The Alchemists

Finland never imagined that in just two weeks, after waiting for the birth of Aleksis's new baby, her family would now experience the birth of another baby.

She and Caspar only learned what had happened between London and L a few weeks ago, and they were totally unprepared. As she was busy with that thought, London suddenly came out of the patient room screaming that L was about to give birth.

Everyone immediately went after him to the delivery room.

If the situation was different, Finland would like to come inside to help with what she could as the mother of the prospective father who was panicked and would need someone to calm him down.

Unfortunately, L would be suspicious if she saw her presence in the delivery room. Therefore, Finland was forced to sit in the lounge in front of the delivery room with the others.

Caspar hugged her shoulders and tried to calm his wife. He rarely saw Finland worry like this, and that made him feel uncomfortable. Since they were married, for him, the happiness and wellbeing of his family were the main priorities of his life. He would do anything to eliminate the look of concern or anxiety from their faces.

"Shhh... he already knows what to do..." Caspar quietly said in his wife's ear. He then sat on one of the couches and pulled Finland into his l.a.p. "Let's wait. I'm worried too, but I believe the medicine from Lauriel will work."

Finland only took a deep breath. She let her husband hug her waist, while she continued to stare at the door of the delivery room with a worried face.

Jan, Terry, and Rune sat together with a disheveled appearance. They were also equally worried about the fate of their new niece. Meanwhile, Aldebar and Lauriel chatted quietly in the corner of the room.

***

In the delivery room, London tried desperately to organize his heart and appear calm in front of L. The girl was incessantly crying, screaming, and cursing, even clawing at him several times because of the extreme pain caused by the induction earlier.

Her stomach felt tortured with excruciating pain, as though a giant hand was squeezing the contents of her stomach without mercy. The pain came at shorter intervals and kept becoming more and more painful.

"I... I can't take it anymore..." she cried many times. Her face winced and she bit her lip, trying to hold back the pain. Her hand clawed at London's arm, trying to hold his hand.

"Hang in there, Madam... the opening is getting bigger. We're in opening five now. You just need to follow the instructions and regulate your breath..." Dr. Muller instructed L in a calm voice. He was amazed because the patient whose heart was weak didn't faint after reaching such a high level of pain.

He showed L how she must regulate her breathing and guided the girl to divert her attention from pain by thinking about positive and beautiful things.

"Breathe in... and now breathe out... Breathe in again..."

London continued to hold L's hand and pretended to be calm in front of the girl. With his left hand, he wiped the sweat that flooded L's face.

"We're almost there..." He kept cheering for L. "Think of the beautiful things... what do you want in this world?"

L inhaled and slowly exhaled. The contraction had just ended, and she could finally rest for a while. The girl turned toward London with wet eyes and a disheveled face.

"I... I want to live..." she whispered softly. She was almost out of strength.

"It's now opening seven..." Doctor Muller said with focus. He gave a signal to the nurse to add the induction fluid. "Add the dose so the opening can immediately reach opening ten. The patient almost passed out."

The nurses skillfully carried out the doctor's orders.

Five minutes later, there was a loud screaming piercing the sky when L felt the induction fluid work. Her entire stomach and lower abdomen felt as though they were being beaten up and squeezed by a giant hand.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..." L stretched and curled up, trying to hold back the pain in her body with tears streaming down her cheeks.

Tears also flowed down London's eyes because he didn't know what to do to relieve the pain experienced by a woman who was giving birth. He looked at Doctor Muller with a despair in his eyes.

"Can't she be given some pain relief? I can't bear to see her like this..." he urged Dr. Muller. "She can pass out anytime..."

Dr. Muller just shook his head. "The opening is now complete, she can just push the baby out. Epidural is on the list of anesthesia that makes the patient allergic. We can't take any risks."

Seeing L's extremely pitiful condition coupled with her ceaseless screams and cries, made London feel helpless and aggrieved. He knew that childbirth was a struggle between life and death for women, but witnessing the woman he loved experience it really made him feel as though he was also experiencing such excruciating pain.

He recalled that two weeks ago, his brother-in-law, Alaric, had complained about how women still had to feel the pain of childbirth in 2050, when all technology had advanced so much.

As if women were condemned to experience pain, which according to scientists was equivalent to experiencing twenty bones broken at the same time, just for the sake of passing down human descendants on earth.

He now understood why fewer and fewer women were willing to give birth in modern times. Even though there were various delivery techniques and surgeries to remove the baby from the w.o.m.b, there would still be pain experienced by the mother.

He could only stare at L with respect and unfounded affection. The girl, who was only 19 years old and had a hard life, didn't abort her baby when she found out she was pregnant due to someone else's crime. Even though she didn't want to get pregnant and have children, L still held on until the end.

And now, she had to fight against extreme pain with her weak heart condition and without pain relief medication...

London really felt the highest respect to this annoying grumpy woman who had filled his heart without leaving even a little space for another...

He squeezed L's hand and cried with her.

"Be strong, Honey... L... I'll continue to be with you here... The doctor said the opening is complete... You just have to push as strong as you can... and we'll soon meet Lily..." he whispered into L's ear. He had crouched down and placed L's hand on his c.h.e.s.t.

L bit her lip so hard that she bled and nodded. She closed her eyes and followed the doctor's orders to inhale, exhale, inhale...

"Long inhale... and now... exhale while pushing as hard as you can!"

With her eyes closed, her lips bleeding, and tears running down her face and hair, L pushed with all her might for the last time.

"Aaahhhhhhhhh…" L's high-pitched scream could clearly be heard, and silence came after.

"Her head has come out... her shoulders have come out..." Dr. Muller quickly but gently pulled the body of a very small baby from between L's legs and gently placed her on the baby table.

London was confused between coming to her baby or staying with L because the girl fainted after exerting her strength one last time.

"Sir... would you like to see your child? It's a girl," Dr. Muller's words immediately piqued his curiosity. He stood up and approached the table where Lily was lying.

He could only stare like a fool at his baby girl, whom he had been waiting for for months. This baby was very tiny and looked clean, unlike other babies he saw in books, covered in sticky liquid and looking like a wrinkled monkey baby. Lily did look wrinkled, but not at all like a little monkey, he thought.

Ahh... my daughter is special.

"Because your baby is micro-prem.a.t.u.r.e, we won't cut the umbilical cord right now so her body can still benefit from the placenta. We'll wait a few more minutes..." Dr. Muller explained. He then put Lily on her fainted mother's c.h.e.s.t and the little baby immediately curled up on her mother's body. Her every movement was very smooth and slow.

The baby was still too small and weak. Her eyes were still closed and her newly formed heart could only pump very slowly. London hoped Lily did not have any organ damage because she was born too early. So far, he saw that all her limbs had developed properly.

He continuously rubbed his wet eyes. When the doctor finally handed him the scissors to cut his child's umbilical cord, London received it while trembling.

After the umbilical cord was cut and Lily was wrapped in a cloth, she was immediately put in an incubator for prem.a.t.u.r.e babies.

"We'll take your baby to the NICU room with her incubator, so Sir and Madam can see her later. Let the nurse clean the patient for now." Dr. Muller gave made a gesture and a nurse immediately pushed the carriage with Lily's incubator out, while two other nurses moved to clean L and the delivery room.

London nodded. He went out to clean himself and changed his clothes before immediately waiting in the hallway in front of the delivery room. As soon as the stretcher brought L out, he walked to escort her. When the bed was pushed back to the treatment room, he walked along to accompany her, with his hand still holding L's unconscious hand.

After witnessing in person how difficult the labor process was just now, London became reminded of his own mother. He made a mental note to later come to his mother and say thank you for giving birth to him.