Page 33 of Painless
I immediately noticed the ease and relaxation settling into Tessa's body. "How do you feel?"
"Good," she breathed. "Still, you know, feeling like a watermelon is splitting me in half from the inside, but the pain isn't too bad now." She glanced down at Freyja. “You’re pretty damn magical, kitty.”
"Okay, good." I shot her a reassuring smile. "I'm gonna try to turn the baby around now, okay?"
She nodded and I reached for Freyja to move her out of the way. The kitten yowled and twisted in my grip, slicing me with tiny razor-like claws.
"Ow, what the hell!"
I dropped the cat and she immediately returned to Tessa's side, rubbing hard against her hip and belly with a rumbling purr that seemed to fill the room.
This way, child. Follow me.
The voice reverberated in my head and all around me. I heard it clearly, as if a fourth person was sitting right there with us. It was a feminine voice, deep and rich. Comforting and motherly, authoritative and full of power.
"Oh, she's on the move," Tessa winced, clutching her side and resuming her labored breathing. She gave no indication that she heard the voice. "I think... I think she's turning!"
I swept my hands along her belly again while Noelle wiped her brow and muttered encouraging words. Freyja slid her body along Tessa's left side again, which I could now see was a repetitive, rhythmic motion. Those eyes were losing their wide, kitten innocence and turning the bright, sharp color of green with gold flecks. Endless wisdom stared back at me.
I grabbed my stethoscope to be sure, even though I knew I didn't need to be. Freyja had turned the baby right in the nick of time.
"She's in the right position," I announced, relief filling my lungs as I pulled the ear tips out. "We just gotta let mother nature do her thing."
"Oh, thank fuck," Tessa sighed. "Good thing this ain't my first rodeo, but holy shit am I gonna need a drink."
"I'll get one started for you," Noelle squeezed her shoulder before getting up. Her green gaze caught mine just as she turned away, and that look made my heart stop. She didn't look anywhere as relieved as Tessa or me. What was that about?
Her smile returned however, as she came back to the living room with a round of tequila shots for us once the baby arrived. As we worked with Tessa through her labor, I forgot all about that look.
Roughly four hours later, Noelle supported Tessa in a squatting position as her daughter arrived, headfirst, into the world. It was a beautiful delivery, one that nearly brought tears to my eyes.
Thanks to experience and sheer female bravery, Tessa barely pushed at all and allowed her body and gravity to do the work. All I did was wait with a clean, warm towel to catch her daughter. I cleared her airways when her head popped out, and seconds later, I held a tiny, newborn human in my hands.
I did nothing but stare at her for a moment. It felt like a lifetime ago that this was all I wanted to do. To humbly assist in an event so beautiful and divine—the first meeting of mother and child.
After the Collapse happened, and then had my license to practice ripped away at the final moment, I never thought I'd have the chance to do this.
But the Steel Demons gave it back to me. Reaper gave it back to me.
I cleaned off the baby and wrapped her in a dry towel, before giving her to Tessa.
"Do you want Big G to cut the cord?" I asked when the baby settled in at her breast. "It's tradition for the father to cut it, but it's up to you."
"Noelle can do it," Tessa whispered without a second thought, then snorted. "She's practically my sister-wife anyway."
I handed Noelle a clean scalpel and she did the honors with a big grin on her face. "Time for shots!"
Noelle held Tessa's shot since her arms were full of baby. We clinked glasses, then she poured the alcohol down the new mother's throat.
"Ugh, that burns so good," Tessa coughed softly. "I'm never getting knocked up again."
"If you want," I broached cautiously. "I can stick a birth control implant in your arm right now. Won't take but a minute."
"Do it," Tessa whispered, her eyelids lowering to half-mast. "I might pass the hell out first, but do it anyway."
When the baby finished eating, Noelle took her tenderly from Tessa's arms to meet the rest of her family upstairs.
"You know what you're gonna name her?" I extended Tessa's arm and marked the spot to insert the birth control implant on her bicep.
