A/N: Sorry for the REALLY extraordinarily long delay. You know, I really didn't MEAN it when I said I wouldn't update for months and months last time...it's been a couple of weeks, but I hope you like it. A little different than the traditional…scene… Hope it's interesting.

Thanks as usual to my amazing beta who I couldn't live without—dark-hearted rose. Go read her stuff!

Thanks also to HD and Kyrie for helping me post this chapter seeing as the document manager is down!

Thanks to my favorite people: REVIEWERS! IceCrystalline, Evelyn Stone, Operatastic Supersop, KyrieofAccender, speedy56, Miss Ewelina, dark-hearted rose, and Broken-vow

Thus without further ado…

Xxx

All these glittering baubles fade in comparison to the light in your eyes…

-Madeline-

For immeasurable hours, my world was swathed completely in darkness and frigidity. After Charles had left me, my body grew still and my mind numb. I could hear, distantly, the quiet murmurings and hushed whispers of foreign voices—voices by tone which I determined expressed sorrow and grief. Yet their sorrow paled to nothing when compared to mine.

After a strained moment of sudden silence, a pinpoint of light appeared to me in the darkness. It glowed and flickered like a taunting candle and grew a bit larger as I reached out towards it. This movement caused a slight pull in my abdomen, yet I ignored it, longing to reach the distant flame. I reached again, and it grew slightly. I redoubled my efforts, and when the light had expanded to the size of my hand I began to feel slight warmth as well. As I drew closer, my eyes were forced to blink more rapidly and squint at the glowing light. I was bathed in a beautiful warmth that continued to pluck the muscles in my abdomen, not uncomfortably, rather making me laugh.

At last, when I was facing the light—it turned out not to be a candle after all; rather, it appeared a passage, beckoning me with glowing white lights and heavenly sounds and scents. In a sudden instant, I felt the most driving urge to step through, yet could not. I was frozen in this position with my heart torn...until a silhouette began to take form as well. Walking towards me was a tall, imposing figure—one who's gait and chiseled chin I would recognize anywhere.

Charles!

I opened my lips to speak, but no sound came. My darling love smiled as he finally stood before me, restored once more to masculine perfection. Gone were the wrinkles that had begun to form around his eyes and the soft streaks of gray that danced near his ears. His skin was gloriously smooth and flawlessly bronze—he was more beautiful than I had ever seen, more so even than on our wedding night.

I parted my lips again, yet he placed a gentle finger upon my mouth, and began to speak.

My darling love…

Oh! The sound of his voice—changed forever by death. How heavenly it was! With the utterance of those few syllables I was swept into waves upon waves of utmost pleasure. Harmonious chords seemed to reverberate beautifully with his every breath. So this was the sound of the angels…

-Charles-

Never doubt that there is a God. For with my death, I lived to know of Him. He is kinder than most would give Him credit for in their time of need or loss, yet He is there. He is forever merciful, for He managed in a mystic way to stall the time before mine and Madeline's mortal parting. He granted me a few drops of precious time from His holy flask, and with this I took His blessing and granted it upon my soon-to-be-born child.

-Madeline-

Charles stayed with me for a few moments—long enough to whisper promises of eternity in my ears, to run his hand through my hair. Yet the sweetest of all things must end, and when our time was due, he brought his lips to mine, and it seemed then that he breathed in my soul a bright and burning jewel of hope.

His last words were thus: "Madeline, He grants you a painless childbirth, but not a painless motherhood. Yet, should you overcome the burden, we shall be reunited in every way one day."

I watched then, suspended before the barrier of light—it was a barrier now, as Charles walked away from me, looking back all the while. His strides grew longer and as he drew away, wings began to grow upon his back. They unfolded to a magnificent size of impossible beauty, and with a parting wave, he was gone in a blinding flash of light.

When my eyes cleared, I was once more in my chambers…

I was surrounded by handmaids and servants dressed hastily in black. This allegedly joyous occasion had grown somber, and tears were still present on their cheeks when my convulsions began. As my vision promised, the carriage was painless and my nursemaid was shocked at the ease of which my first and only child passed into this world.

As I felt him leave the folds of my body, I noticed quiet murmurings and quickly exchanged glances; there was no joyful smile from the nursemaid, who looked terribly bewildered and concerned. She turned from me and whispered something I was unable to hear to a young stable boy, who immediately nodded and took off, running as if the world was to end.

Xxx

"May I hold him?" Madeline asked, concern and confusion coloring her voice, her forehead wrinkled in consternation; what could possibly be wrong that she would be denied her baby?

"Madame…" the nursemaid's hesitant reply only increased the young mother's anxiety, and she reached out her arms, insisting upon the embrace of her newborn child.

"Madame...I do not think it is wise to act until the doctor returns…"

Pain and confusion entered Madeline's gaze, and she was silent for a moment, almost too afraid to ask.

Finally, in a hushed whisper, she said, "Does my child live?" The nursemaid nodded, and the young woman drew a short breath. It could not be so terrible then, yet why…?

At this moment, there was a loud bang from the level below and quick footfalls up the steps. A graying man carrying a large black bag stepped briskly into the chamber followed by the winded boy, whose labored breathing filled the otherwise silent room.

The doctor stated efficiently, "Let me see the child."

The nursemaid handed over the bundle at once, and gazed sympathetically at Madeline, who looked for all the world quite slighted. After a long silence, the doctor sighed, and stated the circumstances to the tense audience.

"This is a rare case, Madame. Your child—it is a boy—was born with a thin membrane over the majority of the right half of his face. It is thin and porous, so he can breathe quite easily, yet I would strongly suggest you let me operate upon him as soon as possible to remove the membrane—preferably at this moment. The longer one waits in instances such as these, the more likely scars will be left as the membrane thickens. Delay will also put your child at risk for partial blindness, due to the lack of use of his eyes."

This being said, he studied the shocked mother patiently as the rest of the attendants remained silent.

"Very well then, Doctor. Yet I prefer not to watch." Madeline's voice quivered, but her gaze was steady.

"Understood, Madame."

The servants hastily drew the dark curtains around their Mistress' coverlets, and immediately returned to circle around the doctor to better observe the operation, save for a few young maids who rushed away whispering about their fears of knives and blood.

The doctor drew a scalpel from his bag and, after wiping the surface of the membrane clean, made the first incision. Bright red flowed from the cut and the newborn uttered his first cry. The doctor waited for the cries to settle, then persisted. In this fashion, he managed to sever away most the extraneous skin near the border of the malformation, though it still rested upon the infant's face. With a final cut, he ignored the infant's pained cries and peeled away the membrane.

It was then that the screams began.

Xxx

A/N: So how was the different take on his birth?! Drop me a review please—they totally make my day and inspire me to update faster!!!