Rediscovering Harry
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Chapter 18 - Labor of Love
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It was now June 6th . Draco and Harry had decided to fix a special dinner for Riha and Brad. Harry strung special lights in the backyard over the picnic table and set up little paper lamps. Draco was finishing up the Spanish dinner he had prepared for them since it was what Riha had been craving. Harry led the two out to the back yard set music to play and went back in to help Draco finish up. When they returned with the food they found the two slowly dancing. It sure was a sight to see. Riha's stomach was huge and in the way but they made it work somehow. They set the food up on the tables and Draco cleared his throat.
" Your food awaits. " Draco and Harry bowed to them while they laughed.
Brad led Riha to the table and sat her down in a comfortable plush chair they had set up for her. Banishing the benches and making it just a normal table. There was no way she would fit at the table now. They lifted the lids , poured the drinks and left the two alone.
Riha looked down at the food and noticed an envelope laying next to her plate.
" I wonder who this is from? " She said to her husband.
" I don't know, why don't you open it. It's probably from one of the guys. "
Opening the letter she glanced over the writing and smiled to her husband. The note read:
Riha,
There could never be enough Thank You's said for what you and your friends have done for our community. I had been thinking of possible ways to show our graditude to all of you but came up short on what it could possibly be. Coming to the conclusion that we would never be able to pay each of them back we were able to do this one thing. We hope you are pleased to have your husband back with you during the last part of your pregnancy. It is the least we could do. You don't have to worry about him having to leave you anytime soon. We hope you accept this token of thanks. Bless you , your family and friends. May all of you have good health , peace and happiness.
Best of Luck
Your Friend,
Alek Sellers
Minister of Magic US
OOTP-2nd Command
" Well atleast we now know , who made all of this possible. " She passed the note to her husband to read. A smile adorned his face and the two enjoyed their dinner together alone for the first time in a long time.
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" Riha is something wrong? You haven't eaten but a few bites of dinner. It's really delicious. "
" I ..I don't know. It does taste wonderful, it's just...everytime I take a bite I feel so uncomfortable. Almost sick like. My back is really hurting. My palms are a little sweaty and that never happens. "
" Do you want to go inside and lay down? "
" Yeah, that wouldn't be a bad idea. "
" Ok hon, let me help you up. "
Brad took Riha into the living room and layed her down on the sofa that Draco had expanded and left for them to lay on together. He crawled in behind her and held her close. He could feel her stomach moving but it wasn't like the baby was moving. It was more like her muscles tightening and relaxing. He let her drift off to sleep before grabbing the walkie talkie lying on the end table that they had purchased earlier to keep in contact with Draco and Harry incase they were in another part of the house.
" Dray, Harry. You there? "
" Yeah B whats up , something wrong? "
" I'm not sure, Riha isn't well so we are laying downstairs, she has fallen asleep but make sure her bags are out. We may have to take her in to be checked out. "
" Alright. Will do. Let us know if anything changes, for now just rest. "
" Ok, thanks guys, really you have been so much help over the last 6 months or so I wouldn't know what either of us would of done without ya. "
Silence washed over the dark room and soon Brad drifted off to sleep with Riha in his arms. Draco called Andromeda on her cell phone to have her portkey on over to their rooms. They wanted her near incase Riha went into labor. She had been keeping an eye on her and also had been established as a Mid Wife in the muggle world. They wanted the very best of care for her especially if she was going to be at a muggle hospital. No one would be suspicious.
" Thank you for coming Andromeda, you can have the room connected to ours. No one uses it. Here is another walkie talkie that we all have been using to communicate on. "
" Thanks Harry, Draco. I would really like to check on Riha but as you said she has finally fallen asleep so I will just head to my room for now. Please alert me if anything happens. "
" Sure thing. Goodnight "
" Goodnight. " She smiled and headed to her room.
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Brad woke up sometime around 3am. Riha was constantly shifting to get comfortable but no position was working. He layed there with her in his arms for a while longer before she finally sat up.
" Bathroom. " was all she said before heading off that way. She came back a few moments later. " I swear its like I was about to burst and nothing but a small trickle. " She layed back down and not 2 minutes later she was back up again. " Bathroom" once again. This repeated for nearly 2 hours. No matter if she were comfortable or not. As long as she was sitting up it lasted longer but the minute she layed down, she was racing off to the bathroom again.
" Brad! " She half screamed half choked out.
" What is it, whats wrong? "
" Pain, I think contractions. "
" Ok we need to time them then. "
After about 15 minutes of timing them they were coming every 5 minutes. Brad quickly grabbed up the walkie talkie and yelled for Draco and Harry to get down here now!
Practically jumping the stairs both guys raced down the stairs. Their hair was wild from sleep and eyes blinking to adjust to the scene before them.
" What is it , is she ok? "
" Labor , 5 minutes apart, you get Andromeda , I'm calling Dr. Thomas. " Brad huffed out.
" Gotcha she is actually right upstairs. " Draco raced back up the stairs to get his aunt.
Harry sat on the sofa embracing his arms around Riha. Let me know when another one is coming hon, I'll help you breathe through it. She nodded. She looked so uncomfortable.
" Harry, " She bit out, not wanting to breathe she gritted her teeth and fought against the contractions.
" Honey you have to breathe. Come on. In hale through the nose, exhale through the mouth. "
" Easy for you to say. " She bit out towards him.
" Your right, and it should help ease you through the pain of the contractions. "
She glared daggers at him. Brad had pulled the car up to the front door after calling Dr. Thomas to inform him that they would be in Asap. Andromeda was just coming down the stairs.
" Hello darling, I just want to check you over quickly before we head to the hospital. "
Harry layed her gently over his lap seeing as it was about the only way they were going to get this done quickly. With a few waves of her wand she made sure the babies were ok and how far along she was.
" Ok dear, the babies are just fine, the feeling of you having to pee so much each time you lay down is due to your water leaking it hasn't actually broke but you are in labor. With what little I could tell you are only about 2 centimeters dialated. We have plenty of time to get you there , especially if you insist on fighting your contractions. Can you help her to the car Harry? "
" Sure, come on Draco, get her other side. Brad you go get the door and Andromeda could you please call Tim and Kylie to meet us at the hospital. Brad has already put the bags in the car. "
" Sure thing Harry, I'll call them on our way. "
Brad drove as quickly and safely as possible to the hospital with his wife sneering in pain in the backseat. Thankfully it was only about a 10 minute drive. They helped her out of the car while 2 nurses came out to greet them with a wheelchair for Riha. Since Brad had already called ahead , he quickly signed the paper needed to admit her and they headed up to the Maternity Ward.
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It was now June 7th , 8am in the morning and Riha was finally resting comfortable in her birthing room. Everyone sat around the enormous room that held her overly large bed, 2 sofas, a rocking chair, rocking baby cradle , tv , phone and soft cot incase anyone needed to catch a little shut eye.
An IV was in her right arm to help her labor along since she insisted on fighting her contractions. Everytime she would have one instead of breathing she would fight, holding her breath and gritting her teeth. By doing this it only prolonged her dialation and would only make her labor longer. She was in much pain and wearing herself out.
Draco and Harry had called their friends and family back home to let them know that Riha was in labor and they would let them know when the babies were born. Hermione had sent flowers with a balloon and 2 teddy bears attached up to her room along with blessings from everyone back in Scottland.
" I'm going to run over to the shop and place a note to all our customers that the place will be closed due to the babies being born. I'll be back in a few along with some much needed real coffee. " He smiled and kissed Harry goodbye and headed out the door.
Everyone sat around the room keeping their eye on Riha. Brad was by her side holding onto her hand while Tim and Kylie layed on the couch together napping so they would be rested when they were needed.
It was now around 4pm and Nurse Aker came in to check on Riha.
" How are you feeling hon? " She asked with a gentle smile.
" It hurts so bad. Is there anything you could give me? "
" Sure , but it will only work for a little while. Once the contractions get stronger it will do nothing for you. I will be back and will sit with you until we get you dialated along further to have an epidural if you wish to have one but you have to be atleast 5 centimeters and you are still stuck at 2. "
" Ok, thank you. " She huffed and layed her head back down.
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A little while later she came back with the pain medicine for Riha and placed it in her IV. Within a few minutes Riha relaxed. Nurse Aker sat by her side and coaxed her into breathing through her contractions when she was awake. The medicine had knocked her out for the most part. She would only wake up enough to mummble some gibberish before passing back out. Once she even had sat up and asked something totally off the wall no one could understand and collapsed again into sleep. Once the pain medicine had wore off she was well alert and fighting. Coaxed again into breathing just as Dr Thomas had entered to check upon her again. Since the Nurse had been by her side Andromeda was not able to check her over by magic anymore.
" Well you are almost at 5 centimeters now. Do you want the epidural Riha? "
She nodded and sighed with relief.
" Ok I will have that admistered now then. I will be back shortly to check on you again. " He patted her leg and left the room.
Twenty minutes later Dr Allen came in. He was her Anesthesiologist that would be giving her the epidural. He was a kind older gentlment who explained everything to the group. He had Brad help her to sit up and dangle her legs over the side of the bed and bend over slightly. She was readying herself for the pain she was sure to endure due to the size of the needle. The catheter didn't hurt like she had expected , once she was laying back down she could no longer feel pain. She didn't fight her contractions and was breathing normal and was dialating faster then expected.
Dr Thomas entered the room once again about 9:20pm to check on her and found that she was now about 7 centimenters.
" You have about 3 more centimeters to go and at the rate you have been going, I'm going to grab some coffee and will be back to check on you again. By that time you should be ready to deliver those babies. " He smiled at her and she smiled back. Relief washing over her. Finally she would be able to hold her precious babies.
" Thank you Dr. "
" Your welcome Riha. "
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No sooner then Dr. Thomas had made it down the hallway, Nurse Aker was racing after him.
" Dr Thomas, don't go anywhere she is at 9.5 centimeters already, you better hurry! " She turned and went back into the room with Riha and her family. She brought back with her 4 more nurses to help prep Riha for the delivery of her babies.
" The Dr will be in right after he scrubs up. Only 3 people will be allowed to stay in here with her. "
" Umm Riha, Harry and I are going to step out and let Brad , Andromeda and Kylie stay in here with you. Well we are bringing Tim as well. Good luck sweetie, I can't wait to see those precious babies. " Draco kissed her on the forehead followed by Harry and Tim.
" Goodluck " They all said as they made their way out the door.
Brad stood by her side next to Dr Allen who was making sure her epidural stayed in place and the medicine never ran out. Two nurses stood to the left of her where 2 baby beds were and the table area where they would be cleaned up and weighed. Nurse Aker stayed by her right side along with Andromeda holding onto that hand and giving her comforting words.
Dr Thomas entered the room and smiled. Are you ready for this? He asked not really expecting her to respond.
" Definately. "
" Alright then, on the count of 3 I want you to push then. 1,2,3, Push! "
Riha pushed with all her might. " Ok you can relax now, We are going to do this again ok, 1,2,3, Push. Again she pushed. As easy as that was out came the first baby.
" It's a boy. " He announced before passing the baby off to the first nurse to his Right.
" Ok rest for a moment and we are going to do this again, hopefully she will be just as easy. "
2 Minutes later Riha delivered her daughter. It was easy as pie delivering both of her babies. The labor was the hard part. 18 hours of labor and 4 pushes later both of her babies were born. The Dr was finishing up his end while the nurses were cleaning up the babies. Riha was tired, exhausted from fighting the labor and rested her eyes while they continued to work on her. Andromeda slipped out of the room to give the good news to everyone outside waiting for the news of their birth.
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A/N - Ok some of you are probably saying No way! but yes way I was taking from the experience I had when I had my daughter. Yes I fought my contractions that way, yes 18 Hours of labor and 2 pushes after she was born. Not everyone has it that easy but I figured If I could with 1 then she deserved it with 2 . Next chapter we will meet the babies ) Enjoy!