At that time I drifted back to the land of dreams. I woke up a little after 8 and recalled the earlier scene. I sighed to myself and went to get dressed. I promised Damon that I would try. With a bit of nervousness, I headed towards the main house. After a while, I noticed Beckie sitting at the entrance, obviously waiting for someone.
Eh... Yeah. But what can I talk to her about?
Seeing me, she slowly got up, or rather tried to, because her pregnant belly obviously made it difficult for her. A passing warrior offered her his hand, which she gladly accepted and stood up. She waved at me encouragingly as she saw me approaching.
"Hello Tess. Let's go eat something because the little one won't let me live." She laughed, walking with me to the kitchen. Everyone greeted their Luna and exchanged a few words with her. She approached everyone with a smile and listened to everyone patiently. I admired such people. She was a very strong woman, not like me... We finally managed to reach the kitchen and eat breakfast.
"Tell me, Tess. Could you help me a little today? I need someone by my side and I know from Damon that you would spend the day alone. I would be very grateful for that." She looked at me with pleading eyes. There was no way I could refuse her. She was Luna, and pregnant. I took a deep breath and decided to try.
"So what do we do?" I asked, hoping that we wouldn't be around too many people. Beckie clapped her hands in joy when she saw that I agreed.
"Let's go defeat my worst nightmare first" She reluctantly looked behind me. I looked back and almost burst out laughing when I saw the stairs.
"Ugh.. I hope I give birth soon, because this is starting to become a serious problem." She complained grumpily.
"Will Luna let me?" With a smile on my face, I offered her my hand, which she gladly took.
"With pleasure" She laughed and we set off to fight the stairs. We went to her office, which was right next to Zack's. I helped her sort the documents and pass the binders from the shelves. I gave her some ideas for a party for her son, which was to take place in two weeks. For the first time I saw how many responsibilities she had on her head. In addition, she was able to handle them without any problems, but as she put it, "Years of work take their toll." Either way, she was amazing.
By noon we managed to finish most of the work and went for a walk because Luna couldn't sit still anymore. So we walked together arm in arm and as we passed through the settlement, Beckie showed me where they had everything and the events that were taking place there. We moved away from the buildings and started walking deeper into the forest for a moment of silence. Being among people, almost every now and then someone came up to us to talk to her. I understood her need to calm down. Every now and then we rested to let her catch her breath. Zack and Damon were scheduled to return sometime in the evening, so we were in no rush to get back. But fate wanted this walk to end much sooner. Beckie clutched her stomach and groaned heavily with a grimace on her face. Suddenly I saw water running down her legs and we looked at each other in horror.
"I think my water broke" Beckie looked at the ground in disbelief.
"I guess you're right" I nodded, momentarily unsure of what to do. However, her next contraction quickly brought my thoughts back to life.
"There's a clinic nearby. We have to get there." I looked into her scared eyes. I put her hand over me and grabbed her waist with mine. I tried to take as much of her burden as possible. We slowly started moving, taking breaks during the contractions.
"It's too early. I shouldn't give birth yet" She worried, breathing heavily.
"When were you due?"
"Per week"
"Apparently the walk and stairs speed everything up. Don't worry, I'm with you. Everything will be fine" I assured her, looking confidently into her eyes. She nodded to me and we slowly set off. When we saw the white building, we both breathed a sigh of relief. Beckie mentally alerted Nelly, who ran out to us in a hurry. Together it was much easier for us to bring her inside. Nelly immediately attended to her, checking on the baby.
I wasted no time and ran to wash my hands thoroughly and rinse my face. I wanted to be with Luna, knowing what childbirth meant. I decided that I would do everything for her that I had never experienced myself.
My first and second delivery looked practically the same. The midwives came every now and then between contractions to check how I was doing, and then they left me alone. When it came time to give birth, they just told me to push and breathe. And the complications after second....I had no one with me to comfort me or say a kind word. It was a terrible ordeal for me. I didn't want anyone else to experience what I did. I entered the room and without asking, sat down next to Luna's bed, holding her hand.
"I'm with you. I know it hurts but you can do it." In response, she squeezed my hand, getting ready for another contraction.
"Luna, it's not time to push yet. You have to hold on" Nelly informed us, going out to get the necessary things in another room.
"Relax. Rest whenever you have a moment to breathe. Imagine that soon he will be in your hands" I told her calmly.
"As soon as Zack comes back... I'll kill himmmm!!" She cried out with the next contraction.
"Just wait until he sees how you did it without him and take your baby in his hands. He will be grateful to you for the rest of his life" I tried to prevent the Alpha from being murdered.
"He better be... Otherwise his days will be terrible" She tried to smile but another contraction came. After a while, Nelly returned and examined Luna again. "You're doing great. Just a little more and we'll start pushing." She wiped her sweaty forehead with a damp cloth. "Tess, I have orange juice in the next room. Let Luna drink it to get a little stronger." Without wasting a moment, I went and brought the juice with a cup. I poured some for the woman in labor and gave it to her to drink. A few contractions and cups later, Beckie was ready. Listening to Nelly's commands, she began to push, never letting go of my hand. I kept encouraging her until we all heard the loud cry of a baby. Beckie breathed a heavy sigh of relief.
"Congratulations Luna. You have a healthy baby boy" Nelly wrapped the baby in a blanket and gave it to the new mother. A smile appeared on her tired face. Seeing this scene made me want to cry. I also held my daughters like this. The same ones that, after so many years, easily replaced me with someone better.
Letting new mother enjoy the baby and rest, I left the room and sat on a chair in the hall.
When the emotions left me, I felt how tired I was. I closed my eyes for a moment, wanting to rest. The next thing I remember were some voices and then I felt like I was flying. Opening my sleepy eyes, I noticed that I was in Damon's arms. I snuggled into his chest, feeling pleasant electricity. After a while I was put on the bed and it woke me up a bit.
"Damon. Are you back? What about Alpha? Did he go to Luna?" I asked, rubbing my eyes. "We came back as soon as we found out that Beckie went into labor. We came to the hospital and I found you sleeping in a chair."
"It's good that you're back." I buried my head in the pillow, wanting to doze off some more. Damon, seeing this, quietly left my house.
Unfortunately, this night did not end well for me. Adam and the girls stood in front of me and were not thrilled to see me.
"Why did you come here? To cause more problems? I have a new, better wife" Adam growled at me.
"We don't need you here anymore. Go back where you came from. Do you want people to look at us strangely again?" Allana threatened me.
"It's a shame. You're useless. Why are you still walking around this world? Don't show your face to us!" Pam screamed.
The three of them turned away from me and started walking away, laughing to each other. I couldn't say anything to their words. Tears were flowing down my cheeks and my heart ached terribly. It became completely dark and some whispers could be heard. I tried to get up, but some force kept me in one place. The whispers became louder and louder until clear voices could be heard.
"Why is she acting so strange?"
"Look, she's locked in the car again."
"Poor children. To have such a mother"
"Freaky"
"As if she couldn't act normally."
"There's definitely something wrong with her head."
I covered my ears but it didn't help. The accusations and ridicule were still loud in my head. I couldn't stand it any longer.
"NO!" I screamed with all my might as I woke up from a terrible nightmare. I hugged my knees and cried desperately, not knowing what to do. I jumped up in fear when suddenly my door opened and someone walked in. Through my tearful eyes, I recognized Damon.
"Tess! What happened?" There was worry in his voice. I didn't care then whether he was mad at me for it or not. I reached out to him, searching for his warmth, which immediately spread throughout my body. Damon took me into his broad arms, hugged me tenderly and tried to calm me down.
"It's okay, Tess. I'm with you. It's just a bad dream. Calm down, honey. There's nothing wrong with you anymore." He stroked my back and kissed my head every now and then, still purring for me. I cried for a long time. I guess I wanted to pour out all the grief that was building up inside me. After I had cried all my tears, I was so tired that I didn't notice when I fell asleep.