If the truth has been forbidden, then we're breaking all the rules.
“Gendry?” Her voice was a little shaky as she pressed her face into Gendry’s neck, pressed herself as close as she could given how fucking enormous she’d gotten. And she was still supposed to have how long to go, exactly? It was late winter, and the baby was due sometime on the early side of spring. A month, maybe? How the hell much bigger would she be in another whole month? But something felt different. She’d been feeling uncomfortable for a while, but had just chalked it up to being, well, super fucking pregnant. She felt crampy and achey, her back was hurting, which was not super new. It had been that way lately, what with her belly being the size of the damn grandfather tree. That was fine, she could deal, it made sense. But tonight?The cramps were different. Sharper, tighter, harder to ride out. Rhythmic, coming in waves. And the last one had fucking hurt. “Gendry, honey, wake up.” She never said honey. She was not a honey kind of girl, sticky and sappy and sugary-sweet. She was more of the hey, sexy type, wicked grins and heat and sass. But something wasn’t right. He knew it too. The second she called him honey, he was wide awake, those haunting mismatched eyes of his focused right on her. She winced as another cramp hit her, her eyes closing as her whole body stiffened against what she was starting to suspect was not just another normal achey crampy pregnant thing. She breathed, hiding her face in the little hollow where his neck and shoulder met. And when it passed, this pathetic little whimper snuck its damn way out of her.
“I’m scared.” It came out so quiet, barely even a whisper. But he was awake. He was there, and he was awake, and even with her eyes closed she could see the change as he went to work on her. She felt the cool touch of that healing light on her skin, and going deeper, trying to fix whatever was wrong. And that cool touch helped, chased away some of the fear because Gendry had her and as long as that was true she was safe.
The pain came again, even with his healing sinking beneath her skin. “Gendry?” It was easier, if only because he was with her. But it didn’t stop. And she was starting to think…”Gendry, I think…it’s too soon, isn’t it?” Oh god, what if it was, what if the baby came too soon? What if it wasn’t ready and it came anyhow and it couldn’t breathe she couldn’t breathe the baby needed air and she couldn’t breathe she was failing as a mom already so bad the baby wouldn’t even stay inside long enough to have lungs and breathe on its own what if it died, oh god, what if she lost the baby? Had to breathe, had to just breathe, Gendry was there, they were going to be okay. Everything was going to be okay. Everything…was going…to be…okay.
The cool, gentle caress of that healing light helped her breathe, and she held onto that, held onto the feel of him and the knowledge that he would never let her go, and he’d never let her go through this alone. No matter what happened, she was--“You’re going to be fine, Arrya.” She nodded against his shoulder, taking deep breaths to calm the racing of her heart. He had her. She was going to be fine. And the baby was going to be okay too.
He held her close and talked her back down from her panic. He was her anchor through the contractions as they grew in strength and in frequency. And then they weren’t alone. Warmth flooded her, mingling with the coolness of Gendry’s healing touch and sinking deep, deep, deep into every cell of her body before she even walked onto the scene. Black and white chasing one another slowly across her skin, riotous mass of hair spilling down her neck in dreadlocks, and eyes the mirror of her Gendry’s, lit up with love and welcome and completely unafraid. “Oh, my babies. You’re doing fine, love,” she said in her low jungle croon, and Arrya wasn’t sure if she was talking to her or to Gendry or to both of them. “Everything’s fine, everyone’s healthy and safe and it’s going to be okay.”
She pressed her lips to Gendry’s forehead, blowing out a breath and ruffling his forelock. Then she did the same to Arrya, and Arrya could feel Quark’s smile as it grew against her skin. “How are you holding up, my loves? First time’s the scariest, but you’re doing fine.” She wasn’t sure why, but that smile washed away the panic Gendry had helped her keep at bay. If Mom was smiling, that meant it wasn’t disaster. The baby was coming, and it was a happy day, not a terrifying one. She leaned into Gendry, and this time when she pressed her face into the crook of his neck it was in love, not in fear. Okay. It was time, and it was okay. She was in the safest company in the whole world. Her family was here and it was time to welcome the newest member into the world.
“Is…is there time to…I don’t want to do it here. I thought there would be time to get to the…” She trailed off, meeting Gendry’s eyes. “I wanted to have the baby in the Jungle, if…if we can get there. If it’s okay. It’s…I mean, it’s not ours but it’s…it’s your…it’s our family’s safe place, and I want to have the baby there, if--” If it wasn’t too late. If the trip wouldn’t hurt the baby. If Gendry was okay with the Jungle.
“There’s time, darling. You’re in the early stages yet, and the walking will help things along. Everything’s going fine, there are no complications, and you can do this. Gendry’s here for you, and you know he’s not going anywhere. I’m here for you, and I’m going to be here as long as you need me. And Gendry?”
“Jungle. I don’t want them to be born here.” The words came rushing out before she’d even finished saying his name. No, of course he didn’t. After what had happened to him, he’d want his children born somewhere safe. Somewhere no one could steal them away, somewhere no one would fucking dare.
“I know, love. Listen to me, son of mine.” Mirrored mismatched eyes met, blue to blue and gold to gold. “Your girls are safe, and no one is going to take them away from you. No one’s going to fucking dare, do you hear me? Not while there’s breath in my body, I swear it.” It helped. She could see it in the set of his shoulders, the fierceness in his eyes. But it helped much more when they got moving.
The trip was hard. The hardest damn trip of her life, with frequent pauses for the ever-worsening contractions. Gendry was her rock. He never let his nerves show when she needed him to be strong, but there was a huge difference between the poker face he’d been wearing for her before his mom arrived and the steady strength she felt now. And Quark coached her through the contractions, playing the mom she hadn’t realized she needed this whole time. The older woman who’d been there before, who knew what to expect and had safely delivered her fair share of children and wasn’t scared out of her fucking mind by all the scary things her body was doing.
They made it to the Jungle, and none of them bothered to stop at the border like a visitor when it had been the family’s home for decades. Even without the tattoos she’d once worn like her own skin, the Jungle wrapped itself around them, masking their presence and taking them straight to Quark’s waterfall, straight to her sanctuary, welcoming the lot of them home without a moment’s hesitation.
It was good to be back.
Labor was hard and scary, but Quark talked them both through it, teaching Gendry how to be a midwife and a birthing partner and teaching her what the hell it was she was doing. And when the baby finally came, she could barely move, she was so exhausted. But she licked the—huh. Well hello, little beautiful. The little girl was unlike anyone she’d ever seen, lovely black splashed with orange and white. And her eyes! They were mismatched like Gendry’s, but so unlike his. One had both his blue and his gold, and the other was the two colors blended together to make green, and then flecked with the brown of Arrya's eyes. “Oh!” And she was perfect, from the tips of her fuzzy little ears all the way down to the tips of her dainty baby hooves. “Oh, hello little love. Look, Gendry, look what we did!” Two eyes, two ears, two tiny little nostrils, four strong legs, she had all the right parts in all the right places and she was out and she was alive and she was okay and she was wonderful! Arrya started to tear up, cuddling their perfect little daughter to her chest and holding her close, but she was interrupted by another damn contraction. What?
“Sorry, darling, your breather’s over. The second one will be faster and easier, I promise.”
Wait, what? “Second what now?” Her eyes went wide as a few bits of conversation from earlier started to register. Gendry didn’t want them born in the Meadow. Quark promising his girls would be safe. That comment about how twins often come early and there was nothing to worry about. “Second one?” She whimpered, already so fucking raw and exhausted and ready to collapse from just one birth that the idea of another had her wanting to curl up into a ball on the ground at Gendry’s feet.
“It’s okay, Arrya.” That sweet, soothing dark croon washed over her, filling her with calm and strength and warmth that mingled with a fresh wave of Gendry’s cool healing touch. “You’re doing great, love. First one’s the hardest. Your body’s already ready for this, you’re almost done. We’re here, and you can do this. I promise.” Rock steady, both of them. Her family, getting so much bigger today. Not just growing by the two new lives being born under a blue moon. Quark was the mother she had never really had, the one who would hold on no matter what, and never let go. She had all of Gendry’s brothers and sisters; even if they weren’t present, they were her family really and truly. Because she finally believed they were. It wasn’t her and Gendry against the world, though they’d done a damn good job of that for the last eighteen years or so. Now it was all of them. She’d never been part of an all of them before, and it made her feel…strong. Like she could do anything. Even deliver another baby, exhausted as she was.
“Thanks, Mom,” she whispered. And with their encouragement, she steeled herself to do what she had to do, to bring their second child into the world. It was still really fucking hard, still hurt like a motherfucker, still drained her of all her strength ‘til she was weak in the knees and could barely keep her head up. But Mom was right. The second went so much faster, and by the time their firstborn baby girl was ready to try standing, their second daughter was out too. Baby girl tore open her birth sac before Arrya could even get to it, and she looked so damn much like her twin it stole Arrya’s breath away.
The pattern was different, the same black and orange and white splashed across her skin in different shapes than her sister’s. A lot more orange than their firstborn though, and with just a hint of white tips to her spiky little mane and scruffy baby tail. And her eyes were mismatched like Gendry's blue and gold, but her pupils were ringed with brown like Arrya’s. It made her heart happy, that both girls had something of both of them in their eyes. “Hello, love,” Arrya murmured as she licked her little forelock into a spike. She struggled to her feet before cleaning the second little girl off, so the first one could get up and feed. “Hello, baby girls. I’m your mom, and this is your daddy, and your grandma.” She beamed at Gendry, exhausted and fucking glowing. Quite literally. The light was doing things entirely on its own, and she was too damn happy to do anything about it.
Oh, fuck. “Um. What…what do we call them?” Her eyes went wide, and she stared down at their little girls, completely at a loss for how to handle the subject of names. They hadn’t really had a chance to talk about it, thinking they had plenty of time. “Something…strong. Intimidating, so nobody messes with our girls. But…but something that…that we can nickname, you know? I mean, we don’t want to be all ‘awww, my little Maul, come cuddly Mommy!’ or ‘That’s Daddy’s little Annihilate!’ or ‘Good job, Roar—‘” She trailed off, her eyes getting a little sad. No, not Roar. That one made her think of summer sky blue eyes full of pain. God, she missed her Lionheart.
“Mauly’s cute, though. And Anni. And…” Rora would have worked too. But she couldn’t. Couldn’t saddle one of her baby girls with something that hurt so much. And couldn’t bring down the mood of such an amazing moment dwelling on the past. “I don’t know. Gendry? What do you think?”
Arrya.
