RE: always an angel, never a god

Theory

The moment she felt the real contractions begin, it had seemed like the rest of the world had grown burry at the edges. Insignificant. Unimportant. This would be the sum of all of her lived experiences. Everything else simply faded. Theory knew, when she looked back at her life, there would be a Before and there would be an After once she came out on the other side of this... and she was ready for it. Thalia had already passed through the eye of this needle and was sleeping fitfully beside her, nursing the surviving pups.

They had already lost one. Her sharp healer's brain knew it was to be expected, especially given their advanced age, but it was nonetheless devastating. She'd had to quickly bottle her pain and focus on the task close at hand. Theo had assisted at a few births in her time and knew generally what to expect, but it was another thing entirely to be the one pressing damp moss into a laboring female's mouth for her to suck the moisture out of versus being the one flayed open, panting on the ground. They had set up a dark corner of the barn for the two of them just a few days ago, sensing this time was close. Her niece, Finch, had prepared an almost absurd amount of supplies. It was the girl's first birth, and Theory put on a good face for her. Always thinking of others, even now. "Thank... you," she murmured, gingerly accepting that same bundle of wet moss she had just been ruminating on. Theo dutifully sucked it dry.

After her years of illness, she had more experience being a patient than the healer who tended to them.

"You're doing so good, auntie," Finch said earnestly. But Theory could see the spark of panic in her eyes. The poor girl's own mother had just passed, and now she was assisting in what surely felt like a doomed endeavor: the labor of a female barely younger than the mother she'd lost. Theory was set on making this as pleasant an experience as possible for her niece, and somehow, having that to focus on made it easier. When she wanted to scream and wail, she simply gritted her teeth and grunted. When she wanted to cry, she pulled a tight smile and buried her cheek into Thalia's shoulder.

"speech"

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