Three weeks later
Octavia
Abby said I could give birth at any time now, a few weeks ago I was more than ready to get this baby out of me. But now? I'm more terrified than anything.
I wondered when any time now would come, and then I was answered by a sudden cramping pain. I froze. When another cramping pain rolled through me again ten minutes later, I knew that any time was now.
Minutes later, liquid ran down my leg. The baby was coming now.
"Roan!" I yelled, holding my stomach with one hand and bracing against the wall with me other. He came rushing into the room, sword in hand. His eyes went from the puddle on the floor to my face. "Roan…get Abby. The baby…she's coming."
A half hour later, everything was ready. A clean sheet covered my bed, a bunch of pillows propping me up. Abby had removed my pants, my knees propped up, a small blanket my only source of privacy. Roan was more nervous than I was, I swear. He was pacing, pale and beads of sweat on his forehead. I was sure I was paler, and I could feel the sweat trailing down my jawline.
Bellamy and Echo hurried into the room, wide eyes.
"The baby's coming?" Echo asked breathlessly, a hand on her own baby bump. I nodded, my jaw clenched. I was afraid that if I tried to speak, I couldn't hold back the cry that was desperately trying to break loose. The contractions were closer together and more painful. Abby said it could take hours for the baby to be born. Hours.
A merciless contraction hit me. Hard. I couldn't hold back the cries of pain anymore. Bellamy reached for my hand but I shook my head. It wasn't my brother's hand I needed in this moment, it was the other mother-to-be. We had the mutual feeling to this, both with growing babies in our bellies. And if she was going to squeeze the crap out of my hand when she has her baby, then I'm going to squeeze the crap out of her hand now.
"No. I want Echo."
She looked at me, eyebrows raised in surprise. "Me?"
I nodded vigorously. "You need a front seat to this, you'll be going through this soon enough."
She visibly gulped before moving over to me, holding her hand out. I took her hand anxiously, trying my best not to crush it. There was plenty of labor left, and I needed her hand to last through the duration of it. She grimaced when I squeezed hard on a contraction.
"Sorry!" I whimpered. If I was told giving birth hurt this much I would have never had sex in the first place.
Echo just rubbed her thumb over my hand reassuringly. She turned to my brother. "When it's time for me to go through this, you'll get to take my place in the front seat, Bellamy."
Despite the pain I laughed. Bellamy's face had paled at the thought of her crushing his hand. "Are you sure? You kinda owe O for crushing your hand now."
"O is going to be too busy taking care of Hope come my turn to give birth. So I'll settle with crushing Roan and your hands instead." She gave Roan a pointed look. "Considering you're getting out of this hand crushing evening."
He shrugged helplessly, considerably paler than I was by this point. "I'm about to become a father, I know she's doing the hard work to be another but I need to pace to keep myself from fainting."
I nodded, understanding. "You need your strength to care for the baby so I can get my sleep after she's bor—ah! Roan! She's coming—she's coming," I panted. My vison blurred from the tears and I squeezed Echo's hand as hard as I could, barely hearing her gasp at the sudden pressure.
"Okay, it's time to push! Come on, you can do it!" Abby appeared.
I'm not sure whether it was minutes or hours, I was pushing and crying and crushing Bellamy and Echo's hand the whole way. "Push!" Abby yelled in slow motion.
"I see her head!" Abby announced. "Just a few more good pushes, Octavia! Just a few more!"
I sucked in a breath before pushing, not even bothering to even try to hold back a scream by this point. "One more, Octavia!"
"You can do it, O!" Bellamy this time, from his new spot on my other side. I searched for Roan, knowing I wouldn't find him. Who knew the big bad king would faint seeing childbirth?
One more push. One more…
Everything was eerily silent and in slow motion for a moment, and then…
Crying. Loud, clear, beautiful crying coming from perfectly tiny little lungs. "You have a daughter," Abby told me before walking to her set up to check her vitals and clean her. Bellamy released my hand to bend down beside Roan. Echo walked away to see the baby. To see Hope. Echo appeared back by my side a few minutes later with a squirming bundle. She handed me my daughter.
"She's perfect," Echo whispered. I smiled down at the baby. Small tufts of dark hair, dark eyes looking around, tiny little lips forming an O as she froze mid-cry.
"My little Hope," I whispered. Roan was finally up and he reached for her. She grasped onto one of his fingers.
"My little Hope."