The Lasaran (Aldebarian Alliance #1) - Dianne Duvall Page 0,93
pulse on her forehead.
Fear stabbed Taelon like a dagger. He was going to lose her. She was going to die.
Seth spoke in his head. She isn’t going to die. All women look thusly in childbirth.
He looked at Seth, wanting desperately to believe him.
Beside Seth, Leah nodded. It’s just hard to push a big baby through such a small opening. If Seth says she’s going to be fine, she’ll be fine. So will the baby.
The pushing and pausing seemed to take forever.
“There’s the head,” Melanie announced with a grin as she met Taelon’s gaze. “She has red hair. Do you want to see?”
“No!” Lisa nearly shouted.
Everyone looked at her.
This time her face reddened with embarrassment rather than strain. “Sorry. We haven’t made love yet, and I just don’t want his first memory of my vagina to be of seeing a fuzzy red head moving around inside it.”
Everyone but Taelon burst out laughing.
Taelon was still too drekking nervous to laugh, so he just shook his head at the medic. “No, thank you.”
Melanie told Lisa to push again. The next thing he knew, Melanie was laying a tiny baby on Lisa’s bare tummy.
Lisa rested both hands atop the naked newborn.
Taelon stared down at them both, unaware of anything else in the room as the infant squirmed and moved her frighteningly tiny arms and legs.
This was his daughter, this being who would barely fill both his hands.
He looked up at Lisa and felt his heart swell at the tender smile that lit her face as she caressed the baby’s red hair.
The newborn scrunched her face up in a frown as she opened and closed her mouth as though seeking something to put in it.
Lisa met his gaze. Tears welled in her eyes. “She’s beautiful.”
“You’re beautiful,” he forced past the lump in his throat. So many emotions tumbled through him that he almost couldn’t speak. “You’re okay?”
“I’m good,” she replied. “Just tired.”
Reaching out, she took one of Taelon’s hands and placed it on the baby’s narrow little back.
His heart clenched. Tears burned the backs of his eyes as he raised them to meet hers. “Thank you,” he uttered hoarsely.
A tear trailed down her temple as she nodded. Reaching up, she curled a hand around his nape and drew him down for a kiss.
Chapter Sixteen
“What now?” Taelon asked.
Marcus’s shoulder brushed his as he motioned to the squirming infant lying on the narrow table before them. “Now you use this little gadget to hold the diaper in place.”
Taelon frowned as he watched his sister’s husband attach a T-shaped device to the soft folded cloth Taelon held in place on the baby’s lower abdomen. “Are you sure I’m not putting too much pressure on her tummy? She’s kicking her legs a lot.”
Marcus grinned. “You’re doing fine. That’s just what infants do. Next you secure the diaper cover over it with these snaps.” He folded the colorful fabric up and snapped it. Then he unsnapped it and opened it. “Now you try.”
Taelon wiped sweaty palms on his pants before he gamely attempted it.
“Tighter,” Marcus instructed.
“Are you sure?” He didn’t want it to be uncomfortable.
“If you don’t, it will leak. Trust me. Adira went through eight or ten diapers a day as a newborn. I learned very quickly how to do this right.”
Taelon bowed to the man’s experience and finished diapering his daughter.
The tiny beauty kicked her little legs and waved her fists.
“Have you chosen a name yet?” Marcus asked.
He shook his head. “There was so much going on that we didn’t even have time to think about it really.”
“Don’t forget to support her head.”
Taelon cupped his daughter’s head, her red hair soft against his palm, as he lifted her and settled her into the cradle of one arm.
“I asked Ami to name our daughter.” Marcus smiled when the baby reached out and curled her fingers around one of his. “She wanted a name that would represent both worlds, so she chose Adira.”
“Adira is the shortened form of our mother’s name, Adiransia.”
“It also means strong or powerful here on Earth.” Marcus grinned. “And she is certainly that.”
Taelon studied him. “You love my sister.” He had only known Marcus for a day, but he had done what Lisa had advised and watched the couple carefully. Their bond was as firm and full of affection as his parents’ bond.
“I love your sister,” Marcus acknowledged. “Deeply.”
Taelon played with his daughter’s tiny toes. “Deeply enough to leave your life here on Earth behind and voyage to Lasara with us?”