"All right ma'am, ready…..and push!" Sasha Kaidanovsky growled and gripped the sides of her bed like she was throttling a bear. Which she had only done once in her life and had been an exhilarating experience.
This, however, was not.
"You're doing great ma'am keep going." Sasha was close to ripping the head off of the nurse but settled for concentrating her efforts on the child about to enter this world. She could feel it
"Ma'am, you are doing so well. Keep going, you're almost there!"
Заткнись!" Sasha shouted, pushing as hard as she could. Sweat dripped down her forehead and her hands were beginning to tremble from holding on. She panted and gasped.
"Where is my husband?" she screamed. She wasn't sure if the nurse knew Russian, but she neede Aleksis now so she wasn't wasting time. The blond nurse nodded and brought a towel to her forehead to blot the sweat.
"Find her husband," she said to one of the orderlies. "She's close."
At the moment, as if divine intervention had taken place, Aleksis barged through the door, carrying a small cup of ice chips.
"I am here, Sasha!" He took a seat by the bed and she gripped his hand like a vice. He used his free hand to push the hair out of her eyes.
"I could feel you calling me," he said. Of course, she thought briefly. The Drift had connected them in ways she still didn't find possible.
She drew in heaving breaths, pushing with everything she had left. Her husband was here. Aleksis was here and
"I can see the baby!" the nurse yelled, as she moved to the edge of the bed.
Aleksis gripped her hand tighter.
"You can do it, Sasha. You are strongest woman I know." She let her husband's words wash over her and exerted one final, intense push.
"I got the baby!" the nurse shouted. Sasha collapsed in relief, the voices around her growing fainter and fainter as she allowed herself to relax.
The child was a girl.
7 pounds, 8 ounces, with soft light brown hair like her father. Sasha smiled as she watched Aleksis hold their child.
Their child. Sasha had never imagined herself a married woman, let alone one with a child. She had never thought she would find someone who could match her, who she could call an equal.
That was before Aleksis, before the only man who could keep up with her in any way. The only man who never made her feel trapped. She had never been a romantic, but she knew they belonged together.
"What will we name her?" Aleksis asked, breaking the silence. Sasha sat up to see her daughter better.
"She needs a warrior's name. Something strong, like us." They pondered for a moment, while the child slept peacefully.
"Viktoriya," Sasha and Aleksis said simultaneously. The two smiled at each other, then at their lovely daughter. She would do them proud, they could both feel it.
In time, she could become as legendary as he parents.