When it was decided it was safest for the Queen to deliver the heir in the hospital, there was a terrific amount of discussion over specificities of the birth plan. It had all felt chaotically out of her own hands. And Noctis was caught up in the whirlwind of it all as well. He felt like there was little more he could do than squeeze her hand, feed her ice chips, and make bad jokes. Lunafreya was curled up on her side, arms wrapped around her middle with her knees bent and drawn in. One hand was curled around the blanket, and the other around Noctis's hand. In the wastebasket that had been shoved to close to the doorway were three blue vomit bags filled with her previous meal, and any bile her stomach managed to accumulate between vomiting. But the medicine a nurse had injected into her IV had finally stopped the vomiting and periodic doses prevented it from returning. But with the nausea settled the cramping from the vomiting vanished and replaced by ever-strengthening contractions.
"That's the finger-breaking I was warned about!" Noctis curled the fingers on his free hand, fingertips turning red in Lunafreya's grip. She let out a hard huff of air and a smile pulled at the corner of her lips.
"Gods I just want to breathe for a moment…" she panted for breath and relaxed her grip onto Noctis's hand. Her hair was sticking to her brow and Noctis reached down to push some hair behind her ear. Her chest heaved as she tried to catch her breath. But she felt like she had only just taken in her first true gulps of air before she could feel the tightness start again. She whimpered but it caught in her throat as it rapidly shifted into the intense pain. Her fingers curled around Noctis's and the bed linens, nails digging hard into the starchy fabric of the sheets.
"Need me to ask the nurse for more medicine?" Noctis asked. She could hear the quiver in his voice, and in the way he pressed his thumb into the back of her hand rubbing rough small circles into it.
"Didn't she give me some…. A few moments… ago…?" she asked him as the contraction ended and once again she tried to catch her breath.
"That was… four-ish hours ago." Noctis answered.
"It was? I'm losing track of time." she said.
"I'll ring the bell for you." He reached with his free hand and pushed the small red button at the end of the white cord. She nodded in answer, brushing some hair from her forehead and rolling onto her back to change positions. It lasted only a moment before she turned back up on her side again and groaned with the next contraction. The nurse appeared in the room just at that contraction ended.
"Can I help you dear?" she asked, coming up to the bedside.
"Please, may I have something for pain?" Lunafreya asked. "Perhaps a hot pack for my back too? It seems a lot of the pain is in my back." The nurse glanced at her watch and then back up.
"I…" A hesitation in her voice. "I can't get you a hot pack. But we have warm blankets, might be better than nothing. And I can give you another dose of morphine." She answered. Lunafreya nodded, a grunt cutting off her breath as she curled in on herself once more. The nurse left the room, and Noctis clasped both hands around Lunafreya's. He was rubbing her hand, though she only waxed and waned into awareness of it as her contractions send her mind buzzing and she felt as though her brain were a radio station tuned to static with the volume dialed all the way up. The pressure between her legs was growing, leaving even the gaps between contractions near unbearable.
The nurse came back into the room, and Lunafreya tried to look up at her but her eyes squinted shut again. She couldn't hear the woman's footsteps over her own ragged breathing, but heard her voice as she placed a warm palm against her arm. Something warm pressed against her back,
"It's not a hot pack but it might help."
"Thank you."
"I have the morphine too. Big pinch time" Lunafreya nodded at the nurse and turned up higher on her side, pulling her hospital gown to the side. She winced with said big pinch and the nurse pulled her gown back over her once she was done injecting the medicine into the muscle of her buttock. She wasn't sure how long it was of rolling from side-to-side in the bed, but she was eventually able to lie on her back, the pain reduced from a loud ten to a tolerable-by-comparison seven. She stared up at the ceiling for a moment, and remembered that the television in her hospital room was on.
"Is something good playing?" She asked, swallowing hoping that it would help the croaky quality of her voice.
"Some cooking competition. I can change it." He answered. She shook her head, placing both hands over her abdomen and rubbing at it. Her face tightened and she felt an ache behind her ears. The warm blanket had cooled off long ago and the debate in her mind ended as the contraction did, reaching out with a hand to push the call button to ask for another, surprised how well a warm blanket could soothe that screaming pain in her back. "Something up?" she turned her head and shrugged a shoulder.
"My back. After that shot it hurts worse than the contractions do."
"Well turn up on your side again?" he suggested.
"Hips are getting achy from that."
"Just trust me." he insisted. She grunted with the effort of turning over onto her side. She remembered when Noctis told her that it had been four hours since the previous injection, and one episode of that cooking competition told her it had been another half-hour, but aside from that she had lost her grip on time completely. Her limbs felt heavy, her eyes too. She turned up onto her side as asked and settled with a hard huff of breath. She felt a pressure against her back as Noctis began to rub his thumbs against her aching muscles.
"Oh… that… that feels good." She mumbled. She closed her eyes in answer to the heaviness in them. She took in a long breath and let it out in a heavy sigh.
"Told you to trust me."
"Hmm… you'd think that I would learn." she answered back. "My throat is so dry." she swallowed again at the continued croak in her voice.
"I can go get you some ice chips."
"That requires…" her voice cut off with a grunt as she scrunched her face, nails digging into the bed.
"You got this." he whispered to her, bending down to pick up one of her hands. He had been whispering, and at times crying, words of encouragement to her. As the contraction reached its peak she started wondering just how naive and stupid she was for refusing the epidural when they first offered it and was starting to give serious consideration to reversing her initial decision.
"Your hands had a job." she tried to smirk at him with an expression that she thought was cheeky. He chuckled, and returned to rubbing the ache in her back. The nurse entered the room, smiling and cheerfully acknowledging Lunafreya's request for a new warm blanket. Noctis rubbed at her back, and she sighed.
"We should check how dilated you are." The nurse suggested upon her return. Lunafreya nodded, tucking the blanket behind her back and rolled onto it. She bent her knees and parted them to allow the nurse to add to the chorus of discomfort with a pair of gloved lubed fingers. "Nine centimeters! Almost there!"
"Can I do anything in particular to speed this up?" She asked.
"Just keeping hanging in there for a little bit longer. You're doing great."
"Thrashing about in this bed, likely fracturing the fingers of my husband, while bothering you every several minutes for hot blankets?" she asked.
"You're in labor dear, perfectly normal. I'd understand if you roided-out and threw the hospital bed out the window. Though, please don't actually do that. Whole lot of paperwork." she mimed writing on her palm. Lunafreya laughed,
"I shall try to limit myself to defenestrating only the chair."
"Hey! Where will I sit if you do that?" Noctis asked.
"Your husband has a point." The nurse nodded at them.
"Oh blast it, I fear my plans have collapsed." She took a long deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to keep her mind focused on her breathing not on the searing breath-halting pain. And was unsuccessful. Noctis fell back into gripping her hand.
"I should stay, at this point. If you're at nine." The nurse offered as Lunafreya relaxed her body. She just nodded, unsure what other answer could be provided. She knew that trying to shoo her away would accomplish little. She wasn't a fool. Even in her static-brained state she knew that the hospital was likely absolutely buzzing with the presence of their King and Queen being here to bear forth the heir to the Lucian throne.
She wondered what it may have been like, instead of being in the hospital to be able to thrash about in her own large comfortable bed. Probably surrounded by every midwife in the nation. The daydream melted away as she thought about what a show it must have been. With every servant in the Citadel milling about their bedroom, her body a display for all to see. A small price to pay to bring the heir safely into the world.
"Almost there Rosa." She whispered, stroking at her stomach. Her muscles ached, and she felt heavy. Even whispering she could feel again that scratch in her throat. "I'm quite thirsty… perhaps I could have some water?" she asked.
"Umm I'm sorry. Only ice chips until after the delivery." The nurse answered. Lunafreya could hear the hesitation in her voice again as she wanted to use a title or a proper address. But an entire morning of being called Your Majesty had her finally breaking propriety and pleading to stop being called such.
"Do some still linger?" she asked, nodding at her bedside table.
"Sorry… just melted water. I'll go get some." Noctis offered.
"I'll go get it, you stay here with her Your Majesty." The nurse answered.
"You actually talk them into cutting it out with the titles for you." Noctis said. Lunafreya wrinkled her nose and shook her head at him.
"You are King Noctis."
"I dunno, I thought I was your scruffy Prince?" She reached out and swatted at his arm getting a chuckle from him.
"I shall keep your secret. Can't have the nation crumbling should they find out."
"Be ousted from the throne by your first-born the moment she takes breath?" He asked. Lunafreya laughed, the sound cut off by the next contraction starting. The nurse returned with the fresh cup of ice and placed it on the bedside table.
"Oh please help me with an ice chip." She asked Noctis. He reached over for the cup with the tiny white spoon in it. She sat herself up, or rather her head and shoulders before she nearly collapsed back against the bed. Those two stupid little ice chips felt like the nectar of of the gods on her tongue. Then she remembered what the gods were actually like and scratched the mental metaphor. As she searched the static of her brain for a proper one she gave up, dropping back against the bed and started to pant for air from the effort of lifting half her upper body.
Once settled and breathing half-normal again the nurse asked Lunafreya questions about the pain, her back, pressure. And she answered her, acutely aware of the increasing pressure. Another exam and the nurse left the room, returning with three others.
"Your Majesty, it's time to start pushing!" The doctor clapped her hands together and Lunafreya nodded at her. She was waiting for her brain to catch up with the words, but the head of the bed was raised slightly, the bottom of the bed dropped down and she thought for a moment she was going to fall off the now drastically shortened bed. She was instructed to bring her knees up and out and to hug them tightly. She grunted with a contraction, and tried to focus as the doctor continued telling her what to do. Noctis squeezed her hand, and if she had any energy left she might have felt a hint of embarrassment at so many people standing there staring between her legs. Instructions about hugging her legs and about counting. But it was so damned hard to focus while her abdomen was setting itself on fire.
"On the next contraction, okay?" A nurse repeated. She nodded, swallowing hard and suddenly wishing she had chewed on more of that ice.
"Oh gods… you got this, okay, you got this. You're so, damned, strong." Noctis was brushing hair away from her forehead.
Both her arms were hooked around her thighs, pulling her knees up towards her chest. Breathe in, push, hold for ten seconds, exhale. Time it with the contraction. Again. Again. Everything became a hazy blur of pain, heat, and pressure. She was aware of Noctis to her left, and the doctor giving instructions from between her knees. But her own body was demanding she push. Just push.So she pushed, and she breathed, and she counted. The brushes against her shoulder or pushing hair away from her face felt distant, as though she was recalling a memory rather than feeling it.
"She's right here!" The doctor encouraged as Lunafreya panted for breath from the last set of pushing. She nodded, words lost somewhere in the static of her brain. She wanted to push and sleep and scream and throw up on herself. She took in a breath and hugged her knees tighter and pushed. She felt a flash of heat, and a new sharp pain between her legs. "Almost there!" the doctor encouraged. Another push and another flash of intense heat and there was a sudden relief of the pressure. "She's out!" the doctor proclaimed. Lunafreya relaxed her legs out, both her arms dropping beside her in the bed. Her chest heaved as she tried to collect her breath and looked between her knees to see the small ball of pink and red.
"Is she breathing?" Lunafreya asked.
"She's breathing!" The doctor confirmed fast enough that Lunafreya didn't have time to become anxious. A high-pitched cry agreed and Lunafreya felt a sob come out of her throat between breaths. "You want to hold her?" Lunafreya held out her arms in answer to the question, and vaguely remembered the interview upon admission to the hospital about doing skin to skin post-delivery. She tried to fuss with her hospital gown, but her hands were trembling her eyes were blurred and her whole damn body felt just so heavy.
"Rosa…" Lunafreya managed, winding her arms around the naked wet bundle the doctor was helping to hold against her chest. "Oh my sweet little one, how I love you." she murmured. Her newborn wasn't close enough for her to yet press a kiss to her forehead; or she lacked the energy to sit her head up enough to reach, she was unsure.
"Gods you did it Luna… you did wonderful! You both did! Gods I love you… and I love her. I'm so proud of you Rosa!" Noctis's words were slurred by abject sobbing. He pressed his head against her shoulder, one hand gripping her shirt, the other reaching out to pet Rosa's thick black hair. "Well now we know why your mom had such bad heartburn." he laughed. Lunafreya
"Do you want to cut the cord?" Noctis looked back up to the bustling staff. "Uhh…" he glanced between Lunafreya and the doctor, realizing this one little detail was something they never discussed. He glanced to where Rosa was still connected to her mother and winced at the blue jelly cord and grimaced.
"Yeah." He answered.
"You sound unsure." The doctor said as she carefully reached for Rosa. "I'll return her momentarily my dear, I just need to have the cord cut so we can get her weighed and cleaned up. We still need to deliver the afterbirth."
"I'm not done?" Lunafreya asked, squinting her eyes and Gods she just wanted to hold her infant to her chest and sleep the next month away. Noctis took a few steps sideways and held his hand out for the scissors. Lunafreya tried to keep her blurry focus between her knees to watch this moment. The nurse had placed two clamps on the cord and the doctor gestured where to cut. Noctis reached out, and even through the static in her brain she noticed his hesitation and tried to make a mental note to tease him about it later. But with the cord cut Rosa was whisked out of sight, heartily crying and Lunafreya tried to just think of that sound as proof that the precious girl growing in her belly had come forth healthy.
Back to the routine of hugging her knees and pushing. This time accompanied by the doctor rubbing her lower abdomen. She was unsure why she needed that hard pressing on her pained belly.
"Everything okay?" Noctis asked and Lunafreya wanted to sit up to see what she was missing.
"A bit of bleeding, nothing to worry about yet." The doctor answered. Too tired to protest or inquire further Lunafreya resumed following the pattern of breathe, hold, push, daydream about being finished and holding the life she just worked so hard to bring forth.
"Your Majesty?" A nurse asked. Lunafreya glanced over and saw that Rosa, her precious little Rosa, had been swaddled in one of those iconic white blankets with the pink and blue stripe.
"She's so tiny…" he remarked, holding his arms out. "I think I got her… I got her?" he asked, hugging her to his chest.
"Three-point-two kilograms."
"That's all? Felt as though I was carrying five kilograms and delivered twelve!" Lunafreya grunted out just before the doctor instructed her to push again. That same damned heat between her legs.
"There we go." The doctor said and dropped something that sounded heavy and wet into a basin. "Now you're going to feel a pinch and some burning. You got a small tear I need to give you a couple stitches." A pinch and burn that felt like nothing compared to the rest of the day, some odd pressure and pulling, and finally, finally she was able to drop her legs. Some clicking and she felt the lower part of the bed get clicked back into place.
"Let me hold her." She asked.
"I've been hogging you, I guess it's only fair I give you back to the one who's had you all to herself for nine whole months."
"Ten." Lunafreya clarified with a smirk. Noctis chuckled, and sniffed. He carefully placed Rosa against his wife's chest.
"Hi my little Rosa… I'm sure this was quite scary and you're wondering about this bright cold place. But I'll keep you close and warm." Rosa's cries settled down, small hands curled within her swaddle and her eyes blinked slowly, giving her mother a glimpse of the pale blue before they closed. Lunafreya smiled, laying her head back and felt her eyes growing heavy.
"I'll hold her nice and close. You get some sleep, you both need it." Noctis whispered and bent down to kiss her forehead.
"I need a shower."
"You need sleep more."
"Hmm… I think we all do."
"Here's the bassinet." A nurse offered, pushing a tall cart over, on top which was a clear plastic bassinet.
"I want to hold her longer. For ten months my wife got to be with Rosa every day. I want to hold her a little longer before I take a nap."
"She's so adorable…" Lunafreya could hear the slur in her voice and as the static in her brain dialed down the pain started to ease just enough that the desperate call of sleep pulled her eyelids closed. She felt a warm pressure against her forehead and a smile pulled at her lips.
"I love you Luna… and our perfect little Rosa." He sniffed again.
"I love you both, oh so much."
I really struggled with this ending, so I hope you enjoy it. The odd pacing of the chapter was intentional sicne most of the focus is on Luna and her brain is so hazy because, wel, labor.
But this story has finally reached its conclusion. This pointless happy collection of fluff (and smut). It was a lot of fun to write. I may eventually take up another one-shot series about various points of parenthood. Of the first night home "OH GOD WHO LET ME TAKE THIS INFANT HOME?!" moments, of night feedings of cuddles sleep deprivision and crying. I really hope you enjoyed this series though I'm fairly certain my poor update schedule has lost me almost all my readers, but thank you all of who supported this story!