A Price Above Rubies

Epilogue

Hilal holds her daughter close after breastfeeding her. She knows she should get up and try to clean herself up after the mess of cake batter and the birthing but she's reluctant to let go of the tiny bundle just yet. 

Leon sits next to her on the bed, himself a mess as well. He takes the bowl of water and cloth and wipes her face and hair a little as the midwife talks. She's leaving them with a few instructions and it's nothing they don't already know from their first two children but they nod and listen. Behind the woman's chatter they can hear Yorgo on the other side of the door. 

"Did the baby come out yet? I heard crying!"

"Be patient, Yorgo," Veronika urges him. "Your Mama and Papa just want to spend some time alone with the baby and get him or her cleaned up before you see it."

The cool water feels so nice against her sweaty skin and she leans against him with a sigh. She can feel him chuckle against her back as they listen to their son. A warm whisper of arousal moves through her as he moves the cloth down her collar bone close to where Hayal is resting, happily fed. 

"Is it dirty 'cause it comes out the peepee?" Yorgo asks and Hilal bursts out laughing. 

Hayal's eyes open briefly and her tiny dark brows come together in consternation over having her sleep disturbed.

"Dear God," Leon groans, chuckling behind her. "Come in everyone," Hilal calls out and the door bursts open. Yorgo flings his small body onto the bed. 

"Gently!" Leon whispers after Hilal's painful groan. Everything below the waist is sore and her legs still occasionally spasm from the exertion of bearing down. 

She notices the nail marks for the first time in Leon's forearms from when she was holding on to him as she pushed. She'll have to ask him later if it was more or less than painful for him than when she pulled his hair during Yorgo's birth. 

Acelya is quiet as she comes up on the opposite side of the bed and sits down next to her parents and the baby. 

"Is it a boy or a girl?" Acelya asks softly studying the baby's face. 

"It's a girl. You have a sister. Her name is Hayal," Leon informs her. 

"That means hope," Acelya says with a small smile. "I remember when we were learning names. That's the one I liked best." 

Hilal nods. She always liked the name but she uses Acelya's choice on purpose to help lift her daughter's heart just that bit more. Acelya is recovering from her trauma but some nights are still difficult with nightmares and she isn't quite back to the happy child she'd been before. Hilal and Leon hoped that choosing a name she'd picked would help. 

"I'm glad it's a girl and not another boy so you wouldn't like him better than me," Yorgo says. 

Leon grabs Yorgo and sets him on his lap. "Even if the baby was a boy, we would still love you just the same. This much," he says, holding his thumb and forefinger an inch apart.

Yorgo gasps in dismay just as Leon starts to tickle him and nuzzle his neck, making the little boy squeal. "Papa! Stop, you're making me all dirty!" Yorgo shrieks through his giggles. 

It's so sweet to see that Hilal doesn't say anything even though the bouncing around is hurting her. 

Once they've calmed down Hilal focuses her attention on Acelya who seems entranced with the baby. "Do you want to hold her?"

The little girl blinks and looks startled at her mother and then her face beams, lights up in a way it hasn't since her parents returned from Greece. 

"Can I?" Acelya asks moving her gaze back to the baby.