Chapter Three: Baby Tayla's Perilous Journey to Life
Seven months later.
"It is time!" Tika screamed, as the third contraction rippled
throughout her slender body. Her favorite personal maid, Soyka, was propping
her up, guiding her to the hospital quarters of the Korin. Tika clutched her
swollen stomach, as her water suddenly broke.
"Sweet Kami!" Tika shrieked. "The pain has never been so fierce!"
Mantros, Gracina, and Bajal were racing down the corridors to reach
the terrified Tika. Mantros had never heard his poor wife so panicked. Tika,
like any other woman, had endured great pain during childbirth, but never
anything this serious. Mantros felt that something was horribly wrong.
When the three fighters entered Tika's delivery room, Tika was
writhing and crying with more pain than usual. Tika was normally brave and
patient during childbirth, and for her to be this terrified was a horrifying
sight to see. Tika was panicking as if this was her first child, instead of her
twentieth. Soyka had induced her mistress to sleep with a special herb put
under her nose that was supposed to ease some of the pain. Two healers, one
healior, and two Nurses were attending the frightened future Superior Gran.
"Tika!" Mantros rasped in fear. Sweet Kami, there had only been two
births where his beloved had been in this much pain: Gorna's and Raakon's.
Gorna's birth had been difficult because it had been Tika's first birthing, but
Raakon had been a breach birth, with his neck tangled in his umbilical cord.
Both he and his mother had nearly died, and the pregnancy with Raakon had
already been difficult enough; Tika had nearly miscarried her fourth son several
times. Raakon had been a miracle birth; perhaps that was why Tika had favored
him so much above many of her other children.
But Tika's pregnancy with the unborn Tayla had been smooth and easy,
with nothing worse than the usual problems. Of course Mantros have had to stop
coupling with his wife after five months, but that had been a sacrifice that
always had to be made.
Gracina quickly washed her hands to help assist with her mother's birthing. One
of the older healers, Renkyon, of the Clan of Brimmel, said that both Tika and
her baby were in grave danger. Little unborn Tayla was in a breach position,
which was troublesome for an Earth woman, but doubly dangerous for an Astorian
woman. If Tayla were not removed from her mother's womb soon, both Tayla and
Tika would die.
Renkyon asked Mantros and Bajal to leave, so that they could
proceed, but Tika loudly protested her husband's departure. Mantros hurried to
his wife's side and held her hand. He sang their favorite Astorian love song to
soothe the poor woman.
Mantros told all of the healers, including his own daughter,
fiercely. "You cannot let my wife die! You must save her! You have to!" He
was concerned for their baby too, but Tika was his first priority.
Mantros held his wife's hand and soothed her the best that he could.
"C'mon, Robin, you have to hang on! You cannot leave me!"
Gracina scrubbed her hands clean again, as Renkyon whispered in her
ear, "We may be able to save your mother, but we don't know about her baby." He
discreetly pointed to an x-ray screen that was scanning Tika's swollen stomach.
On the screen, Tayla was still in her breach position, but now the umbilical
cord was wrapped firmly around her neck.
"Should we perform a caesarean?" Gracina asked.
"Maybe. Get the anesthesia ready."
"Save my baby!" Tika screamed. "Do not worry about me!"
"Tika, have you lost your mind?" Mantros cried. "I am not losing
you!"
"And we are not losing little Tayla either!" Tika cried. "You have
to save her! I don't want her to die!" Tika cried a prayer to the ancestors,
asking them to spare Tayla, even if they had to take her to heaven.
Renkyon grew pale. A choice would have to be made quickly: Tika's
life or Tayla's life. He explained to Mantros, Gracina, and Bajal that they
would have to choose.
"Do not worry about me!" Tika screamed, as she attempted to push out
her little one. "Save the baby! I am serious!"
"Tika, we can have other children-" Mantros began.
"No, we can't!" Tika shrieked. "I am certain that this will be the
last one. Don't ask me how I know; I just do! We have to save her! Renkyon,
you and my daughter worry about Tayla first!"
"Tika, I am not allowing you to risk your life!" Mantros argued, but
there was nothing more that he or the others could say to dissuade her. The
wishes of the mother in labor always overrode everyone else's in cases like
this, unless she was unconscious...
...Inside the womb, tiny unborn Tayla was fighting with the strange,
fleshy cord choking her. She couldn't breathe; the air could not reach her tiny
lungs. It was dark and wet and cold. Being inside this place where she had
been living in for the first seven months since her conception had been warm and
cozy, but now she wanted out!
She wanted to live!
Don't give up on me. Don't let me die.
The baby pulled and tugged at the cord, but it only made things
worse.
Mamma, help me!
The baby girl wanted to cry, but she couldn't, not yet. She made
one last tug, and she pulled the cord away from her neck just enough to let her
breathe.
Then she saw a great light. Suddenly, there was a hole, a large
gash in the roof of her current home. Two slender, graceful hands reached
inside her dark little world and started feeling about for her, as she swam in
her placenta.
The little one continued to hold the strangling cord away from her
neck to give her just enough air to survive. The two strange appendages grabbed
her, as her placenta suddenly broke.
"Oh no!" a terrified voice that seemed to belong to the hands cried.
"The cord is still strangling her!"
The baby made one last yank and successfully ripped the cord away
from her neck. Air rushed in, and suddenly she had to defecate and urinate at
the same time. She did so, as she was lifted out of the wet, cold darkness into
the even colder, yet brighter light.
She opened her tiny rosebud mouth, and her scream reverberated
throughout everywhere...
..."She's going to live!" Gracina cried excitedly. "Listen to those
lungs!"
"That's one loud kid!" her grandfather declared, as his
granddaughter lifted the newly born Tayla away from her mother's womb. Tayla
was still holding her torn umbilical cord in her tiny, red fist. She was
bawling loudly, waving her inanimate tormentor around like a prize kill.
Tika smiled weakly at her screaming, confused baby, and then she
fainted. Renkyon examined her quickly, and he determined that she too would
live. Tika was just plain exhausted, from the stress of pregnancy and the
effects of the now-working anesthesia. Mantros was tremendously relieved, and
feeling horrible that he had given up on his child too easily. But to his
credit, he had truly feared for his wife's life. This event brought back
painful memories of Raakon's birth.
"Forgive me, Robin," he whispered, "And you too, little Tayla.
Forgive me for doubting you both."
Bajal chuckled with relief. "You should have known that any child
of yours wouldn't give up so easily! All of your children were stubborn little
tykes!"
Gracina gently bathed her newborn sister in saltwater, and then she
powdered and diapered her. Tayla continued to bawl, but her screams were not so
loud as they were. Gracina cuddled her close, for now Tayla smelled sweetly of
lavender and mint and baby powder. Tika awoke slowly, and her breasts filled
quickly with milk. Mantros and Soyka helped prop her up, and Gracina gently
laid Tayla in her mother's weary arms. She helped guide Tayla's tiny red mouth
to her mother's milk-filled breast. Tayla found the nipple in no time, and she
began to greedily eat.
Bajal laughed. "She's got her mother's determination, my wife's
stubbornness, and her father's appetite!"
Renkyon cleaned Tika up and began to sew her gashes back together.
Tika kissed Tayla's forehead, as Mantros whispered words of fatherly love to his
baby. He also asked Tayla to forgive him. Tayla tickled her father's chin with
her toes. She held no grudges. She liked her father tickling her small feet.
She laughed around her mother's breast. She loved the softness of her mother's
breast, and the warm, sticky liquid that her mother was providing her. She also
liked her mother's tired hand smoothing her black, downy hair, which was already
shoulder-length.
An exhausted Gracina thanked the ancestors, as she knelt beside her
mother's bed. Tayla would live, and so would their mother! Little Tayla
gripped her sister's finger, and gave a tiny curvature of her mouth that Gracina
swore was a smile. Tayla seemed to be smiling around her mother's nipple. She
stared directly at Gracina despite her fervent feeding. Her look was so intense
for such a small baby.
Thank you for not giving up on me, the baby girl seemed to be
saying. Thank you for saving me.
Gracina's eyes filled with tears.
"You're welcome, little one," she whispered, as the tears
overflowed, cascading down her perfect cheeks.
Tika had insisted that Tayla sleep in the same room as her. Tayla
was sleeping peacefully, encased in a soft green blanket woven from quality
Astorian hair. She seemed to be smiling in her sleep.
Mantros and Gracina had demanded that Tika get some sleep. Tayla
had already been fed and changed. All of the Mantros Chloe family that had been
on the ship was gathered around her round crib.
Bajal stroked the baby's hair with his thick index finger, as Nieca
just stared at her in wonder. Gracina was rubbing Tayla's arm, and Mantros was
rubbing Tayla's cheek. The boys were unusually well behaved, and they stood
there themselves, worshipping her.
Necron broke the silence by declaring, "She was louder than Nieca
ever was! I could hear her from the other end of the ship!"
"Be thankful that we could hear her. It almost didn't happen that
way," Ralia scolded him. She had nearly lost her baby, Jaca, a year ago, under
almost the same circumstances as her mother's.
"She's a strong little thing," Bajal said. "She already held her
head up, and she's only two days old! If that old scouter of ours is correct,
she's going to be a powerful and smart baby! Wait until Shalila hears this!"
"I can already feel her power," Mantros declared. "She is destined
to be a warrior or a healior; I can sense it."
"I think all of her power is in her lungs!" Necron added.
Bajal chuckled. "Well the little tyke had to put her power
somewhere!"
Renkyon said, "It is a little too soon to determine intelligence,
but from what the tests are showing, she is going to become someone of great
importance."
"She is someone of great importance!" Mantros nearly shouted. "She
is a Princess of Chloe, an elite-class Astorian! Of course she is going to be
endowed with the best!"
"That's right!" Bajal added. "This kid had potential. She's on her
way to becoming a great healior."
"Isn't that a little too soon to determine?" Bytron asked.
"Quiet, boy, what do you know?" Bajal asked him. "You don't have
any little squabs to speak of! Tayla is a powerful and sweet little thing!"
"And a beauty!" Corpros cried.
"Mantros, you'll have to be warding the boys off from her," Bajal
told him.
Mantros laughed and kissed Tayla's forehead. "Sleep well, little
Tayla; I love you."
"We all do," Gracina added softly. She kissed Tayla's forehead as
well.
Nieca wanted to kiss Tayla too, so Gracina lifted her up close
enough for her to do so. The boys just blew kisses and left; they didn't want
to seem too mushy.
Renkyon dimmed the lights in Tika and Tayla's room. Soyka patted
Tayla on her head, and checked briefly on Tika. The family members began
tiptoeing out of the room, so that they would not disturb Tika or Tayla.
Mantros kissed Gracina's pale cheek and whispered his thanks for her
saving her little sister's life. Her mother had softly thanked her earlier.
"Pleasant dreams, sweet little Tayla," Gracina whispered to her
sleeping newborn sister, as she left the room. She was the last one to leave.
Tayla stirred for only a moment, but then she closed her saucer eyes
once more.
THE END (for now)
Seven months later.
"It is time!" Tika screamed, as the third contraction rippled
throughout her slender body. Her favorite personal maid, Soyka, was propping
her up, guiding her to the hospital quarters of the Korin. Tika clutched her
swollen stomach, as her water suddenly broke.
"Sweet Kami!" Tika shrieked. "The pain has never been so fierce!"
Mantros, Gracina, and Bajal were racing down the corridors to reach
the terrified Tika. Mantros had never heard his poor wife so panicked. Tika,
like any other woman, had endured great pain during childbirth, but never
anything this serious. Mantros felt that something was horribly wrong.
When the three fighters entered Tika's delivery room, Tika was
writhing and crying with more pain than usual. Tika was normally brave and
patient during childbirth, and for her to be this terrified was a horrifying
sight to see. Tika was panicking as if this was her first child, instead of her
twentieth. Soyka had induced her mistress to sleep with a special herb put
under her nose that was supposed to ease some of the pain. Two healers, one
healior, and two Nurses were attending the frightened future Superior Gran.
"Tika!" Mantros rasped in fear. Sweet Kami, there had only been two
births where his beloved had been in this much pain: Gorna's and Raakon's.
Gorna's birth had been difficult because it had been Tika's first birthing, but
Raakon had been a breach birth, with his neck tangled in his umbilical cord.
Both he and his mother had nearly died, and the pregnancy with Raakon had
already been difficult enough; Tika had nearly miscarried her fourth son several
times. Raakon had been a miracle birth; perhaps that was why Tika had favored
him so much above many of her other children.
But Tika's pregnancy with the unborn Tayla had been smooth and easy,
with nothing worse than the usual problems. Of course Mantros have had to stop
coupling with his wife after five months, but that had been a sacrifice that
always had to be made.
Gracina quickly washed her hands to help assist with her mother's birthing. One
of the older healers, Renkyon, of the Clan of Brimmel, said that both Tika and
her baby were in grave danger. Little unborn Tayla was in a breach position,
which was troublesome for an Earth woman, but doubly dangerous for an Astorian
woman. If Tayla were not removed from her mother's womb soon, both Tayla and
Tika would die.
Renkyon asked Mantros and Bajal to leave, so that they could
proceed, but Tika loudly protested her husband's departure. Mantros hurried to
his wife's side and held her hand. He sang their favorite Astorian love song to
soothe the poor woman.
Mantros told all of the healers, including his own daughter,
fiercely. "You cannot let my wife die! You must save her! You have to!" He
was concerned for their baby too, but Tika was his first priority.
Mantros held his wife's hand and soothed her the best that he could.
"C'mon, Robin, you have to hang on! You cannot leave me!"
Gracina scrubbed her hands clean again, as Renkyon whispered in her
ear, "We may be able to save your mother, but we don't know about her baby." He
discreetly pointed to an x-ray screen that was scanning Tika's swollen stomach.
On the screen, Tayla was still in her breach position, but now the umbilical
cord was wrapped firmly around her neck.
"Should we perform a caesarean?" Gracina asked.
"Maybe. Get the anesthesia ready."
"Save my baby!" Tika screamed. "Do not worry about me!"
"Tika, have you lost your mind?" Mantros cried. "I am not losing
you!"
"And we are not losing little Tayla either!" Tika cried. "You have
to save her! I don't want her to die!" Tika cried a prayer to the ancestors,
asking them to spare Tayla, even if they had to take her to heaven.
Renkyon grew pale. A choice would have to be made quickly: Tika's
life or Tayla's life. He explained to Mantros, Gracina, and Bajal that they
would have to choose.
"Do not worry about me!" Tika screamed, as she attempted to push out
her little one. "Save the baby! I am serious!"
"Tika, we can have other children-" Mantros began.
"No, we can't!" Tika shrieked. "I am certain that this will be the
last one. Don't ask me how I know; I just do! We have to save her! Renkyon,
you and my daughter worry about Tayla first!"
"Tika, I am not allowing you to risk your life!" Mantros argued, but
there was nothing more that he or the others could say to dissuade her. The
wishes of the mother in labor always overrode everyone else's in cases like
this, unless she was unconscious...
...Inside the womb, tiny unborn Tayla was fighting with the strange,
fleshy cord choking her. She couldn't breathe; the air could not reach her tiny
lungs. It was dark and wet and cold. Being inside this place where she had
been living in for the first seven months since her conception had been warm and
cozy, but now she wanted out!
She wanted to live!
Don't give up on me. Don't let me die.
The baby pulled and tugged at the cord, but it only made things
worse.
Mamma, help me!
The baby girl wanted to cry, but she couldn't, not yet. She made
one last tug, and she pulled the cord away from her neck just enough to let her
breathe.
Then she saw a great light. Suddenly, there was a hole, a large
gash in the roof of her current home. Two slender, graceful hands reached
inside her dark little world and started feeling about for her, as she swam in
her placenta.
The little one continued to hold the strangling cord away from her
neck to give her just enough air to survive. The two strange appendages grabbed
her, as her placenta suddenly broke.
"Oh no!" a terrified voice that seemed to belong to the hands cried.
"The cord is still strangling her!"
The baby made one last yank and successfully ripped the cord away
from her neck. Air rushed in, and suddenly she had to defecate and urinate at
the same time. She did so, as she was lifted out of the wet, cold darkness into
the even colder, yet brighter light.
She opened her tiny rosebud mouth, and her scream reverberated
throughout everywhere...
..."She's going to live!" Gracina cried excitedly. "Listen to those
lungs!"
"That's one loud kid!" her grandfather declared, as his
granddaughter lifted the newly born Tayla away from her mother's womb. Tayla
was still holding her torn umbilical cord in her tiny, red fist. She was
bawling loudly, waving her inanimate tormentor around like a prize kill.
Tika smiled weakly at her screaming, confused baby, and then she
fainted. Renkyon examined her quickly, and he determined that she too would
live. Tika was just plain exhausted, from the stress of pregnancy and the
effects of the now-working anesthesia. Mantros was tremendously relieved, and
feeling horrible that he had given up on his child too easily. But to his
credit, he had truly feared for his wife's life. This event brought back
painful memories of Raakon's birth.
"Forgive me, Robin," he whispered, "And you too, little Tayla.
Forgive me for doubting you both."
Bajal chuckled with relief. "You should have known that any child
of yours wouldn't give up so easily! All of your children were stubborn little
tykes!"
Gracina gently bathed her newborn sister in saltwater, and then she
powdered and diapered her. Tayla continued to bawl, but her screams were not so
loud as they were. Gracina cuddled her close, for now Tayla smelled sweetly of
lavender and mint and baby powder. Tika awoke slowly, and her breasts filled
quickly with milk. Mantros and Soyka helped prop her up, and Gracina gently
laid Tayla in her mother's weary arms. She helped guide Tayla's tiny red mouth
to her mother's milk-filled breast. Tayla found the nipple in no time, and she
began to greedily eat.
Bajal laughed. "She's got her mother's determination, my wife's
stubbornness, and her father's appetite!"
Renkyon cleaned Tika up and began to sew her gashes back together.
Tika kissed Tayla's forehead, as Mantros whispered words of fatherly love to his
baby. He also asked Tayla to forgive him. Tayla tickled her father's chin with
her toes. She held no grudges. She liked her father tickling her small feet.
She laughed around her mother's breast. She loved the softness of her mother's
breast, and the warm, sticky liquid that her mother was providing her. She also
liked her mother's tired hand smoothing her black, downy hair, which was already
shoulder-length.
An exhausted Gracina thanked the ancestors, as she knelt beside her
mother's bed. Tayla would live, and so would their mother! Little Tayla
gripped her sister's finger, and gave a tiny curvature of her mouth that Gracina
swore was a smile. Tayla seemed to be smiling around her mother's nipple. She
stared directly at Gracina despite her fervent feeding. Her look was so intense
for such a small baby.
Thank you for not giving up on me, the baby girl seemed to be
saying. Thank you for saving me.
Gracina's eyes filled with tears.
"You're welcome, little one," she whispered, as the tears
overflowed, cascading down her perfect cheeks.
Tika had insisted that Tayla sleep in the same room as her. Tayla
was sleeping peacefully, encased in a soft green blanket woven from quality
Astorian hair. She seemed to be smiling in her sleep.
Mantros and Gracina had demanded that Tika get some sleep. Tayla
had already been fed and changed. All of the Mantros Chloe family that had been
on the ship was gathered around her round crib.
Bajal stroked the baby's hair with his thick index finger, as Nieca
just stared at her in wonder. Gracina was rubbing Tayla's arm, and Mantros was
rubbing Tayla's cheek. The boys were unusually well behaved, and they stood
there themselves, worshipping her.
Necron broke the silence by declaring, "She was louder than Nieca
ever was! I could hear her from the other end of the ship!"
"Be thankful that we could hear her. It almost didn't happen that
way," Ralia scolded him. She had nearly lost her baby, Jaca, a year ago, under
almost the same circumstances as her mother's.
"She's a strong little thing," Bajal said. "She already held her
head up, and she's only two days old! If that old scouter of ours is correct,
she's going to be a powerful and smart baby! Wait until Shalila hears this!"
"I can already feel her power," Mantros declared. "She is destined
to be a warrior or a healior; I can sense it."
"I think all of her power is in her lungs!" Necron added.
Bajal chuckled. "Well the little tyke had to put her power
somewhere!"
Renkyon said, "It is a little too soon to determine intelligence,
but from what the tests are showing, she is going to become someone of great
importance."
"She is someone of great importance!" Mantros nearly shouted. "She
is a Princess of Chloe, an elite-class Astorian! Of course she is going to be
endowed with the best!"
"That's right!" Bajal added. "This kid had potential. She's on her
way to becoming a great healior."
"Isn't that a little too soon to determine?" Bytron asked.
"Quiet, boy, what do you know?" Bajal asked him. "You don't have
any little squabs to speak of! Tayla is a powerful and sweet little thing!"
"And a beauty!" Corpros cried.
"Mantros, you'll have to be warding the boys off from her," Bajal
told him.
Mantros laughed and kissed Tayla's forehead. "Sleep well, little
Tayla; I love you."
"We all do," Gracina added softly. She kissed Tayla's forehead as
well.
Nieca wanted to kiss Tayla too, so Gracina lifted her up close
enough for her to do so. The boys just blew kisses and left; they didn't want
to seem too mushy.
Renkyon dimmed the lights in Tika and Tayla's room. Soyka patted
Tayla on her head, and checked briefly on Tika. The family members began
tiptoeing out of the room, so that they would not disturb Tika or Tayla.
Mantros kissed Gracina's pale cheek and whispered his thanks for her
saving her little sister's life. Her mother had softly thanked her earlier.
"Pleasant dreams, sweet little Tayla," Gracina whispered to her
sleeping newborn sister, as she left the room. She was the last one to leave.
Tayla stirred for only a moment, but then she closed her saucer eyes
once more.
THE END (for now)
