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Talon smoothed her hair gently, glad that she'd withdrawn from her shell of pain a little to the point of coherency, at least. It was better than nothing....and at least the internet idiots seemed to have been wrong on one point -- she wasn't projecting anything onto him.

Yet.

He knew she wanted to go home...he wanted to TAKE her home. He wanted to carry her into her bedroom, wrap her up in the covers and curl up beside her watching her sleep like a devoted guard dog and snarl at anybody who got too close.

Dr. Jenkins moved to the "business end" of Yeande once more for another quick check, avoiding the prone woman's tail as she did so. "When your next contraction hits, I'm going to ask you to start pushing for me." she said gently. "Little ones at first and we'll go from there."

Talon had shifted himself so that he was sitting on the edge of the bed instead of crouching on the floor so that he could better hold Yeande. Whatever pain she was feeling was practically radiating off of her to the point that faint twinges of discomfort stirred in his own midsection. Great...just what he needed, a sympathy labor.

"This is almost over." he whispered against the side of her head. "And then we'll go home, all right? Just a bit longer, and you never have to do this again. I promise you." He was feeling just as useless as ever...he couldn't make the pain stop, he couldn't really help, all he could do was exist, really.

Talon's mind stuttered from where it had been about to dredge up some more words of comfort as Yeande suddenly and blatantly turned on him. "My fault!?" he repeated, sounding incredulous and a touch hurt all at once. Nevermind the fact he'd been warned this was going to happen, it wasn't supposed to happen to HIM.

Dr. Jenkins favored him with a sympathetic look that pleaded with him not cause trouble and just go along with whatever Yeande said at the moment. The last thing she needed was to have to play referee and marriage counselor while trying to deliver an already-difficult baby.

Not that this was the first time dirty laundry had been aired in the delivery room, either. All sorts of things came out in the throes of labor...admissions of unfaithfulness, name-calling, proclamations of divorce...

Talon could do little more than stare for his part, his eyes locked on the tiny baby that Yeande held against herself. Caught somewhere between utter wonderment and confusion, it occurred to Talon that he'd never actually seen a just-born baby before. It wasn't like they were in the movies...the infant's body was blotchy in color, he was covered in a grime of blood and other fluids, and he looked a bit....squished. Was that normal, he wondered?

The baby's eyes fluttered, cracking open a bit as though trying to study the two shapes looming over him while Dr. Jenkins neatly severed and tied off his umbilical cord. When things had calmed a bit and Yeande had had a chance to rest, she would approach her and advise her against having more children in the future. It was quite likely that her body wouldn't be able to stand the strain of another.

The blotchy color slowly became a flushed lobster red as he nestled against the warmth of his mother, hitching a tiny sigh and falling asleep...as though he'd done all of the hard work today. In spite of himself, Talon smiled, his hands coming to rest on either of Yeande's shoulders.

He felt her tense and placed his arms around her in an embrace, only partially to restrain her. It wasn't really that he cared if she attacked the nurses, he was moreso worried about her hurting herself. The strain of the labor had already made her look like death warmed over and it worried him.

"I'm proud of you, Yeande." he whispered against her dampened brow before kissing it softly.

"They'll bring him back once they're sure that everything is in order." Dr. Jenkins assured the new parents gently as she slid her hands out of the delivery-soiled gloves. "Because, frankly..." she looked reflectively at the doorway the nurses had carried Zhane through. "....we aren't sure if he was born prematurely or not."

"Did he look premature?" Talon asked, the accusing edge that he'd meant to put into his voice flailing and falling flat on its face. He was exhausted...clearly not so much as Yeande was, but exhausted all the same.

"No, he didn't." the doctor replied pleasantly, ignoring the jab. "But it never hurts to be sure. That's our job." She then looked from Yeande to Talon. "I think you both could use a rest at the moment, though."

"You'll see him very soon, Yeande." Dr. Jenkins assured her. "They're going to clean him up, check his vital stats to make sure everything is properly developed, and once they're sure he's safe, they'll bring him right back. In fact, if everything goes well and the both of you check out fine, you could go home as early as tomorrow morning."

Tomorrow morning...what the hell time WAS it? Talon turned his head and squinted at the wall clock of the small delivery room, finding that it was nearing 11:30. No wonder he was exhausted, he was usually in bed by now.

"I need to call work and tell them I'm not coming in tomorrow." he muttered blearily, like a creature in a dream as he rose from the edge of the bed.

"There's a courteousy phone at the front desk." Dr. Jenkins informed him, taking up her clipboard and scribbling down a few things as he shuffled out before setting it aside again and moving to give Yeande a post-delivery examination. "You're going to need a few stitches, I'm afraid...the birthing tore you a little."

When Talon returned, not five minutes later after explaining his situation to one of the evening supervisors he'd never met before and had been assured he could have the day off, he found Dr. Jenkins just finishing up and Yeande out cold.

"What happened?" he asked, instantly defensive as the doctor gave him a passive look over her shoulder.

"Everything's fine, Talon." she assured him. "She's going to be very sore for a few days, though, and its going to be hard for her to get around. She's going to need as much help as she can get with the baby."

"Me, you mean." he said, approaching Yeande and taking up his post at the edge of the mattress once more. Dr. Jenkins nodded.

"Make sure that she's comfortable and don't let her strain herself. She's very lucky that a few stitches was all that she ended up needing when all was said and done. There's still a risk of hemmorage if she pushes it...I want you to make that very clear to her. She clearly doesn't like admitting weakness."

He nodded, only half-listening as his eyes focused themselves on the oddly-serene expression on Yeande's face in her unconsciousness.

"She'll be fine." the doctor assured him again. The assistants were already returning to remove the birthing equipment from the room and free up a bit of space. "If you like, we'll have someone come and wake you when they bring Zhane back from observation."

"I'm fine." he insisted, trying to keep his head from sagging.

"You're exhausted." she corrected him, approaching and gently but firmly pulling him to his feet. "A couple of hours will do you a world of good, I promise you." When she was satisfied that he was going to go seek out the lounge to lay down for a bit, Dr. Jenkins relocated her gaze to the unconscious ijiuo on the bed and smiled.

"Congratulations." she said softly before picking up her clipboard and quietly leaving the room to file the records in the appropriate places.