Title: The Journey: Birth

Author: VirKatJol

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Kahlan's labor pains become more than just a pesky pain. written for kissbingo

Disclaimer: I OWN THEM. I'm also a LIAR. but not a THIEF. I ONLY LIED ABOUT BEING A THIEF… and about OWNING THEM.

A/N: pickgems is reading or packing or sparkling. MAYBE ALL 3, she's very talented. ALL MISTAKES ARE MINE.

DEDICATED TO TWITTER PEEPS. ESPECIALLY ASHEEBIZZLE, THEREALSWORD and CONFESSORLOVE.

Valhallalilly is my love. MY EVERYTHING. MY MUSE. MY BB! 3 U VAHALLALALA

Birth

"How much further?" Richard shouted through the roof of the carriage at the driver.

"Hours, Lord Rahl."

Even though the roof muffled his voice Richard could hear his fear at disappointing him. He'd been so careful since he'd gone out to tell him to avoid all ruts in the road and to keep making quick progress. Both of them knew it was highly unlikely they would come across someone in this part of the country. It was just thick forest with a few trails that were labeled as roads through it. The timber was hard woods and the edges closest to the area villages were used before the oaks deep within the woods was touched.

"Pull over, secure the animals and make a fire. She's going to have this baby now." Richard pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head. "Just hold out a little bit longer, Kahlan."

"I need to get her out." Her voice was full of pain and desperation.

"You need to wait until we get water warm so when she comes out we can take care of her. Try to hold off a bit longer, for her."

She nodded and hissed through her teeth as another contraction hit her. She concentrated on not pushing and breathing. She moaned through the pain and huffed in a tempo that Richard whispered in her ear. As soon as it had passed he lifted her up and took her from the buggy.

Richard glanced at the area and found a spot that looked soft. The leaf and moss covered earth was as inviting as he could find at such short notice. He saw the driver racing back with a large arm full of kindling and he reached for the dry wood.

"Go find water." The driver just nodded, grabbed the buckets they'd used to water the horses and ran to find a spring or creek.

Watching the driver go he went back to the carriage and pulled out the blankets, the air was chilly and he saved the smallest one for the babe. He wrapped Kahlan in a light one. She was already warm from exertion.

"How are you doing?"

"I want to push. Ahhh!" Kahlan's yell ripped through the trees startling some near by birds from their slumber.

"Don't yet!" He squeezed her shoulder and made sure she stayed laying down. Richard's hand massaged her stomach, helping her through the awful cramping. As soon as it was over he went to building the fire. The wood was perfect for burning and it started right away. He frantically scouted the area for larger pieces and added a couple to the blaze.

He set up a hook and put the small pot over the fire dumping half the water he had left from the canteen into it. Kahlan's contractions were so close together, she'd suffered through two while he'd been working.

"As soon as the water heats up you can start." He sat behind her rubbing her arms, stroking her face and kissing the top of her head. "I want to try to be clean while working to try to lessen the chance of infection."

"Richard…" She was startled by a contraction and he helped her through it before she started again. "I'm so tired."

"You can do this." He kissed her hair again and then went to the small pot. He grabbed the cake of soap and scrubbed his hands clean, rinsing the residue off with the hot water. "You ready?"

She couldn't reply the next contraction hit and he motioned for her to push.

Her screams were agonizing to listen to. Richard's heart hurt at the pain that he'd caused her by planting his seed inside her. Her skirts were bunched up under her breasts, one of his hands held to her stomach the other probed her sheath trying to feel for the baby's head.

Kahlan pushed and pushed. At one point she saw the driver start a new pot of water boiling before he sat behind her, helping her brace against the cramping. She was glad he was there to lean against, her strength was seeping from her body. She could hear Richard giving him instructions and a cool cloth blotting her brow and cheeks. Most of her focus was on the pain. The never-ending, intense agony that jolted her exhausted body. She missed when she got breaks between contractions.

"Something's wrong…" Richard's deep voice was dripping with worry. "Kahlan I'm going to have to turn the baby, I think that she's breeched. She should have been out by now it's been hours."

The fearful look on her face must have scared him because he whispered about how he loved her and how everything was going to be fine. He'd done it before for her sister, after all. Kahlan winced at the new painful sensation of him pressing hard into her belly. His hand was forcing the baby to move she could feel it.

"I want you to push as soon as you can, I think she'll stay in position if you can help her." Richard waited and waited, it must have only been seconds, but it felt like an eternity until he felt her muscles clench under his palm and Kahlan's body jerk upwards with the effort. He felt their daughter slip into position and he sighed with relief. Then the contraction was over and Kahlan fell back.

"I can't, Richard, I can't"

"You have to." He kneeled beside her and kissed her lips, quickly before the next cramp took over. "I can't lose you. You're my life, Kahlan. You can do this. You will." He stroked her cheek and moved back between her legs. "It's almost over now. We're about to meet her."

Before she could reply and deny her ability to bring the babe into the world another spasm took over and she wailed her torment to the creatures of the forest and the the two men assisting her. All her energy went into the push and she could feel her moving, finally. She thought that she'd felt pain before but the head and shoulders passing down the birthing canal was making her see spots.

"Breathe, Kahlan!"

She heard him and sucked in a rush of the cool night air. The spots disappeared and she let herself curse at the agony. She felt like she was tearing in two but she didn't let up. This was her last effort, she could feel unconsciousness floating at the end of this contraction.

She heard the tiny voice scream her displeasure at the chill outside and Kahlan smiled as her world became black.

"Lay her gently down and come help me with the baby." Richard ordered the driver. "What's your name?"

"Heldry, sire. My friends call me Chip." At Lord Rahl's inquisitive look he added. "It's a long story."

"You've done a remarkable job, Chip, and call me Richard, please. You've seen more of my wife than any other man alive. So that either makes us very good friends or I'll have to kill you later. I'd rather not kill you."

"I haven't seen anything, sire."

"Richard."

"Richard… then." Chip dipped the clean towels into the water and they washed the new baby. Richard held her tightly as he worked glancing at Kahlan constantly. "I'm done." He held open the warm fur that Richard had set aside and wrapped the small child in it as Richard went back to tend to Kahlan.

Now that the baby was tended to he had to get her to pass the afterbirth. He massaged her stomach and felt it contract. She moaned in her state of unaware and the placenta spilled from her body. Richard cleaned her thighs and the juncture between them with the last of the towels and the water that was cooling. She didn't look too torn, from what he could tell. Her skirts were dirty, but he pulled them back down to cover her, if only to keep her warm. Modesty had flown out the window long ago. He picked up the afterbirth and went to toss it in the dense forest of oaks. He was thankful for them, their timber burnt long and hot and had helped the two men tend to Kahlan instead of the fire constantly.

Her eyes were opening when he returned and he slipped beside her and kissed the top of her head.

"Chip, she's ready for her now." He watched the tears stream down her face as the driver placed their daughter in her mother's arms. "She looks like you."

"She's her mother already. Look at her little lips and wide eyes, her tiny up turned nose and rosy cheeks-"

"Her brown eyes and they way they sparkle with curiosity she can't yet express through endless questions. Questions to annoy me like her father. This is what we have to look forward to, a tiny Richard in adorable female form, we don't' stand a chance against her. You better ready your army."

He laughed at her and she felt the vibrations from his chest race through her. It felt good to joke again after the agony they both went through with the difficult birth.

Kahlan couldn't believe she was real. After all the waiting and then the hours of suffering, she was in her arms. She knew, now, why women did it again. It was this moment.

"Ayla. How does that sound?" Richard was hesitant to suggest something from his homeland. But the oak trees had assisted and he felt they owed the spirits of the woods the honor of naming her something that held meaning for them.

"It's perfect." Kahlan looked up at him, his eyes were locked onto Ayla. She knew how he felt, she wouldn't tire of looking at her. She adjusted her in her arms, moving her higher. She watched as Richard bent over and placed delicate kisses on the top of their daughters head. One after another, the tufts of dark hair tickling his lips and nose as he covered every inch of her head.

"We'll camp here for the night. Chip is making a nice place just inside these trees." Richard stood up and pulled Kahlan to her feet. The wobbling of her legs didn't last long. He picked her and Ayla up and carried them both to the clearing within the oak trees that Chip had scouted out. There was already a second fire burning and a bedroll spread out close to it. He laid Kahlan and the baby down on the soft bedding. "I'm going to help him settle the three horses and bring you clean clothes."

"She'll be hungry soo-"

"I won't miss her first meal. I'll hurry."

She watched him scurry into the woods until she couldn't see him any longer. Ayla's face was red from the stress of birth still, she was wrinkled and small, but somehow she'd never seen a more perfect child. She could see a lot of Richard in her features, despite his insistence that was all her. She knew she'd be completely taken with her and she'd be hopelessly spoiled by both of them.

She hoped that she never knew how lucky she really was. To have a father that would love her because she was his daughter, not because her mother demanded it. She didn't want to think about explaining how it had come to be possible for them. Kahlan would hope that Ayla would be able to discover a love like the one her parents shared. If there was one wish she could grant she would make sure her daughter found someone to be her best friend, lover, husband, confidant, and everything else.

"You look so serious." Richard noticed the fresh tears on his wife's cheeks. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing… Nothing…"

He set the supplies down next to his wife and child before kneeling next to her.

"Tell me." His hand touched her cheek and her lips turned to kiss his palm.

"I was just thinking thoughts that are years in advance of what I should be worrying about." Kahlan looked at him seeing that he was still concerned she sighed. "I just wish that I never have to explain to her that she can't have what we have."

"She might find it. Don't sell her short she's our daughter after all." He settled his back against a fallen log and drug them in between his legs. "Chip's going to keep watch for a few hours before he comes back to sleep, so we're alone, together, for a time." He tugged at her clothes, undressing her to remove the soiled cloth. The movement woke Ayla and she smacked her lips before she started to fuss.

Richard grabbed the green blanket from the pile he brought from the carriage and covered them. He watched over her shoulder as she angled Ayla to her breast. The tips were leaking milk suddenly as if triggered by the infants cries.

Her small lips latched on swiftly and began sucking. Her little hand moved up as if to hold Kahlan's breast to her mouth. Richard's arm moved under hers helping to support the baby.

Both of them watched in complete silence only the sound of her suckling and their breathing mingled with the ambiance of the woods. It was as it should be, really, they'd spent so much time together in the forest. They fell in love beneath the trees. It was only right that they should both fall under the spell of their daughter in the canopy of the woods. Even though they were both immune they were confessed this night. Her dedicated servants until the day they died.

"I never knew it would feel like this." Kahlan bent down and kissed the top of Ayla's head.

"It's like nothing else." He placed his lips on the part of her hair kissing along the exposed bit of her scalp.

"Lets have another."

"You have to name the next one."

She nodded and melted into his chest. His arms tightened around her and suddenly her eyes wouldn't stay open. She saw her daughters lips slacking as the sandman found her. She knew she was safe in Richard's embrace so she let sleep overtake her.

Richard held them both throughout the completion of the night. Chip slept close by in case he was needed, but Richard couldn't. He was tired, exhausted really, but he couldn't stop drinking in the sight of his family.

When the sun came up the wail awoke everyone else in camp. Richard carefully adjusted Ayla to Kahlan's breast so she could enjoy a meal and whispered for his wife to go back to sleep. They'd have to be on their way soon. He nodded to Chip as he made his way to ready the horses, acknowledging that they'd be along in a little while.

He wanted to soak in this time. It would be too long until they were able to get this much. It was nice that she went into labor here. It brought them this time together. He'd have to thank her for her stubbornness later. For now he needed to enjoy.

The End