Free Web NovelChapter 20: Episode 020: Rue gives birth.
Rue stepped into the living room and found she was alone.
The wooden cabin was entirely quiet. The front door was shut tight. The fur blankets on the couch were neatly folded. Caius was gone.
Rue stared at the empty space. A sharp ache bloomed in her chest.
Guilt tasted like old copper in her mouth. She thought her words had actually worked. She told him to get out, so he did. He finally got tired of a broken, miserable rabbit and left.
Knowing that hurt more than anything.
But in actual truth. Caius did not abandon her. Thirty minutes ago, a royal messenger arrived at the cabin window. And was told that a massive pack of feral, mutated hyenas had breached the southern swamp borders. They were slaughtering the outer perimeter guards and heading straight for the Convergence.
Queen Tanith issued a direct, absolute military command. The Left General of the Swamps had to lead the vanguard. Caius looked at Rue’s sleeping face, calculated the travel distance, and swore to himself he would be back in exactly one hour.
Rue did not know this. She walked to the wooden table and sat down in a chair. Her pregnant belly was making it extremely difficult for her to move easily.
She closed her pink eyes and tried to reach for the memory of her mother’s face, but she found a smooth, blank wall.
There was nothing there. Just an empty grey void where a lifetime of love used to live. She remembered that she had a mother, but the emotional connection and the visual details were blurry.
I was stupid, Rue thought.
Why did she put up that skill in the first place? She made a deal to block love because she was terrified of loss. But what if she did fall in love? Yes, she could get her heart broken. She experienced that agony before on Earth, dying while everyone stopped visiting.
It was terrible. But what was wrong with experiencing it a second time? She survived a broken heart once. She could survive it again.
Deleting her mother’s face was a million times worse.
Rue sat in the quiet room. She waited one hour. She waited two hours. The sun slowly dipped below the swamp tree line, casting long, dark shadows across the wooden floorboards. Caius never came back. She was so sure he would return to check on her.
But he never did... Her eyes drooped low. Maybe I was too much?
A sharp, twisting cramp seized her lower back.
Rue gasped. Her hands flew out, gripping the edges of the wooden table so hard her knuckles turned stark white. She bowed entirely forward, resting her forehead against the cool wood.
What the fuck was that?!
[Gestation Complete. Labour sequence initiated.]
[Host, please relocate to a flat, sanitary surface immediately.]
"I am going into labour?!!!" Rue hissed through her teeth.
Wasn’t that too soon???
[A Rabbit’s Gestation period is exactly one month, and sometimes added with a few days.]
Rue shuffled into the bedroom with all her might; she was definitely not prepared for bringing this baby to life. Her pregnant belly felt like a boulder pulling her toward the floor. The contractions did not give her time to prepare.
They hit in full, violent force, stripping away her ability to think clearly.
She fell back onto the mattress and grabbed the thick fur blankets, biting down hard on her own bottom lip to keep from screaming.
For the first time since her arrival in the beastworld, the Baby System dropped its sarcastic tone and functioned exactly as designed, like a highly efficient midwife.
Rue could not be bothered, especially when she was squirming and writhing on the bed in pain. Tears streamed down her face as she wished Caius were here holding her hand through it all.
Once again, during her pain, no one was there to comfort her.
[Breathe in for three seconds, Host. Hold. Release. You have to focus, Host]
Shut up, Rue thought frantically, but she followed the breathing pattern anyway.
The system deployed the Third Trimester Baby Box she had earned previously. A stack of clean white towels, a basin of warm water, and sterile metal clamps materialised on the bedside table.
Another massive wave of pain ripped through her abdomen. Her bunny body betrayed her completely. Her back arched off the mattress. A loud, ragged groan tore from her throat.
Fuck why was it so painful???
[I am administering a localised pain dampener. It will not stop the contractions, but it will prevent your body from going into severe shock.]
A cool, numbing sensation spread across her lower spine. The blinding agony dialled back just enough for her vision to clear. She could focus again.
[The infant is crowning. On the next contraction, you must push.]
The physical toll of childbirth was immense. Rue pushed. Sweat stung her eyes and soaked her silver hair. Her small hands cramped from gripping the bed frame.
[One final push, Host. You are doing adequately.]
Rue squeezed her eyes shut, braced her feet against the mattress, and gave it everything she had left. If she was going to give birth to a child, she might as well give it her all! freeweɓnovel.cøm
A sharp, high-pitched wail filled the quiet bedroom.
Rue slumped back against the pillows. Her chest heaved rapidly. She was entirely exhausted. She felt like she had been repeatedly run over by a truck.
The blue screen popped up with a rigid checklist.
[Congratulations, Host, You have given birth to a bouncing baby boy!]
[Immediate Post-Birth Procedures:]
[Clean the newborn’s airways with the provided cloth.]
[Clamp the umbilical cord in two places and sever it.]
[Wrap the infant securely to preserve core body heat.]
Not even giving me enough space to breathe.
Rue forced herself to sit up. Her hands shook violently. She picked up the crying infant. He was incredibly slippery and small. She grabbed a soft cloth from the table and gently wiped his face, clearing his nose and mouth. His wailing grew louder, a strong, healthy sound.
And her heart thumped from several emotions bombarding her at once.
She picked up the sterile metal scissors. She clamped the cord and cut it. She wrapped the baby tightly in a thick, warm towel. She did every single step completely alone.
Rue finally stopped moving and looked at her baby.
Her breath caught in her throat. He was beautiful. He had a fine layer of silver-white hair on his head, exactly like hers. But his face, the shape of his nose, was entirely Caius. He was a perfect baby boy.
A massive, overwhelming wave of warmth flooded directly into Rue’s heart. It chased away the cold emptiness the system’s penalty left behind.
[Warning: Post-birth recovery requires immediate rest. Please recline and—]
Rue ignored the text. The blue screen blurred completely into the background. She pulled the tiny bundle against her chest.
I did this, Rue echoed in her mind. I gave birth to a baby. All by myself. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
The baby rooted against her chest and let out another hungry cry. The sound snapped her right back to reality. She shifted her position against the wooden headboard and guided him. He latched on immediately, sucking as if his life depended on it.
Aww... so this is what it feels like to be a mother?
The bedroom settled into a deep, peaceful quiet. The only sound was the soft, rhythmic noise of her son suckling.
The front door of the cabin opened, and her eyes snapped open. Rue raised her head from the pillows. "Caius?"
Nobody answered, and her frown deepened.
[Perimeter Breached.]
The front door clicked shut. Footsteps moved across the living room floor, silent but present. Thanks to her bunny ears, Rue was able to hear everything.
She froze.
Those were not Caius’s footsteps. Caius was a snake beastman. He slithered. Even when he used his human legs, his steps were heavy and deliberate. These footsteps were light, padded, and completely silent against the wood. It was the deliberate, creeping gait of a hunting predator.
What do I do? What do I do?
She looked everywhere, as a cold, heavy foreboding feeling rose in her stomach. The hairs on the back of her neck stood straight up.
Rue moved, as she ignored the burning ache in her lower body, and carefully lifted the feeding baby and placed him gently into the wooden crib sitting right next to the bed.
Thankfully, he was fast asleep.
She stood up. Her legs shook like frail twigs, threatening to buckle under her weight, but she did not hide. She stepped away from the bed and planted her bare feet directly between the crib and the bedroom door. She blocked the only path to her child.
She looked down at the tiny bundle wrapped in a baby blanket.
"I’ll protect you," Rue whispered fiercely.
The brass handle of the bedroom door slowly turned.
Fear, completely mixed with absolute physical exhaustion, threatened to pull Rue to the floor. But she locked her knees and stood her ground. Her hands curled into tight fists at her sides.
The wooden door swung inward.
A loud crack of thunder exploded right above the cabin. The sudden vibration rattled the glass windowpanes. A violent gust of wind blew through the cracks in the wood, instantly extinguishing every single green candle in the bedroom.
The room plunged into pitch-black darkness.
Rue could hear the slow breathing of the intruder standing in the doorway. She smelled the sharp, metallic scent of rain and wet fur.
A brilliant flash of lightning tore across the night sky, casting a stark, blinding white glow into the room for one split second.
Rue found herself standing before a massive black panther.
