~Glory~

"How lovely," was my immediate response. Peril sent us all an apologetic smile.

"What do we do?" Clay asked, seeming startled enough to not be worrying about food. "Do we call an ambulance?"

"No time," Peril said, slightly disgruntled. "I don't–I don't think we have time for that."

"Then what do you suggest we do, genius?" Tsunami demanded.

"Are you in pain?" Clay was asking, seeming nervous but excited at the same time.

"I'll just give birth here," Peril offered. Tsunami gave her a look that said seriously?

"Somehow, that is the smartest idea you have ever had," Tsunami growled. "No one here knows how to guide a birth... except..."

Suddenly, everyone turned to me.

"Nope," I immediately said. "No, no, no. Absolutely, one hundred percent no." I disentangled Deathbringer's arms from around my waist and got off his lap.

"But, Glory," Sunny protested. "Weren't you a doctor? Can't you help Peril?"

"I was a doctor. Keyword: was." I walked over to Peril. "Someone call an ambulance, unless Clay would rather drive her to the hospital."

"There isn't any time," Peril cried, and then hissed in pain as she glared down at her stomach. "Argh. This baby is already getting on my nerves. Hey, you! Cut it out!"

"I-I've read some stuff about birthing a child when Sunny was pregnant," Starflight offered. "I could help you, Glory."

"So could I," Riptide piped up. "Tsunami made me learn all about it." Tsunami smacked him and he stopped talking.

"I'm pretty wise in that particular domain, too," Qibli said, and Moon winced.

"Perhaps I could lend a hand." We all turned to look at Grandeur, who had just spoke. She glowered elegantly back. "As a woman with children myself, I think I'm the smartest choice."

"I'd rather get stabbed 20 times than trust you with my child," Peril said calmly before turning to me. "Please help me?"

Help her, Glory. You know how to.

I let out a long sigh. "Fiiine. I'll help. But only because I feel bad for you and because this is your first time."

"I don't want to watch that," Reef suddenly said. "That's so gross."

"How mature," Tsunami said, looking her nose down at him.

"Right, the kids should all go in the living room," I said. "Let the adults handle this. Jade, you're in charge."

"What!" Nightfall cried as Ember whined, "That's not fair!"

"And they act surprised," I mused, making Ember huff indignantly.

"This is exciting," Kinkajou announced. "I've never witnessed a birth before. Can I help? I bet I can help."

"Reef, watch Coastal," Riptide instructed as Tsunami handed Coastal to Reef. "You know how shy she is. Don't leave her by herself."

"I wanna see!" Clover cried when Deathbringer picked her up and dropped her into Nightfall's arms. "No! No, no, no!"

"It's just for now," Deathbringer said to her. "Behave. Nightfall, watch her."

"It's always me," Nightfall groaned in annoyance, and Gemstones giggled teasingly.

The kids all walked into the living room, and I noticed Maple glance back at Peril worryingly. Even Python seemed slightly anxious.

"Our biggest bathroom is the one upstairs," Deathbringer said. "Can... Can you walk?"

"You tell me," Peril snapped, and then grimaced in pain.

"Clay, can you carry her?" Sunny asked.

"Alright," Clay said. He stepped forward and Peril clambered into his arms. He held her bridal style, which reminded me all too well at how Deathbringer had pulled that move on me when I least expected it at our wedding.

"That was surprisingly easy," said Clay.

"Surprisingly?" demanded Peril.

"What?" Clay asked. "I'm carrying two people."

We all hovered over them as Clay casually walked up the stairs.

"Believe it or not," Lynx said conversationally, "but I actually helped my best friend give birth in the middle of a battle, so I would say I'm pretty experienced."

I decided not to point out how bad that must've been for the baby to immediately be exposed to all different kinds of bacteria and toxic air.

"I played a major part in that," Winter said. "I had to carry her and her child to safety, which was hard since, well, you know, we were in the middle of a battle."

Clay carefully placed Peril into the bathtub.

"You... might want to take your pants off," I said, glancing at the others. Peril glared at them.

"Turning around," Tsunami said as she turned her back to Peril. Everyone else mimicked her except for Clay and me.

Peril sighed as she struggled out of her pants and I reached over to turn on the faucet. Warm water began to fill the bathtub.

"OW," Peril suddenly cried. "Wow, that hurts. STOP KICKING ME."

"Deep breaths," Clay said in a soothing voice that did not at all help.

The others finally turned around to help calm Peril down, who was yelling at her stomach.

"My friend did not yell this much," Lynx observed.

"OK, Peril, just breathe–" Sunny started.

"I am CLEARLY BREATHING, Sunny!" Peril yelled, smacking her hands and accidentally sending a spray of water into the air. "ARGH, WHY DOES THIS HURT?"

"OK, think happy thoughts," Qibli said unhelpfully.

"Deathbringer, go get me gloves," I said. "And a pair for Starflight, too."

"Me?" Starflight asked, startled, as Kinkajou said, "Wait, I want to help, too!" Deathbringer got up and ran downstairs.

"HAPPY THOUGHTS?" Peril demanded at Qibli. "Are you INSANE? I feel like my insides are TEARING APART and I have a MASSIVE headache, and I'm supposed to think happy thoughts? And you! Stop trying to hold my hand or I'll SERIOUSLY BITE YOU." Riptide retreated with raised hands.

"Peril," I said calmly but firmly. "I need you to calm down and take a deep breath. You're going into labor."

"Really?" Peril asked sarcastically. "I had NO IDEA." I sighed, closing my eyes.

"Unsophisticated," Grandeur said, walking into the bathroom. She opened her mouth to say something else, but Peril beat her to it.

"SHUT IT, YOU OLD HAG," Peril yelled, and I accidentally laughed out loud.

"Here, Peril," Sunny said, taking her hand. "Breathe with me." Sunny took a deep breath, and after a moment of Peril glaring at her, she finally joined in.

Deathbringer came back with the gloves and handed a pair to me before handing a pair to Starflight, who hesitantly took them.

"Deathbringer, take two other people with you and set up a room for when the baby comes. I'll need a place to clean it and find me something to wrap it in."

"It–it's a girl," Peril said hoarsely as the pain got worse. She focused on taking deep breaths with Sunny.

"I can help with that," Kinkajou said.

"So can I," Turtle said, finally speaking as he stood up.

Deathbringer nodded before turning to me. "Good luck, Glory."

"Thank you," I said, and in a moment, Deathbringer, Turtle, and Kinkajou were all gone. "Clay hold her hand." Sunny let go of Peril's hand as Clay took it in his.

"This is so dumb," Peril announced, trying to distract herself from the pain. "I feel like an idiot."

"If it helps," Qibli said, "we all do."

"It doesn't," Peril snapped, but I could tell she was getting calmer. I stood up and gingerly stepped into the bathtub, warm water surrounding my feet. I crouched down until I was in front of Peril.

"You're going to take a deep breath and then you'll start pushing, alright?" I said. "I'll count to ten, and when I'm done, you can take a breath and then we'll start again."

"Sounds fun," Peril croaked weakly before taking in a shaky breath. "Alright, I'm ready."

"OK, on the count of three." I noticed Peril grip Clay hand tighter. "One, two, breath." Peril sucked in a breath and began pushing as I counted to ten.

"*"

Finding something to cut the umbilical cord was probably the hardest thing to do out of the whole procedure. The baby seemed healthy, although Peril was still going to have to go the hospital regardless, just to make sure.

I also realized the excitement that was relit afterwards. How much I enjoyed being a doctor came swooping back into the picture.

Not the time.

Everyone was now gone–Peril and Clay off to the hospital, Tsunami and her family back to their hotel with Kinkajou and Turtle, and Sunny and Starflight gone, too.

Maple and Gemstone had gone back home as well.

The only people that were left were Qibli, Moon, Winter, Lynx... and Grandeur.

I had just finished cleaning up the dining room. It was easy since Clay had taken 80% of the food with him anyway, and everyone had had the chance to eat something before they left.

When everything was clean, I grabbed an unopened wine bottle and sat down in the living room, staring blankly ahead.

My mind was still trying to figure out how Clearsight was still alive and how to protect our kids from her. Not only that, but I was stressing about Grandeur and about Peril.

I honestly didn't know why I cared so much.

When I was about halfway through the bottle, I settled deeper into the couch and rested my head on the pillows, closing my eyes.

"Hm," Deathbringer's voice said. "I thought you told me not to drink my problems away." I sighed and slowly sat up, taking a sip of wine all at once.

"I'm not drinking my problems away," I informed, "I'm just drinking."

"Right." Deathbringer walked over and sat down next to me, resting a hand on my thigh and reaching over to gently take the bottle of wine from my grasp. He placed it on the table as I glowered at him.

"So, what's going on?" he asked. "I haven't seen you like this since–"

"Don't say it," I snapped, glaring at him. He only grinned at me.

"Since you were stressing about how hot I was."

"I was already drunk when that happened!" I cried. "Stop grinning at me like an idiot." I reached over to snatch the wine back but Deathbringer caught my hand midair.

"Talk to me," he said calmly.

"No," I said, snatching my hand back and reaching for the bottle again.

He caught my arm with his other hand and warned, "Glory." When I tried to pull away, his grip tightened. I growled as I used my other hand to reach for it, and he grabbed ahold of my other hand, too.

Soon enough, he had both my arms cleverly immobilized.

"Let. Go."

"This much wine isn't good for you," Deathbringer said calmly. He grinned at me. "You're such a hypocrite." I could feel the wine start kicking in as reality became a little blurred.

"So, what? Now I can't drink, too?" I demanded, getting weaker as I tried to struggled out of Deathbringer's grip. "OK, seriously, Deathbringer. Let go."

"No wine," he said as if he were talking to a toddler.

"No way," I replied. "Let go or you're sleeping on the couch tonight."

"Just tell me what's bothering you so much," Deathbringer said. "Maybe I can help you."

"I just want a night to myself," I said as I stopped struggling. Deathbringer considered me for a moment, searching my face. To my immense surprise, he let go of me but also took the wine with him.

"Hey!" I cried when he lifted the wine over his head so I couldn't reach it. "You're such an idiot! Give it back!" I stood up and reach up, pressing my body against his as I stood on my tippy toes to try and grasp the bottle.

"What's the password?" He asked cheekily, grinning down at me. You'd think he'd get shorter over the years, but nope.

I let out an aggravated sigh. "Pleeeeeeease?" I tried, annoyed.

"Wrong," Deathbringer said. "I'll give you a hint." He took my chin in his fingers and lifted it.

I sighed. "You want me to kiss you."

"Maaaaaaaybe," he said, lowering his head.

"And then you'll give it back?"

"Maaaaaaaybe."

I rolled my eyes before reaching over and cupping his face in my hands, tugging his face down to kiss him. It was short, maybe three seconds, before I pulled away and raised an expectant brow.

"Hm?"

"The wine," I commanded. "Now."

"Hm." He thought about it. "I think you'll have to reenter the password. Something went wrong."

"I can't even roll my eyes at you," I said, but I still pulled him down to kiss him again. When I pulled away, I crossed my arms.

"Wine isn't good for you," Deathbringer said thoughtfully.

"A lot of things aren't."

We both whirled around to see figure leaning against the doorframe to our front door. In an instant, Deathbringer stepped in front of me and place the wine bottle down.

The figure came into the light, revealing herself to be Clearsight.

"What? No welcome party?" Clearsight asked, offended. "Wow. Just when I was starting to think you guys weren't so bad."

"What are you doing here," Deathbringer said in a low, menacing tone.

Clearsight grinned, showcasing her white, glistening teeth. She shoved her hands into her back pocket and shrugged, looking around casually as she slowly walked closer.

"Well," she said. "I'm here to finish the job."

One, two, breathe.

<3