To have his child born on the day of the Festival would be an amazing honour for Abeno. He wrung his hands nervously at his wife's side as she reclined on a pile of blankets, an attempt to make the hard winter ground more comfortable.
"How are you doing? Is there anything you need?" he asked her, fussing at the pillows behind her head.
Lennali smiled at him, taking his hand. "I'm fine, Abe, really. I'll-"
Her words ended in a grunt as another contraction took over, and she gripped her husband's hand so tightly it hurt. As the pain passed, she gave him an apologetic look, but he just kissed her hand.
The tent flap moved open and an older woman stepped inside. "Abe, what are you still doing here? This is woman's work."
Abe smiled at the older woman as she approached. "I want to be here, Mama. Maybe I can present our son to the Festival."
His mother raised one eyebrow at him. "This isn't exactly traditional," she warned.
"I want him here, Oro," Len said with a kind smile.
"Very well." The older woman knelt down as Len screamed, another contraction wracking her body with pain.
Abe grabbed her hand and tried to distract her. "What element do you think our son will be?"
"Or our daughter," Len replied, breathing heavy as the pain receded. "I bet they'll be Air, like you." She touched the birthmark on his cheek, a spiral denoting his affinity for Air.
"It is the rarest of all the elements," Oro chimed in, "but she could be anything. She might even be Water like you."
Another contraction, another scream. The older woman sat down in front of Len's splayed legs and lifted the blanket covering her. "We'll find out soon enough."
Abe held her hand tightly and stroked her hair. "No matter what she is, she'll be happy here. She's got an amazing Mama."
"And an amazing Papa..." Len agreed, tears streaming down her face.
Abe could hear children laughing and playing outside the tent, excited for the Festival, and he smiled knowing that in a few years his own child would be one of them. Len screamed and pushed to Oro's encouraging words, deep in throes of childbirth. At last, Abe saw his mother hold the baby's head, carefully supporting it.
The baby let out a small cry as its grandmother picked it up, quickly wrapping it in a blanket and wiping the blood and fluids off it's face.
"It's a girl."
Abe's eyes started to tear up. "She's okay?" he turned to Len, who was exhausted from the ordeal. "You did it," he congratulated her, kissing her forehead.
"Can I see her?" Len asked weakly, but the older woman stopped, staring at the fussing baby with wide eyes.
"What is it, Mama? Is she a Prodigy?" the new father asked, craning his neck to try to see the birthmark on the baby's cheek. "What element? Air? Fire?"
Oro leaned down wordlessly, depositing the newborn into her mother's reaching grasp and allowing both parents to see their daughter for the first time.
And there, on her cheek, was a a small symbol - the birthmark of an elemental user. But it wasn't any element they had ever seen before.
"What does this mean?" Abe asked his mother, but she just shook her head.
"Our dear Nuallis," Len asked, holding the baby tight to her and gently touching the strangely glowing birthmark on her cheek, "what element are you?"
The newborn, of course, had no answer, but she continued crying as if she knew something was wrong with her.
ns 15.158.17.180da2
