It had been several weeks since the executions and things were relatively peaceful. Only one attempt on Sayana had been made and that had been thwarted easily and the troublemaker caught and dealt with. Sayana was getting more and more anxious. She was at forty two weeks and Kaelea was still showing no signs of wanting to leave the relative safety of her mother’s womb and enter the world.
Sayana went to the med lab as usual, and Jean was waiting for her. “I think it’s time we gave Princess Kaelea some encouragement,” Jean said after checking on her. “She’s overdue and we don’t want this to go any longer than this.”
Karis was standing at her side. “What does that entail?”
“We’re going to inject the empress with something to induce labor,” Jean explained. “It should happen quickly, though labor may take a while if Kaelea remains stubborn.”
“All right.” Sayana felt a little nervous but was more than ready for this pregnancy to be over. Perhaps the inane comments would stop after she was no longer carrying a child. Then again, this was the court. They would probably find something new to pick at her over.
They got Sayana changed and made her comfortable. Then they pressed a hypo spray to her wrist. Jean watched her closely for several minutes. Suddenly she gasped as her water broke, and the first contraction hit. Jean grabbed her hand and held it as the spasm passed. “Remember to breathe through them, Your Imperial Majesty,” Jean told her. “Don’t hold your breath or you’ll do yourself harm.” Sayana nodded. She’d forgotten how uncomfortable the contractions were.
Jean kept an eye on her as slowly the contractions grew closer together and more intense. When the pain grew unbearable, they gave her something to stop the pain though she could still feel the pressure. Karis left briefly but returned to stand at her side, holding her hand and watching with the doctor.
A few hours passed and still there seemed to be no change in her condition, other than the contractions were closer together. “Is this normal?” Karis asked worriedly.
“Perfectly, Your Imperial Majesty,” Jean reassured him. “If this carries on for more than twenty four hours, then we will look at surgical intervention. But for now, four hours of labor is not unusual.”
“Twenty four hours?” Sayana stared at him in horror. “Women are actually in labor that long?”
“The longest labor without surgical intervention because the parents repeatedly refused it was seventy three hours. Mother and child both died. This is why it is now law that the doctors dictate when medically necessary surgical intervention takes place. That law was enacted about a century ago and thus far we’ve lost very few women to a hard labor since,” Jean told them.
“Is there a lot that can go wrong?” Sayana asked.
“I am not going to stress you out by listing every complication, Your Imperial Majesty. Yes, there is a great deal that could go wrong. Childbirth is a dangerous process for both mother and child. We have it down almost to a science these days, so we lose very few of you,” Jean told her with some exasperation. “It can still happen but if you’re asking specifically if you and Kaelea are at risk, at the moment, no you’re not. Her heart rate is strong and steady. You’re in good health. You’ll be fine.”
Sayana couldn’t answer as another contraction caused her to focus on the pressure and her breathing for a moment. When it passed, she smiled ruefully at Jean. “I’m sorry, Jean. I’m a scholar even when I’m in the med lab. I want to know everything about what’s going on around me.”
“Come back when you’re not in the middle of it and I’ll answer that question, Your Imperial Majesty. That way if you’re thinking of having a third child you’re prepared.” Jean gave her a look that was half exasperation and half amusement.
Karis chuckled. “He has a point, my heart. You do not need any more stress right now.”
Sayana laughed despite the situation. “I’m aware of that, Karis. My curiosity always gets the better of me at awkward moments. It has since I was a child.”
“Curiosity is a valuable asset, Your Imperial Majesty. Just don’t let it get away from you at the wrong moment,” Jean told her with an amused smile.
Another three hours passed before the feelings shifted. Now Sayana was getting the familiar urge to push with the contractions. “Jean,” she gasped. She told him what she was feeling.
“Excellent.” He checked the monitor. “That’s what we’ve been waiting for. You’re fully dilated, so we’re ready for Kaelea to make her entrance. When the next contraction hits, push as hard as you can.” Sayana nodded. This she remembered from having Ethian.
For the next several minutes, repetitions of “Push!” and “Breathe!” echoed in her ears as she struggled to give birth. Then, all of a sudden, there was a rush of something, and she felt a release. A moment later a baby’s cry could be heard in the med lab.
There was a flurry of activity and then an infant was placed in Sayana’s arms. “Congratulations, Your Imperial Majesties. You have a healthy baby girl,” Jean said, smiling.
“My Kaelea.” Sayana looked down at the soft fuzz covered head of her infant daughter. The peach fuzz on the top of her daughter’s head was brown, not black, so it was distinctly possible Kaelea was going to take after her father more than her mother, much as Ethian had done.
“She is bigger than the boys were.” Karis voice held a note of wonder.
Jean laughed. “I would imagine so, Your Imperial Majesty. The princes were born between 36 and 40 weeks, so they were around three kilograms. Kaelea is late by a couple weeks and has had that time to continue growing. Our poor empress just gave birth to a 4.9 kilogram baby. She did tear a little, as you’d expect from such a large baby. We’ve got a regenerator on her so give her a little bit and she’ll be fine.”
“How big is she? I mean you said she’s 4.9 kilograms?” Sayana was stunned.
“Yes,” Jean confirmed. “She’s 55 centimeters in length. She’s definitely on the large side, most likely because she is late.”
“My goodness, Kaelea.” Sayana looked down at the sleepy infant in her arms. “You certainly know how to make an entrance.”
“We will have to have the stylists and dressmakers make her some new clothes. I doubt anything we had made originally will fit her.” Karis laughed.
“Would you take care of that, please, Karis?” Sayana asked. “We’re going to need to dress her in something.”
“I will go do that now, my heart.” Karis kissed her on the top of her head. “You rest and let them get you and Kaelea all taken care of.”
“We do need to run a few tests on her.” Jean regarded mother and daughter with a serious expression. “If you’ll let us have her back for about twenty to thirty minutes, Your Imperial Majesty, we’ll get those out of the way.”
“All right.” Sayana reluctantly handed her baby over to Jean.
The regenerator came off and another doctor helped Sayana get cleaned up and back into her dress. She laid back down as even that took more energy than she had right then, and she needed to rest. A bassinet with several readouts was placed by the bed and shortly after that, Jean returned with Kaelea. He handed her to Sayana. “Now, why don’t you feed her because she’s fussing a little. Then you can both take a little nap. Once you wake up, if you’re feeling up to it, we’ll send you back to the Imperial wing to rest.”
“Thank you.” Sayana unfastened her dress and fed Kaelea, pleased to see she still remembered how to breastfeed even after so long. When Kaelea was finished eating, she placed Kaelea in the bassinet and closed her eyes. She drifted off to sleep.
She woke up a few hours later to find Karis at her side again. “The dressmakers just presented me with a dozen outfits for her, with more promised by tomorrow.” He was obviously highly amused. “I think they are a little excited.”
Sayana laughed. “Don’t let them go overboard. She’s going to outgrow those outfits rapidly. Ethian grew so fast in those first several months.”
Jean came out. “If you’re feeling up to walking, Your Imperial Majesty, you can take Kaelea and go back to the Imperial wing to recover. I would recommend giving yourself at least a day to fully rest before resuming your normal duties, longer if you feel you need it.”
Sayana stood and tried a few steps around the med lab. She was a little shaky but felt she could walk back. “Karis, do you want to carry Kaelea?” She smiled at her husband.
“I do not really know how to hold a baby, Sayana. I only held Ethian that once, remember?” Karis looked longingly at his daughter and Sayana knew he wanted to be the one to carry her back.
“I’ll show you again. It isn’t hard.” Sayana placed Kaelea into his arms and helped him adjust his grip. “There, now just keep her head supported like that and her back supported like that and you’re all set.”
Karis smiled at Jean. “Thank you, Jean.”
“You’re very welcome, Your Imperial Majesty.” Jean returned the smile.
Sayana followed Karis out of the med lab. They were surrounded by Imperial guards immediately. They made their way back to their suite. There was a bassinet by the couch and Karis placed Kaelea in it. Ardatha and Imre came over to look at her.
“She’s a beautiful baby,” Ardatha said.
“She is,” Imre agreed.
“We should have the princes come and meet her.” Sayana looked at Karis. “I don’t want to risk carrying her all the way to the enclave.”
“I think it is too late today to have them come meet her,” Karis told her thoughtfully. “I want to invite them to dinner, and they will have already been served their meal. We will invite them tomorrow. I am certain they will not mind two days off court in a row.”
Sayana giggled. “I don’t mind two days off court in a row.”
The Imperial couple rested and read the rest of the evening, with Sayana tending to Kaelea as needed. When it was time for bed, they moved the bassinet beside Sayana’s side of the bed. That way, when Kaelea woke in the middle of the night, she’d be sure to hear her.
The next day, Sayana skipped the council meeting. She was still incredibly sore and tired. Karis came back. “I have informed the council of Kaelea’s birth. They have assured me they will not let anyone know until we are ready to announce it to the court. I will do that tomorrow or the next day, depending on when you feel well enough to return to your duties.”
Sayana made a face. “I’d rather take several days off, but Jean did say a day, maybe two, before I was able to resume my work.” She sighed.
“My heart, if you want to take a few days off to bond with Kaelea, please do. I will be taking what time I can to do the same thing.” Karis looked at her with some concern. “I know how important that is for you and for her.”
“Thank you, Karis.” Sayana smiled gratefully at her husband. “Now, should we invite the princes to dinner tonight so they can meet their sister?”
“Imre, send word to the princes. We are having a private dinner tonight and they are invited to our suite.” Karis glanced up at his valet.
“Of course, Your Imperial Majesty.” Imre sent the message to their servants.
Sayana sighed. “I am still tired. Giving birth is exhausting.”
Karis sat beside her. “Do you want to go lay down for a bit? I can watch Kaelea. If she wakes up and starts crying, we can come get you. I assume it will be because she is hungry.”
“She might need her diaper changed first.” Sayana smiled at Karis. “If she’s still fussy, then she’ll need to eat.”
“We will try changing her diaper first. If she is still fussy, we will come get you.” Karis returned to staring at his daughter. Sayana kissed him and went in to lay down.
Karis woke her a little while later. “Is she fussing?” Sayana asked.
Karis nodded. “We changed her, but she won’t settle. Ardatha helped me change the diaper.” He seemed proud of the fact that he’d done it.
Sayana smiled and got up. She went out and unfastened her dress. She fed and burped Kaelea. “Ardatha, will you have my dresses and gowns updated?”
“We’ve already got the dressmakers working on the new designs now, Your Imperial Majesty,” Ardatha told her. “We had to be quite firm about some things with them. You can’t be out of fashion, but you need certain concessions made because you are feeding a baby.”
“Oh dear, were they being difficult?” Sayana sighed.
“Very,” Ardatha said. “We had to get His Imperial Majesty involved.”
Sayana shook her head. “What is the current fashion anyway? I’ve been out of fashion because of being pregnant for a while, haven’t I?”
“We’ve kept you as close to being in fashion as we could while accommodating your pregnancy.” Ardatha pulled out her pad and called up the fashion plates. “This is the current style. It just changed a few days ago to this.”
Sayana looked at what the fashion mavens had come up with this time. “That looks hideously uncomfortable.”
“It probably will be, and all the fasteners were on the side.” Ardatha put her pad back on her belt. “We had to argue that we needed them to conceal the fasteners and put them in the front so you could easily feed Kaelea. They were offended by the fact that you were going to feed your daughter and not give her to a nursemaid to raise.”
“That is why I had to get involved. I basically put them in their place and made it clear I would replace them all if they did not fall into line. They immediately got the message and agreed to do as Ardatha told them.” Karis shook his head.
“I will never give any child of mine to a nursemaid to raise.” Sayana held Kaelea close to her chest. “I will breastfeed until they have teeth, and then I will switch to the supplemental formula because that gets painful very quickly. When they’re around a year old, and are eating solid foods more regularly, we can give them to Lord Arken. He can take over watching them. I will still be a regular part of their day however.”
“Of course we will be a part of their day, my heart.” Karis spoke soothingly to her. “We will play a role in the lives of our children as much as I did with the princes. More than I did with them when they were in the wing originally. More like what we do now that they are in the enclave.”
“Are you planning on more than Kaelea?” Ardatha asked.
“At least one more.” Sayana glanced down at Kaelea. “Lord Arken said he’d welcome another child in the wing. I’m going to wait until Kaelea’s a little older before I get pregnant again though. I want them to be close in age but not this close. Not to mention I don’t have all that much time left before I’m out of safe childbearing years.”
“What will you do after you have your next child? You’ll still be able to get pregnant even after you’re out of your childbearing years.” Ardatha looked at her curiously.
“I’m going to have my ability to have children removed.” Sayana shrugged. “A lot of women do it so they can still maintain a healthy intimate lifestyle with their husbands but no longer have to worry about getting pregnant after a certain point.”
“It makes sense to me.” Karis glanced at her. “It is also less intrusive than trying to remember to have the anti-pregnancy drugs put in her food every day.”
Ardatha nodded. “That makes good sense to me too.”
Lunch came and Sayana ate. She noticed there were a few healthy foods with the usual fare. Ardatha was trying to make sure she ate well so she could produce enough milk for Kaelea. After lunch, Karis kissed her and went to the audiences. Sayana picked up her pad and started reading, pausing only to tend to Kaelea.
Sayana read until it was time to set up the suite for dinner. A few things had to be moved around to accommodate the fact that all five of the princes would be joining them. Ardatha and Imre left and returned with the rest of the servants, carrying a full meal for the family. A few minutes later, the princes arrived.
“This is unusual,” Fallon observed. “You do not normally invite all of us to dinner in your suite.”
“We thought you would like to meet your sister.” Karis smiled.
“Kaelea was born?” Ethian asked.
Sayana reached into the bassinet and lifted the baby out. “Here she is.” She turned her so her brothers could see her. The princes surrounded Sayana and Kaelea.
“She is not as tiny as I expected.” Meinard stared at her. “I thought babies were smaller than that.”
“She’s late, so she’s bigger than your average newborn.” Sayana winced. “She was a little more difficult because of that.”
“Can I – can I hold her?” Ethian asked shyly.
“Of course, Ethian.” Sayana stood up. She helped Ethian position Kaelea in his arms, and he smiled down at his little sister. Sayana smiled at this.
“She is adorable.” Fallon looked down at her from where he stood next to Ethian.
“Ethian is besotted.” Jair was amused.
“You hold her and tell me you would not move planets for her,” Ethian challenged.
Jair came over and took the baby from Ethian, Sayana helping him reposition her properly. Jair got a funny look on his face as he gazed into his sister’s eyes. “I think Jair is just as attached as Ethian,” Hanzo commented after a moment.
“Ethian was right.” Jair was very quiet. “You hold her, you want to move planets for her.”
All the princes took turns holding Kaelea. She was a remarkably patient baby and allowed all her brothers to hold her before being returned to Sayana. It was clear her brothers were now fiercely attached to their new infant sister. Sayana set her back in the bassinet, and they all sat down to eat.
Alison's Writing Corner 
Leave a comment