┍━━━━ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ━━━━┑

chapter twenty three

|doctors?|

┕━━━━ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ━━━━┙

, gil, how long until anne gets your love letter?" benjamin blythe playfully asked his brother, gilbert.

lately, gilbert spends his free time making his letter to anne more presentable. so, ben and bash are teasing him about that.

"i already told you, it is not a love letter. and to answer your question, maybe a month," gilbert answered.

"it's awfully a long time until she gets your love confession," ben said.

"at least baby blythe had a time to move on, in case she rejects his love," bash said as he and ben shared a laugh.

their conversation was interrupted by a woman screaming, "help!"

they walked to the location where the screaming was occurring.

"ah! please!" a pregnant woman, who was on the ground pleaded to other woman.

"you, you don't come back here again!" the woman, who was standing, yelled as she pointed her finger to her.

"please!" the pregnant woman pleaded, once again. only to receive a door slam.

ben, bash, and gilbert quickly go to the pregnant woman's side as they support her from standing.

"what's wrong? what is it?" bash immediately asked.

"she's in labor!" ben said. the blythe brothers often read books about medicine, so they knew about that.

"miss, where's your family?" gilbert asked, receiving a shriek from the woman.

"i think she doesn't have one, no offence, miss," ben said.

"yeah, and her brothel mother just threw her out!" bash said as he knocked on the door loudly.

"there a doctor coming?" gilbert asked.

ben shook his head, "i don't think so."

"hey!" bash shouted as he continued to loudly knock on the door, "open this door! you can't do this!"

"miss?" ben asked as the woman ignore them and walked on her own.

ben and gilbert followed the woman, and found her in a shack, hurting and about to labor.

"miss? miss. i know you must be scared. what's your name?" ben asked.

"ru... ruth," the woman answered between her tears.

"ruth, i'm benjamin. this is my brother, gilbert, " ben introduces, only to receive a painful shouts.

"your waters have broken," ben said.

"ah! yes! yes!" ruth screamed.

ben looked at gil, "gil, take some clothes outside," he commands as his brother immediately obeyed.

"ruth, it's going to be alright. you're going to labor now," ben quickly said.

bash immediately walk in, "we have to get help."

"no time. this is happening now," ben told to him, "i need your babash. i-i need to sterilize." ben said as gilbert walked in with clothes in his hands.

"you crazy? you two ain't delivering that baby. what on the green earth makes you think you---" gilbert cuts bash off.

"we've done it before!" gilbert exclaimed.

"on a farm! cows! this is different!" bash contradicts.

"don't you think we know that?! you can go and find help, or you can help us in here," ben said as bash looked at him for a second before giving his babash.

gilbert immediately give the clothes to ben as they loosen their vest.

"what are you doing?!" ruth shouted.

"ruth, your baby's coming now," gilbert said.

"no. no, stay away from me!" ruth yelled at the both blythe.

bash immediately reached for ruth, "we're here to help."

"you keep that white men away from me!" ruth shouted at bash.

"i know. those two pasty fellas trying to come at you? i was not sure when i met them neither. they'll talk your ear off and don't know much about the world," bash calmly said as gilbert and ben prepared the clothes to be a labor mat. "but they knows birthing. they're my brothers and i trust them. if your baby's coming, they can't leave you. i can go for help."

ruth immediately protests, "no! no, no, no, no, no..."

"we're for you, in truth, if you'll have us," bash said, only receiving a scream. "w-what now?!"

"dilation! we need to see that her body is prepared. help her down here!" ben said as he pointed the prepared mat.

"ruth, i'm gonna need you to lie down, alright?" ben said as bash and gilbert carry ruth down to mat. ben opened the bottle containing of the babash, as he and gilbert pour it in their hands.

"get behind her, bash. support her, " gilbert informed bash as he immediately followed, "good."

ruth continued to scream, "begging your pardon, miss?" ben asked as ruth nods her head.

"alright, it's time. alright, uh..." gilbert said as he and ben attempt to push but nothing happened.

"what?! what is it?! what?!" ruth shoutedly asked.

"y-your baby's breech," ben stuttered as he and gilbert shared a look.

"what is that?!" ruth asked, screaming.

"it-it's not in a deliverable position. we're gonna need to adjust it," ben said, panicking, he knew what possibilities gonna happens.

"hold onto me!" bash said as ruth make a loud screams. ben and gilbert are adjusting ruth's stomach, so they can move the baby into a deliverable position.

"ruth. ruth," gilbert called to her as ben continued to adjust the baby's position, "do you want to know something? i was a breech baby too, and i lived to tell the tale."

ben smiled at gilbert's statement while he's still adjusting the baby's position.

"he was in his mother just like your baby is in you now. look at him! strong, strapping lad. well, he's kind of skinny, but--"

"it's moved! the baby is ready! you'll have to start pushing now!" ben exclaimed.

"i can't, i can't! it hurts!" ruth cries.

"yes, you can!" ben encouraged her.

"push, ruth. you're doing so well!" gilbert said.

"push!"

"push, ruth!"

"ruth, you're doing well, push!"

"almost there. one more, ruth. push!" ben said.

with one last push, they can hear the baby's cries. the baby was on ben's arm as they all smiled and looked at the baby.

"you see that face? she's beautiful," bash said.

ruth hold her baby as they all looked at them in awe.

ruth turned to the blythe brothers as she smiled genuinely, "thank you."

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"what kind of strange child were you anyway, blythe? needing to know about your own breech birth," bash curiously questioned as he, gilbert, and ben cleaning their hands and faces with water.

"i didn't want to know about my birth. i wanted to know about my mother," gilbert said.

"yes, but, i don't know mom that a lot, all i know that she's very caring, kind and beautiful," ben piped in.

gilbert nodded his head, "so i asked father. she died giving birth to me."

"sorry. my brain is slow," bash sympathetically said.

"it's alright, though. didn't want ruth to know that part," ben said, "i don't want to be a farmer."

"me either," gilbert said.

"you both said that before. now you're sure?" bash said as he smiled. the both blythe nodded.

"guess there's other things calling out to you. eh... doc?"