Chapter Twenty Two
Thalia
“Thalia, you have to calm down.” My mother’s voice entered through my sadness. I looked at her, and found her holding my hand, trying to absorb some of my emotions into herself. She had just shown up suddenly, but I was thankful she was here.
“He sacrificed himself for us.” More sobs came.
“He did. He now can finally be at peace. But Thalia, you have to calm down, otherwise his sacrifice will be for nothing. You have too much power running through you right now. The babies can’t handle it.” The babies. My babies. I gripped her hand tighter, and tried to calm down.
“Breathe, daughter.” I was trying to do as she said. The doctor and Leander came back into the room and went to work.
“I need to move him.” Leander gripped Orion’s body, but then it disappeared into a golden light.
“Athena has taken him.” Aphrodite smiled, and focused back on me. The emotions in me were finally starting to recede, leaving me with the horrible pain of labor.
“Your outburst has forced the babies to come now. Your water broke and you’ll need to push.” I screamed as I tried to do as he said. I could feel them pushing down on me. It hurt so badly.
“Nothing.” He felt around my stomach and listened with his stethoscope. I felt the need to push again, and tried. With every contraction of excruciating pain, I gritted my teeth and pushed. The short gown I was wearing was soaked in blood and sweat. I was getting tired, but still nothing.
“Something’s not right.” Aphrodite felt my stomach and looked at the doctor. He was trying to figure out why nothing was happening. Suddenly Aphrodite looked as if she had been struck by a stray lightning bolt
“The ring. You have to take it off. It’s healing you too quickly; it’s not letting the babies come.” My ring?
“But without it I won’t be able to stay down here for long. I’ll go mad too.” There were so many reason why taking it off would be a bad idea. Then I remembered my dream. Morpheus had posed as our son, making me promise not to take the ring off. Was this what he wanted? Me to do as he said, and not listen to my mother or the doctor? Would I lose the children if I kept it on? A little bit of fear held me back for a moment. But what if I did it, and we all died? Tristan wasn’t here to keep me tied to the underworld. I wouldn’t know how long I could stay without dying myself. Not to mention the ring was the only thing keeping past me and present me grounded. I would be fighting with myself while trying to deliver the babies.
“You have to do it now, Thalia.” My mother’s voice held fear. She knew I was battling with this internally, but she was pleading with me to do as she said. I looked into her eyes, watching as they swirled with different colors. She wasn’t in full control of herself right now, showing just how worried she was. I needed to trust her. With little effort I pulled the black ring from my finger, and waited. When the next contraction came I pushed, hoping this was going to make them come. I could feel them start to make their way down. It was working!
I tried hard to fight past Thalia that was trying to come to the surface. I was winning for now, but I could feel her trying.
I kept pushing, every chance I could, and finally one of the heads was crowning. I wanted to cry from relief, but couldn’t let the emotions take over right now. I had to be strong.
“Keep going, Thalia.” I listened to the doctor and did what he said. Everyone in the room was waiting for me to pull through. I felt the pain of one of the babies coming, gritted my teeth, and gave one last hard push.
“You did it!” Aphrodite sang out, and watched as the doctor held a little babe, cutting the cord and placing it in my mother’s arms.
“It’s a girl.” She held the baby like she was the most precious treasure on earth. I looked upon my daughter, and felt my heart swell for her. She had little black waves of hair on her head, and when she looked at me, her eyes were the same brown color as mine. She was perfect.
“Hi, Callista.” I cooed at her, then suddenly I felt myself start to lose all my energy. I looked up at Aphrodite, who handed my daughter off to Lacey with a worried look on her face. Lacey went to work, wrapping her in a blanket and settling in the rocker with her. My fingers and toes were starting to go numb. I could feel my son trying to push down, to make his way to our world, but I couldn’t do anything.
“I’m dying. I’m dying! The underworld won’t let me live any longer.” I could feel it deep in my bones.
“Get my son out!” I cried to the doctor. If I could just hold out for a little longer, they could get him out, and he would be all right. My mind went to Tristan, who was fighting for our family.
He and I had a beautiful story of love, loss, and wonder. I wished so hard that I could see him before the darkness took me again. I would tell him how much I loved him, that what we had was beyond beautiful, and to tell our children our story so that they would know the love we shared, and the love I had for them.
“Thalia.” Tristan’s voice was like a dream in my head. I closed my eyes, and remembered that voice wrapping around me like silk, keeping me safe and loving me without end.
“Thalia, look at me.” My eyes flew open to see him stumbling his way into the room, but starting to sway. He was hurt. Leander grabbed him, and helped him to me.
“You have to push, love. You have to live, and bring our son into this world.” He leaned in to kiss my lips, giving me some of his waning strength. When his hand gripped mine, I felt my energy return, like I was given a shot of espresso directly into my veins. Looking down, I saw his ring was connecting with my skin, helping me stay grounded to him for now. When he realized what it was doing, he gripped me tighter and begged me to bring our son to us.
I felt like Ren was trying to come, so I pushed, and cried out as I felt him free from my body.
“Quick, put the ring back on.” Aphrodite snapped into action, and helped me slip the ring on my finger. Instantly I felt one again.
“A healthy boy.” The doctor handed me our son, and I held him to my chest. He had dark blonde hair, and gray eyes. He was pink and just as perfect as he could be.
“Ren.” Tristan said his name and smiled. The baby smiled, and then his hair changed from blond to pink.
