My Christmas story for 2021. A sequel to Hestia's Good News.

Notes:

(a follow-up to Hestia's Good News)

This story takes place in Pern, but it could just as easily be in Azeroth, or Erath, or maybe a world I haven't imagined yet. It doesn't matter. What matters is that it's a tale of one young couple's gift of love to a friend.

Chapter Text

It had been spring when Hestia whispered her secret to J'vor and now it was midwinter.
The weather was bitterly cold and snow had fallen heavily making it difficult to get from one place to another. Worried that she might slip on the icy ground and cause some harm to herself or the baby, J'than had insisted that Hestia stay inside.
She had complied, but as the days passed she grew increasingly frustrated with her situation. She thrived on freedom, soaring the skies on her dragon, or riding her horse across the expanse of J'than's family farm. Being confined, even with her extended family, got too much for her sometimes.
Whenever she needed peace and quiet she retreated to the part of the weyr where their dragons lived. Once she asked Opalith to take her down to the living caverns just for a change of scenery, but her dragon had refused. Nor would Sirenth oblige. Carynth, at L'san's request, had forbidden them to do so.
Hestia was standing at the entrance to the dragons' cave watching as Opalith headed to the feeding ground when J'than came up behind her. He wrapped a blanket around her, holding it in place with his arms as he pulled her close to his chest.
"This weather can't last forever, love," he said gently.
"You'll be back out there with her before you know it."
"I know. It's just…."
"You feel bigger than an egg-heavy queen? I heard you talking to Jassenthe the other day."
He bent his head to kiss her cheek.
"You're still beautiful to me. Now come inside, Jassenthe has made a fresh pot of tea."
"Mm, just what I need."
She turned, ready to accompany him back to the family quarters, but stumbled, kept upright only by his arms.
"Steady, love, are you okay?"
She looked up at him and grinned.
"I'm fine, but I think I'll need more than a cup of tea. A healer, maybe."
He looked confused for a moment, then realisation dawned.
"Now?"
"Now."
"Oh!"
He helped Hestia back to their room and called out to L'san.
"Can you fetch the healer? Hestia's having her baby."
"And J'vor," the girl said, "he should be here too."
L'san nodded and grabbed his coat before hurrying out. He returned a few minutes later with the healer Ellari. J'vor was not far behind him.
"Are you sure you want me here?" the blue rider asked as he saw all the people already there.
"Of course," Jothan said quietly from his place supporting Hestia, "where else would you be? Your place is as much here as mine is."
"This is no place for any of you men," Ellari said.
"Out, all of you."
"No," Hestia protested between contractions. "They're my family. I want them here."
Ellari frowned, but simply said, "well, so long as they keep out of the way."
She had better things to do than trying to fathom out the convoluted dynamics of this particular family who seemed to have connections to several of the major families of the northern continent.
L'san and J'vor retreated to the far side of the room, leaving J'than to support his wife while Jassenthe helped the healer.
Hestia's labour went on throughout the evening and into the night. She became exhausted and was in a lot of pain and more than once J'than suggested she could have a little fellis to ease the pain. But every time she refused.
"I can manage," she insisted as she clung to him.
"I feel so helpless," he confessed as he held her in his strong arms.
"If you were a runner I'd know what to do, but this is all a mystery to me."
"Rider," the healer admonished, "that is hardly appropriate."
"True though," Hestia said with a pained giggle.
"You're doing fine, both of you," Jassenthe said encouragingly.
"J'than, you're giving Hestia your strength, which is what she needs."
"That, and a chorus of fire lizards," L'san commented in amusement. He wasn't joking. A multi-hued row of fire lizards, perched along the hearth, with more wherever they could fit, and every last one of them humming a cheerful welcome.
It was shortly after midnight when Hestia's child finally entered the world as the Weyr was celebrating Turn's End in the living caverns below. Ellari placed the tiny blanket swaddled infant into the new mother's arms and stepped back.
Hestia turned her face up to J'than for his kiss, then with a smile beckoned to J'vor.
"Come and meet your daughter," she said softly.
Hesitantly the blue rider came to her side and knelt down to gaze enthralled at the child.
"She's really mine?" he asked wonderingly.
"Yes."
Indeed she could be nobody else's child. The fluff of hair on her head was strawberry blonde, a perfect blend of Hestia's red hair and J'vor's pale blonde, and her eyes were blue.
"Hestia, she's perfect. I don't know how I can ever thank you for such a gift."
Tears filled his eyes as they'd done the day she first gave him the news, tears of sheer joy. He leant in to kiss her cheek.
"You are the best friend ever."
It wasn't long before voices outside heralded the arrival of J'vor's weyrmate Z'kiel, and L'san's sister Crisanne with her mate, the healer Carradoc and their child Carisann, peacefully asleep in her father's arms.
"I wondered how long it would take you all to arrive," L'san said with a smile as he welcomed them.
"Sirenth and Opalith told our dragons. There's no way we wouldn't know," Crisanne replied.
After a few moments of admiring the baby, they all moved to the other room, leaving Hestia in peace to get some well-deserved rest.
J'than was the last to leave, pausing to glance back before letting the curtain fall into place.
"Are you all right, lad?"
He looked up at his friend.
"Yes… no… I don't know."
"It's not easy, is it? Knowing that her child is fathered by another man?"
"No. I thought I could handle it but…"
"I understand. It's part of being a rider. I'm married to Jassenthe, but I know I have children with other women, other riders. I've acknowledged them, I couldn't do otherwise, and she knows, but it's not something we talk about.
"Best if you do the same. She's Hestia's daughter. That makes her family. Accept her for that."
J'than nodded, a little uncertainly, then he smiled, the smile that L'san loved to see.
"Good lad, let's go and have a drink to celebrate. New life and a new turn."