Two weeks later…
The cry pierced the very foundation of the Phantomhive Manor. A beautiful baby girl kept gasping for air, and pushing the tiny lungs to its limits already fifteen minutes out of her mother. Mey-Rin's forehead was sweaty and her grip on Sebastian's hand most certainly would have broken it if he was human. Tears ran down her face and the midwife clucked at both the baby and mother.
Sebastian cut the cord and kissed his wife, and looked down in wonder as the woman who helped deliver her put the bundle of flesh in his arms. He felt like his heart had started to beat again as she kept crying and crying.
"Am I… doing something -"
"Oh, posh, no. She got a healthy set of lungs, can hear her clear in Dublin I am sure." The woman patted his arm and turned him away from her and back to Mey-Rin. "Now go introduce your new woman to your wife, she has been waiting as long as you to meet this mysterious bundle that stole her lovers heart."
Sebastian stared and sat beside Mey-Rin once more, now passing the baby to her mother. He took the damp cloth and dipped it in the water bowl, wringing it out and placing it on his beloveds' forehead. He had done it so many times in the last 27 hours, he was surprised it still was relatively cool. Perhaps the others had refreshed it more than he had noticed.
Mey-Rin smiled down at her daughter. A daughter. A perfect - she counted and recounted her toes and fingers - baby girl. Human, she mused. She watched as the bright eyes of her child opened and her perfect mouth let out another gut wrenching scream, a bit quieter now. She put her close to her chest, letting the tiny ears soak up the familiar heart beat, and she turned into Sebastian's hand as he dragged the cool rag over her hot skin. She felt as if she was burning. So hot. So hot… She gasped in sudden pain and the mid-wife reached for the baby.
"Time for the last bits to come out. The baby has no use for it's home," she clucked as she once more settled Mey-Rin's knees apart and gently handed the baby off to Sebastian. "Now go, show the Earl the newest addition to his family. Your wife has a bit more to go then we will clean her up, right as rain, all sunshine and smiles."
He regarded the short Irish woman for a moment and looked back at his wife, face in pain again.
"Go, I should be… oh…. " Mey-Rin pushed and gripped the sheets.
The room smelled of the start of more blood coming out of her. He had read that sometimes the after birth - or the "housing" as the mid-wife put it as they highlighted the birthing process - came out easily. He wished to stay by her side, no matter what, but he found himself being pushed by the Irish woman and the door to their bed chamber opened and he was effectively kicked out.
"Is that 'er?" Bard asked, peering eagerly over Sebastian's arm.
"May I please introduce to you, Baby Michaelis," Sebastian said, turning the baby in his arms so everyone could see the now peaceful face of his child.
"Good set of lungs," Finny commented as he looked at her.
"I am very happy for you, Sebastian," the young Earl said, his face light up as if he was receiving a gift. "Although I have to ask about the first name. 'Baby' may not be the best; remember names mean something."
Sebastian looked at his young master and gave him a knowing smile. "Yes, my young master, they do mean something. Mey-Rin and I have not decided on a name. I think by tomorrow we may have settled on one."
"Blimey, she is pretty," Bard said, now smiling at her.
Sebastian looked at the man and scowled. "Please, Bard, she is less than an hour born."
Bard backed up a bit and laughed. "Ah, sorry. She is just pretty like her mother. That's all."
"Yes," Sebastian said, looking at his daughter and seeing her eyes open fully. A deep chocolate brown. "She is."
They had settled in the front parlor, waiting on the mid-wife to call Sebastian back to the room. Elizabeth had worked with the others to bake a cake and decorate. Thankfully the baby was girl, because Elizabeth's favorite color was pink - and she had bought nothing but dresses.
"OOOOOHHHH! She is so cute!" Elizabeth said, cooing over the baby. "You know her name? Has she opened her eyes? Was that her screaming? How is Mey-Rin? Oh Ciel, can't you imagine us having one someday!"
Sebastian reluctantly handed his newborn over to the excited girl and was grateful when her mother took the baby in her own arms and stayed with her. He watched and his heart tore - he wanted Mey-Rin to be there and doing this, not his masters soon to be in-laws. He turned and stepped into the hall, peering up the stairs and listened for Mey-Rin's heart beat. He found it and closed his eyes, listening to the beautiful sound, so human, so steady… and it skipped. He frowned and listened again. Beat, beat…. Beat, be-beat. He ran up the stairs and burst into the bedroom, scaring the Irish woman, almost making her fall into the bed.
"Oh good, I was about to get you."
He stared and his own breathing hitched. "Blood."
"Yes, that is normal," she said, looking at the bloodied sheets on the bed, under Mey-Rin. "I need new sheets, and towels. She, well, it's best you step over here, dear," she said, placing a hand on his arm. He stepped back, hovering in the doorway, his eyes never leaving the very pale face of his wife.
"She lost a lot of blood. Some from delivering the baby, but most from the after birth. It was touch and go as she was pushing. She is strong, that one," she said, her voice tender and soft.
"Yes, she is. She is the strongest woman I know," he replied. "I need to… I need to be by her side."
"You go do that. I'll go fetch more towels." She left him. "Honestly, a large house and no staff," he heard her mutter as he entered the room.
The bright light from the windows all along the wall beside their bed, made the red head look paler. He knelt by her side, pushing the hair out of her face, noting she was hot and sticky. A good sign; if she had been cold and clammy he would have lost it for sure.
"Oh my dear one, please, please hold on," he muttered, kissing her hand. "Our beautiful daughter needs you. I need you. Oh how I need you," he whispered, letting the tears of the day gather in his eyes and spill over. "You can fight - you always do. You fought when the judge sentenced you to death, you fought to protect your new master and home, you fought for me to notice you. And oh how you fought for me to fall in love with you. And each time you won. You delivered a precious life - don't you dare exchange hers for yours. Fight, damn it… fight."
He looked at the woman before him and in an instant saw her for everything she had been - an assassin, a maid, a clumsy girl in love, a willing victim of a demon's show of cruel love, a lover, a mother… and his bonded. He lifted her off the bed in one arm, ripping the sheets off with the other hand, putting them in a dirty pile. He walked his beloved to the bathtub and filled the it with cool water. Slipping the simple shift off her, it burned in his hand as he let it drop on the ground, ashes where the stained material should had been. He turned the water off and rolled up his sleeves, not caring if he got wet, but out of habit. Picking up the sponge and soap, he stroked her hair and watched as her eyes fluttered. She was burning up. He was sure she was feeling the soft fires of hell in her body.
Dipping the sponge into the water, he began to wash her, dripping the cooler water on her shoulders and on her back. He gently bathed her body, reciting their bonding as he did so, feeling the stinging of tears hit his cheek with a sizzle and gave her some of his energy. If their hearts and souls were bonded, and their lives were as much each other as their own, Sebastian gritted his teeth, he could make her better.
He lost his form, blackening the bathroom from the otherwise sunny light. He picked up his lover, the bath water spilling all over the floor, and brought her to his chest, and pulled everything that made her weak out, filling her instead with his demonic powers, his demonic strength, and all the love his non-demonic heart could send into her body.
Mey-Rin gasped and her brown eyes tinted a deep red, flew open.