Unexpected Development

Determined, she screams as I yell out, “Push!” with all of my might until I feel that my vocal cords are about to shatter. My throat is parched; I feel thirsty but my adrenaline pushes me to keep on yelling. That is, until I hear a tiny little voice overlap with hers. My hands immediately scoop under and take hold of the little life just born.

The pointy-eared newborn’s azure eyes look up at me with tears in them; its cry reverberates in my ears. I swiftly turn it on its back to check its gender; it is a girl.

For a moment, I wrap my arms around her and hold her tightly against my chest, until I see the elven mother gaze at her child with a longing look in her eyes.

Snapping myself out of my stupor, I hold the baby out to the mother with a smile plastered on my face, “It’s a girl.”

With an exhausted-yet-triumphant grin, she holds the baby close to her and cradles the child.

“I haven’t seen you that happy in the few months we’ve known each other,” I comment.

Celica looks out the window and notices the droplets of rain falling into the soil. The weather is gloomy and gray, which isn’t exactly happy weather for the birth of a child.

That doesn’t seem to matter, though, because from the corner of her lips I see a small smile forming; her eyes beam with joy.

“Rain,” she says.

“I’m sorry?” I ask.

“Rain. That’s her name. My child’s name.”

I repeat the newborn’s – no – Rain’s name. My eyes gaze over the newborn Rain. The first thing I see are her cheeks, inflated like balloons and as soft as a marshmallow. Her beady eyes are almost alien-like. Rain’s left hand bobbles over her head as she scratches her hazel-brown short hair. She is almost bald, and she seems uncomfortable with her hair – or the lack thereof.

I was about to pull on her cheeks but I heard that you weren’t supposed to touch a baby’s face, so I stop myself. Instead, my hand awkwardly hovers over Rain’s head; Celica stares at me with a tired-yet-amused expression. She giggles.

Truthfully, I never expected to help someone – an elf of all people – with her labor.

I still remember when she was incredibly depressed about her missing half and almost always cried when she looked down at her swollen stomach. Celica looked very lonely as she whispered “I’m sorry” to her unborn child. During the first few months I’d known her, she’d cry herself to sleep uttering her husband’s name.

Truth be told, I was extremely worried for the baby’s health. A baby’s well-being was tied to its mother’s, and Celica at the time was emotionally unstable.

Now, however, I realize there isn’t anything to worry about. I see Celica smiling while she cradles Rain in her arms, and a small twinkle in her eyes as she gazes over me. For a moment, I feel affection.

After the Demon World War – a war where my kind, the demons, went to war with all the other races, I hid myself in a cavern where I expected to live the rest of my days there, isolated from the world. I wanted to live in maximized comfort and away from politics and war. Considering us demons are biologically immortal and our bodies stop aging at about twenty years old, my only worry was not to be murdered in my sleep. I'm so glad I'm still in my prime even after two hundred years. I am so glad I wasn't born human. An old body would've gotten me killed a long time ago.

So I refurbished the cavern with magic to create a bathroom, a kitchen, a room, and all other necessities to live. I’d say this kind of home is a step short from a revolution.

The only times I went out were to hunt animals for food or gather herbs.

I chose the cavern because it was hidden away in a deep part of the mountain, since I was content with the idea of being far from society.

Which is why when I saw an elf, one of the demonkin’s worst enemies, collapsed in front of my cavern, I was paralyzed and confused.

But when I took a closer look, I saw blood dripping from her head. Her breathing was also incredibly shallow, as she took unnaturally quick breaths. She looked to be in her mid-twenties, almost reaching the point where elves' bodies stop aging as fast as humans.

My body moved in an instant, dragging her limp body up with my trembling arms back into the cavern. I placed her on a bed and removed her partially-frozen clothing. I knew I had to be quick. Someone suffering from hypothermia and a concussion while practically asleep was an emergency.

I was no healer, so all I could do was treat her with superficial knowledge. I dried her up, cleaned up her head wound, wrapped her up in warm blankets, and dripped warm water down her throat.

After that, her survival rested solely on her willpower.

A whole night passed by, and I awoke to two beady eyes cautiously looking up at me – at my horns. I saw fear in her expression, but as I looked down at her right hand caressing her stomach, I also saw bravery. She’d grabbed the nearby glass of water I had been keeping her hydrated with and shattered the open end of it against the wood of the bed. Using it as a knife, she pointed the shattered cup at me with a glare in her eyes.

I held up my hands and slowly stood up, showing her I meant no harm, “Ish okei,” I said in broken elven language, “I am noth here to hert you.” Even I cringed at my terrible Elvenish.

I knelt to pick up the glass shards on the floor below her, careful not to cut my hands. She stared at my slow movements like a hawk and sighed, finally putting the broken cup on the desk beside her bed, lowering her guard.

She apologized in Elvenish and hung her head shamefully. For a second, I saw her cheeks reddened with embarrassment. I felt a sudden surge of heat explode in my chest as my eyes widened. My heart felt like a shooting star crashing down onto Earth.

As if the room suddenly gained ten degrees, I fanned myself desperately.

After that, I spent every day with the elf and picked up Elvenish quickly. I soon learned that her name was Celica. She told me she was a forest-dweller elf, and had a loving husband, at least before a fox-kin tribe attacked them.

Apparently, the fox-kin tribe was forced to migrate after a human leader, named Elizabeth, lead her crew to attack their king. The reasoning behind the attack was for resources. Though Celica told me there were some rumors that Elizabeth attacked the fox-kin out of some personal vendetta.

Regardless of the reason, the Elven forest suffered because of it. The elves and humans are on pretty bad terms because of Elizabeth’s fiasco now.

Then again, who am I to talk. My race pretty much decimated entire civilizations out of the need for conquest.

Once I heard her story, a powerful sensation squeezed my heart and I decided to look after Celica. There was no way I was going to abandon her, but the thing is…I didn’t realize it wasn’t out of pity, duty, or some need of companionship that I kept her around.

No, I had fallen in love with her.

I hadn’t realized the signs for a while, honestly. When it came to matters like romance, I was as dumb as a doornail about my own feelings.

I laughed at my predicament. I, a woman, or should I say, more importantly, a demon, fell in love with a pregnant widow. My taste in partners was questionable at best.

Celica clearly still had feelings for her deceased husband. My heart twisted in knots as I felt jealous towards her dead husband. How insensitive could I be?

One night, while she was asleep in a makeshift bed I made for her, I crawled over her, my arms supporting my weight, careful not to fall on her. Her chest expanded from her slow breathing like a balloon.

She smelled so sweet that I drew closer and placed a finger near her lips before suddenly bolting away.

Stupid, stupid! Now I’m just a freaking creep! I berated myself. Celica deserved better than what I was about to do. I almost crossed a line with her. If I went through with it, I’m not sure if Celica would forgive me. Even if she didn’t wake up, I’m not sure I’d forgive myself.

I sprinted back towards my bedroom with my literal tail behind my legs and hoped Celica hadn’t woken up from my sudden bolt.

So that I could take care of Celica and her baby, I had to push down my feelings for her. Even though her husband was gone, there was no room for me to budge into her heart. If there’s one thing I learned out of my time taking care of her, was that Celica was, and forever will be, loyal to her husband and would never love anyone else.

Back to present day, I feel like my decision back then was the right one. I was not and will not get in the way of Celica’s happiness. If my role is simply to be Celica and Rain’s caretaker, then I’ll be just that.

Day by day, I watch Rain inflate like a balloon. Rain’s a very lively baby, constantly trying to hop from one place to the next like an overeager bunny. Her stubby little legs hit the floor but collapse soon after. She pouts. Her frustration pulls on her cheeks adorably.

As if forgetting her little falling incident, Rain crawls toward her mother and says her very first word, “Mama.”

Celica doesn’t move, then a waterfall plummets from her eyes. I see in Celica’s eyes the pride and love of a mother.

Nothing could get in between that.

A little over two decades later…

A teenage Rain barges into the cavern; the door swings wide open. Annoyed, I yell at her, “Rain! Make sure to shut the door! You don’t want another wild animal on the loose in here, do you?!”

“So~rry!” She says, her tone not the slightest bit apologetic. She sticks her tongue out at me, winks, and bolts into her room.

“Where does she even get that from?” I mutter, putting my hands across my temples. “I feel like she doesn’t even see me as her aunt.”

An older Celica giggles at me and bops my head, “Well, you haven’t exactly aged from when we first met,” She places a sandwich in front of me, “I swear, you demons are so lucky you’re immortal. You get eternal youth and all that.”

Ignoring her blatant envy of my eternal good looks, I look at the flung-open door and begrudgingly close it, “So you’re saying Rain doesn’t see me as an older figure because I look…young?”

“Pretty much.”

A heavy sigh fills the room, “Oh great…” Rain’s become such a tomboy, I don’t even know what to do with her.

Celica rolls her eyes, seemingly annoyed, “You’re clearly her best friend, y’know. Rain barely talks to anyone outside of us.”

“What about the village kids down the mountain?” I counter, “I’m sure she has some friends there.”

Unconvinced, Celica rests her chin on her left palm as she sits on the other side of the kitchen table. “You’ve been there since she was a baby. Of course she’s going to like you more than anyone.”

Feeling a bit cheery from what Celica said, a shameful smile creeps up my lips as I gobble down the sandwich Celica made me. I hop off my chair in an attempt to hide my embarrassing smile, “I’m gonna go out for some hunting, see what game I can find.”

“Waaaaaaait for meeeee!!!!” I hear Rain cry out from the next room. With heavy steps, the energetic elf practically teleports to me, “You were planning on ditching me, weren’t you?!”

“W-wait what? N-no! Not at all!” I frantically deny, my hands practically waving in front of my face in a panic.

“Well you’re stuck with me!” Putting her hands on her hips triumphantly, she huffs at me.

Oooooookay then. I feel like there’s something else going on with her, but I ignore the feeling and tell her, “Pack your bow and make sure you’re fitted to walk in snow. There’s a lot outside today.”

“Yes ma’am~”

After rummaging in her bag for a few minutes, Rain runs to the door where I was waiting. I do a bag check on both of our bags. For a moment, I see a tinge of red on Rain’s cheeks. “Rain, do you have a fever?” I stretch out my hand immediately toward her chin, but she immediately backs away.

Stuttering, she just barely makes out the words, “I-I, I’m perfectly fine!”

“Your red face doesn’t look fine to me,” I rebut.

Desperately searching for an excuse, she fiddles with her hands, “I’m just nervooous! That’s all!”

“Nervous? You? Might as well let pigs fly.”

“I. Am. Perfectly. Okay!”

I don’t believe her, but it doesn’t look like I can convince her stay home, “Alright, but stick close to me. If you get too sick, I want to know immediately.”

“I told you! I’m not sick!”

“Riiiiiight.”

“See you in a bit, Celica!” I shout out.

“See ya, mama!”

“Come back safe!”

She follows right behind me, and as we get to the woods, I motion for her to stop. Right in the middle of all those trees is a deer. Its antlers perk up at the noise of our boots sinking into the snow, but other than that it is left unalarmed.

I feel a sudden gust of wind rush past my ear. Blinking, I notice an arrow lodged into the deer’s neck and the animal falls.

“Did you see that! I did it!” Rain jumps merrily. She runs to her prize and smiles at me. Rain motions for me to come forward, snapping me out of my daze.

“Wow…didn’t think you had it in you,” I say, complimenting Rain, “Have you been practicing?”

She gives me a nervous laugh before scratching her hair, “Ah…well…sort of.” Rain shrugs and drops her bag. “I told myself that if I could take down a large animal today with one arrow, I’d confess.”

“Confess?” I tilt my head, “Confess what?”

“Ah-ahem!” She breathes in and out rather dramatically. I see waves of red washing over her pale face. Her pointy ears boil red. She just barely stutters out the words, “P-please be my girlfriend, Poima!”

“…..Wut?”