Merrily POV
Warning: Childbirth scene ahead, along with slight violence. Nothing too graphic, but...
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Oh gosh darn it! Okay, here's a quick overview. Apparently Ryan has an ex-girlfriend. And she's pregnant. And currently in labor.
"My water broke!" Tracy whimpers.
"So...." Ryan frowns. "You wet your pants?"
"That's gross," Nico commented.
"Is that like a normal pregnancy thing or...?" Leo asks. Chey cuffs Ryan on the back of the head and Abigail facepalms.
"No, you idiot!" I shout. "She's in labor!" And like the manly man he is, Ryan passes clean out. Chey steps out of the way, effectively allowing him to faceplant into the mud. I think quickly back to the many, many episodes of Midwife I had watched. "Okay Tracy, you need to lie down."
Chey and I quickly help Tracy to lie down atop my sleeping bag. Considering we are in the woods, it is the only sanitary place we have.
"Okay, now imitate my breathing," I tell her, after setting Tracy up on the sleeping bag. Then I demonstrate a breathing process used to help slow the breathing and slow the contractions called 'panting'. Tracy suddenly lets out a scream. Most likely, she just got her first contraction.
"It hurts so much!" she cries.
"It's okay, it's okay," I soothe. "Now, I need you to push, okay?" Tracy shakes her head no, tears rolling down her face. "Listen, in order to birth this baby, I need you to push."
"Actually, hang on a second," Chey says. She then drags Ryan over to Tracy and sticks his hand into Tracy's. "Okay, now you can push." I swiftly take off my owl ring and hand it to Nico, who's helpfully standing behind Festus along with Leo and Abigail. Then, Tracy does her first push. Tracy lets out a guttural scream, accompanied by Ryan's shout of pain and Chey's vomiting.
"Who moved my hand?" Ryan demands angrily.
"Me," Chey calls from by the bushes.
"Why would you do that?" Ryan yells.
"Consider yourself lucky," Chey says, standing up. "I had another, more painful body part in mind." Ryan pales. I check Tracy again.
"Okay," I say. "Again." We repeat this process four times before I see a shock of dirty blonde hair. "Okay, I see a head!" I announce. "Push again!"
"Are those shoulders?" Chey asks. I roll my eyes.
"One more big one!" I encourage. Tracy screams once more and the baby slides smoothly out. "Chey, why don't you do the honors," I say, after wrapping the baby in Abigail's hair towel
Chey spins Backbiter dramatically in her hand, shouts 'Engarde!' and proceeds to cut the umbilical cord. "It's a girl!"
"Really?" Ryan moans, rubbing his sore hand.
"Why isn't the pain stopping?" I hear Tracy ask.
"Um, I'm not sure," I say, handing Chey the baby. "The bleeding definitely should have stopped by now." I lean down and check and the bleeding has definitely not stopped. If anything, it's increased tenfold. "Oh gods," I say.
"What?" Ryan demands. "What is it?"
"It's bad," I say. "Chey, watch that baby, okay? Keep it safe." Chey nods, her face set in stone as she cradles the baby in her arms. I can vaguely hear her singing it a lullaby.
"Hush little midget, don't say a word
This $%*! Is gonna buy you a %$#! Mockingbird..." and on it went. Meanwhile, Tracy was hemorrhaging.
"I don't know how to stop it!" I cry desperately. "She's bleeding out!" Ryan's face goes paler than it already is. I have no idea how to stop bleeding. If she were a demigod, it would be easy, but we have no idea whether she's a clear-sighted mortal like Rachel Dare or if she's a demigod. It would be too risky. We have ambrosia and nectar, but one bite of the godly food could kill her instantly.
"Can we take the chance that she's a demigod?" Ryan asks me over Tracy's cries.
"I don't know!" I wail. "I have no idea how to stop the bleeding." I look down at my hands, which are soaked with Tracy's blood. Ryan looks devastated. Tracy's breathing is becoming uneven and coming out in short gasps. Nico rushes over to us.
"I tried calling Will, but it didn't go through," Nico tells us.
"Nico, how much ambrosia can you give a mortal before they die?" I ask quickly.
"A full mortal?" Nico says. "None." I can hear Ryan trying to talk over Tracy's labored breathing as I try to think what could possibly be wrong. Then it hits me. I look to check again, and sure enough, the placenta had only partially come out of the body. Which means there's a piece still in there which is causing Tracy to bleed out. And there is nothing we can do.
"Chey, hand me the baby," I say, tersely. Chey obliges, the baby girl gurgling happily. Then I turn to Tracy. "Here's your baby," I say gently, sending Ryan a look that says it all. His face crumples as he walks over to Tracy who is gently cradling her baby.
"Hi baby!" she whispers. Her arms falter a little and Ryan helps her hold the baby up to her face. Tracy plants a kiss on the baby's forehead.
"What do you want to name her?" Ryan asks thickly.
"Taylor," she says sleepily and her arms drop all the way.
"That's a pretty name," Ryan agrees, his eyes glistening with unshed tears.
Tracy slowly turns her head to look at the baby in Ryan's arms. "Taylor. You're going to grow up and change the world—" Tracy breaks into hacking coughs. "And your father there is going to raise you to be the best that you can be. Because you are special in every way. I love you!" And then Tracy's head turns to face the sky and her eyes close, never to look at the earth again.
Then, a light orange glow shines over her body and the symbol of Demeter hovers over her still form.
"No!" Ryan shouts. "You can't do this! You can't just let her die and then claim her! It's not fair!" Shoving Taylor into Chey's arms, he storms away into the woods. Chey looks shocked, then terrified.
"Merrily, you need to go after him!" she tells me.
"Why?" I I ask confusedly.
"He's going to try!" she cries. "There's a cliff on the other side of that wood. A small one, but it's tall enough." I gasp and turn and run into the woods. Ryan is already far ahead of me. By the time I make it to the cliff, Ryan is teetering on the edge.
"Ryan!" I call out. Ryan almost topples over the edge but manages to keep his balance. "Ryan, look at me, please!"
Ryan's head turns and I look into his eyes. They are so close to being broken. I'd imagine so, especially after watching his best friend (though I had doubts about that) die and then his girlfriend Tracy die during childbirth.
"It's all my fault!" he tells me desperately. "If I- if we hadn't-hadn't... she would still be alive right now! Taylor would have a mother!"
"Listen, if it's anyone's fault, it's mine and possibly Demeter's," I reassure him. "If she had claimed her earlier, maybe we could've given her ambrosia, but that's not the issue right now. Right now, you have a baby girl who needs her father. And killing yourself is not the answer! So get your ass back to the campsite, help us bury Tracy and hold your damn baby!"
After a few seconds, Ryan's shoulders seem to slump in defeat and he slowly comes away from the edge of the cliff. We slowly plod back to Festus and find things to be extremely chaotic. Chey was bouncing a screaming Taylor while Abigail made funny faces. Nico was trying, but failing, to Iris message Chiron, and Leo' was covering Tracy's body with a sheet, which I assume is what he uses to cover Festus when it's raining.
Ryan leaves my side and goes over to his sister, where he offers to hold Taylor, to which Chey gratefully agrees. Almost instantly, the crying subsides and Taylor gurgles happily up at her father. A shadow of a smile flickers across Ryan's face. I wish I could recover as easily. Unfortunately, I am burdened by the ever-present feeling of guilt. I was the one who had birthed that baby. It was my fault I hadn't known what to do. Tracy is dead because of me.
Nico, giving up on Iris-messaging Chiron, comes up behind me and wraps his arms around my torso. Somehow this doesn't make me feel an better, but when Nico gently kisses the top of my head, it helps. A little.
Chey and Leo manage to construct a makeshift shroud. It actually looks pretty nice, considering they made it out of a few daisies, my bloodied sleeping bag, and a white tarp. Leo lights a stick on fire and passes it to Ryan. Ryan passes Taylor over to me and lowers the torch to the shroud. It catches almost instsntly, the fire eating away at everything it touches. I believe that it is being aided by Hephaestus a little.
I can also tell that Demeter is grieving because the flowers and trees all begin to wilt. We watch, with aching hearts, as Tracy Miller, daughter of Demeter, burns, her spirit released at last.
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Welp. That's that then. Sorry, I took forever! I wanted to update on Wednesday, but then MerrilyE didn't post that new chapter for The Whitacre Chronicles (please read). She finally did, so here's your chapter!
*breaks the fourth wall*
Leo: I'm freeeeeeeeeeeee!
Me: This was such a mistake.
Merrily: Maybe you should listen to me next time. Remember the bathroom incident?
Me: *shudders* Nico please do the disclaimer. QUICKLY.
Nico: CheyPaigeFanfic does not own PJO or BoO.
David: Sup.
Me: BACK TO ELSYLUM WITH YOU.
David: *snaps fingers* Nuh-uh!
Me: *sighs* Please vote and comment.