Strawberries and Silk

Chapter 5 - Birth

Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Wednesday! Please let me know if you enjoy!
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Wednesday had always maintained a sense of macabre humor.

She often made innuendos about the many delights of pain and suffering.

Xavier saw just how vapid those statements were as he watched his wife's dark eyes widen while she pressed her hand over the side of her belly as he rushed towards her.

"WEDNESDAY!" He cried as he knelt in front of her and placed his hand next to hers, "........Is it worse? You look like it hurts more!"

In the hallway across from their bedroom, Thing happened to pass by.

The second he heard the urgent anxiety in Xavier's voice, he crawled into the art studio and jumped in silent exclamation as he saw the couple tensely huddled together.

Xavier watched in horror as his wife kept her dark eyes staring on a fixed spot somewhere straight ahead.

Her free hand grasped his, as if he could absorb  the agony that radiated from her spine to shoot all the way across her middle.

"Wednesday........?" Xavier frowned,

"............We should go." She admitted in one gasping breath once that stony torment deep inside her finally relaxed.

Xavier's eyes widened as he watched his wife close her eyes and swallow dryly.

Wednesday had spent the last months maintaining her preference to avoid the hospital.

It made Xavier want to scream to see his wife abandon her crusade as she faced the brutal reality of the dangers that lay ahead.

A surge of instinct forced Wednesday to see past her own selfishness as she took in a breath, no longer choosing her comfort over the safety of her children.

"You don't want to time the next one at all?" He asked, "We may get sent home early."

"Now, Xavier." She huffed as she opened her eyes, "I'm ready.........Let's go."

Xavier gasped at her as he quickly replied, "O-Ok......Alright, uh, let me go grab the bag and I'll get you down to the car, ok?"

Wednesday nodded again as she settled herself back against their bed's soft pillows.

Xavier frowned as he asked, "Do you want me to move you to-"

"-Get. The. Car." Wednesday hissed through grit teeth.

Xavier's eyes softened with the same desperate sadness that had been in his gaze when she had asked him to leave her on the courtyard's lawn with Crackstone's arrow lodged in her shoulder.

It gave him a small amount of comfort that Thing hopped onto the bed and raced over to loyally hover next to Wednesday.

With the urge to protect clawing at his heart, Xavier sprinted from the room to pack the car.

He narrowed his eyes as he quickly collected the necessary items.

Having spent the week inside, out of the winter's harsh cold, the Addams-Thorpes had made the grave error of not following weather updates throughout the day.

With what he imagined they would need stuffed inside the bags he carried, Xavier crashed through the front door to stagger out to the car.

He gasped at the sudden, shocking cold that hit his chest and smacked his face.

His eyes widened at the piles of heavy snow that buried his sports car.

Neither the driveway nor the long, winding path that led to their gothic mansion remained visible under the heavy blanket of white.