Page 49 of Keeping His Mate
Then Jo takes a step forward into the spot Kate just left. “Jo, I know this isn’t a typical scenario for you, but…” Ava trails off.
“You would like for me to provide meditative support for Chloe to keep her mental health strong during this time, yes?” Jo asks, leaving Ava stunned to silence.
After a brief pause, Ava says, “I-I mean, yes. How did yo–”
“It is what I do,” Jo replies with a wink. Then goes to stand on Chloe’s other side and gets to work immediately by holding her hand and having her take deep breaths in and out.
“And Eleanor,” Ava says as I’m the last in the group, “if you could report Chloe’s vitals to Kaiva as we go through this, it would be super helpful.” She hands me a screen pad that’s already open to a screen with colorful squiggly lines all over it, and numbers beneath each one. She shows me which ones track Chloe’s heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate, and oxygen saturation, and which ones are currently tracking the baby’s. “If any of those numbers change, you shout it out.”
“Got it,” I tell her. “Oh, what’s this?” I ask when I accidentally swipe to a different screen, which shows a blob growing and then shrinking.
“That’s just a visual of the baby inside the womb. We’ll be able to see if any complications arise before she delivers,” she replies, then swipes it back to the vitals.
Just then, Ahlvo pops his head in the front door. “Need any help, little noodle?”
“No, no,” Ava says warmly. “We’ve got it. Thanks, my love.”
“It is time!” Kaiva hollers, tossing a blood- and fluid-soaked towel into the bin beside her.
“Kayyt,” Jo calls out before Kate approaches the bin, “do your chants as I have shown you.”
Kate nods and mumbles something under her breath as she pinches her eyes shut. I don’t hear it clearly, but I pick up, “blood is white” and “not red” and I remember that Kate gets a little squeamish around blood. This must be her way of altering what she sees so she can get through it.
We get into position, surrounding Chloe on all sides as she lies back on the bed and breathes with Jo.
“You will push when I tell you to do so, o-kay, Cloh-ee?” Kaiva says.
Chloe nods, and her knuckles turn white as she squeezes Varrek’s fingers. “You can do this, inara. You are stronger than you realize.” He kisses her sweat-covered forehead with reverence, then rubs the tip of his nose against hers.
“O-kay, Cloh-ee. Push now. Push until the count of ten,” Kaiva instructs, and as much as I want to watch this little alien’s progress as he or she enters the world, I keep my eyes on the screen pad in my hands, checking the numbers.
Chloe grunts as she bears down, pushing her feet against the stirrups. Ava is doing the counting as she hands Kaiva the tools she needs, and she’s at number five. Chloe screams as Ava gets to seven. “Aaahhhrrrghhh! Fuuuck! Fuck, fuck!” she shouts.
“And stop!” Kaiva yells as soon as Ava reaches ten. “Now, breathe.”
“Can you not give her something for the pain?” Varrek asks, his face twisted in anguish.
“We can, but we’re unsure of how the dosage will affect the baby,” Ava says. “Since it’s half-human and half-Trovilian, we don’t know if the medication we have will be too much or too little. She’s gonna have to do this the natural way, I’m afraid.”
“Heart rate and blood pressure are up,” I tell them. “Heart rate is one hundred forty. Blood pressure is ninety-six over one hundred thirty-two.”
Kaiva nods then pats Chloe’s foot. “Again, Cloh-ee. Push to ten.”
Varrek strokes the side of Chloe’s face. “Push, my sweet Cloh-ee. You can do this.”
And she does. She goes through this routine several more times––pushing, breathing, pushing, then breathing. Jo keeps pulling Chloe’s attention when the pain becomes too much and presses the back of Chloe’s hand against her forehead as she chants quietly.
At one point, Varrek rises to his full height and yells, “Stop this now! My mate is suffering!”
To which Ava calmly responds, “Varrek, we talked about this. Childbirth is painful and Chloe will experience pain. But she needs you to be her rock. Steady. Unwavering.”
He nods, but unhappily, with his mouth forming a childlike pout.
“Because if you can’t, I’mma kick your ass outta here. Mmkay?” Ava adds.
“Yes,” he replies, then plops back down onto the stool at Chloe’s side.
By the time she pushes again, Chloe lets out another bellow, and I hear Kaiva say, “It is coming.”