Ghis (closed)

[heartofcourage]

Julia let out a little sigh, knowing that the situation wasn't the best for any of them. She wanted Brogan there for her when their new baby came, but she also knew that Kayla needed him to help with the instigators in Norway.

"When she comes to Inverness, perhaps the journey could be delayed until the baby comes." She suggested softly, taking his hand and placing it on her greatly rounded belly. "I don't think it would be too much longer. She's already running out of room in here and tossing and turning all the time."

 

[KieranSoares]

"We'll just have t'see." Brogan leaned in to kiss Julia's lips, lifting his other hand to her cheek. "I love you, darlin'..." He told her gently, as if the hundred times a day was never enough. But he felt the light kick in Julia's belly against his hand, and he chuckled. "An' I love you too, lass."

 

[heartofcourage]

"And I love you." Julia said, laughing softly as his attention was drawn towards her belly. "She wants to meet you, Da."

Leaning in, she kissed her husband, pulling him in to press against her body.

 

[KieranSoares]

Brogan gladly drew closer, but they would not go much further than that when she was so close to giving birth.

That next morning, Brogan sent an escort south to meet Kayla when she arrived in Scotland, and he arranged for a ship in the north harbor so that they would be able to set out for Norway when needed. Everything was ready and they received word that Kayla had arrived in Scotland one morning just before Julia felt familiar pains coming on, and Vincenzo was watching her like a hawk.

 

[heartofcourage]

Julia was pacing the apartments, her hands cradling her tensed belly as the first pain ripped through her shortly after breakfast. She was nearly in tears at both the pain and thankful that Brogan was there. He was still at the morning meal with the children, leaving her to sleep a little longer. She blew out a long breath as the first pain passed and she sank into a plush armchair, waiting for his return.

 

[KieranSoares]

It was Vincenzo who came first, though. He opened up the door a crack to see if she was still sleeping, but when he saw her pained expression as she settled into the chair, he stepped in. "Julia?" He came to her side and took her hand. "What are you feeling right now darling?" He knelt before her, looking up to meet her eyes.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Just a few labor pains." She said squeezing his hand in a reassuring way. "Nothing to really worry about. I'm sure she'll come today or tomorrow but with everything going on with Kayla, I do t want anyone to worry."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Your husband and I will be worrying about you anyway," Vincenzo rose with a smile. "Now, just make sure you tell me what's going on as it happens. I don't want to miss anything with this one, she's even earlier than Ciaran, by about a week."

"Wha's goin' on?" They heard Brogan's voice as he entered with Ciaran in his arm. Annie had gone to play with her cousins.

 

[heartofcourage]

"The baby's coming." She said softly as Ciaran held out his arms for his grandfather, greeting the older man with a tight hug. "But I want this to be as stress free as possible."

Julia let out a small breath, struggling to maintain her calm exterior as she silently panicked. She knew the baby was early and she always thought back to the night that Emma had almost died bringing the twins into the word.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Don' you worry, love," Brogan told her softly, coming to her side to kiss her forehead. "Y'jus' leave it all t'us."

"I'll go tell Theo and Val, but from here on until the baby's born, Julia, I don't want you to be alone," Vincenzo warned. He too remembered Emma's difficulty and knew it was a possibility with Julia. But at the same time, he noticed that this baby didn't seem nearly as big as Ciaran, and Ciaran had been small anyway.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Alright." She agreed softly, holding Brogan's hand as she felt another pain coming.

Julia closed her eyes, breathing through it as the pain struck her like a crashing wave. Her fingers clutched his tightly, a soft whimper escaping her lips as she heard Vincenzo turn to take Ciaran from the room and to fetch Val. As the pain slowly started to fade, she blew out a long breath, panting as she looked up at her husband.

"I'm scared." She whispered to him, letting him see all of her doubts and thoughts.

 

[KieranSoares]

"I know love..." Brogan knelt beside her in Vincenzo's place. "I know... but you'll be okay, so'll th' baby. She'll be perfect... ye'll see."

Time wore on so slowly that each minute of pain seemed like an hour until that evening when Julia's water finally broke and Brogan carried her to the washtub Valentina had prepared. Once she was settled and Brogan was at her side, everything began to happen very fast, too fast for Vincenzo's liking. It was so much easier this time, having done it once before, but it was... too easy.

And it didn't take long, either, before a frighteningly small baby girl was picked up from the tub, and Vincenzo didn't stop this time to let Brogan and Julia see her, he rushed into the next room where he'd set up an emergency station of his tools and such. He'd had an awful feeling he'd need them, and his intuition was right. The girl wasn't breathing, and Vincenzo and Valentina were speaking hurriedly to one another in Italian. Even though Julia didn't know the language, it was clear something was very wrong. The baby hadn't cried.

"Val!" Brogan rose, and growled at his sister in Italian, a language he'd never mentioned he knew. Valentina answered him as she saw to Julia, and Brogan went pale.

 

[heartofcourage]

The birth of their baby girl should have been a happy event, but Julia was stunned at how quiet everything was. The baby didn't whimper, she was ushered from the room before she even got to see her daughter, and everyone was talking around her in Italian, hiding from her the news that she wanted to know.

"What's wrong?" Julia asked, looking up at her husband as Val worked to finish the birthing process before she went to clean her up. "Brogan, please tell me what's wrong with her."

 

[KieranSoares]

"She... she's no' breathin'..." Brogan whispered, heartbreak clear in his eyes.

"Val!" Vincenzo called, and Valentina bolted to his side to help him.

Brogan felt even weaker than he looked at that moment. Was she stillborn...? Was she suffocated?

 

[heartofcourage]

Julia felt her heart snap in two at those words. Her little girl. The one that had been through so much already...she refused to accept that the baby might die.

"Go help them. Please don't let her die alone." Julia begged her husband, her eyes frantic in the thoughts that were swirling in her head.

 

[KieranSoares]

Brogan wanted to remain with her, but his pull to at least comfort his daughter if she still lived was even stronger, and he left her side. Through the open door, Julia saw him approach, and Vincenzo and Valentina stepped aside for him. He picked up the motionless little body, and drew her up to his shoulder, patting her tiny back gently. "Come on, sweetheart..." Julia could hear him mutter. "Ma's waitin' for ya... We've all been waitin' for ya, Kate..." He'd long since chosen that nickname for Katherine.

And then, as if God Himself had seen what was happening and took pity on Julia and the baby girl, a weak cough was heard and a nearly inaudible whimper. There was no real crying, the girl simply didn't have the strength for it, but with each wonderful exhale, she whimpered again and coughed every so often.

Vincenzo had to sit down, he was so relieved that his body had gone weak, and Valentina lifted a hand to her heart with a soft sigh.

Tears coursed down Brogan's cheeks as he held his new daughter. "Y'sweet li'l lass..." He whispered all manner of thanks to his Goddess and any deity who would hear him. Valentina gave him a gentle nudge and looked to Julia, and Brogan returned to his wife after wrapping the baby up in an extra-warm blanket. "She's alive, love..." he whispered as the girl began to calm.

 

[heartofcourage]

Julia gripped the sides of the tub, straining to listen as Brogan scooped the girl up in his arms and cradled her close. She trembled in the quickly cooling water, praying to whoever would hear her to at least give her daughter a chance. Then she heard the most welcome sound as the baby coughed and whimpered in her father's arms.

Julia's tears matched his own as he brought their tiny girl in for her to see. She looked into the swaddling, catching a glimpse of a tiny sweet face. She was beautiful, with ivory skin tinged with pink. Her hair...was a startling shade of chestnut brown. It was much like her own, perhaps a little darker, shot through with red. Her eyes flicked towards Brogan at the sight of that, knowing just who her father was then.

"Oh, little Katherine. I'm so happy you're here." Julia murmured softly, leaning forward in the water to press a gentle kiss to the baby's forehead.

 

[KieranSoares]

"My li'l girl," Brogan whispered, partly to the newborn, partly to Julia. He really didn't care Arland was her blood father. Brogan would be the one to care for her, to stay up late into the night with her when she couldn't sleep, to be there fore her as she grew. That was a real father in his book.

Valentina and Vincenzo soon entered to help Julia, and soon she was in a dry robe, in bed. Vincenzo was still fussing over Kate, finding that she was too weak to nurse. At this point, many men in Brogan's position of power would order the baby taken away and forgotten, but Brogan was no such man.

"Ye've got t'have somethin' fer this, Vincenzo," Brogan spoke worriedly.

"I-... I don't, I don't have anything."

"I do," Valentina spoke up, and Brogan let out a sigh of relief. "At least, I know a makeshift trick." She left them for several minutes, and Kate began to whimper again. Brogan settled beside Julia to wait until Valentina returned with a leather waterskin that a man might carry as a canteen. She'd fastened a feeding bottle top to it and filled it with warm milk. Little Kate was too weak to suckle, so they could squeeze out small bits for her.

"Here," Valentina gave Julia the makeshift bottle. "Just a little bit at a time. You may have to use it a few days before she can nurse."

Brogan passed Kate to her mother with a smile, and Kate quieted finally as her eyes opened. Brogan choked up in his joy, seeing her eyes were a soft and wonderful emerald.

 

[heartofcourage]

With Kate settled in her arms, everything suddenly seemed right in Julia's world. With the water skin, she gently tried to feed her emerald eyed baby, smiling down at her as she looked around at the world for the first time. She leaned in and kissed her tiny forehead, rewarded as Kate wrinkled her brow and stared at her Ma with a dark little look. Julia laughed softly as she nuzzled her nose against the baby's, seeing that she already had her own little opinions.

"Love, go bring in your Ma. I'm sure she'd like to meet Kate." Julia said softly, looking at Brogan with a soft, serene look. "And then we'll introduce her to Annie and Ciaran."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Alrigh'," Brogan nodded and kissed her cheek before he left her side. Kitty entered already in tears minutes later, as Brogan had told her the story and that the baby's name was Katherine.

"Oh, she's so tiny..." Kitty whispered. "She's jus' as small as Kay was..."

 

[heartofcourage]

Julia smiled at her dear mother-in-law as she hovered over tiny Katherine. It was good to hear that Kayla had been just as small, but as a twin, she was expected to be tiny. Kate would have a hard road ahead of her, but she would be fought for by her family.

"She needs a middle name, love." Julia said, looking at her husband as she carefully passed her tiny bundle into Kitty's arms.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Aw, hell... I ne'er thought o' tha'." Brogan smiled in embarrassment.

Kitty looked to the two of them, "It'll come t'you."

Brogan then looked to Vincenzo and Valentina, and thought to himself a moment before asking his mother, "Isn't Vincenzo's middle name Valence?"

"It is."

"... Valencia, for th'both o' them. What d'ya think, love?" He looked to Julia.

 

[heartofcourage]

"I think it's perfect." She said softly, watching as Katherine mustered up her largest cry, sounding no stronger than a newborn kitten. "Katherine Valencia Ghis. The beauty of Inverness."

 

[KieranSoares]

"So yer givin' 'er yer title, ey?" Brogan chuckled. Kitty soon left them in peace, and Theo brought Ciaran and Annie. Ciaran seemed to know how fragile his new sister was, and he touched her cheek very lightly in greeting when he was brought close.

"Isn't she pretty, Ciaran?" Valentina asked him softly as she held him while Brogan had Annie on his lap.

"Pree..." Ciaran tried to repeat.

 

[heartofcourage]

"We'll all have to work extra hard to make sure that she's very well taken care of." Julia said as both children looked at their new baby sister. "She's very fragile."

Annie was quiet with awe as Theo held her, letting her look at her little sister. "Is she alright, Da?"

"She's perfect, Annie love. She's just tiny." Julia assured the little girl as Ciaran leaned down and gave the baby one of his famous sloppy kisses.