The Mother gives the gift of life,

[lifeisnotasong]

When Sansa woke, it was pitch dark outside and she'd been so deeply asleep it took her some time to realise what had woken her. She snuggled into her blankets and a moment later had an answer when a pain rippled through her abdomen. Oh, she thought, that again. She reluctantly sat up and tried to remind herself that she had read false labour

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[lifeisnotasong]

Sansa had become almost used to the pain of labour though used to was not the right terminology at all. At least she had felt she knew what to expect after so many hours, the work of pushing however was different entirely. Between pushes she felt like she could not possibly do it again and then it would start and she could not do anything but push.

She had noticed vaguely the arrival of more things, hot water and more towels and she'd felt self conscious until she realised it was Mother. Then she was pushing again and if her entire family had traipsed through the room she would not have noticed. At some point she had begun to cry and she held tight to Susan's hand. She was never aware of shrieking really but at some point she knew she must be because her throat was raw. She is shrieking when someone says they can see the head. Likely Dr. Wilson as he is attending to her there which should embarass her but doesn't because the baby is coming and then someone else is shrieking and she realises who and she bursts into tears all over again.

[real_buzzkill]

Wilson looked up while as he eased the baby's head out, supporting it in his right hand. The look on Sansa's face, shared by her mother and her friend, whose name escaped him at the moment, was nothing short of beautiful, though they were all exhausted from the night-long vigil.

She made her last push, and the shoulders slipped out; the torso and legs followed quickly.

Wow.

Wow.

Carefully, Wilson cut the umbilical cord, the stroked the baby's nose to help clear its lungs of fluids. "Hi, little one," he said softly. "Welcome to the outside world."

OK, now was not the time to get all teary eyed. He held up the baby so the new mother could see her, and then handed her to Claire, who was waiting to check her over.

[claire_fraser]

"Congratulations, you've got a little girl," I said, taking her carefully from Wilson and moving to Sansa so she could see her a little better as I quickly checked her. The baby's skin colour, heart rate, reflexes, muscle tone, and respiration were all excellent, and after I cleaned her quickly and wrapped her in a blanket, I placed her in Sansa's arms. She seemed a little shaky, but her mother was right there with her with an expression I knew well, from the birth of my own first grandchild. "She's a very healthy baby," I assured Sansa. "You did wonderfully."

[lifeisnotasong]

Sansa stares at her baby, her daughter, did she do that. She supposes she must have and yet it does not seem quite real. Then Sansa shifts and she realises with a pang that yes she did do that with help from the doctors and Mother and Susan. "Hello Eddara," she whispers. She feels another flood of relief when Dr. Claire says she's healthy. Then Sansa makes the effort to tear her gaze away from Eddara if only for a brief moment to say "Thank you," to Dr. Claire and Dr. Wilson.

[real_buzzkill]

"And she's beautiful," Wilson agreed. After checking Sansa's vitals, he patted her on the shoulder "Mother and baby are doing fine." He felt a prick of heartbreak, thinking of the child who never had a chance to see the sun.

Huh. The sun was up after all. Had to be close to noon, which meant... Wilson was already running late for the wedding. He turned to Claire and shook her hand. "Great job, and I enjoyed working with you." The family was no longer paying attention to them. "I'm going to head back to the compound with some of this stuff, then get cleaned up. A good friend of mine is getting married today," he explained with a smile of relief.