CHAPTER ONE
Gaia and Leon's wedding was on a perfect, sunny day. The sun shone brightly and flowers seemed to bloom just for them. Gaia hadn't been more happy in her whole life. But something itched at the back of her mind. She could feel a part of her missing. She
was no longer able to have children. Mabrother Iris had taken that form her. Hatred, anger, and hurt burned inside her gut.
Leon reached over and grabbed her hand. "Are you alright?" he asked.
"Yes, I'm alright," Gaia lied. She wasn't sure if she'd ever be alright, but today she would try her darnedest not to ruin everything.
By the look on Leon's face, he didn't buy it. He kept a hold of her hand while people greeted and congratulated them.
Plastering a smile on her face, Gaia greeted everyone and thanked them for coming. It took a while, but eventually, the line ended. Gaia let out a huge sigh, finding a place to sit.
A sudden realization hit Gaia. She's was married, to Leon. A smile crept onto her lips.
"HELP!"
A cry echoed through the Quad. Gaia hurried to where the sound had come from. A crowd had gathered on one of the southern streets out of the quad. In the center was a young woman, bruised and bleeding. Gaia took in the sight of the girl and horror struck
her. The subtle widening of the hips, the strange girth of the girl's abdomen. She couldn't have been more than a month pregnant.
"Everybody get back!" Gaia shouted in order to part the crowd and get to the girl more easily.
"Help me please..." the girl begged.
"It's okay how much are you hurt? Is your baby okay?"
Perplexed, the girl asked, "How did you know?"
Gaia gave her a friendly smile."I'm a midwife."
Tears welled up in the girls doe brown eyes. "I don't know it's okay. I'm not hurt too badly."
"Everybody out of my way!" Gaia could hear Myrna's voice behind her.
"How badly is she hurt?" Myrna asked.
"Not too bad from what I can see, but this girl's pregnant. I need to examine her more closely to see if the baby is alright."
Myrna sighed. "We'll need someone to help get her to the hospital."
"No," the girl moaned. "I don't want to go to the hospital."
Myrna groaned.
Gaia rubbed the girl's arm, trying to sootheher. "Will you be alright to come to my home?" The girl nodded.
Looking around, Gaia spotted Phyro, her eldest brother. "Phyro, can you help me get this girl back to my house?"
Phyro looked at her. "Uh, sure." He reached down and scooped the girl into his arms. He got a confused look on his face.
"What?" Gaia asked.
"She's just surprisingly light, I guess."
They hurried down the streets as best they could to get to Gaia and Leon's home as soon as they could. Gaia wanted to make sure that the baby would be alright. She could feel her midwife instincts starting to kick in.
She instructed Phyro to put the girl on her bed so she could examine her. Gaia started working right away, feeling her abdomen and hips.
"So, uh, where's your husband?" Phyro asked.
The girl started weeping.
Gaia gave Phyro a stern look. "Martin!"
"Sorry, I didn't know!"
Soothing the girl, Gaia continued examining her. "Sorry," Phyro muttered.
"It looks like your baby is fine."
The girl seemed almost crest fallen. She bit down on her lower lip and asked in a quivering voice, "I'm really tired, is it okay if I stay here with you?"
Gaia nodded. "Just let me bandage your wounds and you can sleep on the loft, at least for the time being."
Grabbing some bandages and ointment out of a cupboard, Gaia bound the young lady's wounds and asked her one final question. "What's your name?"
"Sophila."
"I'm Gaia."
