Welcome to the world
For the umpteenth time, Atkanah winced as she paced around her bedroom, getting ready to sleep. She’d retired from dinner early, not feeling really hungry as painful pangs in her lower back had kept bothering her all throughout the evening. She’d excused herself, taken a shower and left for bed early. When she was changing into her sleeping gown, an especially painful muscle spasm had hit her and she’d had sat up in bed. She’d hoped that the pain would pass when she went to sleep, having been induced by being on her feet all day, much against her family’s best wishes. However, the more painful the pangs became, the more she realized that they might actually be a sign for something else entirely.
Meanwhile, Kei was making his way to their quarters. He’d spent the remainder of the evening outside with Momi, playing basketball. Their daughter had a rather zesty personality and seemed to have a never-ending fuel of energy. She was worn out for the day however and Kei had instructed her to go to bed. He had left her to it; Momi was nearly 15 now and Kei had noticed she liked having the responsibility of going to bed herself, without parental supervision. He’d also noticed she was far less defiant if she did, and didn’t oppose to going to sleep as much if she could do it in her own time. They grew up so quickly. Sometimes, Kei could hardly believe he had seven nearly adult children, and even grandchildren. And now another one on the way. Time just flew.
As quiet as he could, the water guardian opened the door to Atka’s and his room. She’d excused herself from dinner earlier today to go to bed early. It hadn’t alarmed Kei; he’d experienced six pregnancies before and he remembered how in the final moments of it, she was always very uncomfortable and needed rest moreso than anything else.
He was a little surprised to see light coming through the crack of the door, and opened it completely, finding his wife pacing around the room. He’d expected her to be in bed, since she’d been so worn out.
“Aloha nani,” he said to her, closing the door behind him. “I thought you would be in bed, sleeping. Is everything alright?”
When Kei came in through the door, she glanced up at him from her place leaning against the mattress. She nodded, absently, turning her eyes back to the bed. “Yeah, it’s… alright. Just this… pain that won’t go away. Right here,” she gestured to the place of the aching, using the tips of her fingers to apply pressure there. She’d known that to be a method to relieve the pain with cramping and the beginning onset of labor pains. She didn’t want this to be labor pains yet, she should’ve still had a week or two before that; but with the disaster at Pompeii only two days behind them, the pressure and stress of dealing with the aftermath must’ve gotten to her.
“I thought it’d go away if I went to bed, but it’s not letting down.” She’s still way underdressed, in just her underwear, so he can see the full effect of the pregnancy on her body, stretch marks and all. Her night gown is on the mattress, from when she put it down when the pain almost doubled her. She rubbed the affected area again, not yet wanting to admit her suspicions out loud. But she took a deep breath and gave in a little, reaching for her night gown. “… Maybe I should go to the healing room. I have a tea there I could take for the pain that doesn’t affect the baby.” She starts bunching it up so she can throw it over her head. “Maybe I’ll be able to sleep after that. Walking’s helped, but not much.”
Kei took a second to take in the circumstances. His wife, in her underwear, in obvious discomfort, her nightgown discarded onto the bed. It was a little peculiar she hadn’t put it on, unless she didn’t want the fabric touching her body. It concerned him, especially when she indicated the location where the pain was coming from. She was clearly aching past a level that had occurred before this pregnancy, or at least that she’d told him of. He, too, knew their son’s estimated birthday wasn’t for another two weeks. There had been a lot of stress on her for the past few days and finding her here, squirming, alarmed him.
“Atka,” the guardian addressed her, speed-walking towards her and the bed. He sat down, took the gown from her and carefully pushed it over her head. His concerned and wary eyes travelled around her face once it had emerged from the fabric. “You can barely get dressed on your own.” He put his hand behind her neck and under her hair, and pulled it out of the back of her gown. “You are clearly hurting. A lot.” He helped her pull the gown further down, then gently put both his hands on the sides of her large belly. Gingerly, he carressed his hands along either side of it. “Be honest. Is this really something that drinking tea will resolve? Are you quite certain he’s not on his way?”
“…” She pressed her lips together before nervously starting to chew on the bottom one. She placed her hands on top of his and dareD glance up at him, but only briefly. “… I still had weeks, Kei. I thought I did. This is the worst possible timing, there’s so much work to be done, so many people in the infirmary. I can hardly keep track.” She continued her ranting, speaking quickly and anxiously. She looked everywhere but his eyes. She still hadn’t said it out loud, but the more she considered it, the more plausible it is that her baby was going to be born before the night ended. False contractions would’ve stopped when she took a walk.
And almost as if summoned by that thought, the pain in her lower back returned, sharper and stronger than before and she let out a pained groan, leaning forward so she could rest her forehead against his chest. She breathed harshly through her nose, trying to count the seconds it lasted, but she lost count when she moved her hands from his palms to his arms, gripping them tightly to the point where her nails left little, crescent moon shaped little indents on his skin. She let out a whimper again, looking up at him with a pleading look on his face.
“Maybe we should call someone. I think the baby’s coming.”
Kei sighed softly, pushing some bits of strayed hair out of her face. Even in this dire time, she was still putting others’ needs before her own. “I know, nani,” he began, “But he doesn’t know that, and he–”
He was cut short when his wife almost doubled over against him, clearly experiencing another strong pang of hurt. He could almost feel his stress level shoot up on high, but remained calm as he allowed her to cope with the pain on his arms. Once the worst was over, her met her anxious eyes with his own concerned ones.
“I think we can be fairly sure about that, yes,” Kei agreed, running another hand across her forehead. He kept his voice and posture calm and collected. Now it was his time to be her rock and support.
“Promise me this,” he went on, while he gently wrapped his two arms around her, one beneath her armpits and the other around her pelvis, “You concern yourself only with you now. Please don’t worry about work and others. Things are under control, and it will be okay. Right now, it’s just us and our son, okay?” Briefly, he touched her forehead with his, and looked in her eyes, warm and determined.
Carefully, he got to his feet and pulled her along with him. He made sure to support her, in case she began to ache again. “Now,” Kei went on structuredly, “Options. We can go into the delivery room, or if you prefer to stay within our quarters, we can set up things here. Either way if you are too uncomfortable to walk, I can carry you where you need to be. What do you think?”
“Alright, ok, I promise.” It wasn’t like she had much of a choice, anyways. Rory and Healani would have to take over for her. There was no way she would tend to the injured while she was having a baby.
Atkanah shook her head. “I don’t wanna have the baby here. I mean, I wouldn’t mind, but,” she glanced over at their bed, the light blue sheets a bit messed up as she and Kei had been sitting on the at alternate times, “I don’t want to ruin the sheets. I like this bedspread.” It was a bit of a silly request, but she had stitched that quilt with Momi and she didn’t think it’d be fair if this new baby unintentionally ruined all the hair work their youngest daughter had put into it.
She clenched her eyes shut, reaching down to hold her belly again. “I can still walk. Walking might actually help contractions speed up. I don’t want this one to take as long as when I had the boys.” With that she meant the twins, Kaleo and Kalei. Between the two of them, she was in labor for almost 24 hours that time. She started to step towards the door when she suddenly stopped, looking intently at the door before glancing back at the bed. “I don’t... think there’s any beds available, though, now that I think about it.” She reached up, rubbing her forehead and the bridge of her nose. “There isn’t. It’s going to have to be here.” She didn’t look at all pleased with this realization.