Lady of the Veiled Vale

Skye

Gwinneth was repairing the leg of a faun when Nix began fluttering frantically in front of her.

   "I'm sure it's important Nix, but give me just one more... There! Okay, what's up? Is it time?"

   She stood, graceful despite her distended belly. The pixie was darting to and fro, in the general direction of her sister's quarters. She took that as a yes. Her sister's time had come.

   "Have you informed Skye yet?"

   Nix stopped so suddenly that she had to chuckle. "I understand, you want her taken care of first. Her young man should be here for the birth, though. Firstborn babies tend to take their time... if they aren't eggs," she added ruefully.

   She gently shooed the anxious pixie toward Samantha's fiance's quarters while she calmly strolled to her sister's suite. She'd grown into her powers over the past four months, gaining some sort of prescience when it came to matters of health and Healing. She neither understood it, nor did she try to.

   She walked in on pandemonium. There were all manner of flying creatures darting aimlessly about, and poor Smoke was having his fur yanked during one of Sam's contractions. Behind her, Raiden took it all in with a measure of humor.

   Gwinn projected an Aura of Calm around her as she paced across the room to her sister's bedside. She absently thanked Raiden for all his training, seeing how effective it could be.

   She waited for the contraction to pass before trying to talk to her sister. She remembered how painful they were!

   "Heyla, little sis. How are you doing?"

   Sam gazed up at her blearily. "I don't know if I can do this," she panted.

   Gwinn soothed her brow. "Of course you can, dear. You're not the first woman to give birth. Or," she confided with a twinkle, "the first to say that she can't do it."

   She got a wan smile for her efforts.

   "Have we reconsidered Kitta's offer?" She asked. "I won't think any less of you if you have. It hurts, I know."

   The women shared a secret smile, bound as never before. "Let me try for a while longer, then we'll seeee!" Her back arched off the bed, head dug into the pillows.

   Gwinneth placed her hands under her sister's back and helped hold her where nature seemed to want her, while admonishing her to breathe. "I know it sounds silly, but it helps."

   Samantha didn't listen to her, at first.

   "Don't fight it, dearling. It only hurts more. Breathe, little sister, breathe." Though she was insistent, her voice never rose above a soothing murmur. She had long experience with these things, and women in labor were susceptible to intense emotions; even in other people.

   "Okay, now rest while you can. Are you sure you don't want Kitta to deliver the baby?"

   Sam nodded emphatically.

   "It means I'll have to see you, down there. One of us needs to check how far you've dilated, which means a lot of touching."

   She blushed, but nodded again.

   "Okay, I'll need you to put your knees up. Good, now let them fall to either side. You'll feel some pressure. Good, good, you're about two centimeters dilated. You're not terribly effaced yet, but that's normal with a first baby. There, that wasn't so bad was it?"

   Sam shook her head at the wall.

   "I never liked that part. After a few babies, women stop caring, but it can be awkward sometimes. Can you imagine the first time I had to do that?" She chuckled ruefully. Sam was startled into a laugh by the thought of her sister delivering her first baby, which she knew was when she was only fourteen.