AN UNTIMELY DELIVERY

[CopOwl 1668]

AN UNTIMELY DELIVERY

 

Spoiler

Trigger Warning: Pregnancy, Childbirth - Please be safe, friends!

 

Ah - and a reminder: This post is for the reader’s benefit only, none of the info relayed here will be known to your character unless you are A) one of the three characters featured, or B) told the information in roleplay.

Thank you for not metagaming! <3

 

Wails rang out through the long halls of Vorenburg - a surprise new baby had been born.

---

 

It still didn’t quite sound real to her ears as she pressed a hand to her swollen pregnant belly.

 

“I don’t- I-I don’t think I’m ready, Sebastien.” Whispered the Colborn woman to her husband. The diligent Squire leant down to cup her cheek. “You will make an excellent mother, don’t worry so much.” Came his reply, echoing in her ears.

 

Anabel Elia Colborn sat upon the bed in their bedroom as a doctor sent from Karosgrad to attend to her bustled in and out of the room with towels and various other preparations. Accompanying the doctor was a young apprentice - still branded by the telltale expression of timidity; he had not delivered a baby before. To be fair to the boy, neither had the expectant Mother and she awaited news with baited breath - even such minor reports as the baby’s position or other provisions. 

 

Events had conspired so fast in the past few months, and with such secrecy, that on occasion Anabel herself would lose track of what had been agreed that they could and could not tell outsiders. The bedroom was different though, it was separate; it felt normal. All newlyweds have to deal with the unfamiliarity of suddenly living in direct contact with another, and the joint possession of a singular bedroom and a singular bed. Such mundane items of interest - however, every married man or woman had dealt with such gripes and that fascinated her. Anything to take her mind off of this was good enough. 

 

Josefina hovered anxiously to her side, her hand gripping Anabel’s tightly. The Kortrevich was there in substitution of the absentee Sebastien. Unfortunately for the newlyweds, the Husband had been called away to attend to his Knight’s Quest just as his wife was getting along in her pregnancy. As Anabel’s closest confidante, Josefina had been beckoned upon and confessed to in order to take care of the young Colborn in her latter months in case Sebastien found himself unable. 

 

The date of her delivery was certainly a worry - she was concerningly early, even for a first birth. Despite this, her size was colossal and she appeared to struggle however she attempted to shift herself. A great shout had gone up that morning from the gates of Vorenburg; Josefina bore Anabel’s arm over her shoulder as they clawed at the gates. The pair had gone out for an early morning walk, as they usually did, and when they were halfway through their standard strolling route, the preterm Mother reportedly let out a painful cry and collapsed onto the grass as she clutched at her pregnant belly. In the commotion, it had taken the Baronial family some time to notice the ambiguous substance pooling at Anabel’s feet.

 

“W-what if she doesn’t make it?” Spoke the Mother on the bed after a conspicuously long time had passed since her last contraction. She asked Josefina, the Doctor, and the Apprentice, but in reality she was posing the question to Godan and the Forces that Be - anyone who would listen. Etched into her question was the ongoing debate between the parents-to-be, wherein Anabel was determined that the child would be a girl - she had a feeling - however the missing Father was in turn adamant that they would bear a boy. They had already held a lengthy discussion around the decision of names for each eventuality, despite each of their respective certainness.

 

Erik Edvard, or Karyna Rezalina, whoever they would end up being, was surely taking their time. The time elapsed between contractions was growing worrying now, especially for a woman so far in front of her estimated date of delivery, and the Doctor took pause in order to investigate the unusualities with an examination. He concluded that they should continue to wait patiently - as difficult as that might be. 

 

“He is your son,” Began the Savoyard’s voice in her ears, coinciding with the moment that Josefina squeezed her hand with her best estimate at a reassuring smile. “Of course he will make it.” Only now did the hour come about, sending shock waves of searing pain through the Colborn woman’s lower half and causing her to loudly cry out from the anguish. The Doctor was to her side in an instant, gently reassuring her for a moment before barking instructions for the Apprentice to note points down that she couldn’t catch in her agony. As her mind refocused on the Physician’s voice, she took a deep breath and counted along with him as he counted her through the paces. 

 

---

 

Her eyes brimmed with tears of regret and fear. Why had they done this? Why had they been so foolish? Was it even worth it? Anabel hadn’t even known if she actually wanted children, but by the time she figured out that such was a question that needed answering, it was too late. 

She hadn’t felt prepared for marriage, either. And she had accepted that. 

 

Well-

 

It wasn’t even that part, it was that as soon as she attempted to take a second to consider the decision more deeply, his face had contorted to show disappointment and she couldn’t bear that. Maybe she had said yes out of a want to please him. 

It wasn’t that she didn’t love him, she did, but Marriage had approached so soon that there was very little to consider about it before it was upon them and she had taken too long. 

 

She had always known that Marriage would come, it was just when that had caught her off-guard. So suddenly.

But all of that was behind them as the young Colborn cried out, her screams of pain filling the empty spaces of Vorenburg and filtering out to the Courtyard below where she lay. 

 

---

 

She would birth the youngest Colborn to date, and Adrian would become a great-great grandfather on this day - possibly the only of his kind in the Kingdom. She should be feeling happy, and proud of her achievement - her child would be the oldest of the House’s coming children. And yet … The entire thing was stained by mistake after mistake, and the grief those mistakes brought. 

 

Anabel had always loved literature more than caring, and she may never escape the latter. The responsibility over her Great-Grandfather’s health had weighed on her shoulders since a very young age, the task of looking after her youngest cousin had degraded her, and once Adrian had fallen into a coma she had driven herself mad with caring to his every need, day-in & day-out did she care. And now she would forever hold the burden of protecting a son or daughter. She would never escape the duty of care - even once the children grow enough to no longer require her guidance, she shall have to handle her accident-prone husband. The realisation fell on her like a ton of bricks; that today may be the last day without direct responsibility over another person.

 

“Where is Sebastien?” Cried the labouring woman, “He’s nejt- he’s nejt here!” Sobbed she as tears coated her features. Clutching at her stretched belly, her fingers tightened. “You can’t come yet-” She whispered to the child; hopelessly, “I-it’s too early- please…” Poor Josefina’s countenance contorted in misery and sympathy for her friend, holding onto her hand and gently shushing and crooning to her in affectionate attempts to calm and comfort her. 

 

Most unfortunately for the Mother however, nothing will interrupt the baby when she has decided that now is her moment, and the Doctor steeled himself for a difficult delivery as they all worked late into the night together.

 

---

 

Wherever Sebastien was, it wasn’t here.  He had abandoned her in her moment of greatest need - perhaps this was what her Nattrvaskr was always destined to be; her greatest trial. 

 

But it wasn’t his fault-

 

He was gone. And what if he never returned? This was never Anabel’s choice, and yet he was going to leave her to raise the child all by herself.  Such cruelty from a man, that she could do nothing but attribute it to his God-given hubris. Perhaps Elia was right in the end. 

 

Still, even darker thoughts encroached on Anabel Colborn’s mind. It would only be a matter of time until the Squire - her Squire - would return to Bethlenen with no eyes. He would be forbidden from seeing her or their daughter. Or he would come back without arms. He would be forbidden from holding her or their son. And one day he would be taken back without a head.

 

Oh, why did she let him go?

 

---

 

By daybreak, they had a breakthrough. As opposed to the screaming cries of Anabel that have penetrated Bethlenen throughout the night, the sunrise was accompanied by the tiny, pitiful wailings of a newborn - they had made it!

 

Josefina wiped Anabel’s brows with a damp cloth, her own eyes stained by dark circles after the long and unending night. The Doctor breathed a thankful sigh of relief, issuing his Apprentice with instructions to clean the Mother up following her ordeal. He clutched the child in his arms, wrapping the bawling bundle with a thick baby’s blanket, before checking it over and then gently rocking back and forth for a moment. 

 

As soon as a wave of relief had hit her, the Mother had sat back out of sheer fatigue - heaving great sighs to catch her breath. Nevertheless, her eyes soon found themselves trained intently on the bundle gripped in the Doctor’s arms and he soon obliged her motherly stare of animosity, gently handing off the child to her mucilaginous grasp where she finally clapped eyes on her bundle of joy - accompanied by the Physician’s murmurings. “Congratulations, Lady Anabel. You are the new Mother of a healthy baby boy.”

 

The child in her arms habitually wore an expression of distress, however once within the warmth of the blanket and her embrace her seemed to calm down. His howling softened as she dotingly rocked him back and forth, her eyes now wide at the sight of the being she had carried and provided for over the year preceding. As the Mother-Son pair finally united, each found themselves at home with the other and fully imbibed with love - and, in the female’s case, responsibility & protectiveness - for the other. 

 

“He’s perfect…” 

 

As Josefina watched this exchange she, in her maternal inexperience, acknowledged the modest size of the newborn. He appeared so very small in Anabel’s arms, and he looked nothing like either of his parents. The only notable feature identifying the boy to his bearers were his sparkling light-coloured eyes - clearly denoting the child as one of his Father, though no doubt the baby’s eyes would change with time and growth. 

 

“Hej, little Erik Edvard Colborn,” Greeted the Mother to her Son for the first time in his life. 

 

---

---

 

A few days past, Ser Sebastien ‘The White Sun’ de Savoie came clattering into the Vorenburg Courtyard on horseback. Huffing and puffing, his red face betraying his worry, he dismounted and began to rush inside before a cry of lamentation gave him pause. The young man, turning his body towards the source of the noise, appeared to almost collapse at the sight he saw before him.

 

Anabel emerged from the internals of the Keep, one maid shooting her a momentarily concerned glance, bearing a white bundle in her now-stronger arms. The babe looked to be crying from the sudden gust of cold, and his arm reached up - into Sebastien’s view - for his Mother’s smiling face. 

 

The Knight’s sword clattered to the ground beside him as his face lit up and he rushed towards his wife - as best as a one-legged man could - then taking her in his arms. “Ana!” He cried in relief just as he kissed her rosy lips. The couple then exchanged their stories back and forth, collectively admiring their new son - the family was reunited once more.

 

---

[crazedpudding 2140]

Josefina Kortrevich held the tiniest Colborn safely in her arms as Anabel rested after the delivery. She wondered if this feeling, deep in her heart, was a fraction of what her dearest friend felt. "Prevja, little Erik." She cooed down at the sleeping babe.