A/N 2-5-21 - Hi everyone, I'm back! And to answer mk0008: Yes, I am evil. You are welcome. :3
But here it is, the big reveal that you've all been waiting for! The suspense is finally over! Enjoy!
...
Tala really didn't notice Eyja patting her on the shoulder and offering her a healing potion. She didn't notice Jena leaving the room, or the sounds of hollers and cheers from the Blades downstairs shortly after that. All she focused on was her son.
When she hadn't heard the baby's cries immediately, Tala's heart raced in a panic and her eyes never left the midwife as she pulled the liquid trapped in his lungs and encouraged him to cough. But once his tiny wails rang throughout the room, Isa placed the baby in Tala's arms and set a blanket on her lap for when she was ready to swaddle him. Motherly instincts took hold immediately as Tala gently soothed him and lovingly rubbed his back while she softly talked to him. After he settled into a subtle whimper, she simply held him, taking in the feeling of his weight on her chest as well as his appearance. She could tell right away that he would be dark-haired; as to whether or not it would be brown like Martin's or darker, that would yet to be determined. She could see that his ears were a little more squared like hers but with no discernible point, and his skin tone wasn't as light as hers, but yet it was still fair. As to whether or not the color would get tanner because of his Imperial heritage would be another curiosity to see as he matured. There were no imperfections or defects that she could see, so despite the agonizing birth on Tala's part, he made it through just perfectly fine.
After he finally stopped crying, it was his mother's turn to start. Though her tears were of pure joy. The baby was finally here, and she couldn't be any happier about it.
Eventually she saw Guilbert sneak into the room and stand nervously by the fireplace. He knew Isa didn't summon him in, but he just couldn't stay outside the door any longer. "Are they alright?" He asked Isa.
"Yes. They both did well." Isa replied as she sat at the desk and took the quill out of the inkwell. "I sadly couldn't get him to turn around and face properly, so poor Tala had to go through with delivering with him in the wrong position. But she did it... and now you have a healthy boy."
Guilbert's eyes widened. "A boy?"
Isa smiled and nodded before she returned to writing her notes. "He's approximately nine pounds... looks to be black or brown of hair, but we'll see in a few days. Born on the morning of the sixteenth of Sun's Dawn... in the Zero year of the Fourth Era."
Upon hearing Isa's last comment, Tala's eyes quickly looked away from her baby to her midwife. "Did you just say the sixteenth?" When Isa turned to her and nodded, the young Breton broke down into a new round of tears... only for a different reason. He's not born on Martin's day. I got what I wanted after all.
"Holy Divines, it's morning already?" Eyja astoundingly commented. "I can't believe we've been up all night. That's a long time to be in labor."
"It's not uncommon, actually." Isa casually replied.
"How long can it last?"
"Most women can take a few hours. Some can do it for a whole day. Tala here was at least a good seventeen hours, which is normal. Although I'm a little relieved we didn't go any longer."
"Why is that?" Guilbert asked.
"Birthing a baby facing forward instead of towards the mother's back puts more pressure on the back and creates more pain. And once we got to the shoulders, he got a little stuck. She was also discharging more blood than normal and by that time, Tala was already loosing the strength to push. I was a little concerned that if we didn't get him out and get her anything to help heal her, she could start bleeding out. But she managed to deliver him before it became a true emergency. It seems the Divines must have been looking out for them."
Tala and Guilbert exchanged a look before they both subtly smiled. Perhaps the Nine were involved, but they knew better. They knew who was really watching over Tala and the baby.
Guilbert then slowly approached the side of the bed to get a peek at the newborn as it laid content on Tala's chest. She watched as his eyes softened and the anxiousness in his stance slowly relaxed. She could tell Guilbert was mesmerized by him. It took him a minute or so before he slowly eased down to sit on the edge of the bed as his gaze never left her or the baby.
Eventually Isa broke the silence. "Your wife did amazing. You should be proud of her."
Tala's face slowly went slack as her eyes widened a little. That's right. We're pretending to be married.
Suddenly, Guilbert placed his hand on her leg and smiled warmly. "I've always been proud of her." He said as he turned to address Isa. "Today is no different."
It was right then that Tala remembered everything from yesterday. Guilbert was the one who reassured her during her anxiousness after her water broke. He was the one who held her when the contractions got more painful. She remembered that he did genuinely care for her, and that it must've killed him to wait outside when he could hear her screaming in pain and he could do nothing about it. He may have been a loyal friend pretending to be her concerned and adoring husband, but yet... in this moment, it no longer felt like pretend.
"It seems our young mother is doing alright. Eyja, why don't we step out for a minute and give the parents their chance to bond with their little one."
As Eyja followed the priestess out of the room, Tala shifted her hold on the baby so she could place her hand on the one Guilbert had resting on her lap. "Thank you for comforting me." She quietly said. "I know it mustn't have been easy to sit outside and listen to all of that."
Guilbert quickly shook his head. "It's alright. I was difficult for me to not be at your side, but honestly my struggle pales in comparison to yours."
Tala then stifled a laugh. "Normally I'd play off my pain as nothing... but for this one, I think I'd have to agree with you. I think I'd take multiple stabs to the gut by a dagger again than that."
Guilbert chuckled, causing her to let out her soft little laugh. When the baby began to fuss, Tala quickly went back to soothing him.
"You've taken to this really well." Guilbert commented.
"Yeah... I guess I have. I'm just so relieved that he's here and that he's alive and well. I was a little worried that he might not make it, especially when I was loosing strength. And when he didn't cry right away I thought the worst. But I'm glad that he's alright."
"I'm glad that you both are alright."
She looked up at Guilbert and simply gave him a soft smile. "Yeah, me too."
There was a short pause between them for a moment before Guilbert spoke up again. "So it's a boy. That means we're naming him Amal, right?"
As Tala looked at him to agree, something in her gut told her to stop. For some reason, the name didn't sound right... despite it sounding perfect for months. "That is the name I agreed on... and everyone else liked..."
Guilbert's complacent expression slowly shifted to curiosity as he noticed the doubt creeping into her eyes. "You don't like that name now?"
"It's not that I don't like the name... just... for some reason, it no longer feels like that's the right name for him. Now that I see him... I kinda think there's something else that'll suit him better."
"What would that be?"
Tala furrowed her brow and scrunched her lips towards one corner of her mouth. "I don't know yet. I just have that gut feeling that says Amal is not his name."
Guilbert glanced down at the baby for a moment before his smile returned. "Well I guess that happens sometimes. At least I've heard of that happening before. The right name will come to you."
Tala eventually wrapped her son in the blanket then cradled him in her arms. As she thought about it more, she asked, "Hey, what if we name him after someone?"
"Who do you have in mind?"
"What about your father?"
"Albert?" Guilbert astoundingly stammered. When Tala nodded, he got quiet for a moment before he shook his head. "No, but it's very sweet of you to suggest. I loved my father, but I don't think that's the right fit for him. What about your father?"
"Celestin? Hmm... It is a pretty name. And I guess I did want to name the baby after my mother had it been a girl." As Tala gave it more thought, she looked down at him and asked, "What do we think? Is Celestin a good name?"
When there wasn't so much as a fuss, Guilbert softly chuckled. "I don't think you'll get an exact answer."
"I know." Tala giggled. "But my mother once told me that sometimes parents back in our village used to say certain names to their newborns and whichever one the baby reacted to the most, they decided that that name was meant to be theirs. Apparently even my mother tried my name on me and I always made some sort of sound whenever she said it. So you never know. Maybe he can help me find the right name."
Guilbert held his smile and shrugged. "Well then I guess since there was no response, then Celestin isn't it."
"I guess not. Too bad though. If my father were alive right now, he would have been thrilled just for even suggesting that we name his grandson after him." She paused for a moment before sullenly adding, "He was an interesting man. He had such grand ideas and dreams. And he loved his work in alchemy. He also loved the lore behind the Divines. He wanted to name me Talos, but when I was born a girl, my mother came up with a feminine version of Talos. Hence my name, Tala. I bet if he were here, he'd suggest that I pick a name of one of the Divines so that my son would grow up destined for greatness."
"If that's the case, which Divine would you pick?"
Before Tala could come up with an answer, there was a knock on the door. "You can come in." Tala called out.
As the door creaked open, Jauffre slowly entered the room. "I was checking in to see how you were fairing."
"I'm doing alright. Be careful that Isa doesn't catch you in here. She took Eyja and let us be so we could spend some alone time with the baby. She might chase you out of here if she sees you."
"Then I shall make this brief. I just simply wanted to make sure you and your child were alright." As he approached the foot of the bed, his focused then lowered from Tala to the infant in her arms and his face went enigmatically slack. There was another moment of silence before he spoke up again. "I still remember the day I took Martin from Uriel's chambers. I spent a few days studying him as I took him safely out of the Imperial City to my friend at his farm in Kvatch. The likeness is almost identical. I have no doubt that he'll resemble Martin as a young man as well."
As Tala smiled, she could feel her emotions getting the better of her, and her smile began to tremble. "T-thank you." She weakly replied. "I hope he's also going to be as kind and patient as Martin someday... just like you hoped during the toast yesterday."
As Jauffre softly smiled back at her, the baby began to fuss in her arms, so she returned her attention to him.
"It seems almost symbolic that he was born around the same day." Jauffre commented.
"It seems almost ironic, actually." Tala replied. "I actually didn't want the baby to be born so close to Martin's day, but I think Akatosh found it funny to mess with me."
While Jauffre's smile twisted to a smirk, Guilbert kept his eyes on the baby for a little while longer as he remained lost in thought. And after a moment of silence, he broke it with a question. "What about Martin?"
"What about him?" Tala responded.
"We don't seem to agree on naming him after our fathers... but what if we name him after his?"
As Tala blinked her eyes, they grew wider and wider. "You want to name the baby after Martin?!" When the baby whimpered in her arms, she stopped to soothe him again before she suddenly laughed. "Goodness, Guilbert, no. That's ridiculous! I mean, sure the idea is nice and all, but wouldn't that defeat the purpose of dissolving people's suspicions over his parentage?"
"Not if we say that we named him in honor of the late Emperor. People would probably believe that. There are plenty of women in nobility who are named after Saint Alessia and others name their children or pets after famous kings and emperors. You're named in honor of Talos. Why couldn't we have people believing the same thing?"
When Tala got quiet for a second, Jauffre quickly interjected. "You'd be raising more suspicions by doing this." He sternly said. "After months of planting the lie that there was nothing going on between Tala and Martin, you want to name him after the man and give people a reason to be suspicious?"
When Guilbert opened his mouth to say something, Tala interrupted him. "Jauffre's right. We don't need to add more problems by doing that. It's bad enough that I made everyone's lives complicated by hiding this little one's true identity from the world. I don't need to add insult to injury. The right name will come. I just need to keep playing with names until one feels right."
It was then that Isa returned to the room carrying a tray of food. She quickly noticed Jauffre standing there and sternly said, "I'm terribly sorry, but I have to ask you to leave. The parents need alone time to bond with their child. I would ask that you give them their space."
"My apologies." Jauffre politely replied. He then nodded to Tala before taking his leave.
"It was okay for Jauffre to come in, Isa." Tala said. "So far I'm doing alright emotionally."
"I know dear, but sometimes it can be overwhelming for a new mother to have multiple people in the room while she is adjusting to her baby and the emotions that arise after the birth. Give yourself at least today to rest, and then you can decide if you want visitors tomorrow. Now, I wanted to bring you something to eat and I want to make sure he is capable of feeding as well."
After Tala and the baby got their first meals of the day, Guilbert helped Isa clean up the room and Eyja came back with fresh blankets and sheets. Then the midwife left the 'parents' alone again for another couple of hours. Once the coast was clear for them to talk privately, Guilbert made a point of sitting with his legs folded on the other side of the bed next to Tala to converse.
"I'm sorry if my bringing up Martin's name created more problems." He timidly said.
"It's okay." Tala softly replied. "It... honestly... wasn't the worst suggestion. You're right, we were offering to name him after our own fathers. It made sense to ask if we should name him after his. But it wouldn't be a great idea. I suppose I could go back to thinking of other names. I had other names I thought of prior to picking Amal. There's Eddard." As she firmly said the name, she looked to the newborn in her arms. When there wasn't a response, she said, "Or there's Ewan." Still no response. "Hmm... guess not those."
"We could return to the idea of naming him after one of the Divines." Guilbert suggested.
Tala pensively hummed for a moment before she looked back to the baby. "I could name you Julianos, after the god of wisdom and logic, in hopes you'll become intelligent and wise."
"That's not a bad idea." Guilbert said. "We could call him Julie as a nickname."
When the infant remained peacefully still in her arms, Tala took a minute to roll the name off her tongue and say the nickname back to him. The more she said the name, the less it resounded in her chest. "Hmm... maybe not. That's okay though. We'll keep trying."
Guilbert then inched a little closer to Tala to peer down at the baby for a moment before he said to no one in particular, "I wonder when he'll open his eyes. I kinda want to see what color they are."
"Me too." Tala replied. "Isa didn't say if it was unusual for a baby to keep their eyes closed for a certain amount of time, but I remember my mother saying they can open them minutes after they're born. I wonder why he's keeping them closed." She then looked back to Guilbert and excitingly added, "I want to know if they're going to be a different color... or will they be blue? And if so, what kind of blue? Will they be light blue like Martin's? Or if-"
The newborn then fussed and shifted in her arms, causing her to stop and the both of them to exchange a puzzling look. "It is just me, or does he seem to respond every time you mention Martin?" Guilbert asked.
"Not possible." Tala argued.
Guilbert then gave her a reproving glance. "We've been sitting here hoping for him to respond to a name, but you don't believe it when I say he's responding to one?"
"Because it's a name I shouldn't pick."
"So you're saying you like the idea of naming him after Martin?"
"Well of course I do. I loved Martin. But we're trying to convince the world that this isn't his son. Jauffre's right when he said it would be a risky decision. And besides, I spent months worrying that the baby would be born on Martin's birthday because I thought it would be a painful reminder that he wasn't here. Naming him the same name would be no different. And granted I got closure and the feeling doesn't hurt so much as it did before, but it still doesn't change the fact that it would cause suspicions from other people."
There was a pensive hum from Guilbert as his eyes looked away from Tala and back to the baby. "But you said you did like the name. If you mean it, I still think we could convince people that he's not Martin's son. He was just named in honor of the Emperor. We've been good so far in convincing people that we're married. We could do the same with his name."
Her eyes fell back on her son again and she let out a short, heavy sigh through her nose. "It'd be confusing for me too. I mean... if I heard the name, I wouldn't know which Martin someone would be referring to. I... I suppose if I were to go through with it, we could change the way we said his name. We could pronounce it 'Mar-ten', instead of Mart-in'. It'd sound different while still being the same."
"I like it." Guilbert said with a smile. "Marten sounds better than anything we've tossed out so far."
Tala then let a nervous laugh rumble out her chest as she shook her head and warily smiled at the blond sitting next to her. "Are we really naming the baby after Martin? You're really letting me do this? Please tell me you were joking and you have another name in mind that you're hoping I'll say yes to?"
Initially Guilbert gave her a subtle smirk, but when his eyes fell back to the baby, his face lit up in surprise and he tapped her shoulder to look. When she looked down, she let out a soft gasp. The baby's eyes were open and looking at both of them, but it was the eye color that had them in surprise. They were blue, but not like his father's. They were Tala's eyes: a deep sapphire with a sparkling shine, like still waters on a sunny day. It was breathtaking to see, and now Tala could understand why she would get compliments on hers.
In that moment, she realized that this baby boy was what she and Martin envisioned for their future children. She didn't want her hair color passed on, but he had hoped at least one of them had her eyes. It was a bittersweet feeling knowing that their wishes came true for their only child together, and yet he wasn't physically here to see it. But she knew he was watching in spirit.
Is this why you didn't say anything to me, Martin? Tala wondered. Did you know this was going to happen? Did you know the baby was meant to come on your day, and the most you could do was delay his birth long enough to make it until the morning of the next? Did you know we were having a son? And did you know he was going to be a perfect blend of the both of us?
The thoughts just made her eyes water and her jaw quiver. And as the baby slowly wiggled an arm loose from the blanket and brought it up towards her, she gently took his hand with her thumb and index finger as she let the tears run down her cheeks.
"Well hello!" Tala chirped at him as she very gently rocked him back and forth with a wide grin. "Look at you! You're everything we could have hoped for!"
