He anxiously paced outside the doorway, hands pulling at his hair. A red glow cascaded down through the window into the hallway. Tonight was a blood moon, the first one in over 10 years.
'Aaarrghhhh'
There it was again, another scream through gritted teeth followed by panting and a gasp. It had been close to an hour now, what was taking so long?
'I can see the head, keep pushing' a ladies voice carried through the closed door.
'Owwwwww'
He couldn't stand it any longer and barged through the door just in time to witness the miracle of life.
'It's a boy' one of the midwives beamed.
He sighed with relief, finally, an heir.
She passed the bouncing baby boy to him and placed a hand on the new mothers knee. He gazed upon the tiny baby and held him close, eyes filled with adoration for his long awaited Prince.
'Not much time to rest I'm afraid dear, number 2 is coming now'
He jerked his head up in shock
Twins? How did they not know it was twins?
'I can't, I can't do it, I'm too tired' the mother moaned, completely exhausted.
'Yes you can, now push' the other midwife encouraged.
'You can do this honey' he encouraged with another squeeze of her knee.
The bedsheets started to redden as her head flopped back onto the pillows.
The midwives looked at each other, wide eyed.
'Stay with me' one panicked and tried to rouse her unsuccessfully.
'She's not going to make it' the elder midwife said, alarmed.
'Do something' his male voice commanded. 'Do what you need to do to save them' he instructed.
The midwives glanced at each other cautiously. Was he asking what they thought he was asking?
'I know you can help her' he stated, knowingly.
The midwives nodded, understanding the inference in his request. The elder one hurriedly placed both hands over her swollen belly, closed her eyes and started a low murmured chant, while the other one held her limp hand and stroked the back of it.
A mystical feeling filled the room like ice cold air and time seemed to stand still, the room was silent other than the chanting of the elder midwife. Panic had fully started to set in and he began pacing again until there was an audible intake of breath and she was conscious.
Within minutes she was pushing and baby number 2 was born. A loud cry echoed throughout the room and the mother laughed through happy tears.
'It's a girl' the elder midwife sighed with relief. 'One of each'.
She wrapped up baby girl and handed her to the other midwife with a weary smile. The midwife swayed the baby girl as she made her way round the bed for the mother to see.
He walked to the bedside and bent down beside the exhausted midwife.
'Thank you' he whispered.
'You're welcome, Alpha' she mustered, with her energy now depleted, her exhausted body slumped to the floor.
* * *
