. . .
"Malum in se: wrong in itself."
. . .
Isn't this the time for her baby to be wailing its little heart out? That's what newborns do best, right? They announce their displeasure for the whole world to hear.
Frowning, Autumn tries to prop herself up but finds little strength to do so before opting to raise her head up as much as she was able to instead to take a look at what the hell these people are doing, only to be stopped by her father who was staring almost accusingly at... Warren?
Why was her brother-in-law here?
Autumn would have smiled, would have been glad to have a familiar, friendly face with her here, even if she hadn't gotten the chance to get to truly know him better.
Since Warren's here, that must mean her sister is here as well.
Good.
That's good...
Summer may not like the father of her child or Autumn's circumstances, but she had truly hoped that her sister would have at least adored her newborn nephew or niece.
But any calm Autumn feels begins to be sucked out of her the longer she strains herself in a bid to stay awake, just to hear the awaited cries of her baby despite her father's not-too-subtle attempts to block her. She wonders if it is a boy. Or a girl?
Autumn hadn't really bothered to find out the gender during the pregnancy, but she had always secretly wanted a little girl to dote upon... but she'd take what she can get as long as the baby is okay. And yet—
And yet...
There was only an unnerving silence.
"Dad...?" she calls out, weakly.
For a terrifying second, when her father finally whirls to look at her, really looks at her in the eye, he looked almost afraid, almost... guilty.
Autumn swallows, inaudibly, "W-What's going on?"
The Doctor who had been snapping at her to push for what seemed to be like eons literally flinched at the sound of her voice, as if he had actually forgotten that Autumn was actually still there, was waiting for them to give her the baby, her baby.
But even from where she lays trembling in a mess of her own making, barely clinging to consciousness, Autumn can still see the way his face instantly turns as white as a sheet of paper when their eyes met, the way he shares an equally distressed look with her father and brother-in-law, as if beseeching them with his eyes alone as to who will handle this.
"You," her father finally says instead, pointing at one of the nurses, his voice crisp and sharp amidst the stillness. "Don't just stand there. Go help my daughter clean herself up! All of you can handle the rest."
Panic filled her at that.
Autumn weakly shoves and pointedly ignores the nurse who was now desperately trying to wipe the mess she still had on her face. For some reason, her father was clearly trying to keep Autumn's attention away from the baby, was keeping her from holding her own child.
No...!
No, no, no!
This is not happening.
He can't do this to her! He can't take the baby away!
She wants to see her baby. She wants to hold her baby! Instead, all that she can let out was a weak rasp, "But... m-my baby...?"
