Learning to Love

Help Has Arrived!

The Baroness was quiet after that, finding nothing else to argue or make threats about. So she was simply quiet, trying to see when Cruella would finally snap with the pain. Cruella was determined not to, however, and remained quietly resilient. Soon, however, she was itching to move again. The contractions came in one big line, dipping and then sky rocketing upwards again in a strange, but knowledgeable rhythm.

Cruella finally got the nerve to push herself up and kneeled on her bed, burying her head into the pillow so she could make all the noise she wanted. She rocked slightly back and fourth with the pain, trying anything to ease it. She wouldn't dare cry out or scream, however, though the pain sometimes made it hard not to. The Baroness would hear such a thing like that for sure. She needed to lie low, at least until Jasper got back.

Then Jasper would be there with her. She wouldn't have to do this alone. Jasper would be there and everything would be fine. The Baroness wouldn't get their child, and Jasper would be with her. Cruella smiled a bit at the relaxing thoughts, then a fierce contraction drove her back to reality. She shifted again and moaned, wishing they'd all go away. The pain quickly had her groaning with it, a low, inaudible sound with the pillow shielding her face.

Her body relaxed with the dipping, then everything tensed back up with another wave. Cruella wanted to sob, she just couldn't catch a break! She was exhausted after hours of labor, and the daylight was fading. Surely Jasper wouldn't be much longer! Cruella wasn't sure how much more she could take on her own.

A soft whimper escaped Cruella's lips as the worst contraction yet wracked through her body. This was so much worse than anything she had experienced before. A sudden thought brought tears to her eyes. What if something was going wrong with the labor? She fretted. The pain was worse than anything she had heard about in her books. Was her child in danger?

"Buddy," Cruella began tirelessly. She hated that her voice suddenly didn't have its authoritative tone. She forced herself up, the contraction still raging but she couldn't let it get the better of her. "Buddy, go get someone, okay? Anyone to help."

Cruella grimaced and whined as she forced herself up. Buddy trailed her heels again as Cruella inched towards the window. She hated it. Feeling so weak, so helpless, but still couldn't bear the thought of her child being in danger. Buddy hopped right out the window, easily scattering through the guards the Baroness had posted and running down the road.

Cruella left the window open, leaning against the wall to catch her breath before daring to get back to her bed. She gave up trying to be strong and just laid down on her side, curling around her stomach and trying not to cry. She was alone, alone, had no idea what she was doing, and couldn't think straight. She didn't know if anything was going correctly or if she was doing anything right.

The pain changed for a moment, shaking her to her core with a wave so fierce that Cruella drew blood from biting her lip so hard. There was a pop, and water leaked out of her. My water just broke, Cruella realized. It was sickening, this made it all real. The pain was real enough, but Cruella hadn't thought any of it through until now.

Buddy barked through at the window a bit later, alerting Cruella of his presence. Cruella leaned on the bathroom wall that was attached to their bedroom. She had been cleaning up from her water breaking, but she was moving so slowly that she had left a trail on the wooden floor. Contractions continued to rack her body, but when she saw Anita, her childhood best friend appear at the window next to Buddy, she immediately straightened as much as she could and masked her pain.

She regretted her outfit choosing as well, it was just a simple dress, but nothing about her was fixed up and she was covered in sweat. There was no mistaking that she was in labor. Anita climbed through the window and hurried to Cruella's side. She was cautious, even though the last several times Cruella had seen her she had had herself under good control. Now, though, Anita knew that Cruella was in pain, and wasn't sure if that would put her more on edge or if she'd be vulnerable, able-to-help Estella.