Xena & Gabrielle Ch. 09

It wasn't crying. Gabrielle was aware that the pain was gone, and the baby was now free. "Xena, what is it? Is my baby okay?" Gabrielle asked worriedly.

Xena looked at the tiny little being in her hands. It was so small, but perfectly formed and a bit purple in color. Slowly she turned it over, allowing the birthing blood and mucus to leave it's tiny mouth. Then it took a breath, crying a bit. A very weak cry, as though it were barely alive. Xena turned it over, seeing it was pinking up and beginning to move it's tiny limbs. "It's a girl," Xena said with a relieved little laugh. It wasn't born with horns and a tail, and as she washed it with a bit of toweling, Xena saw that the baby had golden hair, just like Gabrielle's.

"A girl?" Gabrielle said, tears rushing from her eyes. "Is... is she okay?" She too had been worried. Perhaps the baby she had just birthed wasn't human.

"She's fine. Just beautiful," Xena spoke, continuing to wash the baby and then cutting the cord. She wrapped the infant in a clean scrap of cloth, slowly handing her to Gabrielle.

As she lay the infant against Gabrielle's chest, Xena then saw something that struck terror in her heart. Those tiny blue eyes gazed back at her in some almost warning. In the dying fire, they seemed to glow dark red. She was her father's child. Of that, Xena had no doubt. "She will come between us," Xena thought as she saw Gabrielle cuddling the baby and crooning love-words to her. "Someday I will have no choice but to take her life," Xena knew but did not speak aloud.

"She IS beautiful, perfect," Gabrielle said to Xena, gazing at her baby girl in wonder. She had a blond tuft of hair upon her tiny head and gorgeous blue eyes. Those blue eyes stared back at Gabrielle as she cuddled the infant against her breasts. "I love her so much, Xena," Gabrielle said incredulously, surprised herself at the amount of love and motherly protection she felt for this infant who had resulted from cold-blooded rape.

"Xena, are you sure she's alright?" Gabrielle asked as Xena was working to clean Gabrielle up and dispose of the afterbirth.

"I won't lie to you, little one... she's very small. The smallest baby I have ever seen. I honestly don't know," said Xena.

"Nothing can happen to her, it would break my heart," said the bard, wincing a little as Xena removed the pinch that had kept her from the intense pain that had accompanied the end of the baby's birth. Xena then helped Gabrielle into something clean and warm, her tummy almost completely flat now that the newborn was out.

"You look so beautiful holding the baby," Xena said, gazing at Gabrielle lovingly as she now lay upon a clean pallet, holding her newborn infant daughter. Xena felt her own heart hurting, wishing this baby was theirs, wishing it hadn't been fathered by some monster.

"Thank you, Xena," Gabrielle whispered, and she wasn't just thanking her for the compliment.

The baby was only a few hours old when the villagers reached the barn. They started beating against the walls, trying to get thru the heavy, bolted door. Gabrielle screamed, seeing their faces staring thru the windows. "No!" she cried out, looking at Xena. "Don't let them hurt my baby!"

Xena snatched Gabrielle up in her arms, placing her and the baby upon Argo. She then got astride, commanding Argo to ride. Argo burst thru the door, knocking it open forcefully. Villagers went flying, thrust aside by the pressure of the door as it burst open. Upon Argo they rode away at heavy speed toward the direction of the cabin. It was in a well-hidden, secluded place, where Xena hoped no one would find them.

Gabrielle was grateful when they finally reached the cabin. They had rode hard all day, and Gabrielle was worried about what the intense riding may have done to her fragile newborn baby. Xena carried Gabrielle into the cabin, placing her tenderly into a chair next to the fireside. "Are you okay, little one?" Xena asked, brushing a lock of Gabrielle's long blond hair aside.

"I've never been better," Gabrielle spoke, looking up from the sweet face of her little daughter to meet Xena's blue eyes. "I just can't believe I had a baby, Xena. It's as though all my dreams have come true."

Xena looked down at the tiny being in her beloved's arms as a terrible pain ripped thru her heart. Gabrielle looked so beautiful and happier than she had been in a very, very long time. "Gabrielle, I wish you wouldn't talk about her like that. You know she's not a real baby... just a vessel. She's got Dahak's evil inside of her..." Xena spoke, hoping that although her words were cruel that somehow they might reach Gabrielle.

"Xena, she's my daughter. She's my Hope," Gabrielle said, once again lovingly looking down at her daughter's sweet little face. "That's what I've decided to name her. My Hope. She's my hope for a new beginning, a life for us, without pain."

Xena could only look on, shaking her head sadly. Hope would come between them... in the worst of ways. This Xena knew. No matter what Gabrielle tried to do, the infant refused to nurse. Gabrielle's breasts were heavy with milk, but baby Hope wouldn't feed. Xena could only hope the newborn would perish, saving her from having to commit the grim task of killing her in the future. It was just a matter of time before Hope would show her evil side, of that Xena was sure. She may have Gabrielle's beauty, but she had been born with her demon-father's black heart.