Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 97306 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97306 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
After the bedding was changed and Ella rested comfortably in fresh garments, Marsh was allowed in the cottage to sit with his wife as she held their son to her naked chest so he could easily hear her heartbeat. He hadn’t searched for his mum’s nipple yet and that worried Fia since by now he should be eager to eat. She wondered what the reason might be. Did he not have enough strength or was it something else?
Varrick sat in a chair in a corner of the cottage, Marsh having offered him it when he had announced that he would wait outside for Fia, and Fia letting him know it could possibly take all night and the next day. Merry occupied a bench near the hearth, remaining there to help.
Fia watched the bairn’s breaths and worried. Something was not right. She turned and stood by the hearth, trying to think of what might be wrong and what she could do.
Varrick watched her, seeing her face tense with worry.
“He’s not breathing! He’s not breathing!” Ella yelled.
Varrick, Marsh, and Merry jumped to their feet.
Fia grabbed the bairn.
Clear his passageway of the birthing flow.
Of course. She had not been there for his birth and had not seen if he had coughed up any of the flow in the birthing sack. He probably lacked the strength to do so. She did as she had watched her grandmother do in such a situation. She laid him on the bed and gently rubbed his chest, to jostle whatever flow remained in him.
“Come on, little one, you can do it. Spit it out,” Fia encouraged softly and the bairn gagged then coughed. Fia turned him on his side, easing his mouth open wider with her pinky finger and rubbed his back. The watery substance flowed from his tiny mouth and after a few moments, he began to wail loudly.
“He’s alive! He’s alive!” Ella cried, tears running down her cheeks.
“And no doubt hungry,” Fia said with a smile. “Though he needs to rest on his side for a bit and have his back rubbed to make sure he gets rid of all that was stuck in him. He just did not have the strength to get it all out.”
“He will be all right?” Marsh asked anxiously.
“He will need more attention than a newborn usually needs—”
“Whatever he needs we will give it to him,” Marsh interrupted, taking hold of his wife’s hand and clinging to it.
“Lots more feeding than usual, more warmth than usual, and more patience than usual, and lots of love, which appears he already has,” Fia said and was pleased to see more of the substance drain from the bairn’s mouth.
“He rids himself of more,” Ella said jubilantly while her tears began to subside.
“Aye, which means he will want to feed soon, a very good sign indeed,” Fia said. “Now rub his back a bit more and when he refuses to stop crying, you will know it is time to feed him.”
“You are not leaving. You cannot leave,” Marsh said as his wife tended to their bairn.
“I will stay until your son feeds twice to make certain all goes well. After that you should do fine,” Fia said. “If for any reason you need me, just send someone to get me and I’ll hurry to you.”
Marsh turned pleading eyes on Varrick.
“I will make certain she comes here posthaste,” Varrick said.
A loud wail from the bairn had them all smiling.
“He is hungry,” Fia said and helped settle the bairn on his mum’s nipple.
“Oh!” Ella said as the bairn suckled eagerly. “He truly is hungry.”
“Another good sign,” Merry said, beaming with her usual smile.
Fia stepped away from the bed to give Ella and Marsh time with their son. Merry did the same, fussing with the pile of linens that would swaddle the bairn.
Varrick watched his wife, amazed at how gentle yet skilled her hands had been and how calm she had remained throughout the whole ordeal. Seeing her that way made it difficult to deny she was a healer and a highly skilled one at that. Had her exceptional skills marked her a witch?
A loud burp startled them all.
Ella laughed, a joyous smile on her face. “Like father like son.”
“That’s my lad,” Marsh said proudly and turned anxious eyes on Fia. “He will be all right, won’t he?”
He will do well and grow into a fine man.
Fia almost sighed with relief, though said a silent thanks for her knowing at that moment before she smiled and said the same. “He will do well and grow into a fine man.”
Ella let out a breath she had been holding, her smile returning after it had faded upon hearing her husband’s question.
“Please instruct me in all I need to know to look after my son,” Ella pleaded as the bairn continued to feed.