disclaimer: I own nothing
Author's Note: Not connected to any of my other stories. Wrote this almost two years ago, thought I'd post it for Mother's Day. No beta. Enjoy.
Newt Scamander was asking a lot of his wife and he knew that he had asked a lot of her over the course of their marriage. Most of it involved a suitcase. Newt was certain (though he didn't have much experience in the matter) that most women would not have tolerated it as much as Tina had.
There had been holidays spent traipsing through the wilderness of Europe where said suitcase had been the only place within a hundred miles they could spend the night. They had lived out of it often enough over the years and Tina had never complained.
There was the incident(s) in New York that Newt wasn't entirely sure counted, seeing as they hadn't been married at the time. But none of it had scared Tina off.
There were still times when creatures managed to escape from it. She might sigh wearily when that happened, but she helped him catch the escapees. Not many women would have tolerated years of that, Newt was certain of that.
Living out of it during the holidays was worth another mention, considering that in the past few years they had added two small children to the mix. Tina had never argued or seem to have a problem raising their children out of a piece of luggage for poritions of the year.
Then there was the late nights where he would disappear from bed to go down in it for hours at time (sometimes leaving Tina to tend a baby he'd agreed to get up with). There was the incident in which a baby dragon had been involved, the weekend where the ground he'd set the case down on had flooded and it had floated away (with them inside), babies almost falling down the stairs/ladder, and Norway (which they'd agreed to never speak of), to only mention a few.
All in all, Newt knew he had asked a lot of his wife regarding the case alone, but asking her to give birth in it topped them all.
Not that he had asked her to do so, but things had a funny way of happening at the worse possible time. Currently, Tina was pacing with her hands pressed into the small of her back, sweat lightly sheening her skin. She blew out a breath, turning on her heel to walk back towards Newt.
"Are you doing all right, love?" Newt asked, trying to be there and not hover. He was failing at that, but Tina didn't seem to mind.
"Let's take one last holiday before the baby comes, he said. It'll be fine, he said. Nothing's going to happen." Tina said, pausing in her pacing to give him a slightly twisted smile.
Newt smiled in return.
"I believe it was you that said that last one, not me."
"Well, the baby wasn't supposed to come for another two weeks." Tina said, resuming her pacing.
She paused a moment later with a low groan, one hand leaving her back to go to her swollen belly as she doubled over slightly. Newt went to her and placed a hand on her back. He waited until the contraction had passed to speak.
"How bad was that one?"
"Worse than the last. But not as bad as they're going to get." Tina answered. Newt knew that was true and that there wasn't really anything that he could do to help her. Witches couldn't safely consume most pain-blocking potions while pregnant and giving birth. He rubbed Tina's back gently as she straightened up again while letting out a deep, slow breath. She moaned a little.
"It hurts." she panted.
"I know. I know it does. But you're doing beautifully, Tina."
Newt rubbed her back gently a few moments longer before she started to walk again. He followed her, noticing that a lot of the creatures were paying attention to what they were doing. Newt waved them away. While he loved his creatures, he felt like this was something that he and Tina needed to keep between them. It was one thing to ask a woman to give birth in a magical suitcase. It was another to ask her to do it with an audience of creatures watching everything she was doing.
"Do you want to sit down and rest for a few minutes?" Newt asked Tina now.
"No. No, walking helps."
Newt didn't argue. He had seen enough creatures give birth that he knew not to argue or interfere unless he had to. And plenty of them had paced around too. If Tina had had a tail, it would have been lashing right now. Tina leaned against him when the next contraction hit, burying her face in his neck and moaning.
"Breathe, Tina. Just breathe through it, love." Newt said, stroking back her hair and gently kissing her head. Her abdomen was pressed against his and Newt could feel that the muscles there were as tight as iron bands as Tina's body struggled to bring their child into the world.
"I know what to do. I have done this before." Tina replied when the contraction seemed to have passed. She leaned against him for another moment and Newt held her, enjoying the connection, even though she was in more pain than he could probably imagine. He had been in a lot of pain throughout his life, but he doubted any man could say they knew the pain of birthing a child.
"Mummy? Daddy?" a little voice said, making both Newt and Tina turn. A small, auburn head had risen from a cot nearby and was staring sleepily at them. Their oldest child, almost-four-year-old Liviya, was staring at them in confusion. Newt had known that this would happen sooner or later. There was no way that Tina would have gotten through giving birth without waking at least one of the children. He glanced at Tina and went to Liviya, squatting in front of her as she blinked sleep from her eyes.
"Do you need something, sweetheart?" he asked.
Liviya stared at Newt with wide brown eyes for a moment then looked at Tina, who was had resumed pacing.
"What's wrong with Mummy?"
"You know how we've talked about the baby, Livi?" Newt asked. She nodded. "And how the baby is going to come out of Mummy?" Liviya nodded again. "Well, that's happening right now." Liviya stared.
"Right now?"
"Yes."
"Can I see?"
Behind Newt, he heard Tina let out a loud breath. "Mercy Lewis." she said, loud enough for him to hear. Newt chuckled at the question and gently smoothed Liviya's hair.
"No. I think that would make Mummy very uncomfortable. But, for right now, I need you to be a good girl and go back to sleep, all right? It's past your bedtime."
"Can I have a story?"
Newt glanced at Tina at the question. He wasn't sure about leaving his wife to tell their daughter a story. Tina waved him away with an almost impatient flip of the wrist.
"I'm not going anywhere. And the baby certainly isn't any time soon." she said, pacing with her hands pressed against her back. Sweat was sheening her face and although Newt was reluctant to leave her, he knew that there was no way Liviya was going to quietly go back to sleep when she could get something out of it. Despite her auburn hair, Liviya was very much like Tina and had inherited her mother's stubbornness.
"A quick one. Then you need to go back to sleep. Your mum's very busy right now and I need to help her." Newt said, turning back to Livya. She snuggled back down under the colorful blanket she had brought from home. Newt sat on the floor beside her and tried to think of a story that would be quick but still satisfy the toddler.
"Once upon a time-" he was almost immediately interrupted by Liviya, who was getting wider awake instead of being tired.
"Can Joseph hear too?" Newt glanced at the sleeping two year old. Only his dark hair was visible above the blanket. "No."
It took nearly twenty minutes for Liviya to fall back asleep and once she had, Newt placed a charm around both children to cocoon them in silence. He went back to Tina once he had. She was breathing hard, still pacing. Newt paced with her, apologizing for how long it had taken him to come back to her. Another contraction hit Tina before she could answer. Newt wrappd his arm around her waist, supporting her as she bent in pain, digging her fingernails into his other arm deep enough to hurt. Newt grimaced, but he would have rather let her break his arm than tell her that she was hurting him. In Newt's opinion, it was the least he deserved, considering it was at least partially his fault that she was going through this in the first place. Tina finally released his arm.
"Sorry." she gasped.
"I think I should be the one apologizing." Newt said, glancing down at his arm, where the impressions her nails had made stood out, red and deep. "I'm the one that did this to you."
This made Tina laugh so hard that she had to lean against him again for support. Newt smiled, though he was a little surprised that she could laugh when she was in so much pain.
"Oh." Tina wiped her eyes when she straightened, still chuckling a little. "Newt, I don't think you could have done this to me without me being willing. We did this together. I'm just the one that has to suffer for it."
"Is it?"
"Is it what?"
"Suffering."
"Oh. Well, the pain . . . . . that isn't exactly fun. But it's worth it."
"You weren't saying that with Livi." Newt said with a smile. Tina whacked his arm as they started to walk around again, though her pace was slower than it had been before. Newt kept a hand on her arm, though she didn't really need steadying. The Erumpet eyed them for her habitat, snorting before turning her rump to them and settling down. That was one creature that could care less abut what was going on.
"It was my first time. I didn't know how to give birth. And you weren't helping much, telling me about what creatures you'd seen -and helped- birthing. Not to mention that daughter of yours was a fairly sizeble baby. Ten pounds! Imagine that, your first time trying to shove another human being out of your body."
Tina was smiling as she spoke. Newt knew she had never been bitter about that or anything similar, though he remembered the look on her face when they had been told how large their daughter probably was before she was born. Tina had had a moment of panic during that birth, afraid that her pelvis wouldn't be large enough for such a big baby. They had come such a long way since then.
"You made certain I knew at the time."
Tina started laughing again, but was caught by another contraction in the middle of it, strangling the sound. She braced herself against Newt, digging her fingernails into his arm again. Newt didn't tell her to breathe this time, but did it with her, trying to help. He wasn't certain it did. When this contraction too had passed, he stroked her dampening hair away from her face.
"How bad was that one?" he asked, his hand lingering by her face so that his thumb could idlely stroke her cheekbone. "Worst one yet." He had assumed as much, from the pressure she had applied, but it was always good to ask.
"I think they're starting to get closer together." he told her.
"Just what I need." Tina said between slightly gritted teeth, pushing away from him.
"It is what you need." Newt pointed out, sometimes still not knowing when he should simply stop talking. Especially when his wife was in labor. Tina gave him a look that would have burned him if it had been possible. "You think I don't know that?"
Before either of them could speak, Tina gasped and let out a groan that was half relief, half pain. Newt heard liquid hit the floor and looked down. The wooden floor was splattered with clear fluid. Tina's water had broken. Tina was cradling her belly, shaking her head a little.
"Did that hurt you?" Newt asked, though he knew it was completely natural and a part of the birthing process.
"My back feels better." Tina said, which explained the sigh of relief.
"I should check you." Newt said, feeling heat rise high in his cheeks. Even though he and Tina had been married for several years, had two children and were very close to adding a third, the idea of that almost flustered him. It seemed like a very intimate thing to do. Of course, he was about to deliver their baby. That was about as intimate as it got, other than making it. Tina nodded, hand pressed into the small of her back, taking short breathes. "Okay."
Newt led her to the bed they used when they lived out of the case and had her lay down as he cleaned his hands. Luckily, Tina was wearing a skirt, so that made this easier. Newt grimaced slightly as he checked. Tina let out a breath that suggested some discomfort even though he knew how to do this. On beasts, in any case.
"All right." Newt said, leaning back and cleaning his hand again. Tina struggled a little to sit up. "Not yet, but you're getting closer. I think you're about half way there."
"Only half?" Tina laughed a little, remaining on the edge of the bed and cradling her belly. "That's just great."
"Liviya took nearly fourteen hours." Newt pointed out. Tina groaned and reached out a hand. Newt took it and gently pulled her to her feet. "Don't remind me."
Newt nearly grimaced at this, though he was tempted to point out that this baby didn't seem like it was going to be as big as Liviya, which was probably one of the reasons their daughter had taken so long.
"And you're on number three." Newt continued as Tina started to pace again, following her dutifully. "That should make it quicker."
Tina gave him a look he had become familiar with during the last three pregnancies. While Newt might not have been an expert on human pregnancies and such, he was on creatures, and he constantly informed his wife of fact that she probably didn't want to know. And comparing her to such creatures was not always greatly appreciated. This time he kept his mouth shut and paced with Tina. She seemed to be getting a little agitated. Newt tried to think of the best way to calm her down. Getting tense wasn't going to do anything in the way of helping her.
"Which do you think it is?" he asked her as they paused by the shed, Tina pressing her hand against the wall as another contraction hit her. She dug the fingers of her free hand into Newt's arm hard enough to break the skin in one case. He ignored this.
"What?" Tina groaned.
"Which do you think it is?" Newt repeated. "Boy or girl?"
"We're about to find out. Does it really matter? Especially when we already played this game?" Tina ground out between clenched teeth. Sweat ran down her face and dripped.
"You were right with Joseph." Newt pointed out. He was mostly trying to distract her and this was the first thing he could think of.
"And wrong with Liviya. So my judgement is just guessing." Tina released a breath and took another as the contraction released her. Newt rubbed her back again and supported her for a moment as she shifted her weight before starting to walk again.
"Tina."
"Girl. Feels like a girl. Like Livi."
Newt smiled and pressed a kiss to Tina's brow. He'd known this, of course, but he could feel her relaxing a little as she spoke. That was what he'd wanted. "Would you like to argue about names some more?" he asked.
"No."
Fair enough. They walked around the case some more. Pickett was sulking by the shed, refusing to go to the bowtruckle tree. Newt had forbidden the bowtruckle from being involved in the birth and Pickett was taking his temporary ejection from his favorite spot rather hard. Newt gave the bowtruckle a smile. Pickett went into the shed. It was about ten minutes before Tina spoke again.
"It doesn't feel right." she murmured, a hand on her belly. Newt's heart lurched.
"What doesn't feel right?" he asked, stopping and standing so that they were looking at each other in the eye.
"I . . . . I don't know. But it doesn't feel like it did before. Not bad or painful, but . . . ." Tina looked up at him.
"Different." Newt finished. Tina nodded. Newt led her back over to the bed and gave her a very thorough exam. He bit his lip as he felt her belly. It was hard to tell with her muscles so tight and he rested his ear against her belly for a moment, trying to locate the baby's heartbeat. He was scaring Tina by not speaking, Newt knew, but he worked better not speaking as his thoughts went through their process.
"What is it?" Tina asked, breaking off and twisting her hands into the sheets as another contraction hit her. She let out a guttural moan, her knuckles white. Newt squeezed her knee gently as she rode it out.
"I think the baby is breech." Newt told her. Tina stared.
"Breech?"
"I think so." Newt ran a hand over his face into his hair. Tina struggled up.
"How bad is that?" she asked, a hand protectively on her belly.
"Well . . . . . it will make the birth more painful. More difficult. And there can be complications on the baby's end. But I can . . . . ." Newt trailed off and bit his lip again.
"You can what?" Tina asked, a hint of a gasp to her voice.
"I can try and turn it. But that carries its own risk."
"How?"
"It could hurt you immensely. Or the baby. Or . . . . or kill the baby, if I do it wrong."
"Have you done it before?"
"Yes. Three times." Newt sat back on his heels, taking his wife's hand in his and squeezing it. "With a graphorn, a unicorn, and crup."
"Did it work on them?"
"Yes."
Newt could see that Tina's mind was working fast. He knew that she wasn't considering it for her sake-Tina would bear any pain in the world for one of their children. But complications that could harm the baby was something that would make her consider it. She let out a breath.
"Do it."
Newt rolled up his sleeves and positioned himself properly, resting his hands in the correct position on Tina's belly.
"This is going to hurt." he warned. Tina nodded, gripping the sheets. Newt, though having done this before, felt a burst of anxiety. The graphorn had been difficult because of its size and he had managed that. But this was his wife. Their child. He loved his creatures and he had been afraid of harming them when he'd turned their babies. He was terrified he would hurt Tina and their baby. He took a breath and started, doing it as gently as he possible could. But gentleness could only go so far with something like this. Tina cried out in pain, jerking. Newt focused on what he was doing, anxiety ebbing away. He knew what he was doing. Tina's teeth suddenly sank into his shoulder. Newt didn't flinch or move until he was done, sitting back. Tina fell back, panting.
"I didn't mean to hurt you, Tina." Newt said.
"You did what you had to do." Tina stayed down, a hand on her belly. "I didn't mean to hurt you either."
Newt smiled, rubbing his shoulder where she'd bitten him. His shirt was damp with his own sweat, but he didn't think she'd broken the skin.
"I think I deserved it."
"You were doing what you had to do. Did it work?"
"Yes. The head should engage properly now." Tina sighed and shifted to the edge of the bed. Her face had more sweat on it now and Newt knew he'd hurt her. But she pulled the collar of his shirt aside to see his shoulder, caring more about his pain than her own. She grimaced.
"Don't worry. It's not the first time a creature in pain has bitten me."
Tina's eyes flashed a little, though Newt couldn't tell if it was in humor or anger.
"What did you just call me?" she asked.
Newt stuttered here and tried to conjure up a sentence because he hadn't meant it as insult, then he realized that Tina wasn't angry. There was curiosity in her eyes, a hint of an amused smile to the curve of her lips. She was enjoying seeing him squirm. Instead of offering an explanation, Newt reached out and caressed her face, brushing a stray wisp of hair behind her ear. Tina's smile turned into a grimace and her breathing was fast as the contraction hit her.
"Slow down, Tina." Newt said gently, taking her hand.
"Don't tell me what to do." she hissed out between her teeth. Newt smiled in amusement at this.
"Sorry." Tina said when the pain had passed again. Newt helped her stand and she cradled her belly from beneath for a moment.
"Don't apologize, love." Newt said as they started to walk yet again. "Does it feel normal now?"
"Yes."
"Good."
The next few hours went by with a mixture of pacing, checking Tina's progress, and, at one point, leaving her to feed some of the creatures. Since it was still night, Liviya and Joseph slept through it, which Newt was grateful for. Tina eventually stopped pacing, when the contractions were very close together. She lay on the bed and Newt checked her.
"I don't see the baby yet." he reported as Tina hissed through another contraction. "I'm going to feel again, all right?"
"Just do it!"
Newt smiled at the snap and did as he was told. It didn't take much for him to determine the situation.
"You're fully dilated, Tina. Start pushing with the next contraction."
Tina cried out and Newt offered her his hand, staying where he was so he could catch the baby when it came. Tina took it, squeezing it tightly. Newt winced. He had been through this twice before with Tina and had experienced quite a bit of pain with his creatures, but this was different. His wife had a grip.
It still took a while for the baby to come and Newt's hand was nearly throbbing by that time. His shirt was soaked with sweat, though he wasn't the one doing the work. He looked again.
"I can see the baby's head, Tina." he reported excitedly. "They have hair." For some reason, this fact delighted Newt and he looked up at her, smiling broadly. Tina laughed slightly at his enthusiasm, choking on the sound through the pain.
"Really?"
"Really. I think it's dark -it's wet. Push with the next contraction."
Tina released his hand and Newt shifted to help ease their baby into the world. The head came as Tina cried out. Not in pain, not anymore. With the effort of a battle almost won.
"Head's out, love. Another push when you're ready."
Newt eased the shoulders out and the rest came fast, eased by the blood and fluid of birth. Newt started laughing as their baby slid into his hands on Tina's cry. The baby's cry twined with her mother's. Newt started laughing.
"She's here, Tina. She's here. She's beautiful. Beautiful." he said, smiling as their daughter squirmed in his hands, crying again. It was an insulted sound, as if the baby was disgruntled by being forced out into the world instead of remaining in Tina.
"She?" Tina pushed herself up as Newt lifted the baby for her to see. Laughing, tears in her eyes, Tina held out her arms. Newt lay the baby in them and moved up to her, stroking back her hair and kissing her brow, tears of his own in his eyes as Tina whispered to the baby.
"Well done, Tina. Well done. She's perfect." Newt said, kissing her again and placing a hand on the baby. She would need to be cleaned and there was the issue of the cord and placenta, but they had this moment. Tina rested her head against Newt's neck, not taking her eyes off their daughter.
"Thank you, Newt."
"Tina, you don't have to thank me. You're the one that did the work. I just helped."
Newt moved back to the end of the bed a minute or two later, tying and cutting the cord. He delivered the placenta and wrapped it in paper to dispose of later. He pulled his wand out to clean up the mess and warm the water so clean the baby. He weighed and measured her, jotting down the relevant information for when they were able to get to a hospital. Once he had, he gave their daughter back to Tina and sat beside her on the bed, helping her unbutton her shirt. She rested the baby on her still hot chest and held her close. Newt took their daughter's hand and rubbed the back with his thumb.
"I think she's going to have your eyes." Newt told Tina.
Tina laughed at this.
"How can you tell? Her eyes are blue, like all babies'."
"Look at the shape of them." Newt said, tracing one of their daughter's eyes lightly with the tip of his finger, then her fine eyebrow. "And her eyebrows. Just like yours." he smiled up at Tina, meeting her gaze. "I'll be very disappointed if you didn't give our daughter your eyes, Mrs. Scamander."
Tina laughed tiredly and with a sweet smile at the teasing words. She nuzzled the baby's head gently, whispering something he couldn't hear. Newt smiled and kissed the back of their daughter's hand, thinking of something important.
"What shall we call her?" he asked Tina, looking at his wife. The sight of his wife holding their newborn daughter to her chest as the baby started to feed warmed his heart and caused a lump of emotion to form in Newt's chest.
"I don't know. We had a few options." Tina murmured, stroking the baby's wispy hair. As it was drying, it was proving to be lighter than Tina's but darker than Newt's.
"What do you think, now that you've met her?" Newt prompted. They had decided to keep in with the theme of Liviya and Joseph's names, but there were still options. Tina was silent for a few moments.
"I like Yael." she murmured, looking up at him, her brown eyes shining. Newt smiled and placed his hand over hers on their daughter's back. "Then Yael she is."
"Yael." Tina repeated to the baby, looking back down at her. "Yael Scamander. Do you like that, sweetheart?"
Yael, of course, couldn't answer her mother, but she made a small sound at the sound of Tina's voice. Tina laughed, smiling. Newt kissed Tina's head again, then bent and kissed Yael's head. They spent some time like this, just quiet marveling at their daughter. Newt stirred after a while.
"Would you like something to drink?" he asked Tina.
"That would be nice."
"Are you hungry?"
"Not yet."
Newt was able to make tea and sit back down with Tina and Yael before Liviya and Joseph woke up. Liviya clearly remembered the conversation Newt had had with her a few hours ago, because she looked right at them as soon as she woke up.
"The baby!" she squealed, sliding out of bed and running towards them. Her voice woke Joseph up-Newt had removed the spell surrounding the children-and he followed his sister. Newt laughed as both toddlers jumped up on to the bed.
"Careful." Newt warned the children.
"What is it?" Liviya asked, peering at Yael. Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. "It's ugly!"
Tina started laughing out of shock and Newt chuckled at their daughter's reaction.
"She's not ugly, Liviya." Tina said, reaching out and gently stroking Liviya's hair. "All babies look like that when they're born. You did too."
Liviya seemed shocked by this concept. Newt smiled and pulled their daughter into his lap. Joseph was pressed against Tina's side, staring at Yael with round eyes.
"What is it?" Liviya demanded again.
"This is your new sister." Newt had to pause as Liviya squealed with excitement, bouncing a little. "Yael."
"Yael." Joseph piped up, echoing the name. He looked up at Tina, smiling. "Like her."
Newt started laughing a little at the two-year old's declaration. He reached out and gently tousled his son's hair.
"That's a good thing, Joseph." Tina said, kissing Joseph's head gently. Joseph giggled and reached out, touching Yael's hand with hesitant curiosity. Yael's hand moved and Joseph squealed, pulling his back with a giggle. Newt smiled at this.
"What about you, Liviya?" he asked, bouncing her gently. "Do you like your sister?"
"I like that she's a sister!" Liviya said, grinning. Newt chuckled. That would be good enough for now.
"Can we show her creatures?" Jospeh asked.
Newt glanced at Tina, smiling at the question. She gave him a look.
"Not yet." Tina said. "She's too little."
"But we're little!" Liviya said, loud enough that Yael stirred at the sound.
"Yael's littler than you two are. She needs a few days." Newt said.
Liviya stuck out her lip in a pout. Newt ruffled her hair and poked her in the side in just the right place to make her giggle. Joseph was still staring at Yael with fascination. He looked up at Tina.
"Mummy?"
"Yes, Joseph?"
"Can I have brother too?"
Newt burst out laughing at the look on Tina's face at the question. The sound woke Yael and she let out a thoroughly insulted cry. Jospeh jerked back, looking stunned by the noise and Liviya covered her ears. Newt stifled his laughter as Tina calmed the baby, who slipped back into sleep quickly.
She looked to Newt, a gentle smile on her lips now. He returned it, knowing what she was going to say and agreeing whole-heartedly.
"One day."
Author's Note: I wrote FLUFF! (Not known for that in my non-Fantastic Beasts stories).
Note on the children's names: Liviya (Hebrew) lioness/lioness of God. Joseph (Hebrew) God will increase. Yael (Hebrew) ibex; mountain goat. With Tina's surname, I thought they might go with a Hebrew/Jewish theme for their children.
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