Chapter 66

0 Days pregnant.

Livia snapped awake to the pressuring need to stand up right now.

She throws the covers off her body and somehow manages to bumble to the edge of the bed and remain vertical through the screaming pain that was the contraction trying to rip her apart from the inside out. The floor was cool and brought a small amount of relief as she sways on her trembling feet. Livia turns immediately to brace herself on her bed and breathes as she spreads out her legs.

The urge to push was overpowering and undeniable.

Livia gives in to it and pushes with a low, straining grunt.

Pain, pain, pain. Burning and stinging. Along with a heavy pressure between her legs, ripping her open. Her fingers tangle into the covers and she tears at them as her face twist into an ugly grimace.

“Livia,” Sen was suddenly by her side, a hand hovering over her back.

“Where,” Livia groans and breathes, “Where is Beth!?”

“She just left a few minutes ago,” Sen says, “To get a fresh supply of water.”

“Ugh, fucking hell,” Livia nearly collapses as the drawn-out contraction and the urge to push finally fades. She keeps her legs apart. She wasn’t even sure if she could even close them even if she wanted to. Because she was pretty sure her son was somehow already freaking crowning.

Somewhere between the small nap, her body had abruptly decided it was ready to give birth.

What a fucking rude motherfucker.

Livia had all but wished for her labor to speed up, but now that it was happening, she realized she still had a million and one things she still needed to do! She wasn’t ready. She wasn’t ready!

STOP, please, she begs silently in her head in a sudden, flailing panic.

Sen's arms wrap loosely around her, holding her up. Livia, without an ounce of shame, clings to him and buries her head into his chest. His scent was familiar. As well as his touch and warmth. As much as she loathed to admit it, it grounds her and brings her some much-needed comfort.

The panic dims.

Slightly.

It was happening. Right now. With no warning or rhyme. Mentally, she was running and circles and screaming bloody murder at the top of her lungs. Outwardly, she blinks hazily. Almost serenely.

“I-I think it is time to push,” Livia says with a shallow laugh. Then she shoves Sen away from her, “Go get Beth.”

Sen does not move from her side. His arms are still positioned in the air to catch her again.

“She will be back soon,” he tells her, his face a mixture of complicated things that Livia was too tired to analyze. His yellow, inhuman eyes glowed in the dark, and vaguely, she realizes his ears were out as well, standing tall and alert on the top of his head.

He obviously did not want to leave her.

“Maybe you should lay down,” Sen suggests.

Livia, in fact, did not wish to lay down again. Sleep and fatigue permeate her body, but her knees did not so much as bend. To prove this point further, she steps away from the bed and waddles awkwardly to stand near the delicate lace that was to be her sons' bassinet while cradling the swell of her stomach.

She very pointedly ignores the droplets that trail after her on the floor and turns her back to Sen. As subtly as she could, Livia lifts up her thin dress and feels between her legs on unsteady feet.

Her fingers meet a round, sticky thing with hair.

That was that top of a head.

Her son's head was sticking out of her vagina.

Of fuck.

Livia, suddenly fearful that she was going to crush the almost doughy skull that was her baby head, spreads her legs further apart in a strange stance. Suddenly, sitting did not sound like a bad idea. However, she did not want to get back on the bed. Her eyes catch sight of the door of the nursery and she makes a beeline for it.

There was an old, wooden rocking chair inside with peeling white paint.

It would do.

“Where are you going?” Sen is a step behind her.

Livia maneuvers carefully around the sleeping forms of Liliana and Amaya. Her little sister was out cold, spread out like a starfish, and drooling on a pillow, while the maid suddenly sits up with clear dark eyes.

“What is happening?” Amaya asks, watching them. She stares at the way her employer ambles by.

“Go help Beth,” Livia orders curtly, “I’ll need the water and towels very soon.”

Amaya is already on her feet, half turned towards the door of the room, “It’s happening now? Seriously?”

Livia says nothing in reply as she passes through the nursery. She glances around the small room briefly before her eyes find the rocking chair. She heads straight for it and sits down on the edge of it.

Not even a second later, a new wave of pain begins to rise up. The urge to push along with it.

She spreads her legs as her body hunkers down automatically. Livia breathes through it and does not waste her precious air on a scream. She stays silent except for a low, bitten-off groan.

Ring of fire did not do the feeling of pushing a small living being out of oneself justice.

It stings, burns, and feels like Livia was being split apart from the middle down. Hastily, she reaches back between her legs, feeling blindly until she gently cradles the head of her son with a trembling hand.

Fuck.

Was that his shoulders!!?

Fuck! Fuck!

She really was going to be ripped apart!

Where was Beth!?

“Blanket,” Livia orders Sen through gritted teeth, “Give me a blanket,” Her fingers dig into the arms of the rocking chair, her feet braced on the ground to prevent it from moving.

To her relief, Sen doesn’t need to be told twice. He snatches up a quilt handing over the railing of the crib and falls to his knees in front of her.

“What do you need me to do?” Sen all but barks the question, his voice rough and unsteady. If Livia had the energy, she would take the time to marvel at the look on his face.

Sen was definitely panicking underneath the cold, forceful calm. His eyes were round and his knuckles were white as he clutched the blanket like it was a lifeline.

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“UGHn!” Livia bites clean through her lip before remembers she needs to breathe.

Her mouth flaps open and she takes in a breath at the same time her body pushes once more. With quick movements, she lifts up her dress so it was out of the way but still hiding everything from view. Not that it helped much, given that the thin fabric was quickly becoming stained. Ignoring it, Livia blurts out words while she still can.

“C-catch him-AUGH!” Livia lets’ go of her son's head as Sen moves forward with the quilt draped over his hands. She uses both hands to support herself on the chair and bares down as hard and gentle as she could.

Distantly, she hears the door to the room slam open, frantic voices, and the patter of feet, but that is all drowned out by her sigh of relief as the pressure gives and finally parts from her body with a slick thump. A wiggling red mass falls into Sen’s waiting hands, little fist and tiny feet kick and swing in the air, already gearing up for a fight.

A second later, a piercing wail shatters Livia’s eardrums.

She reaches out instinctively, her eyes drawing wide as she greedily takes in the sight of her son. Sen hands over the squirming baby at the same time Beth and Amaya appear in the doorway.

Livia sinks back into the rocking chair, the weight in her arms startling as she settles her baby against her, carefully cradling his head full of dark hair. He wiggles and screams a bit longer before he quiets down on her chest. Blindly, he nuzzles his little head into her breast, small little whimpers falling from his mouth.

“Shh, it’s alright,” Livia says sweetly, rocking her baby. She draws the soiled quilt tighter around him and shifts uncomfortably when the movement pulls on something. She looks down and realizes that the two of them were still connected.

She also notices that at some point, Beth had replaced Sen between her legs. She returns the smile directed at her from the midwife before her eyes are drawn back to her baby like a magnet.

“How does he look?” Livia asks absently, adjusting her hold on her son so he was cradled in her arms and not resting against her chest. Instantly, she forgets that she had spoken at all when she looks down.

Her baby’s eyes are open.

And they are staring directly up at her and into her soul.

Hazy and unseeing, purple, pinks, and blues swirl in their depths, a universe in the making. What it will settle on becoming will be told in time.

But none of it matters. Because Livia has already fallen. Right off the cliff and into an abyss. Love blooms like vines in her heart, coiling around it tightly.

Her baby gurgles up at her, his face a red, blotchy mess of drying fluids and swollen up from having been born. Most of his facial features weren’t discernible yet, and he only looked vaguely human, but it did not matter.

Livia was in love.

Suddenly, everything leading up to this moment gains a newfound value.

“Lady Livia...Lady Livia,” A gentle hand is placed on her knee to gain her attention.

She manages to turn her head in the direction of the voice, but her eyes do not stray away, “Hmm?” She answers, completely distracted.

“The umbilical cord is still attached. I need to cut it,” Beth says softly with a warm smile of melted honey, “Once I do, the physical connection between you two will be severed and your magic will be returned to you. But first, I think it is best that I get you two back to the bed. Is that alright?”

“Mmhm, sure,” Livia feels like her head was in the clouds. Even as her son's face scrunch up in warning of a small meltdown.

Beth's smile sweetens. Then she turns to Sen and Amaya standing behind her, near the door.

“Sen, if you wouldn’t mind helping Livia up? Walking will be a bit awkward with the cord still attached, but possible,” She says and stands up, “Amaya, please have everything ready. This will need to be a quick process.”

Amaya draws her eyes away from the bundle in Livia’s hands in nods slowly, her eyes round. She leaves the nursery to begin preparing. Sen steps forward and bends down to wrap an arm around Livia’s back and under her knees, carefully, as not to jar the mother and child, he lifts the two of them up.

Livia just snuggles her mewling son closer and tries to get comfortable. Her eyes still have not left his tiny, round little face. One of her sons' small little fists has a tight hold on her finger as he wiggles in the confines of the quilt.

As a group, Beth, Sen, Livia, and her baby leave the nursery as one.

Impossibly, Liliana remains blissfully asleep and has rolled to Amaya’s side of the blankets, snoring lightly away.

Livia is placed back on the bed with a small army of pillows propped at her back. The bassinet is removed from its cradle and placed directly onto the bed right next to her. Just in case, she supposes.

Sen steps to the side and out of the way but does not stray far.

As one, Amaya and Beth begin to work.

“We will tend to the two of you first,” Beth explains as she sits down next to them.

Livia and the baby are carefully cleaned and checked over in short order. Amaya and Beth easily work around Livia holding her son.

The familiar brush of Beth’s gentle magic moves along her skin as warm hands gentle prod and poke at her, healing along the way. The midwife also gently checks over the newborn baby staring blindly about, comforted in his mother's arms.

“How is he?” Livia asks softly, caressing a small round cheek. Her son turns into the touch and tries to gnaw on the fingers with his gums. He was no doubt very hungry. Livia will need to feed him very soon. But just for the moment, she wanted to stare a little longer.

“He is a healthy baby boy,” Beth announces proudly with a blinding beam of a smile, “I will have to weigh him at another time, but Sen did take note of the time he was birthed.”

“How is she?” Amaya pauses in dabbing away at the mess stuck to the newborn's skin.

At some point, Livia had given birth to the placenta and that is when Beth really sets to work on repairing the tears she hadn’t even noticed until she feels the dull sting of skin knitting back together.

“There was a bit of tearing,” Beth says and drops her hands, “But that is nothing out of the norm. Other than that, all is well. Of course, even with my healing, you will feel a bit sore in the coming days, Lady Livia. Recovering and resting is very important.”

“Is it normal for it all to just...happen so fast?” Amaya looks to both Livia and Beth for the answer, “I thought there would be a lot of waiting, and screaming or something. Not that I’m not happy that it all ended so quickly,” She adds, looking wide eye and still stunned.

“It is certainly a possibility,” Beth confirms, “Everyone and every birth are different. I am sad that I wasn’t able to help as much as I wished,” She gives Livia an apologetic look, “But sometimes, these things just happen. Birth is unpredictable more times than not.”

“It’s over, that is all that matters,” Livia says and presses a kiss to her dozing son's head.

Amaya and Beth share a look before they direct sappy eyes towards her.

Livia was so stupidly happy that she didn’t even roll her eyes.

She even returns it with a weak smile.

“What a beautiful sight you two make,” Beth says, her eyes watering.

Livia huffs, “Don’t cry,” She says weakly, rocking her son, “If you cry then I will cry, and I’m not sure I will be able to stop.”

Amaya sniffles, “Yeah Beth, don’t you dare cry!”

Livia groans, “Come on. Not you too.”

“Of fuck,” Amaya dabs at her eyes with the apron on her uniform, “Damn it, why is this getting to me?” Then she lets out a little giggle, “Liliana will be so angry once she realizes she missed all the fun.”

Beth looks over and down at the still slumbering girl, a bit amazed, “Indeed she will. But I think it is best that we keep the energy in the room to a minimum. It is early in the morning. She will get to see her nephew when she wakes. In the meantime,” The midwife gets up and moves closer to the bed, craning her neck down to peer at the newborn, “I think it is time that this little one had his first meal.”

As if on cue, Livia’s son's dark eyebrows scrunch up before tears spring out of his eyes as he lets out an angry cry. His little scrunched-up fist waves in the air as he kicks out.

Livia winces as the shrill cry rings in her ears.

Damn. Her son could scream. There was no sleeping through his displeasure in the near future. She wouldn’t be surprised if he had woken up the whole north wing.

“Let’s hope that he latches on the first try,” Beth was saying as she leans over to tuck down the quilt around the squirming newborn. She helps guides Livia and lets go as the cries die down.

Livia winces as her son finally latches on and frowns as he begins to suckle. It felt strange and hurt a bit. But it wasn’t as bad as she had thought. It was either this, or endure a wet nurse, and Livia was not keen on living her baby in the care of anyone but her own and the people she trusted unwaveringly.

She would breastfeed as long as her son needed.

So, Livia leans back into the pillows, her eyelids growing a bit heavily as she stares down at her little baby drinking his fill.

A yawn splits her face. Her whole body hurts.

But finally, it was done.

Livia has her son here, in her arms, and as healthy as he could ever be.

Her world has completely shifted on its axis, but the feelings solidifying inside her and becoming one with her being were not unfamiliar. Though, the speed in which it manifested did.

She becomes alert when her son's mouth becomes slack, his eyes shut as he slumbers. Without having to be told, Livia gently shifts him onto her shoulder and begins to pat expertly at his back until a small burp is heard. She smiles proudly at herself and returns her baby to the cradle of her arms to wipe away the drool and milk at his mouth.

Finally, she turns and gently sets him in the bassinet next to her and her eyes follow the trail of his umbilical cord, to the still-attached placenta floating above the bed in stasis.

It was time.

Even outside her body, the placenta connected Livia to her son, sealing her magic away.

A sharp glint of metal flashes and Beth silently presents the handle of a surgical knife. Amaya and Sen step closer on silent feet, watching attentively. Just in case.

“You must be careful,” Beth says as she gently undoes the quilt around the newborn's belly. She places two clamps onto the umbilical cord. Then she places a towel underneath to catch the droplets of blood. After, she turns the bassinet back towards Livia.

“All of your magic will return to you at once,” Beth warns, “Sometimes, on mothers who are particularly powerful, the process can be painful and overwhelming. You must relax. Give into the stream of power. Don’t fight it.”

Livia nods curtly, “I will do as you instructed.”

Then she grabs ahold of the cord and presses the knife underneath it.

In one sharp, solid motion, she cuts it.

Livia startles when her son's eyes suddenly snap open and a small cry falls from his lips. Before she can reach out and comfort him, her magic slams into her with the force of a building collapsing onto itself.

Her eyes roll back and she collapses into a heap on the bed.

"Livia!"

"Oh crap!"

The last thing she sees before complete blackness, is Sen and Amaya rushing towards her while Beth reaches out to comfort her wailing son.