Chương 1049: Day One Thousand And Forty-Seven

Dear Diary, Look, I know I've mocked the Fates for their deep and abiding love of crack cocaine on a regular basis. I may have occasionally suggested that they dabbled in things like wet and acid. I've said a whole list of unflattering things about them, even if I've kind of backed off from that since I met Skuld and realized that she's a decent Human Adjacent person, even if she is a little bit of a geek.

Okay, she seems like she might even be a nerd, which gives me all kinds of weird unpleasant feelings, since everyone knows I've got a whole assed thing for nerds, but Skuld herself gives off mega little sister vibes, and that is one of the few kinks I have managed to avoid. Incest, that is. Linus and Lachlan are bros, not brothers. Yeah, I did the deed with Dionysus that one time, and Marie was there cheering us on, but honestly I was too drunk on rage and D to really remember if she participated.

Also, y'know, Maenads and Dionysus seem to have that particular kink sewn up sideways, but I wasn't really paying attention to that at the time. At first I was getting all of D's Worshippers out of Asia Minor, and afterward I wound up way more focused on 'how did you fit that inside me Kitten' to think about the whole 'mothers, sisters, daughters, lovers' thing D has going on with the Maenads.

At any rate, while I've maybe mocked and threatened the Fates on a regular basis in the past for the fucked up shit that happens to me, I don't think I ever called them sadists. Or anything else that implied they have moral failings. No, being addicted to shit is not a moral failing. It's a medical condition, one that's frequently brought on by some kind of mental health condition that the addicted person was trying to self-medicate for.

Some of the research I've done with an eye toward making my personal quest for mental health maybe a little less onerous, maybe a little more effective has suggested that maybe there's more to it than that, in the scientific sense, but not in any kind of moral sense. So yeah, I haven't previously questioned the morality of the Fates. Their sobriety yes, their morality no. But right now I gotta say that whoever is in charge of Archmage Sister Siobhan Darling's fate needs a serious talking to.

Possibly with my or someone else's foot shoved firmly up their ass. Or asses, if there are more than one of them responsible for the shit happening right now. So yesterday after a short but ugly rain shower, Siobean finally decided to make her entrance to the world. Or so we all thought.

"Uh, Dad?" Lyman, who'd been keeping the kids entertained so we didn't have them all crowded around Siobhan, leaned into the tent where we'd laid her.

"Yes, Daughter?

"Is it safe to Translocate a woman in labor?" He pursed his lips.

"Because this isn't exactly a great spot to have a newborn kid, y'know?" He moved over and squatted down next to our Darling.

"The woman herself is probably the best expert on childbirth we have, but I would suspect it's discommended."

"He's..." Siobhan trailed off into a groan as another contraction twisted her face up.

"Right," she panted once she could speak again.

"But while they're clearly true labor pains, they are still spread out enough I think it would be safe to carry me?"

"Okay." I slipped tentacles around and under her, lifting her as gently and carefully as I could.

"Dad, can you, Mom, and Marie get the kids home?" Tallulah chose that moment to interrupt.

"I can help with the children if Mistress Marie wishes to be present at the birth." We all turned to Marie as I gently shifted Siobhan through the tent flaps. She frowned, then Co-Located next to herself.

"Both, Please." With that I nodded to Saffron and said, "I'll meet you at home," then started moving toward the Homestead. One of Marie loped on one side of me, and Saffron jogged next to me on the other side. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. When I turned to her as I picked up the pace, she said, "I went through training with duBois too, Goof." I grinned at her and said, "okay then, but I warned you."

As she spluttered a little, I accelerated smoothly, avoiding any sudden movement, holding Siobhan's head against my shoulder, the side of her belly against my own.

"Hang on tight, Darling."

"I trust you not to drop..." Her witty banter died off as she winced, another contraction twisting her face.

"Shit, I'm not making it worse, am I?" She didn't respond aloud, but shook her head through most of the contraction. By the time it finished, I could see the West Tower sticking up in the distance, so I turned and tried to decelerate as smoothly as I'd sped up. I would say something about flying being cheating, but you're getting the mother of my child to our home faster than any way save Translocation.

Yeah, I hadn't had a need to do it a lot between figuring it out and now, but it turns out when I wasn't trying to lift one of my tentacles with another that was simultaneously trying to imitate a person, moving myself like this was way easier. Like, 'barely an effort' easier. I mean, technically I don't think it counted as flying. I wasn't lifting any meaningful percentage of my mass off the ground. Just a teeny tiny bit that happened to be in the Mortal Realm rather than M-Space.

When I hit a fast walking pace I spun around and touched down not far from the entrance to East House. Before I ever got to the house my tentacles had the doors open to see Marie and Saffron both looking at me with an even mix of affection, annoyance, and exasperation.

"Bed's Warm." Marie made it clear where I needed to head; I speed walked through the Dining Room and Kitchens, did the same up the stairs giving silent thanks to anybody listening that the kids weren't home yet to chide me about not walking carefully on steps. I mean, I was walking carefully, but I was also stepping as quickly as I could without jostling Siobhan too much.

Marie and Saffron had the bed all set up, curtains pulled back on one side, pillows mounded up so Siobhan could lay back on them without being fully supine. I settled her in and asked, "do you need anything?"

"Water..." She grimaced again, and I would have gone for water if Saffron hadn't been right there with a stein. I smiled at her and said, "I'll be right here if you need me, okay?" Like, I got it. Siobhan was absolutely about to give birth to a baby that would be all of our daughter in any meaningful sense, but Saffron was the one who'd put in the requisition for Siobean, and she felt some kinda way about being in the catcher's position.

So I stepped back a little, leaned against Marie where she stood still and silent with the tiniest twitches of her tail showing through her skirts, and tried to relax.

"Need any help with the kids?" I murmured. She shook her head, "Kits Practice." Took me a little, but then I remembered that Maenads could see body heat, but didn't normally have my wireframe vision. Then again, they had the whole cat eyes thing going on, so their night vision ought to be pretty good.

"Got them corralling the others?"

"Perimeter."

"Cool." It wasn't like they were on an actual wilderness trail out in the boonies or anything. At this point there shouldn't be anything on the trail between Lindsey's campsite and the Homestead that would do anything but freeze or run when a pack of apex predators rolled through. Even badgers have some tiny amount of self-preservation instinct, and the kids weren't likely to go off the trail, especially with the kits surrounding them and Marie, Tallulah, Sigyn, and Loki on overwatch.

Over the course of the next several hours, I was reminded of something. I hate waiting. I think it's substantially worse that the only thing breaking up the waiting was Siobhan's grunts and moans of pain. Some time well after dawn, with the girls all still sleeping off their nighttime excursion in their rooms, I thought, is this normal? She sighed. Dan births are often long, involved processes. I stepped over and took Siobhan's right hand; Saffron had been holding her left since shortly before dawn.

"Anything I can get you?"

"More water?" she whispered. I scooped up the stein and stepped to the kitchen, then stepped back a minute later.

"Here you go." Bonnie's was kinda awful, but it didn't take this long. Saffron just shook her head. Bonnie is Bag, love. It's a mom thing, then? Saffron nodded, but didn't say anything. I figured Siobhan could hear us if she was paying attention, but she didn't have much attention to pay. As the sun neared the horizon, after twenty four fuckin' hours of off and on contractions, Canta stepped into the room. From the hallway to the Bore.

I stepped over to him and said, "not that I mind, but you could have come straight in here." He shook his head.

"Not with the Wards your Wife placed on the far side. I had to walk from the gates to here."

"Shit. Sorry about that. I would have come got you, but..." He smiled softly.

"No worries." When we got to Siobhan, he took her right hand. Saffron still hadn't let go of her left.

"My child, I am here." Then we waited some more. I hate waiting. I hate waiting when someone I love is in pain even more.