The wrong star

New heir

"How long have you been like this?" I ask when I get to Ronal's pod. She's pacing around and a few other women and Tonowari are here.

"A few hours, I waited until they became closer to one another," she says as she holds her belly and takes deep breaths. Tonowari gets close to her and rubs her lower back.

"Do you need something else right now? water, somewhere to sit, someone to hold on to?" I ask.

"I just wanted to call since I think I may have to push soon," she explains. "You can help them with the preparations," she tells me pointing to the other women.

I wave at them and they kindly tell me about the things that they will need for the birth.

As it is tradition for the clan, they will make a space for Ronal to give birth in a part of the village behind the pods where there is a soft rock to lean on but there's also wear that comes in.

The sea tonight is calm and they have already marked all the space they'll need with torches on the sand.

For a moment I think about suggesting her to have the baby here as it would be easier and more comfortable for her to hold onto someone while pushing or something like that, but I won't disrespect their traditions.

She offers me and another woman her arms so we help her make her way to the are where she's meant to rest and wait for the next steps.

Tonowari has to guide the way with another torch.

As we walk I rub Ronal's back with my free hand and every few minutes we stop so she can take deep breaths and work through her contractions.

We finally make it to the are and Tonowari puts the torch down, then sits on the stone and Ronal gets into the water in front of him. She got rid of her clothes and is now there, her arms resting on top of Tonowari's legs as it offers her support and strength. 

He whispers sweet things to her that help her calm down and soon the contractions are too much and she starts screaming.

"She shouldn't push yet right?" I ask. A girl hurries to go check her and tells her that is not time yet, she has to wait to be more open.

Ronal takes a deep breathe and Tonowari continues to offer her support.

The women indicate to me that we have to get into the water and form a circle around her, they tell me that they'll sing a song that's traditional here and that I just have to follow along.

I feel a little weird since I have no practice with this, but soon I'm able to join the song. We sing in a soft voice that is accompanied by many deep breaths and I notice that they help regulate Ronal's breathing too.

"Can you check please?" she asks the girl from before.

She gets closer to her and reaches with her hand.

"You're almost there," she announces. Tonowari leaves a kiss on Ronal's head and joins us in the song.

I think it's been like an hour from the last time they checked Ronal, the sun will come up in a few hours as the sky is painted with a very soft pink tone.

"I think she might be ready," I say stopping the song.

The girls nods and goes check on her.

"Please tell me it's time," Ronal says. Her forehead glistening with sweat.

"It's time," she confirms with a big smile. 

They inform me that Ronal wanted me to be one of the girls holding her legs, they teach me how and another girl positions herself to carry the other leg. Tonowari changes his position a little as he is now the one carrying Ronal's weight, with our help her legs are closer to her chest and the girl that was checking her stays on the front.