Chapter Four
“Ahhhhhh!” came a howling scream of pain from Gabriella. “Santiago!!”
Less than a minute later, and the door of her bedroom was thrown open and both Lucia and Santiago came rushing in. They both sported looks of fear and concern as they came to her side. She sat, propped against her pillows on the bed with both hands gripping her stomach and a look of pain plastered across her face.
“It’s time!” she cried, her dark eyes locking onto her husband as he came to take her hand.
“What can I do for you?” he asked her. He had not been involved in the birth of his first three children, as the midwife had shooed him out of the room.
“Stay with me,” she ordered, gripping his hand tight as a vice.
“I’ve no choice with a grip like that, my love,” he said softly, an attempt to lighten the mood some.
“Good, you should be here for the birth of at least one of your children,” she breathed, smiling as she gripped his hand all the tighter.
Lucia bustled about, getting ready the supplies that had been stored here in the bedroom weeks ago in anticipation for this moment. As she moved to the open windows to shutter them against the summer heat, she glanced upward at the sunlight shimmering through the trees surrounding the property. Venus would be traversing the sun today…and as mid-day approached, Lucia felt a sense of unease over things. Something simply did not feel right. She glanced over her shoulder to the laboring Gabriella and whispered a soft prayer for the woman to have a safe and easy delivery.
Once she had finished preparing the room to receive a newborn baby Dragon-shifter, Lucia returned to Gabriella’s side to check her. She seemed to be progressing slowly, but showed no signs of distress just yet. There was little else to do but wait for the child to make its debut…but Lucia was a diligent and dedicated nurse, tracking each contraction and keeping a close eye on everything.
At first, all seemed to be progressing well. Gabriella’s contractions came regularly and well-spaced. Her pain was intense, but manageable as each contraction came and went. As they tipped into the second hour, however, things seemed to take a turn for the concerning as Gabriella’s pain did not subside at the end of each contraction.
For nearly 10 hours, Gabriella languished in pain and complication as she fought to give birth for the fourth time. Never had she experienced such difficulty with her first three children and she prayed to whatever higher power above would listen that her fourth child be allowed to enter the world safe and healthy. Each wash of pain that stabbed through her took away a little bit of her hope, piece by piece.
Every cry of pain that left his wife had Santiago feeling all the more helpless and futile. There was little to nothing he could do to ease her pain or to make their child arrive any faster. All he could do was hold her hand tightly, stroke her hair and whisper words of love and encouragement to her. He held back the fear from his voice as best he could…but he knew she would be able to read it upon his face like a book. In an effort to hide it from her, he buried his face into her dark curls.
“Santiago…” Gabriella breathed, tilting her head towards him with tired, pain-filled eyes.
“Yes, my love,” he replied, lifting his face from her hair so as to look at her…pain and all. “I am right here for you.”
“Santiago…this child…I may not survive…” She tumbled over her words, her throat choking at the thought.
“No. Don’t say it, Gabriella,” Santiago cut her off with a stern voice and look. “That will not happen, I swear it.”
“Santiago…” She trailed off as another spike in pain struck her, though she drew in a breath and continued, “I love you. I love Rafael and Ignacio and Mateo…tell them.”
“Hush. They know,” he said, pressing his lips against her forehead. “I love you, Gabriella. You will have this child and be just fine.”
Another sharp bout of pain shot through Gabriella and she clenched her teeth through the scream. She did her best to continue breathing, to keep herself from giving up and giving in to the pain. She felt Santiago grip her hand once more and slip his other around behind her shoulders. He held her as best he could, his hand strong in her own even as his thumb gently rubbed across the back of hers.
His words hung in her mind. She would have this child. She took a deep breath, set herself to it and tried to take control over this pregnancy. Finally, after nearly ten hours of body- and mind-shattering pain, Gabriella succeeded in giving birth to their fourth child just after the stroke of midnight. A beautiful, healthy and whole baby girl. Their first and only daughter.
Lucia cleaned and bundled the child up as Santiago helped Gabriella into a more comfortable position to rest as well as to hold their newborn child when Lucia approached with the little thing all wrapped in white. Gabriella held her daughter to her chest, her brow still drenched in sweat as she looked down in awe and adoration at the little girl that had so recently threatened to kill her.
The babe was so small, smaller than all three of her elder brothers had been, and she seemed so fragile in her mother’s arms. Without hesitation, Gabriella moved her new daughter so that she could latch and feed if she could and wanted. She felt Santiago settle down on the bed beside her and turned to look at her husband. The look of awe on his face got a soft laugh from her, as her body wouldn’t allow much more than that.
“Are you alright, dear?” she asked, a bit teasingly.
“She is so small…” he marveled, still simply staring at her.
“Very small…but so perfect,” Gabriella said, returning her eyes to their daughter. “What should we name her?”
“I…I don’t know,” he admitted, looking to Gabriella finally. “I honestly thought it would be another boy…I had thought Javier.”
“Well, that won’t do,” Gabriella said with a smile at her daughter. “How about Isidora…after my mother?”
“If we are to honor your mother, you should be honored as well,” Santiago added. “Isidora Gabrielle DeLeon.”
Gabriella only smiled and nodded, leaning down just enough to press her lips softly against her daughter’s head. It was a good name, a beautiful name, that suited her perfectly in her mother’s opinion. At her mother’s touch, the brand new bundle of joy cooed and opened her eyes. Dark, beautiful eyes…just like her mother’s.
Lucia quietly cleaned up and left the three of them to bond together alone. As she stepped from the room, she paused, thinking back over the last dozen hours or so and all that had happened. That child was precious…that much she knew for certain.
*
For the first month after Isidora was born, all was well and both mother and child were kept quiet and comfortable, giving them the opportunity to bond and calm themselves after the trial of little Isidora’s birth.
Just a few weeks before Gabriella had gone into labor, all three of the boys had been packed up and sent off to spend the summer with their maternal grandmother, leaving the house empty and silent for mother and baby to recuperate from such a trying birth. The stillness of the house was more than welcomed, although both Gabriella and Santiago missed their sons terribly from the moment they had left.
As the house settled after the chaos of birth and everyone found themselves back into a comfortable routine, Gabriella and Santiago began to discuss the plan to surprise their three older children with the news of their new baby sister. The boys would not be returning home until the very end of August, if not the beginning of September just before Rafael’s birthday, so they had plenty of time to plan a special welcome-home/surprise party for their return. The question they tossed about was what sort of way to go about it. A sister was a very special thing and they wanted their sons to understand that by the way they were introduced to her.
Whatever plans they may have had, however, were swiftly derailed by the very person they were meant to celebrate. Little Isidora, the delicate newborn so often found in Gabriella’s arms, quickly proved to be far more than anyone could have ever planned for. Let alone her parents.