“I… WANT… HEST!” The last word came out in a high-pitched scream.

Avril wiped sweat from the queen’s brow. “Now, Ban’frensee, that’d be inappropriate.”

Siobhan turned to her mother who stood at her side. “You never told me how much this would hurt!” she hollered.

Kaylynn only squeezed her hand. “Hush, inene,” the former queen answered, letting the accusation pass by without comment. “Focus.”

Focus—easier said than done, especially as another contraction clenched down on her belly.

A guttural yell, more like a wounded creature than a human escaped her lips and a tear slid down her cheek.

“Inene, you can do this.” Her mother blotted the tear away with her sleeve.

As a vice clamped down on her abdomen for what felt like the thousandth time, all other thoughts fled. She sat up and bore down, wailing as the contraction waned, then flopped back onto the pillow. How much more could she bear?

“I’m here, moor’neen.” Hest’s gentle voice pulled her eyes open.

“You heard me,” she breathed and clasped his outstretched hand, leaning her forehead against it.

“I was outside when you called for me. If ‘twasn’t for having to win an argument with the Rittider at the door to get in, I’d have been here sooner.”

“Aye, they—oh-oh!” she panted.

“Help her focus on breathing,” Kaylyn ordered.

Hest leaned over, grabbing her hand. “Look at me, moor’neen. Breathe.”

Siobhan tried to fight down panic as she felt another wave rising. This one was worse than any yet. She writhed, but Hest’s silvery-blue eyes in her view were intent and calming. Somehow, she made it through the contraction, and the next, and the next, her cries dropping low and straining with effort, but the pain stayed out of her voice.

“There we are.” Avril checked on the progress. “I can see the head. Only a few more and this child will be here.”

Hest’s face paled, if that was possible. He already had the fairest skin she’d ever seen. She was about to smile at him when something changed, and her body surged in a haze of pure effort. This time, she pressed back into it, yelling with all her might.

“That’s it, Ban’frensee,” Avril encouraged her.

“You’re beautiful, moor’neen.” Hest brushed a stray strand of hair away from Siobhan’s face.

She didn’t know how he could say that when she was covered in sweat with her knees pulled up to her ribs, but it made her love him all the more.

“Breathe,” he coached her, as the tension in her belly ebbed. She pulled in air, settling her mind and readying it for the next wave. He made it possible. Having him at her side made anything possible.

“One more,” Avril said with an inexorable surety.

It came, and the world disappeared as she clenched her eyes shut and gave her all to the work her body demanded. Distantly she heard her own voice, hollering like a warrior on the charge; exhaustion vanished, power flooded in behind it, and with a final cry the pressure suddenly abated. She heard Avril exclaim with uncharacteristic delight, and something slid along her leg.

“’Tis a girl. You have a princess!” Avril proclaimed as her hands brought a squirming body up onto Siobhan’s chest, blotting the blotchy red skin with a clean towel and then patting the little one on the back to elicit a first breath. Squinting eyes tightened against the light, pudgy fists flailing, the baby’s tiny mouth opened in a small gasp that turned into a wail, even as Siobhan wrapped her arms around the little life. Her daughter.

Hest kissed his wife on the forehead, long, lingering, and proud. “She’s beautiful, just like her mother.” He blinked back tears.

Avril continued to prod at the newborn, while Siobhan just stared, fixated, at her perfect little features. She reached out and caught one little hand that curled around her finger and squeezed.

“Baby girl,” Siobhan called gently, and the squalling cut off mid-cry while her daughter searched for her mother’s voice. “Baby girl,” she said again, and this time dark eyes, too dark to even name their color, opened wide and settled on Siobhan’s face.

If the world hadn’t already stopped turning six thousand synods ago, ‘twould have stopped then. Creation and all its rhythms froze in place while Siobhan stared into the eyes of the new, untouched life in her arms. Then the moment broke, and her daughter resumed her wailing. Siobhan laughed without breath and rounded her shoulders inward, enveloping the little body against her chest as she pulled her closer.

Avril nudged her elbow aside to run a finger down the baby’s spine, then stepped away, and Siobhan finally looked up again to see her mother smiling down on them both.

“Oh, Mother, look at her.”

“I have, inene, I have. She’s wonderful, just like her mother. I’m so proud of you.” Kaylynn brushed her hand along the crown of the baby’s head, drawing Siobhan’s attention to its downy coating. She stroked a single finger over the brown fuzz of hair, and for the first time, experienced the tender satisfaction of feeling her child’s muscles relax against her, distress disintegrating in a mother’s embrace. Her cries died down, and she looked up, studying Siobhan’s face as if she knew it but couldn’t place the memory.

“She’s so soft.” She whispered the words to Hest as she kept running her palm over their daughter’s head, watching her blink each time Siobhan’s hand landed, then wiggle when it lifted to find something new to look at. After a few strokes she craned her little neck back and found Hest’s face. He stared back, brushing her palm with his fingers, and Siobhan watched them connect—five tiny, perfect fingers latching onto his rough, calloused one.

“You should hold her,” Siobhan suggested, opening her arms a little to let him take her.

“I—“ Hest protested.

“Aye, Moregot, if you’re to be a father, putting it off will do you no good.” Avril scooped her up and placed the baby decisively in his arms.

Siobhan smiled at the sight. His blond hair had escaped the tie that held it back and slid over his shoulder while he stared down at their daughter with a perfect alloy of wonder and fumbling confusion. Despite his awkward posture, the image looked right, as if he’d found his place.

“Moor’neen, look at her.” His voice was barely above a whisper. “She has little toes.”

“Aye, she’d better,” Siobhan laughed. “Where’s Father?” she said, as she realized he should be here as much as anyone else.

Kaylynn gave a delicate chuckle and nodded toward the door. “I’m sure he’s somewhere very close by. He’s been pacing the corridor the entire time. I’ll go fetch him.”

The little one squirmed, and Siobhan shifted her arms, trying to find a position that was comfortable for them both.

“I was summoned?” Athair smiled down at Siobhan from beside Kaylynn.

“Aye, Father, come meet your granddaughter.”

He took the baby in his arms, his expression softer than Siobhan had ever seen it. To her surprise, he appeared completely comfortable with the little bundle, as if he’d had years of practice. He cooed and murmured to her, bouncing gently from his knees and seeming utterly unaware of anything else in the room.

“Am I going to get her back?” Siobhan smiled quietly to her mother after several moments of watching him rock the little girl around the room.

Just then her daughter began to fuss, and the whimper quickly escalated into a wail.

“The greatest guarantee that they’ll be returned,” Kaylynn laughed back, “is always that cry.”

“I think she wants something only you can give her, Inene,” Athair said as he passed the baby carefully over to Siobhan. “I’ll look forward to spending more time with her when she’s not so hungry, but for now I’ll leave her to you. Hest, would you like to join me?”

“In a bit,” Hest answered over his daughter’s cries.

While Athair slipped out of the room, Kaylynn added some pillows to the bed and helped Siobhan sit up, and Avril instructed her on how to position the little one against her. Once they were settled in and the baby began to nurse, a completely different wave of pain washed over Siobhan, and she yelped.

“’Tis normal.” Avril patted her arm. “’Twill pass soon.”

Siobhan blew air through her nose and tried to release the tension in her muscles. Just as Avril had said, the pain soon disappeared, leaving Siobhan free to gaze at the miracle of life in her arms without distraction.

“What are we going to name her?” Hest brushed his stray strands of hair back to the tie.

Without pausing to think, Siobhan blurted, “Mairead.”

Hest repeated the name while looking at their daughter. Mairead turned her head toward him.

“Aye, Mairead, ‘tis,” Hest affirmed with a gentle smile.

“I’ll let your father know.” Kaylynn slipped away as Siobhan stared into Mairead’s eyes.

“Why Mairead?” Hest sat on the edge of the bed. “’Tis a family name?”

Siobhan didn’t look up; images of a round face with red hair and smiling green eyes filled her memory.

“Mairead was my mother’s mother, and by the time she died, I was ten synods and completely inseparable from her.  It just felt right.”

“Aye, moor’neen, it does. She even knows her name.”

Their daughter lost her latch and began rooting, grunting, and Siobhan guided her back. Could there be anything more wonderful than holding Mairead? Her heart was content—her daughter in her arms, her husband beside her. Mairead’s suckling slowed, and she closed her eyes. Siobhan watched as the little one fell asleep.

“Let me take her, Ban’frensee.” Avril bent over and lifted Mairead into her own arms. “I’ll watch over her while you get some rest. You wore yourself out bringing her into this world.” She turned to Hest. “And don’t you stay too long. Let her sleep.”

Hest pursed his lips and averted his gaze as he nodded; she could see that he almost laughed, but Avril wasn’t a person to take lightly. “Aye, Avril, she’ll get her rest. I’ll make sure of it.”

Without Mairead in her arms, Siobhan felt at a loss. She shivered, and Hest tucked the blankets up around her. He glanced to the door, making sure Avril wasn’t in sight, and kissed her. She warmed at his lips on hers.

“Jeeah has blessed us; you’re both safe. So now you can do as Avril said: relax.” Hest adjusted her pillows.

Siobhan wanted to fight, to say she was fine, but she felt weary. ‘Twas as if her energy had been poured out of a cup, not even a drop left. She sank back into the bed and closed her eyes. How ‘twas possible to be so exhausted? She thought back on the last step, and the pain faded like a dream upon waking.

Maybe that’s why Mother never told me about it. It just doesn’t matter once they’re in your arms.