27th Zi'da, 717
After Padraig had arrived home, Faith had to admit that she felt better. Emotionally, of course, that went without saying, but physically too. She'd slept more soundly than she had since he'd left and, whilst she continued to feel sick, she hadn't actually vomited and was keeping what food she ate down. So, whilst it was a struggle to eat, she ate and they started to slowly get back into their routine. Or, whatever passed for a routine for them with the impending birth of their child. By Faith's reckoning, there were maybe eighty trials until she was due to give birth. That was doable. "I'm doing my best, you know," she said conversationally to the swelling of her stomach, "to make that a very nice place. As much good food as I can manage, and I don't poke you back when you kick me. So, you just stay there awhile and all will be well." She was excited for the baby to be here, but just lately Faith had started to think about the actual birth.
This pregnancy had shown her that her pregnancy with Rose had been, as she had suspected, an illusion. It had been the stereotype of pregnancy, for her. As a medic, she understood pregnancy in an observed way ~ yes, women got tired, they said they were emotional, that kind of thing. But this time around, Faith would have to admit that it was nothing like she'd experienced before and, when she looked back at Rose's birth it, too, was textbook. All of this combined to make her a little worried about what birth would actually be like. Not that worrying about it would make a difference, but it was all she could do. She'd read every book, been there and delivered no end of babies, even had an illusionary birth of her own. She was as prepared as she was going to be.
So why did she feel so very, incredibly, woefully unprepared?
Sighing, she pulled the wood around her. She'd bought this to make a chest for Arlo. She was going to make him a few things, to say thank you. He'd been kind to her when she'd turned up at his camp and he'd covered for her on the Immortals' Tongue when they'd gone there as part of their qualification. Somewhere along the line and she wasn't quite sure where, he'd graduated from someone who might be a friend to someone who was. So, she'd decided that she was going to make him things and a chest to put them in. With a desire to personalise it, she'd thought about how to do that and then, had decided to use the scenes they'd seen drawn on a cave wall on Immortals' Tongue. It was, after all, the earliest form of storytelling. That worked, so Faith got herself and the area where she was working sorted, and was ready to start.
This pregnancy had shown her that her pregnancy with Rose had been, as she had suspected, an illusion. It had been the stereotype of pregnancy, for her. As a medic, she understood pregnancy in an observed way ~ yes, women got tired, they said they were emotional, that kind of thing. But this time around, Faith would have to admit that it was nothing like she'd experienced before and, when she looked back at Rose's birth it, too, was textbook. All of this combined to make her a little worried about what birth would actually be like. Not that worrying about it would make a difference, but it was all she could do. She'd read every book, been there and delivered no end of babies, even had an illusionary birth of her own. She was as prepared as she was going to be.
So why did she feel so very, incredibly, woefully unprepared?
Sighing, she pulled the wood around her. She'd bought this to make a chest for Arlo. She was going to make him a few things, to say thank you. He'd been kind to her when she'd turned up at his camp and he'd covered for her on the Immortals' Tongue when they'd gone there as part of their qualification. Somewhere along the line and she wasn't quite sure where, he'd graduated from someone who might be a friend to someone who was. So, she'd decided that she was going to make him things and a chest to put them in. With a desire to personalise it, she'd thought about how to do that and then, had decided to use the scenes they'd seen drawn on a cave wall on Immortals' Tongue. It was, after all, the earliest form of storytelling. That worked, so Faith got herself and the area where she was working sorted, and was ready to start.
