July 19, 2016

In Which Yvanette Is at the Mercy of the Timing

August 27, 1201

So much for Arydath's educated guess of 'September'.

No, not even the best midwife in the world could pinpoint a due date with complete accuracy, and Yvanette would grant that it was almost September. But, she hadn't been expecting the labor to hit just yet. Her mother, expecting her own baby in a month or so, was at the point where she wasn't about to travel outside the shire unnecessarily, but she'd meant to arrive in a few days to be there for the birth. Arydath too hadn't planned on arriving so early, but at least she could be sent for--assuming that the baby wasn't too hasty. Morgan was home, and she had enough of a medical (and magical) background that Yvanette would have wanted her around anyway, but her husband's stepmother wasn't quite the same as her own mother. And if it was to be a complicated labor, surely Arydath would have been the first choice for the mundane side of things.

And that was just the women! Sevvie was out on a brief-yet-poorly-timed errand for his grandfather. Her father was in the shire, but it was his turn to evaluate some of the newer squires--and, as it figured, Sevvie's father had gone with him. It would be Morgan, and the servants, and maybe Honora if she hadn't left for school yet.

Some of the servants did, at least, have the advantage of having birthed children of their own... but none of them knew about Yvanette's particular condition. She much preferred to keep things that way.

Another burst of pain took hold of her body. She doubted Morgan was in earshot, but there was usually at least one maid in the vicinity of her room at this time of morning. Unless a drastic change in timing occurred, it wouldn't be any problem to reach the door--

Another--

No. No... that one wasn't a contraction.

Why oh why oh why couldn't it have been a contraction?

NEXT CHAPTER:

7 comments:

Van said...

Blah.

Ann said...

Okay, she's transforming, isn't she? And from the preview picture it could be concluded that she might have lost the baby. But this storyline is still confusing me. What's going on here?

Van said...

Yep. :S

Heh. I haven't done the best job of covering all the bases, but basically it follows as such:

-Yvanette didn't want to get pregnant because she couldn't go nine months without transforming and didn't want to risk the transformations hurting the fetus.
-So far, the baby seems to be okay; it's reasonable to assume it's been transforming with Yvanette, at least in the later stages of her pregnancies since a cat wouldn't be able to carry a human fetus almost as large as herself.
-But! Transforming in labor is a valid concern if that's the case, since who knows if the baby will have any ability to transform back. It wouldn't be a stretch to guess that Yvanette has been trying to limit transforming as her due date approached, which would explain the auto-transform kicking it.

Stay tuned...

Anonymous said...

And then I was up to date again, after my complete re-read. It just took a few months.

I love your writing. I'm not really a talker, I never know what to say, so this is my second time commenting. But I keep quietly enjoying it.

I really like Yvanette and her storyline, I've got a thing for shape-shifters. I hope she and her baby will be okay.

Van said...

Aww, thanks! And haha, no worries--there are a lot of posts by this point. :S

And no worries about not commenting much; I know there are a lot of stories I read silently, because while I genuinely enjoy them, I'm just not sure what to say beyond that. :)

Next post should be up some time tonight/early tomorrow morning, so... fingers crossed?

S.B. said...

I have been waiting for this and then got stuck with something that kept me from checking and missed when you posted it. She is NOT in labor? She's transforming. The baby has survived up until now but poor Yvanette. She is so caught and cornered. I see you just posted another update so on to that!

Van said...

Well... being in labor and transforming aren't necessarily exclusive of each other... :S

(And no worries about not checking constantly! Real life is kind of important, after all.)