Caoileann beams a swift smile at the others: happy and oh so proud. Lis gets a half-raised wave - after all, lifting her arm all the way would disturb that tail that drapes down that particular side. A soft "H'lo." completes the greeting.

A grumbling greenrider makes her way in from the bowl, heading straight for the hearth. Caoileann is idly waved at over her shoulder, but Lis' attention is at the hearth where she's currently mixing up a mugful of peppermint tea.

Alymath thinks to you, << I bespoke Trydanth with: Alymath is all smug lemony scent as she informs the blue, << My rider says your rider needs to take lessons in decorating. And that your weyr has her baby all in a fit. >> to him. >>

Alymath senses Trydanth flickers blue lightning: << I will not tell him she has been in his weyr. He would not like that. >>  to her.

D'renn strides in from the Central Bowl.

Lis' eyes follow D'renn with vague amusement as he walks in, one hand lifted from her mug to wave at the weyrlingmonster. "G'day D'renn - mmmmph." The last bit is accompanied by a sudden glance down at her belly and a mutter of, 'Oh, no, you /don't/.'

Caoileann tilts her head a little, and pads towards Lis. "She kicking?" Still insisting that the greenrider's baby's a girl, for whatever reason.

"Kicking, is he? The little monster...." D'renn slides into the seat next to Lis, reaching out a hand to feel.

Lis peers from Caoileann to D'renn with a weak little giggle. "Well, ah, not so much kicking as, um, rippling." The greenrider isn't sure how else to describe it, wincing as another said 'ripple' occurs. "So, D'renn, I hear it's your Turnday?" Perhaps if she ignores it, it'll go away...

D'renn's Turnday unfortunately won't go away. "It is.... Do I get a kiss?" He may as well try his luck. Again.
 

Caoileann's eyes scrunch up as she smiles a happy smile. "It is? Happy Turnday, then." Any kisses are gonna have to come from Lis, though, cause Cao's just not gonna do that, nope.

"I suppose..." The greenrider sends D'renn a sideways glance, smirk curling up at the corners of her mouth until the baby decides to intervene again with another contraction. "Now, really," and here Lis starts talking to the lump. "He /is/ your father after all."

"Erm... Lis. Are you sure those are just kicks? I mean..." D'renn's a bit worried by the motions of Lis' big fat belly.

Caoileann blinks, catching the motion of the belly, then asks Lis, "How long have you been havin' those?" She points at the motion. "Cause that looks more like what Mother had, when my little sister was born, then kicks."

Leah looks up form playing with her kitten.

Lis assumes an air of experience as she explains, "Well, not /really/. But he's done this before, so I don't think he really means it this time." Caoileann is eyed dismissively as the greenrider replies: "Well, it's only been this bad since the last candlemark, but there's been occasional things since this morning."

"Maybe I should take you to see Catia." It's a mark of D'renn's concern for Lis that he's volunteering to go near the dragonhealer... "These aren't kicks. They're too, well, regular."

Caoileann doesn't look convinced, but all she says is, "We-ll...if you say so." Her opinion is going to remain unchanged, whether she's right or wrong. "'Spose could just be really active."

Lis ought to oblige D'renn, then. "If you insist..." The greenrider face takes on a curious expression, and she looks from 'lingmaster to girl hurriedly. "Um, I know this is a silly sort of question, but what would it feel like, say, if you were about to - I don't know - break your water?"

"I dunno what it feels like, but my boots always seem to get soaked when it happens," D'renn answers mournfully, reaching to help Lis stand up. "And the drudges aren't too pleased... Want me to carry you?" This could be the worst mistake D'renn ever makes.

Lis' face flat-out /falls/ now at whatever's happening in her midsection. "Please? And be quick about it..." The greenrider stands up gingerly, puppy-eyes used full force on D'renn.

D'renn picks Lis up, staggering rather as he gathers her to his chest - shame that dumping her over his shoulder is out of the question. "Here we go...." And off they go.

Caoileann thinks. "Mother said it feels like you have to use the necessary. An' then you get all wet."

D'renn steps into the shadows that lead back into the Weyr.

Deeper, darker, narrower... passages kink and twist into the Weyr.

Inner Caverns
Shadowed on stone-smooth ledge are Freak, Gwyna, and Boyishly Brave Alanna Gold Hatchling.
You see Delphin and Ella here.
D'renn is here.
Obvious exits:
Living Caverns     Guests' Quarters     Hallway     Dorms     Candidate Barracks     Baths     Brat Cave     Infirmary

D'renn ducks through a low door into the infirmary.

Glowlight bright reveals Healers' workplace.

Infirmary
Echoing and austere, blank stone walls are vaulted high to overshadow the row of white-curtained cots along the back wall. Ancient metal gleams steel-bright in the form of sinks and examination table, lit relentlessly by bright glows and reflecting the colours of bottles and jars shelved above. Padlocked cabinets hide the more dangerous drugs and implements, whilst healer paraphenalia litters one solid oak table with sweetly-fragranced herbs and tattered scrolls. A small hearth contains a fire usually banked low, several cauldrons set ready nearby to for heating water. A dark staircase twists up from one corner to the dragonhealer's lair; one low door leads into the lower caverns, another to weyrhealers' quarters. Barn-sized doors open inwards with creak of hinges from the ground weyr.
Comfortable on top of a cupboard are Spangles, Jonic, Kahlua'N'Milk, Caerulus, and Leannan.
You see Girta and Candidate Physical Board here.
You notice Brianna, Dama, Talitha, and Camon asleep here.
Catia and D'renn are here.
Obvious exits:
Ground Weyrs     Inner Caverns     Healers' Quarters

D'renn staggers into the infirmary, Lis held firmly in his arms. "Catia.... Catia....?" he calls, not /quite/ panicking.

Catia was peacefully chopping herbs, but at the sight of D'renn&Lis, she stops. "Already, Lis?" she asks, wasting no time in pointing to a cot. "Put her there...."

Lis gulps - loudly - as something gives, somewhere, and the material of her dress starts to soak. "Sorry 'bout that..." mutters the greenrider, watching Catia with wide, childish eyes. Help?

D'renn puts Lis down hastily, staring at his soaked sweater. "Oh Lis... how /could/ you...." How cruel and thoughtless. How.... "I think her waters just broke, Catia?" Blue eyes are used shamelessly.

So it seems. "How long have you been having contractions, Lis?" Catia asks, sensibly shooing D'renn away as she pulls a curtain round the cot. "Let's get you comfy, into a clean nightgown..."

Stripes ducks in from the inner caverns.

Lis shoots a mild glare at D'renn before her view of the outside world is cut off, brows meeting as the tries to answer Catia. "Shards, oh, this morning? They weren't so bad as they are now..." At least there's some solace in clean clothes.

D'renn fidgets worriedly. What else can he do? "Erm... Erm.... Can I do anything?"

Catia gets Lis cleanly up with expert speed and efficiency. "Alright, lie back Lis, knees apart... let me examine you...." Giving birth is not pleasant. "How far apart are the contractions now?

"I - ooh! - There's one," Lis announces, muttering something obscene under her breath at the ridculous position she's in. "Every so often? They're really - shells! - close now." It's worse than the hiccups.

"Coming fast," is Catia's diagnosis as she examines Lis carefully after her hands are hastily washed. "D'renn, can you get some clean clothes for me? Second cupboard to the left of the sink." It's always best to give the fathers something to do.

"Second cupboard to the left of the sink.... This one's got pots in it, Catia!" D'renn answers, frustrated for a moment before... "Oh, never mind. You said left." Trying again, he finds the cloths and brings them over, looking hopefully past the curtain towards Lis.

Lis pipes up in between contractions, managing only to wince rather and interject a word. "Wait, Catia, what am /I/ supposed to do? I don't know how to give birth! And can't D'renn at least hold my hand?" No doubt only to get it crushed, but he /did/ promise.

"You just hang on in there, and do what I tell you. And everything will be alright..." Catia replies to Lis in her confident, no-nonsense, mother's-here voice. "And thank you D'renn.... you can certainly hold her hand if she wants you to." Leaning a little closer to the bluerider, Cat adds in a low, hissed tone, "And you will do whatever she wants you to, won't you?"

"Yes Catia...." D'renn's rather scared by all of this, and just pulls up a chair, meek as anything, so he can sit and hold Lis' hand. If she wants him to. Whatever she wants him to.

Lis' hands reaches out for D'renn's, fingers encircling it with panic-induced strength. "Shush, you're doing fine," the greenrider whispers to the 'lingmonster, turning back to Catia to nod. "Alright..." Now that she's got a hand to squeeze, the rider uses it, taking D'renn's hand in a bone-popping grip with every contraction. Lucky him.

Catia is the busy one - if you don't include Lis' quickening contractions. Swab the appropriate bits of Lis with redwort... spread clean cloths around... check dilation. "You need to start pushing down now, Lis. Bear down with every contraction. Hang onto D'renn's hand."

"Push?" Lis whimpers in disbelief at Catia, and again at the next contraction. "/How/ am I supposed to..." Giving up, the greenrider gives her best attempt at a push, growling under her breath, "I'll never forgive for this one, D'renn..."

"Hey, you pounced /me/," D'renn points out crossly, wincing at the pain in his hand as Lis hangs onto it. "This is all your own fault..."

Catia just grins to herself. "That's it Lis, you're doing fine.... this baby of yours wants to get out fast." Very fast. "You're nearly full dilated, nearly there, nearly there... oh yes, I can see the baby's head..." A running commentary for those who don't have her point of view.

Quara pushes her way in from the ground weyrs.

Lis gives D'renn an extra-hard squeeze at that. "You weren't supposed to be able to /have/ children." Catia's commentary distracts her, and she continues to push as instructed. "A head? What's it look like?" Poor greenrider can't see past that great lump of her belly.

"Quara?" It's D'renn's turn to cling to Lis, to her forearm with his free hand, to be precise. "You're not... too... are you?"

"Quara?" Catia looks up worriedly as her wingmate comes in, as ready to bursting as Lis, it seems. "You're not, are you?" The healer looks rather panicky herself.

Quara comes in waddling awkwardly, leaning on one of the older Weyr women. "Healer!!!" she yells at the top of her lungs, a sound toned down thanks to her general malaise. Then, turning to Lis, she snickers. "Oh, Faranth. Lissie, darling... And yes, I think so," she informs D'renn and Catia, before a contraction forces her to stop talking, the woman's eyes bugging out as the bluerider clenches her hand in a vise-like grip.

Yet another fidgeting bluerider enter the infirmary - F'reud. "Quara... Quara, you alright?" Tagging along his child's mother, the man does brighten as he recognizes another belabored female. "Lis!" Wait, he's here for Quara. /Quara/.

"Oh shards.... Sit!" Catia directs to Quara, adding to the woman with her, "Get her into a clean nightgown... No, draw the curtain round, woman!" This is all Catia needs. Although.... "That's it Lis," she goes back to encouraging the more immediate patient. "Alright, when I tell you, I want you to stop pushing, and to pant like a canine instead. Can you do that?"

"F'reud!" D'renn greets the other male bluerider with some relief. So he's not alone in this.... "Pant like a canine. I can do that." And he does. Poor D'renn. His brain's completely addled.

"Aw... Quara, you poor thing!" Lis is, for once, sympathetic to the bluerider and her similar plight. F'reud is greeted with a roll of eyes - best not to encourage him. "Catia..." comes the wavering plea. "You want me to /what/?"

"Pant. Now, in fact... just like D'renn's doing." Catia tells Lis. So D'renn's good for something after all...

Quara's free hand latches onto F'reud while she takes her seat. "No, dear. I'm having a baby," she explains, between clenched teeth. Changed into the gown by the efficient weyrfolk, she gets as comfortable as she can on the cot, pausing every so often, at relatively regular intervals, while she waits for another contraction to pass.

Lis follows the example set by D'renn and pants, albiet with a fierce scowl on her face. "Prolly made this one up to entertain the healers..." She states her opinion mid-pant, subsiding back to Catia's instructions grudgingly.

"That's it Lis... keep panting... out comes the baby...." And indeed here comes the baby's head, cradled in Catia's capable hands. "Good thing it's not breech, though I would've expected any child of D'renn's.... anyway, nearly over, here we go..." Still the running commentary.

"A baby. My baby. Ooh, Far/anth/." F'reud keeps up his grip on Quara's hand, plunking down into a seat before his legs collapse under him. Just what the situation needs - a fainting father.

"/My baby," D'renn answers, leaning forward to try and see what's happening down where Catia is. "Ooooh, Lis, I can see the head... it's all red and squashed and...."

Glaring at F'reud - he's stealing her spotlight - Quara is propped up some by pillows provided by the bustling infirmary assistant that comes to her aid. Checking her pulse first, the young woman moves through the usual signs of labor in a quiet tone to estimate how far along the mother-to-be is. "Yes, it did. And it ruined a perfectly good skirt, too," she informs the assistant hotly after one query.

Lis wrinkles her nose at D'renn's interesting description of the new baby. "Catia... is it /done/ yet?" Hey, they do call them 'buns in the oven' after all. Quara merely recieves a rolling of her eyes at the bluerider's latests comment, but not before Lis calls across the cavern: "Hey, I ruined D'renn's sweater /and/ my dress!"

"She did, she did...." D'renn agrees, staring in fascination at the birth of his baby, not even minding the way Lis' hand is squeezing his bones together.

With a slither, Lis' baby is born into Catia's waiting hands. "There we go!" Catia calls out triumphantly. "It's a.... a boy. Definitely." Definitely.

"Yeah, but it was /D'renn/'s sweater. Hardly a fashionable item," Quara retorts, snappishly. "That was my best skirt!" And, having settled the case of who ruined what, she grunts while another contraction ripples across her abdomen. Clenching F'reud's hand tightly, she glares at the assistant who smiles and looks up at her encouragingly from the foot of the cot. "Doing wonderfully, mum. You shouldn't have any problems." That praise does little to assuage the bluerider's discomfort, however, and her glare ices a few degrees colder.

Lis slumps onto her back, too tired to do anything else. "Oh, good... A boy." Suddenly, a thought occurs, and the greenrider chuckles to herself. "Hey, D'renn... you're son's got the same Turnday as you." There had to be something weird about D'renn-spawn...

"My Turnday present...." D'renn's stunned. Absolutely stunned.

"He's lovely," Catia reassures, busy clamping the baby's umbilical cord and doing that knot-and-cut thing that makes belly buttons. "Here, please wash him?" The baby's handed to an assistant, and Catia just smiles. "Still got the afterbirth to come, Lis... then it's all over."

F'reud is merely huddling in his seat, shivering with the squeezes Quara keeps giving his hand. "Ow, Quara, that /hurts/. Can't you squeeze less hard?" complains the bluerider shamelessly, ignoring the pain she's no doubt suffering due to him.

Alymath senses Tiareth raises briefly from sleep, muttering her Rider's congraduations onwards... and leaving out the ("Oh my Faranth! Not another D'renn-bit"). to her.

Lis gives D'renn a broad beam before eyeing Catia as if the healer had suddenly turned into a tunnelsnake. Or a ferret. "Afterbirth? Well... just tell me what do to," the greenrider sighs in resignation, pouting as her spawn is handed off to someone else.

Alymath thinks to you, << I bespoke Tiareth with: Alymath is mostly on a fluffly cloud of shared maternal pride, a warm crystal acknowledgement sent back towards the gold like tinkling windchimes. to her. >>

"You'll get more contractions, little ones. And then you'll pass the afterbirth... I don't foresee any problems," Catia tells Lis calmly, taking the washed and weighed baby back, wrapped in a loose blanket, and placing him on Lis' breast. "And congratulations... to both of you..."

Looking especially frazzled, Quara only clenches F'reud's hand harder. "Look here, you pa-" she begins, but is cut off by another contraction. "Oh, there you go, miss, why, you're doing fabulously. Just keep it up and this'll hardly take you any time at all." That comment from the infirmary assistant is much more cheerful, and she smiles. "Oh, good. Less time before I hand it over to the nannies." That's happy, isn't it?

D'renn kisses Lis' forehead, then the baby's. Poor man, he's stunned and doesn't even mind the white coating still on the baby's scalp. "Wow. A son. Thank you...."

Lis finally gives D'renn a proper Turnday kiss - on the lips. "Happy Turnday, D'renn. And you too, little Donis," the greenrider coos down at the... thing in her arms. It's really not so bad when you've had to carry it around for nine months.

"Everything alright there?" Catia asks the assistant attending Quara. (Nice to have so many assistants around all of a sudden!)

D'renn just gazes at the baby. "Donis. Awwww....." He's besotted.

F'reud wrinkles his nose at the kisses between Lis and D'renn - a bit jealous? - before he's once again Quara's little blueriding stressball, offering a few words of dubious support: "You're doing fine. Really. I think."

The assistant looks up and nods. "Yes'm. Dilating nicely... Several fingers already, and no problems. Not breech, thankfully," she informs Quara, who just looks back with a confused expression. "That means it's headfirst. Easier to deliver," comes the explanation. "Oh, good. Three nice things," remarks the bluerider, with only a hint of sarcasm.

D'renn didn't even noticed he'd been kissed. This is a Bad Thing.

"Toldja the name was cute..." Lis grins up at D'renn, sticks her tongue out at F'reud, and finally calls over to Quara, "Don't worry, it's not so bad once they tell you to start panting!" Nah... It's only ridiculous.

"You'll be alright, as long as F'reud lets you hold his hand..." D'renn offers Quara as some words of encouragement before gazing back dotingly at his son. This is going to get sickening soon.

"Panting? I have to /pant/?" Quara asks, incredulously. "I have to carry this thing around for nine months and then they expect me to pant to get rid of it? This is ridiculous," she informs the assistant sourly. "I'm never doing this again." Then, at a cheerful "Doing great!" from the woman, she sighs. "And would someone get rid of that feline?"

"Catia will have a fit if she notices that feline..." D'renn proclaims. Wherever Catia got to, she'll probably be back shortly....
 

D'renn it's the only who's grinning down at his offspring. Lis is busy burbling little sounds at Donis, the ocassional snicker breaking through at Quara's comments.

D'renn grimaces though, and stands up. "Lis.... I have to go.... Trydanth wants me."

Lis waves D'renn off with a delicate wiggle of fingers, head nodding in understanding. "You were a good hand-holder, D'renn," the greenrider assures him in a whisper, flashing him a brilliant smile. "You're doing good, Quara!" is called again. "Get F'reued to pant too." Public humilation helps, supposedly.

A ticked-off bluerider is never good. And a ticked-off bluerider who's having a baby is just downright scary, judging from the expression on the face of the infirmary assistant who attempts to shoo the feline out. "Here, scoot!" Smiling wanly at the action taken at her complaint, Quara eyes the woman at the foot of the cot. "How much longer?" she asks, her tone suggesting she doesn't want an answer of much more than two minutes. "Oh, not long at all! You should be fully dilated in another few minutes, and then... Well, not long." So much for two minutes.

D'renn gives Lis and the baby brief kisses again on their foreheads... murmurs, "Good luck," to Quara - or maybe F'reud? - and leaves. He's a daddy.

D'renn wrenches open the double doors that lead outside.

F'reud finally decides he ought to take a more active role in the birth of his child, and tries to peer around Quara for the baby. "How... how are you doing, Quara?" He is trying to look concerned and sympathetic, for all he's winking at Lis from time to time.

"Ah, there we are. Now," the assistant's head pops up over the mound of stomach, "I want you to push when I tell you to. Three, two, one, push!" And, grunting, Quara grudgingly complies, wile the woman counts softly, "... eight, nine, ten, relax. Very good," she applauds. "I can see the top of his head," she informs the duo, "and he's got curly hair." Smiling, Quara looks up at F'reud. "How's Raud for his name?" she asks, attempting to keep the bluerider's attention on her and the baby.

Fidgeting and trying keep his attention on Lis, F'reud shrugs one shoulder at Quara's suggestion. "I dunno... It's alright. It's better than anything I could come up with." The whole miracle of birth seems to have worn off for now. Just wait till the whole head appears...

"And... push, one, two..." Her face scrunched up with the effort, Quara's expression is quite unattractive, and is not aided by her flushed skin and sweat-streaked hair, which has partly matted to her forehead. One hand still keeping a vise grip on F'reud, the other wipes her forehead, since the assistant is at her feet, and F'reud is hardlt much of a help. She squeezes his hand more tightly as he strays away, just before "...ten, and relax. Doing an excellent job, mum."

A yelp comes from F'reud at the squeeze, and he gives Lis one last, long look before turning his attention completely on his fellow bluerider. "Sorry Quara..." the soon-to-be father mutters quietly, meekly inching his chair closer to her cot with a sigh. He's whipped, alright.

Glaring chilly at F'reud, Quara grunts. "Serves you right. It's all your fault I'm having this baby," she accuses. "Now sit there and stop mooning over Lis. /I'm/ the one who's in labor with your child," she reminds him. And then, it's back to pushing.

Speaking of the greenrider, Lis looks worriedly over at Quara, frowning pensively at her pregnant-buddy now that Donis has gone to sleep after a brief feeding. Not exactly the scene that inspires maternal mooning. "Everything going alright?" asks the greenrider of the woman in labor, the assistant and the father simultaneously.

"Wonderful, miss! She's going absolutely smoothly, especially for her first," comments the assistant. "Horribly. It's /awful/," replies Quara, at the same instant. And then she's back to pushing, at the coaxing of the assistant. "Come on, mum. You're getting there absolutely wonderfully," she encourages.

F'reud has an excuse not only to look at Lis, but talk to her as well. And he's milking it for all it's worth. "Oh, Lis, it's just wonderful. I mean, not as wonderful as yours was, but it's still great, y'know?" Someone should slap him.

Eyeing F'reud, Quara does the next best thing to slapping him, clenching his hand even tighter. "F'reud..." she warns, in a growling undertone, while the assistant ignores the father-to-be in favor of the mother. "Now, mum, I'd like you to pant," she informs Quara. "Oh, Shards. F'reud, you're doing this too." And then it's her turn to pant, in imitation of a canine.

F'reud not only pants like a canine, he whimpers as well, especially at Quara's vicious grip. "I'm /sorry/ Quara. I can't help myself." That sure explains a lot... But at least he does pant obediently, tongue hanging out for comical effect. He can at least try to make Lis laugh, right?

Still panting, Quara eyes the assistant. "Am I /almost/ done?" she asks, snappishly, between pants. "Indeed, mum, hardly any time left at all. You're doing just fine," the woman assures her, although she's met with a skeptical look.

Lis /doesn't/ laugh, however, and does her best to rebuff F'reud's attempts at getting her attention. Poor, hopeless thing. The greenrider's attention is drawn by the baby in her arms who chooses the moment to make some sort of 'gurble' noise. "Aw...."

Laughter isn't quite Quara's idea of appropriate behavior, and so she doesn't have to glare at Lis. Instead, all her attentions can be focused on the infirmary assistant, and so they are. Her next comment, however, is broken off by a "Oh, mum! All I need you to do is push a little, and..." Rolling her eyes, Quara does, and soon enough a very loud wail can be heard from the baby that lands in the assistant's hands. "Oh, mum! It's a girl!" she exclaims, hastily clamping, knotting, tying, and cutting the umbilical cord before she washes the baby off, wrapping it in a warm blanket and handing it to the bluerider. "There you go, ma'am. Now the afterbirth is still left, but that'll take care of itself," she adds, reassuringly, with a smile, before her attentions return to cleaning up.

In the past few moments, F'reud has completey forgotten about Lis, the wail being the least of his distractions. "Ooh... Quara. It's a /girl/. What are we going to name her now?" A soft snicker can be heard echoing over from Lis' end of the infirmary - surely the greenrider's not laughing?

Gasping at the suddenness of it all, Quara looks at the pink little bundle in her arms and sniffs slightly, her eyes watering. "Awww.... F'reud, she's adorable!" Actually, she looks prety much like every other newborn: wrinkly, dark pink, and nondescript. "Of course, dear, I'm not calling any daughter of mine Raud." She mulls over names for a moment. "Fara! That's it. It's perfect," she decides, her hold on F'reud's hand finally loosening as she twines her fingers in with his.

"But, isn't it awfully close to yours?" F'reud's complaint falls on deaf ears. Of course, it's mighty close to both hers, and her gold's, but you couldn't convince her of that. "It's perfect," she reassures him. Then, a quick kiss, and she returns to baby-gazing, her opinion of them readjusting itself.

"Urp." Donis greets the new arrival into the world with a delicate baby-burp, followed by a giggle from his mother. "Oh, shards, Quara... She's lovely!" Lis call once she's stopped laughing, eyes even sparkling at the tenderness between the two. Aw...