Underwater

Chapter 38: Epilogue

Delwyn was in pain.

Where is she getting that strength from? Reina's grip strength was impressive, to say the least. He wondered if the bones in his fingers had been crushed into dust. Would anyone even be able to heal him? Would he ever be able to regain function in his fingers?

She gasped for breath in a break, her teeth grinding together and her grasp loosening... but only slightly. Delwyn braced himself – that only meant that she would start hurting him again soon.

"Alright, Empress – push!"

Reina let out another scream.

"We're almost there, your highnesses," the midwife assured them.

Delwyn almost breathed a sigh of relief – but his wife's hold on his hand tightened before he could. All thoughts of relief flew out of his mind.

It took another hour before the ordeal would be over. When it ended, Reina finally released him.

"Good job, my wife." Delwyn kissed her forehead.

"Mm." She returned his kiss by pressing her lips against his.

"Would you like to hold your new daughter, your highness?" Talise held the bundle out to them.

A daughter. His heart raced. He'd wanted a daughter all along. Finally, they had a girl. He opened his arms to the midwife and received the child. She was wailing in terror and he tried to comfort her as best he could. After a few minutes, her cries started to diminish into soft whining. Her eyelids pulled back, revealing that she'd had her father's eyes... mostly. The iris of her left eye was divided in half almost vertically, where her father's eye color met her mother's gray.

"She has an interesting mix, doesn't she?" Reina murmured in her soft voice. "Her ears are that of a human's."

"She has my tail, though."

"Yes."

Reina looked up at her husband and child with such adoration that he couldn't keep his daughter to himself any longer. He had to share her with his wife. He handed their daughter over, as Reina removed the top of her dress so that she could begin feeding their child. She exhaled softly as their child's mouth clamped over her nipple.

"Are you alright?" he asked. Reina nodded. "Doesn't get easier, does it?"

"No. I suspect that even if we had fifty children, it would hurt all fifty of those times."

He grinned. "Is that a challenge?"

Reina could do nothing but grimace. Her husband stroked her face, chuckling softly.

"Have you thought of a name?" she asked.

"Yes. What do you think about Eiryls?"

"I like it."

It didn't take long for them to clean up and for Reina to be given a clean bill of health.

"Do you want to go back to our room and rest?" he asked as he lifted her from the birthing tub while she carried their daughter. They made sure Reina was presentable and ready to leave the room before exiting.

"No, let's introduce her to her brothers first," Reina suggested.

He nodded. Normally, he would disagree and demand that she put herself first. But it was their children they were talking about. As he made his way through the hallways, the palace staff bowed their heads to them, while peeking curiously at the bundle in Reina's arms. Reina smiled and nodded at them, but they didn't stop and show the baby off – the servants would have to wait for Eiryls's formal introduction, for when she's a bit older.