Chapter 7

He would give just about anything to see her able to hold one meal down.  It seemed she brought them back up as quickly as she got them down.  It had quickly become a battle to get her to even try eating, she just wasn't interested in food.  He couldn't blame her really, but she was already so thin, he hated to think of what would happen if she lost any more weight.

Life was good for both of them, mostly.  Estrella still woke several times in the night, and if he wasn't in the bed she went into a panic.  She still heard the voices whispering threats and promises to her, she didn't tell him, but he could see it in her eyes.  Despite all that, she seemed intent on living for the moment, and that moment included him, a very lucky, happy him!

They did everything together, whether it was gardening or fishing, or visiting relatives and friends they were inseparable.  Neither of them minded, they both seemed to have this intense need for constant touch. Their nights were lit with the flames of desire. He would have never guessed the passion that would flow out of his tiny bride, the enthusiasm she would have for lovemaking.

That faded away shortly after the vomiting had begun.  Now she seemed to have little energy for more then the daily work they had to do to survive.  He was worried about her afraid she had caught the same illness that had destroyed his family.

It ended as quickly as it began, one day she woke up starving, and the vomiting stopped.  He didn't understand what it was, couldn't imagine a virus just disappearing like that overnight, but he didn't care, she was well and soon she had put back the weight she had lost.

"Trae, I think I'm having a baby."  she looked so tiny and fragile standing there, wringing her hands,  "I haven't  been visited in almost four months now, and there are other things that are different."  It was as if his eyes had been shut and he hadn't really seen her until she made the announcement, now he could see it, her breasts were fuller, her belly had the tiniest hint of a bulge, why hadn't he noticed or thought about it.

He grabbed her in his arms, "Are you certain? We are going to be parents?  Blessed be Moldar!" He spun her around and she squealed and laughed as he set her back onto the ground.  He wasn't sure what made him happier, knowing they had created a life, or knowing she didn't have some mysterious illness that would kill her.  Childbirth was natural, she was going to be just fine!

The next months there was much to do, a bed had to be fashioned for the baby, and of course there were clothes to be sewn, and blankets to be knitted.  As Estrella grew larger she found the weight of the baby slowed her down.  It was harder to breath, harder to move.  By the end of each day she was happy to sit by the fire with her Helran and work quietly on the baby things and just talk.

She was miserable, he could see it in her eyes, her careful way of moving about the house, he knew that it couldn't be much longer before the baby came, and he couldn't wait.  He wanted his Shelan back, the full of life, bouncing all over, endless energy girl he had married.  He could see her wince every time she bent over, or stood up. He felt her tossing and turning every night in their bed, and had noticed how many nights she would get back up to walk the floors, unable to find a way to sleep.  "It's time little one, come out of your Mama, you are too big to be in her any longer."

Estrella paced about the house unable to get comfortable in the bed.  She had been having pains for several days now, but when she asked her mother about them, she was told they weren't regular enough yet.  Her mother had given her a tea to drink, it was suppose to strengthen her uterus and make labor quick and easy for her.  She had been drinking several cups of it every day for the past week.

She decided she might as well do a bit of cooking to pass the time when another pain ripped across her abdomen, this one was different, and with it came a gush of fluid pooling at the floor.  It was time, finally the baby would be here.

She moved around a lot in the early stages of the labor, walking, and leaning on the wall when the next pain would hit, he felt so helpless, the best he could offer her was a shoulder to lean on, or a massage when the pain was at it worse.  Hours later she still didn't seem much closer then she had been, but her energy was waning, and he was growing concerned for her.

They tried putting her in a squatting position, hoping it would help to move the baby on down, and it seemed to work, the pains came closer together and the pressure increased, until she was certain she couldn't take it a moment longer.

After twelve hours, she no longer could stand to walk or squat, and so he lifted her on to the bed and held her as each pain left her breathless and exhausted, and they kept coming, one after another, with no signs of stopping.  "Birth is natural,"  became his chant as he tried to keep himself calm for his Shelan, "This is all natural, women are made for this, it's all going to be ok."

Darkness came  yet again, and another dawn, still no baby, he wondered if it would ever happen, she had been in agony now for over twenty four hours, but something had changed, she was shaking now, and had thrown up twice in the past hour, and in the last few moments she had begun making tiny moans followed by what sounded like little grunts.  

Estrella was exhausted, she didn't know how she would do anymore then she had already, her body had other plans, and the pressure was unbelievable, as was the pain, she had only one choice, to push as if her child's life depended on it. She could feel the baby moving down the canal, the head trying to come out of her, but each time she stopped pushing it would slip back inside.













"Estrella, push little Shelan, push hard, it's time for our baby to come out!"  He was worried, she had been pushing for over two hours and nothing seemed to be happening, and he noticed her pushes were getting weaker.   Estrella heard her Helran through the fog, heard the worry in his voice, and somewhere deep inside her a strength awakened, she pulled herself up and pushed with everything she had.

"I can't something's wrong, its stuck, Trae, the baby isn't coming any further!  It hurts!"  She screamed again, a familiar sound as their infant's head had finally begun emerging out of her, tearing her.  Now the head was delivered, and once again her pushes were not producing anything.

Trae heard a voice inside his head, soothing and strong, "Turn the baby Trae, the shoulder is stuck, just give it a little turn and help it out."  He did as he was told, as his Shelan screamed in pain, he finished bringing their child into the world.  He knew then that Moldar had been there with them through it all, and with a shudder wondered if the outcome would have been much different without his help. His Shelan fell onto the bed exhausted as he wiped off their little one and wrapped the baby up.

"A beautiful baby girl, we have a girl Shelan!" Never in the world's history had a papa been so happy to see his first daughter, "We should name her Kyla, our beautiful baby girl, look at her my Tiny Star, look what we created together!"  Estrella sat up as far as she was able and gazed down at her little daughter, a smile spreading across her lips.  Their love have made her, and their love would surround her.

Trae tiptoed out of the bedroom after helping Estrella get cleaned up and changed, carrying his daughter with him, he looked down at her tiny face, and over at her mother, both of them sleeping peacefully.  He knew he would go to hell itself to save either of them.