realized what Aydyn had meant when she said it had been worth it, holding her first born son in her arms, she never wanted to let him go. Had the midwife not spoken and reminded Selena that she was not finished, she wouldn't have relinquished her hold on her son. She leaned down and gently kissed her son's forehead, smiling at the warmth he brought, but she had to give him over to Aydyn so she could bring his sibling into the world as well.

"Hello my son." Her soft words were enough to halt his crying for a few moments, the warmth from being wrapped up and then being held so close to his mother was soothing. It was actually harder then she believed to hand him over to Aydyn, feeling her body ready to begin pushing. "Be careful with him." She said softly, she wasn't implying that Aydyn was careless or unsure around children, she was just cautious and would have said that to anyone.

With him with Aydyn, Selena was able to concentrate on bringing her second child into the world, she did as she had before, pushing as much as she could and then resting in between, it was painful and made her wonder if these two would be her first and last. She found it easier to listen to her body then she had originally thought and since the twins were early, they were easier to bring out then if they had waited full term.