Eagle (A Loki love story)

Chapter 128

It wasn't until I woke up in pain in the middle of the night that I knew something was wrong. My back felt like it was twinging again, only it was a sustained pain, and it had spread all throughout my pelvic region. It faded after a few seconds, but it scared me enough to wake Loki. I jostled his shoulder.

"Loki, Loki wake up!" He stirred, but his eyes didn't open, "Loki!"

"Mmm, five more minutes."

"No!" That got his attention.

"Mira? What time is it?" Our eyes locked in the darkness.

"I don't know, but something's wrong."

"What?"

"I woke up, and I was in pain. I think I might be in labor."

"What kind of pain?"

"It was my back, and all around my front."

"How often?"

"Huh?"

"How far apart are the contractions?"

"I don't know, I've only had one."

"No, your back was bothering you last night."

"You think that was–"

"I am almost certain. Now how far apart were they last night?"

"I don't know. Forty five minutes? Thirty, maybe? But they were like, only when I shifted a lot of weight."

"It can start that way. I'll get Eir."

"No! Please." She could be so annoying. I didn't want her around longer than she had to be.

"I don't like it either, doe, but–"

"Can we wait until the contractions are ten minutes apart? Please? There's nothing that can be done until they're five minutes apart at least." His lips became a thin line, but he consented.

We turned the lights on to their dimmest setting. Two am and my contractions were still thirty minutes apart. Our best estimate was that my first contraction had happened around six thirty. Nearly eight hours and they'd only gone down by fifteen minutes. Neither of us liked the implications of that time frame.

"You must try to rest, we have a long day ahead of us, and the pain will only get worse, and more frequent. Please." His fingers danced along the side of my face, silently persuading my eyes to close.

Loki's POV

I knew I should be taking me own advice and sleep, but the slow begin to Mira's labor brought back all of my previous worries and anxiety. Her contractions were already painful enough to wake her and she wasn't anywhere close to active labor. I ran my hand over her abdomen. It was incredible how much she had swollen with my child, especially in these recent months. And while that satisfied a very primal part of me, the rational side just became more concerned. Eir had concurred with the doctor that a surgical birth was out of the question, so now it was a waiting game.

The next hours were rather uneventful, Mira woke up whimpering a few times because of pain, but I was always able to coax her back to sleep. Once I got up to fetch her water, and another time helped her stand and get to the bathroom, but otherwise she slept soundly. Eir normally came in around eight every morning, to check on Mira so I made sure Mira was dozing and left the den a few minutes before. As soon as I heard Eir approach, I slipped out of the room and greeted her in the hall.

"Loki. You're up early." She reached for the handle, but I blocked her path.

"Mira is having contractions."