Chapter Eight #2
There was snickering in her mind. They were having a lot of fun becoming a triad, and with more dark elves making their homes on the islands, Blackridge, Breakridge, Wonder, and Emerald were about to get a lot more interesting. Piper smiled. She could hardly wait.
* * * *
Calypso got out of the helicopter on the floating dock, and she and Iro took their bags and hiked toward the bed and breakfast.
Iro asked, “How many times have you delivered here?”
“On Wonder? This will be the first. On the other islands, about forty deliveries in the last year. We are in the middle of a baby boom.”
Iro chuckled. “I know.”
“Oh, stop looking so smug, Iro. Orla is still weeks away from delivery.”
“Are you sure?”
She looked at him and let the glow of her eyes cast his features in an eerie light. “Yes. I am sure. She is going to go off around the thirtieth.”
“I will arrange a locum at the clinic.”
“Do what you like.” She smiled and kept hiking toward the hospitality building, which had an incredible audience at it.
She walked up to the crowd, and they began to part as she moved toward Serin. Serin was sitting with Deno wrapped around her, and they were both laughing.
Calypso came in with her eyes glowing and aura bright. “Hello, mama. You want to walk around?”
Serin nodded. “Hell yes.”
“Okay, I am going to get your bed ready. Deno, take her for a walk.” She turned to the crowd. “Support is great, but no one get in her way. This is not a spectator event.”
Deno was helping Serin up, and Kekoa and Alohi looked excited. Calypso looked at them. “Calm down, Your Majesty, and whatever you are, Alohi.”
Alohi grimaced. “I have known you since you were five, Calypso. You know what I am.”
“Annoying.”
Kekoa looked at her and frowned. “You look...” He glanced toward the crowd. “Oh, my gods.”
Calypso chuckled. “Yes, I know they are here. I am glad they made it to the islands.”
“Do they know about...”
“The scars all over everything? Nope. I am surprised that the folks out here in the islands are so welcoming for me to deliver their little ones.”
Kekoa was struggling for a reason. “You look wise.”
She cackled. “Oh, that’s good. I have to remember that.”
“You have delivered a lot of children?”
“I have. All home deliveries with family and community rushing in the moment the mother was ready. I am guessing that will be the case here as well.”
“How did Serin get in touch with you?”
“She was in the book club. She and I had met. I have met many of the women who are new arrivals to the islands. They find me comforting and were willing to give me good references.”
Calypso smiled and felt the scars pull. “They don’t mind the scars. They know what they are.”
“But you look like the two new ladies.”
“Oh. I know. There were three of us, different families, same embryo bank. Raised separately, but they got to be cousins. I was born to a friend of their family who moved out to the islands. I have only been back once, and this happened. I went through therapy, joined the book club, and got my butt back to Emerald for nurse-midwife training.”
He smiled and noticed that she was watching Serin. “She said she won’t deliver until late tomorrow.”
Calypso grinned. “Right. Glad to know it. But I think she is moving to transition really fast. Gotta go.”
She walked past him and headed for her patient. She was at Serin’s side and smiling. “Honey bear. I need to check a few things. Deno, support her as you have been for a moment more, please.”
Serin nodded. “Go nuts.”
Calypso put her hands on Serin’s belly and asked questions about discomfort and the feeling of fullness. Her fingers timed the contractions while she talked.
“Well, I shouldn’t have stopped to chat with Kekoa. We are going to walk around until you get the urge to bear down, or did you want to have this little one in bed?”
Serin blinked. “Shouldn’t my water have broken?”
“Nope. It doesn’t always happen. Some babies slide out in their personal bubble.”
“It’s coming this fast?” Deno’s eyes were a little wild.
“Babies show up on their own time. They didn’t get a rule book.”
Serin looked around at the green growing space with night-blooming flowers. “I think I want to have it out here.”
“Excellent. I can work with that.”
Deno asked, “Do you need light?”
Calypso looked at him, and her eyes glowed wildly. “Nope. I am good.”
Serin laughed.
Deno asked a soft question, and Calypso nodded. “Not a bad idea.”
Soft vines moved and formed a green cradle and a bed that would form to Serin if she needed to lie down.
Serin continued to walk around the clearing, and every now and then, she would pause and breathe. The pauses were getting closer together.
Calypso paused in front of her and knelt, looking up Serin’s skirt. “Okay, that’s looking good. Now, how do you want to be positioned when your baby comes into the world?”
Serin tried different positions, then the transition began, and Calypso arranged the pads and the blankets, as well as the scissors for the umbilical cord and the container for the placenta.
Things moved fast, and Deno held onto her as her body worked without her conscious thought. Calypso muttered encouragement and direction that Serin could follow, and the little girl emerged, sliding out in her sack. Calypso smiled. “Hello there, lovely.”
She freed the baby from the sack, tied off the cord, and then presented the scissors to Deno for the separation of mother and child.
The happy family was together, and Calypso cleaned up what was necessary, putting her hand on Serin’s belly to get her uterus contracting.
There was minimal blood, and Serin and Deno were beaming. The audience was shockingly quiet and smiling. Happy tears were in eyes, and more of the local villagers had arrived.
The baby was making small squeaking noises, and Serin smiled. “Okay, now I am going to sit down.”
Deno laughed and walked her to the vine recliner the jungle had provided. She kept hold of their baby.
Calypso glanced at Iro and said, “Did you want to make sure things are going well?”
Serin smiled. “Things are fine. The island has this under control.”
There was a soft glow from both parents and a bright blue glow coming from the baby if you knew where to look for it.
Calypso smiled. “I will preserve the caul and bring it to you when I check on you.”
Deno frowned. “Why?”
“It is a powerful talisman. It protects against death by drowning.”
Kekoa walked up and said, “It is because the baby was in water until after birth and came out alive.”
Serin smiled. “They are rare, babies like that. Yes, Calypso, I trust you to take care of it and sever its link to my daughter.”
“Already done. Okay. The placenta is complete, and did you want to bury it under a fruit tree?”
Deno smiled. “Lift it.”
Calypso lifted the platter, vines took the ex-life support, and it disappeared into the jungle.
She cleaned her hands and looked at the family. “So, Serin, are you confident about breastfeeding, or do you want me to wait until it feels normal? Hint, it will never feel normal.”
Serin laughed. “Stay around. There’s a room for you, no charge, obviously.”
Deno grinned. “Did you want to stay for a few days?”
“I have an appointment in two days, but I wouldn’t mind some food and a bed that isn’t flying or rocking.”
Serin nodded. “Can Deno come get you for anything?”
“Anything. First, though, food and then sleep, I have been on my feet for a while.” She packed up her kit, and Iro went to speak with the new mother. He was casually taking her pulse, and he blinked in surprise.
Calypso laughed. She had been tending to Serin for months. She had the blood pressure of a marathon runner.
She straightened and looked toward the buffet table. She identified seven likely snacks and paused to wash her hands in the bar sink. A familiar voice behind her whispered, “Calliope?”
She turned and smiled. “Hey, Harper. Long time, no see.”
“Calliope!” Harper’s hug was intense and full of desperation.
Calypso heard Piper cursing and fighting herself free of her mates, and then a second set of arms and a warm body slammed into her.
Calypso looked at the dragons who looked at her, and stunned recognition hit their faces. She stared at them and said, “This is what happens if Piper has to wash her own dishes.”
A slow smile crossed their features. They nodded.
Piper lifted her head and sniffled. “Why did they call you Calypso?”
“Because that is my name out here. Calliope is too fucking cheerful.”
Harper took in a ragged breath. “You were out here the whole time?”
“No. I pulled on a concealment, went to school, and did my practicum out here. I found that women in labour appreciate a woman who looks like she survived something. So I am the travelling midwife. I travel by boat or helicopter and bring little ones into the world. I also do pre- and post-natal visits. The mothers are in better shape when I come to them, and the environments that the ladies give birth in are interesting and varied.”
There was a laugh from behind them. Serin said, “Nina had to give birth in a tidal pool.”
Belle’s voice rang out, “And I have to give birth in the hot spring, but that isn’t for a while. Congrats on the little priestess, Deno. She’s got a lot of hair.”
Deno grinned. “I am very proud.”
“I have a niece.” Belle smiled.
Serin was still holding her child against her skin.
Calypso kept an eye on the new mother. The golden hour, when the mother learned the feel of the child and the child learned the feel of the mother, was important if it could be upheld.
If not, the bond still formed, but it took longer.
Not allowing the time also didn’t defend the mother’s work to bring that child out and the time to catch her breath to come back to the world from her primal struggle.
“Harper, I was sorry to hear that Skyler was a tool.” Calypso sighed.
“Yeah. Me, too.” Harper lifted her head, and her gaze locked on the claw marks that had nearly taken Calypso’s eyes.
She swallowed. “You said they would fade.”