Chapter 17

Over the next five months, Rhiannon had exactly fifteen doctor's appointments. A check-up every two weeks, and in her ninth month of pregnancy, seven.
She was terrified throughout almost all of them that something about her baby would give away the fact that she was a Peredhil, as Legolas had put it, what the consequences would be if that did happen, and she wondered constantly if she should notify the doctor.

In her sixth month, she was speaking to her pre-natal consultant, a forty-something woman named Mrs. Byron, about pregnancy safety and how she could make sure that her child was healthy and safe of any danger.

"Miss Storms, a large part of a safe pregnancy is for the mother to be relaxed. You cannot strain yourself, physically or any other way, for that matter. Your stress is transferred to the baby, just like the food that you eat is!" Rhiannon nodded and smiled, but inside, she was in turmoil.

God, what am I going to do? Even when I don't mean to, this thing comes up in my mind...

If I keep this up, the baby will be in danger. I guess I don't have a choice but to tell Dr. Christensen.

"Alright, Miss Storms, I believe we are done here? Have a lovely day, and I'll see you next month?" Rhiannon recovered her voice.

"Yes, Mrs. Byron. Thank you, and have a good day as well." She walked out, in maternity jeans and leather slip on sneakers that Melissa had gotten for her. They were almost like walking barefoot, but there was support. They were black leather with tan highlight, and she was wearing a black maternity sweatshirt, as it was winter. She climbed into her X-5, with slight difficulty, and went home.

Now, after dancing around the house to calming music and talking to little Daralis Isolde (which she had chosen from the names that she and Melissa had picked, meaning 'fair one') before bedtime every night, a baby shower from all of her friends, some of which she hadn't seen in years, strong kicks from her daughter and bizarre cravings, not to mention the remodeling of the guestroom Legolas had originally slept in into a nursery and the purchase of additional infant eat ware, bottles, nipples, pacifiers, clothes, toys, books to read, music to calm, Lamaze classes with Melissa and a breast pump- something she wasn't necessarily looking forward to, it was almost time.

She had almost told her pre-natal doctor, Doctor Christensen, at her 36 week checkup, about the paternal lineage of her unborn child, but was cut short by the news that she would need an internal examination to determine the baby's position, because the external palpating either wasn't proving effective or was inaccurate.

The snapping of those latex gloves had presented her with a more urgent problem.

Now, she had an appointment with Christensen in an hour, and after smoothing out her hair and applying moisturizer to her lips, she began to both dress and wait for Melissa to come drive her to the appointment, muttering aloud about the upcoming confession.

"Oh please, let him be understanding, and accepting, and helpful, and… oh, and secretive. Please, let him protect our secret, let him be... good about this. She opened her drawer, and pulled out the leather pouch. She read her letter again quickly, the words already memorized, and then closed the necklace around her neck, for assurance. She was wearing dark maternity jeans, and a white, long sleeved, collared blouse with white sneakers. It took her fifteen minutes to tie her shoes, and by the time she had gotten into Melissa's car, she had half an hour to be at the doctor's office.

After she'd helped her get in, Melissa took her purse and put it in the backseat, but as she turned back, her eye caught the necklace.

"Holy shit! Rhi, where on Earth did you get that gigantic stone on your neck?!"

Rhiannon touched it, and smiled faintly.

"Legolas left it for me."

"Wow," said Melissa breathlessly. "It's beautiful." She looked for a second, and then started the car and they were off, riding toward what Rhiannon was almost sure would be her undoing.

When they arrived, Rhiannon's stomach was turning, and even Daralis was kicking, almost hyperactively. She sat in the waiting room for a total of about three and a half minutes, before she was called in.

She ambled onto the freshly papered bed, and started rubbing slow, soft circles where she could feel Legolas' daughter kicking quickly, her mother's nervousness causing her to kick, and her kicks making her mother more nervous. She acknowledged Doctor Christensen's entrance with a slight jump, causing him to laugh his amusing laugh. It really was more of a chuckle, when she thought about it, but all the same it comforted her.

"Doctor, I have a … quick question. You do practice an edict of complete secrecy, correct?"

The doctor nodded slowly, thoughtfully.

"Well, yes, Miss Storms, we do. Is there something you wanted to tell me?"
"In a matter of speaking, yes. It's just that I… I.. well, I … was wondering if I could talk to you about a few things."

"Of course."

Rhiannon opened her mouth…

"I'm very nervous, and I have some personal questions about the feelings I'm having."

…and couldn't bring herself to say it.

After asking the doctor some generic, false questions, she slowly left the office with Melissa.

Once, again, it was Rhiannon's turn for watery eyes.

When she and Melissa returned home, they packed her a bag for the hospital while Rhiannon counted the times Daralis had kicked that day and Melissa fed Avariel. They decided to rent their favorite movies and have Melissa sleepover at Rhiannon's house, the way they used to when they were in high school.

After a trip to Blockbuster and the grocery store for snacks, they retired to Rhiannon's house and the big screen downstairs for their film fest. They started off with some Johnny Depp, and ended four hours later with season one of Sex and the City. Melissa yawned and stretched, but Rhiannon was wide-awake, so she told Melissa to go and get into her bed. She went into her kitchen, grabbed two pickles, a dish of peanut butter, potato chips and a cup of ice cream and went back to the couch and began watching Welcome to the Dollhouse, snuggled into two blankets and about seven pillows, Avariel on her legs because with the baby, there was no more room left on her torso.

After Rhiannon finished her "snack", she looked at the clock above the television. It was eleven at night, and though she was on maternity leave from the firm, she had wanted to get up in the morning and spend the entire day setting everything in order so that she would be worry-free in the hospital, so she paused the movie, got up, set the clock/radio in her kitchen to ring at seven-thirty, and again nested into the covers, coveting her pet and absentmindedly plucking at the Mithril chain around her neck.

Five hours later, she woke suddenly when a sharp pain shot up her spine, went through her brain and dashed down her front. It had lasted for about 15 seconds. She moaned loudly, and heard a rustle from upstairs. Then everything went silent again, which lasted for about 15 minutes. She was just sinking back into a worried slumber, when again, something happened. She felt her stomach get harder and another pain came through her, but only in the front this time. It felt like little Daralis was doing jumping jacks. She wailed this time and screwed up her face, meanwhile hearing feet touch the floor in her bedroom, which was directly above her head. Avariel slinked from the couch after the emission, whilst a flash of blonde streaked down the stairs and when she opened her eyes again, Melissa's were staring right back at her, not two inches from her face. She shrieked, but Melissa allowed her no time to castigate.

"What's wrong?" She asked frantically. Rhiannon opened her mouth, but was hit by another contraction.

"I- oh God… I think I'm having contractions!" Melissa's mouth quickly went into an O.

"I should call the ambulance… Here, watch TV or something, and I'll get you some water." Melissa clicked on the TV and changed the setting to its satellite feed, and Rhiannon clicked around, until she came to the twenty-four hour news station. The screen showed an overhead view of the freeway, which was broken and closed off both ways. Rhiannon turned up the volume.

"Mere hours ago, a crane working on the recently-decided modifications to the freeway veered out of control and struck both the north and south bound lanes on an overhead bridge, breaking the cement in a freak accident, and consequently closing the freeway until it can be repaired. It is expected to be reopened in 48 hours, stranding most commuters for the next two days while the emergency repairs are made. Keep watching here for updates." Rhiannon called to Melissa.
"Missy! Did you hear that on the news? The freeway is closed!"

"WHAT?!" Melissa came charging through the doorway, nostrils flaring.

"There was an accident on the - Ah!" She took a sudden intake of breath, alerting Melissa to another contraction. The worst-case scenario was before them - there was an urgent emergency, and their only way to the hospital was closed.

"Come on, then. I'll call the ambulance anyway, but you should go and get in your bed." Rhiannon took her friend's outstretched arm for support, and went upstairs, each step harder and more painful than the next.

"Missy, don't call them," She struggled out through clenched teeth.

"What in the sake of fuck are you talking about?" Melissa was looking at her as if she were insane.

"I didn't tell him... I didn't tell Doctor Christensen about Daralis... Ah! Oh, oh-oh-oh ohhhh! Melissa, I can't have her in the hospital."

When she finally, gingerly, laid down in her bed, eyes screwed tightly, she heard Melissa dash back downstairs to get her a glass of cool water, and return, and felt the cool glass on her hand as she handed it to her. Rhiannon moved to bring the glass to her lips, but dropped it onto the bed and clutched at the blankets around her. Melissa grabbed a towel from the stack she had put next to her and wiped up the water before it could soak in, still rolling over the cover like a transparent bead, glinting in the light of the lamps that were being turned on. Melissa ran into the bathroom and dunked another of the towels in cold water, and then wrung it out, and used it to wipe Rhiannon's brow, which was already dotted with beads of sweat.

"OH! Ohhhhh Goooooddddd… somebody save me," Rhiannon was groaning loudly and wincing, sucking in breath through her clenched teeth as she was hit by another contraction.

"Shh.. shshsh. You have to calm down, and do your breathing. Come on, like we did in class." Her words reminded Rhiannon of the time they had tried to bake a pie the summer after their cooking class together. Which made her head hurt.

No, that was another contraction.

Melissa was sitting at the head of the bed, with Rhiannon's head in her lap, running her fingers through her hair and blotting her face, which was quickly becoming more and more flushed, with cool water.

The sound of Rhiannon's rhythmic breathing filled the room, everything else silent until a contraction hit.

Then the wails began.

As Rhiannon returned to her breathing, a sudden thought came to Melissa.

"Rhi, listen to me." Rhiannon looked up at her friend, eyes hazy from the pain. " I'm gonna go and find a fabric tape measure, okay?"

"Why do you need a tape measure?"

"Well it's not like I can stick a ruler down there to see how dilated you are, is it?

"Oh God," Rhiannon whispered.

Another contraction hit, this one the most intense yet. Rhiannon screamed in pain, and then moved restlessly against the bed, whispering curses and moaning in agony. Melissa came fleeting back in with more towels, another glass of water, a tape measure trailing from her arms, and among other things, a cell phone to her ear and an 800 milligram pill of Motrin. She held it and the water out to Rhiannon.

"I know this won't take away the pain, but maybe it'll help? It's prescription strength. I'm on the phone with the hospital, they're going to talk me through this." She turned around, and then turned back to Rhiannon, this time her arms full of towels. "Can you roll over? Let's try to get these towels under you so when your water breaks, it doesn't get on the bed." With great effort and help from Melissa, Rhiannon rolled and scooted over, waited until the towels were in place, and moved back. "Okay, Sweetie, with the next contraction, you have to focus on where it is happening."
Rhiannon watched as Melissa spread out a towel next to the lamp on her bedside table and placed two steaming objects on it - they had just been sterilized, Rhiannon realized. There was a mucus pump, and a pacifier, followed with blankets, more towels and a small basin of water that was slightly steaming. The next contraction took away her focus on the objects, on everything, really, but she did manage to figure out where it was based before the pain shot through her body.

"Missy… They're in the front, and the small of my back."

"What are?"

"The contra-" Another one. They were becoming more frequent. "The contractions."

"Okay, she said that the contractions are in the small of her back and the- Really?! Shit. Let me measure you, then." As Melissa moved to measure her, she heard buzzing in the distance. She had to think for a minute before she realized it was the alarm in the kitchen.

"I've been like this for two hours… how dilated am I?"

Rhiannon received a look of sympathy. "You're only six centimeters."

"Oh great. Just fucking greaAAAAH! Aaah! Aaaaahhh!" Rhiannon grabbed Melissa's hands, and when she let go a minute and a half later, there were deep imprints of her fingernails left on her manicured hands.

"Missy," she began, " I can't. I cannot do this. It's too much. It's just way too fucking much." Melissa looked up from nursing her hand.
"I think the Motrin worked better than we both hoped. You're getting loopy. You can do this, and I know that you will, because you have to. Just like your driver's test, and the Bar."

"Those were a bit less painful, Melissa." She felt Melissa place a cool kiss on her forehead.

"Just a tiny bit, yes." Rhiannon closed her eyes and began doing her breathing again, her chain still around her neck. She clasped the diamond firmly, and while it cut harshly into her hand, she began concentrating.

'Just let me get through this.. if I can do this, I can do anything. Just let me get through this. Oh please, please let me get through this. I don't think I'm strong enough.'

Another contraction racked her body, this time accompanied by something else - the towels beneath her were suddenly soaked as her water broke.

"Come on, Ry, you can do this! Push! You have to push harder! Keep up your breathing!" The hospital was on speaker phone at this point, and whoever was on the other line was hearing Rhiannon's shrieks every three minutes.
Rhiannon glared furiously at her companion. Easier said than done, that was for damned sure.

Four hours into this, and finally she could feel that a shift was happening. She pushed again, as hard as she could, and Melissa shrieked. Terrified that something was wrong with her baby, Rhiannon sat up- to the best of her ability, that is- and stared, both panicked and expectantly at her friend.

"Lay back down! I can see the head! Hey, she's got a lot of hair…"

"Melissa.." Rhiannon ground out through clenched teeth, "That is not first on my agenda right now." She felt another contraction, and pushed - as hard as she could.

"Ahhhhh!! She's crowning, Ry! Like, seriously, like, two more pushes and you're done!" So Rhiannon pushed, as hard as she could again, and the most painful feeling she'd ever had, along with an incredible rush of relief, and then, the air was sweeter, her sight was clearer, and her ears filled with the sound of a ringing cry. She gasped in relief and held her hands out blindly, hair damp with sweat and plastered to her face, tears running down her cheeks.

Melissa finished cleaning the baby up and clearing up her throat and lungs a little more, and when she finished, Rhiannon got what she was reaching for. She took her daughter into her hands, and as soon as she held her, everything was different. Daralis quieted down, and Rhiannon gazed at her- Melissa was right, she did have a lot of hair. She was running her fingers through it, silky straight strands, the color of her hair, and staring at her piercing blue eyes, exact shade as her father's.

"My god, Missy! She's here!"