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Post by FaizahPandora on Dec 19, 2012 0:02:25 GMT -5
IC Week: September 12th, 2013
IC Time: Noon [/b][/u] Nakia was sitting in the common room, attempting to watch tv over her huge belly. She was only 32 weeks along, which was apparently a big deal when carrying quints. She grimaced at the idea. She was carrying quints; there were five of them in there... She felt a twinge in her stomach, and groaned aloud. She had been having false contractions for the past couple days. The doctors told her she could go into labor at any time. And the thought of birthing that many babies gave her pause. A moment later, however, Nakia knew that she should head to the Infirmary. Her water had broken, leaving a large wet spot on the couch she had been laying on. She sighed in aggravation, feeling the contractions. Isath, get someone to come help me. The babies are coming... She told her dragon. |
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Post by shadowreine on Dec 20, 2012 14:34:05 GMT -5
A litter. Poor Nakia was carrying a litter.
S'tor had not let the woman know he was terrified, not at any point. Indeed, the only being that knew just how worried he was was Ryath...who kept trying to tell him five was a small clutch.
Dragons. Not helpful. They would likely come early, too. Multiples almost always did. No amount of reassurance that Earth technology could ensure everyone's survival helped him. He didn't care if they were his or not.
He didn't want to lose Nakia. He didn't want to hold her, either, to make her only his...she was too much, he knew, the greenrider for that. But he would rather see her with another man than dead, rather that than Naktor never knowing his birth mother.
At least, no matter what happened, he had Naktor.
Isath says the babies come
Of course the green-gold would have seen fit to warn the brown she had chosen as *her* mate. At least...
But S'tor was not sure he could face the birthing room. It was, in any case, no place for a man. Or for two men.
Five babies. He could not see, in his mind, in the traditions and knowledge that flowed through him like blood, any good outcome.
No. He could not face that birthing room, but he found himself moving nonetheless, steps taking him towards the infirmary.
He could not stand this, but if he was there, then he would know all the sooner.
OOC: Yes, S'tor is terrified. Remember he's from a world where childbirth complications are far more common and there's a lot less that can be done about them...
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Post by redwerecat on Dec 27, 2012 1:17:53 GMT -5
L;iyr, was, in fact, beside himself with stress. He was, however, just very, very good at hiding it. So the preternaturally still form of the tall rider perched stiffly on the edge of his bed staring down at a book him his hands was almost nothing out of the ordinary. Then you noticed the way he also almost wasn't breathing, something he did when he was thinking deeply, reducing himself to almost entirely internal thought, then you noticed the way he'd been staring at said page for almost an hour without his eyes even moving... then you noticed that, in fact, his eyes were focused on some point against the wall across the room.
Einherjath was in fact a little worried.
His rider had been eerily silent the past few days, and while the brown knew quite what it was about, L'iyr had been blocking him out so completely that he hadn't even been able to get a word to his rider, let alone gauge the source of his worry.
And then the big brown shivered, head snapping up as he heard the distant (and rather frosty) Isath inform him of- oh. Oh.
Einherjath tried again to reach L'iyr, whining softly when the man wouldn't answer him and-
CRACK.
Einherjath jumped, visibly startled by the noise only to find L'iyr staring at him, a dark and frankly utterly terrified look on his face. "Yes." He said. "I heard that." He told the brown, running a hand along the dragon's flank as he passed- the last bit of reassurance he could give, though when he finally ouched his dragon, Einherjath found himself lending his own strength to the scared man instead.
It will be fine, L'iyr. Ein soothed him, in that positive, confident way only dragons could be capable of. Ein couldn't worry about what-if, his brain didn't work the same way. L'iyr smiled at him, and took a breath.
He couldn't manage a smile, but he nodded and made his way down the halls toward the infirmary. Ein, ask Nakia where she is... make sure she's with a healer.
The brown nodded, reaching out to Isath. Isath, mine queen, is Yours in the hands of a Healer...?
Frankly, L'iyr found that if he worried about the details of keeping Nakia in good health, the minutiae of that kept him from lingering on things like what might happen, what could go wrong, what might be wrong with the babies, with Nakia- the rolling thoughts simply never stopped, so he focused them onto unimportant, nit-picky details instead.
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Post by FaizahPandora on Dec 27, 2012 16:05:54 GMT -5
Isath sent the negative feeling to the two browns, urging one of their riders to the common room to assist Nakia. The green gold was picking up her rider's alarm, and was silent because of it. And alarmed Nakia was.
She had been reading up on what to expect with quints. And what she had found had not helped ease her mind. They were early, obviously, but the birth was often fraught with complications. Most of which happened to the unfortunate mother. Nakia was worried about herself, true. But she was worried more about the five infants she carried, though she would never admit to it.
((Sorry. Crap post.))
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Post by shadowreine on Dec 27, 2012 18:55:25 GMT -5
S'tor's entrance into the common room was quick...and yes. She was definitely in labor.
A focused thought sent his bronze, Lordly, Between to the infirmary. The flit could get the attention of the healers before he even got there. And...there was L'iyr.
"Let's get her to the infirmary. I sent Lordly ahead." Firelizards were FOR just this situation, after all, and being a bronze, Lordly was pretty smart.
He was worried, but he wasn't going to show it. He didn't want to lose Nakia to this. To another man, that he could live with...there were other women and he did not expect her not to have other men But if she died, he would never quite forgive himself.
He moved to one side of her, glancing at L'iyr. Between the two of them they should be able to help her to where the healers were and, if need be, she wasn't a particularly heavy woman. He was quite willing to carry her.
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Post by redwerecat on Dec 27, 2012 21:31:49 GMT -5
L'iyr was visibly pale(er), and for a long moment all he could do was stare and remember how to breathe. (Yes, in fact, this terrified him- people he could manipulate, dragons Einherjath could deal with, and Thread, thread could be burned, but what did you do when there was nothing you could do?)
Then everything snapped back together, and he nodded to S'tor, taking to Nakia's other side. "Good. They need to be prepared." He agreed, mostly just to have something to say and think about. He placed one hand on Nakia's shoulder, the other slightly behind her back. "Can you manage to walk?"
He shared a look with the other rider for a moment, half a question in his eyes. Was it even a good idea to move her? Not that he saw much choice, but hey, give him a break. He was a little bit worried.
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Post by FaizahPandora on Dec 27, 2012 22:07:33 GMT -5
Nakia nodded in answer to L'iyr's question. "I can walk. Just hard to get up when I'm this big." She all but growled, frustration coloring her tone.
She took a deep breath as they helped her to her feet. It wouldn't be wise to snap on the two of them. One of them was the father of the five she carried, and S'tor did father Naktor. But Nakia was just so tired of being the size of a whale. And not being able to move? That was even worse!
She sighed. "Sorry. Don't mean to snap. Thanks for coming to help me." She muttered, giving both men a small smile. What else could she do? She was glad they were there...
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Post by shadowreine on Dec 28, 2012 12:29:50 GMT -5
She'd been snippy last time, too. S'tor helped her up. "Okay...let us know if that changes."
He caught the look. But no. S'tor didn't know much about birthing, but he did know that at this point she was better off walking if she could. Still, she couldn't birth here anyway.
He stayed next to her, though, in case she swayed. It wouldn't do to have her fall. The route he chose was the quickest one to the infirmary. Hopefully Lordly had managed to get across what they needed to be prepared for, although it might only take recognizing the firelizard. There were not *that* many bronzes and the healers would work out what the emergency was if they recognized him as S'tor's.
He kept all of the worry out of his eyes, but it took every bit of willpower he had to do so.
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Post by redwerecat on Dec 31, 2012 22:40:11 GMT -5
L'iyr just glared at her, and rolled his eyes. "I;m chalking that up to hormonal pregnancy bitchiness." He muttered under his breath, though if Nakia had been paying any attention at all, she'd hear it.
At S'tor's nonverbal response, he relaxed slightly, and took a position on her other side just in case. The Infirmary staff was at least prepared enough to get their asses moving as they got closer, because they sure as hell recognized a pregnant woman in labor.
"How far is she...?" One of the nurses asked as they began to find a wheelchair for Nakia to get her to the delivery ward.
((Pardon minimodding here.))
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Post by FaizahPandora on Jan 2, 2013 13:31:46 GMT -5
Nakia sighed with relief when they arrived at the Infirmary. A nurse was there, waiting for her with a wheelchair. Nakia gladly took a seat, then turned to answer the nurse. "I'm 27 weeks along. My water has already broke." She said.
The contractions started then. Nakia groaned with the first one, which seemed to be stronger than she remembered with Naktor. She looked between S'tor and L'iyr as the nurse began to push her into a room.
"I'm guessing neither of you is coming in the room with me. So can one of you get Faizah?" She asked.
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Post by shadowreine on Jan 4, 2013 10:58:37 GMT -5
"I was going to send Lordly for her, but I could go myself." The bronze chirped, descending to his human's shoulder and nuzzling S'tor's cheek.
He, of course, was entirely aware of the worry in the man...as was Ryath, who was pacing his ledge, tail swishing from side to side.
Part of him...no. He was NOT staying in the birthing room, even knowing this might be the last time he saw Nakia. He knew what would happen if he tried...and it would ruin his tough reputation forever. So, even as he spoke, he was backing towards the door. Lordly lightly wrapped his tail around the rider's neck for a moment, more for affection than because he needed the stability.
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Post by redwerecat on Jan 9, 2013 23:10:16 GMT -5
L'iyr choked on his words, instantly wanting to contradict her but knowing she was right. Somethings men were simply not meant for... and let's not forget the fact that the man was already scared witless by the whole ordeal to begin with. So he ducked his head and muttered something along the lines of 'yes' and followed S'tor.
Weirdly, his first reaction seemed to be to catch the other man's shoulder. It was unusual and he pulled away the moment he had S'tor's attention but-
"I don't know about you but I'm terrified." He said. A weird confession, and he never followed it up with anything further but there was a look of confusion and worry in his slate-blue eyes. "But find Faizah. I'll... I'll stay here. Einherjath will call your dragon if I hear anything and you aren't back."
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Post by FaizahPandora on Jan 9, 2013 23:59:10 GMT -5
((Just because that comment can not be passed up >  )) Nakia smiled slightly as she rounded the corner with the nurse. Faizah grinned from her position in the doorway. Reyna had been keeping an eye on Nakia for Faizah, since the red haired Weyrwoman had known that her sister would go into labor at any day. So Faizah had been on her way to the Infirmary as soon as Surth had assured her that it was time. The white had been watching Isath. "Nice to see someone else is feeling the stress." Faizah said in comment to L'iyr's admonition. She nodded towards where Nakia had disappeared. "Nakia is healthy, though. So there should be few complications, if any, concerning her." She said, in an attempt to calm the men. |
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Post by shadowreine on Jan 10, 2013 11:13:59 GMT -5
S'tor shook her head. "Humans aren't meant to have more than one, maybe two." He wasn't going to calm down completely.
Faizah knew Earth tech better, she knew what they could do for Nakia... Lordly, having caught 'find Faizah', flitted over to the Weyrwoman and tried to land on her shoulder.
"Lordly, you don't need to find her *now*." A slight bit of amusement, a slight release of tension at the firelizard's possibly deliberate misunderstanding. The image that came back boiled down to 'Lordly get treats'.
He WAS trying to cheer his human up, in his own firelizard way, but even a bronze wasn't that smart.
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Post by FaizahPandora on Jan 29, 2013 16:34:27 GMT -5
Faizah reached into her pocket and pulled out a small peice of beef jerky. She offered it to Lordly, nodding to the firelizard. He had done his job and technically found her, even if she had already been in the room. She smiled slightly at the bronze's attempt to calm his human.
"I know how you feel, S'tor. But Nakia is healthy, and Rocky has the best healers attending to her. Everything will be fine." Faizah assured him.
---
~Three hours later~
Faizah sighed and shifted in her chair. It had been three hours so far, and from the sounds of it Nakia was bitching up a storm in there. But according to the doctor, everything was going fine. All they could really do was wait...
The sound of an infant crying came to their ears. Faizah visibly perked up, dislodging Reyna from her perch. With a indignant squawk the gold flit hopped over to the other chair and curled up. But Faizah was already to her feet and heading for the glass divider. It wasn't more than a minute or two later that one of the nurses brought in the first baby.
It was apparetly a girl, for it was wrapped in a pink blanket. Faizah couldn't tell what color eyes the baby had, but she had a headful of gold blond hair. She waved S'tor and L'iyr over to the window, then pointed at the baby.
"A girl." Faizah murmured excitedly.
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Post by shadowreine on Jan 31, 2013 11:06:08 GMT -5
"A girl." And this one at least was alive and healthy. A little small, but that was to be expected. She'd grow.
Grow to be what? A greenrider, maybe. S'tor might once have thought that was no fate for a girl, but Nakia was making him realize that for some women it fit.
Maybe a bluerider. Maybe even a goldrider. If she became a rider at all. He thought about that for a long moment. She had very light hair...it would probably darken. Nothing else, really, could be determined. Her eyes were closed, but would be the usual baby blue.
So hard to tell anything with babies...they were pretty much just squalling bundles at this point.
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Post by redwerecat on Feb 11, 2013 1:11:07 GMT -5
L'iyr had spent most of the past few hours hunched over in a chair, slowly digging small gouges into the backs of his hands in complete silence. Faizah's arrival had been greeted with a wide-eyed stare (and he had not appreciated the comment, because he was L'iyr and he didn't DO sympathy, even when it was directed back at him.)
But the screaming had him twitching every few seconds, and he generally looked like he was about five seconds away from twitching straight out of his skin. Then the announcement, and he let out a tiny little sigh of...something.
"A girl." He muttered under his breath. He spared a glance at S'tor as they were waved over, and nodded with a faint little smile. "She's pretty." He said. Maybe...maybe it was a compliment, or maybe he was just happy that so far...she seemed healthy.
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Post by FaizahPandora on Feb 12, 2013 7:53:55 GMT -5
The cries of another infant reached their ears. And now even Reyna had come over to the window to look at the little one. After a few moments, a nurse brought the newest of the babies in. This one was swathed in blue, signifying that it was a boy, but the difference between brother and sister was shocking.
Where the little girl had light hair, probably going to darken to blonde, the boy had a headful of near black hair. Faizah smiled slightly, after she got over her shock, and looked between L'iyr and S'tor. It still seemed to be a toos up between the two of them. Faizah wondered what they were thinking.
"Nakia is doing well. Everything is under control and these two are certainly healthy." The nurse said, before hurrying back into the delivery room.
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Post by shadowreine on Feb 12, 2013 12:53:43 GMT -5
S'tor glanced at L'iyr. "They're not all identicals, then." Which was extremely unusual. Anything above two was usually all the same...he'd expected to see, at best, five little girls. Now they had a girl and a boy.
But two healthy children was beating the odds regardless...two future dragonriders, regardless of who had sired them. He wondered if this would pull him and the other brownrider together. Paternity confusion had created lasting friendships as often as lasting enmity, from his observations on Pern.
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Post by FaizahPandora on Apr 1, 2013 8:58:50 GMT -5
Faizah shook her head, a small smile on her face. "Most quints aren't identical. I'm not surprised that these aren't either. It's good that they are healthy, even if they are very small. I don't remember Naktor being this small..." She murmured.
It was another hour before the next baby was born, which had started to concern Faizah. Since finding out how many Nakia was pregnant with, she had done a fair bit of research on the matter. According to her findings, once the babies started coming it didn't take long for the birth to end. The fact that an hour had gone by in between the second and third child was concerning.
She didn't mention her thoughts to L'iyr or S'tor however. She didn't want to worry them needlessly.
And needless the worry would have been. The third child born came out screaming, making his brother and sister look tame in comparison. The nurse swaddled the infant in blue, obviously another boy, and laid him in another bassinet behind the glass window. Faizah smiled, looking at the boy. He was the biggest of the three thus far, and Faizah had an idea he was the biggest of the five. She would have to wait and see.
"Another boy. He has black hair too." She muttered as she watched him. His eyes were open, and they were the same blue-green color as Nakia's. Faizah smiled. "I wonder if Nakia has thought of names for them."
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Post by shadowreine on Apr 5, 2013 15:55:48 GMT -5
"I wasn't going to bring it up. Naming a baby before it's born is tempting a little bit of fate. Naming five...is just asking for some of them not to make it," S'tor admitted.
Small. But healthy. This all might work out. But what did you do? She had tried not to get pregnant, had taken the precautions the Earthwomen took, and still ended up with quints. That weren't even identical. Maybe she'd had some kind of weird reaction to the pills they used, to whatever herbs or chemicals were in them. That was a reasonable explanation.
"And with not being sure of the sire...not that I won't help her come up with names once we know how many of what we have." He would, too. The obvious one had been used, and he supposed they could resolve the father issue by using both his name and L'iyr's...
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Post by FaizahPandora on Nov 3, 2013 11:57:16 GMT -5
Faizah nodded, still watching the infants. She looked over at S'tor, wondering if Nakia had spoken to him about whether or not she was raising the infants. She had asked Faizah to take two of them, if theyh made it. Faizah had agreed, and she had heard that Lakeen was taking one. But Faizah didn't know anything about the remaining two. She wondered if Nakia had expected only three to make it...?
She shook her head, glancing back at the infants. Either way, Naktor now had two brothers and a sister. The boy would enjoy that, no doubt. She couldn't help the smile that came to her face when she thought of him. He was growing to look more and more like S'tor everyday, though there were hints of Nakia in them.
She looked over at L'iyr, comparing him to the infants in the bassinets. The boys certainly looked like L'iyr, with their dark hair. But there was something about the girl that reminded Faizah of Naktor at this age. "Are the two of you interested in finding out for certain who the father is?" She asked hesitantly.
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