Another Mouth to Feed

Writers: Suzee, Miriah, Devin
Date Posted: 22nd March 2024

Characters: Urlene, N'vanik, Cyradis, K'deren
Description: Cyradis has her baby
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 13, day 3 of Turn 10

Urlene

N'vanik

Cyradis

K'deren

Cyradis looked out over the Weyr from where K'deren had carried her to
a couch on the weyrledge. The soft breeze felt good as the sun began
it's descent toward the west. She swore her legs were going to atrophy
if he didn't let her walk anywhere. But she was simply restless, she
knew that. Time had seemed to crawl for the last month.

"Come on baby," she said softly as she rubbed the sides of her
extended belly. "It's really nice out here."

Shadow her little brown flit came gliding in from the ocean side where
he'd been fishing and sending happy pictures of his catch. She smiled
but then another little blue arrived followed by a couple of greens.
They all made chirping sounds with their eyes whirling and they
started to hum. Her eyes widened. She hadn't felt a thing.

She looked down and poked her belly. It was hard as a rock though it
didn't hurt at all. **Panitath, call Donneths and Loseths, I need
Urlene!** She'd barely finished the thought when her waters gushed
and the first hard contraction hit her. "Shardit," she said through
gritted teeth. "Now I remember!"

}:The egg comes:{ Panitath announced. }:Mine says, bring the healer:{

N'vanik scrambled from his weyr and ran across the Weyrbowl to the
infirmary even as he had Loseth reach out to the dragons with riders
on duty there. He took a deep breath as he approached the front desk,
trying to calm down. "Where's Master Urlene? The Weyrwoman is having
her baby."

"I'm right here." Urlene had already shouldered her pack of
necessities and appeared just as N'vanik finished speaking. "I got
word already." Her smile was brief as a journeyman appeared behind her
and took the pack from her. "I'm headed that way, N'vanik. Go to her
and I'll be there momentarily."

He nodded briefly. "Thanks." Then he turned and hurried off toward the
Weyrwoman's weyr.

He was breathing a little heavy when he got there. "Hey. Urlene is on
her way." His gaze moved over Cyradis, looking to see if there was
anything aside from the usual stress of labor. This was a risky
pregnancy and she'd already had a near miss with her tea being
drugged.

She waved him toward her as she was between contractions. "Can you
take me to the bed please?"

Even fully pregnant, the small Weyrwoman was easy for N'vanik to lift.
He picked her up carefully and carried her to the sleeping chamber.
"You feel okay? I mean, normal for this sort of thing?" After several
children she would have a good gauge of what labor should be like.

That was the point K'deren arrived, looking slightly out of breath. "Is
everything ok? I just dropped the children with their foster mother."

She nodded to N'vanik. "Yes," she said. "Normal for the end of labor."
she panted.

She gave K'deren a smile "Than..... Oh Faranth," she ground out as
another hard contraction rippled through her. A deep moan of pain
arose from somewhere around her toes.

N'vanik moved over to give K'deren room, but stayed next to the bed
and offered his hand for Cyradis to squeeze. It was hard to watch her
in pain, though he was relieved to know she didn't feel anything out
of the ordinary.

}:It seems very much easier for Queens to lay their eggs than for
humans to have hatchlings,:{ Loseth observed.

"End of labor?" Urlene spoke softly as she entered with her junior
close behind her. "It seems like it's moving quickly then." She wove
her way around the concerned men. "I have to check you, Cyradis. I
expect that this will go quickly. " Washing her hands with redwort,
she dragged a stool near Cyradis' feet and looked up at her. "Are you
ready?"

Cyradis groaned and nodded as she kept trying to blow out little
breaths to prevent pushing until Urlene was in place. She squeezed
both men's hands completely unaware of her own strength but trying to
transfer some of her muscles' effort to her partners. As the
contraction subsided, she eased up and took a deep cleansing breath.
"Glad you're here," she half smiled and looked around at all of them.

N'vanik distantly wondered if he'd have trouble gripping his riding
straps tomorrow with the way she was squeezing his hand. "Wouldn't
miss it." He was glad Urlene was here, too, confident that Cyradis was
getting the best care.

Franah was a little surprised at the speed of the labor, but it wasn't
the first time she'd seen a babe race to come into the world.

"I... need... to... push!," she said in short gasps.

"I'm not surprised." Urlene replied calmly. "I thought you'd go
quickly and I was right. You've not crowned yet but you're about to,
Cyradis. This child is ready to be born and it appears that he or she
is very impatient." She glanced up at the trio and gave a slight
smile. "Which also doesn't surprise me." She focused back on Cyradis
and nodded, helping her lift her leg slightly. "Bear down, Cyradis and
push."

N'vanik drew in a breath. Already?

She waited until she felt the next contraction begin and took a deep
breath. Then she curled forward and held the breath, pushing as hard
as she could. Only a groan escaped as she lay back to catch her
breath.

Franah moved to assist. She had a feeling the infant would be here in
the next push or two.

Cyradis nodded and it seemed the next contraction started almost
immediately. She took another deep breath and did as she had with the
last one. She pushed!

Franah's reflexes moved faster than her mind and she suddenly had a
newborn in her arms. "Shards and shells," she said with a breathless
laugh. "What an entrance!"

"There we go..." Urlene began to quickly clean Cyradis and prepare for
the afterbirth to come. "Clean the babe up, if you would, Franah."

"A boy," Cyradis breathed. "How is he doing," she called. One of her
private fears had been what the poison had done to her unborn baby.

The infant gave a hearty cry as Franah finished cleaning him. "He
appears to be quite healthy, Weyrwoman."

"A boy!" N'vanik squeezed Cyradis's hand. He would have been just as
happy with a girl, but he was glad to have a son to go along with his
two daughters.

She squeezed back squeezing K'deren's hand at the same time, and
smiled up at him, tired to her core. "How about Cyranik?"

"Cyra--oh." N'vanik blinked. She'd said all along that she thought the
baby was his, but he hadn't expected such an overt combination of
their names. His eyes were suddenly hot and he blinked faster.
"I--yeah . .. yeah. That's good. Thank you." He smiled at Cyradis.

Franah brought over the carefully wrapped infant. "Here you are,
Weyrwoman. Congratulations to all of you." She glanced over to include
the two men.

Urlene finished cleaning Cyradis, glancing up at the trio of parents
as she wiped her hands and carefully covered the Weyrwoman's legs
again. "Plenty of rest for the rest of the day, but I'd like to see
you up and walking tomorrow morning." She looked at the little boy and
her face warmed for a moment. "He's a beautiful child. Congratulations
to all of you."

As with a great many women all thoughts about her pregnancy, labor,
and delivery were gone in the heartbeat her new little one was placed
in her arms. A dragon bellow from the Senior Gold trumpeted the news
to the rest of the Weyr. He was beautiful and perfect and looked
exactly like both his fathers. She glowed at both N'vanik and K'deren
before kissing the tiny face.

A baby boy bellow followed the dragon's and she chuckled. "Oh my," she
said as he began seeking. "I guess you boys will have to come back
later," she said and began a one handed unbuttoning of her shift.

N'vanik was reluctant to leave. He wanted to soak in every moment,
spend more time with his new son. But Cyradis clearly wanted some
privacy. He dropped a quick kiss to her brow before turning to go.

Last updated on the April 5th 2024

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Another Mouth to Feed