The Egg is Coming

Writers: Suzee, Devin, Ames
Date Posted: 5th June 2014

Characters: T'nom, Z'ku, Pierka, Lithamar
Description: Pierka's baby is born
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 6, day 23 of Turn 7
Notes: Follows Decisions Decisions

T'nom

Z'ku

Pierka

Liddith was nothing if not literal and if her's forgot to mention the
other rider's dragon then she mush have another reason so Liddth spoke
directly to Z'ku.

}:Mine needs you. Come quickly to my weyr.:{

She wrapped Pierka protectively with her tail and neck crooning
reassurance while flits popped in to hum along with her.

The shock of having another dragon in his head was immediately
followed by the shock of the words themselves. Z'ku excused himself
from the Wing meeting that had just started, saying it was a personal
emergency. **I hope nothing is wrong. I hope it's just the baby coming
and everything will be fine.**

He burst into the weyr without stopping to knock. "Are you okay?" He
took in the sight of her curled up with her green. It was amazing how
nervous he could be for someone else's welfare. It was even worse than
looking out for his wingmates in Fall.

She couldn't give more than a groan as an answer since she was just
then in the grip of a powerful contraction.

"Is it now? Is it coming?" He hurried to her side, heart racing.

"Now," she gasped after the contraction finally began to subside.
"Help me to the bed," she reached out for him.

Z'ku helped her up and supported her as they made their way across the
room. "We need to call a healer. Did you call a healer? Should I call
a healer?"

}:You are very worried. This should be a happy thing,:{ Xemroth said.

"No, I haven't had a chance." Liddith crooned and began humming along
with the flits who were still gathering. Surely someone would notice.
"I need to change to the smock there," she pointed at where it was
folded on the shelf and promptly pulled the dress she had on but then
another contraction started and she collapsed on the bed.

Z'ku made sure she was settled on the bed before grabbing the smock. "Here."

**Please ask a dragon or one of the firelizards to get a healer.**
Surely someone in the infirmary was a rider or had a flit. All they
would need was an image of Pierka to know what was happening.

But that wasn't necessary as the midwife had a flit of her own and
knew when one of her patients was going into labor. It was a rather
festive event for flits. New life always fascinated them.

"How are you doing PIerka," she said with a smile as she came into the
greenriders weyr.

Z'ku breathed a sigh of relief when the woman appeared. He looked
between her and Pierka, hoping for confirmation that everything was
normal. Things could go wrong and women could die in childbirth. The
Weyr had the best healers so at least he knew Pierka and the baby had
the best chance possible if things did go wrong.

Pierka tried to breath like they'd taught her but it was very hard to
concentrate. She nodded at Birkena and smiled as the contraction
faded.

"Let's see how far along you are," the woman said and proceeded to
examine the greenrider. "Well," she said after a moment. "Looks like
you've made a good start but we've got a ways to go. Lets get you into
the smock." She looked at the young man. "Help her up, she's not going
to break."

A self-conscious smile briefly crossed his face as he moved to assist.
"You seem really calm," he told Pierka as he helped her into the
smock.

"It's not like I can change my mind now," she said as she ducked her
head and put her arms into the holes. "And freaking out won't help me.
Goodness, look at all the flits "

Z'ku glanced around at the many-colored firelizards coming to perch on
every available surface. "Are they bothering you?"

"Oh no," she said. "They're fine." but then she could feel another
contraction starting and headed to the bed. Laying down she took a
deep breath and closed her eyes.

"Are you the father," the midwife asked Z'ku.

**I wish.** "No ma'am, just a friend," he answered.

The woman's arms spread as if to scoop him from the room. "Then I'm
going to have to ask you to le...."

"_No_," Pierka interjected. When the woman turned to look at her she
deflated a bit but was still firm "I need him.' She held her hand out
to Z'ku. But for the first time since she'd begun the labor she
thought of T'nom.

The words went straight to his heart. Z'ku took her hand, squeezing to
reassure her. "If she wants me here, I'm not leaving."

"Alright," she said. "But don't get in my way."

Pierka couldn't decide if she should tell T'nom but then a rather hard
contraction hit her and as she struggled with her control she had
Liddith call Taldeth. }:The egg is coming:{ the green told the bronze.

The midwife bustled around getting the tools of her trade set up and
then returned to examine her patient. "Good, good," she commented
patting Pierka's knee. "You're doing coming along. Just a few more
hours.

~*~

Pierka took a deep breath and gripped Z'ku's hand as she pushed.
"Ahhhh," she ground out.

T'nom knew that Pierka's time would be coming soon, but there was
little he could do unless she called for him. Taldeth tried to keep
tabs on things, but Liddith wasn't always forthcoming with information
either. Things had been a bit better between he and Pierka but they
were still hardly more than acquaintances now. T'nom _wanted_ to be
more than that for her, but knew it would take a lot of time and
patience.

}:Liddith says the egg is coming:{ Taldeth informed T'nom, who had
just put a few finishing touches on the small cradle he's worked
painstakingly on over the past few months when he had a spare moment.
T'nom jerked his head up confused. "Eggs? There's no egg...OH!"

Dropping his tools, he made his way as quickly as he could towards
Pierka's weyr. He could hear the noise going on inside. He knocked,
but wasn't heard over the others. After waiting a moment, he entered
anyway. His eyes taking in the situation.

"It's time isn't it?" He asked, looking to Pierka who was clearly in
the midst of delivering their child. Then his eyes turned to Z'ku and
the healer, looking to confirmation from either of them as he moved
towards Pierka's side.

The midwife didn't spare a look for the new comer as the baby was
crowning. "Good good," she said and nodded to the young woman. "A
couple more contractions should do it."

Pierka's eyes got big when she saw T'nom in the doorway, but she
didn't let go of Z'ku's hand. He was the one who was there for her,
day after day and night after night. She'd let go of her stranglehold
but gave his hand a small squeeze. "Have a seat," she said in a
breathless voice to the father of her child.

Z'ku tensed at the sight of the other man, but settled when Pierka
kept hold of his hand. A man shouldn't be kept from the birth of his
child, but Z'ku wasn't going to step aside, either. With his free
hand, he wiped the sweat from Pierka's brow with a damp cloth. "You're
doing good."

T'nom moved quickly into the room and took the chair near Pierka. His
eyes taking in everything all at once. Seeing Z'ku standing where he
knew he should have been left him with a deep feeling of regret. He
wasn't angry at Z'ku or Pierka, but rather at himself. He wasn't given
much time to dwell on it now as he looked and saw what looked like a
crown of hair. His breath caught in the back of his throat. Their
child...his child was almost here. Would it be a girl or a boy? Would
they grow to love him? What role would he get to play in his or her
little life? So many questions, so many emotions running through him
all at once. He stood, moving closer, though not daring to touch her
without her permission. His eyes were fixated on what was about to
happen. The new life that was about to emerge into the world. A life
he had helped to create. He felt the tears already gathering behind
his eyes, but he held them back.

When the next contraction came she pushed as hard as she could. The
midwife turned the head and then used and special tool to quickly
clean out the baby's mouth and nose which of course caused a weak cry
that quickly grew louder. Pierka laughed at the sound.

"One more for the shoulders," the midwife said. "Almost there."

Z'ku had to remind himself to breathe. The baby wasn't an idea
anymore. It was real and it was here. The baby's cry and Pierka's
laugh made him smile. He squeezed her hand.

Moments later she felt the next contraction coming and squeezed back.
The flit's were humming furiously and she felt the contraction build.
Taking a deep breath began to push again and suddenly all the pressure
went away and the baby was in the midwife's hands.

"It's a boy," Lithamar told them and not wanting to to choose between
the men present took the wailing child and laid him up on his mothers
belly while she tied off the birthing cord. Then she held up the
scissors to Pierka. "Who cuts the cord," she asked the mother.

She'd thought about this long and hard and though she'd not told
either of the men her plan she didn't miss a beat. "Z'ku," she said
and squeezed his hand while her other one reached out to touch her
tiny son.

A boy! Z'ku's heart swelled and his hand shook a little as he took the
scissors. "How do I do it?" he asked the midwife. This wasn't the kind
of thing he wanted to make a mistake with.

"Here," said Lithamar pointing to a spot just between the knots
she'd tied. "Then I'll need to take him and clean him up a bit and mom
can nurse while we deliver the afterbirth.

Z'ku cut carefully where she'd indicated, exhaling when it was over.
Then he moved up to take Pierka's hand again. She looked exhausted,
but beautiful. "He's amazing. Perfect." **I wish he was mine.**

She smiled up at him with a satisfied but tired smile. "He is, isn't
he." She turned her smile toward T'nom and nodded. "You can hold him
first. If you want."

The midwife did as she had said and tested and cleaned up the little
one before returning him to place him in his mothers arms. But she
pointed to T'nom. "Him first."

T'nom stood, breathless, watching as everything enfolded before his
very eyes. *A boy!* He had a son! His eyes were fixated on the little
life that was there, right before his very eyes. _His_ son. He had to
remind himself to breath. It was hard to watch Z'ku do the things he
knew should have been his right, but T'nom never once spoke or
interfered. He was simply glad Pierka had allowed him here to witness
this first moment of life after all he'd put her through.

"Me?" He asked almost incredulously when Pierka gave him permission to
hold their son first. Taking the little life into his arms, T'nom felt
real tears well up behind his eyes. He was so small T'nom was almost
afraid he would hurt or break him in some way just by holding him. He
lifted his eyes, full of the true depth of emotion he felt and looked
towards Pierka with a beaming smile. "He's amazing. You're amazing."
Looking back down at their son, T'nom ran his finger along his cheek
and was surprised when the babe seemed to turn towards his hand as
though to suck.

Pierka was surprised by the depth of feeling from T'nom after
everything and turned to look at Z'ku. But rather than give in to the
hurts she wanted to focus on the joy and squeezed his hand with a
smile. When she looked back she could see her son looking like he
wanted to feed so she pulled her arms out of her shift baring her
small breasts and held her arms out. "I think he needs to eat," she
said softly.

T'nom didn't want to let the little babe go, but he knew he had to. He
moved beside Pierka, holding out the babe as carefully as he could. He
wasn't sure he was doing it right. He wasn't sure how to hand off the
babe without hurting him or dropping him. He hoped Pierka would be
able to compensate for what he didn't know. "He's beautiful. He's the
most beautiful baby I've ever seen," T'nom stated quietly as he gave
the little body one last stroke with his hand before making sure he
was settled in Pierka's arms.

He looked into Pierka's eyes. "Have you decided on which name yet?" He
knew they had discussed some options, but he'd left it in her hands to
make the decision.

She smiled as he placed the little bundle in her arms. She couldn't
help grinning at the baby and stroking his face. Of course that made
him turn toward her. She did like the midwife had taught her and
pinched her nipple to put it in the little mouth. But her eyes rounded
when he latched on and she looked up a little startled. "Woah," she
said.

The midwife nodded and smiled and began kneading her abdomen though
the afterbirth contractions were hardly noticeable compared to the
ones before he was born. She looked into the little face. "No," she
answered T'nom's question. "I wanted to meet him first."

Z'ku pushed down a flare of jealousy. It _was_ T'nom's baby, after all.
"Congratulations," he told the other bronzerider, and turned with a
nod to include Pierka. Then his gaze went back to the tiny boy,
nursing hungrily. Such a beautiful sight. Pierka, a _mother_! It was
still hard to believe, but he was sure she'd be wonderful.

Last updated on the June 18th 2014

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The Egg is Coming