Beauty of Fairy Tail (Gale/Gajevy AU)

Chapter 37

          I wake up in the middle of the night. My stomache has an awful cramp. I grunt in pain. I grab a hold of Gajeel's hand and shake it to wake him up.

          "What's up, Shorty?" Gajeel mumbles. I cringe a little at the jostling of the bed.

          "Could you go get me some water? I have a cramp. Please?" He sighs and kisses my cheek. I shut my eyes for a second while he walks to the bathroom. My lower stomach is throbbing. It has done this before, I don't remember it ever being this bad. Then, it eases away, but just before I think I'm safe, it comes back. It feels like I'm being torn apart. I think i just wet the bed, because of the pain.

         "Gajeel!" I shriek. I hear the breaking of a glass, down the hall, them the loud, heavy footsteps of my husband. He skids through the door and kneels by the side of the bed. He whips out his phone and dials Mira.

          "Hello. Gajeel, what's wrong?" I hear over the speaker.

          "Mira, it's Levy. I think she's going into labor!"

          "Now?! But- But she isn't due for another week! Uh! I'll get the girls, here. You call Lucy. Have Natsu run to get Porlyusica. He's one of the fastest things on two legs. We need her there, as fast as possible," Mira instructs.

          They hang up and Gajeel calls Natsu's cell. He's pissed, at first, but understands Gajeel's reasoning for waking the two of them up. When he hangs up, he comes back to tending to me. He holds my hand and lets me squeeze it. He strokes my hair and tells me that everything will be okay. I pray that he's right. Then, another scream rips through my throat.

          Mira, Wendy, and Juvia book it into the infirmary. Wendy gets to work on easing my pain. The others go off to find towels, while Gajeel pushes the second bed away from mine. Lucy arrives just minutes after the other girls. Natsu sprints in with the old healer after another few minutes. I've pry been in labor for about half an hour, now, but I don't know if I'm actually ready. I'm not sure if I'm even doing anything right, right now.

          "Alright, Levy. How far apart are her contractions?" Porlyusica asks. Wendy tells her that they're about five minutes apart. She nods and starts working. After placing a fresh towel on the bed by my legs, she has Gajeel remove my pants. He's as gentle as he can be, but being moved hurts like Hell. what's worse, the next thing they need to do is jostle me to get my legs lifted into posts, so that Wendy and Porlyusica have a better view of what's happening.

          "Here we go. On the count of three, Wendy, we're going to dull the pain as much as we can and, Levy, you are going to push. Hold on to Gajeel, now. Okay. One. Two. Three!" The two healers' hands ignite in auras of blue and green. As the pain recedes, I push. The pain returns to the original intensity. I squeeze Gajeel's hand as hard as I can and cuss like a sailor. Juvia says she has started to see something, but she can't really tell.

          "Remember to breathe, Levy. Here we go again." Before they can cast their next spell, I tell them to stop.

          "Wait. Gajeel, pass me my belt." With a concerned frown, Gajeel slips out of my grip and walks over to my clothes. He untangles it from my belt loops and rushes it back. I fold part of it in half and clamp my teeth onto the leather. It nod at my healers, telling them that I'm ready. As the pain recedes again, I push harder. I throw my head back and scream. I'm sure that there are neighbors that think someone is being tortured in here. I don't think I even give a crap, though.

          "Okay. Juvia is seeing the head. It's almost out. Keep pushing, Levy," encourages the water woman. With tears streaming down my face, I whimper and nod. The first baby isn't even out yet and I'm already about to pass out. The healers cast another spell, even though they're exhausted. I push as hard as I can manage. I hear my friends become excited. I can't understand them. I can feel my exhausted body shutting down. I think I might black out.

          In what I think was a split second, I'm told to push again. I shut my eyes tight and do as I'm told. I push as hard as I can. I'm either used to or numb to the pain, at this point. I'm still in a lot of pain, but not as much as I was in three hours ago. I try to focus on the feeling of Gajeel's hand and my dreams of the future. I push and push and push some more. I scream in pain, but I can barely hear myself; The pain is too overwhelming. 

          Then, it feels like a weight is taken from me. There's a muffled commotion and Lucy has something wrapped in a blanket. I can't hear anything clearly. I can't hear if my baby is crying. I know I am, though. And that is one the first baby. I have some time to catch my breath and recuperate before number two wants to be born. I am given some water and something to keep me conscious.

          "Ok, Levy. One more to go," Mira encourages. I nod and get ready for the second baby. We do the same process of spells and pushing. I can't tell where the first born is. I just have to focus on this one. I repeatedly push and scream for hours. My throat hurts as much as my pelvis. Everything hurts.

         I can see sunlight through the blinds as I near the end of the second child's birth. It must me around five or six in the morning. At this point, I am too exhausted to continue the process. With one last attempt at pushing, I pass out. I dream that everything is white. Floor to ceiling, is solid white and no one is around. I close my eyes and hear someone whisper my name and I wake up to Gajeel holding me. He has tears streaked all down his face.

          "Levy... the babies..." Gajeel's eyes fill with more tears.

          "What about them Gajeel? Is there something wrong?!" I start to panic, thinking about anything that could have happened or be wrong with them.

          "Levy,... they're-"