You can count on me like one,two, three
I'll be there | @alessia

April 23rd, 2018 | St Mungo's

Once she'd heard, she'd arrived a Mungo's as quickly as she could. She'd heard somewhere a bag should be packed, and while Alessia might have had one packed because Alessia thought of everything, she'd made three others. One for Alessia, of course. And one for Alaric and herself. For once, hers was the smallest, because she knew Alaric would have needed sharply-pressed suits with ties, or well-ironed dress robes, if he was going to be there during the labor. And soothing scents. She'd read up on some, and while she'd had to rule out a few because of her horrible experiences in Italy that proved them not to be soothing at all, there was certainly enough that might help.

Truthfully, Natalya didn't know enough about childbirth to know how to help her friend. She was old enough that she could remember Ali-- Teodora-- coming back, and Andrei she'd been offered to watch, but Natalya had refused that one, especially once she'd found out that having a new sibling meant they would be staying there, and she hadn't had time for that. Babies were loud things, and she was endlessly relieved that Mattias was older when she'd really gotten to meet him.

But Alessia's child? Alessia's child would be better than everyone, and she knew, she just knew, that she'd love her as much as she did Mattias, at the absolute least. After. . .well, it wasn't that she had to fight her way past the guards, but it really felt like she had to! She wasn't sure how long labor was, but she'd call in sick if it went on until the next day. She was in Mungo's, so surely she could find someone to sign that, if necessary.

She flung her way into the room. "I'm here! And I have things-- oh, you're lying down, are there any lotions you'd wan me to put on you?"

Throughout the pregnancy and especially after the divorce she had began to wonder who would be by her side when it came time for her baby to arrive. She knew of course her mum would be there but she wasn’t sure who else or if anyone else would be there. Not having any sisters made it a bit difficult. She was grateful her parents had been so understanding when it came to her living at Slughorn Manor rather than their Selwyn family estate. She thought it was going to be hard on them but they still saw each other regularly. There was no way she would not go for too many days without letting her parents see their second grandchild and their only granddaughter (to date). They had already spoilt her so much and now that her baby would be here in a matter of hours, they would finally get to hold her.

Alessia, herself was most looking forward to that. Her little girl had already been through so much and she was not even here. Truthfully the witch was glad that her divorce had happened earlier rather than later that way her daughter would not have to witness it first hand. She was lucky that her parents were still together but she had friends who had seen their parent’s marriage fall apart and that was something she didn’t want her daughter to witness. To date, her ex-husband had not contacted her and she had steered clear of informing him that she was here. She had a feeling that he would not make the effort to come and so had saved herself the trouble and anyone else from doing it instead.

She knew that word would get to her friends soon enough that her water had broken and she was here. Even without the mudblood technology word managed to travel fast in magical society. Alessia didn’t know when any of her friends would get here but she just wanted them here by her side as she started the next big chapter of her life. Well, it had started for her months ago now, from the moment she had conceived.

Alessia managed to turn her head when the door open and she was sure she had sighed aloud at seeing her friend’s face. It was evident that Natalya had more than one bag. She wasn’t sure why but she was in labour and not about to ask. Alessia smiled at her mum who was next to the healer before looking at her blonde haired. ”No….I’m fine, you have timing though, you just missed a strong contraction” she sighed in frustration as she threw her head back.

At the sound of Alessia's voice, Natalya dropped the bags she carried. She wavered half a moment, trying to decide if she should pick up Less's bag, but she'd said she didn't need to massage. Ah, well. She'd pick it up again if Alessia wanted, if she. .

She was still so beautiful, even with her face drawn and pale, her head thrust back. Not even labor could change that, not even pain. Natalya found herself momentarily distracted by it all, before it sank in that Alessia was in pain. There was nothing she could do, nothing she could have done. She wished more than anything in that moment, she'd taken some Healing courses, or was even like Andrei. Andrei hunted Mudbloods, so maybe he had an idea of how insides were supposed to work? Maybe. She held back a slightly-hysterical laugh.

When she'd pictured Alessia giving birth, it had been quick and easy. She knew, distantly, from reading and from asking around, that birth was very much pain, but it had never fully connected how it would feel to see Alessia hurting and not being able to do something about it. For the piece of scum who'd put her in half the pain she was in, she was able to threaten him, to shield her, to duel him if so allowed by Alessia, to give him pain herself.

"There'll be more," she tried for joviality, realizing then that might be the wrong thing to say The room was empty, all there was was Alessia. "I'll be here for them. . " that suddenly sounded too personal, too intrusive. It felt right, but too. . .too something. "And so will Alaric." Somehow that punctured something a little, but it would help Alessia, it had to. "I'm sure he's. . .preparing whatever he can."

It was horribly unfair, how even with magic and potions, there wasn't much that could be done for labor. She'd heard rumors about Metamorphmagi, but Alessia wasn't one, even it was only rumors, since there was usually less than one a century in a country. She wanted to do more, needed to do more, couldn't. She gripped Alessia's hand, belatedly realizing that Lady Selwyn was in the room. Nat tried for a quick smile, gave a rushed hello, and turned back to Less, face drawn.

As this moment had drawn closer she knew this would be hard for her, not just on a physical level but also emotionally as well. She was supposed to have her child’s father in the room but instead she felt bad for having to ask Nat to come in. She knew that being one of her best friends meant that Nat would have not turned her down. Still, she felt a little guilty. She was hoping that her labour would go well but she would have to see how it exactly went. What she wanted may not be what eventuated.

She knew that she could do it but it would just require her being strong. She wasn’t sure how strong she was. Alessia had survived a divorce but brining new life into the world was different. At she thought so, it called on different emotions and a different frame of mind. She wondered if the frame of mind she was so proud of possessing would fall apart with this. She knew that she could be vulnerable around her mum and her friend and even her healer but still she was fearful.

Alessia had no idea what her friend had brought with her in her bag but that didn’t matter. The pain she was experiencing far outweighed thinking about anything else. She huffed and looked at her friend. She was frustrated. She hadn’t been at this for that long but she was already over it. She knew her friend wanted to hex her now ex husband but she wasn’t sure where even was. Had she known, she could have gone after him herself. But it didn’t matter now. They would be okay.

The look Alessia had shot Natalya following her comment about her contraction could only be described as incredulous. ”What did you say?” She knew it was not intended even though technically there would be other contractions coming. She knew they would only get worse before things got better. ”Al, doesn't have to come in. I don’t want him feeling uncomfortable” she sighed heavily. He was a guy, what guy wanted to be in the delivery room when your best friend was giving birth? Sure they were close but Alessia thought there were limits. After all everyone knew where they had to be if they were pureblood.

Alessia rolled her eyes as she went to reach for her glass of water before her mother helped her take a sip. Another contraction was coming, she could feel it. It was going to hurt like a...well, she wasn’t sure what she could compare it to. She gripped the sheets as she felt the sharp pain come on and cried out. ”Mother of Merlin!”

[googlefont=Roboto:400][googlefont=Julius Sans One:400]

Count on Me

I'll sail the world to find you

"Right! Right, yes, I. . I forgot that. . ." The room felt so much smaller now, that it would just be Alessia and her. And Alessia's mother too, of course, but still. The room was so small-- of course she'd forgotten so many things. She'd forgotten the rules she'd mostly known, back when she'd thought she was a pureblood, but even then, from one of the smallest lines. She wouldn't have had the training Less and Al did, because their British lines were nobility, and hers wrote. . .textbooks. Thankfully, that didn't come with a title, because titles for the most boring of things would be awful. She usually wouldn't forget simple rules like that, usually didn't, but somehow this had just happened. And she wasn't even the one in pain, she wasn't even the one who was. . .shoving a new person into the world.

A new person, formed and formless, half Alessia, and-- no, all Alessia. Some Jagger, some Noah, some Alessia's mother, but all Alessia. Natalya still couldn't understand how all of that had happened, and for Teo's friend. Not that she would have been even able to theoretically,but the bastard had left her as well. She was happy he was away, gleeful that he'd never be able to touch his daughter, to hurt Alessia with his presence ever again. His absence, of course, but he wasn't there to hurt her, wasn't ever going to be there to hurt Addison. She'd kill him if he did-- if he ever came back into the country, even, and she was bloody sure he very well knew that.

She bit back a gasp as the sharp contraction ran through, face blanching. She had to do something, she didn't know what to do, she would be useless, even studying Death and Love hadn't prepared her for this.

"We're here,"she tried, half-desperate. "We're here, we love you. . ." she had cold cloths! They could be used, definitely. She Summoned her bag, dug through it quickly, and glanced at Less's mum to see where to put it. Because, stomach, neck, chest, or head? She didn't know this sort of stuff! Less's mum had had three living kids, she would know it.

☆@less, 375 words☆

❤fai

Now was not the time for her to relive the past but before her contractions had become this strong and she hadn’t dilated that much she had thought of how this could been different if her ex husband had not done what he had done. However, he was not here and he would never be here. She was about to bring a child into the world that was part her and part him. She was here on her own, well not technically, her mum was here as was Nat and Al was somewhere close by. Jagger would be around close by and so would Noah. Even her father would be here soon enough. Alessia knew he wouldn’t miss out on meeting his next grandchild.

She looked over at her friend offered a weak smile. She was already too exhausted to smiled properly but she thought her friend would understand. ”I’m telling Al you momentarily forget his gender” she teased. Alessia could still at least manage that. At least with jokes going around she would have a distraction. Well, not a complete one but her mind was not solely focused on when the next contraction came or trying to maintain decorum as the it came and went. She was not sure how to really even go about this. Okay she had spoken with her obstetrician many times on the actual childbirth process but when it had come to the actual moment, she was so nervous. And so many questions ran through her mind.

She looked over at her mum as Nat began to speak again but she was focused on her contraction while trying to breathe. Her friend sounded like she was panicking. All Alessia could do was to grab what she thought was a cold cloth and luckily it was. Using to at least try and dry her hands or whatever. She tossed it aside as her Healer told her to push. She wasn’t sure she could but her mother came to the other side of her bed and held her hand and put her other hand on her daughter’s shoulder and told her to push. ”Дерьмо” He could have cursed in all languages for all she was concerned. She just wanted this over with. Childbirth was far from beautiful from how she saw it. The healer told her to take a breather and she sat back biting her lip feeling both frustrated and exhausted. ”How the hell do people do this without any potions?” she asked to no in particular as she looked to the potions she had been given before Nat had arrived. She sighed. How many hours was this going to take?

Words: 445