“I know you’re scared,” my mother said. “But I’ve seen many women through childbirth and they weren’t half as strong as my Arwen. She’s going to be fine.”
He all but fell into her arms for a hug and my throat tightened with emotion. Adaline and my mother had moved into the palace when I’d announced my pregnancy, and my mother and husband formed a special bond. She had a way of calming him; he respected her and valued her wisdom.
I grunted as another tightening took hold of my stomach. It had been a pretty easy pregnancy. No sickness like other women complain of; Drae fed me chocolate cake every night and whatever else I wanted, and gave me foot massages. But the labor was far from easy.
The elf king, Raife, had done us a kindness and engaged the queen in a small skirmish, and she’d lost interest in us… for now.
I screamed as pain took hold of my body, and both my mother and Drae rushed to my side, each one taking a hand. It felt like the area between my legs was on fire.
“It burns,” I grunted, trying to push hard like my mother taught me over the last few months of coaching sessions.
“I see the head!” my mother said, getting into position between my legs.
Dr. Elsie grasped a blanket and a basin of sterile water and rushed beside my mother. We agreed that my mother would tend to me, and Dr. Elsie, who had more experience, would tend to the child and its… complications. Whatever they might be.
Drae’s head leaned against my shoulder. He spoke barely above a whisper. “I’ve loved you more than anything in this world,” he breathed into my ear.
I realized then that he was preparing for me to die, and it shocked and saddened me.
“Tell me that again when I’m actually on my deathbed.”
Pressure built, and I growled as pain like I’d never felt before sliced between my legs, like a butcher knife cutting my most sensitive parts.
The pressure was so intense I almost passed out. Then there was relief.
“A girl!” my mother said with joy, and I looked down, shocked. I braced myself for deformities, organs outside the little one’s body, an unbreathing child, blue skin, but… she was perfect. A golden glow dropped from the ceiling then and covered the baby, causing the breath to catch in my throat.
Was that the magic? The dragon magic that fed to our people? The second it hit her skin, it was gone almost as if I’d imagined it.
I burst into tears, and realized that Drae’s head was still down. He couldn’t bring himself to look up. He was probably afraid of another stillborn. That’s when our daughter let loose with a big cry and Drae’s head snapped up.
I studied his face, wanting to commit this moment to memory forever—the moment he had a healthy child.
“Elsie, check her heart, her lungs, her…” A sob formed in his throat.
“She’s fine. I just scanned her.” Elsie held up her wand.
Drae sobbed, holding his hand over his mouth, no longer able to hold in the emotions. My mom stood and went to hand the baby to me, when the pressure built between my legs again. I grunted in pain, wild-eyed as I stared at my mom. “Something’s wrong,” I said, and Drae’s entire body went rigid.
My mom handed the baby to Drae and he took her, holding her as if she were a delicate egg. “What’s going on? Is she bleeding? That’s how it happens, the woman bleeds too much,” he said.
My mother shook her head. “It’s probably just the afterbirth—” Her breath caught in her throat as she looked between my legs.
“Push!” she shouted, and my abdomen went rock hard. I leaned forward, not really sure what was happening, and pushed.
Fire. Pressure. And then relief.
A second cry split through the room and Drae and I stared at each other with wide eyes.
“Twin girls,” my mom said with joyous laughter.
“Two?” Drae peered down at the daughter in his arms, and then the one in my mother’s. She leaned on the bed and handed the second child to me. She too was covered in that golden magic that lingered for only seconds before disappearing.
She was perfect. Soft skin, blue eyes, a button nose. Twins. It was so rare, and there was no way of knowing until you got in labor. I couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled out of me.
Two girls.
“Regina and Joslyn, that’s what I want to name them,” I said to Drae.
He nodded, and then sat on the edge of the bed and looked down at the tiny child in his arms. “Two princesses.”
I grinned. “You’ll be the last dragon king for a while.”