Chapter 7

Evan

The sharp twinges in my back woke me long before the sun rose in the sky. I was trying to decide whether this was the real thing, or whether it was just more braxton hicks contractions like I've been feeling for the last month.

I slid my hand over my mound of a belly. I just needed one more day. Today was the last of my written finals. The other students would then move on to practicals, but I was graciously awarded an extension. I just needed until midday to finish the first part and take my first steps to be done with this year.

Another sharp pain reminded me that I might not have that long.

I carefully slipped out of bed, mindful not to wake Maverick. He'd only worry. It would be fine. First babies usually took a long time. And the twinges were more uncomfortable than anything else.

I quickly showered, dressed and was preparing breakfast when strong arms slipped around me from behind. Maverick nuzzled the juncture where my neck met my shoulder, carefully caressing my belly. At 40 weeks pregnant, I was impressed he could even still reach around me.

"Hey, beautiful. Sleep well?"

He let me go to pour us both orange juice. I bit my lip. Was I supposed to tell him that I'd been feeling... off? I brushed it off. It was probably just practice contractions anyway.

"Pretty well, considering. Can't wait for this last final to be over, though."

Furnishing our new house was coming along nicely. It was a bit more of a drive to get to the academy, but it was my last year anyway. Maverick would be the one having to deal with the fifteen minutes extra each day. I plated our food and placed it on my brand new dark oak table. I loved the contrast of all the dark oak furniture with the modern white and grey fabrics and walls. I could hardly believe I co-owned the house.

We idly chatted through breakfast. I only had to pause once when I felt a sharp pain. I sure hoped they'd fade before I had to take my test.

Maverick drove us to the academy, subtly trying to change the topic every few minutes back to the car he wanted to buy me, even though I'd said I didn't want anything to do with the decision. At first, I'd refused. I couldn't drive and since we'd already decided I would be staying home with the baby, there was no need for one. But he made the compelling argument that he could teach me how to drive and that I'd have transportation in an emergency. 'What if the baby choked, or you had to go to the park?' he'd wisely asked. I'd laughed, asking him what kind of park emergency could there possibly be. His response, 'ice cream is always an emergency', had left me amused the whole day.

Once at the academy, we kissed each other goodbye. I still got a slight head rush when we did it in public. Maverick stroked my belly one last time before he disappeared into the gym that housed the pool. I sighed. Time to take on the long trek to the quad. It wasn't usually so bad, but the baby was sitting low today.

We still hadn't named our little boy. We had a few names we were considering, but decided we would know the right one when we saw him. At least, I really hoped that was true, because I was terrible at decisions.

Chelsea and Bea waved excitedly when they saw me, Kevin looked relieved. "Torturing poor Kevin with make-up tales again?" I asked, playfully scowling.

Chelsea scoffed. "He knows he likes it."

Kevin huffed while I smiled. I couldn't believe I had three friends in my year. Random people even now waved at me as I passed them in the halls. Instead of looking away, people smiled when they made eye contact with me. While I'd love to say it was all because everyone now rejected the Hennecky Clan, it probably had a bit to do with me, too. While I was insecure and without hope before, I now radiated confidence and happiness. It wasn't all Maverick, though. Most of it came from just believing for myself that the years of slurs thrown my way was bullshit. I had to figure it out myself first before I was ready to hear from Maverick how beautiful and amazing he thought I was. I still knew I was far from perfect, but I believed him when he said I was just right for him and more than good enough for others.

"Did you guys hear about the council?" Bea asked, pushing her thick glasses up her nose.

I frowned, shaking my head.

"Elder Finnegan has been voted out as head councilman. Elder Iridessa is now head councilman. Head councilwoman?" She thoughtfully scrunched her eyebrows. "I'm not sure."

"Who is that again?" Kevin asked what I was thinking.

"The lady with the pink hair! You couldn't have possibly missed her, she's so pretty." Bea had a dreamy look on her face, but shook herself as her freckled cheeks turned pink. "I mean..."

"Oh, we all know what you mean," Chelsea said with a smirk. "Does that mean Finnegan is off the council?"

"Yup. Apparently he resigned, but we all know he was voted off. Along with Reginald, of couse. Everyone knows those two were thick as thieves." Bea pushed her glasses up again. "Rumour has it that they're taking on two members under two centuries! Can you believe it? And one is even a bearer. They apparently want to have someone representing that portion of our race and an overall younger feel to the council to keep up with modern times."

"Well, I for one am very happy about it," I said, just as we reached the doors to our lecture hall. "We needed a change and I'm sure Iridessa will do a wonderful job."

They all agreed and we wished each other luck for our last test. I took my paper from the front, but just as I was about to sit down, that familiar pain struck again. I fell into my seat and swallowed my grunt of complaint. I needed to get this test done fast. The contractions - now that I had accepted them for what they were - were still far apart, but they could speed up at any moment if I understood the whole thing correctly.

Two and a half hours later, I handed in my paper, having braved only four contractions. Chelsea was waiting for me outside. I was just considering leaving her here alone to wait for the other two and find Maverick myself when they joined us.

Instead of talking about the test, they seemed unsettled. "Did you notice there were seats open?" Kevin asked.

"It's a big hall, maybe it wasn't supposed to be full," Chelsea said.

"Yeah, maybe. But Gordon and Jason sure weren't there. Nor were any of the other Hennecky clan members or the people from Gardenia, Jaulon or Glenridge."

I frowned. All four of those were the troublemaker clans. Having them all absent at the same time on the same day that the councilmember from Hennecky was voted out, well, it didn't sound good.

Another pain struck me and I couldn't help but hiss in pain. I brought my one hand to my belly and the other to the small of my back, trying to rub away the discomfort.

"You alright, Evan?" Bea asked. "Is it the baby."

"No, it's fine. I just need to-"

I never got to finish my thought, because at that moment, an alarm started wailing from every building on academy grounds.

"What is that?" Chelsea yelled.

Nobody had an answer for her. We looked around in confusion, the other lecture halls opening their doors and students milling around aimlessly. Some clearly believed it was a joke and rolled their eyes or started shoving each other. I felt uneasy about the whole thing.

Suddenly, a door banged open and our fire wielding professor ran out. "We're under attack! Get to the underground bunker!"

"We have an underground bunker?" Bea asked, bewildered.

Other people seemed to share the sentiment as nobody moved.

"I knew we should have done drills," the professor muttered. "Get moving to the main offices. The entrance is at the back of the auditorium. Go!"

Finally, people started moving. Another contraction hit soon after, making my hurried steps falter. They were coming faster. I needed to get to Maverick.

There was no time, however. He was presumably busy defending against whatever attack was launched and I could certainly not walk across the academy in search of him. So, I dutifully followed behind the rest of the students. Since the academy only had about two hundred students, there weren't that many people trying to find shelter. The four of us were at the very back, however.

When about two thirds of the students were in the auditorium, the doors suddenly shut with a sharp breeze. In the confusion that followed, a wall of fire sprang up in front of us. It was almost one story high. I sucked in a sharp breath as another contraction washed over me.

Elves started running all around me. That simply wasn't an option for me. My baby had dropped earlier the previous week and I struggled to balance upright while walking with the weight of it.

Somebody stepped through the wall fo fire, the flames parting around him. I recognised Gordon right away and my stomach twisted. This wasn't good.

I needed to get away from the fire. I began making my way back to the lecture hall, having lost my three friends somewhere along the way. I could barely manage a fast walk, but at least I was moving.

I had to pause at the statue in the middle of the quad as pain rolled through my body. I gripped the statue with my one hand, my aching belly with my other.

I needed to get to safety. I quickly checked my watch so that I could determine how close the contractions were. I almost made it to the end of the grass when another hit me. I sank onto the brick wall to ride it out. Ten minutes. I still had time.

The next one made my legs shake and I had to prop myself agaist a lecture hall wall. Seven minutes. I frowned. It was moving quicker than I thought. My heart started racing in earnest.

The lecture halls weren't safe for me at the moment. They were pitch black and no one was there to help me. They also resonated sound like nothing else.

I quickly ducked into a bathroom just to catch my breath. Fire was spreading everywhere outside and everyone seemed to be running around. You could clearly hear the sounds of elemental battles going on in the distance.

My trousers were soaked. I frowned at them. When had that happened?

Blood drained from my head and pooled in my feet. Shit. My water had broken.

I quickly splashed water from the sink on my face. Another contraction tightened my gravid stomach. I gripped the sides of the sink and leaned forward, swaying a bit to help with the pain. A little less than five minutes.

The door opened. I whipped around. Gordon's sneering face made me go cold all over.

"Well, if it isn't the whore bearer."

I remained quiet. I didn't know how I would save myself from this when I could barely stand.

Gordon tsk'd. "Did you piss yourself, little bitch?" His eyes sparkled as recognition hit. "Or is your useless whelp coming? That's it, is'nt it? Oh, this is going to be fun. Imagine Maverick's reaction when I kill his entire family in front of him. I'll make him pay. I'll make them all pay for thinking they can fuck with us!" He roared.

I doubled over as another contraction tightened my belly. A light groan escaped me. Three minutes. I started to feel nauseous.

Gordon laughed. Come on. Let's get you nice out in the open."

As he moved towards me, I knew only one thing. I needed to protect my child. I had to keep him safe.

I opened the faucet in the sink closest to me. Gordon stopped. I knew his family were better with fire, so water was their natural opposite. He wouldn't be able to use any water magic in a combat situation.

I wasn't very good at any sort of magic, but my water had improved since binding to Maverick.

I desperately tried to concentrate through the blinding pain in my back and tummy. Gordon looked hesitant for a second, but laughed when the water stream barely twitched.

"Aw," he clicked his tongue. "Does the little one not know how to wield water?" His baby voice mocked me.

He advanced once more and I steadied my breathing and closed my eyes. This would be my only chance. My son's life depended on it. I heard Maverick's voice in my head, telling me to keep calm and focus.

When I opened my eyes, a big ball of water hung in the air before me. Gordon now looked sceptical, but not worried. That'd change.

I lashed out with a thin stream of water, my hands barely moving to control it. The pain was now all but forgotten. Gordon sputtered as it hit him in the face. It wasn't enough, though.

He struck back with a lick of flame, but I blocked with the water. The back and forth continued for a minute or so.

"I'm getting real bored now," he said lazily.

That made two of us. I could feel another contraction building, more nausea flowing through me, but I didn't have a choice. I widened my stance and brought my whole focus to my magic.

The water broke off in about twenty small clusters. I shaped them into arrow heads and froze them in the air. I'd never seen someone other than Maverick freeze water in the air before.

A bright flash lit on the floor and rapidly came my way. I widened my stance and yelled as the contraction finally hit, sending my water weapons shooting forward at the same time.

The contraction lasted for a long time. I fell back against the wall and dropped into a half-squat to ride it out.

When I opened my eyes again and focused, Gordon was lying on the floor, blood pouring from multiple wounds on his body. I only felt remorse for a second. He was planning on killing me and my baby. He deserved it.

The bathroom door flew open and I brough another cluster of water up to defend myself. It fell to the floor a moment later when Maverick's form registered in my mind.

"You're here," I breathed.

"You killed him," he said.

I hunched forward and stumbled back to the wall in pain.

"You're in labor," Maverick said just as calmly. Then, his eyes grew wide. "Fuck. You're in labor." He rushed to me. "What can I do?"

"Pants," I grunted, feeling the baby's head at my opening.

"Here? We're in the bathroom." He looked disgusted.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Tell the baby to give us a few minutes." I started fumbling with the top of my stretchy pants. If he wasn't going to do it, I sure as hell was.

He huffed a disbelieving laugh. "Okay. One second."

He quickly helped me waddle around the corner so that we could no longer see Gordon's body. Then, he wielded the water on the floor to let it drain in the sink.

"There, that's a lot better." He looked so pleased with himself.

"Yeah, okay, can you help me now?"

I turned my back to him so that I could squat with the support of the wall under my hands. Maverick wrapped around me from behind to help hold me up.

When asked later, I could honestly say that I didn't remember the next few minutes. Neither of us said anything and I didn't make any noise. There were no sounds necessary. Just one action: push.

His squishy body slipped into his father's waiting hands and his little wails started up a few seconds later. He was crying. I was crying. Maverick was blinking furiously.

I turned around to prop myself up in the corner and took my son into my hands.

"Welcome to the world, Matthew James. What a crazy world it is."

"Really," Maverick asked, tears now streaming down his cheeks.

I smiled, confident in my decision to use Maverick's father's names. A man lost too soon in defense of his family and his clan when attackers threatened them. A brave man, by all accounts. Just like his son and just like, hopefully, his grandson.

I nodded and Maverick sat down heavily next to me, wrapping me in his arms.

With my son on my chest and my soulbound next to me, I knew my world was complete.