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“What’s happening?” she gasped.
“Sigrid has a second baby,” Henry said as he gestured Sandy closer.
“That’s impossible! Valkyries have one child! The birthing ceremony-”
“Is done! You have the daughter. Now move back and let us work!” Henry said and glared at her. She stepped back in surprise.
Henry immediately ignored her. “Sandy. I need you to have Kesini reach in and turn the baby, head down.” He had an idea. “Dayshia, do you remember when we used to share an image amongst all of us?”
Dayshia’s expression soured. “Yes, confusing days.”
“I want you to look inside Sigrid and share what you see with Sandy, through me. Sandy can guide Kesini,” Henry explained.
“How can I see too? I can help!” Eleanor insisted.
“Just close your eyes and put your hand on my shoulder,” he said.
Henry opened his connection to the Wild Magic and held out a hand to Dayshia. She reluctantly gripped it and turned her eyes to Sigrid once more.
The image began a little hazy as Dayshia was resisting, but he squeezed her fingers reassuringly, and the picture came through sharply. He found Eleanor’s link to him and sent her the image. She cried out in surprise then he was feeding the image to Sandy and Kesini.
“Make sure Kesini curls her tips before insertion,” Eleanor suggested, and Kesini curled her tips and slid inside. More and more of Kesini slid inside until she reached the baby and slid up its back.
Henry watched as Eleanor guided Sandy and Kesini in turning the baby. He spared a quick peek at Sigrid. “Are you able to push?”
Sigrid barely shook her head, and her eyes were mere slits.
“Okay, we’re going to do it for you,” he said gently. He pictured in his mind Kesini enveloping the baby and pulling it out. More of Kesini went up inside Sigrid and carefully wrapped around the baby. When they tried to pull, Sigrid’s muscles wouldn’t relax.
Henry put his hand under Sigrid’s ass and sent energy into her body, feeling her muscles warm and relax.
“Now Kesini. Push her walls open to get the baby by,” he directed.
Sigrid cried out as she experienced the worst muscle cramp possible, then she passed out as Kesini guided the baby out.
Henry looked up at a dumbfounded Hilda. “Give the baby to Camila and help us with the umbilical cord,” he snapped as Dayshia and Eleanor moved back.
Kesini unbundled the baby as Hilda knelt down. Henry caught a glimpse of the joy on Camila’s face then he was gripping Hilda’s arm to keep her kneeling next to him as she struggled to get up.
“Yes, I see it too. It’s called a penis, and baby boys have them. He needs your help, grandma.”
She looked at him, and he could tell she was upset that her perfect little dream wasn’t going to plan. He raised an eyebrow. “Does a Valkyrie go to pieces each time life gets complicated? If so, buckle up, buttercup, my life is as complicated as they get, and if you’re around me, you’re joining the party, like it or not.”
She trembled, then got to the task of tying off the umbilical cord. She didn’t have a second clamp and looked to him. He looked over her head at the other Valkyries. “Anyone carrying a spare clamp for the umbilical?”
Talia stepped forward quickly and handed him one. He looked at her in surprise. “A Valkyrie is prepared,” she said as her face pinked up. She looked away as Hilda added the clamp.
Henry picked up his son before Hilda could slap him. He cuddled him and rubbed his back. He coughed and began to cry, loudly. Henry grinned at everyone, then tears of happiness rolled down his cheeks as he looked at the perfect little face. He was pink and perfect, with a patch of jet-black hair, ten little fingers, and most importantly, ten little toes, no hooves.
Henry looked to Sigrid and saw she was smiling at him. He thought she actually looked a little better as her energy levels increased. She suddenly grunted painfully, and the placenta dropped onto the ground. Eleanor moved forward and examined it with Dayshia. They both pronounced it looked healthy and were pleased Sigrid passed it successfully.
Henry sniffed his boy, then yelped painfully as the baby got a grip on his ear and squeezed.
“OW! OW! FuckFuckFuck!” Henry cursed as he tugged his ear free from the infant’s grip.
He held the baby cradled in his arm and looked down at him in surprise as the baby looked up at him, no longer crying.
“What kind of newborn is that strong?” he gasped.
Hilda blinked at the child then shared a look with Talia, who was suppressing a smile of her own.
“I suppose I should name him,” Hilda said.
“No…”
They looked down at Sigrid. “His… name is Stanley.”
Henry sucked in a breath as his chest suddenly tightened.Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.
“That’s not the name a Valkyrie should have-”
“It’s Stanley! Let me hold my babies,” Sigrid said, holding her hands out.
Henry immediately laid baby Stanley in his mother’s arm, and she cooed to him. His eyes followed her face.
Henry accepted his daughter from Camila with a huge smile. The baby girl had the whitest blonde hair, and her eyes were blue, but he’d heard they were always blue before they change. He couldn’t help but recall another blue-eyed baby girl, laid to rest on this very spot. He vowed to ensure this child would get to have the life the other had been denied.
He dipped his face close to smell her.
“OW! ShitShitShit! OW!” Henry hissed as he tugged his bruised ear from Ylva’s tiny fist. He set her down on Sigrid, who grinned at him before nuzzling her daughter.
“Do we really need to call her Ylva?” he asked.
Sigrid looked up at him in surprise. “Why? What’s wrong with Ylva? It’s a solid Valkyrie name,” she insisted.
“Yeah, but you never see it on a souvenir mug or baseball cap,” he suggested, and she snorted.
“That’s not my priority,” she responded.
He looked her in the eye. “I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you named our son, Stanley.”
“He looks like a Stanley,” she said happily.
“When he gets all muscular, we’re gonna have to start calling him Stan,” Henry sighed, and Sigrid giggled. She sighed and leaned back against the tree, taking in the scenery.
“I don’t know why but this place makes me feel so calm and at peace with… everything,” she said quietly.
Henry looked at her seriously. “You gave me a scare for a moment. You were weakening, and I was doing everything I could, but it wasn’t working.”
She looked at him oddly. “What are you talking about? You’ve given me all this energy!”
He frowned. “At the beginning, yes. But I was a little too busy to do that after Ylva was born.”
Camila pushed Henry aside with a frown of her own for his ignoring the children before him. She smiled at Sigrid. “Your babies are so beautiful, and I love that you’ve named him Stanley!”
Sigrid beamed a wonderful smile at her friend. “It just felt right!”
Henry turned to Sandy, Dayshia, and Eleanor. “I want to thank you for stepping up and coming to our aid under less-than-ideal conditions.”
The three ladies looked around at the natural setting around them and burst into laughter.
Sandy recovered first. “Henry, we work in some of the busiest hospitals in New York City. This is idyllic by comparison.” Kesini moved a little stiffly. “A shower would be welcome, though.”
Eleanor’s face was glowing in her excitement. “That was one of the most fascinating experiences I’ve had in… let’s just say it’s been a long time.”
“I’ve never worked in obstetrics, but it felt so good to help bring a new life into the world!” Dayshia gushed. She also seemed to be riding a high.
Henry noticed Xiong standing a short distance away with Revna, Ingrid, Sylvi, and Runa standing around him, poking him with their fingers and peering inside his glassy depths.
“Excuse me for a minute?” he asked the three healthcare ladies, but they were already lost in an intense conversation. He hustled over to Xiong’s side.
Revna looked back at Henry. “What’s this strange creature that inhabits this world?”
Henry smiled as he opened a link to Xiong through the magic and sent a hello. He looked to the Valkyrie. “This is Xiong. He was the first Human to be changed into a Glass Person by the Pseudo-Clouds back on Earth. He lived in a small village in a mountainous region of China.”
Revna’s jaw dropped. “This was Human?”
“Yes, but he’s so much more now. The Glass People are beings of deep compassion and intellectual brilliance. They’re learning about themselves and the world around them at exponential rates. They’re a beautiful people.” He smiled at his friend. “He’s also the de facto leader of the village though it embarrasses him to be called that,” Henry said with a grin.
He connected with Xiong and asked about a place to get cleaned up. Xiong excitedly showed him a recent discovery not too far from the village. It was a hot spring and a large one.
Henry thanked Xiong and felt the village’s love pouring through. He sent his love for them in return.
“The Glass People here were all Humans at one time, but they like it here more,” Henry explained.
“How?” Revna asked. “Did they all walk through your little door?” Her tone was more than a little condescending. He couldn’t let that slide.
Henry smiled as he walked right up to her and opened a tear at her back, leading to the mansion’s snowy front lawn. “Who needs a door?” He shoved her through to land in the snow. The others laughed as she sputtered in the fluffy stuff. “See you shortly,” he said with a grin and shut the tear.