#cayr

One thing no-one had told me about giving birth--it took a freaking long time. Two hours later and the contractions were only twenty minutes apart, just barely under a minute. I was frustrated at the apparent lack of action, after hours of tiresome work. Serena had warned me at one point that it would take a while, but until now, I hadn't realized what she meant. Everyone was steering clear of the living room, well aware of what was going on. At one point, Flick poked his head in and tried cracking a joke, but Kayr chased him away, and later I heard Galen shouting at him over it.

Currently, the house was quiet. I'd settled into labor, and I was reluctantly prepared for a long wait, so I decided to take advantage of this relatively peaceful time in the kitchen to get food. I was very hungry, and though I'd made Kayr get me a few mugs of miso soup earlier on, I still was. Since Kayr was half-asleep on the couch, with Carrie settled back asleep on the rug, I decided to go get it myself. It didn't seem a big deal.

"Hey, Conner." Glitch, surprise surprise, was also in the kitchen. Glitch generally stayed home, though she did have a few odd jobs now and then, and took some college classes. She just preferred to be the kitchen spirit. It was amusing, I suppose. She'd poked her head in earlier, and I know she had brought Kayr some things when I needed them, but for the most part she'd stayed out of our hair, which I appreciated.

 I nodded towards her in a friendly manner as I scooped out the yogurt.

"Hey, Glitch," I replied as I opened up the fridge to get the rest of what I wanted. I'd already dumped the yogurt into a dish, and put that back.

I surveyed the fridge. We had cherries, strawberries, assorted berries...and someone left half a sliced peach in the fridge. I wonder who. Probably one of the younger kids.

Meh. I decided to take it. If someone would be so irresponsible as to forget half their meal, it was their own fault if it got taken. Besides, it looked yummy. I took out the berries and peach slices, stuck them in the bowl, and added granola for more protein. Then I sat at the table. Glitch was the only one in here, so it was serene, for a change. We exchanged conversation for a bit, then she finished eating and left, leaving me to eat alone.

I think I got about fifteen minutes of peace to eat. Then a pain hit. I almost slammed my head on the table, but the pain wasn't bad enough to keep me from moving, though it was more extreme than the previous ones, so I went back to the living room, vocalizing my way through it as I had before. I left my yogurt in the kitchen to avoid dropping it.

I came in to see Kayr being nipped awake by an over-zealous wolf, and tried not to laugh at his expression. Carrie must have sensed the change and decided to wake him up for me.

Once it was over, I wrote it down. I waited another fifteen minutes to make sure they were actually down to the time Serena had said to tell her about, then texted Serena to let her know that they were now fifteen minutes apart. She replied immediately, advising Kayr and I take this time to relocate to the attic, where we had planned most of the birth itself to take place. It was getting close enough so that it would probably be a good idea to sort of officially let those who would be attending know of the time getting closer, and get the things that would take a while to set up. Once the contractions were closer together it would be harder to get all the way up there. She also suggested I change positions. Just do what came naturally.

I told Kayr this. Together, the two of us went up, him helping me up the flights of stairs. They were harder than I had expected to maneuver, and it took a while just to get up there, even with Kayr's help. It was humiliating. Every time I thought that, though, I focused on the memory of Kayr falling off the couch when Carrie bit him. I'm sure he was wondering why I was laughing so much, but he didn't question it. Never look a gift horse in the mouth, I guess. Carrie was trotting up behind us. She immediately went to a corner once she entered and went back to sleep.

Once we were there, I got out the exercise ball and knelt in front of that, using it to support my front half, with a pillow under my knees.

At some point, I was vaguely aware of Kayr draping a blanket over my shoulders.

Later, I remember talking to Kayr, discussing baby names.

Some other time, my back was stiff from staying in the same position, so Kayr knelt down by me and massaged my back. It felt so good, I was almost sorry when he stopped to get me a cup of tea.

At another point, I was so tired, I just dropped my head down on the support and dozed off again, sleeping on and off for the next four hours.

Later, sleep wasn't possible. The contractions were getting more intense and harder to handle, even with all the singing I was doing to block them out. I had made Kayr get my ipod and turn on the most energetic playlist I had. I needed it. Once he turned it on, I was singing along to that to try to ignore the pains as loud as I could. I'm sure I drove a few people downstairs crazy, but I didn't care. The contractions hurt. They were lasting between a minute and a minute and thirty seconds, and were ten minutes apart.

Another time, I stood up and announced I needed to move around. I walked around for a while with Kayr hovering, and we ended up sort of floating in a half rocking back and forth, half-dance.

Around four thirty, Serena came up and started bustling around. I'm not sure what she was doing, though, because I was back to sleeping between contractions. I think Kayr was scared I would fall off the exercise ball, because he was constantly there beside me, making sure I didn't fall.

At some point, Serena made me get up and walk around a bit, then try a few other positions. I think for a while I was on all fours, but that didn't work at all, so I tried something else. Eventually, I returned to the exercise ball. It seemed to be the best spot for now.

Around seven, the contractions hadn't gotten any closer together, though they were getting longer and stronger. I was moaning my way through them, probably scaring half the household, but I didn't care.

About three hours later, Kayr was woken up by a sharp knocking on the door. Getting out of bed, he looked up , still half-asleep, to find Serena peeking in. What time was it? What was she doing in here? Glancing at the other side of the bed, he noticed Conner was gone. Already starting to worry, he heard Serena speak.

"I got a text from Conner," she said, "She said her contractions are forty-five minutes apart." Kayr sat up straight. Crap. Crap. How had he missed this? He glanced at the clock.

It was one in the afternoon. Crap. Double crap.

Embarrassment and annoyance flooded over him as he realized not only had he slept late, he hadn't noticed when Conner left the room from contractions. How had that happened? He'd like to think he slept a little lighter than that...images of Conner toppling down the stairs, or screaming in pain flashed through his mind, making him panic all over again. Why hadn't Carrie told him?!

Serena cleared her throat, bringing his attention back to her and away from thoughts of a certain wolf he needed to have words with later. "Where is she?" she asked.

"Um..." Kayr looked around for any clue as to where she'd gone. Come on, Conner, something, anything, just a note would be useful, an arrow, something. Anything.

Then he heard Doctor Who in the downstairs living room closest to the stairs. She had to be there. Where else would she go? Besides, half the household was at work and/or school right now. It could only be her. Kayr got up and headed out.

"Downstairs," he replied quickly.

Kayr raced down the stairs at top speed and practically flew into the living room. He could see, on the screen, Doctor Who. He didn't really Kayr care.

When Kayr found Conner at the far end of the living room, she was asleep, looking peaceful and calm for a woman in labor. Nearby, Carrie dozed on the rug.

Conner looked kind of odd, kneeling on the floor with her blanket draped around her, but at least she wasn't in pain. That was always a bonus. Kayr relaxed, feeling immensely relieved. Maybe it was just some sort of elaborate joke Conner and Serena had cooked up, what with Conner being bored out of her mind. Kayr wasn't sure why Conner would think this would be funny, or why Carrie wouldn't warn him, but he certainly didn't claim to understand the thought process of Conner on a normal day, let alone heavily pregnant, and only a madman would claim to understand Carrie. The babies weren't coming, of course. It wasn't time. He wasn't sure of the actual due date, but he was sure it wasn't now. Nothing bad had happened after all.

Just as he had finished calming himself down, Conner woke up with a little mutter. She seemed to be biting back a cry of pain. All of Kayr's worried returned. He was going to do something, once he figured out what, exactly, was going on, but before he could, Conner relaxed. Kayr breathed a sigh of relief, then watched, mildly curious, as she wrote something down in her notebook. What was she doing with a notebook? Was she actually in labor right now? Oh crap. That meant she'd been in labor earlier...and he really had slept through it all. Guilt returned full force.

She glanced up, finally noticing. "Oh! Kayr." She smiled slightly at him, but he could tell she was in a bad mood. He was sure it was his fault. He hadn't meant to sleep late, though. Was she mad at him for not noticing her in agony? She didn't look in agony, though, come to think of it. Maybe she was alright now.

"How far apart are your contractions?" Serena spoke up behind them. Conner looked down at the notebook she had.

"Thirty-six minutes right now. They started around ten pm last night." Now Kayr was even more embarrassed, and also upset and confused. He'd talked to Serena with Conner, of course, but at the moment, all memory of what significance the time between pain held was gone. He glanced at Carrie, silently pleading for her to explain, but the wolf just stretched her jaws in a huge yawn and went back to sleep.

Useless.

"Why didn't you wake me?" he asked her, trying not to sound hurt. She shrugged and yawned.

"I didn't want to wake you over nothing at first," she said, "Then...stairs." Kayr was more than a little annoyed at that. She could have asked someone to tell him, at least. It was only early afternoon. He'd encountered a reasonable amount of people on his way here, all of whom could have said something. His own family hadn't even bothered to let him know! Speaking of which, that could explain their expressions. Had everyone found out before him?

"For now, I don't think there's anything to worry about," Serena said, seeming to sense the tension in the room and deftly changing the subject. "How do you feel?"

Conner made a face. "Hurt," she replied, making Kayr feel even more guilty.

"Don't be afraid to make some noise when they come," Serena told her, "It can help alleviate the pain. If you feel self-conscious about it, try humming or singing. How long have you been in that position?" Kayr wasn't entirely sure what they were talking about, but a few minutes later he was helping Conner back onto the couch.  "Let me know when they're fifteen minutes apart," Serena told her. "That's when they'll probably start getting more severe." More severe than this? Kayr didn't like the sound of that. Conner, however, just nodded, then gritted her teeth. Kayr could see she was in pain. At Serena's coaching, she started humming to some unknown tune.

Kayr wasn't sure how this would help, but he could see that the idea of even just humming seemed embarrassing to Conner, and he was fairly sure Serena knew what she was talking about. Taking a seat next to Conner and putting an arm around her comfortingly, he kissed her forehead. "You keep on doing whatever you need to deal with the pain, Conner," he told her, "No one will think less of you." Taking her hand in his, he started humming with her, trying to get her to relax. Carrie, waking up at the chatter, started howling along

If these babies didn't come out soon, I was going to strange someone. I was tired of having these little parasites ruling my daily life. At least when they were born they'd rule Kayr's life, too, and not be using my body as an apartment any more. I also wasn't happy with Cassidy, who'd gotten entirely too excited for her own good when I went to her, in defeat, needing maternity wear. There was much more girly stuff in the pile she gave me than I wanted. Because of this, I mostly stuck to huge t-shirts and shorts, or a loose dress if I was feeling especially lazy. I had the feeling Cassidy wasn't happy with me, after all the work she'd put into it, but didn't feel like putting up a fight against the pregnant lady.

Turned out pregnant Conner is at least twice as scary as regular Conner. Huh. Who knew?

We'd rearranged our room twice already, trying to figure out where the cribs could go. We wanted to get it out of the way, I'd gotten tired of lying in bed and reading, and the stuff was here. I wasn't allowed to carry around anything, but I directed where Kayr and Galen (who I'd dragged in to help) put stuff. I'd also ordered clothing with Kayr, Serena telling us what we would need. She'd been a big help, her and Kayr. I almost felt guilty for being so restless. Almost.

I remember how I'd found a site with preemie clothing, with tiny little hats that had the word 'cowboy' and cowboy hats embroidered on them, and ordered five, much to Kayr's displeasure and my amusement. To his credit, though, he didn't complain. He was definitely getting more mature. I did notice they never made their way into the bundle of first clothing for the babies, though. We'd also gone through baby names, narrowing it down to a reasonable sized list. Serena said we didn't have to worry about names for now. We could worry about that after they'd been born. We made the list anyway, just to be ready. Caramel, Kayr's wolf companion, had taken to sitting outside our door. Apparently she was already feeling protective of the pending addition to her pack. She was following me everywhere. It was kind of annoying, and sweet, at the same time.

Alex, bless his over-tall soul, had somehow gotten his hands on a weird machine two and a half months in that was able to perform ultrasounds, and confirmed that we were, indeed, having quintuplets. In a way, I wish I'd been wrong. That would be really hard to deal with. Serena also said that with multiples, chances of them being quite small were likely. I didn't like the idea of them being really small. They would be against the odds, and frailer. I was already nervous enough about the whole deal.

We'd gotten two bunk-crib things, and one single crib, with a changing table and small dresser for clothing. The room hadn't had that much to begin with, anyway, and it was one of the larger ones, but it was still a squeeze to fit everything in, and annoying to maneuver. Serena had gotten everything she as our--midwife, she said she was--would need for the birth. Kayr had already gotten what she told him to get, and we'd packed it in a bag to bring up. I wasn't entirely sure why Serena had asked for some stuff. Several bowls, for example, confused me. What were they for? I was afraid to ask. On the other hand, I put my foot down about the addition of bringing up a coffee maker, stubborn as ever. If I had to go through all this work, I wanted coffee afterwards. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. Eventually, she'd been forced to surrender about that detail. That was definitely a blessing.

September fifth was the same as any other day, for the most part. I had some cramps around noon, but I slept through them. I certainly hadn't entertained the notion that I might be going into labor. Serena was starting to get antsy. Multiples tended to be born prematurely, and while I'd have thought staying full term was good, she regarded it suspiciously. She was having me take a walk every day. Something about stimulating me, she'd said. Whatever worked for her, I guess. Besides, I was tired of staying in bed, so that was something to be grateful for and not argue the finer points. I would just walk around the house for an hour occasionally chatting with someone, go downstairs and hang out with the others, then go back up to bed after getting something to eat. Today was no different.

At seven pm, Kayr, who'd only come home a while ago from the equestrian center, came up from dinner, and we went to bed together, as we had for the past few weeks. Without him there, I tended to have nightmares more frequently. Tonight, I fell asleep quickly, and managed to avoid nightmares. That in itself was unusual, I guess. At the time, I thought nothing of it. I was just relieved that it happened. A good nights rest was always nice.

Around ten pm, I woke up from--for once--a peaceful sleep, feeling like my bladder was being used as a trampoline. Annoyed at the babies remarkably poor sense of timing, I made a beeline to the bathroom, trying not to wake up Kayr. Carrie was asleep outside the door, and didn't stir as I tip-toed past her.

On my way back to bed, I was startled out of daydream land when I felt a new pain in my lower abdomen. I stumbled over the blanket I'd brought with me to the bathroom (don't judge me, I was tired and needed some security) and almost fell. I grabbed onto the railing for support, and waited for the pain to vanish. Hopefully. I wasn't sure what it was. I must have looked a little silly just standing there, holding onto the railing for dear life, but I was afraid if I let go, I would fall. What if this lasted all night, and they found me asleep out here in the morning, still clutching my support beam? That was a scary thought.

Thankfully, about thirty seconds, it went away. I wasn't sure if it meant anything though, so I returned to bed and went back to sleep. I was suspicious as to what the pain was, but I didn't want to cry wolf over nothing again. I might as well just sleep.

Two hours later, I was woken by another pain. It lasted about the same amount of time. I remembered what Serena said about contractions spacing out. Could this be it? Like, actually it? I considered sounding the labor alarm, metaphorically speaking, but I didn't want to wake Kayr over what could just be nothing. Instead, I left our room and shuffled downstairs to the living room with the notebook, timer, and pencil Serena had given me when she told me about timing my contractions, or what seemed to be contractions in this case. Carrie, now awake, followed me downstairs and settled own on the living room rug to keep watch. Once there, I settled on the couch, turned on Doctor Who reruns and tried to sleep. It went that way for several hours. The contractions started to get worse and a bit closer in time after a while, too, but I still made it through them easily.

Around six am, I woke up to footsteps. I looked up to find Crystal coming in, probably to avoid Zahra's smothering. Ever since Crystal announced she was looking for a place to move, Zahra had been even more motherly than before.  I'd heard multiple arguments about it. Probably Crystal was just trying to avoid another one this morning.

She seemed surprised to find me in here. She tensed, looking about to go tell someone that I'd left my room again. Before she could, I spoke. "Could you, maybe, steer clear of this room today?" I whispered to her, not wanting to wake anyone else up. I didn't need even more people bugging me about whether I was allowed to be in here or not. "I need to track my contractions." Eyebrows knit together in confusion, Crystal shrugged, and left. I guess she spread the word, because while several people poked their heads in later that morning, in varying expressions of concern, I was left alone for the most part.