Friends Apart

Chapter 23

Peter coughed as he hauled himself up. He had been thrown out of the hideout in the explosion, and was scrapped up pretty badly. He looked up to see the Hangman's tree burning. Burning... "Wendy! Where are you?!" Peter scoured the wreckage, and gasped upon finding her laying there completely unconscious. " Wendy! Nonononono! Please be okay! Please be okay!" "Peter..." Her arms were scrapped up good and there were  scratches along her cheeks and her dress had torn. His thumb came back bloodied. He sought the entry point, praying feverishly that debri had not punctured the uterus. Wendy shuddered in Peter's hand. The debri had missed their baby by some miracle. "... Peter...Our baby...It's safe..." She cringed and drew in a shaking breath. He nodded and swallowed, knowing the best he could do was keep pressure on the wound. 
"Hey," Peter cupped her face and kept her gaze locked on his. "Stay with me." He pleaded. He could hear the Indians and the boys rushing around putting out the fire, while some attended to his and Wendy's injuries. Suddenly, Wendy groaned as she felt something pop. "Peter... I think it's time..." Peter looked like a deer caught in headlights. "What?! Now?!"... "I can't do this!" She sobbed and moaned. Another cry ripped free. The process repeated again and again over time. For the majority of the contraction period, Peter just sat there, staring in and desperately wishing he could do something to help. Seeing her face screwed up in anguish felt like a physical rip in his heart. "Flying Eagle," he jerked under the touch of a motherly-looking Indian woman. "You might want to think about taking a few deep breaths yourself." With the preliminary data collected, it was now an agonizing wait for the dialation to reach the indicated measurement. The early morning hours flew by. When there was room by the bed, Peter reached out to find Wendy's clammy, trembling hand and offer his in return. "I'm right here." He tilted his head at an odd angle so more of him was in view. "You're... You're doing great, darling. They, uhm, say it's head's facing the right way, so that's good..." He stumbled over his words. 
The massive man had gripped the arrow he was holding so hard, that the wood split in half. Wendy could not so much as even attempt to manage a verbal reply but squeezed Peter's finger with a grip that was darn well near crushing. Healers stood near by, at the ready with complete attention given. Wendy continued going between crying out in agony and breathing deeply, near hysteria. Nothing seemed able to rise entirely above the agony she felt. Something was happening. There was a frantic barking of orders, people dilligently getting into position. The Healer was gracious enough to allow him to stay in the room. Wendy was squeezing so tightly, it was actually painful. The tip of his finger had long since turned white, which was saying something; Peter himself had paled quite a bit. One of the women had been explaining what was happening at milestones along the way to him; what certain terminology meant. "It's head is halfway out." The first time Peter glimpsed under the tent over her legs, he had nearly fainted. But he risked the light-headedness to get the first real look at his child.  "Do NOT push right now I know you want to, but I need you to pant. JUST pant. Good... You're doing great, little sparrow." The Healer instructed the screaming mother. She watched as the head continued, then-  "Okay, PUSH! PUSH RIGHT NOW!" She could swear she was going to break. Something would snap, be it bone or anything else. The Indian midwife's word to push came as the closest thing she'd known to relief in hours. Face clenched and yelling again, she pushed hard. Fear and excitement overwhelmed his soul. Peter barely breathed. His back and neck were aching fiercely from being crouched over in an awkward position for hours, but he hardly seemed to notice. Not right now. Suddenly a new, stringent wail cut through the noisy tepee. Peter leaned in as far as physically possible. They allowed him to severe the imbilical cord, shich he did with a slightly shaking hand. Peter was mesmerized by the bloody lump the doctor whisked away. "You did it, Wendy." Peter exclaimed gently to his shaking wife. "You did it!" Blood and placenta was suctioned away to reveal perfect skin; hands and feet and little curling toes. "It's a girl." "She's beautiful." he informed her, for their daughter was blocked from view at her angle. "God, she's so tiny!" He added under his breath. There seemed to be a focused silence before she heard her daughter's cries for the first time. Wendy caught her breath in a series of gasps that felt laboured but quickly evened. The baby girl was cleaned up and bundled up in a warm blanket before she was passed of to her mother, who seemed rather tired but hardly enough so to keep her from staying awake for her. A fond smile took ahold of her lips. "Hello, Evelyn." She said softly, brushing her fingertips against her damp cheek. She was so small and wrinkled but beautiful. "Nice to finally get to see you, baby." "Kept us waiting long enough." Peter added. Whereas he had been a mess of fretting a minute before, he couldn't stop smiling. After hours of labor, Peter finally received his hand back. The room was cleared out so the new parents could bond together with their daughter. As he gazed at the bundled baby in Wendy's arms, Peter's world silently changed for good. An understanding of what it meant to be a father was instantly etched in his mind; it was something too emotional to put into words, and something he was sure couldn't be learned from the best books in the world. He placed a fingertip on her forearm and leaned over to press a tender, joyful kiss to the top of Wendy's head. Wendy's eyes were soft as sunlit satin as they regarded their child born after so much had happened before her. Evelyn had calmed in her mother's grasp. She leaned down and pressed her lips to her forehead then gently investigated her face. "Peter, she's got your features." She glanced up towards the giant with elation in her eyes. "God, look at her." "I bet she has my eyes, too... If she would open them." Peter chuckled affectionately, and continued to scrutinize the minuscule features. Evelyn showed off toothless gums in an adorable yawn, then turned instinctively into her mother's bosom, her face scrunching up from the bright light. "She's already mastered your scowl." he teased. He saw bits of both of them in Evelyn's face. It was surreal, and yet nothing had ever felt more concrete. Peter had thought he had reached the pinnacle of joy when he married Wendy. She was the undeniably best thing that ever happened to him. But this moment... This was paradise. Wendy stroked tender fingertips across her daughter's's blanket covered head and rubbed her back in incredibly slow, tender circles. "You should hold her. Give her a chance to say hello to her father." She turned a moment to look up towards Peter with a loving smile as she cradled the newborn closer to herself. Peter stared. But no matter how long he looked, Evelyn remained as tiny as a button. A pit of doubt opened up in the man's stomach for reasons he didn't fully understand. Peter could scarcely fathom how something so small had all the proper organs inside, same as him. No. Wendy was small. Evelyn was positively tiny! He clenched his jaw. For a moment, he was ready to outright refuse. But when it came down to it, Peter hadn't the heart to refuse Wendy ANYTHING after her 9-month pregnancy and hours of agony to bring this precious child into the world. He lowered his gaze and nodded. Peter raised his hand palm-up against the side of the bed- he didn't dare try to grab the precious bundle on his own, lest he crush or maim her by accident. Carefully, she set their sleepy baby in Peter's hand and smiled supportively up towards him. Peter's lips twitched in a weak, nervous smile. Reverently, Peter lifted her up just below eye level. The newborn was rolled from her side onto her back from the simple motion. Peter's brow furrowed, eyes glued to his daughter. Evelyn squirmed just once in her cucoon of blankets, turning her cheek against the warm, textured palm supporting her. An adoring sigh escaped Peter, followed by an expression He felt something hot prick at his eyes. "Evelyn... How are you so perfect?" "She's gonna be a snuggler." Wendy watched the two most important people in her life interact and felt something warm take ignition within her heart. She brushed eratic curls from her face and smiled up at the two of them. 
"Knows her daddy too. Hopefully she won't start tickling for a while yet. Heavens know she'll know where to aim with you." She gave Peter a fiesty wink, followed by a tired happy sigh. "She's everything to me already." "Me too." Peter agreed quietly. 
He chuckled and gently nudged Wendy in rebuke of her silliness, but it soon morphed into a loving caress. Her strength and kindness made her so beautiful to him. Peter leaned down to kiss the only part of Evelyn that wasn't swaddled in a hat or blanket. "How about giving Daddy a couple years headstart on that one?" He cupped his hand to cradle Evelyn in the small indent created. How on earth he would get used to this was a mystery he could not foresee. But it was a wonderful miracle, and he couldn't wait to see how it unfolded.