Arakhadilo O Volil - Born of Love
January 20th of 1664 | Ettinford Estate, Ettinford Viscounty, Fenia
Birdsong reached her waking ears first, prompting a slow open of her eyes. Sunlight strained to reach her through the heavy curtains, creating a faint halo of light around the edges of the fabric. A yawn escaped her lips as she stretched out her arms over her head, arching her back a bit. It ached badly, but that was no surprise - she was, afterall, nine months pregnant. Her belly was large, bigger than it was with the first set of twins, which implied the two yet to be born would be decent sized and healthy. Her pregnancy had gone very well, with regular checks with the local midwife and doctor confirming things were progressing as expected. It brought her much joy to know that her unborn children seemed to be growing and doing well; she found pregnancy brought more stress than she had initially anticipated before her first one. To know one was completely and fully responsible for something so fragile, that anything one did could affect the outcome to dire consequences, was overwhelming at times.
As Aileigh stretched out her legs next, rolling onto her back, she recognized a dampness on the sheets. She bolted upright and pulled the blankets aside in an instant panic, but got a temporary moment of relief when she saw the wet spot she laid in was not blood. Then it dawned on her: her water broke.
Calmly, she slid out of bed. Hair disheveled, she went to the bedroom door and opened it. She was able to immediately flag down a servant, whom she gave instructions too, "Please summon the doctor and midwife. Tell them my water has broke."
As the woman hurried off, she retreated back into her room to change out of her wet nightgown. She dropped it into the hamper and pulled on a clean nightgown before taking a moment to brush and braid her hair. Feeling a bit more put together, she finally left the room. By this point, she had noticed small and rather painless contractions. They were spaced out by minutes and very short in duration, which told her that while she was in active labour now, she still had plenty of time for the medical aid to arrive.
The golden light in the hall told her that it was still early morning, so she went to her wife's room down the hall. She gave a light knock before entering, finding Thea still in bed, soundly asleep. She quietly approached and placed a gentle hand on her wife's shoulder, stirring her. Thea gave a sleepy smile and mumbled a 'morning', but alertness swept away the tiredness when Aileigh informed her of the situation. She was quick to get up and dress, before they made their way back to Aileigh's bedroom together to get settled for the upcoming events. Along the way, she told another servant to notify Andrzej what was happening, so he was in the loop. With her in labour, they would no longer be in direct contact until two weeks postpartum, per their cultural rules. It was to protect both herself and the babies from evil spirits, a complicated process with many strict regulations. Thea, being a woman, was allowed to partake in the delivery and aftercare, but men were not allowed to until the children were old enough to be baptized and named, not even the father. She would spend the next two weeks in isolation, in the protection of her charmed and cleansed room.
The next several hours felt long, but all in all, it only took ten hours from her summoning the doctor to hearing the first of two cries. Minutes later, a second cry joined the first and the twins were born: she had another daughter and son.