Past and Present

Chapter 19- Birth

Xue Yang and a-Qing arrived with the doctor to the sound of screaming. Xue Yang ran to the room where Xingchen was and saw the man holding on to Song Lan, crying in pain.
"YueHua!" He rushed over and sat next to Song Lan, "What happened?"
"What do you think idiot?" Song Lan snapped, "He's in labor!"
"Make way," the healer said, walking up to them. He sat at Xingchen's legs and undressed him, Xue Yang watching with sharp eyes. "I'm going to need you to start pushing when you think is right. Probably not now, but in a while."
"YueHua, focus on your breathing," Xue Yang whispered.
"O-okay," Xingchen's breathing got slower and more calm but he winced at the pain.
"It's alright," Xue Yang said, "you'll be fine."
"You might need to start pushing now," the doctor said. Xingchen held onto both Song Lan and Xue Yang and screamed in pain as he pushed.
Xue Yang let the man dig his nails in his skin and smiled softly, "You're doing great YueHua, just a little more."
Xingchen nodded and clenched his jaw at the pain. The doctor smiled, "I see a head, just a little bit more and the first one will be out."
"See?" Xue Yang whispered "You're doing just fine." Xingchen screamed as he pushed a couple more times and slumped back when he felt the pain stop for a moment.
"It's a boy," the healer said, wrapping the baby in a blanket. A-Qing rushed over and took the baby in her hands, then stepped to the side and rocked it in her arms.
"One more YueHua, it's alright," Xue Yang said encouragingly.
Xingchen shook his head, "I can't do it," he cried, "I'm sorry! I can't!"
"YueHua," Xue Yang said seriously, "you are doing fine. You will get through this and so will the baby, alright? You said so yourself, we're having two or three more after this aren't we?"
"Y-yes," Xingchen whispered, "alright." He felt more contractions and groaned.
"Wait a little while before pushing, but if you can't wait then do it," the doctor said.
"Okay," Xingchen nodded. He felt the pain get stronger and tried to wait but ended up pushing again. He screamed in pain and pushed, holding Song Lan and Xue Yang tightly.
"He's too weak," the healer whispered, "girl! Go get me something sweet!" A-Qing took a couple of candies out of her pocket and rushed over.
She put them in Xingchen's mouth and walked back. The doctor smiled his thanks and nodded at her, before going to back to Xingchen.
Xingchen tasted the sweet candy and thought of Xue Yang, the man that always loved candy. He felt his energy going up and smirked in determination.
He pushed more and heard something he couldn't quite understand. He felt the pain stop and slumped down on the soft bed, panting.
"It's another boy," the healer said.
"You did it YueHua," Xue Yang said smiling, "you did it!"
"I did...didn't I?" Xingchen whispered. He felt his head grow heavy and his heard his heartbeat slowing down.
"He's dying," Song Lan whispered.
"What? No," Xue Yang held Xingchen's face in his hands and shook his head, "YueHua, don't go to sleep. Stay up, you need to take care of the babies. You can sleep later...please."
"I'm sorry a-Yang," Xingchen whispered, "take care of them for me will you? Tell them who their mother was, and tell them that I love them."
"No, YueHua no!" Xue Yang grabbed Xingchen's hands in his own, "Don't you dare leave me! You said we would have more, remember? Two or three more!"
Xingchen smiled and shook his head softly, "I'm afraid I can't do that, giving birth is too much work."
"The-then we can adopt!" Xue Yang said, his voice cracking.
"You can," Xingchen said softly, "I won't be here for that."
"No! Don't say that!" Xue Yang begged, crying, "You need to take care of the babies!"
"You can do it on your own, besides," Xingchen said, "you have a-Qing and Zichen."
"Don't leave me," Xue Yang cried, "please!"
Xingchen chuckled, "Who said I'm leaving? I will always be with you, don't you remember the necklace? I have one to remind me of you, you have one to remind you of me."
"No!" Xue Yang pressed his face in Xingchen's hands, "Don't say that!"
"I love you Xue Yang, never forget that," Xingchen whispered before letting his hand fall limp and his breathing stopping.
"YueHua...YueHua! This isn't funny!" Xue Yang sobbed, "Stop messing around! Wake up! Xingchen...Xiao Xingchen!"
"He's gone Xue Yang," Song Lan said softly, with tears rolling down his cheeks.
A-Qing cried softly at the sight of the man, who was like her brother, dead. She held the baby close to her and made sure he didn't see anything.
"Xingchen!" Xue Yang cried, "Please!" He crawled into the bed and hugged his lover, crying into the dead man's shoulder. "Come back."
"I'm sorry," the healer said, "he was ill wasn't he?"
"Yes," Song Lan whispered.
"That made him weak, if he wasn't sick then he would've survived," the doctor said.
"We thought so," Song Lan said, "well I did at least. I saw how he was getting worse and knew something bad would happen."
"You were right," the doctor said. He turned to Xingchen and bowed, "Thank you for letting me take care of you."
Song Lan stood up and bowed, "Thank you for being my friend and brother."
Xue Yang reluctantly stood up as well and bowed deeply, "Thank you for being my lover and the mother of my children."
A-Qing bowed, "Thank you for being my brother and teacher."
They all stayed like that until the doctor rose. He walked outside and let the others mourn in peace.
"Xue Yang, you still need to name them," a-Qing whispered, giving the baby to the man and holding the one Song Lan was holding.
"This one looks like Xingchen," Song Lan said, nodding at the one in his hands.
"And this one looks like me, bur his eyes are like YueHua," Xue Yang said, "this one is Xue Yue, and that one is Xue Chenxing."
"Good idea," a-Qing said softly, "we should feed them."
"Here," Xue Yang passed the baby to her, " I want to be with Xingchen one more time."