Tough Love

Chapter 4 : Twin Blessings

Chapter 4 : Twin Blessings

Mingjue had been having trouble sleeping with how worried he was about his wife and their unborn child; the birth was supposed to happen two days ago, yet it still hadn't happened. This fact also made itself known in how hard it was for Shuai to get comfortable enough to sleep with her large middle after the child lowered into her pelvis as the birthing had come closer day by day. Thankfully now the woman had managed to catch some sleep as his eyes wandered over her, wondering if this situation was just their child telling them it would come when it wanted to. Mingjue could faintly recall the same had happened with Huaisang being born, but had instead been born a month early, so was this the case?

It was half an hour later, just as he had finally managed to fall asleep, when he was woken up again by his wife groaning in her sleep from what sounded like pain, right before she woke up with a small cry of pain as her arms moved to wrap around her stomach. Just as Mingjue was going to ask Shuai what was wrong, he could feel a liquid wet the bed suddenly, and he knew right away that liquid had been her water breaking. The baby was coming now.

Once that thought processed itself in his head... then came the panic.

Mingjue immediately shouted for someone to wake up and fetch the midwives and the doctor, even as he held his wife's hand and tried to make her as comfortable as possible, and he just knew that he wouldn't be allowed to stay there for much longer, so he wanted Shuai to know that he would stay if he had any choice in the matter. And all the while, he was worried that something might happen to her during the birth, as well as worried that something might happen to the child. When the midwives came in, he was quickly ushered out into the hallway, he had no time to argue against their shoving, and he sat down across from the door with his back against the wall while five others came from the guest rooms and Huaisang's room. He'd invited three other Clan Leaders to stay for the birth, and Xichen had brought his younger brother Wangji with him to see if the newborn would help cheer him up.

"A-Ming, is it..." Huaisang started to say, but then a loud scream came from inside the married couple's room and effectively answered the unfinished question. Mingjue looked tired and worried out of his mind, nearly pulling his hair out while the screaming continued from within his and his wife's bedroom. After a while, the screams seemed to be interspersed with very loud words, some of which caused the intimidating man to pale slightly.

"MINGJUE!!! I SWEAR, I'M GOING TO BREAK YOU FOR DOING THIS TO ME!!!" Shuai's voice screamed from beyond the doors, and by the look on Mingjue's face, the man thought she was being completely serious about her threats.

"Don't worry about the violence, Chifeng-Zun," Xichen said reassuringly, sitting next to his sworn brother and friend to show his support for him, "Many women make threats during childbirth that they forget the moment that it is all over..."

"GAAAAHHH!!!! I'M GOING TO BASH YOUR HEAD IN, MINGJUE!!!" the next scream came, and Mingjue involuntarily winced before he softly spoke.

"... Most women aren't actually strong enough to carry out their threats on me..." he said, remembering each and every time that he'd let Shuai train the disciples for him and how many of them had ended up being sent to the doctor after she'd gotten frustrated with them. And there had been a few times during the pregnancy where she'd gotten angry enough with him due to mood swings that she'd decked him with punches to the face or gut and then immediately started to cry and apologize to him. "... but she is perfectly capable."

It was also horrible to hear his wife screaming in pain and not being able to do anything to help. Jin Guangyao, the only other man present who was a father, surprised himself in passing a cup of wine to the upcoming father who was under stress. Sure, knowing you're gonna be a dad is great and all, but some men suddenly got panicked when their woman was pushing the kid out in present time. He wasn't surprised when Mingjue actually downed the whole cup in one go.