133: 3.73 Baby Girl

3.73 Baby Girl

Warning: if you're uncomfortable with males giving birth, then you can skip this chapter. There are two cute mini theaters in the end tho ;)

Oliver gave birth to a healthy baby girl on a winter morning, three weeks earlier than his due date.

Prior to this, they had moved temporarily to Oliver's maiden home, the Royal Palace, where there would be many royal doctors standing by. Doctor Verren, as Oliver's attending obstetrician, was also only one call away. Not only that, Oliver would have his nanny — Haga — to accompany him whenever Lu Yizhou needed to go out to take care of something.

That's why, when Lu Yizhou was cooking healthy meals for them in the kitchen one morning and heard Oliver's sharp gasp from the bedroom, he promptly dropped everything off and dashed to the omega, finding him curling on the bed as he cradled his huge belly. His face crumpled in pain and sweat beaded on his forehead. "A—Altair…" Oliver's lips were pale from the pain, trembling. "It hurts. It hurts so much…" His eyes were misty and he gasped again when another contraction kicked in. The blanket had been flung aside and Lu Yizhou caught a glimpse of wetness that was running down Oliver's thigh.

His water had broken.

In his life, this might be the closest Lu Yizhou was from being flustered.

Calm down, calm down, Lu Yizhou. He had read at least twenty books about pregnancy and the mechanism of going into labor. He had even signed himself up to those breathing classes that were reserved especially for pregnant beastmen. His preparation was impeccable. Yet nothing could brace him from the sight of his mate gritting his teeth in pain, suffering a clear agony which he couldn't relieve. Numbness shot up his spine and it was solely because he had been repeating this scene in his head over and over again could he move mechanically to lift Oliver up in his embrace and send an emergency signal to the doctors available.

Not even ten minutes later, Oliver was pushed into the operating room.

Lu Yizhou changed in record time and stepped inside dressed in a sterile scrub and mask. Oliver almost cried in relief as soon as he saw him even though he had only been absent for less than two minutes. Lu Yizhou's heart twinged in pain as he saw the suffering Oliver was going through. 

"Altair… Altair…" Oliver reached out weakly and Lu Yizhou grasped his cold and clammy hand in a strong grip before he bent down to drop a kiss on the omega's sweaty forehead.

"I'm here," he murmured. "How are you doing?"

Tension visibly loosened from Oliver's body with his Alpha's presence. His lower half had been covered by a green curtain, preventing them from seeing what was going on. He chuckled lightly and slurred out the words because his tongue was numb. "It's weird. I can't feel the bottom half of my body." 

Lu Yizhou could pick up faint conversation from the doctor and nurses as they discussed the operation. Oliver's water had broken earlier than the scheduled time so it was better to go ahead with the C-section to bring the baby out faster. "What did they say about the baby?" He looked down to meet Oliver's concerned eyes. "Will she be okay? I mean… this is going to be a premature birth, right?"

"She will be okay." Lu Yizhou assured him. "You two are going to be okay."

"So sure, are we?" Oliver giggled, albeit he grimaced halfway when he felt the doctor's scalpel begin to cut his stomach open. He couldn't describe it. It was numbing and kinda ticklish. Fortunately, his Alpha was there to distract him from the weird sensation. It was unfair! How could someone still look so good in a sterile scrub and a mask covering half of his face? Oliver tried not to be too focused on what was happening below and instead fixed his eyes on the Alpha. "I can't wait to meet her." He whispered.

Lu Yizhou answered softly. "Me too."

Oliver couldn't suppress the anticipation on his chest. "She's going to be so beautiful."

"Like you." The Alpha smoothly replied.

"You—!" Oliver pouted. "What are you talking about? I must have looked like a mess right now!"

"Oliver is beautiful." Lu Yizhou brought Oliver's hand to his lips and kissed the top of his knuckles. "The most beautiful person I have ever seen."

Oliver huffed with a hint of smile on his lips. With his pale complexion, chapped lips and messy hair, Lu Yizhou thought that he had glimpsed upon an angel. They talked about mundane things back and forth until Oliver's eyelids began to droop, the drug had clearly got to his system. Lu Yizhou counted the time in his mind. Two hours. It had been almost two hours when all of a sudden, a clear and sharp cry pierced through the silence of the peaceful morning. Oliver's eyes flew wide as he met Lu Yizhou's eyes, a watery sheen covering the golden pupils. His lips trembled as he smiled through his tears. "Altair, she…"

Lu Yizhou breathed in sharply. His voice was strained when he spoke. "You have done very well, Oliver."

It took a while for the doctor to stitch Oliver back and pull open the curtain. "Congratulations." Lu Yizhou recognized Doctor Verren through his smiley eyes. He was wearing a scrub that was splattered with blood in a few places, a nurse following behind him and in her arms was a swaddle of cloth with faint crying sounds. "She's a very healthy baby girl."

It was the smallest creature Lu Yizhou had ever seen. So small and fragile that he didn't dare to move when the nurse placed her in his arms. "She needs to sense her parents' pheromones. You may scent her first to calm her down." Lu Yizhou subconsciously followed the nurse's guidance, letting a strand of his pheromones out to caress the baby gently. As if knowing that she was currently in his father's arms, the little creature ceased her crying slowly into hiccups. Her face was as red as a small tomato and wrinkly, tiny lips wobbling in the remnants of cries. She was adorable and smelled of Oliver, milk and a hint of blood.

Lu Yizhou couldn't take his eyes off her. 

In the next second, the baby suddenly peeled her eyes open and looked up directly at Lu Yizhou. Two pairs of identical silver eyes stared at each other. She smacked her lips and smiled, letting out little gurgling and squealing sounds.

Lu Yizhou only snapped out of his stupor when he heard Oliver giggle behind him. Turning around, he found Oliver looking at them both with a fond smile on his face, eyes wet with tears. "You two are so adorable!" The baby was then placed in Oliver's waiting arms and he cooed at her softly. "Hey… we finally met, little troublemaker." Oliver laughed and dropped a tiny kiss on her cheek. "My dear daughter, Bianca."

The baby squealed again and made grabby paws at him.

Lu Yizhou took in the scene in front of him and only when his chest started to hurt did he realize that he had been holding his breath. Slowly, he let the air fill his lungs and witnessed as Oliver started to breastfeed the baby, his eyes soft and affectionate. Lu Yizhou's heart felt like it had been stuffed with cotton. So tender, so full that he couldn't breathe. It was painful but a different kind than the pain he had gotten accustomed to. This pain was warm; sparks that set every part of his body alight, dispersing the eternal chill that was ingrained into his bones.

The cloth that was wrapped around the baby loosened in the process and Lu Yizhou finally caught sight of a pair of wet, little kitten ears atop of her head with silver hair on its tip and lastly, on her back… was a pair of tiny, silver wings.

The second hybrid beastman in the world was born.

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.

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Mini theater 1

666, when they discovered that Oliver was pregnant: [AAAAAAAH, MY HOST IS GOING TO HAVE A BABY!!! IT'S SO CUTE THAT 666 IS GOING TO DIEEE! WILL 666 BECOME THE UNCLE? WILL HOST ALLOW 666 TO BE THE UNCLE?!!]

Lu Yizhou: Shut up.

666, when they went shopping for the nursery: [AAAAAAAH, LOOK AT THAT LITTLE SHOES, IT'S SO TINY! SO CUTE!! IT'S PINK AND LACEY!!!]

Lu Yizhou: Shut up. (Then he proceeded to throw the shoes 666 pointed out to the basket.)

666, when the baby was born: [Hiccups… Hiccups… Host, Host, she's so ugly and wrinkly. 666 is so happy for you uwaaaaa—]

Lu Yizhou's face darkened in displeasure: Shut up.

#chaoticgremlin666 #more excited than the father himself

In fact, half of the reason why Lu Yizhou could go through everything calmly was because there was already a system who was more flustered, excited and anxious than himself. Not that he would tell 666 about it though. 

Mini theater 2

"What should we name our baby?" Oliver asked one day as he snuggled into Lu Yizhou's embrace in the comfort of their nest. He was already in the seventh month of his pregnancy.

"Oliver should decide." Lu Yizhou had never named anything — or anyone — before. It made him feel strange… as if naming was going to make them stick to him forever. It was a sacred thing, in his opinion. Every child's name carried their parents' expectation of them; whether to simply wish that they could grow up happily, smart and obedient, or to be someone with a great future. And he… would it be ominous to let him name their baby?

Oliver smacked his arm. "We should do it together." He emphasized. "It's your child too. Moreover, I am not good at naming. Why do you think I've been calling her 'little bean' or 'little troublemaker'?"

Lu Yizhou hummed thoughtfully. "'Little bean' is also good."

"Altair!" Oliver gave a petulant whine, kicking his feet adorably in midair before he froze and turned to Lu Yizhou with an incredulous look. "You can't be serious…"

Lu Yizhou simply leveled him with a deadpan stare.

"Okay, fine." Oliver huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "So we're both bad at naming. Hmm… let's start with something simple. What's your favorite season?"

"I…don't know."

"You don't?"

"I have never thought about it." Lu Yizhou pressed his lips. "But I think I don't really like winter." 

Every major disaster in his life had happened in winter and so were some of the worst decisions he had ever made. Not to mention that he had practically chosen to commit suicide amidst the land of snow. What was he thinking back then? Ah right, if he could choose the way to die, at least he wanted it to be slow and neat. No unnecessary bleeding, no special preparation required. He could patiently wait until death came to knock on the door all the while enjoying the scenery and feeling the numbing bites gradually climb up his skin and permeate every inch of his bones. He could see his breaths slowly thinning, white puff smoking out of his blue lips, his mind invaded by soothing blankness until all the noisy thoughts disappeared. To feel his limbs gradually turning frozen, his eyelids fluttering shut, black dots on the corner of his eyes…

It felt nice, not to think of anything and let death take control.

Oliver, oblivious of the thought in his mind, burst out in laughter. "Don't you think it's funny coming from you whose pheromone is winter-scented?"

Well, it was ironic indeed. Maybe he and winter had become inseparable for it had witnessed every step he took along the way and accompanied him during his death. 

"How about you?" Lu Yizhou asked in return, changing the topic.

"Me…?" Oliver tapped on his chin. "Hmm, now that I think about it, I don't have any favorite season either. But somehow, I really don't like spring."

Lu Yizhou was slightly surprised. "Spring?"0

"Yeah," Oliver shot him a wry smile. "It's weird, I know. It's literally the season of love and time when the flowers are blooming. It is everyone's favorite season!" Oliver threw his arms in the air to exaggerate, then he slumped down, his expression turning dejected. "But I can't bring myself to like it. Every time spring arrives, I will feel upset for some reason. Ha! Ignore my nonsense. I don't even understand why I am like this…"

Lu Yizhou stared at Oliver's upset look, stunned. Spring… In the first world, he had left in spring and in the second world, it was also springtime when he had a showdown with Jeffrey and Selina which ended up in him initiating self destruction. Was it a coincidence or…?

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