[piosenniel]

Nurumaiel’s post

Angelica was pale as Peony sent her about the room, giving instructions rapidly. At last the hobbit sat down on a chair near the bed and said in a wailing voice, "I can't take it any longer, Peony! I can't do this anymore!"

Peony walked to the chair and gripped Angelica's shoulders, leading her into a dark corner. "I'll be brief, Angelica, because we're needed with Pio, but for goodness' sake stop complaining. You're a bundle of nerves! My goodness. It's not so bad as that, is it? Put yourself in the poor Elf's place.

"Now! Take three deep breaths and come back to the bed with me. You have to calm yourself as well as Pio, so tell some story… how Fosco and Prisca were born."

Angelica did as she was instructed and took three breaths, then went back to the bed. Her voice trembling a little, she spoke. "Y-you having these t-t-twins and all reminds m-me of when my own twins came into the w-world," she said. "Unlike y-you, though, I d-didn't expect them to come when th-they did. I was w-walking out in the g-garden when I just collapsed." A little smile came to her face. "It wasn't actually because of the twins," she said, her voice no longer shaky. "I took a misstep, you see, and twisted my ankle. Merimac brought me inside and a few minutes later I discovered I was in the first stages of birth, with mild contractions."

Peony smiled. She had heard this story once before, only in more detail. She always found it rather amusing how Angelica twisted her ankle just before she began to give birth to Fosco and Prisca. Looking at Pio, she could see the Elf was trying to forget the pain and listen to Angelica, but that she was only half-hearing everything that was said.

"Well, there was no time for a midwife, and I was nervous as well as in pain. Fosco doesn't know it, but Prisca is a few minutes older than he." She paused for a minute trying to gather her thoughts. "Prisca came quickly. There were a few minutes of horrible, horrible intense pain, then I heard a little wailing cry and saw Merimac's face. It was such a wonderful thing to see, his first look at his daughter. He just held her and gazed down at her for the longest time.

"Then it was Fosco's turn. He always was a stubborn boy. He was terribly opposed to leaving his warm home and I struggled with him. The pain was too great to imagine and I don't know how I lived through it all. But I did, and then Fosco came, too." She smiled as she thought about it. "I always wanted more children, and I may yet, you know. It's not too late."

Peony saw that the pain was growing more and more intense and so she leaned forward, whispering softly in the Elf's ear, "Think of something else, Pio. Think of something beautiful."

Angelica repeated this, and Peony saw plainly that she was thinking of something beautiful… when she had first become a mother. Peony knew that look on Angelica's face. The hobbit wasn't thinking of her twins anymore: she was thinking of her Madoc.