Dark Magick

Much to the bassist’s and frontman’s disappointment, the magnesium sulfate was a fruitless attempt to halt and stave off Ash’s labor. Within a couple hours, it was pretty obvious that instead of weakening and stopping, his contractions were only strengthening and intensifying. They were also starting to come closer and closer together, and at the moment, were only about five minutes apart.

Andy did his best to help him through each one, and now that it was obvious the girls were well on their way, also had the support of Jinxx. He’d called all the guys to let them know what was going on, but only the multi-instrumentalist had volunteered to come to the hospital. Then again, since he was the calmest and sanest in a situation such as this, he was really the only one they wanted to come be with them. They needed as much calm and sanity as they could possibly get until the twins were born.

“You’re doing good, Ash,” Jinxx said soothingly, gently brushing his hair back. He was standing by the bedside, letting him lean on and hug him tightly.

“I-It h-hurts,” the bassist moaned, whining softly.

“I know, I know,” Andy murmured, intensifying the back massage he was giving him. Unbeknownst to his lover, he’d opened up a telepathic link with him that allowed him to feel every ounce of pain he did.

“H-how w-would you kn-know?” he ground out, the contraction reaching its peak.

“Because I opened a telepathic link with you, and can feel everything you do,” the younger man answered, gasping and groaning as he felt the contraction peak.

“It’s the least you can do since you’re the one who put him in this mess,” the multi-instrumentalist chuckled.

“My sentiments…exactly,” his lover groaned.

The youngest man continued massaging his back, digging his thumbs in more so than his fingers. He didn’t want to hurt his lover by any means, but as tense as his muscles were from his labor, he knew it would take quite a bit of pressure to bring relief. Thankfully, this latest contraction was beginning to ebb, and it drew a sigh of relief from both of them.

So far, all said and done, Ash had been in labor for around four hours. He counted the hour or so he’d labored at home before they decided to head to the hospital, and right now, he thought he was closing in on five, total. Sadly, he’d dilated only two or three centimeters in all that time, so he wasn’t making anywhere near the progress he’d wanted. Dr. Shepard reassured him, saying that most first-time mothers had slower labors than others, and that nothing was out of the ordinary so far. Even though they weren’t coming quick enough for his taste, he was just thankful that Legacy and Magick were safe and healthy.

“Hey, guys.”

Looking up, the couple and their friend saw the obstetrician in question.

“I’m not gonna ask how you’ve been doing, Ash,” she said, chuckling softly.

“Prolly wouldn’t be wise to,” Andy advised, knowing hot hot-tempered he was while in pain.

“Well, I can tell by the look on her face that she’s in quite a bit of pain,” the obstetrician said, frowning. “Speaking of, let’s check you again real quick, Ash. You might be far enough along to get an epidural now.”

Nodding miserably, the bassist allowed his lover and friend to help him lay back on the bed again, grimacing in pain. He’d never been able to take pain very well before, and that was shown shortly after arriving at the hospital when he started feeling nauseous. It was the first time since his morning sickness slacked off that he’d felt so sick, and the bed pans just weren’t enough to contain the mess. A janitor actually had to bring in a bucket since he couldn’t get up and make it to the bathroom in time.

Ash took as deep a breath as he could manage while on his back, pressing his feet together and pulling them as close to his pelvis as he could. This left his legs—and birth canal—wide open, allowing Dr. Shepard to check him easier. He grimaced in pain at the sensation of her fingers digging into him deeply, especially considering that he was so tender.

With a wide smile, the obstetrician removed her hand and told them that he’d made it to four centimeters. This was good news because that meant that, so long as she could find the on-call anesthesiologist, he could finally get his epidural. The bassist sighed in relief, the sound soon turning into a groan of pain as another contraction started, glad to know that he could finally get something to relieve his pain. Sure, he’d heard that they could slow down a person’s labor, but if he didn’t feel a thing, he didn’t give a damn how long it took for his baby girls to arrive. Their health was of the utmost importance, anyway.

Dr. Shepard took off to go find the anesthesiologist so she could put in the order for an epidural, drawing sighs and smiles from all of them. Jinxx was just glad that their friend could finally get some kind of relief, knowing this was harder than the pregnancy itself for him. If Andy’d never cast that spell on him, he wouldn’t be going through this right now. Then again, he wouldn’t have these precious baby girls, whom he loved more than Life itself.

* * *

Twelve hours later, after seventeen hours of hard labor, Ash was exhausted. Surprisingly, the epidural he’d finally gotten five hours into labor hadn’t done a damn thing to relieve his pain. He’d been screaming, crying, and often gagging in pain ever since he’d gotten to the hospital, and he’d even thrown up several times.

Andy was worried sick about him and their babies, wondering if this was normal or not. The bassist’s obstetrician assured them that it was perfectly normal to get sick during labor from the pain, although she didn’t know why the epidural wasn’t working. None of them would find out till after the birth that the anesthesiologist knew who the members of Black Veil Brides were, what’d happened to Ash, and hated them. He’d given the poor laboring thing a placebo instead of an actual epidural, refusing to do anything to help someone he considered a faggot.

With another shriek of agony, the bassist clawed at the sheets since he was scared of hurting himself or the twins if he tried clutching his belly. The pain was so intense since his “epidural” wasn’t working that he was extremely nauseous and seeing stars. His poor lover refused to close the telepathic link between them, insisting on feeling every ounce of pain he did since it was his fault he’d gotten pregnant in the first place. Were it not for that, he’d have just sat quietly by his side and tried to comfort him as best he could.

It wasn’t long afterward that Dr. Shepard came in to check him again, just as curious as they were to find out how much longer it’d be before he could start pushing. She was relieved to announce that he’d finally made it to nine centimeters, meaning that it shouldn’t be long before he was able to push. In fact, she started setting up everything she needed for the delivery, hoping it wouldn’t be much longer now.

Notes