29. Chapter Twenty-Nine #3
“I hope to Gaia it hasn’t been stuck too long, but there’s no way to know. We just need to get her into a different position,” Kaya said, her voice calm but insistent. “Help me push her legs back, like this.”
Ena felt Kaya push her legs back into her chest, bending them at the knees. “Help her hold them that way,” she told Ty. Then she felt Ty take over, grasping her legs and holding them firmly in the position Kaya had demonstrated. “Good.”
Another contraction came and went. She could feel the baby coming out now as pain burst through her, but still, it didn’t emerge all the way.
“I’m going to have to reach in and pull the baby’s arm out,” Kaya said. “Ena, I’m so sorry, this is going to hurt.”
With the next contraction, Ena felt Kaya shove her hand inside and grab the baby, pulling as her body pushed.
Ena vaguely wondered how there was even room for that, and why she could barely even feel it, when all at once, she felt something rip.
Then, finally, as if a dam were breaking, she felt the baby slide out, followed by a gush of liquid and blood.
“Fucking Iblis,” Ty said, his voice cracked and choked with emotion.
“Grab me those clean cloths I brought,” Kaya said.
Ena could barely lift her head up to see the baby, but her body flooded with relief. She’d done it. The baby was out. Was it…?
“It’s a boy, Ena,” Ty said, his voice wavering. “It’s a baby boy.”
“He’s not breathing yet,” Turner said, sounding concerned and close by.
“I just need to suction him, and he should…”
All of a sudden, a wailing filled the cave—a cry. It was loud and strong—overwhelming in its intensity.
Ena felt a smile drift across her face, but she could barely open her eyes. He was here. He was crying. He must be okay.
“She’s bleeding a lot,” Kaya said. “Ena? Can you hear me?”
Ena could hear her, but she sounded far away. She couldn’t quite focus on what anyone was saying.
“I’m going to use my Gift on her,” Kaya said. “It should buy us some time.”
“What’s your Gift?” Ty asked.
“Sanguim,” Kaya answered. “I can manipulate blood in the body. Amplify it, restrict its flow—any number of things, really.”
“That’s handy,” Turner said.
Ena felt Kaya’s hands move over her abdomen, massaging, and all at once, the warm, wet liquid she’d felt gushing out of her lessened its flow. Then she was beset by another contraction, and she grunted in pain.
“Why is she still contracting?” Ty asked.
“It’s the placenta. It’s almost ready to come out,” Kaya said. “She’ll keep experiencing aftershocks for a little bit, but they will lessen now.”
After another contraction, Ena felt something else slide from her, and afterwards, an immense wave of relief.
She felt her body relax for what felt like the first time in years, and as Kaya’s hands continued to move over her body, she felt a revival of her energy, and her eyes fluttered open.
“There she is.”
Ena was met with Kaya’s kind, smiling face and familiar green eyes. “You did so amazing, Ena.”
“Where—” she began to say, but her mouth was dry and her voice was hoarse from all the strain and screaming.
“Right here,” Ty said from beside her. She turned to look at him, and saw in his arms a small bundle of blankets. “Turner, help her up. She can lean back against me and hold him.”
Ena felt Turner lift her gently as Ty slid behind her back, and she leaned up against his sturdy warmth, her entire body relaxing into him.
“Here he is, Ena,” he said, passing her the small bundle.
And then Ena was staring down into a face—a tiny face, a new face. Her son.
Her mind boggled at it. How could this be? Was this even real? How was he here, now, when he had just been…nowhere?
He was small, and red, and so squishy—like he’d been birthed from the water itself—and as he turned to nuzzle into her, seeking her warmth and her scent, Ena felt her heart nearly burst with a joy and elation she had never experienced before.
A mixture of relief, awe, disbelief, and a profound sense of love.
“What are you going to name him?” Turner asked, his voice choked, and Ena looked up to see tears in his eyes as he watched them.
“I don’t know,” Ena said. She and Ty hadn’t discussed names yet. As silly as it seemed, it had felt like asking for tragedy to plan on something so unknown at the time. But now…he truly was here, and she was at a loss.
“Ladon,” Ty said from behind her. She turned to look back at him, meeting his beautiful green eyes.
He looked exhausted and content, just like her, his strong features aglow in the firelight.
“I hadn’t had a chance to tell you yet, but I was thinking about names and that one just… came to me. Do you like it?”
Ladon. Yes. Yes, she did like it.
“It’s perfect,” she said, smiling up at him.
He leaned down to kiss her, the feel of his lips against hers so immensely pleasurable after all the pain she had endured, and she relished it as she breathed him in.
Then she turned down to look once more into the face of their child, holding him snug in her arms, and just for a moment, everything they had been through—everything—was worth it, because it had brought them here.
She was safe. Ty was safe. And now, so was Ladon. She just hoped it could stay that way—forever.