Chapter 19
Part 4
Talia’s pregnancy seemed to elerate after that. On the morning she began herbor she had only
been pregnant for eight months and one week. She looked massively pregnant; her belly hugely
distended, her breasts painfully swollen.
When she felt the first contraction she was cleaning and folding clothing, doing the work entirely by
Movement since ordinary movement was now so ufortable.
Mark knew immediately through their Link, though he was a kilometer and a half away in a fishing
canoe at the time.
In the determined near-panic that only a new father knows, he immediately informed Hilsith and Yzell of
the contraction with a simple Speaking, even as he Translocated home, abandoning his canoe and
three fat fish to the wind and waves. He appeared in their bedroom and hurriedly arranged the pillows
against the headboard for Talia to lean back against, then Translocated across the house to theundry
room, gently picked his wife up, Translocated back to the bedroom, andy her gently on the bed. He
Summoned pitchers of clean water and fruit juices from the kitchen, and stacks of towels from the linen
closet, before casting a determined Healers’ cleaning spell on everything in the room.
He knelt beside the bed and took Talia’s hand with a giddy grin, then joined her in Linking deeply with
the babies to calm and reassure them about theiring birth. Alilia came in from the garden and
hugged them both, smiling warmly and giving them all of her love.
Hilsith and Yzell were there a momentter, briskly taking charge and shooing Mark and Alilia out of the
room. “Nothing will happen for hours yet, go out and see to your guests; family and friends will be
arriving soon.” Hilsith told them with a reassuring smile. And so they did.
Four hourster they were called back in, and they abandoned their guests to be part of the birthing,
but it became a long and difficultbor. Almost fourteen hours after herbor began, and after much
struggle and effort, Talia gave birth to her daughter. While Hilsith checked and cleaned the babe, Yzell
spoke to the young parents with a warm intensity, raising her voice a bit over Helemia’s healthy cries.
“Your daughter is healthy, but Talia, you are almost out of resources. Furthermore, while your daughter
is only one and and two-thirds kilograms, your son will be more than four. A natural birth is always best
if possible, but at this point I think it would be wiser if we brought your son out by Translocation.”
“Yes! Please!” Talia gasped.
Hilsith ced Helemia at Talia’s breast, wrapped in a soft nket, then she and Yzell cast the spell
together. An instantter Reggie appeared in their hands and immediately began crying even more
loudly than his sister. He too was checked, washed, wrapped, and ced at his mother’s breast, while
Hilsith performed the after-birthing care for Talia.
Talia and Mark gently caressed their new children and each other while beaming with proud and joyous
smiles, and murmuring soft words of greeting, love, and endearment. Alilia just cuddled with them and
grinned.
But Talia and her babies were exhausted, and all three were soon asleep, despite the sounds of joyous
celebrationing from the living room. Their visitors had heard the babies’ healthy cries, and needed
no one to tell them the results.
Soon Mark and Alilia came out and joined them, and Mark epted their congrattions with a face-
aching grin, and their toasts with a ss of sparkling wine. By that time however, it was almost three
hours past midnight. By the time another hour had passed, everyone had either left or bedded down in
a guest room, and Mark went to bed with his family.
“Father.”
Mark was deeply asleep, but something was waking him up.
“FATHER!!!”
Mark sat bolt upright in bed, still mostly asleep. “Wha… What?” he stammered as he shook his head,
then rubbed his eyes and looked around. He could see that dawn was just breaking through the
window. He had been on his side near the edge of the bed, Talia had been spooned against his front on
her side, and Alilia was on her side facing them. Between the two elven women, who were still deeply
asleep, his childreny wide awake, watching him with incredibly bright eyes. Helemia’s were a deep
dark violet, and her hair was as ck as Mark’s, while Reggie’s were the lightest clear blue eyes he
had ever seen, and his hair was the same honey blond as his mother’s. As Yzell had predicted, they
looked like they were months older than they were; their hair was thick and over five centimeters long,
their gaze clear and focused. Reggie was almost three times the size of his tiny sister. Surprisingly
considering that, her ears were almost entirely human looking and were barely pointed at the tops,
while Reggie’s ears were even more long and slimly pointed than those of the elven babies he’d seen,
and were almost as long as a Sylvan infant’s.
Mark grinned and softlyughed in absolute joy at the sight of them as he deepened his Link with them.
This caused them to smile and giggle in response. “Good morning Helemia, good morning Reggie, and
how are you both this fine morning?” he quietly asked as he reached over Talia and picked them both
up in his huge hands, and gently held them close in his arms. Their tinyness amazed him, especially
Helemia, who couldfortablyy back on the t of his hand.
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“We are frustrated, father.” Helemia told him. “I can’t control my body, and I’m so weak that I can’t lift
my head. I can’t talk because my mouth and my voice won’t obey me.”
“Me too.” Reggie added.
“Well that’s to be expected, my darling babies.” Mark chuckled as he cuddled them. “You were just
born, after all. It’s a miracle that you can think and share thoughts already. The rest wille with time
and practice, and it won’t take very long.”
“We know that Father, but it’s still frustrating.” Reggie told him. “What’s most frustrating is that we’re
hungry, and Mother is so deeply asleep that we couldn’t wake her. That’s why we woke you. Can you
help us?”
“I sure can, my new loves!” Mark chuckled as heid them back on the bed. He gently rolled Talia to
her back, bared her breasts, and carefully cast soft pads of Force to support the babies infortable
positions while they nursed. Then he set them in ce, and marveled at their emotional responses as
they began to suckle. To the babies, nursing at Talia’s breast was absolutely heaven itself; delicious
and soft and warm and magnificently satisfying.
Helemia only drank half of the milk that Talia’s right breast provided before she was full, but Reggie
drank all there was on the left side, then asked to be switched over to the right to finish what was there.
Mark held Helemia again while Reggie finished, and she fell asleep in his arms in a moment.
“I’ll need to be changed when I’m finished eating.” Reggie announced. “Helemia won’t need it for an
hour or two.”
“I’ll take care of that.” Alilia softly responded.
“Good morning Alilia, I didn’t realize you were awake.” Mark told her.
“Good morning Mark. Good morning Reggie. I so love you all at this moment, my heart could burst from
all the love in it!” Alilia beamed.
“Me too.” Mark agreed. “I think this smile is going to be permanent!”
They stayed in bed holding the babies until Talia woke, almost two hourster.
“Good morning love.” Mark told her as he greeted her with a kiss, which Alilia happily joined.
“Mmmm. Good morning! What an excellent way to wake up.” Talia giggled as she sat up.
“How are you feeling, Sweetness?” Alilia asked.
Talia slowly stretched, then got out of bed. “Surprisingly well actually, all things considered. I still feel
rather weak, but I’m fine other than that. And I’m starved! Let’s go make breakfast!”
As it turned out, breakfast was already made, as they discovered when they opened their bedroom
door and were greeted by the savory scents of biscuits baking and bacon frying, and the sound of
dishes clinking and quiet conversation. Yzell and Hilsith had stayed overnight, as had Yazadril, Nemia,
Dalia, Bezedil, Dren, and Mandri. They all took their turns holding the sleeping babies while the new
parents ate.