“Yes. Would you like to try magic?”
“I never thought about it,” I admitted. “But I guess it might be fun…”
Lorenzo smiled, but then a contraction hit me and I cried out, and he frowned deeply. “Oh, Raja… We’re almost there, I promise.”
I clenched my eyes shut and waited it out. Lorenzo was right, and soon we landed at the clinic while I was suffering through another contraction. Dr. Lynden was already waiting outside, alongside some of our friends and family. Through the blur of agony, I recognized Dante, Gabriel and Noah, Ruby and Anton. They immediately started chattering as we touched down, but I barely understood what anyone was saying to me because I was in so much pain.
A familiar hand touched my shoulder as I was placed into a wheelchair and the other voices cut out.
“Raja, it’s Dr. Lynden,” the doctor said. Despite the pain, her voice was comforting. “You’re further into labor than we expected. We’re taking you in right away. You’re doing great so far.”
I whimpered and nodded in reply. She smiled sympathetically at me, then donned her serious but kind doctor’s expression.
“You’ll do great, Raja!” Gabriel cried. Even though he didn’t understand what was going on, Noah clapped his hands in support.
“Let us know if you need anything!” Dante added.
But somebody was missing. Multiple somebodies.
“Wait,” I yelled, grabbing Lorenzo’s arm. “Where are my parents? And where’s Koto?”
Everyone quickly glanced around the room. In a panic, no one had noticed that my family wasn’t present.
“Where are they? They should have been here by now,” Anton said, concerned.
“Did anyone call them?” Gabriel asked.
“I did call, they said they were on their way,” Lorenzo cried. “I know they wouldn’t miss this for the world…”
Another pang of pain shot through me, making me nearly double over in the wheelchair. “Ugh!”
“We don’t have much time,” Dr. Lynden insisted. “Raja needs to be in the delivery room, now. We can’t wait any longer.”
“I don’t want to go in without seeing my family!” I snapped. I clutched Lorenzo’s arm, nearly digging my nails into his skin by the force of my pain and annoyance. “Please find them! I need them here!”
“Raja, we need to look at younow!” Dr. Lynden said.
Suddenly the door flew open. The creature that shot into the room made me gasp. It was a huge serpent with long whiskers and a flowing blue mane. But when I saw that the serpent had four short legs and claws, I realized it wasn’t a snake at all - it was a dragon.
And on its back were my mother, father, and cousin.
They all dismounted and suddenly the serpent-dragon shifted into a more recognizable form: it was Ryu.
“I’m sorry we’re late!” Ryu cried, wiping the sweat off his forehead. “I was on my way here when I saw your family.”
“We got lost! This place is freaking huge!” Koto cried.
My mother instantly rushed to me and made a huge fuss. “Are you in pain? Is the baby coming right now? Why aren’t you in the delivery room!?”
“I was waiting foryou!” I cried.
She threw her arms around me, hugging me quickly. “Go, now!”
“Where’s Eka?” Lorenzo asked.
Walking swiftly as he could with his cane, my father reached my side. He took my hand and kissed the back of it. “We are all so proud of you. Go on, my son.”
Tears brimmed my eyes. I didn’t want to cry in front of this room full of people, but it was getting increasingly difficult.
