It Goes On - Book l

Stella Anne Riley

I know this is a short chapter, and I hate myself for it being so short, but I have briefly lost my funk recently (and as you can probably tell). Anything less that 2k words is considered too short for a chapter, but I wanted to give you guys something. Not much in my life has changed recently except for being offered my old job back for several dollars more on the hour than what I'm currently making, so I took it, and it involves a lot of travel, but I'm excited.

*

Simon's Point of View:

"I can't do it! I can't do it!" Kiera screamed, sweat pouring down her face and neck, her grip on my hand whitening my knuckles. She couldn't make it to the birthing pool that the midwife set up, and to see her in this much pain made me regret ever getting her pregnant for a second time.

"Yes, you can, sweetheart!" Eva encouraged her. "You're a lot stronger than you think!"

"Keep breathing, Kiera. I can see the head! Push when you're ready."

She had been in so much pain for what I tallied to be close to thirteen hours – a chaotic wave of pain and discomfort leading up to this moment. The baby was crowned, and it was the most beautiful thing I think I've ever seen. I knew she didn't want me to look between her legs because she was insecure, but I didn't care. I held her right leg up while her mother held her other leg. "Almost out, love. Keep breathing. You've got this."

"I-I can't!"

"Yes, you can," I assured her, gently patting her knee with my right hand. "You're almost there!"

She pushed hard, and I couldn't help but smile when I saw that beautiful face. She heaved a breath , pushing again until the baby's shoulders popped out. "One more push and your baby is out!" Mia encouraged, her gloved hands supporting the baby's head and shoulders. "Keep breathing, Kiera. You're almost there!"

My left hand that was crimped in her death grip managed to loosen enough to where my thumb could wipe away the tears on her cheek. "You're so beautiful, love."

"Don't feel like it!" She groaned. "It hurts so bad!"

"I know. Keep breathing. One more push and our baby is here." I encouraged her, hating that she was in so much pain. It killed me, especially when I couldn't do anything about it aside from soothing her.

"Don't breathe too hard, sweetie, you'll get your heartrate up. We don't need you passing out." Eva encouraged her, pushing Kiera's loose hair out of her face.

Her face scrunched as she made one final push, gasping in relief when the baby finally slipped out into Mia's grasp. "Good job, mama!"

A baby girl.

My heart swelled with excitement – another little princess to spoil and hold close to my heart. I couldn't be any happier, and Kiera gave me yet another gift with another child into my life.

Mia immediately put the baby on Kiera's chest, wiping her off with a fresh and warm towel, rubbing her back until she began to cry. I gently put Kiera's leg down onto the bed, moving to where I was sitting next to her head, watching her bottom lip tremble and her eyes closing while processing what had just happened. "You did it, love," I smiled, leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead. "I love you so much."

She looked up at me with tear-filled eyes, her lip quivering, "I love you too, Simon."

"She's so beautiful, honey." Eva smiled, wiping away a few stray tears of her own.

"That she is. Now we just need to wait on your placenta to deliver. Mr. Riley, do you want the honors of cutting the chord?"

"Of course."

"I-I remember when you were terrified of cutting the chord when the twins were born." Kiera giggled.

"I'm still terrified, love." I shrugged, unaware of how shaky my hands really were until Mia handed me the scissors to cut my new daughter's chord. Amidst the screaming and blood, watching a natural childbirth happen was really a bittersweet experience and another reason for me to appreciate my wife even more than I already did.

Unfortunately, Kiera's placenta was refusing to detach on its own, and Mia had to nearly go elbow-deep into my wife just to get it out, Kiera's screams being worse than the actual delivery of the baby. This lass pushed down on Kiera's belly like a water balloon, and I had half a mind to tell her to stop hurting my wife, but I was appreciative that Mia explained what she was doing and why.

"Placenta is out!" Mia assured us after a few agonizing minutes of forcing the placenta to detach. "As hard as she pushed, she's lucky she didn't tear. I couldn't stitch it up here if she did. Bleeding is minimal for now, but she'll bleed here and there after."

I wanted to cradle her so badly – to tell her how great she did and how strong she was, but I knew that wasn't the best for her right now. She was exhausted and beaming with sweat with a crying baby on her chest, and it was likely that she wasn't in the mood to have all two-hundred and fifty pounds of me cradling her against me in the midst of her delivery.

"She's so beautiful, Simon," Teeter smiled, making her way towards the bed, a huge smile on her face. "Any name ideas?"

"A few, but we were waiting to decide when the time came but thank you."

I took a damp cloth and pressed it against Kiera's forehead, watching her obliviously disassociate by what just happened. I knew she was feeling like she was immediately expected to act like everything was fine when she had gone through the worst pain imaginable. I tried to understand her, but I simply couldn't because I couldn't relate to what she was feeling, but what I did know was that she had been showing signs of disassociation far before she went into labor – months prior, to be exact, and I was also expecting her to fall into a post-partum depression.

But for now, I was going to do my best to help with the post affects as it was my obligation.

The baby latched onto Kiera's breast right away, cooing and looking around at the obsessed gazes looking down at her. Kiera's eyes fluttered closed, the intense wave of relief and exhaustion taking its toll on her. "Simon?"

"Yes, love?"

"Can you finally tell me what your name idea was? You've been keeping it a secret for six months."

I smirked, leaning down to press a kiss to her chaste lips, "What do you think of Stella Anne?"

"I... I love that."

"I was afraid you wouldn't," I grinned. "I thought it was perfect."

"I think so, too."