They were not prepared when he came.
She lay on her side as the light of Telperion began to crest, its soft glow causing reflections like little jewels on the water. She lay on her side because lying on her back is too uncomfortable, the pressure from the added weight causing sharp pains to shoot from her groin all the way down her legs. And lying on her stomach is impossible unless she digs a hole in the sand in which she can wedge her swollen stomach into like some bizarre puzzle piece. She is not in the mood to dig at the moment. No, she was quite content to lie on her side listening to the waves as they lapped up onto the shore. She looks for Fëanáro, but does not see him in the water as he searches beneath the black cloak of the ocean. Every so often she would catch a glimpse of the strange glow of one of those lamps he had created as he bobbed near the surface only to watch as it began to fade again and eventually wink out before resurfacing once more. She used to become so afraid when he would do that, reaching depths so deep that she could barely make out the light he carried. The dark of the water made her uneasy and when it would envelope her, her bearings would become confused and sometimes bring her to the point of panic as she would franticly grasp for the surface, desperate for the open sky once more.
But not Fëanáro. He would delve down as far as his body would allow, unconcerned with the dark and forever fascinated at how the light would reflect against the many creatures below the surface. He was always fascinated at how these living things could capture the light, as if they held it within themselves, giving it a life of its own. She did not understand how he could he could stand the quiet dark of the deep the way he could. For her it had felt as if she were trapped in a small space, suffocating and restrained while he would push himself even deeper, returning with pearls of magnificent beauty. He even had found a way of taking a metal tube and using it to breathe so he could float upon the surface face down for as long as he wished.
She used to pace nervously on the shore as he would do these things, but no more. They were married now, achieving a bond of bodily union and were one in their thoughts. She could feel him through their bond. She could feel the heat from the fires of his fëa, and she was no longer frightened if she could not see him for his heart beat fierce and strong and calmed her . . . until tonight.
It was a strange sensation when it happened. She could only akin it to a sudden whoosh feeling between her legs. She did not sit up but her eyes went wide and she held very still, assessing her body as she tried to sort out what had just happened. She reached between her legs and felt where her dress had gone damp and lay there slightly confused. Surely it was not time yet, she thought for she should have two more weeks at least and started to wonder if she should perhaps look for Fëanáro. And then the pain started.
It was not too intense. Just a pressure at first, causing her to feel like bearing down with her abdomen. It was uncomfortable but bearable and so she did not wish to disturb him just yet. The minutes went by before she felt the next one and again the same feeling, uncomfortable but not unbearable, and so she waited thinking that perhaps this would not be as bad as she initially feared. She chuckled as she thought of surprising him as he emerged from the sea, teasing that the gift she had found was far more precious than anything from the bottom of that black ocean.
Several moments later those thoughts were gone from her head as she screamed his name at the water.
When he ran up she was standing bent over, hands on knees breathing heavily. He knelt before her so he could look up into her face which was twisted into a grimace as she concentrated on some point on the ground below her.
"The baby is coming, let us hope you are truly as skillful as your name portends."
He laid a hand upon her stomach, his eyes locked on the round belly and the life it held within it.
"But this is not to happen for two more weeks."
"It is happening now Fëanáro."
"But we should have –"
"It is happening now Fëanáro."
And then she dropped to the ground as the next wave of her muscles involuntarily contracting took her.
Neither could remember just how long she lay there on the sand, her head in his lap as he held her legs up against her chest. He would recall that it was only a matter of moments while she would say it was an eternity. She would apologize for nearly breaking his hand while he would brush it off as a gentle squeeze. He would remember how he took charge while she would remind him how he screamed even louder when she cried out. But it in the end he would reach down and catch the tiny life that was expelled from her womb, cutting the life cord with his knife and cradling the tiny being in the shirt he had discarded earlier when he first took to the water. He had tended to her first, cleaning her and kissing her and preparing a shelter around her as she held their precious gift. And when he was done she smiled as she watched him hold his son, and he wept at the beauty of the life he had created and now held lovingly in his hands.
"Vanimar," she whispered in the dark and when he looked at her his eyes shown like mirrors reflecting Telperion's dimming light in the sky and when he smiled it surpassed all definitions of beauty in her mind.
"Love at first sight," he whispered back and she did not believe there could ever be another moment in their lives as wondrous as this.