minnow // sirius black

thirty-five

35 ;   boys

Sirius had to carry me to the car, apologizing to Dean and his wife, Kayla. He said that while he wanted to meet her, he needed to get me to the hospital.

Dean had turned to Kayla to excuse himself, but I stopped him. "She can come with us if she wants."

When Dean and Sirius opposed, Kayla snorted. She rolled her eyes at Dean as she crossed her arms across her chest.

"Why can't I come with? I can watch Esme while they check her out, and then I can spend some time with her."

"That would be a great help, actually. Watching Esme, she gets fussy when Jem doesn't feel well."

"So it's settled," I wheezed. When I noticed his disapproving look, I scolded, "Dean, get off your damn high-horse. She's coming."

So, Dean helped Sirius carry me to my father's car as Kayla held Esme, coo-ing to her as Esme pouted. As soon as I was seated, Sirius sent a patronus to Arlo, explaining that I very suddenly got extremely sick, and that I seemed to be in a lot of pain.

I didn't want to concern Dean and Sirius too much, so when the pain shifted, I gave Kayla a panicked look. She raised an eyebrow as I hunched over. She leaned close to me, the two of us in the back seats while Sirius drove, Dean in the passenger seat.

I sat behind Dean, Esme behind Sirius, Kayla behind me. She leaned forward, quietly asking where I was hurting now. I whispered back that there was a sharp, shooting, pain in my lower abdomen. Like period cramps, but ten times as bad.

"Not as bad as contractions, but worse than cramps."

She didn't respond, instead sitting back and sighing sadly. Her reaction confused me, but I was too distracted to try to ask, let alone figure it out on my own. I closed my eyes tightly, grinding my teeth to refrain from crying out.

There was a part of me that knew, right as that pain started, but I didn't want to believe it. I hadn't known it was even a possibility. The part of my brain that had known the difference between real labor pains and Braxton Hicks told me exactly what was happening. My heart refused to listen.

By the time we made it to St. Mungo's, there was blood pooling between my legs. I had worn underwear, stockings, and shorts under my dress. The latter to keep the stockings from falling down.

There was no visible blood as Kayla rushed to help me out of the car, grabbing Esme as soon as I was sitting on the stretcher that Arlo had brought out. I couldn't see the blood, but I could feel it. It was wet, and incredibly warm. I thought I could smell it, too. I wondered if Sirius could.

Sirius and Dean stayed behind to park the car. I was in too much pain to notice that it had taken them nearly twenty minutes to follow us in.

Kayla began to whisper quietly to Arlo, her voice impossible for me to hear, but her face screaming sadness. Arlo's eyebrows were tightly knitted as he sighed heavily. He opened his mouth to me, but Kayla added another comment, so he pursued his lips instead.

"What's happening?"

Kayla nearly whimpered as she saw the blood begin to seep into my dress, and onto the bed. There was so much of it. She held Esme's head to her shoulder, blocking the view.

After a few minutes, they had me in a room, running exam after exam. At some point, Sirius and Dean rushed in, seeming incredibly out of breath. Dean whispered something to Kayla who looked at Sirius wildly.

"What's wrong with her? Why is she bleeding?"

Kayla handed Esme to Dean, telling him to get Sirius out, saying that I didn't need his frantic panic.

All I wanted in that moment was my Mum.

The overwhelming desire to have her comfort, her experience and knowledge of what I was now completely certain was happening to me. Her wisdom and love. I wanted nothing more than I wanted my mum.

The Healers continued to rush around me, and at some point, I grabbed Kayla's hand as it began to really sink in on me. The Healer that delivered Esme was there, as well as a teary-eyed Halei. They had a wizard's ultrasound machine in the room, and Kayla was whispering with Arlo.

Turns out, she's a Healer - specializing in magical neo-natal care.

Dean never mentioned her work to me - he only said she worked with babies.

By the time the Healers began to clear out, Arlo and Kayla were sitting on either side of my bed, the latter's hand tightly holding mine. She whispered, sadly, as she and Arlo told me.

My heart shattered, every ounce of pain I'd felt from my parents' deaths amplified ten-fold. I was inconsolable. Kayla left the room, her eyes glossy and her voice hoarse. She whispered that she was going to tell Dean and Sirius.

The latter came in, looking crestfallen as he crawled into the bed beside me, pulling my head onto his chest as we sobbed together. I could hear his heartbeat, and all I could imagine was our boy's still heart.

I was 20 weeks. A boy.