The six months passed by relatively quickly, the babies growing inside of Aiyanna's belly fairly quickly. She grumbled at how they kicked her and made her constantly have to pee. As her due date got closer, she decided to stay inside of her home. Dagny appeared at her elbow one particular day. "Did you want to go for a walk? Stretch your legs for a bit?" she asked. Aiyanna shook her head, huffing.
"It's too hot outside and my feet are swollen. I feel like a whale. The baby's won't stop kicking me and I'm developing a serious addition to that syrup thing and those beef patties the shaman showed me last month. My back hurts too," she muttered. Dagny sighed. "Okay okay, I'm sorry I asked. Speaking of those cakes and patties you like, were you hungry? You tend to be more grouchy when you're hungry," said Dagny.
Aiyanna started to ask before freezing. Before Dagny could ask what was wrong, Aiyanna started swearing profusely. Dagny felt tempted to cover her ears as Aiyanna clenched her belly, having become mostly belly during the last month of pregnancy. "What's wrong Aiyanna?" she asked hesitantly. "One of the babies are coming! Gah! Get the Shaman!" she shouted. Dagny blinked, not sure how she was going to do that, but immediately teleporting to the Shaman's hut.
The Shaman looked up and smiled, saying something in a language she couldn't understand. Dagny blinked. He could see her? She quickly did her best to flail her hands in such a way that she could at least convince him to go check on Aiyanna. The Shaman blinked before rocking his hands as if rocking a baby. Dagny stopped her flailing. It was that easy? She nodded frantically, gently tugging on his arm.
Minutes later, they had sprinted into Aiyanna's room. The Shaman laid a satchel next to Native America before talking to her. Dagny fidgeted nervously. Aiyanna nodded at the Shaman before turning to Dagny. "It's going to be a long process. He says that the Earth told him it should be a three day labor period, which I'm absolutely looking forward too. You might want to get your brothers somehow," she muttered, rubbing her belly.
Dagny nodded. "O-Of course!" she muttered before teleporting quickly out of the room. She reappeared in the living room of Tino and Berwald's cottage. Berwald was writing by a candle and Tino was knitting happily by the fireplace. "Okay...They can't see or hear me...How do I get their attention?" she muttered, fidgeting nervously once again. In her fidgeting, she accidentally knocked a fireiron over. Both men looked up, frowning. "Was that you?" asked Berwald. Tino shook his head.
Dagny blinked and bit her lip. "Don't be too mad...I'm doing my best here," she muttered before she knocked over the rest of the fireplace set. Both men jumped up. "What's going on?" asked Tino, searching for his arrows. Dagny spotted her brother's stationary set and quickly scribbled a note now that he was away from the desk. "Y-Your pen is moving…" said Tino in a hushed voice. Berwald blinked and turned around, jumping back when he spotted the quill racing along the paper.
He hesitated to pull out a sword. On one hand, this could be a prank being done by Denmark, not that Berwald thought he'd be smart enough to pull it off. On the other hand, it could have been one of Norway's trolls. "What does it say?" asked Tino, interrupting Berwald's train of thought. Berwald hadn't noticed the quill stop moving and hesitantly approached it, hand on the hilt of his sword just in case something unexpected happened, well more so than what's already been done.
He picked up the document before reading it quickly and tucking it into his pocket. "We need to go," he muttered loudly, already throwing Tino his coat and putting his own on. "Where are we going?" asked Tino in confusion. He had put the coat on anyways and was already running to his boots. "The babies are being born. Dagny says it'll take three or four days. I'll send a messenger to tell Norway and Denmark that we've gone to the woods to have that camping retreat we've been talking about for some time and had already had it cleared with Leif and Aiyanna," said Berwald quickly.
"Better to go in person...They will know something's up if we send someone else in our place. I'll run and tell them. You get everything we need packed up and ready to go," said Tino, racing out of the house. Berwald quickly grabbed the overnight bag he was sharing with Tino and the bag Tino had packed with baby gifts. His hands were all sweaty as he walked out of his cottage. Tino raced back over after a few minutes. "We're good to go," he said.
Berwald nodded and they were outside Aiyanna's home within the hour. They entered to see Aiyanna walking around her small space, rubbing her back and belly. "How are you feeling? Should you really be up and walking about?" asked Tino. The Shaman raised his hand and made a calming gesture, laughing as he spoke in his native tongue. "I get stircrazy easily. Plus walking around helps distract me from the pain. Stupid contractions...The Shaman says it'll be a few more hours before baby number one comes out," she said.
They both let out a relieved sigh. "We were afraid we were going to miss it...Dagny wrote to us that you were getting close. I didn't know she could do that," said Tino. Aiyanna nodded. "She has been having the hardest time figuring out how to move things and to do so for a long period of time. I'm surprised she managed to do so long enough that she could write something to you. She must have really been fired up about the babies coming," said Aiyanna.
"Aren't you?" asked Berwald quietly, finding a spot out of the way so he could move out of the hut if she did go into labor. Aiyanna shrugged. "I've had a lot of kids, so this isn't much of a big whoop at this point. It doesn't help that I was forced into this pregnancy, so I'm not very excited about any part of it. The only thing I'm somewhat curious or interested in is the fact that it somehow got transfered to me magically. I've never heard of that happening before...not after Earth told me her children in your part of the world died," she said.
"Oh...Well at least it's not the first time. I mean it's the first time Berwald and I have ever been there for a human birth..er nation birth. Our mother was a very private person and we were old enough to kind of wander off when it was happening to give her space," said Tino, rambling nervously. Aiyanna shrugged. "It's my first time having twins...I'm not liking that they're going to be born apart. Three days of agony," she muttered.
"We'll be happy to make you comfortable in anyway we possibly do so. We brought some pillows, a blanket, some food, medicine, everything the town midwife said would help," said Tino, unloading one of the bags he had hauled to her home. Aiyanna blinked in surprise that they would do such a nice thing. Hmm. If their brothers were more like them maybe she wouldn't have been so willing to kick them out. That thought was gently interrupted by the piercing pain of a contraction.
"Gah! Okay, that one really hurt!" she said before swearing. "M-Maybe you should sit down?" asked Tino uncertainly. "Fine but I may need some help," she mumbled, holding her belly tightly. Tino and Berwald sprang to her side and helped her sit down, the Shaman working quickly to arrange the pillows to support her. "There you go. Does that feel any better?" asked Tino nicely. She nodded before yelping at another contraction. "Dagny, not now," she growled.
"What is she saying?" asked Berwald, sounding worried. "She says that I should thank you for coming-" she muttered before swearing at another contraction. "I don't think she understands that the timing isn't the best right now," she huffed. Tino and Berwald exchanged a glance when she appeared to argue with Dagny. "No..No, now isn't the time. You're just getting yourself worked up over nothing, go bother someone else," snapped Aiyanna, rubbing her aching torso.
The Shaman stood up, saying something sharply. "He said, 'The Earth says it's time.' This is when I'll have to ask you all to leave. Only the Shaman should be in here to watch that thing come out of me," said Aiyanna. Before they could say anything, she cried out in pain and batted an seemingly imaginary person out of the way. "Dagny, I don't need you distracting me. Yes the baby's coming. One of them. Just.. fine but you either stand at my head or behind the Shaman," she hissed, panting as the pain started hitting her.
The men jumped up and rushed outside of the hut, taking their overnight bag with them. Dagny stood over Aiyanna worriedly. "What do I do? Do I do anything?" she asked, sounding flustered. Aiyanna pointed at her aggressively. "You. Shut up okay? I need to concentrate if I'm having this stupid baby. Keep an eye on your brothers. I don't want them wandering around my camp," she hissed. Dagny nodded, shutting up propmtly.
"...You think she'll be okay?" asked TIno quietly, as he leaned against the hut. Bewald nodded. "She and the baby will both be okay. The baby's birth shouldn't affect her status as a personification because it isn't her flesh and blood. The baby will be okay because she wouldn't have even gotten pregnant if it wasn't meant to be. Everything will be fine," said Berwald softly to his companion.
"I hope so...I hope it's a girl. We don't have enough girls in our family...But I suppose it would be a pretty rough land for a girl to grow up in. ...Can we really leave the babies here?" asked Tino, looking a little distraught. "They're baby Vikings, as Dan would say. They'll be able to hold their own. It's their land after all. They'll have their mother to look after them and their fathers should be coming for them eventually," said Berwald, leaning back. Tino sighed and nodded, taking that as a good answer.
A few hours pulled over and Berwald looked at the sky. "July first...It's going to be a cute baby," he said as he heard crying coming from inside. Tino jumped up and pulled Berwald into the hut, finding Aiyanna holding a squirming buddle tucked inside scraps of leather. The baby stopped crying at their presense and started whimpering, seeming to shuffle closer to his surrogate mother, tears still running down its face. "Dagny says this one's name is Matthew...I believe I'll call him Kanata for the time being though…" said Aiyanna, looking pale and covered in sweat.
The Shaman fininished cleaning her up and passed her a medicine he had made earlier. Aiyanna laid the baby carefully on her chest, her belly still slightly inflated from the second baby. She slowly finished the medicine before picking the baby back up. "C-Can I hold him?" asked Tino, sitting down next to her. Aiyanna nodded and gently passed the baby into his arms. Tino gasped slightly at the violet eyes that blinked back at him. "He has Lukas's eyes and her hair color," he said softly.
Berwald sat next to him, looking a little teary eyed. "Our nephew...Hello Matthew," he said, smiling as the baby wrapped tiny fingers around his thumb. Tino smiled. "He's so tiny...I can't believe this baby will be a nation someday," he said. "Or that he's England's kid," snorted Berwald. "He has a lot of Dagny in him. Just look at how sweet he is," said Tino, passing the baby to Berwald. Berwald's cheeks turned light pink. "Okay, you're right. He's the sweetest baby I've ever seen," he said.
The baby started to whimper again before crying, hiccuping in between cries. "Aww he's hungry," said Tino as Berwald mentally panicked. "What do I do?" asked Berwald in a voice that sounded calm to everyone but Tino. Tino took the baby and passed it to Aiyanna. Aiyanna sighed and started to feed it, Tino and Berwald turning to the bag of clothing they brought. Tino pulled out a blanket he had knitted, decorated with the leaves of a popular tree at the settlement.
Tino gently bundled the baby in the blanket, thinking it would be a lot softer than the leather he had been dressed in. They all froze as they heard something rustle outside the door and struggle with it. Berwald put a hand on the hilt of a knife inside his coat. Tino stood up to hide the baby, thinking it was one of his brothers. Instead, a white muzzzle poked through the door. Aiyanna relaxed. "It's Kumajiro," she said.
Both men went back to their places on the floor, watching as the bear cub waddled across the floor and both of their laps to get a better look at the baby. "Nanuq, this is Kanata or Matthew as Dagny calls him. Dagny wishes for you to bond with him and protect him. Is that why you're here?" she asked. The bear nodded slightly before licking the baby. Matthew stopped fussing and giggled before the both of them started glowing as the bond was confirmed.
"Is it okay for us to stay with you until the second baby is born? We'd be happy to help take care of Matthew so you can rest. We'll stay out of the way," said Tino. "...Would anyone miss you?" ased Aiyanna. "We told them we would be going exploring for about a week. They won't miss us for a while," said Berwald. Aiyanna let out a sigh. "Yes...I'd actually appreciate that a lot. I'm exhausted and I don't know how I'm going to go through this twice in a week," she said.
Tino took Matthew and gently rocked him. "Get some sleep. We'll wake you if he gets hungry again. We brought everything we thought we might need to take care of the babies. You just focus on getting better," he said. Aiyanna nodded and leaned back on the pillows they brought her, falling asleep quickly. The baby suckled on a corner of the blanket, getting drool everywhere.
Matthew nuzzled Tino's chest before falling asleep, putting a thumb in its mouth. "Berwald, you got to draw this. He is the cutest thing I've ever held," gushed Tino. Berwald nodded and silently pulled out a piece of parchment and some ink, quickly doing his best to draw a portrait of the baby. When he was done, he set it aside to dry. "Should we be worried that Matthew bonded so quickly? Why would he need Kumajiro?" he asked quietly.
"He'll be here with no parents for a while. Sure he'll have Aiyanna to keep an eye on him from time to time but no blood family will be here for him. That and I think it's just Dagny's gift to him. A way for her to feel that someone's looking after them when she's gone," said Tino, just as quietly as not to wake Aiyanna or the baby. Berwald nodded and drew up a second set of drawings for himself. "What guardian do you think the second baby will have?" he asked. Tino shrugged.
"We don't even know the gender of the baby. Twins though. You can tell they're Britain's kids...his family is pretty notorious for having them run in the family. He and his brothers love to talk about how it means they're a strong people and come from good, pure, blood," said Tino. "Let's hope the babies don't inherit their ego," huffed Berwald. Tino laughed. "Well, I agree that I wish the children will take more after Dagny instead of Arthur," he said. "Or Mathais," grumbled Berwald.
"He isn't so bad...He can be nice," said Tino. Berwald just simply nodded before taking the sleeping baby, smiling at it. "At least it's not scared of me," he said. Tino smiled. "I don't see why you should be. You're his uncle," he said. A parchement landed in Tino's lap, making him blink in surprise. "...We're also it's godparents," he said. Berwald frowned. "What?" he asked, looking doubtful. Tino held up the paper. "This is Dagny's writing. That's what it says," he said.
"...Are you there?" asked Berwald softly, "Dagny, are you here with us? Can you hear us?" he asked. There was a few second delay before one of his quills made it's way across another piece of parchement, quivering. "What does it say?" asked Tino, picking it up when the quill appeared to have stopped moving. "It says, 'You're the godparents. You're the only ones I can trust with this task. I would ask Lukas but he would freak out. You two have been there for me and helped me keep my children safe. I would be honored to have you look after the two of them'," said Berwald.
Tino teared up. "We would love to Dagny...We promise we'll do what we believe to be in the babies' best interests. We'll take care of them to the best of our abilities," he said. Berwald nodded in silent agreement. They felt a warm breeze surround them as if she was hugging them both before it disappeared. "Is she still here?" asked Tino. The flap blew opened as if she was leaving. "I guess she decided to get a breath of fresh air," said Berwald.
Tino and Berwald spent all night taking turns rocking the baby when it woke. They were slightly worried that it didn't seem to cry very much, but figured that in this case it was a good thing. It was bad enough that the baby constantly woke up. The last thing they needed was it to be awake and crying at the same time. They had to wake up Aiyanna a few times to have her feed the baby. Luckily, Matthew fell asleep quickly after each feeding.
The next few days were nothing to call home about. Matthew turned out to be a surprisingly sweet and easy baby. He hardly fussed. He hardly cried. When he did cry, it was more of a whimper that was quiet cute. Aiyanna was thankful. The last thing she needed was to raise too troublemakers at the same time. If baby number one was so easy going, baby number too will probably be just as a much of a sweetie. She might actually find herself enjoying taking care of the two.
Then came the cay for the second baby to be born. Aiyanna went to bed feeling perfectly fine but woke up at the crack of dawn, curled up in pain. Her frantic breaths woke Matthew, who slept next to her for convienence of night time feedings. His cries woke up both Tino and Berwald. Berwald jumped up and ran for the Shaman while Tino allowed Aiyanna to crush his hand as he tried to mutter supportive and calming lines.
Berwald came back, practically dragging the Shaman behind in his hurry. He went wide-eyed when he spotted the shouting, crying woman. "Was it this bad last time?" he asked. Aiyanna shook her head, swearing in her native language. The Shaman frowned and ran over to her, taking a quick look before snapping something at Aiyanna. "What's going on? Is the baby alright?" asked Tino. "He said that the baby is coming out feet first. He needs me to stop pushing so he can correct it," she hissed.
"Do you need us to go? I know you made that a requirement…" said Tino, hesitating. The Shaman grabbed Berwald and handed him four tools, calling each a different name in his language, before turning to fix the way the baby was coming out. Berwald looked at Tino in surprise before the Shaman barked a name of a tool. Berwald quickly handed it to him, paling at the sight as the Shaman attempted to move the baby around.
After a few minutes, the Shaman nodded in satisfaction and pulled the child out with Aiyanna's efforts. Aiyanna sagged in relief when the child was finally birthed. "Another boy," she mused as the child was cleaned and placed into her arms. Tino bounced Matthew gently. "Is he okay?" he asked a bit frantically. Aiyanna nodded, looking a bit pale. "Yes, he's healthy...He wasn't turned around the wrong way for too long to do any damage according to Dagny and the Shaman," she said.
The baby was red with how hard he was crying and squealing. Aiyanna sighed and started feeding him, the crying instantly stopping. "Dagny said she wants to call this one Alfred...His name from my people will be Dyami. Cheveyo will look after him when Dagny and I cannot," she said, hearing a moo from outside confirm that fact. Tino smiled. "I want to see his eyes. I hope he isn't the spitting image of Arthur," he said.
Aiyanna finished feeding the baby and gently tickled it into opening its eyes. They all froze. "Dagny's eyes…" whispered Tino. Berwald smiled, setting down the tools. "Can I hold him?" he asked quietly. Aiyanna nodded and handed him the baby, freezing. "...Dagny's leaving," she said in a hushed whisper. Tino and Berwald looked confused. "What do you mean?" asked Tino.
"She just kissed both babies...and told them goodbye. She's thanked me, hugged the two of you...and disappeared," said Aiyanna in a hushed voice, looking completely thrown into a tailspin. Tino's eyes widened. "I know she had to go when the babies were born...but so soon? They were literally just born…" he said. "...It was the conditions of her staying around for this long...she'll still be able to pop in and out but not very often or very long," said Aiyanna.
"I can't believe she's just...gone," said Tino in a hushed voice. Aiyanna shrugged, wincing. "She had to go at some point, couldn't just hang around forever. It's not healthy. Besides, she couldn't have existed as long as her children did. As soon as they were born, the land she represented was to be split between them," said Aiyanna, laying down and pulling the blankets over herself.
"But...There have been ancients who were able to exist at the same time their children did. That doesn't make any sense!" said Tino, gently rocking the colicky baby to sleep. "Exactly. Ancients. Dagny was never an ancient and was never to be considered as such. She was not going to ever have that kind of influence. The most she could do was pass her legacy onto her children and hope they would preserve the memory of her. A parent could only ever be so lucky," said Aiyanna tiredly.
"She did have an influence. On all of us. How can you say she never could have been considered-" Aiyanna cut Tino off. "I'm not saying she didn't have an influence. Of course she did. She changed each and every one of us in little ways. What she didn't have was an empire. A handful of subserviant colonies or whatever you call your conquered personifications. What she did have was her family and friends. And these two boys. It's up to them to do their mother proud and prove that all of this was worth it," she said.
Sorry for not updating last week. It kinda slipped my mind. Reviews are appreciated!