Chapter 36: The Red Star
Author's Note: Not the longest chapter I've written, but I still really love how this one came out. I hope you too enjoy it like I do. Thanks for reading, lovely reader.
Everyone's eyes widen in absolute shock as Little Red stood there with her hand laid still on her stomach and looking like she was in pain. Herobrine instantly shot up like a bullet from his throne and rushed over to Red. "Are you certain!?" He asked in a loud panicked voice. Steve and Blue glanced at each other in bewilderment before quickly rushing over to Little Red's side to help.
"UH YES, OW! Holy shit, I feel the contractions! Holy shit, holy shit! It hurts like hell! Owww!" Red cried and held onto Herobrine's shoulder as she doubled over from the pain the contractions were causing her.
Herobrine never panicked much, if ever… but at this moment he felt absolutely helpless to the situation at hand. Gazing over at Steve and Blue, he looked at them pleadingly, "What do we do!?" He somewhat overreacted as he kept looking back and forth between them and Scarlett who was breathing heavily and groaning.
If the situation weren't so serious, Blue would have laughed at the expression on Herobrine's terrified face. However, considering her little sister was in labor, she decided against making a teasing comment towards him. "We need to get her to the infirmary!" Sapphire said and watched as Steve sped to Red's other side to help her up from falling over by putting his arm under hers to keep her afoot. Herobrine did the same but on his side to keep Red standing. The two twin brothers looked worried at each other and then looked at Red as she was almost screaming out curse words.
"Right… Infirmary!" Herobrine glanced in the direction of where he knew the infirmary was. Herobrine and Steve practically lifted Red up with ease as they began dragging her in the right direction. Blue followed behind with a quicken step, a concerned look was in her eyes.
"OH GOD, PLEASE IT HURTS! M-make it stop! H-Hero…" Red sobbed as acidic tears started pricking in her eyes and running down her face as they basically carried her off.
"Stay calm, Scarlett. Everything is going to be okay. I promise. Just remain calm!" Herobrine told her urgently, though he was hardly being very calm himself. Red continued to moan and groan rather loudly as the two identical brothers kicked the infirmary's door open with Blue trailing right behind. The medical staff working in the infirmary were in for a real surprise when they saw Herobrine and Steve bringing Red over to the closest empty hospital bed and lying her down on it. Red was breathing in and out rapidly and trying everything she could to soothe herself but it hardly helped. She felt like nailing someone in the face, instead.
"OH MY GOD. I'm going to fucking kill someone! Do something!" Red shouted at the top of her lungs as she kept squirming uncomfortably on the bed. The medical team could clearly tell Red was in labor as it didn't take a rocket-scientist to notice she was pregnant.
"Baby on the way! Come on people let's do something before she blows a gasket! Come get me an IV stand, ASAP!" Sapphire yelled in annoyance. The nurses all nodded their heads and quickly went to go get an IV drip stand for Red. Herobrine stood at Red's side and took her hand into his own and attempted to calm her down, though he almost looked more panicked than she did. Red just looked terribly irate at the world.
"Calm down, Red." Herobrine repeated which only earned a deep heavy glare from Red.
"Don't fucking tell me to stay calm! IT HURTS LIKE SHIT!" Red whined angrily, which made Herobrine cringe slightly from her infuriated words. He wouldn't ever let anyone EVER talk to him like that. Unless, of course it was his pregnant fiancee that was about to go on a murderous rampage if not given the proper treatment to calm her contractions down. He actually had to watch and keep her black magic at bay, so it would not suddenly take over her during child birth. She was seriously not playing, she was one mightily pissed off pregnant woman.
The nurses almost had to hold her down as they rolled in the IV drip stand next to her bed. Taking her arm into hand, Sapphire having medical experience from being a student back in her world. She knew how to carry out a childbirth even though she had never actually done it before. She was never expecting her first delivery to actually be her little sister! "Seriously, calm down. Its going to be okay." Sapphire chided in her 'parent voice' to Scarlett as she distracted her. Blue placed a tight band securely around her arm and began looking for a visible vein to use. Pressing pressure on her skin with her fingers, she found a useable vein pretty quickly. "Now hold still. It'll be just a tiny prick." Sapphire said and took the needle and as swiftly as possible poked through her skin and to the visible vein. Scarlett was too busy griping about the heavy-set contractions, she barely noticed the the needle's small sting.
Steve not being a fan of needles, had to look away with a nauseous look as Sapphire inserted the IV into Red's arm. Herobrine continued to hold Red's hand tightly while Sapphire did her work with the IV. Taking the needle out, she had the IV tube now stuck in her arm. "Okay, IV's in. Now we need to get this girl an epidural before she loses her mind." Blue exclaimed seriously and waited for one of the nurses to bring her a catheter for Red.
Steve kept looking away, he was feeling queazy at just the thought of what Red was enduring and was certainly glad he was not her. Red looked at Blue's icy blue eyes pleadingly, "Please, hurry the hell up!" Red begged her big sister, who was trying to work as fast as possible to ease her little sister's pain.
"I'm working as fast as possible, Red. Now try and stay relaxed and don't tense up on me or it will hurt. I need to insert this catheter for your epidural, okay sweetheart? " Blue explained to Red before she began inserting the catheter inside Red. Red whimpered and tightly closed her eyes, not at all enjoying the feeling of the foreign object going where it was uncomfortable. Herobrine watched the whole process carefully, making sure that whatever Blue was doing was not harming Red. Not that he would think Blue would harm her sister purposely, but he was just so worried, he didn't know what to think. He had to trust that Sapphire knew what she was doing. She seemed like she did, which put him only slightly at ease but not by much.
"Is it safe to look back?" Steve asked in embarrassment as he blushed and shyly looked back to Sapphire. Blue rolled her eyes at Steve's squeamishness but somehow found it partly funny too. If she ever had a kid with him, how would he act? Much worse, she would imagine.
It didn't take long for the epidural to begin working as Red felt numbing course through her entire body. The contractions dimmed to the point they weren't even felt. She didn't feel anything really. Finally calming down to the point she was not cursing out everyone in her path. Red glanced at Sapphire with big worried eyes. "I'm scared, Blue."
"It'll be fine. I've never delivered a baby but I'm pretty sure I know what I'm doing. Just try to relax, okay? I'll take care of you. I promise."
Red nodded, though she was slightly out of it because of the epidural drugging her out. Herobrine squeezed her hand and leaned in and kissed her forehead. "We'll get through this, love." Herobrine whispered to her with a small smile. Now running his hand through her red hair. He raked his hand through her hair to soothe her. Red's light brown eyes were half-lidded as she laid her head back into his gentle touch. It was defiantly soothing.
"So what's next?" Steve asks sheepishly as he looks from Red and his brother then over to Sapphire questionably. Blue smiles and tilts her head as she looks over to naive Steve.
"Take a guess." Blue chuckled as he flushed and rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.
"My child will be delivered." Herobrine speaks up proudly as he looks over to Steve with a much calmer aura then before. Steve looks at his older brother and smiles nervously at him.
"Y-yeah, I knew that." He laughed shyly and rubbed the nape of his neck some more. "So how long does this take, exactly? Sorry… I'm not really too knowledgable in this… thing." Steve said as he glanced at Red and then over to Blue with a faint smile.
"It shouldn't take too long. Once Scarlett is fully dilated we can progress to the pushing part. She's not quite there but we're almost. It could take minutes or an hour. Though, I can see it probably won't be that long. She's nearly there." Blue exclaimed and smiled down warmly at her drowsy looking sister who was looking at everyone with a small lazy smile.
"O-oh. Okay then! Are you excited, Red?"
Red chuckled and kept leaning her head back into Herobrine's hand that was lulling her almost to sleep. "I'm beyond excited. I want my baby now." Red said and laughed airily again, the drugs obviously making her a little bit high and carefree, her speech was even slightly slurred. Herobrine smirked and laid another kiss onto Red but this time on her lips. It was a quick peck but it was still just as pleasant.
"Are you sure you don't want to name the baby after me? If its a girl we could name it uh.. Stevina or something." Steve inquired which made Herobrine glare slightly at him. Sapphire snorted and laughed alongside Red, who was also laughing… but then again, Red was currently in a state she would probably laugh at anything if put in front of her.
"No.. We're naming it what we want, Steve. Stop it." Herobrine warned with his usual 'threatening' tone of voice that he was rather accustomed to using. Steve backed off a little and rose his hands in defense.
"Hey fine… But we could always name her Sapphire."
"…. Shut up, Steve. We're not naming the baby Sapphire. We don't even know if it is a girl!" Herobrine complained defensively to his little twin brother who was beginning to annoy the living day lights out of him. Even after all of this time apart, Herobrine still found Steve agitating as hell. He hardly even had to do anything to set him off. It must have been a natural sibling rivalry thing…
"Sorry! Jeez, I'm just trying to help."
"Well, don't." Herobrine replied flatly and glared his brother. Steve sighed and rolled his azure blue eyes at Herobrine. Both brothers remained silent for awhile as Sapphire kept checking on Red to see if she was ready or not. It took about a good fifteen minutes until Blue decided it was time.
Blue snapped on a new pair of sterile gloves and put on a surgeon mask over her mouth. Herobrine tensed up as he watched Sapphire prepping herself for the baby's arrival. Steve leaned against the wall and was looking squeamish again as Blue took a chair and sat down in front of Red. "Okay, Little Red. Get ready its time to start pushing. Your baby is crowning."
Herobrine squeezed onto Red's hand tightly and kept her hand intertwined with his as Red groaned and attempted to begin pushing. She could feel the baby was coming before Sapphire even said it was time. Red's breathing paced up again as she started taking deep breathes as she pushed with all her might. "Push, Red. Keep on pushing." Blue stated as she was stationed in front of Red and ready to pull out the baby when she could. Herobrine sat up fully in his chair that he was sitting on. He stared at Red deep in the eyes as she pushed, he was leaning over her and whispering sweet-nothings in her ear to keep her as calm as possible. Red squirmed uncomfortably and grunted as she was sweating profusely as she pushed. Groaning out in the slightest of pain, she kept pushing. The pain was starting to come back, though the epidural thankfully was keeping it from being much more painful then it could've been.
"You can do it, Red! Keep pushing. Just a tiny bit further and I can grab the child." Blue firmly told Red as she began crying out whines as she pushed. Blue watched the baby carefully and with just enough work room, she was able to grab the baby and begin pulling the child out. The sound of screaming could be heard from the baby as Sapphire pulled the babe out completely. "You did it, lil' Red!" Sapphire exclaimed excitedly as she cradled the baby in her arms.
Steve had been looking away the whole time until he finally looked back through the open gaps on his fingers. Herobrine felt a feeling like no other course through him as his child was delivered successfully. Red was breathing heavily and trying her best to recollect the air she had lost from pushing the baby out of her womb. Sapphire smiled adoringly at the soft newborn in her arms before looking over at Herobrine.
"It's a boy…A beautiful baby boy." The two nurses remaining in the room handed Herobrine a pair of silver scissors for him to cut the umbilical cord from the crying and screaming babe. Steve never saw his eldest brother ever look so emotional as he shakily took the scissors in his hand and cut the cord away. Steve swore it almost looked like Herobrine was on the verge of actually crying. This was a side to Herobrine he truly never saw before. All that was in Herobrine's white glowing eyes was complete pure love as he stared at his newborn son. It was the type of love that only a Father could show. Herobrine gulped a few times and was visibly shaking ever so slightly as he watched Blue take the baby and clean him off with a clean fresh towel.
Red was staying deathly silent as she too watched Blue cleanse the baby boy from the mess, before placing him in a warm white thin blanket. Red was teary eyed as Blue walked over with the baby in hand, "Here's your son, Scarlett. He has his Father's eyes." Blue told Red with a bright blissful smile as she handed over the baby boy very carefully over into Red's arms. The baby seemed to quiet down the second he was in Red's arms. Red was now sitting up and holding her baby with tears streaming down her pale face. "My God… You're so beautiful. Hello little one… I'm your Mommy." Red said quietly to her baby and couldn't help but sniffle a few times as she stared down into his white eyes. Sapphire wasn't lying. He did have those intense but calm glowing white eyes, just like Herobrine. Scarlett could also tell he had the very beginning showings of dark red hair, just like her own but just slightly darker.
Red trembled in happiness, she couldn't stop staring down at her bundle of joy, who looked back up at her innocently. Those eyes were so much like Hero's it was almost eerie. The baby looked up at her and began talking to her with simple but adorable baby gibberish. Red smiled warmly and played with the baby's tiny hand as it reached out towards her. It was so small and delicate and completely soft. Herobrine stood up from his seat and leaned in to look at his son who had an uncanny resemblance to himself. He had to smile as he saw the faint showing of hair that was just like Scarlett's hair color. The child was simply beautiful.
"Wow, Hero. The kid looks so much like you! He's so cute!" Steve chirped and couldn't help but coddle over the babbling child from the sidelines.
Sapphire was rubbing away her own tears from her icy crystal blue eyes. There was so much raw emotion coursing through her body at that very moment. Not just did she deliver a baby for the first time in her life but she also delivered her little sister's child. She couldn't feel anything more than so proud of her sister. She was so fortunate to have such a precious healthy looking baby in her arms. It almost made her envious, but that was only a mere passing feeling. She felt much more happiness for her sister than anything.
"He's wonderful, Scarlett. I love you so much… I love him so much. I… I don't know how to express it. But I love you both dearly." Herobrine glanced down briefly with a faint troubled expression as he fought the overwhelming flood of emotions. He wasn't one to get teary eyed but he found himself constantly rubbing at his own eyes. He was crying… But how could he not? Such a thing, a miracle, was beyond him to not show emotion towards. He wasn't heartless like many claimed him to be. He still felt and could cry like any other human being. His heart swelled with a parental mirth. He was not just the King of Minecraftia this day… He was also a Father to his precious baby boy. He found having his child in front of him to see was much more rewarding than even having the throne finally at his feet.
"You guys gotta' have a name now! I'm guessing Steve's out of the picture, huh?" Steve exclaimed and looked a little dishearten that the baby would not be named after him. Red smirked over at Steve and then looked at Herobrine as she passed over the babe into his arms. Herobrine with extreme carefulness took the baby and situated the child into the right position. Herobrine couldn't stop staring down at his son while Steve was chattering away about the name. Red smiled warmly at Herobrine and her son before looking back at Steve and Sapphire with a thoughtful expression.
"Well… There is the one name I haven't been able to get out of my mind. I didn't really know what I would name a girl, anyway. But I just knew I had this one idea for a boy." Red said as she looked back over at her baby and Hero. Herobrine was absolutely transfixed with the child in his arms. The baby seemed so calm in his strong protective arms. Red could faintly hear Hero mumbling whispers to the child. He was hardly paying attention to anyone but the baby.
Red smiled and shook her head, the sight was beyond adorable. "Herobrine… What should we name him?" Red brought up as she gazed over at her King. Herobrine snapped out of his daze and looked up to look at Scarlett and everyone in the room.
"You said you had a name already. I'm content with whatever you want, Scarlett. As long as it is not Steve, I'm happy." Herobrine said and glanced at Steve with a frown. Red and Blue sniggered at Steve as he crossed his arms and pouted childishly. Everyone turned their gaze back to Red as she looked to her baby and spoke.
"Well… I know of a star that shines really bright in the night. It has a bright red color when you see it in the night sky. He reminds me of a bright brilliant red sparkling star that shines through in the darkness. I think we should name him Antares. Its the same name as the star I'm talking about." Red said with a warm smile on her red lips. Herobrine's eyes glowed slightly brighter as Red said the name. It was perfect.
"Antares? I like it, Red. Its very meaningful." Sapphire nodded in agreement with the choice of name. Steve also nodded with a sheepish smile working on his face.
"I like it too! It must be so cool to be named after a star! Though, I still think Steve is slightly better, I still like Antares." Steve nodded again and then looked over at Herobrine who was looking back down at the baby. "So… what do you think, brother? Its your kid, after all."
"It suits him perfectly. I love it." Herobrine replied and smiled down at his son, Prince Antares.
"Antares it is then. Welcome to the world, little one." Scarlett said and giggled with a blush tinted on her cheeks before then sighing in contentment. She was so elated right now. She couldn't describe her happiness and to think this all began from her playing Minecraft too much. Playing a video game got her here…. It seemed kinda silly to think about but she was glad nonetheless. She couldn't ask for more.
"Can I hold him!?" Steve begged as he went over to his brother's side. Herobrine lips twitched to a scowl as he held Antares more closely against himself as Steve neared him. Red and Blue looked at each other and burst out laughing from Herobrine's obvious over-protective nature that he was clearly showing now that he was a Father. Steve brought out his hands for Antares, "Please?"
"Let him hold Antares, Hero." Red spoke up in a chiding tone as Herobrine continued to glare Steve. Glancing over at Red, Herobrine seemed to pout himself though not as blatantly as Steve as he very begrudgingly handed Antares over to his younger twin brother.
The very second Antares was in Steve's arms, the infant looked up at Steve and whimpered before crying out in an ear-splitting loud wail. Sapphire held her hand up to her mouth and was trying so hard not to laugh at Steve's predicament. Herobrine crossed his arms and looked annoyed at Steve, as if Steve was the reason Antares was upset. "U-uh… Hush little baby… uh d-don't say a word… er… I'm not really good at this am I?" Steve tried singing his words in the medley of the famous 'Hush-Little baby' song for children, but obviously failing. Antares continued to cry loudly until Herobrine stepped over and irritably snatched Antares back from his hold. Steve laughed nervously as his brother glared him down.
Red and Blue couldn't help it, they both fell into laughter the very moment Herobrine took the baby back. Antares stopped crying in Daddy's arms, instead he went back to his happy babbling. "Not too good with kids are you, Uncle Steve?" Red teased the blushing miner who was looking as awkward as possible.
Sapphire rolled her eyes and went over to place a hand onto Steve' shoulder. "You tried." She said and then went back into a fit of giggles. Steve blushed and looked enviously at Herobrine.
"Gee, even the kid hates me."
"Oh knock it off, blockhead." Sapphire smirked in amusement as she flicked his forehead teasingly. Steve cringed as good ol' laughter rang throughout the infirmary by the two Chandler sisters. Steve pouted his lip out as he was laughed at while Herobrine never once glanced up from gazing intently at Antares with nothing but fatherly affection for the young prince.
"I love you, Antares." Herobrine murmured lovingly as Antares interlocked his pale tiny little hand with Herobrine's finger. Antares looked up at his Father, both their matching glowing white eyes never leaving each others.
It was love at first sight.