𝔗𝔥𝔢 ℌ𝔞𝔫𝔤𝔪𝔞𝔫'𝔰 𝔚𝔦𝔱𝔠𝔥

6

Y/N had been at Amaya's house for almost 24 hours now. She had sent her husband for her when her contractions started. He had looked pale when Y/N had opened the door for him and he didn't even need to say what was going on. She knew that it meant the baby was coming. She wished she had had a little more time to prepare herself, but unfortunately babies didn't really work that way. But at least the contractions only seemed mild from what he was saying.

Y/N had sent him back home and told him to stay with his wife while Y/N packed up all the things she needed and made her way over to their house. She also told him to get some water ready and to heat up the stove, so she could use some hot water to clean whatever instruments she needed to use. It wasn't perfect, but it was the best they could get without having to run to the next bigger town and getting a doctor, which would also cost a lot of money.

It took Y/N a little while until she had packed up everything that she needed - scalpels, scissors, bandages, needles, some ointments, a few herbal mixes to make tea to calm the nerves and to deal with whatever other complications, herbs that would make the contractions stronger and would shorten the entire process. The bag she was shouldering was quite heavy by the time she was ready and all that was left now was to find Shouta and let him know she was leaving and would be back whenever everything was fine with the baby.

She managed to find him in the garden eventually where he was chopping up some wood they were planning to store for the winter. It had been nice and dry for the last few weeks, so it was the perfect time to gather some logs and chop up all the wood into small pieces to keep the hearth fire going. Y/N kissed his forehead and let him know where she would be, before she headed through half the town and knocked at Amaya's door. She could already hear the pained groans from inside.

Her husband opened the door for her and he looked even paler than before. Y/N wouldn't have thought that was possible, but she was almost more concerned about him than about his wife. He just gulped and stepped aside, so Y/N could come into the house. She quickly stepped inside. It was dark, the place only being lit by a few candles. The air was stuffy and thick.

"Where is she?" Y/N wanted to know, trying not to break into a sweat with how warm it was in the house. Amaya's husband probably was heating the whole house, because he thought that might help. With all the babies she had helped deliver, there were usually a few things the men did that made absolutely no sense whatsoever, they just needed to do them to make themselves feel better.

"In the bedroom. Through that door." he told her and pointed at a thick wooden door. Y/N nodded and went on her way to see the young woman. Before she opened the bedroom door, she turned back to her husband.

"I'll be opening the window in there for a little bit, get some fresh air in. Could you maybe boil some water with salt in the meantime? I'll need that later." she replied and waited for him to nod in agreement and leave. Then she opened the door to the bedroom and saw Amaya on the bed, groaning in pain and holding her round, pregnant belly. She seemed to have some pretty bad birth pangs at the moment.

"Hello, Amaya. It's just me, Y/N. How long have you had contractions?" she wanted to know. Amaya opened her eyes slightly. They looked glassy and bleak. Y/N went to the window to open it for a little while.

"Y/N... thank God you're here. It started this morning, but they were only mild. They got painful quickly... I... ugh..."

There was another painful pang and Y/N knelt beside the bed, holding Amaya's hand. She squeezed her hand tightly and it hurt, but Y/N knew that Amaya was in way worse pain than she was. It was fine. She could handle the pain of having her hand squeezed like that, as long as it helped. Once she loosened her grip, Amaya looked at her apologetically. She looked weak and completely overwhelmed, which wasn't a surprise. From what Y/N knew, this was her first child. She had a few miscarriages early on before this pregnancy, but this one had made it through the whole nine months.