Time progressed. Things grew worse, for Edmund. But for the others, life was wonderful. Except for Edmund, he always brought down the mood of a party. And to think, he used to be the very life of it. Life was best for Peter and Callida; it was obvious to anyone who saw them. With her eight and a half months pregnant, her skin possessed a lovely translucent radiance, even for her dark skin. They always seemed to be touching; his hand on hers, arms brushing against the other's when they walked, and one of her hands was always on her swelled stomach, the other palm sometimes on her lower back. And today was no different.
Callida sat down slowly on her throne, suddenly dizzy. She stayed put for a moment and took a few deep breaths. After a while, she stood and Peter took her by the arm, supporting her more than he knew.
"Are you alright?" he asked, full of concern.
"I think I just need some water. I feel fine," just as she said the words and began to walk away slowly, the floor came to her in waves. She stumbled as she realized that her water broke. "Peter," she called trying to remain calm. He walked over then recognized just what was going on.
"Oh, for the love of Aslan," he almost gasped. "Okay, don't panic lets just get you into a room and I'll have someone fetch the midwife. But whatever you do, don't panic."
"I'm not the one—panicking," she clenched her teeth as a contraction forced her to double over slightly. Peter took her arm and led her through a hallway, barking orders at his servants in the process.
"But its two weeks early," Edmund said as he met up with them on their way to a room.
"Would you like to tell it to wait, Edmund?" Callida snapped.
Finally they reached a room and she lay down on the bed. Peter grabbed both of her hands and held them close to his face as he said,
"Everything's going to be fine. Alright? Just do everything that Maia says and this will be as easy as it can be and—"
"Peter," she laughed a little bit. "I'll be fine no matter what happens, I promise. Now wait outside and relax, please. You're being ridiculous." He brushed her hair out of her eyes and kissed her forehead just as Maia entered the room. A short woman with wiry gray hair, she had delivered many children in her time. She shooed him out and shut the door in his face.
After about ten minutes of sitting outside the door, Peter finally began to relax a bit. But just as he was reaching some mood resembling calm, Callida's scream reached his ears. He jumped up and began pacing. This continued over the next five or six hours before, suddenly, it became silent. Not even Maia's voice was heard as before. Deathly silent, for almost two minutes. Those minutes felt like eternity and Peter feared the worst. He felt his pulse quicken even more. Edmund stood next to him and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Come on," Peter whispered. "Please."
All of a sudden, a shrill cry broke the air. The cry of a newborn. Peter felt relief flood him as a smile spread across his face. Maia threw open the door, chest puffed out, shoulders back, and a proud grin on her wrinkled face.
"It's a girl," she said in her husky alto. Peter all but pushed her out of his way and was almost at a jog when he reached Callida's side. She was sitting up a bit, her dark hair matted to her sweat covered face. She looked exhausted, but content. She didn't even look at Peter as he kneeled by the bed; she was far too taken in by the tiny child she held in her arms.
"Oh my God," he said quietly. "She's beautiful." As he spoke, the baby opened her eyes and looked straight at him; big blue eyes, just like his. Callida turned to face him, tears of joy in her eyes. She started laughing, unable to keep all of this happiness inside her.
"Just look at those eyes. She has your eyes."
"Your nose."
"I know," she stopped and just looked at the infant. "She's us." They both fell silent as they stared at her, the baby's big eyes looking to either of them. Peter reached out and touched her hand. She grabbed his index finger and held it tightly.
"She's strong. What are we going to name her?" Peter broke the silence.
"Maylea, after my mother," she answered.
"Oh, really? What if I wanted to name her?" he was not expecting her reply, but then again, with Callida, one never knew what to expect.
"Well," she spoke as if she were a teacher speaking to a child. "I put in nine months of my life, being sick to my stomach every morning, every night being unable to find a comfortable position to sleep in, and just now have gone through the most painful thing in the world. You, on the other hand...you put in about half and hour of sheer enjoyment. Now, when you have a baby, you can name it," she paused and changed her view from a shocked Peter to the little child. "Her name is Maylea."
As all this happened and Peter and Callida looked at Maylea, Edmund stood behind them leaning against a wall, just a spectator it seemed. But in his mind, so many thoughts threw themselves at him. She's beautiful. She's what you and Elaina could have had. Peter and Callida deserve to be happy. Does that mean you have to be miserable? No, you don't have to be miserable, not now, not at a time like this. You are miserable. You know this could have been you and Elaina. He felt overwhelmed, but somehow, a wave of calmness swept over him. He approached from behind them.
"Can I hold her?" he asked almost timidly. They looked at eachother, both somewhat surprised that he asked.
"Of course." Callida handed her over to Peter, who handed her to Edmund. She really was the most beautiful child he had ever seen; her skin just a shade or two lighter than her mother's, her eyes just so big and blue and innocent. She didn't know about the world, about suffering, about pain. He didn't want her to.
Right then and there, he decided to protect her, to be more a protector than the guards she would have, more than the entire army of Narnia, even more than her own father. This would be the child he never had. And for the first time in a long time, Edmund smiled genuinely.
A/N: i dont have much to say, excpet that i'm back and i' very happy with this chapter.