Gratuitous Epilogue

23 - November

November 12

Tyrian

Tyrian arrived excitingly early, almost a full month ago. I do wonder if I triggered my own labour, since I was thoroughly sick of being pregnant by then. It at least came on very abruptly at lunchtime, without any hint for Kaoren’s Sights to pick up before he left for the day. Mip had shed his collar and I was trying to hook it out from under the couch, and was so frustrated by my inability to simply crouch down enough and look to see exactly where it was. In a bit of a temper, anyway, and then pain, and mess.

My discussions with Alay and Mara had led me to expect a slow build, and I had myself a little panic attack while, bizarrely, getting a mop and bucket and cleaning up the floor. I think I was trying to convince myself that it was a mistake, that I’d just had some kind of super-cramp, and I had to clean up just because.

I calmed down at the second contraction, even though it was quite soon, and went to stuff important things into the bag I’d been planning to pack, then sent a text to Kaoren, despite him being in the middle of a scouting mission at Telezon.

"Tyrian’s coming. I think it’s going to be quick. Going to get Nils and Zee to take me to medical."

Kaoren immediately opened a channel to me, but only said: "Heading back. Keep the link open."

Mori tells me that he stopped in the middle of the ruined street they were exploring, and just stood still for an exceptionally long time, then ordered them back to Pandora in such a curt tone that she thought some major disaster was underway. But he seemed to remember himself after they’d started flying back to Telezon’s platform, and said quietly: "Sorry, Cassandra’s in labour." Mori says it’s the first time she’s ever heard him apologise.

I’d gone on to tell Zee and Nils, who were at the guard quarters, and they came around immediately, and took me back to the mainland and were calm and amused and Zee stayed with me till Kaoren arrived, while Nils went and collected the kids and kept them distracted and entertained. I did have a baby-focused doctor, but also Ista Tremmar, who is my favourite of the Setari medics. Taren drugs handily kept me aware that pain was happening without obliging me to truly experience it, and even though my labour was barely more than three hours, Kaoren arrived in plenty of time to suffer through it with me.

Tyrian was a tiny newborn, and is still undersized for his age, but his lungs were fine and other than keeping us in overnight for observation, the medics consider us problem-free. He’s also not a touchstone, which gave me a great sense of relief. Today we took him back for baby’s first brain scan, and found he has the same power set as Kaoren, but with Ice instead of Light, though I knew after the first few days that he was Sighted. If I watch anything upsetting while holding him, he gets distressed, so I have to make sure only to read happy books while feeding him.

Overall I guess Tyrian would be considered a quiet baby, but he still poops and pees and cries enough to leave me feeling ragged most of the time. Fortunately Kaoren’s Sights effortlessly translate baby shrieking, so we can usually address the cause of the shrieking, except for the "shrieking because I want to" occasions. If I hadn’t fallen so instantly and utterly in love with the little screamer, I’d be wondering why I’d gotten myself into this.

He looks so much like Kaoren. But there’s just a little hint of me. I have a lot of trouble letting him out of my sight.

When not changing nappies, Kaoren has organised all the kids into doing a little project, creating The Book of Arcadia, which was meant to be a surprise for me until Sen told me all about it. Ys has done the maps, Lira and Sen have been pressing flowers and leaves, Rye has been contributing information about all the animals, and Kaoren has been doing illustrations. Once he realised that I knew, Kaoren roped me into the process, and I’ve added an ongoing history. After I’d kissed him rather a lot.