Chapter 9

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TW FOR MEDICAL STUFF. IT GREAT DETAIL. MENTIONS OF POTENTIAL INFANT DEATH. ALSO BLOOD.

Astrid's POV

I remember the first contraction hitting at 3 AM. A small, subtle pushing at my pelvis, akin to my memory of a period cramp. I didn't feel anything for another hour or so, but then the pain increased and my contractions were getting closer and closer together. By 8 I felt dizzy and nearly collapsed trying to open the door to my bedroom, not having woken up Damon or Stefan, both of which had been sleeping beside me.

"What are you doing up so early, Striddy?" Laurel asked as she put a hand to my forehead.

I couldn't look up, could barely stay on my feet. My head wandered away from me, or so it seemed, and I felt like I was in some sort of trance. If I'd have not been a vampire I would've thought my heart on the brink of collapse.

"Oh shit, you're in labor."

My vision went blank.

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Laurel's POV

Shit shit shit shit! I felt the panic rush through my veins as I tried to save my sister-in-law from her fall, nearly missing as she almost fell to the floor. i was at a loss, completely unaware of what I was supposed to do about this. I should have read up more about pregnancy complications. Stupid me. She's fainted and what about the twins?

Even if I was frozen in place, I hadn't seen the vase that Astrid knocked over as she passed out, that of which caused enough noise to wake up a few household members. Nik, a sleepy Elijah, and Stefan came out to check on what caused such commotion.

From behind me I felt the terror looming from Stefan, who immediately started to grab Astrid and tap her shoulders, attempting to wake her up. I knew Stefan was trying to ask me what happened, if she'd taken a fall or whatever someone asks another person when they're holding an unconscious pregnant woman, but I couldn't process anything. I felt hollow, like the world was at a standstill and the only thing left was me and my shaking hands.

Wet tears streamed down my face and my lip quivered with my jaw, which was glued shut.

I was a coward, for not doing anything, for sitting there and weeping like a small child. Tears stained my vision and the faces around me blurred. Everyone must have known by now, the house was probably in a panic. If the vase hadn't dropped who knows how long it would have taken for someone to help Astrid.

She had been overdue, we knew that, but she'd shown no signs of anything being wrong before now. Being a vampire must have diminished symptoms of something terrible being wrong with her, or the twins. We should have been keeping a closer eye on her, I should have known.

She can't die, but her girls could.

---

Stefan's POV

"She's been in there for an hour, Elijah, and they still don't know what happened?" I was beyond worried. My pacing was evident of it, and Damon hadn't looked away from the wall in the small infirmary that was created in case of any problems with the birth of Aric or the twins...

Astrid is immortal, she could survive anything that the world throws at her, our children aren't. 

My children could be gone before they ever took their first breath. If they don't get enough oxygen, they'll die, and I doubt that a vampire child can or should be created. My children, whose heartbeats I'd watched for every time I entered a room with them in. My twin girls, who I read stories and even a few of my oldest diary entries to. Those little souls who should get a chance to live.

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐄, Stefan and DamonWhere stories live. Discover now