Chapter Sixty-Eight: Children
The two men returned after a lavish meal. Zack had insisted that he shoulder the hefty bill alone, as this was Sephiroth's special day. Sephiroth frowned, but complied, figuring that he could always slip it back into Zack's paycheck later.
Zack entered the lobby laughing, barely upright, and Sephiroth, while still maintaining his regal posture, was smiling.
The wave of worry emanating from the nurse and the receptionist hit them like a physical blow.
The receptionist approached him, her face tight and her eyes downcast. "You can see Aralyn now. I'll take you to her." Her voice pleaded with the men not to inquire any further.
Sephiroth asked anyway. "Is the last child born?"
"Yes." She hesitated. "A daughter. She's beautiful, Sephiroth."
"Then why so sad? That's great!" Zack exclaimed.
"Sephiroth," she said softly, looking him in the eye. "Your daughter and Aralyn…there were some complications…"
The blood ran from Sephiroth's face and he stumbled backward. "Complications?" he said weakly. Zack suddenly wasn't smiling anymore.
"Your daughter is in the intensive care unit. Dr. Calvin is with her, she's doing all she can. I'm so sorry…it shouldn't have happened like this." She turned. "Come, Aralyn will want to see you."
Numbly, Sephiroth followed.
"Do you want me to come back later?" Zack asked, showing rare sensitivity to the situation.
"Maybe that would be best," Sephiroth said. "I'll call. I want you to meet my son and…I pray…my daughter as well."
Zack nodded solemnly and walked away.
Before he even entered the room he could hear the monitors. The beat was steady and reassuring, promising Sephiroth that if nothing else went right, his wife was still alive. She was sleeping when he entered, lying on her back with her wired hands above the white sheets. She was breathing with the assistance of a tube that ran under her nose and across her face. The sheets were smooth and unruffled; she had not stirred in her sleep.
This didn't mean she slept well or deeply, merely that she was too exhausted to show it physically. Her face, in contrast, was troubled, and the heart monitor sped up for a while, sensing her panic in the grip of a nightmare.
The only difference between the two was that Aralyn was asleep. Sephiroth was living the nightmare, and soon Aralyn would wake to the same.
Their daughter's life was in question.
He didn't want to wake her, so he silently pulled a chair up to her bedside. Sweat plastered her hair to her face, and he busied himself with smoothing it back for her with the gentlest touch. He fingered her hands, her flushed cheeks, taking comfort in her living warmth, even though it was the result of a fever.
Her eyes flickered open, still a vibrant blue. A smile lit her face and her eyes as her sight focused enough to identify her husband.
He pressed his lips lightly to hers before she could speak, and then left his face close to hers. "Aralyn," he breathed quietly. "Are you well?"
She didn't answer the question. She raised herself up a little, despite Sephiroth's hands gently coaxing her down. "Do you want to meet your son?" she asked.
Sephiroth smiled. "I've been waiting for nine months."
Aralyn leaned over to a speakerphone at her head. "Dr. Calvin, can Sephiroth meet his little boy?"
"I'll bring him right in, Aralyn."
Both tried to take their minds from the peril their second child was in, but Sephiroth could take it no longer.
"Aralyn, what happened to our daughter?"
She buried her face in his chest, clutching him for support. "They tried to hide her body from me but…I saw. She was so tiny…and deathly pale…she didn't make the slightest noise…and she wasn't moving at all…they won't tell me anything!"
His blood ran cold. Stillborn? He prayed with everything he had that it wasn't so. Sephiroth swallowed his own fear and soothed his wife, stroking her hair and whispering assurances. She shook and cried quietly; Sephiroth felt his eyes burn as well.
The door opened and Dr. Calvin entered. Wrapped in a soft blue blanket, cradled against her shoulder, was a small, wriggling bundle. Aralyn pulled away and reached for her son, Dr. Calvin placing the baby in her arms, smiling. "He's been such a good boy in the nursery, you should be proud." With that, she left, leaving the parents to their child.
Sephiroth looked anxiously at the wad of blankets. Aralyn smiled, placing the boy in his father's arms. He pulled back uncertainly, afraid about his lack of experience with children, but with Aralyn's soft hands guiding his so he held the child comfortably, he was able to cradle his son in one arm. Hesitantly, he pulled back the corner that concealed his child's face from his view.
Wide, bright green eyes peered at his father for the first time, shining with new life. Thin, wispy silver hair laid flat against his scalp, as soft and light as feathers. His skin was pale, but not unhealthy. A tiny hand reached up from beneath the blankets and Sephiroth grasped it, his hand entirely blanketing the newborn's.
Sephiroth had never felt like this. His heart swelled with love and pride; he had a beautiful, perfect son. He spent several minutes just gazing at his little boy, holding the tiny hand. The baby began to cry softly, like a mewing kitten.
"Do you approve?" Aralyn asked, laying her hand on his arm.
"Aralyn he's…" Sephiroth stopped, failing to find the right words. "Perfect," he settled for, still feeling that it came short. He kissed her deeply, overwhelmed with gratitude for his wife and this wonderful gift she had given them. "Thank you, Aralyn."
"You need to pick a name," Aralyn said, smiling. "A beautiful name for your firstborn son."
Sephiroth looked at the innocent eyes, smiling proudly. "Aidan."
"Aidan it is. What about…what should we name our daughter?"
Dr. Calvin's heart broke as she eased the needle out of the tiny girl's hand, replacing it with a new one as smoothly as she could. The baby didn't cry. It was as Hojo had diagnosed. She was mute. She would never speak as long as she lived.
Which may not have been much longer.
She tended to the frail girl as gently as she could, even taking time out to try to dribble milk and medicines down the infant's throat. No success. She would have to survive on the IV's alone.
A knock on the door distracted her from her duties. Reluctantly tearing her eyes away from the girl in the cold glass cage, she answered the door, finding Sephiroth and Aralyn.
"Dr. Calvin, please. Let me see my baby…let me hold her…" Aralyn pleaded. "Just once, please! I…I can't take it anymore!"
"Aralyn," Dr. Calvin choked here, but soon straightened. "I have a daughter too, and please believe me when I say that I know what you're feeling. But it's not safe. She's too small to survive outside the incubator."
"I just want to look at her!" she begged. "Please!"
"Dr. Calvin," Sephiroth said, squeezing his wife's shoulder. "She has more right to see her daughter than you do. Let her in. If it's against regulations, we'll keep it quiet. I…we…won't let anything happen to our daughter."
Dr. Calvin could say nothing, but let them into the room, gesturing to the glass cradle that had countless wires running into it.
She turned away, knowing the wonder they must have felt as they beheld the angel they had been given. Like her brother, she had wide, expressive emerald eyes and the beginnings of what would be flowing silver hair with the slightest curl. Her features were soft and feminine, giving her a delicate appearance.
She would be a radiant woman when…and if…she grew up.
"We were surprised to find…" The couple turned to her, eyes glassy with tears. She stopped, but Sephiroth urged her on. Instead of words, Dr. Calvin ever so lightly took the infant and rolled her on her stomach, pulling back a sewn flap on her clothing.
Aralyn and Sephiroth gasped as they saw, protruding from their daughter's back, a pair of tiny, pure white wings. "That's why there were complications, Aralyn. But…they are a miracle all the same."
Aralyn took the baby in her arms and stroked her daughter's cheek, whispering soothing words to her child. Sephiroth laid his hand on the infant's head.
"Have you given her a name?" Dr. Calvin asked.
"Nadiya," Aralyn whispered, turning to Sephiroth. "It means 'hope'…"
Sephiroth nodded wordlessly, an insurmountable sadness in his eyes.
After a tearful goodbye, Dr. Calvin was left with little Nadiya. To her surprise, Nadiya's heartbeat was stronger, steadier. Experimentally, she cautiously removed the tubes from her nose to find that the infant was breathing strongly on her own.
"Nadiya…you're going to make it, girl!"
It was then that the call came.
It was from Hojo. He gave her the orders she had feared he would.
"You promised me they could have one night with the children!" Calvin cried. "You promised!" More talking, and the blood ran from her face. "No…no…she's recovering…I can't do that! No! I won't let someone else do it! You can't do this! You can't!" she was screaming by the time the other scientist hung up.
One of Hojo's assistants delivered the lethal injection moments later. The threat was clear. She had no choice.
It was either Nadiya or her own daughter.