Chapter Nine
“I sent the court home,” Tivar told him one day when Lumi guessed he was a week or two away from giving birth.
Lumi shifted as he tried to get comfortable, an impossible feat. His back kept aching no matter how he sat or lay. Standing by the side of the bed and pacing a few feet alongside it didn’t help either. “Why?”
“It’s getting too expensive to feed them.
I’ve picked a High Mage who will coronate our boy and keep it a secret so the Crown will come back to life.
Once I’ve defeated Elswere’s side to unite the country and save it, I’ll reveal that I have an heir and say my Mistress died to the general public.
In the meantime, I need money to pay the men, and the court’s too big to keep up since it’s a massive drain to feed so many mouths.
Heating the place alone is too much. There are a few servants to do the bare minimum, and that’s it. I let the rest go.”
If a court was getting too expensive, Lumi imagined the citizens were suffering immensely.
He had no idea what state Lilling was in, but it couldn’t be good.
The twisting that started in his gut wasn’t from the baby doing his afternoon exercises.
It was easy not to think about it much since he never left the room and saw the outside world.
He knew the truth, and he’d seen enough in Havaska.
He imagined the servants who had been sacked and forced to return home where they would need to scramble to find new employment. If they did, they would still suffer because food wasn’t plentiful, and what existed was priced quite high.
“Who will take care of us if you go to war?” asked Lumi.
“I’m not going. I’ll stay here. Commanders and lords can do the general leading, and we’ll send doves as needed.”
That wasn’t smart at all. A lot could happen by the time a dove flew to its recipient. Lumi kept his mouth shut. It wasn’t like he had a brighter idea, and no one could be told to take care of a mystery guy chained up in the King’s bedroom with a baby.
Tivar sat on the bed and noticed the baby’s foot pressing against the side of Lumi’s stomach. “It’s like he’s trying to burst out of your gut.”
“Your son’s just trying to say hello.” Lumi forced a smile. “He hears his other Father’s voice, and it makes him happy.”
“I’ll be happy when I can look at him properly and not as a moving bulge. Hurry up and have him.”
“He just needs to cook a little more,” said Lumi. “I can’t make him come early.”
Normally, he wouldn’t say anything that could be counted as refusal or disobedience, but he was only stating facts, and Tivar didn’t grow angry.
“I’ll be glad when I can fuck you again too and not feel like I’m humping a sow.”
“It won’t be long now.” Lumi tried to ignore the tightness in his throat. He might as well start oinking since he felt like a pig. Of course, Tivar wanted the heir and not the changes that came with the one who had to grow it for him.
Lumi had mentioned to him how birth could be messy, and babies didn’t come out squeaky clean after a couple of quick pushes.
Tivar brought him extra sheets, blankets, and a couple of pillows to help his back to be ready for whenever labor started.
Lumi had asked nicely and mentioned that if he had some comfort, it would make the situation less stressful for the baby too.
“Try not to make too big of a mess,” he whined as if Lumi had control of it.
He knew his time was close when a dull ache started deep inside him one morning.
He spent longer than normal on the privy as his body cleaned itself out the best it could.
His appetite was gone, and it was best to stop eating while his insides shifted to make way for the baby.
He put down a few of the extra sheets on his side of the bed because he wasn’t sure when his water would break.
In fact, there was a lot he wasn’t sure about involving birth, and Tivar didn’t know shit.
When Lumi had read about the process of abundant males, it had been years ago.
Also, the book had been meant more as a primer for young abundant males who'd had their first heat and simply wanted to know how the basics of pregnancy and birth worked for them.
Tivar hadn’t bothered to get him pregnancy books.
The dull ache lasted all day, and it was more annoying than painful.
Tivar was snoring away around midnight when Lumi’s real pains started.
They weren’t too severe, and since he had long breaks between each bout, he tried to sleep so he could skip them.
Anxiety kept him awake. The baby seemed lower, and its movements were regular, so he assumed everything was fine so far.
Around four, they grew a little worse, and a sudden gush of liquid from his rear wasn’t pleasant to say the least.
“Fuck,” he mumbled under his breath. He sat up and kept his tail out of the way as more trickled out, and he waited until he thought it was done before he carefully got up.
Two sheets were now ruined. He pulled them off and placed two other clean sheets on his side.
While he wiped himself with a rag, the baby shifted.
He wanted to sing to his belly because he wondered if the baby was scared too.
Did it know it was about to leave the home it had spent nine months in?
He remained quiet since Tivar would be pissed if he was awoken by Lumi singing.
When the skylight lightened, he checked himself by feeling around his asshole.
He knew he wasn’t dilated enough, and the baby certainly wouldn’t be sliding out soon.
It was hard to stay still when a contraction gripped him, and he let out a groan partly from the pain, and partly because fucking Tivar had slept all night without a care in the world.
Tivar shifted and grunted. “What? What the fuck are you doing?”
“I’m in labor.”
“Oh. When is it going to come out?”
Lumi glanced over his shoulder. “I don’t know.” How would he know? He flinched when he felt Tivar’s hand on his ass cheeks.
“Your hole’s gaping like I just fucked you.”
Because that was what Lumi wanted to hear. “It started around midnight. My water broke a bit later.”
“That’s normal, right?”
“I guess.”
“Does everything seem normal?”
“I think so.”
“You’d know if you’d given me heirs earlier.” Tivar sighed and got up. “I guess I won’t be sleeping anymore.”
Boohoo. At least he'd gotten decent sleep. Lumi wisely kept his mouth shut.
The contractions came every twenty or so minutes and lasted for about ten.
He didn’t know if it was normal or not, and male pregnancy wasn’t quite the same as a woman's. Besides, not everyone is the same, so one abundant male’s experience could differ from another, right?
He couldn’t remember much of what the book said about contractions.
Tivar made sure he had water and hung around. By noon, Lumi wanted someone who could actually help and knew what they were doing.
“Can you get a midwife from Lilling?” Lumi curled up on his side.
“Absolutely not.” Tivar, who’d been sitting by the windows, had eaten an early lunch, uncaring of the discomfort his baby maker was dealing with.
“Tivar, please. It’ll-”
“How am I supposed to explain why you're shackled to the bed?”
Luke lifted his shackled wrist and shook it to make the chain rattle. “Take it off. Say I’m a friend or something. Make up a lie about who I am and say you’re giving me a place to stay. I'm impoverished and-”
“I’d never take off the chain and let you have free roam.”
“Like I could run away in this state. Naked, with regular contractions, and a baby about to slide out of me at some point?”
“I’m not taking the chance.”
“I don’t want to run away. I want more children with you, and how would this one live out there in the cold with nothing?
” Like he’d risk running. Tivar would take the baby and make sure Lumi died a slow, painful death even if he succeeded in getting out.
“Please! Get a midwife in case something goes wrong. You’re going to say your Mistress died in childbirth, and what if I actually die?
The baby could die along with me too. Your heir won’t be of any use dead. ”
“If something goes wrong, there’s not much she can do,” said Tivar. “You’ve been healthy so far, so I don’t see why anything would happen now.”
Lumi barely managed to keep his ears from drawing back. “This could take several more hours.”
“I’m sure.”
“She could help with the pain and-”
“Just deal with it,” Tivar snapped as his ears flattened.
“Births happen all the time, they’re fine, and many women and abundant males go on to have another child.
I’ve given you a lot during this pregnancy.
Don’t start telling me what to do just because you’re carrying my son.
You could say anything to a midwife as well. ”
“I promise I won't.” Lumi started to cry as another contraction came.
“Pfft. Even if you didn’t, what about the midwife?
She might believe a lie, but she’ll remember later when I reveal my baby from a dead Mistress who died in childbirth.
She’ll remember you lived. She might start questioning and talking.
I’m not taking the chance. Nobody in the Kingdom can know of you. ”
“I don’t want to be alone.”
“I’m in here.”
“But you’re not helping me. I want someone with experience.” It’d be a relief even if the midwife only held his hand. At least she wouldn’t bitch at him. “I’m scared.”
Tivar rolled his eyes as Lumi groaned and twisted on the bed. “I’m not going to listen to you crying and complaining all day. This is ridiculous.”
“This is your child. You wanted it so badly. What if something goes wrong?”
“You’ll be fine, and there hasn’t been anything wrong so far. If something happens, what do you expect anyone to do?”
“You have no idea what you're talking about!”
“Watch your mouth.” Tivar’s tail swished. “I’ll check on you later.”