It was during her morning walk that the backache started, a dull throb that Poppy assumed was just because of the additional weight of the baby, so she thought nothing of it, but a few hours later, in a meeting with the council of elders no less, she was sure, something was happening. The baby hadn't moved noticeably that day, but they'd been annoyingly active recently, she'd hoped they had perhaps worn themself out for a bit, but apparently, they wouldn't wait any longer. The pain in her lower abdomen that started unexpectedly and faded after a bit all but confirmed it,
"Cas," even to her own ears, Poppy's voice was slightly breathless, and Casteel broke off his conversation with a panicked look in her direction, "The baby's coming,"
"Now?"
"No, after we're done, yes now!" She snapped, and clenched her fists at another pain, a tightening of her muscles,
"Okay, do you wanna walk, or you want my help?" Poppy slowly eased herself to her feet,
"I can walk," she breathed, drawing in deep breaths as she clung to Casteel's arm, using him for support as they slowly made their way out of the room, leaving the elders to disperse on their own, although, she noted, Kieran had already sprinted off to fetch their healers. Barely halfway to their room, Poppy squeezed her eyes shut against the pain, stifling a cry of pain,
"Deeps breaths, there you go, and again, copy me," she opened her eyes, focusing instead on Casteel's face, on the slow breaths he was urging her to copy. She wrestled back control of herself, following his lead, "That's better, one more."
She was panting by the time the contraction finished, and Casteel scooped her up, giving her no chance to complain before striding to their room,
"Bed?" Poppy nodded, the few minutes since the last contraction not having been quite enough time to recover, it had been worse than the first ones, worse and longer. "Nearly there, sweetheart, you can do this, okay, then we'll have a baby, just a little longer," she nodded, hardly hearing the words, but latched on to his calming tone, the way he was brushing her hair back out of her face. "The healers will be here soon to help, then you can have something for the pain," yes, she needed that, and she began counting her breaths, the counting stopping her from worrying about the next contraction. When it came, she squeezed Casteel's hand so hard she was surprised she didn't break it, but it ended, and she was one step closer to holding their baby in her arms.
The healers talked her through exactly was was happening, they'd already run through everything, but in the moment she'd forgotten. They helped her prepare, and gave her a herb to chew to relieve the pain, nothing too drastic, but it worked, since even Poppy's own power seemed to have abandoned her. Casteel sat beside her the whole time, even when she kept almost breaking his hand, even when she was screaming that it was all his fault, even when she couldn't hold back the tears from the pain. He just tied her hair back gently, rubbing the back of her hand, offering gentle encouragement when everyone else was focused on the baby, or scared to speak to her for fear of her attention turning from Casteel to them. Indeed, the one time Kieran had reassured her that she could do it, that she was almost there, she'd demanded how the hell he would know, and he'd promptly shut up.
She was tired, so, so tired now, but the healers had assured her that the baby was nearly here, and she could do it, had to do it. She leaned into Casteel's side,
"One more, Poppy, one more, for the baby, one last effort, sweetheart," she squeezed her eyes shut, and once the contraction was gone, the pain fading, Casteel wasn't telling her how close she was, he was silent. When she opened her eyes, he was staring at the healer closest to them, and a different noise split the air, a cry from tiny lungs,
"Congratulations, your majesties, it's a girl,"
"It's a girl," Poppy whispered, her eyes filling once again with tears of joy as the healer handed her the baby, her daughter, "We have a daughter," Casteel was crying himself as he kissed the top of Poppy's head,
"She's perfect," he murmured, helping Poppy to sit up a little bit, still leaning against him.
"She has your eyes," Poppy murmured when their daughter opened her eyes, beautiful, amber colored, but still the eather in her blood was visible, just a faint silver glow, but it was there. She stared up at her parents, eyes wide, "Hi Coralena," she whispered, just as the midday sky outside turned dark, and a flash of lightning split the air, lightning that never struck, Poppy smiled to herself, "Your great grandpa says hi," she crooned.
The next few days were a blur, a wonderful, love-filled blur. Poppy hardly remembered learning to feed baby Coralena, learning to swaddle her, to change her diaper, barley remembered how much time both she and the baby spent sleeping, Coralena usually slept in her arms, and Poppy in Casteel's. It was an exhausting few days, but the day after Coralena's birth, the letters had started flooding in, well-wishes from their people in Evaemon and beyond. She'd never been more tired, but Poppy wouldn't have changed it for the world, would't have traded the feeling of holding her daughter, of seeing Casteel with her, of the look on Keiran's face when they'd asked him to be the godfather, the tears in his eyes when he'd agreed. No, she wouldn't have traded that for anything.
Kieran was now, in wolven form, sleeping at the foot of their bed, having stayed up all night to watch over them while all the three of them slept. It had only taken one day for Poppy to discover how much her daughter loved to sleep curled up with her uncle in his wolven form, how much she loved his fur. Coralena had slipped off to sleep, but Poppy didn't want to put her down, not into a crib, but she did need to eat, and so did Casteel. Kieran lifted his head, as if realizing, and shifted slightly to make a space for his goddaughter, her head resting on his flank. If this was how Poppy could spend the rest of her life, she wouldn't mind living for millennia, not if she could spend it with her family, family, that was what they had now, and she couldn't tear her eyes away from her daughter, or the wolven now so lovingly gazing at her sleeping form. If this was the first day of forever, she never wanted it to end.