A gasp escaped Cassandra's lips when she heard the voices of her unborn sons in her head. Even though there was a tiny rational part of her brain that told her that she couldn't possibly have heard what she thought she heard and it was only hormones from the pregnancy causing her mind to play tricks on her, those doubts were silenced almost instantly. She couldn't explain how she knew, but she just
knew in her heart that her sons were speaking to her telepathically.
Setting her tray of food aside after devouring almost every last morsel on her plate, Cassandra gently pulled up her nightgown so that she could look down on her immense bare belly. She ran her fingers alone the sides of her belly and smiled warmly. She hummed a lullaby that her grandmother used to sing to her when she was a little girl while continuing to rub her stomach lovingly until suddenly her voice caught in her throat as she felt a tightening sensation. It was sudden and sharp, but it also didn't last long. She was about to resume her gentle humming when she felt the same sensation a second time, and it was sharper than before. The sensation was soon followed by Cassandra feeling the bed underneath her become soaked.
"It's time," Cassandra uttered as she realized that her water just broke.
Throwing the covers off herself, Cassandra scooted to the edge of the bed and then stood and walked across the chamber to pull open the door. She called out to one of the guards near her door and ordered him to fetch the midwife. The guard obeyed without hesitation. Cassandra then looked down and pressed her hand to her swollen stomach. "Looks like today is the day that I'll finally be able to hold you two in my arms."
* * *
Shortly after her labor began, Cassandra went to one of the other bedrooms that had been prepared just for this moment. With pillows propped up behind her and her legs splayed, Cassandra grasped Lyla's hand while pushing as she was instructed by the midwife. Much like her pregnancy, the labor had gone much faster than she anticipated, and it wasn't nearly as painful as she expected it to be either. Within minutes of going into labor, it was already time to push. She bore down, clutched Lyla's hand tightly, and clenched her toes as she pushed until she felt something emerge from her body and the midwife announced the arrival of her first son. Panting, Cassandra looked up to try and see over the sheet covering her lower half to get her first glimpse of the baby dragon she had just birthed.