The New God Series Shorts and One Shots.

It's Time

Amber's point of view

I was sitting on my couch with my friend Sarah. In the past few months, I haven't been spending as much time with my friends. It's mostly because they don't understand why Percy left so they are always making him sound like a complete jerk.  Sarah was the one exception to that. She had quickly figured out that I was not interested in listening to them diss Percy like he was a horrible person. 

Lately, she's been spending more time with me than ever. I'm not sure why, maybe it was for support,  maybe she just wanted to help me out since my son could come any day now, and things that used to be easy for me are now much harder.  That's because with the extra weight I have to carry, my back and feet ache. Glancing down at my overly large stomach I couldn't help but wish that Percy could be here if only so he could be there for the birth of our child. I knew that it would happen soon, after all, I was due this week. Feeling thirsty I stood up, heading for the kitchen in order to get a glass of water.

I asked Sarah if she wanted anything, but she shook her head no.  I walked into the kitchen, took a glass out of the cupboard and poured myself a glass of water. I turned and was about to head back to the living room with my drink when I felt a sudden jab of pain. the sudden pain caused me to accidentally tip my glass making water spill out onto the floor. 

Cleaning up the mess wasn't really my first priority though since I knew what that sudden jab of pain had been.  I knew it was a contraction, although I wasn't sure if it was a false alarm, or if I was actually going into labour. I tried my best to clean up the water, but it wasn't easy considering my current condition.  I headed back toward the living room since I knew that there wasn't any point rushing to the hospital if the contraction was just a false alarm. 

If my water broke or if had more contractions that happened fairly close together then it would be best to go, but until I was sure I was actually in labour it was best to just stay put. After all the doctors wouldn't really do anything for me until they were sure I was close to giving birth. As I headed back to the living room another jab of pain hit me, I knew  I still couldn't be sure yet whether it was just a false alarm so I walked the rest of the way to the living room and sat back down on the couch. 

Sarah was a nurse so although she didn't specialize in childbirth she still knew a few things. so I was trusting her judgment on when I should go to the hospital. As time passed the contractions continued, although they were still fairly far apart.  We waited, keeping track of the time between my contractions, as they were starting to become more frequent I felt water run down my leg. I knew that I hadn't wet myself,  so I knew there was only one reasonable explanation for it.My water had just broken, my son was coming.  

 I told Sarah what had happened, and she agreed that since my contractions had become more frequent and my water had broken it was probably best to take me to the hospital. Before we left though she grabbed the bag I had packed not that long ago since I knew this day would come. I gritted my teeth when another contraction hit. 

On the way to the hospital, I was hit with several more contractions. I let out a yelp of pain when a particularly painful one hit. Sarah momentarily glanced at me saying "We're nearly there, you'll be fine."  I could only nod in reply as I was hit with another contraction.  Once we got to the hospital I was quickly taken into a room.

  I laid down on the bed and yelped again, as the contractions were increasing in painfulness and frequency.  The doctors told me that I would have to wait a little longer before I could start pushing since my contractions were still a little too far apart.  Gradually time passed as my contractions continued. I'd been told before that giving birth hurts a lot, but I never really understood how much until I was going through it myself.

  After several hours of painful contractions, I finally got the urge to push. At the time it felt like it had taken longer than it had, but I guess that was because I was in a lot of pain. The doctors checked to see how dilated I was before saying I could start pushing. I did just that pushing as hard as I could manage even though it hurt. After even more pain, and a lot of pushing I gave one last push, and I heard my son's first cries.

 The sound was like music to my ears as the doctors cut the umbilical cord, and then picked him up. They cleaned him off, wrapped his small body in a blanket, and then they passed him to me. the feeling I had when I held my newborn son in my arms was hard to describe.  I felt so much love for him I knew that I would do pretty much anything to keep him safe. When I looked at him I could see that he would have Percy's black hair since he already had traces of it on his head. His eyes were blue like those of most newborns, but I couldn't help but wonder if he would eventually end up with the unusual yet beautiful gold and sea green eyes of his father, or if his eyes would stay blue like mine. 

My happy thoughts didn't last though as they were replaced by the thought that whether I like it or not he would eventually be in danger.   Because of what Percy is our son would always be in danger, just not as much now as he will be later in life. One of the doctors interrupted my thoughts when she asked, "What will you name him?"

I answered with certainty, "Luke. Luke Charles Smith."

After a while, they took him away again to allow me to get some rest. I did need the rest since I felt exhausted but despite that my son was still the main thing on my mind.  I laid back on the bed again exhausted but happy. I know no matter what happens I will do everything I can to keep my son safe. I will do my best to raise him well, and maybe someday when he goes to that camp he will get to meet Percy. 

Maybe someday there might even be another chance for Percy and me, but I berated myself for thinking that. Percy's immortal, I'm not. As much as I hate to admit it our relationship could never last. At least that's what I thought at the time to try and convince myself that it was true but it didn't work and I just couldn't forget about Percy, the father of my son, the man I still loved, there was no forgetting him because I still loved him too much.