{ Note: Due to an oversight, I was remiss in stating that the remaining posts in this thread were all the result of live-play with an incredible group of muns. The scenes below would not have been possible without them. ~ a. }

There was a tension in the air, that sense of unknown expectancy that preceded any delivery. Yet there were a multitude of emotional layers clouding over what was to come. Concerns and longings, knowledge and doubt.

Sianna waddled out from the bathroom gingerly, contractions slow and dull expanding, it seemed, with every step. She had been sure to make use of the necessary and had rinsed herself clean in the shower, donning a fresh nightgown.

"There now, ma'am," Mrs Matty gave a smile as she rose up from drawing away the coverlets in an almost military fashion, "come along then." She reached out an age spotted by very strong hand. "Let's put you to rights now. Feel a bit o' walkin' about ye? "

Eva had her black medical bag on the dresser, and was systematically drawing out items, organizing her supplies for easy reach. It was all fairly basic. Nothing frightening in the midst. She turns to look as Sianna emerged, a smile for her. "How're you feeling so far?"

Sianna opened her mouth to reply to both women but another sudden contraction made her grip the door jamb with force as she nearly bent in half. Trying her best to breathe deeply and consistently, she shook her head. "I dinna feel much of anything tae th' moment, 'cept th' wish tae no' feel anything, aye?" A weak wobbly smile as she waited for the pain to subside.

Silver grey curls were escaping the white cap, and she had the blue cotton sleeves of her dress rolled up to her elbows. The apron held a few instruments of the tradition required later, and on a small side table a few others that should give Sianna some familiar comfort, or so it is hoped. Bright blue eyes were tucked in by cheerful wrinkles. Mrs. Matty lent her sturdy, compact body for support up to the lady. "There now, ma'am, let us have a turn about the room before we get you to the bed. Get you to breathin right with the steps."

Seeing what seemed to be the beginning of a contraction, Eva took a look at her watch for the timing, then back up to watch the progress about the room. A small pad of paper sat on the dresser, no formal record keeping, but Eva turned to jot a note to help herself as the labor progressed.

It went against her nature to lean against the elder woman, but there was nothing else she could do. Channeling all of her energy into putting one bare foot in front of the other with each breath, Sianna moved slowly, cautiously, as if by being ginger with her movements, she could avoid another contraction anytime soon.

With those few odds and ends, Mrs. Matty had also seen to covering and turning down any mirrors in the room, and the herbal oil mixture once corked was unstoppered. "That's a'right, ma'am." A soft melody, wordless, somewhere between chant and lullaby, whispered soft in the throat until they completed the thrice turn about the room and then she guided Sianna to the bed. "Here now, let's have you down for a bit until the doctor says otherwise."

Eva smiled, threading her stethoscope around her neck, and then picking up the blood pressure cuff as Sianna and Mrs. Matty moved back towards the bed. "I think it's a good time to take some readings here."

Sianna sat down awkwardly, sitting back as far as she could and then lifting her legs up onto the mattress. Using her arms, she tried to maneuver herself into the middle of the bed, a thick bank of pillows and rolled quilts behind her for support. "Whatever ye think is best, Eva." Her head lolled back against the pillows. Barely even started, and already she felt exhausted.

Mrs Matty helped situate Sianna, and then arranged her nightgown, and followed by sorting out the pillowed support that went a bit squished in the wrong direction and needed righting.

Even in her old age, Mrs Matty was a curious one, and while she stayed out of the doctor's light, she found the instruments very interesting. The stethoscope looked familiar, if a little more flat in shape at the end, but the other things was very odd indeed.

"Let's take a listen to your heart here first." Eva pressed the metal disc of the stethoscope between her hands to warm it, sitting on the edge of the bed, and then leaned towards Sianna for a listen, her expression falling into a well-practiced professional neutral. "Sounds good. Now let's have a listen to the twins." Moving that stethoscope down to a very rounded belly, the nightgown thin enough there's no need to push it out of the way.

Sianna couldn't help but jump a bit at the contact of metal to flesh. Holding still while Eva listened, she bit down on her lower lip as another contraction seemed to crescendo out of nothing. Fingers splayed into the mattress and gripped the fitted sheet. Exhaling sharply through her nose, her face contorted into a grimace.

While the doctor went about her listening, Matty double checked that the ties of the nightgown were undone, no knots to found at all. Assured of this, and knowing her husband had taken care of locks, she stood nearby at the ready for the mother-to-be with a smoothed and aged forearm's length and half width of a rowan tree branch.

"Here now, ma'am, take hold of this." The branch offered out for the gripping, having seen too many a time of hand bones broken, or nails bit deep into palms, her own mother had taken up the protection and provision of the rowan tree to assist.

Eva leaned back with a satisfied nod, and a smile. "Good. I bet they know something is afoot by now. Going to feel for their position." Narrating so that she makes Sianna as comfortable as possible with what she's doing, her hands moving to press and feel Sianna's belly, that neutral expression returning again. It only took a moment, and then she reached for the blood pressure cuff, a curious glance to the rowan branch.

Her eyes widened slightly as she turned towards Matty, another weak smile curving her lips. "Thank ye, Matty. 'Tis verra thoughtful. My gran used tae gie th' women straps of leather tae bite down upon." Resting the branch across her breastbone, she wrapped her fingers around each opposite end.

"Oh, aye," she patted at one of her apron pockets with a smile, "if it comes to that. Now, let's be saving your sheets and fingers. In time, you'll be too tired to grip." The words spoken with the knowing and understanding of age and experience.

That rowan branch will work out just fine for Eva's purposes at the moment eyes moving between the old and wise Mrs. Matty and Sianna, then leaning in again. "Going to take your blood pressure, Sianna, okay?" Velcro pulling as she opens the cuff, moving it towards her arm, though she knows this will probably feel unusual for her, she keeps her movements slow and steady.

"Now I want you to go head and make a fist around the branch there, okay?" Eva slid the cuff in place, securing it firmly. "You're going to feel some pressure." Watching her carefully as she began to work the pump.

It was hard not to ask questions about the blood pressure cuff instrument thingy, but Sianna needed her attention, not some odd contraption. A light touch to Sianna's forehead, it was a little warm, but not yet requiring her tending.

Curious eyes turned to the band and pump, the needle bobbling in the pressure dial. Sianna nodded mutely as she held out her arm for the cuff. Doing as she was bit, she winced and bit back a gasp as the pressure built in her arm.

Eva watched the reading, and then leaned back, gently pulling the cuff free. "Your blood pressure is a little high, which is to be expected." A reassuring smile offered before she steps away from the bedside moving to her notepad to jot down information.

"Ahh, so I'm supposed tae be hearing it pounding in my ears, aye? Well that's good tae ken." Sianna returned a smile and then turned to the caring form of the elder woman. "Would ye be sae kind as tae fetch me a bind from th' dresser for my hair, Matty? I dinna think I can stand the weight of it at th' moment."

With the doctor having given her pronouncement, Matty reached for the requested bind and delivers it. "There you are, ma'am. Shall I tend to it for you?"

On the verge of another reply, a searing contraction ripped through her. Yelping out in pain, she barely remembered to grip the branch. A sudden temptation gave her the impulse to take it and throw it across the room as hard as she could.

Matty refreshed the bowl of herbal water, mixing the oils with soft words, for the second time. She looked over to the lady in her fretful sleeping. "Seems to be draining her strength even before it gets to going, though I have seen many a long first time in my days."

The sun was setting, bathing the room in the glow of the dying winter rays. In the middle of a completely disheveled and mangled tangle of pillows and sheets, Sianna was half curled on her side, lips and eyelids fluttering in frantic dreams.

Eva frowned, looking towards Sianna, keeping her voice low so as not to disturb her. "She's still not fully dilated. She's just not ready, but..." She shook her head and looked back to Matty, concerned.

"I dun wan'ta hear it." Katarina was talking to her cat, Patches as he rubbed against her legs and meowed. The rub and stress on her nerves reduced to her talking to her cat and taking a break to take care of the dogs. Opening the back door, she whistled for them to return inside where she had filled their food bowls. Making sure they were settled, her cat jumped onto a counter, looking miffed with his nose in the air. Rolling her eyes, she started her way back up the stairs, dragging her feet in the process.

Taking advantage of the half curled position, and being something of a sturdy sort like a mule that can move quite more than its own weight, Matty started to change out pillow coverings and other linens to refresh the bed in some small measure. "Oh, aye, doctor. I agree with that." An agreement with words unspoken, but the thoughts were most likely the same.

A flail of an arm, and a low string of gaelic mumbles tripped past her lips. Sianna's brow furrowed lightly and then smoothed out, seeming to settle a bit deeper into the reprieve of sleep.

Upon dragging her feet up the stairs, her left foot just didn't make it up quite in time. Her body continued to move forward without her feet to keep balance. She managed a squeak out before her arms flung out to brace herself as her body tumbled and fell over the rest of the stairs.

"I'm... I'm willing to wait for another few hours or so... but... " Eva shook her head watching, then looking down at her notes, at the progression of the records she'd been keeping of Sianna's condition. "I think I'd have to recommend moving her to a hospital after that. She could be putting herself and the babies at risk." Pushing a hand through her hair.

"If you think that is best, doctor, then we will see it done." The bumbling sound outside aroused suspicion of what was going on out there. Matty went to the door ready to have a few words with her husband about being noisy, when she spied Katie. "Miss Katie, are you all right there?" She went to lend a hand.

At this point, Katarina made no move to stand up yet. For some reason, she wanted to rip her hair out. All she was doing was waiting, compared to Sianna's current state, and yet she was all nerves. "Yeah, 'm good. Thanks." She took the offered hand, and with what little pride she had left, dusted herself off.

Eva looked up from her notes and tilted her head to get an angle out the door, her brow raising. "You alright over there?"

"There now," she patted the hand before releasing it and returning to the room. " Animals all had their tending to then?"

"'m good!" She repeated just a little bit louder for Eva's benefit, before nodding numbly to Matty, "Yeah, they're eatin' now. I'll go back down 'n a bit ta check 'n 'em. How's th' progress?" Her voiced lowered with the last few words.

The same chanting lullaby, soft and low, whispers out as she looks upon the restless form of Sianna, and then a look to the other ladies. "Long to the night, I'm fearing it will be. Either want to be stealing some rest now while the babes bide their time? I can call if something changes. Rooms are set up for the needing if you like."

Her breathing low and heavy, Sianna began to audible in her sleep again, a mixture of moans and sighs. Hands went to her belly, the rowan leaning for the moment against the bedside table.

Eva took in a breath, and looked at her watch, then blew it out slowly and nodded. "I'll take an hour down." Looking to Sianna with a worried frown, then to Matty. "Can you wake me?"

"Of course." The smile assuring and kind, the same smile that was turned on the oblivious Sianna. She pulled up a chair to be nearby the lady, but did not sit yet. It was there for when her legs grew tired faster than her mind and heart.

Katarina glanced over to Sianna, she listened to the arrangements being made without making any sort of decision. That frazzled feeling was coming again, and she knew she couldn't just wait and watch. There was not enough patience in the dancer's body, "'m gonna be downstairs, yeah? Jist holler if ya need me, Matty." She turned and carefully, went back downstairs. She would update Locke with a note, and keep the dogs company.

"Aye, I will, Miss Katie." A glance up with that smile once more, and then down again. "Now, then, ma'am," she spoke as if Sianna heard, "you take your rest to be ready for the struggle to come. We're here for you." A pat to the arm and she set about to more straightening and refreshing with that tune faint upon her lips.

An appreciative nod, Eva picked up her own small bag of things and moved for the door after Katarina. A spare bedroom was easy enough to find. She freshened up in the bathroom before settling onto the bed in her clothes, looking up at the ceiling. As she looked up, her thoughts drifted towards Johnny, so far away, and Hudson, gone. And then she thought about Sianna in that bed alone, the way that she'd once been. And she wanted to pray, for the first time in a long time.

Everyone left to their own thoughts and tasks at the moment, Sianna's murmurings melded into coherent speech, yet the words would fall on deaf ears. "Johnny... oh, my Jo." Another deep breath before she submerged into the depths of slumber.

On a table set up near the fire were two copper kettles. One was for general washing and care of the babies, while the second was designated for a more ceremonial act.

Eva set herself to the task of gently clipping and clamping the umbilical cord as the baby is held by Matty, then smiling at her for a brief moment, before returning to Sianna. Wiping her gloved hands on a towel before touching Sianna's belly again, checking the position of the second babe.

Wisps of dark hair sworled over the crown of the small head held in Matty's competent and capable hands. Tiny limbs kick and lift as he is detached from the womb and into the world.

Katarina shed a few tears, but she was looking over her shoulder to see what glimpse she could catch of her new cousin, "He's beautiful, Si."

Disengaged from his mother, Matty takes the wee little boy to the side, where she taps her finger into a small dish of water and lets three drops slip onto the child's forehead as she whispers words of traditional welcome and well wishes, then on to the larger basin. There tradition melds with the washing of the lad, the chant soft spoken and strong toned, to bless the child in his cleansing. Checking the body as she went and finding him sound. Fresh swaddling and drawing the child in snug and close, she drew close to Sianna to allow a glimpse. "He'll be waitin' for you ma'am, but you've another needing your attention now."

"Mi loireanach... my... son." Her arms ached to hold him, yet she knew what was said was true. Nodding her head, Sianna's gaze returned to Eva, awaiting the next contraction like a warrior.

In another situation, Eva would have been interested in the traditions Matty was following, but for the time being her concentration was required on the second twin still awaiting birth, her hands checking to make sure the baby is in good position to follow his brother. Satisfied, she looks up at Sianna. "Alright, stay strong for me, I need you pushing on this next contraction."

Katarina glanced longingly at the newborn, also. She wasn't sure if Matty needed her hands free again, and vaguely motioned that she could hold him if needed be.

Matty showed him up to the room, lifting him upwards to foretell his rise in life, and then deposited the rheumy eyed infant into the awaiting cradle, its fabrics sighing as if complete at last with the arrival of the baby. A wink sent to Miss Katie to keep her place by Sianna and her attention to the lady. More to tend to, Matty cleansed her hands in the rowan water basin and returned to her station.

It came sooner rather than later, savage and the strongest yet, her uterus now with empty space. The force of it knocked Sianna back into the pillows and she struggled to raise forward. Slipping her fingers behind her knees, she eventually decided to just pull her knees towards her body instead. Grunts and groans escaped without any sort of filter or screen, some choice gaelic words slipping into the mix.

"Be supportin' her back, Miss Katie," she softly encouraged the lady to attend.

With instructions, Katarina all but shot up out of her chair. Doing what first came to mind, she tried to squeeze behind Sianna, so that her body was support for hers.

Trying to help brace one of her legs, though mostly to keep the view unobstructed as the second baby crowns, Eva's hands moving once more to support the coming baby. "You're doing so well! Just two more big pushes like last time!"

An approving nod to Katie's movement, Matty draws up another cloth, having realized the tie not necessary with those interesting clamp devices.

Sianna was struggling, at the very botton of her well of ability. Her heart was there but her body could not seem to bid her without every once of strength she had. Sianna filled her lungs with as much air as she could hold and began to push, mentally willing more and more to leave her as she exhaled in a slow, tight stream.

Eva glanced at Matty, concerned, then looked back. If Sianna could push enough for the head to come out, Eva could do the rest. "Come on, you're almost there. You're almost there." And there the baby came, Eva exhaled, supporting the head, fingers once again checking to make sure the umbilical cord was not wrapped around the neck, and then she started to ease the shoulders out.

Stooping once more, cloth ready to receive and arms steady with all the energy as if she were a young lass once more.

"I's almost ova... almost ova..." Katarina repeated the words over and over again to Sianna's ear as she gently held up and supported her body.

Eva had to pull the second baby free. Sianna just didn't have it in her. But she'd done enough, and Eva smiled as she turned to hand the second baby to Matty. "It's a girl!"

As before, the baby turned to free its lungs, but the stress of the labor, longer for this child, dissuaded its lungs from the easy release of the first. Matty did not worry, but tilted a little more and added a patting until the lungs cried free of their liquid. "Ah, there you are, lass," she whispered beneath the cry.

Sianna was sobbing by this point, drained and ushered full force into motherhood. Prior to it had all seemed surreal, and now there were two tiny beings relying on her for everything. And though she couldn't vocalize it, she had been terrified to be one of the many who had not survived this ordeal, and was grateful that she had.

Henderson, upon hearing the wail of children, had come upstairs and waited just outside the door. The worry of hazel eyes intensified as he caught glimpse of his wife's face, and the missus looking so frail in her bed. Taking the bags handed him, he squared his shoulders and set off back downstairs. Fretting would be worked off by digging two deep holes in the frozen ground.

Eva could have been reciting a poem and her concern would have spiked nonetheless. She was quickly deciding, for all future dates, that never again would she be so involved in the birthing of a family member. She glanced down again at the crying duo, before trying to read further into Matty and Eva's expression.

Sianna's breathing drew up so severely that upon looking, one could hardly tell she still did so. It was shallow and quick, the featherlight pulse seeming to dance in her neck.

The continued crying of the children began to worry Matty. She went to the cradle to check the swaddling of both and feel upon their bodies for any troubling spots.

Eva looked at her watch and then at Sianna. There was a decision to be made. She wasn't sure if moving her would be right, but letting her stay here while her condition deteriorated... that was just giving away time. Eva moved to her notes, jotting some more down and looking at the progression. She tried to think about what Johnny would want her to do, but in the end she knew that he had put his trust in her to make those decisions. She would give it some more time.

For several long minutes, no improvement could be seen. And like that, as quickly as it had set upon her, it seemed to pass. A deep gulp of air as she blinked and looked first from one and then to the others.

Whether it was the tension of their mother or something else, the children were fretful, so Matty kept them close and took another to Miss Katie. "Hold her near. Let her hear your heart, dearie. They have had a tough start and need your assurance."

Eva had stationed herself on the little stool beside the bed, and at seeing Sianna starting to come back around, she leaned forward, and gently took her hand, fingers sliding over her wrist for a pulse. "Hey there... how are you feeling?" She offered a reassuring smile.

Katarina didn't blink a lash as she gathered the little girl into her arms. There were plenty of babes in her life to have her feel comfortable with the newborns. "Well," she cooed to the little baby, "aren' ya a pretty li'l thing?"

A long exhale as Sianna's brow furrowed. "Did I fall asleep?" A weak smile in return before her head turns to watch Katie and Matty hold her children.

"Yeah... just a for a few minutes." Eva smiled and patted her arm. She was out of immediate danger, and she looked over to Katarina and Matty to let them know without words, offering them each a nod.

A nod in return, she moved closer to the bed, the infant boy in the crook of one arm. "There now, ma'am, you will be getting your rest as soon as can be, but you've two babes to bless yet."

Katarina acknowledged that Sianna was looking back to normal, but she was entirely too interested in the baby in her arms and the infant in Matty's. She wanted to dump them both in Sianna's arms and anxiously wait for their names. But instead she would wait for further instruction, but she moved to sit on the edge of the bed next to Sianna.

"I dinna think rest was ever an option tae new mothers, aye?" A wry smile revealed that Sianna was back to herself as she soaked up the sight of them. The children were a study in opposites. The boy nestled cozily in Matty's arms had quite an offering of dark hair and upon closer inspection, eyes the color of river water, a muddy lazy-river-green that made them look ancient and full of knowledge.

The girl in Katarina's arms had a halo of strawberry blonde that seemed to curl in minutia and the most arresting blue-green eyes that seemed to to keep a magnet's hold on whoever would look into them.

While the certainty of their eye color caught her momentarily off guard, Sianna calmed herself, remembering back to what Johnny had told her of his modifications and the realms of the unknown.

"Now then, ma'am," Matty moved to nestle the boy in next to his mother's arm, not requiring Sianna to exert any effort really. The old lady remained close by to keep both mother and son safe.

Sianna's arm curved instinctively, holding him close. Taking a moment to admire the perfect nails and miniature hands, the scent that only newborns possess. Blinking a bit, Sianna thought before speaking his name aloud. "Ian Douglas." The name held meaning, being tied to both the father and his attributes.

Eva leaned back a bit, pushing a hand through her hair and letting out a breath. A soft smile finally found its way to her lips as she watched Sianna with her son, speaking his name for the first time.

Katarina watched silently between Sianna and the new Ian. Ian Douglas Smith. Her lips curled into a smile, and she readily held the little girl until Sianna was ready for her.

Matty motioned for Miss Katie to go around and set the girl on the opposite side.

Eva, seeing the motion, immediately got up from that side, sliding the stool she'd been sitting on in place for Katarina if she chose.

Balancing Ian gingerly in her right arm, Sianna opened her left to Katarina so that she could deposit her charge.

Nodding, she smoothly transitioned the girl from her arm to Sianna's free one, doing all of the work she could to keep Sianna from using more energy than necessary.

Sianna's breath caught in her throat as she looked at her daughter, the name hitting her like a ton of bricks. "Margaret Janeth." It was a powerful name, given in memory of a woman each of them had loved and lost, a sister and a grandmother.

That had done it. Memories of Maggie overwhelmed Katarina, and she once again flicked away the tears before they could hold control.

Eva slid her arms around herself, watching from the end of the bed. It was a sweet moment. One she herself had lost. Her smile faded slightly, and she turned towards the supplies on the dresser, quietly busying herself with cleaning up a bit.

A gentle smile curled Sianna's lips as she began crooning to each infant. Humming softly under her breath, gentle fingers traced their brows, the curve of their ears, already assigning different features to one parent or the other.

Matty slipped away with a soft smile and went to complete her role in this blessed event. Out to where her husband waited and she bent to the last ritual set upon her.

With her nerves finally calming down, there was a new rush of energy. Without sleep herself, she should have been tired. Instead she leaned over to kiss Sianna's forehead, "I'm gonna go tell Jules, an' spread th' good news. I love ya. An' ta two." She brushed the lightest kiss to their foreheads too. As Matty already left, Katarina gave Eva a whooping hug with laughter, before heading down the stairs and nearly jogging out of the house.

Eva laughed softly as she returned Katarina's hug, and then moved towards Sianna's bedside. "I'll stay until tomorrow at least." She smiled down at the new mother, her friend, and then moved to settle into a chair where she could stay and monitor and care for her until she felt certain that would be alright.

Sianna had so much to say to these women to thank them, to express to them. But she had no words. As each found a place where she should be for the time being, Sianna looked down at her children and simply marveled.