Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » Elves of All Kinds (1x1)

"Of course." Saelhil leaned up to kiss Raeliel's jawline, then reluctantly left the room to get her something to eat. He would be downstairs for a while; the nursemaids that lived in the home would actually cook the food, claiming that they knew what Raeliel would like to eat after staying awake with the baby all night.

Raeliel just rested for a bit, though while Saelhil was downstairs Belle would stop breathing again. It wasn't hard to get the child to resume breathing, but it was terribly frightening. Raeliel was already so used to the noise of her slightly raspy breathing that she knew immediately when the child stopped. It was so often though that Raeliel was absolutely frightened of leaving her alone even just for a moment. And that was especially during the night. Raeliel held the baby close to her and started crying softly. After everything she'd been through, and with all the hormones, she just couldn't handle the possibility of losing her little girl.

Saelhil walked up the stairs, tray of food in his hands. He backed into the door to push it open, turning to Raeliel as he approached. He paused. "Rae? What's the matter?" He was sure she was crying but... Why would she be crying? Everything seemed perfectly fine.... Right?

Raeliel cried, unable to stop simply because he was there. She couldn't tell him. He would be devastated. She took in shaky breaths to try and stay herself. Still, she couldn't get her voice to work. One of the women came and took him aside. As calmly as possible, they told him of his daughter's defect.

It was a good thing Saelhil had set aside the tray, because he felt ready to fall to his knees as he was informed. The shock wore off after just a few moments, and he looked over to Raeliel. Why hadn't she told him? Just so he could be happy on his daughter's birthday? At first he felt hurt that she kept it from him, but he pushed the feeling aside and just approached her, albeit rather stiff and numbly.

He crouched down in front of her, touching her arm and looking quietly up at her. "Raeliel... Look at me, please," he requested softly.

Raeliel sniffled and shook her head a little bit, denying his request. She couldn't look at him. Now that he knew, she couldn't look at him. She cried softly, holding the snoozing child in her arms protectively. She didn't want to look at him. It was hard enough to deal with on her own...to know that he was hurting because of it as well would be too much.

"Raeliel..." Saelhil tightened his grip on his arm, then sighed and released her. He remained in front if her. "Please don't cry... It kills me." He bit the inside in his lip, frowning sadly. Surely he would be devastated later, but he was pushing aside his feelings for now so that he could talk calmly to her. "If you think this is your fault, it isn't. It isn't your fault at all." He was hoping to at least get her to look up at him.

Raeliel took in a shaky breath. "What, so you want me to smile?! Am I supposed to just smile and laugh every time she stops breathing?! Is that what you want me to do?!" Saelhil was making a good effort to be calm, but Raeliel couldn't even begin to make that effort. She was already far too upset. Hormones, sleep deprivation and emotional strain would do that to a person. "She came from MY body, Saelhil! MINE. She was in ME! Obviously something is wrong with ME that made something wrong with her!"

Saelhil grimaced slightly, and quietly stood. "It isn't your fault. Nothing you could have done would have changed how she was born. The only thing that could have happened was before you knew you were pregnant. I'm not asking you to be happy; be sad, if it makes you feel better. But it won't help us deal with this." His voice trembled slightly, but he forced himself to keep his tone even.

Raeliel kicked at him and just hid her face against her daughter. She was in no shape to 'deal with this'. She took in a few shaky breaths, then just kept her face hidden against the baby. She couldn't handle this right now. Saelhil was trying to be the man, but she was in no shape to appreciate it. The nursemaids knew this, and would try to reassure him. 'She's in a lot of emotional trauma', 'the physical stress from the birthing is affecting her emotions', and things like that.

Saelhil ignored them, not particularly caring what they had to say. He lingered for just a moment before quietly walking out of the room. Raeliel needed her space, he supposed. He remained in the house, however, as he didn't want to be too far in case something happened. Strangely enough, instead of crying over the situation, Saelhil found a quiet room in the house and lay on an empty bed, staring at the wall in a daze. Perhaps his mind just wasn't prepared for the news, or Raeliel's utter rejection of his attempt to help. He had never had to deal with anything like this, and so he didn't know what he needed to do to help Raeliel, or even cope with his own distress over it. He kind of just... shut down.

Raeliel eventually needed some rest, and the nursemaids managed to convince her to fall asleep. They watched over the child and she fell asleep. She slept for a while, and when she woke up she was...better. She wasn't able to stand up, but she felt better still. The baby was returned to her arms, and Saelhil and Valenthion were fetched.

Saelhil entered the room first, followed closely by his son, who hadn't been told yet about Belle. He remained quiet, watching as Valenthion approached the bed, crawling to sit beside his mother. Saelhil studied Raeliel, trying to judge how she was feeling now.

Raeliel smiled a little as she saw Saelhil and Valenthion. She made room for him and leaned against the boy. "Hey, you two." She looked at Valenthion. "How are you doing?" She looked down at the baby, who was awake, but just kid of chilling out. Belle wasn't awake often, but babies slept a lot so it was normal. "Do you want to hold her, Valenthion?"

"I'm good... Everyone wants to see Belle," Valenthion said, inhaling deeply, taking in the mixture of Raeliel's and the baby's scent. "Hold her?" He blinked. "I don't want to drop her..." He had never been offered to hold a baby before, especially not one so young.

Raeliel smiled gently. "I'll move your arms so that they're practically resting on your lap. That way you don't have to worry about dropping her." She glanced at Saelhil. "You should go get your sister, Saelhil. She has yet to meet Belle." She looked back to Valenthion and helped arrange his arms, and then carefully settled the baby in his arms/his lap. All it required of Valenthion was for him to just stay still. "She's so small, isn't she?"

Saelhil nodded slightly and went off to find Talainna.

Valenthion held Belle carefully, staring blankly down at the source of warmth in his arms. "Yeah..." He hadn't realized how tiny the baby was until she was placed in his arms. His blind eyes studied the child, feeling her breath in his arms. "She's so warm..."

Raeliel smiled gently at her son. "Yes, isn't she?" She pet Belle's head, the child sleeping calmly. "You are going to be a wonderful big brother, Valenthion. I just know it." She kissed his head gently and looked at the baby. She desperately hoped the child kept breathing while she was in Valenthion's arms. He might be scarred for life if she stopped.

Valenthion smiled a bit, holding one of Belle's tiny hands. After a few moments, he looked up at Raeliel. "Is she alright?" he suddenly asked. "Her heartbeat is really fast." He could feel the child's heart from her back, and having never held a baby he didn't now if her he art was supposed to go so fast.

Raeliel paused. She couldn't lie, he'd find out sooner or later. "...She has some problems with her lungs. I think that might be it." She touched the baby's head. "...She'll be okay though. She'll be okay." She was trying to convince herself more than she was trying to convince him.