kiss the corners of my dreaming eyes

Evie

You thrill me, you delight me
You're all that I've been yearning for

Evie’s head hits the pillow, blinking stars out of her eyes as wailing fills the room. Sweat sticks uncomfortably to her skin in places she’d forgotten could sweat. At least since the last time she was in this bed; how could she have forgotten any of the intensity or details of this process?

As she lifts her head, exhausted, she lays eyes on the squalling bundle the doctor is handing to her and she thinks: oh. That’s how. Why bother remembering anything else when it’s the first time she’s seen her child’s face? Her arms are already up and open to receive the red-faced babe before she registers the rote congratulatory phrases and the confirmation of gender - a girl. Their first daughter. The only other girl in the family aside from Evie herself.

Evie shamelessly begins to cry, cradling her daughter who goes quiet as if bewildered to not be the designated person for such things. The Evergreen can’t put to words the feelings that crest inside her at seeing her own traits - defining characteristics of her existence as Evie Ignatius - replicated in their child. Honored? Blessed? Some grander sentiment that comforts her, tells her she will continue on in this world in some small way even when she has been embraced by Ludo?

Looking up through tears at Deimos, her lips wobble pathetically, though she swears she had tried to smile just now. “She’s a girl, she’s our daughter,” she hiccups, overcome with love and cosmic connection and - less poetically - exhaustion and delirium. That will pass. Right now, what matters is the little girl against her chest, nose wrinkled and cheeks as pink as the blanket she’s swaddled in. “She’s perfect.”

I love you, I adore you - I lay my life before you
I only want you more and more

Deimos

The process was much the same, but not any easier the second time around. While Deimos couldn’t share Evie’s monumental efforts and pain amidst bringing a new beacon into the world, he could remain as a bulwark, a support system, there through every trial and tribulation as they traversed down that path again. The relief was something else altogether though, as he held her hand and helped her breathe and they waded through the storm, to hear the first rush and wail of life unraveled into the room.

Because much like Amhran and Erebos before, it was an echo of triumph, and sometimes a call of wonder. Things they’d built out of tragedies and loss; pieces of dreams where their children wouldn’t be haunted by the remnants of yesteryear, carved, sculpted, whittled that victory into renewal and things anew. Their efforts hadn’t been in vain, and all the pain borne meant something when it was a rejoice, a jubilation, an achievement.

So while Zuriel and the nurses tended and mended his wife’s current exhaustion and discomfort, he unleashed a long, long sigh, peering into the little face as she was passed to Evie – a dark head of hair and red, rosy cheeks peeking through swaddled linens and announcements of a girl layered through the air. There was a temptation to break the moment with a joke, but he didn’t think the Evergreen would take well to the humor at present, so instead he went for sentimentality and veracity, placing his lips at her crimson crown. “So are you,” for being so strong and courageous and willing to go through this again and again. Then the rumble went forth, a generous smile at his mouth, as he pulled back some portion of the blanket that fully surrounded the newfound youth, watched as she squirmed until she’d heard his voice – another one she’d heard a thousand times over, between Evie and him and everyone else in the Ignatius house. “Beautiful,” a comment and compliment meant for both; of that overwhelming love and boundless sanctity, shelter, and support. “Though that does mean we finally have to pick a name,” he teased, mildly, given the extensive list they’d had – and then the moment was suddenly here.

forget stardust - you are iron
And what is iron really - unless it's forged?