The next few months were difficult for myself and Achilles. A month after Achilles's return, I collapsed in the hallway with pains in my stomach. The physician confined me to bed until I give birth. Since then, I have been confined to our bed for nearly a month and a half. Achilles has stayed by my side, even when I have been completely unbearable and emotional. He has comforted me when I needed it and even lifted me from our bed so that I could watch the sunset from our balcony. During this time I realized how gentle he truly could be. Whenever he would touch me, it was with the slightest of touches. I could tell he was going to be a wonderful father.
Early one morning, I woke to a wet sensation and intense pain in my stomach. Not wanting to wake Achilles, I tried to wait until the pain stopped. It did for a few moments and then came back stronger than before. This happened a few more times until I cried out in pain. Achilles woke and found me holding my stomach and trying to breathe through the pain that threatened to tear me apart. He sat up immediately and put his hand on my back and the other on my stomach in a concerned manner.
"I think we need to send for your mother...the baby...is coming!" I managed to gasp between breaths.
Immediately Achilles got out of bed and sent the servant in the hall to fetch Thetis. He returned to my side and took my hand. I managed to smile at him in excitement that we were finally going to meet our child. The pain would stop for a few minutes, allowing me time to relax and prepare for the next one. Achilles held my hand and allowed me to squeeze it when I was in pain, which actually caused his hand to bruise from how hard I was holding it. The pain remained at a constant level for a while and became somewhat tolerable with Achilles distracting me from it with talking about names for our child. Thetis arrived a short time later and began directing the servants of the house to bring hot water, towels, and blankets. Everyone in the palace was buzzing about in excitement of the birth. When she came into our room, she quickly put down her things and came to my other side.
"How is the pain, my dear?" Her voice was calm and reassuring.
"It comes in constant waves now, with each one getting a little stronger than the last."
"Good then. That means the child should come fairly soon. You do not worry about a thing because I am here and in control of everything. You just worry about birthing this beautiful grandchild of mine." She smiled at me.
I smiled back. "Will the child be here before nightfall?"
"Perhaps. It just depends on how fast the babe wants to come out."
Our child did not wish to come out fast at all. Many hours later, the sun had already set and night filled the sky. I had begun to push around sunset and now I found my strength was growing thin. With every push I felt like nothing was happening. Thetis and Achilles kept encouraging me to keep going, but I was in so much pain and so exhausted that I started to cry.
"I can't do it anymore!"
Achilles brushed my hair from my forehead. "Yes you can. I know you can."
"I don't have the strength." Tears were streaming down my face as I gazed into my husband's eyes.
"You do have the strength Briseis. Remember when you fought off the Greek men in the camps? And you put up with me as your husband. You've carried our child alone for half a year and now have endured this labor. You can bring our child into the world."
Thetis sat at my feet with a towel in her hands, ready to catch our child as it came into the world. She looked at me and smiled. "Achilles is right, you do have the strength. Any woman who can win the heart of my son is strong and brave. Just one more push my dear and you will see your child."
I gathered what little strength I had left in my small body and pushed down. Without warning, I felt a tiny body leave my own. Thetis had something small, bloody, and pink in the towel. A moment later I heard the piercing scream of my child. Tears of joy rolled down my cheeks because I knew that the baby was alive and well. Achilles kissed me tenderly as Thetis sat at the end of the bed, cleaning the child off and wrapping it up in blankets. A few minutes later, she called Achilles over and handed the baby to him to bring to me. He held the tiny bundle in his arms and came back to my side with a smile spread across his face. The baby was placed in my arms and I looked into the eyes of my child for the first time.
"We have a son." Achilles beamed with pride.
Looking at my son for the first time, I saw how much he looked like Achilles. They had the same nose and ears. As I held him, my heart filled with so much love for my son. This little being in my arms was created out of the love Achilles and I had for one another. Now we were parents. I could hardly believe it. The child that had moved in every direction and kicked me all over was now in my arms. As I held him, looked at me quizzically as if to figure out who I was. I kissed his brow gently and found his skin incredibly soft and warm.
Achilles took him from my arms as Thetis helped me to change and clean up. My body was exhausted, but I longed for my child again. I looked at father and son on the other side of the room. Achilles held our son close and carefully, so not to hurt him. It was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen. As soon as I was clean and back in our bed, Achilles came over and climbed into the bed with the baby. He handed him to Thetis for a moment to hold her grandson. She smiled and looked as if she remembered when Achilles was an infant this small.
"He is a beautiful child." She handed him back to me. "The most beautiful one I've seen or helped deliver."
"He is..." I trailed off as I stared at my baby, enchanted by his innocence.
"What are you going to call him?"
"Leonidas Toby." Achilles was proud to say the name we had agreed upon.
I looked down at our son. "We'll call him Leo for short."
Thetis leaned over and kissed Leo on the forehead. "Well then, little Leo, I bless you in the name of all the gods and thank them for my most precious grandson."
Thetis left the room to allow us some time alone as a new family, but promised to stay a few nights to help me adjust to being a mother. I held Leo close and looked at him as he was sleeping. He looked as if he had been sent from Mount Olympus, an absolutely perfect being right there in my arms. Achilles kissed the crown of his head and then my cheek.
"This is the most precious gift you have ever given me." He smiled and looked back down at Leo.
"It is so different to see him and hold him now because he was inside of me. Now he's right here and I see him."
"He is absolutely perfect. You are the strongest woman I know for bringing our son into the world."
I brought his lips to my own. "I could not have done it without you by my side."
"You must be exhausted. Let me take Leo for a while and you get some rest. I'll put him in his cradle at the end of our bed so that he can sleep too."
"Thank you. Wake me if he wakes because he will probably be hungry."
"I will."
Achilles was right, I was exhausted because as I pulled the blankets around me I fell into a deep sleep. Less than three hours later, I awoke to the small wails of Leo. Achilles had just picked him up from his cradle and brought him to me. I groggily sat up and took the baby in my arms. His little body was tense from crying and I instantly began to try and soothe him. My instincts took over as I rubbed his little back gently. I pulled down my nightgown and allowed him to latch on to begin suckling. His cries quieted as he fed and became content. I watched him sleepily and wondered how I could love someone so much that I had only just met a few hours before. Then I thought back to the first few days I knew Achilles. He took me by surprise when I got to know him and it shocked me how easily I fell in love with him. Now I could not imagine my life without either my husband or my son.
Leo's eyes began to droop as he became full and I continued to soothe him. After another few minutes, he was sound asleep again. I kissed his cheek softly. Achilles took him from my arms as I pulled my nightgown back in place. He took him back to his cradle at the end of the bed, kissing his forehead before putting him back in his bed. When Achilles returned to bed, I had already curled under the blankets, so he crawled next to me and brought my body gently closer to his. Within minutes, I fell back into an exhausted sleep.
Over the next few days, I spent most of my time in our bedroom tending to Leo's needs and learning to be a good mother. Thetis taught me how to properly bathe and change him, as well as ways to soothe his crying when he did not want to feed. I found that being a mother was one of the most challenging things, yet one of the most rewarding as I looked at my baby in his cradle or in my arms. While I tended to our son, Achilles took care of matters of state and announced the birth of Leo to the household. Yet, he could not stay away for long as he often would return to our room to see his son and check on my well-being. At night, he was up as much as I was with our son and always was willing to help. This surprised me for a warrior as strong as he was, that he could care for an infant so tenderly and take care of me as I continued to regain my strength from giving birth. He would always make sure that I was resting enough, taking Leo out of his cradle for walks around the palace so that I could sleep. For that, Achilles was the most wonderful man in the world.
Leo quickly became the center of our lives and I loved him with all of my heart. Nearly a month after his birth, he smiled at me for the first time. I smiled back and him and kissed his forehead lovingly. We found out that he loved the sunset just as much as I did, so each night as the sun was going behind the horizon we went out to the balcony. As the sun would go down, Leo's eyes would begin to fall as he was going to sleep. By the time night fell, he would be fast asleep. The end of everyday was wonderful and peaceful.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. What do you think of baby Leo's name? Thank you for all the reviews again! Keep reviewing.