Doom Upon All The World

Chapter 58: Bliss

Bliss.

There was no other way to describe it.

After hours of pain.

Of blood, sweat, tears, screams, and agony.

Yes, that is exactly the word she would use.

After months of carrying extra weight, of darting off to the lavatory every five minutes, of cramps and aches, of cravings and mood swings it ends in pure, unadulterated, euphoric bliss.

She had been sitting in the chair near the fire in her quarters. Cullen flung himself lazily over the bed and stared up at the ceiling. The room was silent yet somehow filled with the sound of his churning thoughts. She would not interrupt him. Until he got to the point where he felt it was pertinent to speak, he would not. To stop him and ask would be to make him lose his course and the silence would begin again. So for the time she sat by the fire, her hand stroking gently over her bulging middle.

"I have taken a bit of thought to what you said." He spoke suddenly, shaking her from her reverie. He gets up from the bed and comes to stand beside her, but he comes to kneel then, looking into the fire as she does. "About the names, I mean." He is nervous, she can tell, as he rubs the back of his neck the way he always does when he is unsure of himself. "You spoke of naming her after my mother, and I think it is a wonderful idea. Thus, as you requested, I have thought up a fitting middle name. But before I get to that, I want to suggest that if she does not turn out to be a she and we are blessed with another boy, might we name him Branson, after my brother. As Anthony is named after yours, I thought it might be fitting." He expressed.

Cassandra can only look at him with a large, splitting grin. He goes on then and clears his throat.

"As for middle names, I put a great deal of thought into it. I thought first maybe we could combine my sisters' names but everything I came up with was... Maker, it was terrible," He chuckles to himself as Cassandra takes his hand and nuzzles into his open palm. "but I did come up with something. It needs work and I am not sure how you will feel about it but I think we could made it work." Cassandra looks at him, urging him on. "For a boy, Varric. For a girl, Varris. I know it is not perfect and you can say no if you do not like the idea. But I know that you feel his loss, perhaps more than most of us, and that you blame yourself in part. I think that this may be one way that we could honor him." Tears sting the corners of her eyes and she reaches up, stroking the side of his face. "Cullen," She mumbles.

"My water just broke."

He had attempted to carry her. Of course she protested, detesting the idea. But when Cullen asked her if she really wanted to climb all of the stairs as her contractions began she quickly gave in and he carried her to the infirmary.

Maeve was there with her the entire time, as was Leliana, Cullen, and Morrigan. Maeve and Leliana delivered the newest Rutherford, while Morrigan stood nearby in case of another incident, and Cullen hovered near her head, her hand in his. He endured her screams, her grasp, her cursing and sweating. He endured it with a smile, knowing all along that she could do this.

And when it was over he smiled bigger than he has in a long time. It was beautiful. Morrigan healed her thoroughly, checking to make sure nothing had been irreversibly damaged and gave a confident nod. Leliana covered her with a sheet and Anthony had been let into the room. The poor lad had no idea what had been happening and was scared to death that his mother was dying. When he saw instead that his sister was now brought into the world, he had a wondrous glow about him. Cassandra too could not keep the smile from her face. She held the little bundle in her sweaty arms and all that night, she did not let her go. Anthony looked on at the darling with loving, adoring eyes. Maeve squeezed Cassandra's arm and kissed the mother of two's forehead before leaving with the others, allowing the Rutherford family to revel in the bliss of their new addition.