New Roots (Fate's Intent Book 8) (24 page)

I put up with seeing my mother everyday but it was only for one thing; Jaylyn. She was growing beautifully and obviously locked in perfect health. The day was getting close and her excitement for it only raised.

Adele was showing the changes of her own and everyone was becoming anxious for the births but that wasn’t the only change. Baby Dirk was getting bigger every day. He could already roll from his back to his belly and back again, keeping his head up well with his strong neck. Ruby hated it of course but the rest of us enjoyed watching him grow.

It was morning and spring was almost to an end in Randal. Everything was in bloom and its parks and palace gardens where flourishing in all the shades of green. The family was just waking up and beginning to show themselves in the dining hall for another breakfast.

“And how is everyone doing this morning?” Izin asked, specifically looking towards Adele.

“We’re well.” She smiled. “The walk seems to get longer though.”

He laughed. “It won’t seem so soon.”

“Morning.” Jaylyn reached the table with me and stood behind one of the chairs while she greeted everyone for a short rest.

“And you?” Izin asked. “I trust you’re doing well also.”

She smiled ready to reply but it faded when she brought her hand towards her stomach and sighed. “Uh oh.”

“What?!” I asked anxiously.

“Well, it seems I’m about to do a little worse. I think my water just broke.”

Everyone jumped from their seats.

“Now?!” Izin asked. “Kathryn! It’s time! Tell Julianna!”

She nodded and hurried off.

“Come on.” I picked her up. “We’ll get you upstairs.”

“It’s okay. I feel fine.”

“You should be lying in bed.”

I took her upstairs to our room and Julianna was already waiting inside. “How are you feeling?”

“That was the weirdest thing I’ve ever felt in my entire life.”

“I suppose I could imagine. Troy, lay her down.”

I walked over to the bed and carefully put her down, making her the pillows were behind her for some support.

“How’s the pain for you?”

Jaylyn shrugged. “What pain? I’ve only felt a light tickle and then it will go away.”

“A tickle? Well, your healing abilities are sure going to work in your favor. You think you’d still prefer some sedatives in case it does turn into pain?”

Jaylyn paused for a moment and looked up at me who stood silent and stiff. “Ah, no. I’ll be okay. Save those for Adele. She’s been having those fake contractions for the last week. It should be soon for her and I know she’ll need them more if she starts and I happen to be still laid up in bed.”

“Okay, then just go ahead and get out of the bottom half of your clothes and I’ll be in again in a minute to see where you’re at.”

Jaylyn nodded as Julianna left the room and she started to slowly move herself to the edge of the bed.

“Let me help.” I took her hand and helped her up to her feet so she could get undressed. “Thanks. Are you going to stay with me? I need you to.”

“Of course I’m staying. I want to help you.”

“Then you have to be positive about this. I don’t want anything to go wrong. So, don’t show worry or you’ll make me worry.”

I leaned into her and kissed her forehead. “All right. I promise. I don’t want to make things worse for you.”

“You won’t have to say a word. Just stay with me and give me what I need.”

I nodded and rubbed her back for a moment. “Anything for you. You know that. I want you to be ready.”

Jaylyn turned her head to me and kissed my lips. “Thank you.”

Her wet clothes were set aside and I helped her back in bed, comfortably propped up with pillows with the blanket over her where she waited for Julianna to come back.

She walked through the door with a small metal laundry tub filled with steaming water and a sponge floating around in it.

I walked over to the nearby table and cleared some things off it so she could set it down. “Thank you.”

I didn’t reply. I walked back over to Jaylyn and sat with her for support.

Julianna approached the bed and washed her hands in the small bowl of water and reached up under the blanket towards Jaylyn. “This was quite sudden for you, wasn’t it?”

“Is that good?”

“Well, sometimes. Sometimes it could have been caused something you’ve done. Have you had sex recently?”

Jaylyn turned her head up and looked at me who sat with her almost in dismay from the question, probably turning a rosy color.

“I understand the awkwardness in my asking but if you weren’t due for a few more days, sex could be what triggered your labor. A man’s semen has certain properties that help ripen the cervix to get it ready to open.”

Jaylyn and I looked at each other again and my facial expression made it obvious that I wasn’t going to be the one to respond.

“Ah—yeah. Recently as in yesterday.”

“Nothing to be ashamed about. You made everything jump-start in the right direction. You’ll be able to start pushing soon which you’ll find to be good. A lot of women are in labor for hours on end before they get to this stage and are already tired out.”

“Well, great. The contractions don’t seem to be too bad.”

“Your gift to heal may be getting more used to how they run and have started keeping you from thinking them as pain. Every woman in the world would love to have your luck. Childbirth has a lot of great joys in the end but most would say the process relates to death.”

Jaylyn groaned sadly and looked over at me. “Oh, I’m starting to feel bad for Adele now.”

“Don’t worry about her. I’ll give her some of the sedatives so she won’t feel them as much when she needs them. It’s different for everyone. They have to get with just a few minutes apart before we could start anything.”

“The same day.” Jaylyn smiled, looking at me. “Wouldn’t that be perfect?”

“Except for Ruby.” I smiled back.

“Well, yeah but it will still make it easier to celebrate.”

“All right.” Julianna said, spreading out some blankets on the bed and placing anything she needed within reach. “You ready for this?”

“None the slightest.” Jaylyn answered with a smile. “But I want it.”

“Okay, you’re the one that can feel your contractions so rotate your hips out and bring your knees as close to your head as possible and give me one good push when you feel one.”

Jaylyn nodded and lifted up both her legs towards her head. She held just behind her knee to keep them there and started breathing slowly.

I remained at her side and massaged her shoulders. “You can do this.”

Jaylyn nodded with another breath. “I feel one.”

“Then push now.” Jaylyn did and held it for a few seconds like she was told. “Good. Your education has paid off. Just a few more and we should be able to see some crowning.”

It continued and Jaylyn pushed for every contraction she had and held it there until she was told to relax.

The tension from holding them was beginning to get her to feel tired and I was there whispering words of encouragement in her ear as I sat close next to her. “You’re doing great, Jaylyn. Just a little further and soon you can hold him.”

It kept Jaylyn wanting to continue and even though she was tired, she wasn’t going to give up and it was one of the many things I loved about her. She’s waited too long to want to hold our little son in her arms and was ready.

“We’re starting to see something.” Julianna smiled. “Just a couple more hard ones and his head will be out.”

Jaylyn nodded and her determination was elevated. At another contraction, she pushed as hard as she could and held it even longer than before.

“Good. One more good one like that and his head should be out. You ready?”

Jaylyn nodded, too exhausted to use her words.

“You can do this.” I whispered. “One good one and you’re almost done.”

Jaylyn’s next contraction was coming and she gave this one her all and held it, trying to keep in her scream.

I stayed right next to her and held her close to me. “Fight passed it.”

She held it for another second until Julianna gave her some good news. “All right. His head is out. One more good one ought to end this.”

Jaylyn took a breath to hear it and started to prepare herself.

“Troy.” I looked up and Julianna was looking directly at me. “You should have the honor of delivering him yourself.”

My eyes flickered to Jaylyn beside me for a moment but I wasted no time to get up. “Then move.”

Julianna got up and let me take her place. I looked down and my eyes just widened a little bit. The sight was indescribable.

“Don’t be afraid to get your hands right in there. All you really have to do is catch. I’ve already cleared his airways.”

I nodded and looked up at Jaylyn. “You ready?”

She nodded as well and waited for her next contraction. She pushed hard to finish it and I caught my son in my hands as he was being born. I held the tiny baby and the reality of it was hitting me. This small fragile thing was my son and I fell into a silent state of wonderment as the room echoed with the sound of his cries.

“Is he all right?” Jaylyn asked, raising her head to try and see what was going on. “I want to see him.”

“Yes.” I let Julianna get close enough for the cutting of the umbilical cord before I moved with him. “He’s fine. Just rest. He needs to get cleaned up.”

Jaylyn nodded and dropped her head back on the pillow.

“Clean him while I take care of the afterbirth.”

I took my son in the towel and brought him over to the metal tub without even thinking twice to what she said. I used the sponge like I did with Dirk those months ago and gently washed his delicate skin clean. I was still in wonderment as I looked down on him and almost couldn’t believe that it was real. I heard Jaylyn back behind me eager to see him too and I wrapped him snugly in a clean towel, turning with him.

“Let me see him.”

I smiled as I carefully lowered myself down next to her and moved little Bryce into her arms. “Meet your mother.”

Jaylyn smiled at her first sight of him and gently grazed his head. He had brown hair like me but when he started to open his eyes and look at her, I noticed that they were a different color green than mine. He really was going to have her eyes like we’ve seen once they lighten up.

“Troy, look. He’s looking at me.”

“He probably wanted to see who’s taken such great care of him.” I leaned closer to her and kissed her head. “I’m proud of you. You did well.”

“I had help. I didn’t feel much of it that long. I’m just tired.”

“You can rest for a minute. It looks like she’s just going to clean up and you can start feeding him soon then you’ll probably both sleep.”

“I could use it.”

“You did work hard. I’m going to go tell everyone how it went. They can come in and see Bryce later. You need to rest.”

“Thank you.”

We kissed and I gently touched the baby’s head before getting up off the bed. I helped Julianna with the last few things to be taken out and looked back one last time. Jaylyn was looking down and she truly seemed happy. It was all I ever wanted and I was glad she finally got it.

Chapter 50

Jaylyn

The day had finally came and I was actually holding him. “Look at you. I’ve been waiting for this. You’re safe with me. I’ll always be here to protect you.”

Just holding him in my arms reminded me so much of when Ellie was this small. Though I wasn’t the one to give birth to her, she was still mine and it made her be much missed. I knew Bryce was going to help me get passed that loss better than I say I have. I’ve been waiting for this and now that I finally got to hold him, I knew everything was going to get better.

I soon got to feeding him and felt the stronger bond grow between us while he was suckling from me. I couldn’t take my eyes off him until Darius stopped just outside and knocked on the open door. “Permission to enter.”

I laughed. “Granted.”

“Sorry, Ruby wouldn’t let it go until I came to see.”

“It’s all right. What is she doing?”

“Trying to keep Dirk from squirming away. He moves a lot now.”

“I know.”

Darius walked closer and sat on the bed with me. “Wow! He’s tiny!”

“Well, look at you. Did you expect your son to be a normal size?”

He laughed. “No. I guess not. Nothing’s normal size about Dirk. You should see.”

I returned the laugh. “I’ll take your word for it.”

“He looks a lot like Troy though.” Darius said, becoming more serious for once. “Somehow that’s not really that surprising since Troy looks like a replica to his father.”

“Well, he’ll have my eyes though. They’ll get lighter when he gets a little older.”

“I have actually seen that in one of those visions before. It makes them stand out more with the brown hair.”

“I know. I think it’s going to be cute!”

“Shouldn’t be that long for Adele. They just had to get her into her room. I guess the contractions are getting too uncomfortable for her.”

“Same day.”

“That would be cool. Sorry we didn’t wait.”

We both laughed and Troy came back up to the room. “Hey. Getting a sneak look at my wife?”

Darius smiled and glanced down at my mostly exposed breast. “I have been waiting to see them.”

“Shut up!” I nudged him with my free arm.

“Relax. It was only fair. He’s walked in on Ruby doing it before and I wanted to see him. He really does look like you, Troy.”

“Just as Dirk looks like you.”

“It doesn’t make it so obvious with the bright red hair but down the road he will.”

“Well, get out of here. Ruby’s getting tired of constantly having to pull Dirk back to her. He’s really going to learn to get around quick.”

Darius laughed as he got up. “All right. Enjoy the rest, Jaylyn.”

“I will, believe me.”

Darius left and Troy took his place on the bed and put his arm around me. “How is he?”

“He’s good. I’m actually enjoying this. It makes me feel closer to him.”

“And you should have that. He’s been a part of you for months already.”

“I know. I’ve been waiting for this for so long but it almost doesn’t seem real.”

“Well, it is and you deserve it.”

I smiled and we sat there together, bonding as a family.

Not an hour passed and Bryce was fast asleep in a bundle of blankets in the middle of the bed. I was curled up around him to rest but I couldn’t seem to close my eyes. I loved watching him sleep. His little hands nestled up to his face twitched every now and again with his dreams and I rubbed his head with my hand.

“Psst!”

I was a little jumped and turned my head to see Ruby at the door. “Hey.”

“Awe. He’s asleep.” Ruby walked in and carefully sat herself on the bed. “I was hoping to hold him. He’s so cute. Congratulations.”

“Thank you. Where’s Dirk?”

“Darius has him. I snuck away.”

“His turn to keep him under control?”

“Good luck. I can only imagine what it will be like when he learns to crawl. He’ll be even faster.”

“There you are.” Darius walked in with Dirk being calm in his arms.

“Hungry yet?” Ruby asked.

Darius looked down and shook his head. “No. He’s sleepy from being cranky looking for you.”

“Gathering in here?” Troy was next to walk in. “Adele should be there within the hour.”

“How is she doing with that?” I asked.

Troy walked over to the bed and sat down next to Ruby, looking at Bryce sleeping. “Zayden thinks she’s handling it well. She took the sedatives and you know how she’s already accustom to pain.”

“Well, this is an entirely different pain. Just lucky that we didn’t have time to use those on Ruby way back when.”

She laughed. “I guess. I don’t really remember that much of it.”

“I planned it that way. You wouldn’t have wanted to.”

Troy laughed. “Definitely not. I was sitting right there and saw the whole thing.”

“Well, it doesn’t really matter as long as I have this.” She reached her hand up towards the little one in Darius’s arms and he leaned away. “Hey!”

“You’re not sitting very stable. You’re hardly even on the bed.”

Ruby sighed and moved herself back, trying to not shake the bed too much and wake Bryce. “Can’t even hold my own child unless I do it right.”

“Well, I don’t want him to get hurt.” Darius said, carefully lowering him down into Ruby’s arms.

“Starting a new protective thing?” I wondered with a smile.

“I hope not.” Ruby said, glaring up at Darius. “That never works out.”

Darius laughed as he leaned down and kissed her head. “Don’t worry. It won’t be like that.”

“He’s just really attached.” Troy smiled.

Darius looked over and still had a smile on his face. “Well, of course I am. He’s right next to me and I still miss him.”

“Hey!” Zayden interrupted as he leaned through the open doorway. “Just a few more minutes!”

“That’s great!” I smiled. “Have a free second from your busy schedule to see Bryce?”

Zayden released his hands from the door frame and came into the room. “Of course. I haven’t even seen him yet.”

“I know.”

Troy got up so Zayden could take his place on the bed and he leaned over to see him. “Oh, shit. He looks just like you, Troy.”

“I know.”

“It’s weird that they’re both like a mixture of each of you. Seth won’t be like that. We already know what my son will look like.”

“Just like you.” Ruby smiled.

“It’s Vendel blood. Nothing about him will say he’s Adele’s.”

“No.” Darius joked. “He’ll get something worse from her like her attitude or something.”

Zayden looked up with a glare but before he could say anything back, we heard a voice from down the hall. “Zayden! He’s crowning!”

“Oh, that’s my cue.” Zayden quickly got off the bed. “I’ll see you later.”

“Good luck!”