#rijan

Gurjin winced as Rian’s grip tightened around his hand, but the pain was forgotten just as quickly as it came. Tonight, after all, there were much bigger things for the Gelfling to worry about. Any moment now, Gurjin would become a father.

Barely ten minutes earlier, Rian had given birth to his very first childling, the oldest of the triplets he’d carried for the past nine unum. From moment the boy was placed in his arms, Rian had fallen in love with the newborn. Deet, one of Rian’s partners and the other parent of his firstborn, had been just as ecstatic, showering her mate and son with affection. Gurjin had watched on with pride, commenting that the baby looked just like his father. After a few minutes of bonding, the trio were gently reminded by the midwife - Gurjin’s twin sister Naia - that there were still two more babies waiting to be born, and that they’d need to prepare for the next one right away. Hearing this, Deet reluctantly handed her son over to her friend Brea, who was tasked with giving the tiny Gelfling his first bath.

“Gurjin? Gurjin!”

The Drenchen had been so focused on watching Rian that he hardly noticed when Naia tried to get his attention.

“What is it? Are they okay?” Gurjin asked. He couldn’t bear the thought of something going wrong with Rian or the triplets.

Sensing his panic, Naia smiled gently and gestured to Rian, who had rolled over onto his side, facing away from Gurjin. “Everything is fine, relax! Rian’s back hurt, so I told him he could change positions,” she explained. “Here, hold his leg up out of the way like this.”

Gurjin obliged, and the next few minutes passed in a blur. As Rian squeezed his hand through each contraction, Gurjin gave him words of encouragement, occasionally glancing over as Naia carefully guided the little one out into the world.

Finally, Rian gave one more cry of exertion, and hush fell over the room. The silence was short-lived, however, as the newborn let out his first hiccuping wails. With a smile, Naia deftly tied off and cut the cord, wrapped the squirming infant in a clean towel, and lifted him up for his parents to see. “Well Rian,” she said, noting her nephew’s tiny gills and other Drenchen features. “I guess this makes us family now!”

While Naia handed the fussing baby over to Rian, Gurjin could only stare at the red, wrinkled childling in disbelief. “I… I have a son…” he stammered. “He’s… he’s…”

“Beautiful, isn’t he?” Rian whispered. With his tan and green skin, curly brown hair streaked with blue, and green-grey eyes, Rian and Gurjin’s son seemed to have taken his fathers’ best traits in equal measure. Trembling with emotion, Gurjin reached out to touch the baby’s soft, delicate hands.

At first, the boy only blinked sleepily up at his father, until he felt Gurjin gently pat the back of one of his hands. With a surprised little grunt, the baby reached out to grasp his father’s finger, gripping tightly despite being unable to wrap his own tiny digits around it all the way.

“Oh!” Gurjin’s emotions spilled over all at once, and he choked back a sob.

“Gurjin, are you crying?” Naia gently teased.

“Sh-shut up!” he laughed, rubbing the tears from his eyes. “I just became a father!”

Gurjin couldn’t stop smiling at the perfect little being he had made with Rian, a living, breathing symbol of the bond they shared. Still holding the baby’s hand, Gurjin used his other arm to pull Rian into a tight embrace, planting kisses on his cheek and forehead through tears of joy. Over time, they would raise the childling into a strong, independent Gelfling who would go on to live his own life, but for now, here he was.