At that moment, Rea slipped into the room.
When Madha laid Gara down on the fresh sheets, the little creature pressed its head affectionately against Gara's cheek. Its soft fur brought him a fleeting comfort amid the waves of pain.
For a while, the room was chaotic.
Fian, who couldn't read, returned with every jar Gara had ever mentioned he might need for childbirth.
Madha wiped the sweat from Gara's face.
Rea chirped insistently, trying to calm him down.
And Wina busied herself, laying out thread, needles, water, and everything else they might need.
But Gara didn't care about the chaos. All he wanted was the painkiller he had made himself. The medicine shouldn't harm the baby, he had crafted it from herbs and diluted it with his water.
Besides, since he would deliver the babies through an abdominal incision, he had no use for the contractions of a normal birth.
