Aurelia || SERIES ROMANA I

Chapter 60 ~ Luce et tenebris

No sooner did the first star bathe Rome in its pale light than Aurelia's contractions began, and energetic female hands pushed Gaius out of her bedroom. Before the door slammed shut with a final bang, he caught one last glimpse of his wife's face. Although her body had already been seized by another wave of pain, she gave him one last, confident smile. She would make it. This thought gave him the strength to turn on his heel and quietly retreat to his public reception room, which was the furthest away from their private chambers.
But minutes turned into hours. One by one, the remaining stars twinkled up, forming a luminous sea to the horizon. The air was clear and mild. The waiting and her equally cruel friend the uncertainty played tricks on him. All sense of time faded away. At some point, Vespasian appeared with a bottle of wine that neither of them touched. With all his heart, Gaius was grateful to Vespasian for his assistance, but his friend's company only reminded him of his own helplessness in this situation.
Sometimes he thought he could hear Aurelia's agonised cries through the thick walls and Gaius found himself praying to the gods every time. They must not take Aurelia from him.
Slowly the stars in the sky faded and dawn broke. Still no new news of Aurelia. Still, he waited nervously with Vespasian. Every attempt at distraction failed. Again and again his thoughts returned to her and the child.

When the door opened with the first ray of sunlight, the waiting friends looked at the door expectantly at the same time. Standing awkwardly on the threshold was Hesiod, who hesitantly asked if Gaius would like to receive supplicants today. With him, the frantic sounds of the slave women entered the room, hurrying throughout the house in support of the woman in labour. Tiredly, Gaius ran his hand through his hair.
"Let no one in today!" he commanded, the freedman nodding with an expressionless expression and closing the door noiselessly behind him. Silence descended on the room. While Vespasian remained silent, Gaius took a papyrus. But after staring at the same group of words for half an hour without even beginning to grasp their meaning, he put the document back in its place, leaned back in his chair and looked out of the window. By now the city around them had come to life, only the world of his little room seemed to stand still.
A soft knock on the door shattered this small world. On the threshold stood a young slave girl, almost still a child. Her face was marked by tiredness and nervousness. Quietly she asked him to follow her. Something was wrong with Aurelia. Immediately Gaius jumped up from his chair, forgot his dignity and started to run. His whole mind was dominated by her.
When Gaius entered her chambers, he knew immediately that something was wrong. The women avoided his gaze, no one asked him to leave or approached him to offer an explanation. There were no congratulations, no joy, only tense silence. Heart racing, Gaius crossed the familiar rooms without noticing them until he finally reached their sleeping area. In the centre of the room stood the now empty birthing chair, on the edge of the bed sat his sisters, quietly tending to Aurelia. Drusilla, covering most of Aurelia's form with her own body, held a bowl of water, Agrippina was wringing out a cloth over it, while Julia simply held her hand. Immediately Julia raised her eyes, spotted Gaius and nodded to her sisters. Agrippina put the cloth back into the bowl, which Drusilla placed on a side table. As they rose at the same time, their robes rustled softly. One by one they left the room and their hands gently stroking his upper arm, Gaius barely felt them. All his attention was drawn to Aurelia's tired, pale face. Although she looked terribly exhausted, her eyes lit up when she saw him.
The next moment he was with her, sitting on the edge of the bed and trying to suppress his fear. Aurelia was not Junia. Aurelia was so, so much stronger. But her chapped lips, the tangled hair, the little beads of sweat on her forehead and her pallor only fired his fear further. Carefully, he placed the back of his hand on her forehead and was startled. She was glowing with fever. Before he could pull his hand away, her delicate fingers closed around his and drew them to her cheek.
"It's a boy," Aurelia's voice whispered softly and her beautiful eyes sparkled. "Our beautiful little boy"
As Gaius looked at his wife, he didn't know whether to cry or laugh. Aurelia swallowed and her lips twisted into a sad smile.
"The midwife said I lost too much blood," she continued, and fear gripped his heart with its steely grip. "Take good care of him, Gaius, and promise me that you will love him no matter what".
A tear slipped from the corner of his eye and Aurelia wiped it away tenderly. She stretched her arms out to him demandingly and as he sank into the depths of her eyes, he forgot everything else for a moment. Immediately he slipped into bed beside her and gently put his arms around her. Instantly his body relaxed.
"I wish we had more time," Aurelia murmured and Gaius eagerly absorbed the sight of her beautiful, drained face. She could not leave him.
"Please stay with me," he begged her, but it was too late. Her heart had stopped beating.