Strange Nightmares

Strange Nightmares 18

Late the next morning, Tvania welcomed not one, but two new citizens into the world. Danae had surprised everyone with two small, but healthy twin girls. Stephen and Christine, completely exhausted and covered in blood and fluids, washed the crying babies with warm water and swaddled them, and then scrubbed themselves down as best they could with what precious little soap the village could spare.

Danae and Chuluun each held one baby, the proud father strutting around the room with his new daughter, unable to take his eyes off of her. Danae laid in the bed, gently placing her other little one at her breast.

Christine took off her pants, which were stained heavily with blood, and changed into a long skirt Danae had given her.

"Well, Mom, Dad," said Stephen, exhausted but beaming. "What are their names?"

Danae laughed brightly, making her cheeks dimple and dark eyes sparkle. Her olive skin glowed with hard earned sweat and the beauty of new motherhood.

"I thought for sure we would only have one! And I was also absolutely certain it would be a boy."

"You don't have anything picked out?" asked Christine.

"I know exactly what to call them, now," she said, stroking the dark tuft of hair on her newborn daughter's head. "I would love to name them after you two, if you don't mind."

Christine and Stephen shot each other a surprised glance. Stephen stuttered, then said, "We'd be more than honored, but I don't know if Stephen is a great name for a little girl."

"Oh, no," Danae chuckled. "This one will be Foinika, and the other--" she nodded towards the baby in Chuluun's arms "--she'll be Xena."

"Perfect," said Chuluun, sitting down at the edge of the bed, his grin as wide as his face. "I love it. I love them. I love you. I love everything right now ... " Chuluun trailed off and started to sob incoherently, which made Xena mewl and fuss.

Christine paused for a long, confused moment before reacting. "Oh!" she said, trying to sound excited and failing. "Um, how exactly are they named after us?"

"I'm Greek--or I was Greek," she answered. "'Foinikas' means palm tree, and Foinika sounds beautiful. The word for stranger is 'Xenos', so, Xena."

Stephen smiled at Christine as she leaned back into an armchair on the other side of the room.

"Well," he told Christine, "It's not quite the same as having your own medical technique named after you, but it's not chopped liver, either."

"What are you talking about?" said Christine. "It's a thousand times better than that."

Stephen and Christine cleaned up the room, changing bedsheets and tossing bloody towels, scrubbing what they could from the floor. They were both about ready to pass out when a timid knock came from the bedroom door. Sylvie's head poked around the edge, a warm smile on her face.

"I heard the baby cry this morning," she said in a singsong voice. "Can we come in? Do you mind?"

Danae nodded, and Sylvie and Loki both came through the door. Sylvie wasn't just holding Loki's hand as much as she was dragging him. Dark circles ringed his eyes and he squinted painfully at a bright ray of sunlight that burst through the window. He was absolutely hung over. Stephen tried to hide his smile as he imagined Sylvie attempting to pull Loki out of bed that morning. He certainly looked like he didn't want to be there, or standing, or awake. Mobius sauntered through the door a moment later. He'd fared better than Loki, but still looked tired.

"Oh, twins?" said Mobius, with a wide grin. "Congratulations!"

Sylvie and Mobius admired the new babies, while Loki coughed and tried to sound as officious as possible, despite his hoarse, tired throat.