Chapter 26

They were at the lunch table when Lisia's prediction finally came true. All morning long, he'd been telling Cobweb the time was near. There was a greater heaviness, as if the pearl had dropped, he reported. Now, sipping his soup, they both distracted themselves with pleasant talk of the past. Both of them had come so far.

"Remember when we first met?" Lisia asked. "The first thing I did was insult you."

Cobweb rolled his eyes. "And the first thing I did was march you into the hall and practically bare my claws. I was so angry." Learning that Terzian had fathered four pearls at the breeding facility had been a shock to him, although he quickly accepted it as yet another of Terzian's misdeeds. "But you know I never blamed you."

"No, thank goodness," Lisia sighed, stirring his soup. "I was so scared and confused back then."

"You didn't show it," Cobweb said. Lisia had been so strong for his harlings, determined to work for what was best for them. Looking at him now, Cobweb knew he had a prize.

Suddenly the spoon dropped into Lisia's soup bowl.

"Cobweb--" he began, before pushing back his chair and clutching his middle. "It's... it's--"

That was all the signal needed. Cobweb was at his feet in an instant, pulling Lisia into his arms. "Time?"

Lisia, grimacing, nodded vigorously as his body twisted and he wrenched Cobweb's arms in support. It appeared the labor was going to be every bit as intense as they'd anticipated, although, predictably, Lisia was handling matters calmly.

"Take me to... take me to the lounge," he gasped, apparently finding it difficult to speak not so much due to panic as the intensity of the contractions.

"The lounge?" Cobweb queried, even as he began to move them out of the dining room and into the hall. Lisia leaned into him, completely dependent upon his support. "Not upstairs?"

Lisia shook his head but did not reply with more than a groan. In the meantime Cobweb spotted a servant and ordered him to fetch Phlaar immediately.

Finally Lisia managed to respond. "The lounge, yes." He grunted in pain. "Upstairs -- I can't make that."

As Cobweb struggled to get them through the double doors to the lounge, Lisia turned his head and suddenly noticed the several servants who had followed them. "Cobweb," he panted, "please keep them out."

Holding open the door, Cobweb ushered his chesnari inside and turned to face the household staff, Yarrow among them. "The pearl is coming. Please let us be. And find Phlaar!" With that he swiftly withdrew into the room and pushed the doors closed.

Lisia had already found his way to the long, comfortable couch, outfitted with a large afghan he had knitted himself that fall. He dropped down onto it and waved for his mate to hurry over.

Cobweb could feel the waves of strength coming off the hostling as he strained to handle the powerful contractions. Seeing Lisia's face, grimacing in pain and yet completely focused, he didn't know quite what help was needed.

"What do you want me to do?" Cobweb asked, dropping down to his knees beside the couch.

Lisia's attention flickered toward him. "Just hold me," he gasped. Tears were beginning to form in his eyes. "Hold me!"

Cobweb wedged himself behind the now bucking hostling. "Steady, steady," he urged, holding his shoulders, then running his hands down to Lisia's, which had bunched into fists. "Shhhhhhhh. Lean into me."

As Lisia's head tilted back, his sweaty forehead brushed across Cobweb's cheek. "Thank you, thank you..." he gulped, squirming and arching his back. A minute late he began to shake uncontrollably.

"Oh, hold me," he screamed, "hold me tighter!"

Suddenly someone was pounding on the door. "Are you all right in there?" This was Yarrow's voice.

"Yes, we're fine!" Cobweb called back as Lisia continued on with another scream. Obviously the birth was very close. "Phlaar! Where's Phlaar, Yarrow?"

It was not a five-minute birth, as Lisia had predicted, but rather a ten-minute birth. Lisia's prediction that Phlaar would be "too late" was likewise dashed when two or three minutes after the screaming started, Phlaar burst into the room. When he saw Cobweb had already switched to other end of the couch to help deliver the pearl, he slipped in behind the hostling, who was struggling to find support in the soft sofa cushions. "Ignore me," he said. "Just focus on pushing."

"As if I could focus on anything else!" Lisia yelled, definitely having lost his cool in the heat of the moment. Cobweb fought to pull up the hostling's long skirt as he arched his back and writhed in Phlaar's strong grip. The pearl was nearly there.

"Just one push and you can do it," Cobweb urged, gripping Lisia's ankles to keep him steady.

Swallowing the air loudly, Lisia bent his head and screamed at the top of his lungs, his legs pressing against Cobweb's hands with the strength of a lion, or in this case, a lioness. When the moment ended, Cobweb found himself with a very large, glimmering dark pearl in his lap.

Phlaar twisted around and leaned over to see. "My, Lisia, but that's... that was incredible."

Cobweb shifted his gaze from the pearl to the hostling. Lisia's face was flushed red and tears were steaming down his cheeks. "Oh, Cobweb!" he wailed. "Oh.... Cobweb." He pressed his hands to his damp face and then, accepting Phlaar's assistance, sat up to see his pearl.

Lisia, staring at the delivery, reached out for Cobweb's hand and took it in his. "It's ours," he announced, then brought their hands down to rest on the slippery leathery sac that held their harling.

Cobweb steadied the pearl in his lap and motioned for Phlaar to make Lisia comfortable on the couch. Phlaar had previously agreed to honor Cobweb's request to forego the usual post-birth inspection; Lisia was not to be separated from his pearl for any reason, at least for the first hours after birth. Once Lisia was on his side, Cobweb set the pearl down to receive the devotions of its hostling, whose body had burned to incubate a pearl his whole life. Covering them both with another afghan, he bent down and shared breath.

"I am a father," he said to him mind to mind, astonished.

"And I am a hostling," Lisia returned. "A real one."

It was late afternoon before anyone even thought of moving upstairs. Lisia has fallen asleep and, watching him lying peacefully on the sofa, Cobweb had had time to relax and consider a few matters. Among other things, he wondered what they would be naming their harling. He would have to discuss it with Lisia, who would probably be the one to choose.

Finally the hostling stirred and Cobweb came up beside him. "Good afternoon," he said, stroking Lisia's cheek.

Lisia shifted under his blankets, obviously adjusting his position and that of their pearl. "Yes, a very good afternoon." He quirked his eyebrow and glanced down at himself. "I feel better -- not sore at all anymore."

"Phlaar did a good job?" Cobweb asked.

"Yes, very," Lisia agreed. About two hours after the birth, Phlaar had come and treated some bleeding and tearing, a result of the fast delivery and the large size of the pearl. He had also briefly examined the pearl, which had appeared healthy, the harling having a very strong heartbeat. "I must thank him."

"Well, I'm sure you'll be seeing him eventually. Speaking of which, do you think you're ready to go upstairs?"

Lisia considered. "Probably. I've slept enough. I'll just need help."

Cobweb supported Lisia as he carefully sat up. When the afghan dropped away, the pearl was revealed sitting in Lisia's lap and looking even bigger than when Phlaar had examined it. Lisia asked to be wrapped up for the short trip upstairs and after this was done, Cobweb led him up off the sofa and out of the room.

At the foot of the stairs, Lisia began to cry. He was smiling, however. "I can't believe this is real," he confessed. "I've got my pearl in my arms."

"I love you, Lis," Cobweb told him, offering his arm for the climb up the stairs.

When they reached the bedroom Cobweb continued his willing servitude, peeling back the blankets on the bed and taking away Lisia's afghan so he was free to tuck the pearl into bed any way he wished. Before crawling in himself, Lisia pulled off his clothes. "I want to feel it against my body," he said quietly.

Cobweb understood and put the clothes on top of the dresser. Lisia slipped under the covers, propping himself up with pillows so that he was half-sitting. His right hand rested on top of the rounded lump at his side. "This is probably the happiest moment of my life," he confessed. "Well, along with a few others. I just..." He shook his head. "I just can't even believe it, but it's so real. This is my pearl! I mean our pearl," he corrected.

"Your pearl, Lis. It's all right, I don't mind. It's both of ours, but it's special to you. Now would you like anything else?"

"Coffee," Lisia suggested.

"Fair enough. I'll bring you a cup."