With her knees on the ground while her hands were gripping the edge of the sofa, she bent over and shut her eyes tightly, clenching her teeth as she internally watched the pain strike before taking deep breaths to gradually ease the pain, just in time for another round of back and abdominal pains to kick in, and she repeated the whole thing as sweat glistened on her forehead.
Alucard could only watch his lover with a deep frown. She was nine months pregnant, and the baby was due anytime, which also meant that she had to endure a lot of painful contractions. He didn't like how useless he felt for not being able to help Frida, who constantly reminded him to not put the blame on himself because this was something that she had to go through like all mothers. He was beginning to wonder if it was that painful to actually make the mother of his child experience so much of pain when vampires were usually prone to pain, unless they were attacked with holy weapons. If that was the case, then there was nothing much he could do, other than delivering the herbal drink made by Asmund to her to relief some pain.
After a few minutes, Frida let go of the sofa and slowly exhaled, slowly easing the pain before getting up from the floor and sat on the sofa to lay on her side with the velvet red cushion supporting her head. The position she was in made her more comfortable as she heaved a sigh, placing her hand on her large protrusion.
Once she wasn't in pain, Nosferatu made his way towards her and sat on the sofa where Frida moved her legs to make room for him. He stared at her for a while before reaching out his hand to caress her cheek, brushing away some stray hairs from her face, not minding her sweat dampening his glove. "Are the pains getting worse?" he asked with concern.
Frida sighed with content when he stroked her hair, relaxing her after going through tremendous pain for almost a few minutes. "They are bearable." she assured weakly with a small smile. "But it is the sacrifice for our child that is worth enduring them."
Alucard only smiled back at her. If there was anything admirable about his Queen other than her warmth and kindness, it would be her optimism. As their son's due date was approaching, the unborn child was starting to become restless. His first movement hadn't been a gentle nudge. It started with a jolt that continued until the last few weeks of his mother's nine-month pregnancy. It was as if the force within her bump was battling to get out ahead of the scheduled due date. Then came the back and abdominal pains. There were days when she couldn't move from her spot for few minutes due to the unbearable contractions, and it was one of the worst she had experienced throughout her pregnancy. She would also become light-headed, with her vision blurry and blending everything together everything she had seen. Despite having to go through so much, ones that he wasn't able to understand or at least do something to ease them, she would smile and say that it would be worth it at the end, because they would be seeing their child once all this was over.
He watched Frida close her eyes and quickly fell asleep, feeling tired after having to bear so much of tremendous pain. Alucard leaned down and pecked her temple before sitting straight up, watching her sleep with a smile forming on her face, which caused the corner of his lips to slightly curve upwards. His hand then went to her bump, feeling their child kicking his hand like usual, making him chuckle at the sensation.
"How was she?" asked Asmund, who was standing at the doorway with another goblet of herbal drink for his sister to ease her contractions and make her body more prepared for the labour that would happen anytime soon.
"Still in much pain, but not as bad as five nights ago." reported Alucard with his gaze fixated on his sleeping Queen.
Asmund walked into their dimly lit room and placed the drink on the coffee table near the sofa. He looked at Frida, and then at Alucard, grabbing the latter's attention without even uttering a word. "Judging by the condition of her body, she might give birth tomorrow." he predicted after running through some tests and observing her contractions. "Which part of the day, I can't say with much certainty. But we will need to be prepared by then."
Once the sorcerer left the sub-basement, the No Life King looked back at his sleeping lover. A rare smile flickered across his face when his gaze landed on the bump, letting his hand return to it where he felt their child kicking his hand again. "Fiule." he said quietly to the unborn child, who seemed to have understood his father was speaking to him as he kicked again. "I know you are excited to come to this accursed world, but you must be patient. Your mamă needs to be in good condition to bring your here. Until then, calm your eager heart and rest." And that was more than enough for the infant to stop kicking his mother, whom had woken up at the time to witness the exchange between father and son.
"He is as excited to join us on our journey as you are during fights." she noted playfully. "He gets easily excited, like you."
"And I hope that he has the heart of gold like yours." he added with a smirk.
Their questions on their son's personality would soon be answered by the light of dawn when most were still asleep. Her fair-skinned face glistened as sweat trickled down her face and dripped from her quivering chin as she took shallow breaths. In only an old dress, the mother was on her knees with a bed of linens laying beneath her, while her upper body leaning forward on hers and Alucard's shared coffin, giving her the support she needed to push their child out. One hand balled up into a tightly clenched fist while the other was gripping the father of her child's gloved one, squeezing it tightly when she felt a contraction. Taking a deep breath, she began pushing according to her brother's command, as he knelt on the ground behind her keeping an eye on her first childbirth.
The contractions soon became severe, but the child of the No Life King and Queen was resisting, or rather, delaying his arrival. As she continued to push after taking another deep breath that momentarily eased the pain a little. During this, Alucard watched his lover with mixed emotions. As he watched her pain-stricken face, a rare sight to see on a vampire, he realised that she was truly the No Life Queen; one that had to go through so much of pain that no vampire could possibly tolerate just to bring a life. He thought he had seen her go through so much of pain, but he was wrong, as he could feel it in the vice grip she had on his hand. It wasn't painful, but it was enough to tell him how painful it was to her, and he couldn't bear to see her in that condition.
He leaned down to peck her knuckle and reassuringly said, "Keep going, my Queen. Soon enough, we'll be able to hold him in our arms."
The panting Frida took a moment to calm her breaths before smiling at him, trying hard to hide the pain she was going through once the contraction temporarily subsided. "I can't wait for him to join us on our journey, my darling." she said breathlessly, not long before wincing in pain as she began to push.
Alucard used his free hand to brush away the stray hairs sticking to her drenched forehead, and looked at her protrusion from the side, thinking, 'Come, my son. Come now, for today is a good day to be born.'
Pain struck the Draculina again. After a few more panting breaths and a loud groan, out came their son, a pale infant boy with characteristics resembling his father. Asmund caught the slimy newborn in time, and began cleaning him, making sure every trace of mucus and bloody matter were removed before going to cut the umbilical cord that connected the infant to his mother's womb. Once the cord was cut, and her womb contents had been expelled, he then ordered Alucard to carry his sister to the leather sofa were she could lay to rest. Dracula did so, adding a pillow for her to rest her head, just in time for Asmund to return with the infant. Following her brother's instructions, she unbuttoned the old dress to reveal her chest, then he handed the infant to her as they placed him on her chest. Upon feeling the warmth of his mother, the infant cuddled into his mother's warm embrace, and cooed softly, testing his vocal cords.
While doing so, Frida began to take calm breaths while staring into space with a look of disbelief, not believing that she had given birth to a healthy infant that was to be hers and her lover's son. "Regina mea, are you alright?" called Alucard when he took note of her expression.
"Our... child." she said breathlessly as bloody tears of joy welled up in her eyes. "Our child is here. With us." She tilted her head to look at him with so much of happiness radiating from her. "My love, we have been blessed with a child."
Alucard's gaze softened at the sight of his lover shedding tears of joy. This, and the birth of their son, brought an emotion that he hadn't experienced in a while - felicity, and he had to thank his little family for giving him, an immortal being who loved fighting ferociously, that feeling. But just watching his lover breastfeed their child for the first time was already giving him a sense of contentment. He was the No Life King who walked on this planet alone without nowhere and no one to go to. Now, he had his No Life Queen, who showered him with the love and care he sought for so many centuries, and was blessed with a child, whom he believed would grow up to be a determined fighter with a heart of gold, like a good mix of his own parents' personalities.
When the infant had finished taking his first meal, Asmund helped to swaddle him in a clean, white linen and handed him back to Frida before continuing to clean up. The Draculina cradled her baby in her arm and stared at him lovingly. earning a curious look from him. Her lover knelt in front of the sofa, close enough to look at their exchange while stroking her silky brown locks.
"He is beautiful." she complimented with a smile.
"Is that because he looks like me?" asked Alucard playfully.
Frida giggled, then looked at him. "Of course." she said genuinely. "He looks so much like you." She handed the bundle to him, who was skeptical about holding his child because he didn't want to hurt their son. But that didn't stop her from positioning his arms to allow him to carry him properly. Alucard felt foreign about holding a little life in his arms, but that all vanished once his gaze landed on the infant, who looked into his pink eyes with his own and cooed, seeming to acknowledge him as his father. Nosferatu felt a strange, yet comforting, warmth spread his heart, and a smile then flickered across his face.
Their son reminded him so much of himself; the little patch of ebony hair and pink eyes were more than enough to show the world that this was his son. Despite the obvious physical resemblance, there was something different about this vampire baby - his energy. Although he had yet to see his growth, Alucard could tell that their son was going to behave like his mother; kind, warm and optimistic.
He raised the infant up high with one of his hand supporting the back of his head, making the latter coo with curiosity. "Welcome, my son - Dorin." he began tenderly while the mother watched with a smile on her face. "The world you have come to is a cold and cruel one, but know that you are loved and supported on your journey. I say this coming from your parents and Hellsing." The vampire youngling, who seemed to have understood his father, gurgled with glee as a response.
During this time, the group of hooded men stood before their leader again, who had raised his arms up high as he stood in front of the tablet with his eyes closed. Taking in a deep breath, he took a whiff of the air and slowly exhaled, then opening his eyes and put his arms down before turning around to face them.
"Comrades." he commanded with the hood shadowed his upper face, preventing anyone around him to see his expression. But the sinister grin plastered on his pale-skinned face was more than enough. "The time has come; the Ultimate Vampire is born."