Chapter XI: Worst. Timing. Ever!
A/N: Here's the first chapter of the birth arc. I've been looking forward to this for a very long time! I also had a lot of fun with the next few chapter titles. Thank yous go to alexandria-likethecityinegypt and TheReaper94 for their help. Enjoy the update! SSD
Very late evening on Day VIII into early morning of Day IX
Once it became clear that the snow blocking the cave opening, save for a little bit at the top, was there to stay, Isabel had began putting up the lanterns in a few of the niches in the cave.
All of the sudden, Isabel noticed a dull throb of pain in her back. She chalked it up to moving all the stuff around.
As time wore on, the ache became more constant and persistent.
"No. No, no, no. This isn't happening. These are just those fake ones Doctor Martell told me about," Isabel thought.
Looking down at her belly she hissed, "Listen up, young man. This is the absolute worst timing ever. You settle down, and wait until this is over. Do you hear me?"
What seemed to be a reply was another kick to her side before the next wave of pain hit.
She timed the pain. They seemed to be roughly 20 minutes apart at the moment.
There was a chance that the Games would end and maybe have the baby outside the arena.
"Yeah right," Isabel thought.
0145 Day IX, Game Center
Haymitch was the one up at this time keeping an eye on the alliance.
To say that he had been a bit distracted since finding out that he had a son was a gross understatement.
He remembered that night all too well. By some fluke, in the 57th Hunger Games, the tributes from 10 nor 12 had not died in the bloodbath.
Haymitch had been sitting at a bar in the Games Center on the fifth day of the Games. His two had just been gutted by the Career pack. And it looked like one of Tylara's wouldn't last the night. In the morning, he would be heading back to 12 with two more pine boxes.
Even though he hadn't seen Tylara in several hours, Haymitch had a pretty good idea what might be going on. It was what most Victors had to do, and what Tylara had been doing since her win during the 46th Hunger Games.
Haymitch motioned for another drink shortly before he saw her enter. Despite the deaths of his tributes he smiled a greeting.
"So you're heading back to 12," she had asked.
"Yep. No reason to stay any longer," he'd replied.
Haymitch had long since forgotten who had moved towards the other first, but one thing led to another, and they were on the way to 12's floor.
Even when he'd fallen to the haze of alcohol, he had been able to remember that night with perfect clarity.
She had not been there in the morning. That had been standard procedure, since they'd done this a prior to now. Haymitch had not thought much of it at the time.
However what he noticed was that the female mentor for 10 the next year was Reina. When he had asked how Tylara was doing, the old woman had said that she was alright, it was just Reina's turn to mentor for a bit.
Beetee also seemed to know something about Tylara's absence. But like the mentors from 10, he was keeping his mouth shut.
"Remembering things," a familiar voice asked. It was Tylara.
"Never forgot it," Haymitch replied without turning around.
Before Tylara could reply, Haymitch waved her silent. She saw that he was looking at the screen which had Isabel on the screen.
Isabel had been moving things around, along with putting up some of the lanterns she had.
She made a visible wince with her hand on her nearly 39 week belly.
"Oh shit. That's not good. Can she just cross her legs or something," Haymitch blurted, not using his head.
Tylara's first response was to slap him upside the head before snarling, "Oh yeah, like that's going to work!"
"I wasn't thinking. I know that won't work," Haymitch muttered as he rubbed the back of his head.
Tylara looked on her tablet. She had more than enough money to give Damon some stuff that would help Damon get to Isabel.
Happening concurrently with the conversation in the Game Center...
As they had got closer to the cave, Rose, Damon, and Thomas started having to trudge through snow. What should have taken maybe 30 minutes, took nearly two hours, with occasional stops for breathers.
When they came up to where the cave opening was, and saw that it was covered with snow, Rose hissed, "That's not good."
Damon dove towards the opening. He began moving away snow with his bare hands, with Thomas and Rose joining in.
When they were about to stop for the night, the Capitolian anthem played and showed the face of Achilles.
"Another Career is dead," Thomas remarked.
"The remaining ones will become more dangerous than ever," Damon growled as he went back to grabbing snow.
About an hour later, Thomas and Rose dragged Damon away to set up their camp. They'd been up most of the night. As they finished setting up the tent, the arrival of three long, thin boxes with smaller boxes on top of them came from the sky. The numbers 10, 11, and 12 were attached. Damon got to his boxes first. There was a note in the box that had thick work gloves in it.
The words on the note were simple: She's alive. Hurry.
Damon had this incredibly bad feeling as to why he was being told to hurry: Isabel was in labor.
He then saw that the other two had also gotten work gloves. In the long, thin boxes, there were shovels.
Sleep was needed. In the morning, shoveling would begin in earnest.
Isabel knew that she was in for the long haul. According to the books she'd read and what she'd been told, first labors were long.
She picked up a piece of wood she'd collected earlier in the games and began to carve a chess rook.
Isabel loved to play the gave and in the chess tournament at school she would beat all the girls and most of the boys. Erik had been one of the few who could beat her. She planned on teaching their child the game.
After another contraction, she timed it again. They were still roughly twenty minutes apart, maybe a little less. Time was something she had no shortage of here.
Damon had been forced to not take the first watch. Rose had taken it, and Thomas had fallen asleep almost immediately after getting into his sleeping bag.
He knew that sleep would not come to him easily, if at all.
Isabel was alive in that cave, the note told him as much.
Damon had a sinking feeling that she was in labor, and was likely, despite the best efforts of getting Thomas to be a member of their alliance, it would be nearly for nothing.
He'd gone into the Games with the sole intent of keeping Isabel as safe as possible. Now that there were nine tributes left, Damon remembered that the rule from the 74th Hunger Games about two tributes becoming Victors as long as they were from the same district.
He wanted James to have a shot with Isabel. He wanted to keep his promise to Erik. He wanted to see his family again. He wanted to ride his horse Hurricane again.
Damon wanted a lot of things. And he would do just about anything to get himself, Isabel, and her kid back to District 10.
A/N 2: So... what do you all think?