Sabine had been feeling off pretty much all day. Every now and then, she would experience these small cramps in her lower abdomen. In her opinion, though, they hadn't been painful or frequent enough to warrant a visit to the healer's. She had been stuck in trade renegotiations all day with diplomats from Sherebad and her own advisors and she couldn't see it ending anytime soon.
Sherebad was one of their closest allies, if not the closest. There was no bad blood between them, but Sabine had yet to hear of any kind of negotiations between any two clans—friendly or otherwise—that didn't take forever to settle.
A sharp spasm hit her belly and the intensity of it nearly forced her to double over in pain. Sabine bit her lip to keep from crying out.
There was no doubt in her mind what was happening: she was going into labor. Her baby had been trying to alert her all day that they were on their way and, foolishly, she had ignored it. The signs were there, but the constant bickering from the men in the room had distracted her from seeing them.
A few short minutes later, she felt another pang, this one causing sweat to form on her brow. This baby was coming and they were coming now. There was no way this was going to wait until after negotiations were done. Loudly clearing her throat, Sabine stood from her throne, gathering everyone's attention.
"Countess, is there something you would like to add?"
Sabine shook her head. "Not with regards to trade, Nazim. However, I'm afraid we'll have to put this meeting on hold for the time being. Now, gentlemen, if you'll excuse me, I must go find the compound healer and have this baby."
She had never seen a group of men look so startled and wide-eyed in her life. On a normal day, she would've laughed. Today was not a normal day, though. Today, she was going to become a mother.
—
"Where is he, Hera?" Sabine said in between contractions.
"They're out looking for him now. I'm sure they'll find him soon."
"They better." Sabine was grateful that Hera was there, but she wanted her husband. She wanted Ezra.
Hera and Kanan had shown up on Krowest a couple weeks ago. Neither had wanted to chance missing the birth of their dear friends' baby.
In addition to Hera and the palace healer with her, Sabine also had one of the best midwives on the planet present. The healer was there to simply make sure Sabine's health remained stable, but the midwife would be the one to take part in the actual delivery.
Several long minutes passed with her contractions getting closer together when she heard loud noises outside the room. Ezra burst through the door, Kanan hot on his heels. Ezra ran over to his wife and knelt by her side.
"Sorry I'm late," he said trying to catch his breath. He and Kanan had been walking through the market outside the compound when a guard had come running up to them, informing them that the Countess was about to give birth. It took a second for the words to process, but when they did, Ezra leapt into a sprint, weaving through the crowd with only a single thought in his mind: get to Sabine.
"You're not late," Sabine replied through gritted teeth. Another contraction rolled through her and she grabbed onto Ezra's hand, squeezing it tight. "You're right on time."
"Countess, I simply cannot have this many people crowding the room," the midwife said. "My lord, I'm sorry, but you and your friend must leave. Childbirth is no place for men."
"No!" Sabine protested. "He stays. I want him with me."
The midwife hesitated. Tradition dictated that husbands were supposed to stay out of the delivery room. "Are you sure, Countess?"
"Do not question me right now."
The midwife bowed her head. "My apologies, my Lady."
"Hera," Sabine turned toward her former captain. She didn't exactly want to kick her friend out of the room, but she also wanted this to be something that she and Ezra would experience for themselves.
Hera smiled at her, nodding her understanding, and began leading Kanan away. "We'll be waiting outside in the hallway."
The second the door closed behind them, Sabine cried out in pain.
The midwife knelt between her open legs, and pushed up the nightgown Sabine was wearing to check how far along she was.
"Won't be much longer now, Countess. You're nearly there."
Ezra Looked at Sabine, concern written all over his face. "What can I do?"
"Just don't let go of my hand."
He brought her hand up to his lips and brushed a kiss against her knuckles. Glancing around, he spotted a clean rag at the edge of the bed. He grabbed it and brought it up to her forehead, wiping away the beads of sweat that lay there.
The midwife checked between Sabine's legs again and inhaled deeply. "Alright, Countess. It's time. When the next contraction hits, you must push as hard as you can. Only stop when I say to."
Sabine felt a shiver of anxiety roll down her spine. This was it. She and Ezra were about to meet their child for the first time. They were about to become parents. She saw Ezra's eyes go wide as that realization dawned on him too.
When the now familiar intense pain rolled through her again, she steeled herself and bore down, pushing with all her might. After a moment, the midwife told her to stop.
"Okay, take a breath, Countess, and do the same when the next one comes."
A few minutes and several contractions passed and Sabine already felt like all of her strength was gone. How on earth was she supposed to push this baby out? She'd probably have an easier time scaling a mountain all by herself.
"I don't think I can do it anymore," she panted.
"Don't say that." Ezra got up and sat beside her. "Of course you can. You're the strongest person I know, Sabine. You lead an entire planet everyday despite so many out there willing you to fail. You helped save the people of Krowest when an evil empire decided it wanted to take over. You proved your mother wrong and showed her that you were the right choice to become heir to the throne.
"There's nothing you can't do if you set your mind to it. And I know the woman that I married would never give up this easily…Also…you don't really have a choice in this. That baby's coming out now and I don't think they're gonna wait for you."
Sabine let out a breathless laugh and began to sit up amongst the mound of pillows surrounding her. Maybe she'd be able to push better like this.
Ezra, immediately understanding what she was about to do, put a hand on her back to help her up. "Here," he said, "lean forward." When she complied, he propped a couple pillows up and crawled behind her, his legs on either side of her.
She sat back against his chest, extremely grateful for all of his support—both emotionally and now physically as well. A shockwave of pain shot through her and she screamed in agony as she pushed once more. It felt like she was being torn in half. Her lower half was on fire and her brain was telling her to stop in order to get rid of the pain. Ignoring those thoughts, she soldiered on.
Sabine's grip on Ezra's hands tightened even further as she clenched her jaw and kept pushing.
"Okay, my lady, the head's out."
Sabine heaved a sigh of relief and tried to get her breathing under control during the short moment of rest she had in between contractions.
"Now comes the hardest part," the midwife said.
"You mean everything else was easy?" Ezra replied incredulously.
The midwife chuckled and shook her head. "Oh of course not. But now the shoulders need to come out. They're the widest part of the body, even for a newborn."
Sabine groaned, suddenly regretting every single life choice that had led up to this moment. "This is so your fault," she told her husband. "You're never allowed to touch me ever again."
Ezra had the good sense to not argue with her just then. "Yes, dear."
Gathering every ounce of strength left in her, Sabine took a deep breath and then bore down.
"Keep going, you're almost there!" The midwife had a blanket at the ready between Sabine's legs.
"C'mon, Sabine, a little more. Break my hand if you have to," Ezra said, his mouth close to her ear.
Sabine gave one last push, screaming so loud, she was sure the rest of Krowest could hear her. Suddenly, she felt something give way and the immense pressure within her immediately dissipated. A few seconds later, the sound of crying filled the air and the midwife held up a wriggling, red-faced baby.
Unable to hold herself up anymore, Sabine fell back completely, letting Ezra take all of her weight. She felt him press featherlight kisses to her cheek and neck.
"You did it," he murmured. "I'm so proud of you." His arms gently encircled her stomach.
The palace healer walked over and began a quick examination of her to make sure that the delivery hadn't affected her health negatively in any way. It was a minute later when he stepped back and confirmed that she seemed perfectly fine.
"I'll be back later to do another check up on you, Countess," she told her. "But everything looks normal. Don't hesitate to send for me if something should arise."
"Thank you. Could you tell our friends waiting outside that everything went well?"
The healer bowed her head. "Of course, my Lady. And congratulations on the babe."
Speaking of, Sabine's attention was brought back to the midwife who was coming over, the baby securely wrapped in a soft blanket.
"Would you like to see your little girl now?"
Sabine felt all the breath knocked out of her at the revelation that she had a daughter. She held out her arms and the midwife placed the bundle into them. Looking down, Sabine couldn't help the smile the slowly grew on her face.
Her daughter had a head full of dark hair and the smallest button nose she'd ever seen. Her little lips were pursed as she slept, completely oblivious to all the attention that was on her.
"Oh," Sabine breathed in awe. This was her daughter. And she was the most precious thing she'd ever laid eyes on. She swallowed down a lump in her throat but didn't bother to try to stop the tears that rolled down her cheeks.
"Are you crying?" Ezra asked.
"Yeah," she admitted, unashamed of it.
"Me too," he said, laughing softly so as to not jar the baby awake.
"She's so beautiful," Sabine said, brushing her hand lightly over the baby's head.
"Yeah, she is. What should we name her?"
"How about…" Sabine started, "Amira?"
She heard Ezra inhale sharply. "After my mother?"
Sabine nodded. "Her name was Mira and I figure we could honor her with it, but also not give our daughter the exact same name."
Ezra looked over her shoulder at her and smiled softly. "I love it. And I love you."
Sabine pressed a sweet kiss to his lips. "I love you too." Ezra paused for a second before saying, "So…a little while back when you were…you know."
"Pushing your child out of my body?"
"Yes, that. You, uh, you said that I wasn't ever allowed to touch you again after this…Were you serious about that?"
Sabine stared at him, unimpressed, and raised an eyebrow. "What do you think?"
Ezra chuckled nervously under her gaze. "I, uh…I think I should probably drop this conversation now and not bring it back up for another couple months at least."
"That sounds like a good idea."