She's due in three weeks. That's all. Her entire life will change in three short weeks.
"I don't know if I'm ready after all," Edelgard says aloud, running her hands through her loose hair. She's exhausted, and it shows in everything from the bags under her eyes to her hunched posture to her lack of headdress. Hubert sits across from her, crossing his legs as he listens on. This is unusual for them, sitting together in his room (especially when there is still work to be done and a meeting to be had in a half hour). But Edelgard was fidgeting relentlessly throughout lunch, and Hubert couldn't stand the sight. Without Byleth around (for she had to head into the city for work) Hubert felt it was on his sturdy shoulders to get to the root of it.
"I seem to always be the bearer of bad news," he snickers, waving a hand, "But it's a tad too late for second guessing, Your Majesty."
"I realize," she bites back, trying to cross her arms over her chest and then realizing that's far too painful to do with her breasts being as swollen as they are. I pray that won't always be the case. ...I quite miss Byleth kissing them, she thinks despite herself. "Take this seriously," she huffs.
"I am." He sits more upright now. "I'm just being truthful with you when I say anything. For I find it ironic you faced the world dead in the eyes while something as innocent as having a child has you shaken to your core."
"Innocent doesn't mean easy," Edelgard argues, playing with one of her buns for a second before feeling them pull at her temples too tightly. She reaches up and starts undoing them as she talks. "I'm excited for this. I want to have a child. I long for normalcy in mine and Byleth's life we share together. But I… fear what will come of a child under the eyes of so much scrutiny. Outside of Enbarr, I have no idea what my child may hear of me."
"They'll hear you're a savior; That their own Mother set free Fodlan from the tyranny of a crooked system." Hubert smiles slightly, pretending that he isn't transfixed on the emperor's face as he hair falls against her cheeks and down her shoulders. "Or… They'll hear you're an absolute monster who broke apart entire lands, ripping people from their homes." Edelgard's face sours and she holds her crown that's losing its polish day by day. "I see the reason for your worries. They are valid."
"You have a way of making me feel both better and worse," Edelgard utters, glaring at her crown. "You're a treasure, my friend." He chuckles darkly, fixing his cufflink.
"Your Majesty, you have always been prepared to be hated. You will just have to prepare your child to expect as much. And… if I'm being honest, Byleth's blunt and some-what mindless influence will surely rub off on the child."
"That's fairly rude," Edelgard refutes, shaking her head in disapproval. "Though I can see what you're saying. With Byleth around, the child will learn to stay cool headed and let things go more easily than I do."
"Yes you do harbor many grudges," Hubert comments, shrugging. He can't say he isn't the same way. His whole life is based on one big grudge, really. "That reminds me, Bernadetta has finished the last of the child's bedroom."
"Right. I was going to ask you to move the crib into my bedchambers. I should be keeping an eye on them."
"...Sure," Hubert reluctantly agrees, picking at the short table beside him.
"Is that a problem?" Edelgard asks, getting up and mumbling that she wants to go see the new room now. Hubert stands as well, hurrying to the door so he can open it for the emperor.
"It's… slightly inappropriate of a comment to make in front of you, Your Majesty." Edelgard raises a brow at him and he sweats slightly under the collar. "Well Byleth and I chose for the child's room to be further away from yours for a very specific reason." He and Edelgard set off on a slower pace, and with every step, Edelgard can feel her stomach clenching uncomfortably. She's really looking forward to this ending soon.
"Spit it out."
"Well," Hubert groans, "You don't want your child to hear anything they don't need to, yes? It's best they stay far far away from your room, Your Majesty." Edelgard tries connecting the dots, clearly not getting it. Hubert sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose. "You two have a very active… sex life." Edelgard freezes dead in her tracks and nearly topples over before Hubert grabs her by the arm just to release like her elbow is molten lava.
"What?! We-" she sputters. "It's rare that I'm ever-I mean we-I-"
"-Ok," Hubert chuckles, just making Edelgard more embarrassed as she rubs the blush off of her face.
"Leave me. I'll look at the room on my own. Just take this crown to my room, if you will."
"But-"
"-Go." Hubert rejectedly nods, gently taking the ram horns, and warps away, finally allowing Edelgard to take a big breath. She glances around the hall once she touches the door of the baby's room. Call her crazy but she can feel some sort of current in her veins that's traveling through the air and she turns the knob and shoves the door open. The sight she's greeted to must be one of the purest she's ever laid her eyes on. The room isn't gendered so to speak, particularly because Byleth asked it not to be. Edelgard has no problems with that, so she asked Bernadetta to have someone from the staff paint the room a neutral, soft blue with sheets that are fine burgundy silk, with a rug below that matches. The dark wooded crib is sat next to the bed the baby will take up later on, and a tall toy sticks up from the side and hangs over the crib, looking to replicate stars that they can wish upon. That's touching, Edelgard thinks, running her hands along the cribs siding. When her eyes wander over to the massive toy chest on the floor, she notices that an obviously Byleth-purchased teddy bear is resting on the floor, and it's a massive one, probably four feet tall. The emperor laughs, rubbing her hand over her stomach.
The more she looks around, the more she notices how Byleth-like this room is. The walls are blue, everything is simple in pattern except for the curtains that are somewhat similar to the pattern of Byleth's old lace stockings. There are smaller details, like how when Edelgard opens the dresser drawers, there are mats inside that are also lace, and they smell of flowers, carnations specifically. Edelgard chuckles when she realizes she somehow missed that the smallest wall, and the one where the door out is, is covered in hand painted fish.
"Oh no, my light," Edelgard laughs, freely and loudly. "Lace and fish. That's one too many statements." She steps closer, holding her chin as she inspects each drawn fish. Did Byleth do this herself? With the accuracy of each fish's anatomy, I would assume so. I didn't realize she was so good at painting. Hmm… Painting; I should make some time for that this weekend. The door suddenly creeps open and Byleth walks through, looking forward with a huge brown bag under one arm. "Hello, Byleth." To anyone else, Byleth didn't bat an eye, but the way her shoulders jerked up in Edelgard's eyes, was equivalent to her jumping straight in the air. "I didn't mean to scare you," Edelgard chuckles.
"I just didn't expect you to be in here," Byleth defensively remarks, trying to play it cool now. Edelgard's amused, but she drops it with a shake of her head. "How do you like the room?" Byleth sets the bag on the bed and starts pulling things out.
"I love it. What is-You got them a small fishing pole. Of course you did," Edelgard sighs. Byleth giggles in the most girly way Edelgard's ever heard from her and then pulls out a small thing Edelgard knows to be a bait box.
"It's a good teacher of patience."
"Mmm," Edelgard goes. "No, I think they will be taught that just by being in your presence, love."
"Are you making fun of me?" Byleth asks, grinning. Edelgard cheekily pinches her wife's cheek as an answer, and Byleth pulls out something else; a leather bound sketchbook that has a gorgeous red ribbon hanging from the top as a bookmark.
"Wow." Edelgard gently takes it from Byleth's hands and opens to the center, dragging her hand over the pages that feel thick and smooth. Certainly good for both graphite and some sort of ink wash. "What a lovely thing."
"I figured you would teach the kid how to draw someday. I can just picture it now, the three of us taking a weekend off somewhere far from Enbarr where we can sit by a river and fish and paint and draw and eat cake or whatever else." The wishful look on Byleth's face is sweet and gentle, and Edelgard finds herself mirroring it. "I'm so excited," Byleth says, pulling out a small wooden box that houses a set of dull sharpened pencils. Edelgard immediately notices that it has the double headed eagle engraved in, and she kisses Byleth's cheek.
"You got these things custom made?" She asks.
"Mhm," Byleth replies, picking up the small fishing rod again and pointing out the bottom half of the fishing pole's handle. It has the jaggedness of the sword of the creator; a beautiful touch.
"Is there a reason you've influenced the child's items with our own touches?" Byleth hums and folds up the empty bag, walking around the room to place the new items where they should go.
"I never got the chance to know where I came from. I think now, seeing what I've made of myself, of what you have made of yourself, it's important to acknowledge where you've been so you can look forward to where you're going." All said with the grace only Byleth could have. Edelgard finds herself falling in love all over again, feeling like the young teen she was who fawned over nearly every word her teacher said, especially in moments like these, where Byleth spoke from the heart.
"I couldn't agree more."
One Thirty-Two A.M.:
Edelgard's always ran warm, but right now, even with the comforter kicked down by her feet, just the clothes on her back are melting into her skin. She pulls at them, tossing and turning in bed as she groans under her breath. To top it all off, she feels the baby kicking again, and her hips buck uncomfortably before she tries to lay on her side, failing with how large her stomach is now. I'm so tired of laying on my back, she thinks exhaustedly, running and hand through her hair to try and calm herself. Her back is sore, but it hurts even trying to sit up. Still, her throat is feeling so dry it may well crack, so when she stretches out her short arm and tries getting her water, only her fingertips graze the glass. Of course. She has no choice but to sit up, but doing so feels like her entire body is snapping in two.
"Ah-!" She slaps a hand over her mouth and glances at her wife with wide eyes. Of course just the tiniest noise from Edelgard wakes Byleth up, grabbing for Edelgard's hand, and the poor empress blinks a thousand times before she's fully conscious. "Byleth go bac-nnh-back to bed." Byleth frowns, sliding her hand over Edelgard's back to find it drenched in sweat.
"Why are you so hot?" Byleth asks worriedly, noticing that Edelgard is still trying to reach her glass. Byleth hurriedly pushes herself off the bed and picks up the cup, gently pulling Edelgard up and pressing the glass to her dry lips. Edelgard drinks so fast she nearly chokes, and Byleth rubs her upper back to ease her out of her coughing fit.
"I feel awful," Edelgard cries, trying not to let the anxiety thumping in the back of her mind kill her, yet failing miserably at keeping such worries at bay. Everything happens at once, starting with more heat and contractions that rock her whole body before she starts panicking, about things like what if she's sick what if the baby isn't ok what if she can't get the baby out somehow what if this what if that-
"Breathe," Byleth orders, sitting just far enough from Edelgard so as to not let her get warmer. "Let's take off your pajamas, ok?"
"No I-I can't move," Edelgard pants, grabbing low at her stomach. She's biting back tears right now the contractions are so bad.
"Do you think you're going into labor?" Edelgard's eyes snap open and she looks at Byleth in a searing hot panic before she touches between her legs. No wetness.
"My water h-hasn't broken. So I don't think so," Edelgard tells her, trying to breathe in through her nose instead of her mouth. "I feel sick. I don't know why. I didn't eat anything heavy-I don't think I did."
"Maybe you're ramping up the pain in your own head," Byleth explains, softly kneading one of Edelgard's hips. "El, let me lay you on your side." Edelgard nods but then slaps a hand over her mouth. A vile amount of something feels like it's about to come up her throat, and she literally gags on it. Byleth jumps off the bed and glances around for something in the dark. She rushes towards the small trash can by the dresser and throws herself back against Edelgard's side, holding the tin and brushing all of Edelgard's hair back as she starts dry heaving. The sound is horrifying, and Byleth hates how Edelgard's wide scared eyes are filling with tears. She continues to hover her face over the can for the next few minutes, and nothing comes up her throat, so Byleth hesitantly pulls the trash can away and sets it down nearby. Edelgard just feels like her insides are rumbling, but the rest of her body still feels weak and achy. "Rest on your side El. You're looking a bit faint." Edelgard nods, only moving when Byleth eases her down onto the bed. The second Edelgard hits the pillow, her groin starts pounding like the rapid banging of a snare drum.
"Ghh-" She grabs at her groin, clenching her teeth all over again. "Byleth. I'm so scared," Edelgard whispers, shutting her eyes as if that will make her admittance not real to the world. How could she, the fearless flame emperor, be scared of something so small compared to taking on the entire country as it was? Ridiculous, yet here she is, shivering in her bed while being held by her wife she can't even breathe without. She feels somewhat pitiful as she says, "It's going to hurt so much isn't it?"
"I'm sorry." Byleth gets completely on her side and snuggles into her wife the best she can, nearly having only a foot of space between the empress and the edge of the mattress.
"Hundreds of women die from childbirth alone," Edelgard reminds her quietly.
"That won't be you," Byleth insists, frowning deeply. "You went through your heart surgery and lived, El. You can handle anything." Edelgard groans again, uncomfortably shifting her hips as she hugs Byleth's arms that are low on Edelgard's stomach. Byleth deeply frowns, trying to think of any way she can relieve some of her wife's pain. She presses a litter of kisses to the back of Edelgard's neck, thinking through anything she can say to at least distract the emperor for a few minutes. "Do you want to talk? Just about anything. Maybe it will help." Edelgard takes in one massive breath, holding it for a moment before letting it go. That seems to be enough for her to answer with,
"That'd be good. Though you speak first… I don't think I can think straight right now." Byleth nods and settles on running her hand along Edelgard's hip over and over for some semblance of relaxation. The first thing Byleth thinks of asking about is Edelgard's connection to her Mother. Here and there Edelgard's mentioned things about her father and his duty to marry multiple women just so he could have a flock of suitable successors… but when it came to her mother, all Byleth knows is that she married King Lambert, Dimitri's father. Though… maybe asking Edelgard about that will end up going south. Byleth hums aloud again, pondering what she should and shouldn't ask. "Say what you will," Edelgard tells her, putting her hand over Byleth's and interlacing their fingers like this. "I can almost hear your brain turning."
"Did you get to spend a long time with your mother before she left for the Kingdom?" Edelgard lets out a quiet resentful breath before stuffing her face closer into her pillow.
"She was a wonderful mother until the moment she left. I… didn't know where she went. Never saw her once I got to Faerghus."
"You didn't know Dimitri was your stepbrother then?"
"At that time no, he was just a friend. A wonderful one," Edelgard sighs, holding Byleth's hand tighter. "My Mother was always generous with me. I was her only child. She nearly bent over backwards anytime I asked for the smallest thing. Perhaps I yearn to be that way with our child."
"Spoiling them?" Byleth asks.
"Mhm."
"...But then they'll be all… sour about things," Byleth explains. "We don't want a Ferdinand," she laughs. Edelgard groans and twists her neck so she can eye her wife.
"We mustn't even mutter that aloud, or it may well come to be," Edelgard warns, frowning much like she did when Byleth first met her. At the sight of that pouty face, Byleth chuckles and squeezes Edelgard's hand.
"You're doing that cute face again," Byleth points out.
"It's not cute!" She sighs as she gets up on one elbow. "My back is hurting all over again. Give me a moment." Byleth helps her sit up, their entire sides pressed together with their backs to the headboard.
"It's funny how much you've changed since I met you… but sometimes you still do things just like you did back then. Know what I mean?" Byleth asks.
"I suppose in some ways I'm still that girl, however much I wish I wasn't."
"That seems to be a theme with you," Byleth mentions, waving a hand in gesture. "You always want to completely distance yourself from who you were."
"It feels like such a long time ago that it makes logical sense in my mind," Edelgard explains, rubbing low on her stomach and feeling the thump of the baby's kick against her palm.
"I still liked you a lot," Byleth says, smiling afterward. "Even if you were pretty harsh sometimes."
"Harsh? ...Mmm. I can see that." The emperor blinks up at the empress with an apology in her eyes.
"I think the arrogance is the best thing you left behind," Byleth chuckles out. "'What? Do I look green to you?'" Edelgard winces, not remembering exactly when she said that while also recalling it somewhere far back in her head, far enough to itch with embarrassment. "Ah. And we can't forget when you chewed me out after my Dad die-er. Passed. When he passed," Byleth mumbles, feeling that same sinking in her stomach as she often does when someone so much as says Jeralt's name aloud. Then there's always that nagging, awful, dark, horrible worry Byleth shoulders, wondering if Edelgard really did have something to do with Kronya's attack at the time. Edelgard did end up getting the professor to side with her just a few short months later; it all lines up really, seeing as how desperate Byleth was for something to believe in around then. Just thinking these things makes Byleth feel all sorts of guilty. Questioning my own wife still. When will I let it go?
"I never meant for it to come off so rudely," Edelgard quietly rebuttals, looking up at Byleth who's looking downcast. "When I saw you, someone I saw such strength in, completely falling apart like that… I suppose it scared me." Byleth finally makes eye contact with Edelgard once the emperor presses a kiss to her shoulder. "It was selfish, but I needed you to get past the grief. I needed you to help me with my goals. I wouldn't have ever gotten where we are now if I hadn't had you with me that day I was throned."
"I know," Byleth says, pursing her lips afterward. "Anyways, how're your contractions?" Edelgard shimmies her hips side to side, unintentionally drawing Byleth to them like a moth to flame.
"I feel better. I suppose there are fruits to chatting idly," Edelgard jests, patting her stomach. "I'm glad they've calmed down; they've gotten quite finicky lately."
"Well they wouldn't be our kid if they weren't headstrong." The empress leans in to press soft kisses to Edelgard's head, starting off with pecks that devolve into wetter, longer kisses near her jaw. The shaky exhale that comes out of Edelgard's parted lips is music to Byleth's ears.
"I've been thinking," Edelgard quietly says, reaching to put a hand on Byleth's thigh.
"Mm?"
"It's just-" Byleth drags her tongue from Edelgard's collar bone, up her neck, over her jaw, up to her earlobe, then sucks gently. "Byleth, I'll never be able to spit these words out if you keep kissing me like that."
"Mm." Byleth smirks to herself as she continues her little path, up and down from her wife's ear to her clavicle, over and over. Her rough hands run along Edelgard's thigh and sneak under the fabric on her back, kneading the muscles slightly as she goes. "What's on your mind?"
"Just-that feels good-Just pondering how often we'll have alone time together after the baby's born."
"We'll find time," Byleth promises, sucking a light mark on the emperor's neck. "We'll make time if we must." Soon Byleth's rubbing along Edelgard's thigh becomes more amorous, dragging her hand higher up between Edelgard's legs as she goes.
"I wonder," Edelgard starts, getting slightly distracted as her waist floods with arousal she can't control. "I wonder how long recovery takes after giving birth?" Byleth chuckles, the kind that's deep and just… arousing, to say the least. Edelgard squeezes her eyes shut reveling in the feeling of Byleth finally pressing her thumb up against her lower lips over her pajama bottoms.
"Why?" Edelgard chuckles this time, only to be cut off by a tiny whimper when her wife presses in harder. The two eye each other in the darkness, almost daring the other to take this further. "Come on, say it."
"Because I don't want to wait long until you can be inside me again," Edelgard firmly states, roughly grabbing Byleth by her opposite sleeve and jerking her forward so their lips can clash. Even if her body can't respond quite so actively, Edelgard's mouth sure can, and she's using way more tongue and teeth than she usually would. When Byleth's hand drops from the side of her jaw down to her breast, Edelgard's whole body leans into it, and a surge of wetness dampens her thighs. It turns Edelgard on more, and she whines against the empress's lips, hissing when Byleth bites the tip of her tongue. Behave, the empress says with her eyes, grinning all the while. They know it'll be unwise to take this further; they both need rest, and Edelgard's bump is getting harder and harder to work around. Nevertheless, Byleth asks,
"Do you want to try a different way? I've thought up new positions for you to be comfortable in." The emperor smiles, biting the inside of her lip as she watches in awe as her hands slide over Byleth's bare arm. "El?"
"No. I don't want to have sex again until I can reciprocate." Byleth tsks and pulls the emperor in for a hug. Such a simple action has Edelgard releasing more arousal, and she chides herself, wondering if she'll ever have control over her body when in the presence of Byleth. Though it's been years and she can't pretend her control hadn't started slipping the second Byleth saved her from that bandit all those years ago.
"I don't need it," Byleth tells her, letting her hardened fingertips intermingle with Edelgard's ends hanging near her waist. "I like just getting to touch you."
"So selfless. You deserve to be worshipped just as often," Edelgard argues, feeling herself get wetter. It's… almost uncomfortable. A warning bell goes off somewhere in the back of her mind. This feels different.
"You think my touches are worshipping?" She sounds amused as she asks, and Edelgard leans her forehead against Byleth's cheek, playfully picking at Byleth's sides.
"I'm not sure there's a better way to describe it."
"Heh. I can't argue that," Byleth admits, squeezing her arms around Edelgard tighter. "Goddess, I love you El."
"I love you," Edelgard whispers back, and more wetness soaks her thighs. She frowns and shifts her hips, looking down at her lap, unable to even see a majority of her thighs. She just feels so wet. It's… not right. "Byleth will you please light a candle? I need your help."
"Of course."
"It may sound odd, but I need you to look between my legs. I just-" she feels more wetness, again. Then her eyes widen, and realization slowly drapes over her. "-I think my water broke." Byleth pauses mid-candle, holding up the flame that just lit one wick before blinking herself out of her stupor. When the room is lit just enough to see a bit past their bed, Byleth drops to her knees and slowly pulls Edelgard closer to the edge. Without thinking, the emperor tries to sit upright so she can look down, but Byleth gently pushes her back, asking her to lie on her back. "I… can't recall knowing how to see a difference in the type of liquid, but. Um." She quiets down when Byleth pushes her gown up her waist and kisses her thigh, making every muscle twitch in her leg.
"We'll figure it out," Byleth promises, "Together." Edelgard nods, and her hair bunches up under her neck. Byleth breathes in, she can't smell any sort of difference, but she doesn't utter that aloud. The empress eases Edelgard's underwear down her hips and holds them closer to the light. This time Edelgard doesn't try to look, and Byleth chalks it up to nervousness, almost not wanting it to happen yet out of fear. It doesn't feel like arousal, Byleth notes. Seems far more wet, too. Byleth's neck starts to itch, and her shoulders tighten up as she sets the clothing down. She was just about to tell Edelgard what she thinks when she sees more spill out between her legs. Yeah. Not arousal. Byleth clears her throat, takes Edelgard's hands, and pulls her up. When their noses bump, Byleth kisses her, interlacing their fingers and steeling her own resolve. I swear I'll make this hurt less for you. Somehow, El. The look in Edelgard's eyes shows a scared yet quiet understanding.
"We should move to the other room?" Edelgard asks, meaning the room that's been set up for when the emperor delivers. Byleth nods, and Edelgard shakily sighs, trying and failing to hide the fear that makes her body tremble.
"Do you want it to be just Bernadetta for now? We won't need the actual deliverer until a few hours in." Edelgard whines in response. Truly whines. And Byleth tries not to sympathetically kiss her for it (knowing the emperor will be all sorts of upset at Byleth for acknowledging it). "Come on. I'll carry you."
Thirteen Hours Later:
"Ghh-ennngh!" Edelgard cries, just about breaking Byleth's hand in hers as she holds on for dear life. "It hurts. It hurts so bad! I can't ever do this again, Byleth. Do you h-UNGH-HEAR me?!"
"I know, El." Byleth bites down on her lip, apologizing to Bernadetta with her eyes since she's on Edelgard's opposite side, doing a few minor healing spells Manuela's taught her.
"Ah! Yes!" goes the old, smiling midwife to her assistant. Edelgard and Byleth can't see her, seeing as the two set up a sort of blanket-like shield from the top of the canopy bed so the emperor wouldn't have to see the two between her legs. Edelgard asked for that, knowing she can't handle thinking too hard about how people other than Byleth are seeing such an intimate part of her body. "The baby's head is here now, Emperor Edelgard. So they are coming from the right direction. One less worry, Your Majesty! Nearly there, now." Edelgard grits her teeth, bitterly putting the tightly rolled rag between her teeth yet again before pushing for the umpteenth time.
"Bernie," Byleth goes, looking at her with a supportive nod. "Do that spell again. The one that relaxes her muscles."
"R-right." Bernadetta snaps her fingers, trying to recall it before stuttering out a few lines and waving her hands about. "Breathe through your nose," Bernadetta reminds Edelgard, who aggravatedly tries slowing down her own breath to no avail. Agonizing minutes go by, and then nearly an hour before-
"One more hard push Your Majesty! Your daughter is nearly there!"
"Daughter?" Both Edelgard and Byleth ask in unison, looking each other in the eyes.
"Yes and, well… you'll see her soon," the midwife says, voice dripping with fondness. This is the same woman who has delivered each of Ionious the IX's wives' children. "Come now, Your Majesty. One last grand push." Edelgard closes her eyes, takes in one massive breath, and pushes as she exhales, gripping Byleth's hand all the while.
….
She hears a baby crying quietly.
Byleth immediately jumps away from Edelgard's side, heart racing a mile a minute. She's crying, Byleth thinks, tears coming to her eyes. Thank Goddess she's crying. She won't be like me. She's normal. The empress slaps a hand over her face and cries silently into her own palm, hiding her eyes as the midwife and her assistant wipe the baby clean. Bernadetta casts one more healing spell on Edelgard before getting up and taking the child in her arms, looking down at her with a jaw slightly open.
"Sh-she's so beautiful, Professor-I mean, Byleth!" Bernie stutters, shaking as she cautiously wraps the baby up in a tiny silky crimson blanket. Byleth quickly pulls herself together, wiping her red eyes before clearing her throat and looking at Bernadetta, then down, and coming face to face with her own flesh and blood. Byleth glances at Edelgard, nearly asleep as her eyes flutter open and closed. She finds that her own arms can't even move, and Bernadetta lifts the baby slightly higher up, and the infant's head bobs, trying to look at Byleth who's not even able to breathe right now. "Um. Byleth?" The empress clears her throat once again, berating herself until the baby's tiny, nearly cat paw sized hand reaches out towards her. Slowly, painstakingly so, Byleth reaches for that tiny hand, grinning at how the baby giggles and squeezes her entire fist around just two of Byleth's fingers. "You should hold her," Bernadetta urges, pushing the baby closer to Byleth who doesn't hesitate this time. The second the child is in her mother's arms, she giggles and tucks her face against Byleth's breast, not trying to suck, but seeking closeness.
So Byleth sits down on the edge of the bed, looking down at her child who's blinking up at her with her intensely colored eyes that are the most perfect blend of deep dark blue and warm crimson red. She has a fair amount of flat brown hair at the top of her head that will soon be covered by the small white cap Bernadetta just set beside Byleth's thigh. The midwife and her assistant are muttering something about stitches and then asking Bernadetta for healing chants, but Byleth's not paying attention, she's watching her daughter as the baby's hands start to reach for the ends of Byleth's hair and tug. The empress can't help but lean down and press a tiny kiss to the child's stomach, and the carefree giggle that comes out of the girl makes Bernadetta squeak at the cuteness. Edelgard stirs moments later, cautiously sitting up when the midwife tells her the stitches are done. She's groggy only until Byleth calls out to her, and she finally recognizes the small bundle of crimson in her arms, and immediately bursts into tears.
"Ahem," Byleth goes, looking at the other three women and nodding towards the door. "Please. We need time."
"Right," Bernadetta agrees, scratching the back of her head. The midwife bows, and so does her assistant, ignoring the crying emperor for now, before they all leave, dead silent. The baby watches Edelgard cry, and her brows come together, utterly confused before she too starts crying.
"Er. Edelgard," Byleth calls out. "The baby's mimicking you already," she points out amusedly, rocking the girl in her arms. Edelgard chokes back a jagged breath and wipes at her face.
"I'm sorry I-I just feel so much right now. This is… I just…" Her lilac eyes fixate on the baby who's still sniffling and playing with Byleth's hair idly.
"Take her, El." Though, when Byleth tries to hand the baby over, Edelgard locks up, noticeably jerking back and wincing at the pain shooting up from between her legs. "Edelgard?"
The emperor bites her tongue, looking at the baby again, telling herself over and over that, this is our baby. My baby. We made this. She's real. Just touch her. She won't break. No one will come and take her from me. She'll never deal with the cruelty of crests. She… won't be treated like I was. "Edelgard?" Byleth repeats, sounding worried this time. Edelgard bites the inside of her mouth and holds out her shaking hands.
"I'm ready," Edelgard breathes, staring down at her wife's hands. Byleth gives Edelgard the girl, and Edelgard tucks their daughter into her chest, closer up to her shoulder as she rests a hand on the back of the baby's head. It's as close as she can get to hugging the infant without hurting her, and Byleth feels her heart twisting beneath her breast while her eyes are getting wet all over again, this is annoying. They don't speak for a long stretch of time, just listening as the infant hiccups and sucks on her own tiny thumb as Edelgard strokes her back through the silk, over and over until the baby's eyes start drifting closed in her bliss. All the while, Byleth wraps one arm around Edelgard's back and sometimes tickles the little girl's foot, just to hear her unapologetically joyful laugh that rattles her entire body. And the feeling that just being here, living in the moment, with just the three of them, elicits a pure happiness that lights up Edelgard's heart like few others in her entire life. It isn't like the elated, somewhat bittersweet feeling of when the war ended, or how high she felt when Byleth proposed to her, nor is it like the whirlwind of emotions that had her getting dizzy on the night Byleth first bedded her…. It's like nothing else, and such a feeling will probably never come to pass again at such an intensity. This is what happiness is. Edelgard never thought-no never allowed herself to think she'd have such a feeling. But here, by Byleth's side. She finally has it. She could burst into tears yet again, laughing all the while, and it'd finally be ok for her to do that, too.
"Her name should be Violet," Byleth says quietly, resting her hand over Edelgard's that's petting the infant.
"A color that marries both red and blue," Edelgard hums, smiling as the baby looks up at her. "Our colors, Byleth."
"Our colors," Byleth repeats, resting her chin on Edelgard's shoulder just for the baby to be distracted by her blue hair as she tries to put some of it in her toothless mouth. Edelgard chuckles as she pushes Byleth's hair back and the girl whines until Edelgard gives her her thumb, letting the baby suck on the tip. "Her eyes are made of our colors. It seems perfect to me."
"I like it," Edelgard states, kissing her girl's forehead. "Violet," she says to the baby who looks up at her in response. "Do you like that name as well?" Violet whimpers. "She likes it, my light."
"Good," Byleth breathes, trying not to cry again as she stuffs her face into Edelgard's neck. "Welcome to the family, Violet."