[TheRubyStorm]

He took the chips from her, glad to have something to quench his thirst. He was grateful to have her here now. Even though he would have never dreamed that she'd be the one he'd be going through this with, he had to admit that she was having an effect on him. Maybe this was something more...

After Oria left the room to give them some privacy, the two of them worked to bringing their merchild closer to the world. Every so often, Avalon would try to swim around the room to keep things moving, but preferred to stay close to his sponge bed; Ilita never far from his side.

A few hours later, the contractions were now right on top of each other and judging by the pressure near his opening, it was almost time. And it terrified him. He held onto her hand with a fierce grip as he fought the urge to push. "Ilita, I don't think I can do this..." he said through grit teeth.

[VenusLove]

"You can do it, Avalon! I know you can. You have more strength than you know. Plus you'll have one happy merbaby that wants to meet it's parents." She said giving him a soft smile to help keep him going. She knew that her best friend was in a lot of pain right now but there wasn't much that she could do for him. He had to listen to what his body was telling him.

"Do you want Oria to get the doctor now? She can get there as soon as you have to start pushing." She said concern weather or not he wanted the doctor present or not. She knew of merpeople not wanting them there for the birth of their precious new member to their family; but then again Avalon and herself weren't married and it would be based on his decision how he wanted to have their baby.

[TheRubyStorm]

"No..." he said quickly. "Just you; I don't want anyone else here but you. You're all I need." And he meant it. True, they weren't husband and wife, but she was the mother of his child and he wanted to share the experience with her alone without some doctor mucking it up...

As the next contraction hit, he realized that there was no turning back now and that the time had finally come to deliver their child. Taking a deep breath, he pushed down as hard as he could and nearly gave a gasp of surprise as he felt the mass inside him shift. "I-It's coming..."

[VenusLove]

She appreciated the words that he said to her about how he only needed her there for him. They were so young and they were soon going to be parents.

She nodded and gave him a encouraging smile. "That's good. Now let's take think nice and easy now. Don't want to tire yourself out so quickly." She said concern for him and the baby. She didn't want anything bad to happen to them both. She didn't know what she would do if she lost them. She had waited patiently for their baby but she would go ballistic if she lost him though.

Just then it started to dawn on her how much that she really liked him. She felt stupid for now realizing how she felt about him, more than a friend; which she probable should have realized before they even considered having a baby together. But that didn't matter now, the baby was coming and Avalon needed her. "Alright, next contraction push with it." She said giving him what little advice that she knew to give him.

[TheRubyStorm]

Slowly he nodded. True, Ilita didn't know much of what was going to happen soon, but she was there and that was enough. Feeling the next contraction building, his hands grasped hold of hers as he took a deep breath and pushed, a silent cry escaping his lips. The pain was unlike anything he had ever felt before and he was desperate to have it over with, but somewhere he could hear Ilita's soft voice telling him to take slowly to keep the two of them safe and that kept him from spiraling out of control.

After nearly an hour of pushing later though without any sign that the merbaby was about to emerge, Avalon tiredly looked at her as she placed a cool piece of seaweed on his forehead. "I think we need to try something else..."

[VenusLove]

"What should we do?" She asked concern for him and the baby. She thought of the possibilities that he could just be having false labor pains but she was pretty sure that the baby was coming today based at the opening that was appearing where the baby would soon start show through hopefully. She gently rubbed a hand against his harden stomach that had dropped and their baby laid underneath the skin. They were so close yet so far away.

"Do you want to swim around for a little bit more or we could get the doctor? We might have to deliver the baby by C-section." She said getting worried every time he tried to push but only wasted his energy that was shown with no change.

She then thought about why there could be no sign of why the baby wasn't showing. "Maybe the baby is coming head first instead of tail first like they should be?" She said hoping that was the reason as to why he was making such slow progress with his pushes.

[TheRubyStorm]

He nodded. "I think you might be right." He hoped that that was the issue. A head first delivery wasn't the greatest of circumstances, but it wasn't all terrible either. It would just take more effort on his part. The last thing he wanted was a c-section. The risk of sharks being attracted to the smell of his blood as they cut him was the last thing he wanted.

"I've gotta get out of this bed..." he moaned as he struggled to get out of the bed and finally settled on positioning himself between two large rocks so that he was in a vertical position. Maybe gravity would help bring it down.

[VenusLove]

He helped him out of his bed and was watching him with a careful eyes and help kept his vertical when he pushed so that if he lost balance he would only fall against her. When he would stop she would quickly swim behind him and check on where the baby would be coming out of soon. "Nothing yet but I'm sure it will be soon." She said as she swam back to the front of him and wiped his forehead.

He continued pushing there and she let him lay in her arms when he got to tired from holding up his weight on the rocks. With his belly now he weighed her down only a little bit but her tail was strong enough to keep them afloat.

[TheRubyStorm]

Finally out of the bed, he definitely felt much better. Finally he felt as if he was making progress as he could feel it shifting with each push. The feeling of Ilita's arms wrapped around him though was the greatest help. It was as if he could feel her energies working with his to bring their child into the world. "Just like any couple..." he thought to himself

As the next contraction started, he took a deep breath and pushed, only this time, it was quickly followed by the sensation of burning as he could feel muscles starting to stretch.

"It's coming..." he growled as he pushed again. "It doesn't feel like a fin..."

[VenusLove]

She nodded her head as she heard what he said. She couldn't really do anything while he had a hold of him in her arms. "That's good. Push slowly now, you don't want to harm the baby or cause yourself to tear." She said looking outside the window.

Birthing season was dangerous for the merpeople if a shark happened to swim on by and the mermen tore while giving birth to their merbabies. They lost many merpeople with that danger of blood being split.

He stopped pushing and she quickly swam where his opening was and saw why it didn't feel like a fin. "Well we were right about it coming head first." She said placing a hand on the side of his tail.

[TheRubyStorm]

Hearing Ilita say that, Avalon couldn't help but reach down to his opening where his finger came into contact with a solid mass of fuzz. "Oh my god, it's a head!" he exclaimed. Despite the exhaustion after the past few hours, he couldn't help but get slightly emotional at the feeling. Finally the end was in sight. A little more and they'd have their merbaby in their arms.

As the next contraction started building, remembering Ilita's words, he struggled to keep from pushing so that he wouldn't harm himself by forcing the babe out quickly. His hand still on its head, he smiled as little by little, more of the babe's head started to emerge.

(Baby's a girl btw... ;) )

[VenusLove]

(Thanks, I kind of wanted to know what the baby was going to be :) )

She smiled at the sight of seeing their baby starting to show it's appearance to the world now. She gently touched the slimy locks of hair on its head. "The baby has gray hair, a mixture between mine and your hair color." She smiled almost laughing a little at how they were consider polar opposites because of their hair color his being jet black and hers being a shiny silver color.

Wouldn't that be a sight to see. A family that was passed of being opposite.

"You're doing great, Avalon! As soon as the shoulders and head come out we'll have our merbaby in our hands." She said smiling at how close they were to meet their little one.

[TheRubyStorm]

Avalon smiled at her excitement. To think their baby would be a perfect combination of the two of them...

Not able to hold back any more, with the next contraction he pushed again, nearly letting out a roar as he could feel its head crowning. Now he understood why merbabies were usually born fin first... Now that it was coming though, it was coming quickly and with another shout, its head emerged, leaving Avalon gasping for breath at the sudden relief of pressure.

Reaching down again, this time he could feel the tiny details of its face and he nearly burst into tears. Their baby... That was their baby making their way into the world and already he was smitten. Soon they'd be a family and suddenly the idea wasn't so absurd. After all, Ilita was his best friend. Why not spend the rest of his life with her?

He craned his neck to look at her. "Is the baby alright?"

[VenusLove]

She nodded her head as a response but gave him a verbal answer as well. "Yes, they baby is doing fine. There has been no tearing or signs of blood so far." She said as she gently took her finger and cleared out the merbaby's air passage ways.

He was doing a great job so far and soon with maybe just two more pushes the baby would slide out into her awaiting hands. It scared her only a little to know that this was actually real; that she would soon be a mother of this baby. It was all starting to feel very real now.

"You can do it, Avalon! You are so very close!" She said trying to give him encouragement as the baby turned.

[TheRubyStorm]

Hearing her words seemed to give him strength and as he pushed with the next contraction, its shoulders easily came free. Letting out a gasp as the rest of the babe slid into Ilita's hands in a rush, he let him sink down the last few feet to the floor. As it let out a gurgled cry, he let out a breath of relief that at least the baby was alright.

"What is it?" he said, exhausted but happy.

[VenusLove]

"It's a beautiful little girl, a little girl, Avalon!" She said and couldn't help but keep saying little girl because the small baby in her hands just stunned her at the beauty of their daughter. "She just so beautiful." She whispered, tears coming to her eyes.

She swam to the front of him and cradling their small daughter in her arms. "Hey daddy, there is someone who would like to meet you." She said smiling as she gently handed him the crying merbaby. She was beautiful with her grey hair with her tail starting out as sliver like the end of her's but it soon faded in to a bright red like the specks of red on her fathers.

She watched them interact with each for a little while and smiled at them happy to see that they were both alright. "So you did all the hard work, what is her name going to be?" She asked curious to what she had in mind.

[TheRubyStorm]

"Troian..." he said after a moment. "Her name's Troian." He softly smiled as little Troian's cries were finally calming and settling into coos as she looked at him with wide eyes.

"She's absolutely beautiful." he breathed as her tiny hand grabbed hold of his finger. "Just like you..."

[VenusLove]

She blushed a little as the conversation turned to her. "You really think I'm beautiful?" She asked wondering how he was feeling about her now that Troian was here in the world.

She softly ran her fingers through Troian's soft gray hair. She was actually surprised with how much hair that she had already. Her noises she was making made her feel like her heart was melting with each soft sound she was making as if she was trying to have a conversation with her parents.

[TheRubyStorm]

"Of course I do. I always have; from the first time I saw you." he said as his hand cupped her cheek. And he meant it. True, Ilita had always been his friend and he had convinced himself for this long that it was all she was. But now, holding their daughter in his arms, he realized the truth.

He was in love with her. And though it was the last thing he ever thought he'd want, all he wanted now was to spend the rest of his life with her and to have her children.

Tenderly, he kissed her lips. "Marry me."

[VenusLove]

She kissed him right back again after he asked her to marry him. A smile spread across her face as she already knew her answer to give him. "Of course I'll marry you. There's no one else I rather spend my life with except with you and our future and current children." She said already excited about expanding their future family.

Who knows maybe Troian would have a sister or brother with jet black hair by the time the next birthing season came along!

(That was great! Are you ready for another? I was thinking about doing another different couple who already had one merbaby but was now expecting twins or we could do another single baby with Aquiriam and Melody? What do you think or which one would you like to do more of?)