Disclaimer: See previous chapter
Author Note: Many apologies for the long intervals in this story, but I currently have Bell's Palsy and the left side of my face is paralyzed. Using the computer can be painful because I can't completely close my left eye or blink and looking at the computer screen for too long makes my eye water badly. I will update whenever my eye feels able to stand the screen. It's been pretty good today! There will now only be an Epilogue and then this part of Kim and Eonwe's story will be complete.
NOTE: Just to avoid any confusion, I should also like to point out that Eonwe and Kim's daughter has a slightly different status in Valinor than the Peredhil or Halfelven, i.e. Elrond and his sons. Eonwe is not one of the Eldar, he is a Maia and Kim is human. Their child has no Elven blood in her, whereas Elrond and his children do, hence the term Peredhil which applied specifically to them. Kim actually shares the same fate as Tuor, a mortal warrior who sailed to Valinor with Idril, bypassing the Ban of the Valar and lives there still counted among the Eldar. In a letter Tolkien indicated that Tuor's "conversion" was allowed by Eru Iluvator as a unique exception, just like Luthien's assumption of a mortal fate. I have borrowed that fate for Kim (all due respect given to Tolkien of course).
"To know the way ahead, ask those coming back."
Chinese proverb
Chapter 67 – Birth of Hope in a Darkening World
"She threw me out."
Eonwe slumped down disconsolately in the chair opposite Maedhros, who was leafing through a magazine, and the Chief who was lounging as much as one could in an uncomfortable NHS generic waiting room chair with his legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles. There was no sign of Namo.
Maedhros lowered the magazine and raised one sculpted red eyebrow. "Kim threw you out?"
Eonwe pursed his lips and shot a dark look at the closed door of the delivery room. "No. That...that woman, the midwife, threw me out." His tone suggested outrage that a Maia of his standing could be thrown out of the room by a mortal woman when his wife was about to deliver their child
Chief chuckled. "What did you do?"
"Nothing." There was more than a hint of defensiveness in the Herald's aggrieved voice. "She was examining Kim, I asked if I could do anything and..." He took another deep outraged breath. "...that woman asked me if I didn't think that maybe I had done enough!"
Maedhros and Chief exchanged one look and then both burst into gales of laughter, much to Eonwe's chagrin and disgruntlement.
"What did Lady Kim say?" Maedhros asked once his laughter was under control a little.
Eonwe's expression was pure bewilderment. "She laughed and agreed that I had done more than enough."
An answer which, of course, merely sent the other two off into further howls of laughter, to such a degree that a midwife bustling on her way to another patient frowned deeply at them.
Curbing his laughter with much difficulty, Chief got up, slotted a coin into the drink vending machine and took out a plastic cup of tea which he offered to Eonwe.
"Never mind." He consoled the miserable Herald sagely. "Just wait until she is actually giving birth and grasps you by the front of your shirt while telling you that if you touch her ever again she will rip the still beating heart out of your body."
Maedhros buried his head in the magazine but the others could clearly see it shaking.
Eonwe looked horrified. "Why would she say anything so terrible?"
"Oh believe me, women say much worse during the bearing down part, usually aimed at the one person they feel is responsible for their current predicament." Chief grinned widely at Eonwe. "In this case, that would be you."
"It took both of us." Eonwe protested. He took a sip of the tea and grimaced. "Gah...this is horrible. What is it?"
Chief chuckled. "I believe it's meant to be tea, take a deep breath and swallow. Believe me, that's pure nectar compared to the stuff that comes out of the cook house or mess tea urns that they send out for field training. Now that stuff is foul, always tastes like vegetable soup, but when you've been out on the ranges all day and doing section attacks, even that is welcome when you've a thirst on you."
Eonwe went silent as he dredged up another of his memories from being Gary. He pulled a face. "You're right. I had forgotten about that. I hoped that as a Colonel I would be spared such British Army torments."
"Colonels have to train, just like the men." Chief replied with relish.
The Herald sighed and got up to look out of the window. The place was very busy; patients, hospital staff and visitors bustled backwards and forwards. Ambulances and vehicles of all kinds came and went, disgorging patients and picking others up. Maedhros continued calmly reading his magazine as though it was the most fascinating thing in the entire world and the Chief went back to his former relaxed stance on the chair. Eonwe envied them their composure. This had to be the most nerve-wracking thing he had ever been through. At that moment in time he would have rather gone and fought a second War of Wrath than sit here waiting for his baby to make an appearance.
After a few moments, the door to Kim's room opened and the midwife peeped out. "Colonel Matthews?"
It took Eonwe a few seconds to register that she meant him. He turned anxiously and took a step towards the woman. "Is everything all right?"
The woman raised her eyebrows. "Of course. I just needed to settle your wife in and do an examination. She's about two centimeters dilated, so it might be a little while yet, but you can go in now. Normally we only like two people in at a time, but I see no reason why your friends can't go in along with you and distract her for the time being."
She held the door open and Eonwe eagerly entered followed by the Chief and Maedhros who was still carrying the magazine. The midwife stared at the red-headed Elf with his beautiful features and long shining hair and he winked at her as he entered the room causing her to blush fiercely.
"I'll be back in about twenty minutes, use the call button if you need someone to come in the meantime." She said hastily.
Kim was propped up on lots of pillows and looked pale and strained but she managed a smile for the midwife. "I will Sue. Thanks very much."
The woman smiled and shut the door.
"Sue?" Eonwe bent over Kim and kissed her. "You know her?"
Kim rolled her eyes heavenward. "Of course not, we only just met, but since she's been rummaging around down there I reckoned we probably should be on first name terms."
Maedhros let out a peel of silvery laughter but buried his head in the magazine again when the Herald shot him a dark look. Chief had settled himself in the chair on the other side of the bed.
"Where did Lord Namo go?" Kim enquired after glancing around the room and finding him absent.
The Doomsman of the Valar immediately appeared at the bottom of the bed making the Chief start slightly.
"He went nowhere." Namo said cheerfully. "Well... I did sort of go back to speak to the others. They are discussing which of them would be appropriate to be present when the child is actually born. I have to be here to proclaim her doom, as she is of course half mortal, half Maia, but Varda and Yavanna each want to give their blessings. Personally I think it should be Este but..." He shrugged. "...as usual nobody can agree."
"Her doom?" Kim's eyes opened as wide as saucers and she clutched at Eonwe convulsively. "What does that mean? It sounds dreadful."
Eonwe hastily sought to reassure her. "It doesn't mean doom in the sense you are taking it sweetheart. Lord Namo just means that her future, as decided by Eru, will be spoken here, at the very moment of her birth. When Luthien was born of elf and Maia it was not thought important since she would have been bound to Arda until the end anyway through both kindreds. Instead she chose to be counted among the Secondborn and moved beyond the Circles of the World with her mortal husband Beren. She chose a mortal life. Our daughter is a different matter being born of mortal woman and immortal Maia. When she is born Lord Namo will speak the words as relayed to him by Eru and she will be bound to that fate."
If anything Kim looked even more worried and Eonwe shot a glance at Namo as if to say 'a little help here?'.
Namo smiled at Kim and stepped up to the plate. "All is well Kim, you must not worry so. Your daughter will be born healthy and will live a long life, I am sure. However my proclamation will involve both her and yourself once she makes an appearance."
Kim opened her mouth to speak, but was silenced by the sudden onslaught of a contraction. Instead she moaned and made a strange grunting noise.
"I need to sit up." She said desperately, struggling into sitting position.
Eonwe, his face a mask of concern, helped her up and propped the pillows up behind her while she tensed as the contraction coursed through her and caused beads of sweat to pop out on her brow. Chief went to the sink and rinsed out a facecloth with which he proceeded to gently wipe her face. She grunted her thanks in between stabs of pain. Namo stayed where he was at the bottom of the bed, but Maedhros stood up, finally relinquishing the fabulous world of the modern celebrity.
He bent over Kim with his hand outstretched over her swollen belly.
"May I?" He asked softly and she nodded. He gently ran his hand over the mound of her belly and stood quietly for a second, then he nodded. "She is coming very soon. You may wish to use that call button."
Eonwe pressed the bell and a few moments later the midwife, Sue, bustled into the room. She took one look at Kim who was red in the face from trying not to give in and push and immediately lifted the covers up.
"Oh my goodness, this one is in a hurry." She beamed at Kim. "The husband can stay but you others should go."
Maedhros and Chief, who handed Eonwe the damp cloth, left the room with alacrity, but, unseen by the midwife, Namo merely disincarnated himself and stood quietly in a dark corner as the she prepared Kim for the actual birth, he was joined a moment later by Varda, Yavanna and Este, although nobody but Eonwe was aware of any of them.
A couple of minutes later Sue was joined by another midwife who began to check that the scales were prepared and the examination table for the paediatrician was in order for when he came to check the baby over.
Kim clutched at Eonwe again and moaned. "I need to push, I really do." She stared fearfully at the midwife who finished her examination and smiled at her.
"Fully dilated my dear, you can push if you need to. Push when the contraction begins." She settled herself down at the bottom of the bed.
Kim groaned in relief and Eonwe grimaced in pain as her nails dug forcibly into his forearm.
The midwife grinned up at him. "Now you can be useful." She said cheerfully.
ooOoo
Hours later, Kim lay quietly with only the bedside lamp on in her room. The whole room was still filled with the light that had filled it with the presence of the four Valar and there were so many flowers. At the bottom of her bed stood a cot with a bundle in it, a bundle that sneezed delightfully every few minutes. Kim could just see the top of the baby's head with its pale gold tufts of hair.
My baby, my little girl...our daughter. She thought happily. The baby snuffled a little and Kim sank down into the sheets. She was feeling drowsy now, the baby had taken her first feed so she could sleep. She sighed contentedly and eventually slid into the Path of Dreams completely unaware that silent sentinels now stood unmoving in the room, sharp eyes and minds piercing the gloom of night in a modern hospital. The darkness surrounding the hospital and which cloaked itself in night saw that it could not come closer and withdrew further into more welcoming shadows.
ooOoo
Eonwe had to be forcibly dragged away from his wife and child and only finally went because the Lady Este scolded him and said that Kim and their child needed now to sleep and recover from the birth and so did he. Chief and Maedhros drove the reluctant Herald back to his new home where Maedhros was instructed by the Chief to get some take out food. Armed with the delightful newness and exceeding richness of Eonwe's credit card, he opted for pizza and an intrigued Lord Namo decided to stay and eat once he saw the large flat boxes being delivered.
Chief chuckled when he saw the pizza. "Maedhros, you might eventually be responsible for the first Pizza Hut franchise in Valinor."
"Not Pizza Hut." Maedhros mumbled around a huge slice of pizza topped with every meat under the sun. "It's Domino's Pizza."
Namo picked up his slice which immediately drooped. The cheese slid towards the edge and hovered precipitously, threatening to fall off. He shoved that part in his mouth, only to find that another large gloop of cheese threatened to fall off the other end.
"How does one eat it all before it escapes?" He queried.
Chief grinned at him. "Ah, well, you can either have it on a plate with a knife and fork, or cut it into smaller pieces which spoils the whole experience really, or..." He leaned over with his own slice. "...you can do this."
He picked the slice up after folding the two long outer edges so that it looked like a sort of funnel and started to eat from one end, the roll stopped the cheese and topping from rolling off the ends.
Namo frowned and did the same with his slice. It took a couple of seconds, but finally he got the hang of it.
"Don't you want any pizza Eonwe?" Chief looked over to where the tall Herald was standing at the front windows and looking out over the dark garden.
Eonwe shook his head. "I feel uneasy. I should not have left her."
Namo put his plate down, arose and went over to the Herald. He put his hand on Eonwe's shoulder. "I know what it is that you fear child, for I can feel it too. However your wife and child are under the protection of the Valar. We wove our own protections around her room while the dark hours are with us and two of your own brethren also stand guard over them. No one shall enter the room who means them any harm."
Eonwe turned and his face was perturbed. "What is it? What threatens them? I see a creeping darkness, but nothing solid has come to me."
"We do not know." Namo said quietly. "We believe that it is a small part of the darkness that surrounds the mortal Alun Davies, yet does not emanate from him. We sense that this darkness, which has its roots in the evils set into Arda so long ago, is not that which came with the mortal, although it senses the residual darkness surrounding him. We believe that this new darkness has been here all along, but only in the materialistic modern world where the lines between dark and light, good an evil are not so clearly drawn, has it been allowed to come to fruition. It is that darkness that you, your daughter and others from the West will have to fight. It will not be like the black and white battles for Middle-earth of which the War of the Ring was the last major defeat for the darkness. Instead, the very nature of modern Arda and the nature of the modern Secondborn allows it to flourish without hindrance. There are many dark places and much evil still in Arda Marred. Your battle will not be an easy one child nor will it be against one single enemy, yet we know that you and the light will prevail. The birth of your daughter heralded the coming of the light of the West to this beleaguered world. The darkness is drawn to it, yet it also greatly fears it."
Eonwe stared out at the garden again. Did the shadows look darker and a little more sinister somehow? He could not be sure. He turned to Namo. "How can I be certain they will be safe?"
"By surrounding yourself with creatures of the light, such as you are my child, and we will not be far away. The child also has the ability to turn away the darkness, for she is half Maia. As she grows so will her power grow. Until she grows, Manwe has decreed that Maia warriors will be her constant companions and guardians and in truth she has the greatest warrior here or in the West to defend her in you. Indeed the elf Maedhros, son of Feanor, would already give his life for both of them. So do not be afraid."
"And if they go after Kim? I cannot be with her every minute of every day and while I know that the warriors will guard them both, she has no powers."
Namo sighed. "No indeed and I shall say this to you. Today her doom was proclaimed at the behest of Eru Iluvator. The Gift of Men has been removed from her bloodline and she will henceforth be counted with the Doom of the Eldar as was Tuor and Earendil in their turn. Although Earendil had some claim to this being partly of the Eldar. Like the Eldar, she can die and if, perchance by some terrible act or fate, she does die, she will come to my Halls to contemplate her life and like any other Eldalie it will depend on her as to whether she will be restored. This is all the comfort I can give you."
Eonwe raised his dark blue eyes to the Vala and Namo could see that they were tear filled. "Is this to be in her future then?"
"I know not. Her future depends very much on herself and her actions. However, your daughter will protect her mother as much as she is able and as much as Kim allows her to. Teach them both carefully Eonwe, as I know you have taught others. You will prevail and together, the three of you are strong." He smiled at the Herald and gestured to the food on the coffee table. "Now come, eat and take heart in that they are both safe from the darkness tonight whether you are there or not. And then you too must rest."
Eonwe allowed himself to be led over to the table. He helped himself to the pizza and like Namo, discovered that there was an art to eating it. Within a few minutes there was much laughter and joyful conversation filling the room.
The shadows in the garden shortened and diminished at the joyous sounds. The clouds parted themselves and revealed a clear, star filled night. The moon appeared from behind the clouds and its bright light shone down and bathed all in silvery beauty.
ooOoo