PM to join The New Father (Kavala)

[Riaris Dovukalis]

Timestamp: 14th of Winter 513 AV


Riaris rushed through the Sanctuary in search of Kavala. The Akalak had been home recuperating from his venture that had started on the 6th and needed the time to rest up and allow his injuries and his mind to heal. There was always some force of darkness coming to the city looking to start trouble, and the guardians of the city were always called to defend it. Once the trouble was over, Riaris had his share of bruises and a few days hidden were exactly what he needed.

However, during that time something amazing had happened, and something that he had been looking forward to for a long time. His children were born, though he didn't know about the surprise at the time, but his sisters did, and they were the ones to hurry home to tell him the news once he appeared better. Nanail didn't say much, only that the time had come and he needed to go and see his family. Riaris wasn't dull, and when he realized what she was telling him, he rushed off to the Sanctuary to see Kavala.

The horse ride there couldn't have been slower, and even with Nanail screaming and hanging half way off the back end, he couldn't stop. Riaris was angry with himself for not being there at the right time. He wanted nothing more than to be there to see his child born, it was important to him. His father had been there for both of his children's births and Riaris wanted to do the same for himself, and for Kavala.

The doors to the Within were flung open as a bulky, purple mass raced inside quickly. Nanail had been left behind chimes ago and was mostly jogging her way to meet up with him. He was too fast for her to catch and she knew it wasn't any point in trying. "Kavala! Vanator!" Riaris stomped his way through the halls, looking in each room to find anyone who could show him to his beloved and their child.

[Kavala]

Larik got there first with Cadra close on his heels. The fierce Kelvic teen flashed eyes of gold and all but hissed at Riaris, the same sort of hiss an eagle would make at a smaller bird, one that was about to become lunch. The challenge in his gaze was unmistakable even though Riaris was nearly twice his size in all regards. Cadra skidded to a halt beside him, her hands thrown up.

"You need to be quiet." Larik said firmly, his voice low and angry. He glanced over his shoulder towards Kavala's suite. The twins had Riaris faced off just before the hallway that led to the library and then on to the suite where Kavala lay. "They need quiet. Caelum said so. And I'm enforcing it. Ia'del can't handle loud noises yet, and stops breathing all the time. You must be quiet." Larik said.

Cadra was scared witless of Riaris. She always had been. But with her brother there being so fierce she had far more courage than she would have on her own. The house cat's tendency was to arch her back when she saw the big Akalak stomping around, spit in displeasure like cats were prone to do, and retreat. But she didn't do that with her eagle brother giving her all that courage. Instead, she spoke softly. "Kavala's really weak. We couldn't find her for days. She left in the night and they only brought her back yesterday after finding her. You can see her but you need to be really quiet." She said, glancing up as Rairis' sister finally caught up and skidded to a halt behind him. Cadra and Nanail exchanged glances and then both pointedly looked at Riaris.

If he agreed and quieted down, the twins would let him pass. Then he'd find Kavala in her suite, buried in a mountain of blankets and pillows on her enormous bed, curled around something tiny and pale. Close, but not in her arms, was another child, this one laying on his back, head turned to one side as if he was looking at his mother, sleeping like log. Unlike the other form in her arms, this one was bigger than most babies at his age, with deep dark skin so pigmented that one couldn't tell if he was blue, red, or any other color. He had a shock of white hair that swirled around his head, already long for a baby.

Kavala lifted her eyes, blinked, and offered Riaris a smile. "Hi." She said almost wordlessly. The woman looked like death warmed over with dark circles under her eyes and deep hollows evident in her cheeks. She only met his eyes for a moment though, before dropping them again to what she held gently in her arms.

[Riaris Dovukalis]

Riaris came to a halt in the hallway, pale eyes staring down at the children. He wasn't sure what game they were playing, but he wasn't in the mood for it. He didn't know the kids well at all, more Drykas blood for the family. They were cute enough, but they would both get paddled if they stood between him and his family. It took him a few ticks to realize that they were being serious and this wasn't some game that the children had come up with.

"Ia'del?" There was something about the child's words, and the way she spoke that made him think of a baby. But who's he didn't know. As far as he knew, Vanator was always having women spitting out babies for him, and part of that proof was blocking him from moving forward. "Kavala went missing? What is all this?" He was shocked, his love had been missing and he had no idea of anything that had gone on while he was away. By this time Nanail had caught up, the girl was so tired it took her a moment to catch her breath. She moved behind her brother, arms reaching up to hug him, as she rested her head on his back.

Riaris almost didn't feel his sister touch him, his whole body was muted, numbed by the slap in the face that he had just gotten. Nanail stepped around him finally, and along with Cadra they showed him the way. He didn't speak any all during the walk and simply moved into Kavala's room. What he saw on the bed pulled a low, sharp gasped from his mouth. Riaris could feel his heart skip a beat and his throat became so dry that it almost choked him. He moved forward, one step after the next, a huge weight hanging over him, making his body feel heavier by the moment. Nanail stopped in the door and held the twins back in case they tried to go in. This moment was for her brother.

He saw Kavala on the bed, a pale, tiny child in her arms, nestled very close with her. Then there was another, a child that could only be of the Akalak. "Two..children.." His mind was lost, and Riaris couldn't think long enough to process the thought of which was his, or if they both were. He moved closer, his heart still pounding inside his chest as a warm, tingling feeling washed over him. Suddenly Kavala lifted her head and she spoke, the same sweet, soothing voice that had taken him by storm so many seasons ago. "Kavala...."

Riaris felt a strange warmth around his eyes for a tick, before it was replaced with a splash of coolness. Tears slowly puddled and rolling down his cheeks, getting lost somewhere in the stubble on his chin. He wanted to say something, anything, but the words wouldn't come. The Akalak moved to the side of the bed and dropped down heavily on one knee. His hand, shaky reached out for his beloved. "How are you? Tell me you're ok."

[Kavala]

The twins, seeing that the big Akalak was not going to stomp into the room, wake the babies and upset Kavala, retreated. They took Nanail with them. The three teens turned and quietly closed the door, intercepting Tasival who came the moment he heard wind that his father had arrived. The quartet retreated to the Commons, all talking at once softly, but leaving Riaris and Kavala to their reunion.

The Konti was still really weak for all that she was surrounded by healers and medicines and family. Most of her problem was that she refused to sleep other than those times Caelum came in and sat with Ia’del. The hefty boy was fine. He was, if anything, oversized for a child his age and precocial already. The teens packed him around, helped feed him, entertained him and already had him spoiled to the nails. But Kavala let no one close to the other child. She was premature, weak, and her survival was constantly in question.

When Riaris darkened the door, Kavala offered him a soft smile and a barely whispered hi. He moved to the bed beside her, knelt and she reached out to take his hand. Her voice was the softest he’d probably heard it, barely audible. “Yes. We’re fine… most of us. You have two children, Riaris. That’s Ralac and Inadan. He’s big for his size, healthy, and eats a ton. We think hes going to be indecisive because he can’t seem to decide on a skin color. He’s sleeping but he won’t mind it if you pick him up. He sleeps like a log.” She said, gesturing over to the sprawled out baby boy. He was dark, far darker than most Akalak babies to the point of almost being black. When he moved he looked indigo one moment, deep purple the next, then red in the moment after. He had a shock of white hair and scales running around his forehead and down his shoulders. He looked like Riaris in miniature with the elegant lines of his mother. Riaris could see echo’s of Tasival’s looks in the boy too. He reminded those that looked upon him like a piece of the night itself with the white hair reminding him of Leth’s full light.

The Konti took a deep breath, seemingly resting for a moment, and then continued in her soft almost soundless voice. “You have a daughter too. Her name is Ia’del. She’s not doing nearly as well. She is .. way too early. I can’t leave her much because she stops breathing a lot and I have to get her started again and help her… sometimes for bells. We don’t know if she’s going to… “ Kavala let the words trail off. She blinked, bowed over the little girl and kissed her tiny forehead gently. If Riaris took a good look, he’d see that she was only about a quarter of Ralac’s size. Nothing about her was big. Her tiny hand gripped Kavala’s webbed pinkie as she slept, his lover’s eyes not leaving the baby for long. He knew then why Kavala wasn’t looking at him long. She was watching the tiny girl, counting every breath.

The Konti was silent for a moment, as if she couldn’t say more without a rest herself, and then began to speak again. “I know why I was so sick now and why Ralac was so late. This pregnancy wasn’t normal. It happens in animals all the time, cats mainly, but only rarely in Konti. It’s called a superfetation. You got me pregnant with Ralac and somehow I was fertile again a few weeks later… three or four by my guess. My body made a mistake… it was pregnant and didn’t stop cycling. We were together so often that you caught me again.” She said, using the term she tended to used in her breeding programs.

“Both became viable. And they grew together on separate timelines. My body made room for both and Ralac refused to be born until his sister was big enough and strong enough to survive. Even now, we’re not sure… but she has a chance. If he would have been born on time, she would have certainly died.” Kavala said, reaching out a hand to touch the sleeping boy, not sure if Riaris would understand or believe her. But she firmly thought the boy waited, protecting his little sister even in the womb. “It was very dangerous for him to wait. And that’s why this pregnancy took me down so much and nearly killed me. He was far too big not to be born. He… could have came two three weeks ago easily. But he waited.” In a way the boy had chosen his sister over his mother, but Kavala didn’t mind. She would have wanted it that way.

“I hope you like their names. You never said if you had a preference.” Kavala added, dropping her free hand down to stroke Ia’del’s tiny forehead. The Konti looked tired after the explanation. The visit itself was wearing on her and Riaris could almost feel the weight of the Konti’s concern for the infant as something tangible in the air..

Kavala turned and looked at him again, blinking suddenly. "Are you okay... are you...? " She didn't want to say the words. She didn't want him to know how much it moved her that he was crying.

[Riaris Dovukalis]

Riaris held Kavala's hand close to his face, lowered his eyes and thanked the gods above that his family was safe. He'd waited so long for this day, his beloved had been pregnant for longer than anyone had expected, and even Kavala was thinking the worse. It filled him with happiness to see her safe and their children as well. Opening his eyes again, he first looked to the boy on the bed when she introduced them to him. His sons looked healthy and would probably grow to be even bigger than he had gotten. He was a beautiful child, with rich dark skin and the white hair told a tale of it's own. He was like Tasival, Shayru, and Nanail, Johan.

"Ralac and Inadan, those are good strong names Kavala. Very proud names."

Recoomas was silent within him, but the darker brother saw it all through his lighter brother's eyes and felt the extreme emotions that ripped through them. They were his children as well, his family, and Kavala..the konti was as much his as she wanted to be. Riaris wanted to hold his son, but he looked so peaceful that he didn't want to wake him. Kavala appeared so drained and tired, she didn't need the fuss, and he wouldn't be much help, he thought, since he knew nothing of caring for children. His gaze moved back to Kavala when she took a deep breath, an overwhelming feeling to comfort her struck him as it always did when she was in pain. "Take it easy, you don't have to move."

His eyes moved back to the tiny girl beside Kavala, she was so small and frail, not even half the size of his son. Worry struck his heart as the mother of his children told him about the tiny girl. "Ia’del. She is very beautiful and she reminds me of you." He leaned a little closer, but didn't reach out to touch the child. Instead, he gently touched Kavala's arm and looked back and forth at the children, his children. Riaris had never knew this feeling, he loved Tasival, Shayru as if they were his own, but this was different. His son laid sleeping beside his mother as she cradled his daughter who was holding onto her finger as she was life itself.

It stirred emotions within him, and Riaris found it hard to find the words to speak and express what was going through his mind at the moment. "If she is your daughter, a part of you..I know that she will survive. Like her mother, she will only grow stronger. I can see that and I know it's the truth." The was a sparkle in his glassy eyes as he looked at the three, and he had to wet his mouth just to keep himself from choking. The story that she told him was mind blowing and he had no idea that such a fight was taking place inside her, and putting her and their children so close to death. Riaris leaned closer and kissed whatever part of her body was closest to him so that she wouldn't have to move away from the babies.

"You..have made me happy today Kavala. Happier than I have ever been and I love you for it." He took a breath then, trying to steady his shaking hands and put a stop to his quivering voice at the same time. He stayed silent for a moment, only nodding that the names that she had given them were great, and everything was great now that he knew they were ok. "Oh, I'm um.." He said suddenly and wiped his cheeks. Riaris wouldn't have thought he would cry for being happy, and he didn't understand that emotion either, but it happened. "I'm fine Kavala, I'm just..thank you, thank you for everything." His eyes moved from her and back to the babies again and he took a deep, long breath.

This was really happening...

[Kavala]

Kavala was glad Riaris liked the names and that he was happy. She was worried, irrationally, that he would see this occurrence as something other than what she felt it was. Pure and simple it was a miracle. The Konti would have much proffered to carry both children separately during separate pregnancies, but that they'd both survived this far to her was a huge bit of luck and a lot of magic.

The children's names had been chosen under duress and just seemed to fit the infants. "Ia'del is named is for... I don't know what the word is in Tukant." Kavala said, looking thoughtful. She switched from Riaris' tongue to common and explained it. "The little glittering sparks of light that you see floating in the air in a beam of sunlight invading a darkened room? That's what she's named for in pavi. A dust mote. It's a little ... silly but it fits her being so tiny and bright." Kavala said, wanting Ia'del to have a connection to her Drykas family, even if it was only in her name.

"And Ralac and Inadan... Ralac means something like the word guardian and Inadan means to go the distance or perseverance." She added, reaching out to stroke Ralac's shock of white hair even as the boy slept. He popped an eye opened, grinned toothlessly, and then yawned. The little baby boy stretched just like a big man would and snuggled down tighter. He dropped back off to sleep almost at once.

Kavala switched back to Tukant. "He hasn't cried at all... not once. We've heard him laugh and make a kind of noise like he wants our attention or wants to get something in his hand while he's reaching. But so far no crying." Kavala said, stroking the white mass of baby hair on her son's head once more. "I think he looks a lot like you. It's in the jaw and forehead. He has my father's nose though." Kavala said, her voice so soft again.

In fact her whole face was soft, like there was something in her Riaris and Recoomas hadn't seen before often. It was as if she was filled with a nurturing glow that made the normally hard stoic healer something more sensitive and giving.

As he leaned over beside her to look at the children more closely and to kiss her, Kavala settled her somewhat diminished weight against him. She closed her eyes a moment - just one - and then opened them again to check Ia's breathing. The child had drifted off to sleep again, which wasn't a good sign. She had more problems when she slept than when the tiny Konti was awake. Kavala suspected it was because some of the connections between what was automatic - like breath - weren't fully formed yet in the tiny child. But it was always a toss-up. The infant needed her rest and that meant sleeping. It also meant that she increased her risk of her problems cropping up the more she relaxed. Kavala would let her sleep as long as she was doing okay, but the moment she started having issues, the healer had to wake her up and sometimes help her get things started again.

"I'm so glad you are happy, Riaris. I hope Recoomas is as well. I'm sorry they are not wholly perfect, but I think Ralac and his brother will grow to make you proud. I missed you during the birth. I hoped you'd be here. I went to the sea. I didn't mean too, but the call is so strong sometimes. Is everything well with you? You aren't hurt again are you... Krysus...?" She didn't finish her sentence. The Konti's body stiffened against Riaris and she sat up, and leaned over her daughter.

The infant had settled into a deep sleep and in doing so had stopped breathing again. Kavala released her hold on the child, called her name sharply, and slapped her hands together over her head right in front of her face. The loud crack was sometimes enough to wake the baby up. It did in fact wake Ralac up, and he started windmilling his arms and legs, trying to get free of the blankets he was swaddled in as if he could rush to fight. Kavala ignored him, instead her eyes intent on the baby girl. She slapped her hands together two more times, frantically calling the baby's name sharply, and then tried tapping her on the shoulder hard enough to make the little girl's body move. Nothing happened.

Ralac started to soundlessly cry.

So Kavala bent over the baby, tilted her chin back, pinched her nose shut, and forced the tiniest puff of air into her lungs expanding her chest. She did this twice, waited, and then repeated it. She waited about thirty half-chimes and repeated the process. Then she laid two fingers on the infant girls' breast and compressed it thirty times rapidly. Once she was done doing that, she gave her more breath... her whole body focused on the task. Riaris could see she wasn't panicked. But he could see the pain in her eyes, that this was necessary and that the baby had this sort of problem. It was a blame a mother had where she laid guilt straight on her own shoulders.

Kavala kept the process up ... and after a minute or two had the little girl's baby shirt open so her chest was bare. A Rak'keli's gnosis mark was clearly evident across her right hip. Seeing the unclothed infant was just a reinforcement on how small and frail she was. There was almost nothing to her body and she looked far too tiny to be even surviving like she was.

Kavala's efforts had started darkening bruises on the little girls' chest. The Konti healer tapped her gnosis and flooded the baby girl with healing, not resting until her power had coated the girls lungs and healed the bruises on her chest from the compressions. They seemed to go on forever... until Kavala stopped. At first, one might have thought the girl had passed on. But then closer inspection revealed that the infants nostrils were flaring and relaxing and her little lips were forming an O as she struggled to breath on her own and settled back into a more normal routine.

Kavala stroked her hand across the infant's forehead, tears of a mother who could do nothing about what kept happening, slipped from her eyes and down her cheeks. She counted each breath, still ignoring the other baby's frustrated noises, until she looked up and smiled at him. "She's okay. She's going to be okay." She said, reaching out to stroke Ralac's white hair again and then glancing at Riaris. Kavala wasn't sure who she was reassuring. She offered Riaris a smile, shook her head slightly, and settled back against the massive stone headboard of the bed, shifting her feet to a more comfortable position.

"Every day it's happened less and less. We hope... we really hope... she'll keep growing and getting stronger. But it's good you came Riaris. I wanted you to meet her... just in case we can't be enough to see her through. I want you to be able to love her and remember her, just in case..." Kavala said, her voice still soft, breaking slightly. The Konti didn't even realize she was crying. Most of her tears were from exhaustion. Ia'del's condition was bad, but it wasn't something she couldn't see the baby through.

[Caelum]

Thread Award

Kavala

Skills
Teaching +1

Lores
Medicine: Difficulties of Superfetation
Medicine: Respiratory Arrest in Infants
Riaris: Pleased to be a Father

Notes

I wish I could grant you more, but you're maxed out on the primary skill displayed. Please edit or delete your post in the grade request thread and, as ever, feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.