The Broken Crown

Chapter 57

Adrianne

 Adrianne continued bleeding for much too long after the birth. How long, she was unsure, for she could not remember much from the hours following. The birth had been the longest and most exhausting she could remember.

 But when she opened her eyes, the first she saw was white; white light, white curtains, white sheets. A breeze blew and the air was crisp and clean. Silky sheets gave way for her movements and then she heard something beside her.

 She opened her eyes further and turned her head and she saw her husband’s face. The sight of it made her happy, so happy, and safe. She realized then that she loved him. Perhaps not the way a woman should love her husband, but she did love him.

 “Did she live?” Her voice was strangely hoarse.

 Her husband smiled. “Yes.”

 Only then did she see the bundle of white in his arms. As if in a dream, a pair of hands reached behind her and helped her sit upright. Raphael placed the babe in her arms, very carefully, then sat back and watched with a smile on his lips.

 “She’s so little,” she whispered and took one tiny hand in her own. The girl shifted in her sleep but did not wake. “So beautiful.” Tears sprang to her eyes. “So perfect.”

 Raphael leaned over to them. “She’s your daughter. How could she be anything but perfect?”

 Tears were now blurring Adrianne’s eyes. When she looked up, she saw only the shadow of Raphael’s head. “She’s all I have now,” she whimpered.

 His hands reached out, dried away the tears. “Not all,” he stated softly. “You have me, and you have Christian, and Evelyn, and Raynor. They’re all waiting outside. You should see them, so well behaved, all of them. But dying to see you.”

 “How long have I been sleeping?”

 “The night and most of the day.” He took her hand and clenched it, only enough to make her feel. “Don’t worry. They were in here, while you were asleep. Christian got to hold her, and Evelyn kept Raynor from waking you.”

 Adrianne laughed. “That sounds like them.”

 The new-born twisted around in her arms and Raymond’s hand moved from hers to the child’s head. “What should we call her?”

 She smiled and looked down onto her daughter’s sleeping face. The light spilled in from the windows and onto her face, making the white cottons she was wrapped in shine. “Helena,” Adrianne said.

 “It’s a beautiful name.”

 She nodded her head, for no real reason.

 “They were worried when you fell asleep,” he said. “But they were able to wake you up when they cleaned you and the bed. I don’t think you remember. They said you did not make much sense at the time.”

 “I don’t remember,” she told him. Helena moved around and then began to cry. With a small gasp, Adrianne looked down and found herself looking into a pair of pale blue eyes. They were lighter than Adrianne’s own, but they were definitely not the eyes of Samuel. Nor was it his face, or his cheekbones, or his jaw. She smiled down at her, trying to hush her, but she was insistent.

 The door opened and in came the midwife. She rushed to the bed and reached for the child. “I’ll take her now.”

 Adrianne was sorry to let go of her child, so soon after she had received her. “Helena,” she said as she put the girl into the midwife’s waiting arms. “Her name is Helena.”