CHAPTER 29
CADEN
The last thing Caden remembered was an IV being put into his arm and a doctor telling him they were preparing for a C-section. They had told him to count down from ten, and the anesthetic had kicked in moments later before Caden reached five.
It was as if no time had passed, but Caden’s body felt completely different. As he returned to consciousness, he realized his stomach hurt, but the pain wasn’t bad at all – especially not compared to the pain of his earlier contractions. He guessed the Zatan doctors had given him some kind of strong pain-relieving medication.
He looked down with his steadily clearing vision to see that his stomach was flat under the sheets of the hospital bed. His heart jumped.
His baby. Where was his baby?
Before he had a chance to truly panic, he saw a doctor he recognized moving toward him. It was the head palace doctor who had treated his wounds from that terrifying bird in the woods. She had her hair pulled back just like she had so many months ago. And in her arms…
“Can I see her?” Caden’s words were a tad slurred, but the effects of the anesthetic had mostly worn off by now.
The doctor nodded. Another two doctors helped Caden sit up and put pillows behind his back. Once he was situated, the head palace doctor handed him the tiny baby wrapped in cloth.
Caden’s eyes filled up with tears right away, the subconscious reaction surprising him.
“Oh my God…” he said, his voice filled with wonder. “She’s beautiful.”
“You knew she is a girl?” The Zatan woman asked in surprise, her voice slightly amused. “I didn’t tell you yet.”
Caden nodded, looking down at the face of his daughter. She blinked, then shut her eyes and promptly fell asleep in Caden’s arms. “Is she… Is she healthy?”
“Yes,” the doctor said. “She is a very healthy baby, thank the Gods. I sent a nurse to fetch Prince Xade from the corridor, he should be here any moment.”
However long it took Xade to arrive, Caden wasn’t sure. He couldn’t stop looking down at his daughter’s calm, sleeping face. She had Xade’s black hair and eyelashes, just like Caden had imagined, but her hair slightly curled at the end and her eyes were green, like Caden’s.
“May I hold her?”
Caden looked up to see Xade standing beside him with a rapt expression on his face. He gently lifted the baby from his lap and handed her to Xade. After seeing his daughter for the first time, Xade’s gaze turned to Caden. They shared a look full of love and pride.
“She sleeps so deeply,” Xade said softly.
A nurse came in and brought Xade a chair. He sat down beside the hospital bed, the baby nearly disappearing into his strong arms.
“So they told you she’s a girl,” Caden said. “And you were so adamant about telling me it couldn’t happen!”
Xade chuckled. “I don’t understand how, but you were right,” he said. “I didn’t think it possible.”
“Well, I didn’t think any of this was possible and here we are.” Caden stuck out his tongue, teasing. “Of course I knew.”
Xade nodded, a slight smile on his lips. Caden watched as the prince stroked their daughter’s face with a finger. His husband was so strong and such a powerful figure to his people, yet so gentle. Caden beamed with happiness.
He had really lucked out, hadn’t he? What an absolutely perfect guy to end up with.
He thought back to one of their first days together, when he had made a wish at the fountain of Priestess Alona. Part of that wish had been to have a beautiful baby, and that wish had come true. Caden wasn’t sure he believed in things like the power of a wishing well or a long-dead priestess, but he couldn’t deny what was true.
“You know how I was having trouble coming up with names?” Caden asked, inspiration suddenly hitting him.
“Yes,” Xade said. “But I must say I still wish to leave choosing her name to you. I am simply unable to choose.”
“Well, I had an idea. Tell me if it’s terrible or not. Or sacrilegious or something.”
Xade raised an eyebrow. “What is it?”
“Alona. Like the priestess.”
Xade tilted his head, seemingly thinking. Caden waited with baited breath. He suddenly loved the name more than any other. He imagined his daughter growing into an adult like the priestess: tall, strong, beautiful, and unwilling to compromise when it came to making her dearest wishes come true.
Finally, Xade said something in response. He looked down at their baby with a tender expression.
“Little Alona,” he said. Her eyes fluttered open for a moment before she fell back asleep. “It’s beautiful. It is an old-fashioned, unique name with associations of strength and individuality. She is a very special little girl and deserves a special name to match.”
“Alona,” Caden said out loud, leaning over from his pile of pillows to look at his daughter’s face again. His stomach ached as he moved so he sat back in his original position and Xade handed him the little girl instead.
Caden knew that the days and months ahead would be some of the most difficult of his life. He would be with Alona every moment of every day, making sure that she had everything she needed while sacrificing his own sleep and recreation. But just imagining watching her grow and flourish, the first Zatan and human woman discovering her place in Zatan royalty…
He would do anything for her. Anything she needed to make sure she had the best life a baby could possibly have on Zata – he would make it happen.
Tears came to his eyes again. Apparently, the wild seesaw of emotions he had been experiencing during the pregnancy wasn’t over yet.
“Xade,” he said, looking up at the prince.
“Yes?”
“I just want you to know this is the happiest moment of my life so far,” he said, feeling a tear start to make its way down his cheek.
Xade pushed his chair closer to the hospital bed and kissed him on the forehead, wiping his tear away with a thumb, his lips soft and reassuring.
“I know,” he said. “I know exactly what you mean.”
They stayed that way for a long time, snuggled close together, just watching baby Alona sleep in Caden’s arms.
His dreams had finally come true.