(Magus, Frog, and Glenn pop their heads in, looking for Kit Thespian)
Glenn: Dost thou see her anywhere?
Magus: Nope, nowhere.
Crono (sighs): Good. No lousy Disclaimer.
(Kit Thespian, however, is hiding in the audience. She snickers evilly and snaps her fingers. Our formidable trio looks very funny all of sudden.)
Magus, Crono, and Glenn (singing and skipping about): Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens! Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens! Brown paper packages tied up in strings! These are a few of my favorite things!
(Kit Thespian snaps her fingers and the three come out of their state, with full knowledge of what they were doing.)
Crono: EEEEEKKK!!! How could you do that in front of all our fans?
Kit Thespian: That's for dissing the Disclaimer, the most sacred of Fan Fiction protocol. Now, Crono, you do the Disclaimer. (to Magus and Glenn) And as for you two, say you love me.
Magus and Glenn (half-heartedly): We love you, Miss Kit Thespian.
Kit Thespian: I can't hear youuuu!
Magus and Glenn (through their teeth): We love you, Miss Kit Thespian!
Kit Thespian: Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!
Crono: Kit Thespian does not own Chrono Trigger or the characters therein. And she is not making money off of this.
Author's note: Warning for those it may concern, there's a childbirth scene. But nothing bloody.
Chapter Twelve- Finally...
As the blessed event came closer, Janus knew that his exterior shell of calmness was cracking, and there was not a thing that he could do to stop it. He knew that Glenn would snicker at him behind his back (and in front of it) and both Schala and Lucca both insisted that everything would be all right.
Now, don't get him wrong. It did not appear that Janus was a nervous wreck. He did not show it as much as someone else would. The only reason that Lucca, Schala, and Glenn knew that he was nervous was because they knew him too well and that a slight nuance of change in his behavior was a sign of emotional stress. It wouldn't be much, just a jerk of the eyes, or Janus' characteristic sign of anxiety: looking down at the ground and scratching his chin. Nobody else would have known that he was worried except those closest to him. He would not express it verbally.
"Do you want to feel it move?" Lucca asked him one night when they were in bed. Janus turned his head and asked,
"Move? You can feel it move now?"
"Of course. Just place your hand here..." Lucca took Janus' hand and put it on her abdomen. She had just now begun to show her pregnancy. In that instant, Janus vowed that he would not twitch, flinch, or make any sudden movements no matter what he felt in the next moment, or he could easily hurt Lucca's feelings very badly.
The child's movements were very soft and subtle, but there all the same, like the gentle touch of a butterfly's wing. The emotion that Janus felt in that moment was quite different than he expected. He wasn't uncomfortable in the least; instead, he felt...happy, which was quite monumental for Janus. And an intense urge to tease his wife came over him and he couldn't stop himself from saying,
"Feels like a boy."
"Oh, really?" Lucca spoke, in mock-irritation.
"...Or a girl."
"Or a girl?"
"It's either a boy or a girl."
"Meaning you don't really know."
"Then tell me, genius, what you think it is."
Lucca grinned, "I think it's a boy."
"What makes you think that?"
"A mother's guess. It takes precedence over the father's guess. And you really didn't guess anyway. You said 'either a boy or a girl'. That's the obvious, not a guess."
"Well, I'll take your guess as good. But if it's a girl, I'm going to laugh."
Five months later when the time finally came for the Lucca to give birth, laughing was the furthest thing from Janus' mind. His anxiety only began when Amisan, a girl who lived near Janus and Lucca, came running to the field early that afternoon, and breathlessly exclaimed to Janus,
"Master Janus! Come quickly! Mistress Lucca is in labor!"
It didn't take him a second to start running as fast he could out of the valley. Glenn had been working nearby, and he followed hard on Janus' heels.
In the hut...
Schala had sent two girls out, one to get Janus, and one to get Mistress Gellana, the midwife. Schala herself stayed in the hut with Lucca. Lucca was lying on her side in bed, panting through a contraction, with Schala behind her rubbing her back and shoulder. Lucca was holding tight to her blanket with one hand and had her other arm wrapped around her large belly.
"Where's Janus?" she whimpered.
"He's coming, sweet sister. Don't worry. Here, hold onto me." She took one of Lucca's hands. Gellanna reached the hut before Janus. Gellanna was a kindly old woman with a good heart. The first thing she did was have Lucca lie on her back for a moment while she examined Lucca's stomach.
"The child is turned properly," she said, "how long have you been in pains?"
"About...twenty minutes," Lucca answered.
"And how many times have you had a pain?"
"...Three."
"Hmm...That is a little faster than usual, but it will still be a while before the time comes. You will want your husband in here?"
Lucca nodded. Gellana smiled and said,
"Very well. I think your husband is a little more level-headed than most men in this sort of position. It will be all right for him to be in here..."
At that moment, Janus came into the hut and went into the back room. He walked slowly the moment he came in the hut, trying to keep his image of strength. He turned to Gellanna and asked,
"Is she all right?"
"Yes, everything is all right, so far."
"Janus," Schala said, "you'll need to wash your hands."
Schala suggestion prompted Gellanna to go even further by saying that Janus would need to change out of his work clothes and get cleaned up. There needed to be no filth near the newborn child. Glenn thought that his place was to remain outside the hut, and when Janus came out the door with his clothes (he would got to Glenn's hut to change), Glenn asked him,
"How fares thy dear wife?"
"Gellanna says that things are happening in a good fashion... I must be clean before I go back in."
"Janus, methinks thou art handling this rather well."
"Thank you, Glenn, but right now I am not afraid to tell you that I am in absolute terror."
"Might I telleth thee a secret, my friend?"
"Go on."
"So am I."
It was well into the night when at last Gellanna told Lucca that she needed to push. It was actually quite obvious though, and the only reason Gellanna had actually said it was to encourage Lucca. The poor girl was being pressed beyond her limit. She clung with desperation onto Janus' hand. Janus had by nature a very fair complexion, but at this time he was as pale in his face as Lucca was red in hers.
As Janus would later find out, it normally took three hours of pushing before the child would actually come, but Lucca had been trying for at least five hours and the baby had not arrived. Lucca was starting to become delirious with agony and it seemed that she hardly heard a word spoken to her. She screamed and wailed with every pain and it seemed like the veins in her neck and face were going to burst from the pressure.
Janus asked the midwife, his voice slightly shaky, "Is it often like this, Gellanna?"
"Come here, Master Janus," Gellanna gently wrapped a hand around his arm as if to lead him away. Janus did not easily break Lucca's grip on his hand, but after several assurances from him, Schala, Gellanna, and two other women who were assisting that he was coming right back, she let go. Gellanna took Janus to the front room and said,
"There is absolutely no reason why this baby should not be born. It is turned the right way, and Lucca has been bearing down for nearly six hours now. In my experience, these sorts of things happen if the baby is perhaps a little bigger than a normal baby or such. But don't worry, there is a way around this, but I'll need your help."
"What do you want me to do?" asked Janus.
"Babies like these just need a little extra push, and I'm going to give it that. But what I need you do to, Master Janus, is to hold Lucca down. This technique is agonizing for the mother, even more so than she is suffering right now. She will scream like she hasn't screamed before, and she will writhe and twist. She could literally throw herself off the cot if you don't hold her tight enough. And speak soothingly to her, as best you can. Is that clear?"
"Yes..."
"Good. Come..."
Janus went to Lucca and had her sit up so he could get behind her and hold her. He wrapped his arms around her right above her belly, and waited for Gellanna to make her move. Schala and one of the other women took hold of Lucca's arms. He whispered into Lucca's ear,
"It will be all right, Lucca. The baby will be here in a few moments. Just hold on..."
Gellanna put her hand on Lucca's stomach and waited for the next contraction to come. When it did, Gellanna pushed her hand down. Lucca shrieked so piercingly that the entire village probably heard it. And Gellanna was not joking when she told Janus to hold Lucca down. Janus had to hold on as tight as he could to keep her from flailing.
It was worth it. A few moments later, Gellanna was holding the baby in her hands, cleaning it with a warm wet cloth after tying and cutting the cord. The child was kicking and mewling, quite strongly.
"It's a boy," Gellanna said, smiling.
Janus softly laid Lucca down on the cot. Later, Lucca would look at her husband triumphantly and say, "I told you so," concerning the face that the baby was a boy. But she was too tired right now. Keeping her eyes open and speaking softly was the best she could do.
"May I see him...?" she weakly asked.
"May you see him!" Gellanna laughed as she wrapped the child in a clean blanket, "What a silly question. Of course, you may see him!"
She placed the baby in Lucca's arms. Lucca smiled and brushed the baby's cheek with her finger. Janus was kneeling by the cot, looking down at his son. The boy's little face was bruised and red. But considering the ordeal that the little infant had just gone through, his wounds were not surprising.
Schala was wiping away tears. She said, "I'll go tell everyone. No doubt there are some people outside waiting to inquire after the baby. Glenn's probably still waiting as well." And she left the room.
Lucca looked up at her husband and said, "Do you want to hold him?"
Janus blinked and then nodded. He gently scooped up the child in his arms, with Gellanna telling him to make sure that he was supporting the baby's head with his arm. The newborn was very light and soft, and his mewling had calmed quite a bit. Now he looked very sleepy. Janus was fairly tired himself, but it was all right. He was in a slight state of shock at knowing that this was his son, his own flesh and blood, that he was holding.
"What will we name him, Janus?" Lucca asked.
"You wish me to name him?"
"Yes. He's your son."
"...I think that 'Belthasar' will do. What do you think?"
Lucca smiled, "That will do indeed."
Schala walked back into the room. She smiled when she saw that Janus was lovingly holding the baby, but she looked a little worried about something. Gellanna spoke to her,
"Well? What's going on?"
"Well, the villagers who gathered around for news are estatic, but...there's just one little thing."
"What is it?" asked Janus.
"...Glenn fainted."