Page 47 of Sanctuary
Ori laughed breathlessly. "I know."
It took them an hour to get to the house and by then, Patton could tell that Ori was really not feeling well. He leaned against the wall by the door and closed his eyes while Patton broke a window and climbed through to open the door.
"There's a small bedroom back here," Patton told him as he helped him in through the door.
“I don't want to ruin anyone's mattress," Ori said. "The floor is fine. Can you spread the blankets out?"
"I think they can spare a blanket for you," Patton told him and shook his head when Ori started to argue. "If they knew, they'd probably offer. You're having a baby, Ori!"
"Really?" Ori let his jacket fall to the floor unheeded as he walked toward the kitchen. "I hadn't noticed." But he smiled at Patton as he said it, turning the words into a joke. "I'm going to get undressed," he said. His face took on that inward-looking expression and he tugged his t-shirt up to his chest. "I don't think it's going to be long." The long curve of his belly tightened in front of Patton’s eyes, bulging out in front of him as if their pup was trying to launch itself straight out through Ori’s bellybutton. Ori ran a hand over it and wandered aimlessly around the room, staring at the cupboards and the faded pictures on the wall with unseeing eyes.
Patton came to kiss him quickly. "I won't be long." He pushed one of their blankets into Ori's hands. "Here, start with this one."
Ori smiled at him again, then winced. "That one hurt." He took a deep breath and patted Patton on the shoulder. "Go, please, and find that blanket. And maybe some towels?"
"Towels, blanket. Got it." And anything else that looked useful. Boiled water, right? He'd look for a pot too. And wood--there was a small black stove in the corner that he could start a fire in.
Towels and blankets were easy to find and the owner of the house had piled up a stack of split firewood on the back porch of the house. He grabbed an armload of wood and scurried back to the kitchen. There, he found Ori naked except for his t-shirt, sitting on the blanket spread over the middle of the kitchen floor.
"Oh, you're back," he said in obvious relief. "I think he's coming soon." No sooner had the words left his mouth than his face screwed up in pain and he curled around his belly. Paton watched in horrified fascination as the smooth round lump tightened and seemed to roll down toward Ori's legs.
He dropped the borrowed blanket and the towels next to Ori and knelt. "What can I do?" His stomach felt queasy and he was little light-headed. The room smelled of blood, metallic and sweet.
"Can you hold me?" Ori whispered. He ran a hand the underside of his belly and pulled it back with blood on his fingertips. "And maybe hand me a towel?"
Patton passed him one and watched him wipe off his fingertips, then pat at the place the blood had come from. The towel came away smeared with red, though it wasn't as bad as Patton had expected. He opened his mouth to say something, then thought better of it. At this point, anything he said would only emphasize to Ori that he was there with someone who didn't have a clue. Instead, he moved to sit behind Ori on the blanket, settling Ori into the V of his legs, and wrapped his arms around the straining body in front of him. At least this way Ori would have something to lean against if he got tired. "Good?"
Ori nodded. "Thank you," he said, his voice squeezing up tight as his belly did the same. When the contraction ended, he leaned back against Patton. "It won't be long now." He'd put the towel back underneath his belly and kept it there with one hand. "I wish we were at Mercy Hills."
"Me too." Patton kissed Ori's sweat-damp temple. "I wanted everything to be perfect for you."
Ori's breath caught and it was nearly a minute before he said, "It is. I have you and our baby. This is what I've wanted for years, since my first heat. I just didn't think I could have it."
"Really?" He held Ori carefully while Ori panted against the contractions.
"Yes," Ori said. He took one of Patton's hand and put it on his belly. "So you can feel it to," he told Patton, and laid his hand over Patton's. "But everyone kept telling me--" His voice broke off and his belly underneath Patton's hand moved, becoming hard as a rock. Clear fluid dripped out onto the blanket beneath them. It smelled oddly sweet, but not in the same way the blood smelled.
"Oh, thank Lysoonka and Medeina." Ori leaned back against him. "What a mess. But this means it'll be over soon."
"That's... your waters?" Patton asked hesitantly.
"Yes," Ori said, and then his belly tensed up again and he clutched Patton's arm in a near-painful grip. "Oh," he said when his body finally let him rest. "They're coming faster. Did you find another towel?"
Patton passed it over, but Ori set it aside within easy reach. "We'll need something to wrap him in."
"Ah." So many things he didn't know. Would he make a good father to the baby? Would he even know what to do? What if... No. He pushed aside all his worries about disaster, about problems, about losing Ori. He wasn't going to lose Ori. Ori was strong, and determined, and stubborn. He'd get through this.
Whether Patton would was another story.
The contractions came faster now, one following on the heels of the next like little pups following bigger ones. Ori was past speaking now. He hardly seemed aware of the world around them and his grip on Patton's arms never wavered, until the opening at the base of his belly bulged and stretched and the curve of the baby's head, dark hair plastered flat, peeked out for a moment, before he apparently decided that he'd rather stay home inside his bearer and he disappeared back inside. A few moments to rest, and then Ori's body tensed and he curled up around his belly, making a high-pitched keening noise that Patton had never heard from him before. The baby's head peeked out farther and, this time, it didn't disappear back inside when the contraction ended.
"Do I need to move to catch him?" Patton asked. He hoped yes, and no, fear and elation at war in his chest.
"Please, stay there." Ori gasped, then bent groaning over his belly again. This one seemed to last longer and it hurt Ori more, judging by the noises he made. Patton felt helpless, but Ori had a death-grip on his arms and he wasn't going anywhere until Ori let go of him. The baby surged out of the gap in his belly again, pausing as if he was stuck, then slithered out onto Ori's lap like he was making a lunge for freedom.
No, not he. She. They had a daughter.
Ori laughed and gathered her up, the cord connecting daughter to bearer still pulsing between them, and laid her on his chest. She smeared him with blood and other fluids, and wailed her displeasure to the moon with the strength of a full-grown wolf. "You're a strong one, aren't you?" Ori cooed at her. "That's good. We need you to be strong." He let his head fall back against Patton's chest. "You'll have to decide what name you want her to call you. Are you going to be Da or Pa or something else?"
