Title: Sacrifices
Rating: T (always under Spartacus' standards)
Notes: originally written for the livejournal community spartacus2010's first comment ficfest. Prompt: Death whispered a lullaby. This one-shot ignores the official version of Aurelia's baby's fate, abortion, as stated by S. DeKnight in a tweet, answering a fan's question regarding the matter. To those who already read it: No substantial changes made.
Summary: Set between episodes 1x11 'Old wounds' and 1x12 'Revelations'. Sometimes life is not kind, but one must face it.
OOOOO
Drenched in sweat, gritting her teeth and hands clenched into fists grasping the sheet that covered her open legs, Aurelia pushed again, no longer recalling how much time had she already been laying there, waiting for the child to arrive.
She pined for his voice, whispering soothing words, and speaking of dreams, and joy, like he did to their son. Like he did with her every night once Aurelia let her body snuggle against his, feeling the warmth emanating from his broad chest, right before surrounding her with a protective embrace. His whispers chased darkness away. She always imagined his face smiling from behind as he whispered to her. As he smiled when he murmured lullabies to his child, suppressing a chuckle knowing how bad a singer he was despite his son looking at him in utter adoration. As she did, looking from a distance, leaning on the wall, basking in that light.
She screamed in pain as another jolt hit her muscles, forcing her to push, and steered her mind towards the voice she would never listen again.
A cry echoed in the morning. Aurelia let her exhausted body fall back on the bed and took a breath.
"It is a boy."
She swallowed. A boy. Their last night together, when she visited Varro in the ludus and saw his face filled with love and hope for the first time in a long year of pain and distance, he had told her he had dreamed she delivered a girl. With the sweetest face, a little nose and two big brown eyes. The stark image of her mother. And they would call her-
"The child needs to be fed." The midwife's voice took her away from useless memories. With some effort, she tried to forget the pain and soreness and sat back. "I paid you coin."
"But-"
"Take the child away." She swallowed and waited in tense silence until the woman took a boy she would never see again. Then she stood up, and fought the dizziness, taking deep breaths. Walking slowly, she headed to the bath and cleaned herself. Tomorrow she would go to the house of Batiatus. Varro had left debts unpaid and she would see them returned.
Fin.