Ascendance of a Bookworm

Volume 6, Chapter 20: Our Family Has a New Member

It was daybreak when Dad heard Mum groaning from the labour pains and this made him jump out of bed.

‘Tuuli, Myne! Your mum is going into labour. I need to get the midwife! Quickly get dressed and help out with the rest!” Dad instructed us as he quickly dressed himself and left the house in a flurry.

Everyone knew what to do except for me. While I was sent in a clueless daze, Tuuli had already got dressed and ran out the door.

“I’m going to call Karla! Myne, stay here and look after Mum!”

“I will!”

I nodded back out of reflex but frankly, I wasn’t sure what I needed to do for Mum. My mind was filled with so much panic that I stood there frozen.

“Uhh, uuuuhmm…”

“Myne, could you, get me some water?” Mum asked me in a broken bated breath.

I ran to the kitchen to pour her a cup of water from the jug and ran back to her. Mum gave me a gentle smile in thanks and took a sip of water. Sweat was beading on her forehead, it was when I left the room to grab a cloth did something important pop into my mind.

…Hygiene! Sanitation! It’s important to keep clean!

Our place was much cleaner than the average household here. Mum and Tuuli believed that I was so obsessed with cleanliness that they would clean the house daily. Furthermore, everyone now made washing hands a habit. But I did not expect the midwife and the other mothers helping out to do the same.

“W-w-what am I going to do?!”

I wanted them to at least clean their hands with some alcohol, but there was no way we had any alcohol for disinfecting at home.

“Maybe I could use some alcohol instead… Uhm… uhmmm…”

We didn’t have any alcohol home that was strong enough like vodka that could be used as a disinfectant. There was the wine that I used to make the ____, it was pretty strong but there was too many things in it that lowered its effectiveness. If I got to leave the temple earlier, I could have asked Benno to help me find some pure alcohol.

“…But it’s better than nothing, I guess.”

I would choose to day the impure alcohol over the dirt from outside on any day. I dug out the bottle of wine and a clean rag, ready to start cleaning.

“I’m back. I’m heading out again to get some water.”

Tuuli was heading out again with a bucket right after getting back home. Following her return was Karla and a few other mothers came back with buckets of water from the well. They poured out the contents into a tub and heated it with fire until it boiled.

“Tuuli, everyone needs to clean their hands first. And the tools need to be sanitised with boiling water. Also—”

I flooded Tuuli with my worries right before she left the house.

“Yes, yes. We need to be clean. I know. I’ll remember it. Now just stay by Mum’s side, Myne.”

Tuuli wasn’t taking my words to heart because I wasn’t going to be much help when Mum starts pushing later, so she just pushed me towards the bedroom and left. I moved closer to Mum and clutched onto her hand. She was panting heavily because of the labour pains, and she would grip my hand with every contraction that it felt like my hand was going to break.

“Mum, when you’re going to start pushing, you can try breathing in and out like this, “hee hee hoo’. It’s called Lamaze breathing.”

“La… what?”

Though she was in so much pain, Mum still returned a bright smile.

“Uh, it’s a way of breathing that can help ease the pain. Sorry, I’m not too sure about it.”

Back when I was still Urano, the idea of getting pregnant or having to see someone give birth never came to mind before, hence I never found it necessary to read more about pregnancy. Though I knew about the Lamaze breathing, I had no idea what it was supposed to do or help with.

“So it’s, hee-hee-hoo?”

This made mum giggle and we started breathing together as the intervals between her contractions shortened. After a short while, the midwife and the other mothers who came by to help walked in. I was shocked by their arrival and ran to the foot of the bed with my arms spread wide in an attempt to stop them from approaching Mum.

“Wait, you have to wash your hands first before you can come in!”

“Oh yeah. I forgot how obsessed you are with cleanliness,” Karla was annoyed at my demands, but she did leave the room with the others to wash their hands. After that, I had them clean their hands again with the cloth soaked in wine.

I hope this helps.

“Alright, Myne, go to the kitchen. You’re not going to help much anyways. Also get that bonehead of a Gunther to stop panicking and take out the chair. He’s already had these many children but still can’t follow our instructions. Geez.”

Seeing how dirty the cloth had gotten when I cleaned their hands made my face scrunch up. It meant that whatever I did to clean their hands was not enough. I wanted to try another method but I was pushed out of the room before I could do anything. Now that I had nothing better to do, I just told Dad what Karla told me and helped to get the chair.

“Dad, why do we need this chair?” I was perplexed as to what this filthy looking chair was going to do. Dad proceeded to explain that Mum would sit here to give birth. I finally understood that this was supposed to be a delivery table, and I was stumped. Without any second thought, my arm reached for the cloth and alcohol.

“…I need to clean this.”

“Hey, wait, Myne! What on earth are you doing with my wine?!”

“Mum has to sit on this, doesn’t she? I need to clean it.”

I didn’t bother about Dad’s complaints and quickly wiped down the chair with the cloth and alcohol. I continued on until one of the mums came back out to retrieve it. She gave a hearty chuckle when she saw this.

“So you need to clean this too? *sigh* you’re such a clean freak. Gunther, we don’t need any more help. Why don’t you make your way down?”

Men were not allowed to witness the birthing process. Dad has already did everything that the fathers needed to do so he left the house.

“I’m going to stay here.”

“No, you’ll go down too, Myne. You’ll just keep bothering us with your pleas to keep clean.”

“But I’m not joking around, it’s really important!”

“Yes, yes. You can go now.”

Tuuli could still stay around and she was busy making trips in and out the room to help. On the other hand, I was chased out of the house. The door has been shut so I was locked out.

“Mum…”

I couldn’t believe that they were weirded out by me even though I just emphasized the most basic hygiene rules. Thinking about how high infant mortality was in my past world, my blood went cold. I wanted to thoroughly wipe down everyone inside the house for Mum’s and the baby’s safety, but I was practically helpless.

The labour pains started right on daybreak, but now the sun was almost entirely up in the sky that it almost lit up the entire square. When I left the building, I noticed that some of the townfolks were butchering some fresh birds.

I noticed Dad pacing around the well and ran up to him.

“Dad, what’s going on?” I gestured towards the other men.

“…Since men aren’t allowed to watch the birth, we are in charge of the Naming Celebration.”

“What’s that?”

Since children weren’t allowed in the temple other than for their baptism, I wasn’t expecting there to be a religious celebration for newborns. Hearing the title of this ceremony, I assumed that it was just a local celebration.

Dad continued to explain that the men were supposed to buy some birds, pluck their feathers and cook them for the Naming Celebration. It was just a minor ceremony, on these occasions the men would cook for themselves because their spouse couldn’t do so. Conversely, the women that helped out with delivering the baby would get some food in exchange. All in all, this was a celebration for the birth a newborn.

“Why do the both of you keep walking around so frantically?” I heard someone’s voice. I spun around and saw Lutz in his apprentice uniform. He had a large grin and he looked like he was going to burst into laughter any moment now.

“Lutz!”

He looked up towards our house.

“…Is Mdm Effa ok? It has started, right?”

I have a nod.

“Well then, I don’t suppose you will be going to the temple today. I’ll inform them later.”

“Thanks, Lutz.”

“Maybe I should take a day off today too. After all there’s a Naming Celebration, right? That baby is gonna be a big and healthy one. I need to get a good look at him,” Lutz had a smile across his face.

Dad smiled back too and nodded fervently. We both said our goodbyes to Lutz and went back to pacing around the well.

“Dad, do you not need to inform the others that you can’t make it to work today?”

“Al helped me inform them when he went to get the birds. There’s no way I’m leaving here.”

“I see.”

After a few moments, Deid, who was Lut’z dad came over and roared at us.

“Gunther, Myne! If you’re just going to walk around then at least help us out. You always do this, Gunther, you’re such a pain in the butt.”

Deid wanted the both of us to help out with washing the veggies. We squatted at the well and washed them while talking. I didn’t know what was the mortality rate of births here, I needed to keep myself distracted or I would definitely stomp back into the house.

“Dad, how long does it take for one to give birth?”

“I only know that it took forever for you and Tuuli. I think I was out here for the entire day.”

“Both of ya’ll were quite fast. Al’s one took much longer,” Deid responded with a shake of his head. He had walked over here to fetch a pail of water

Only Dad felt that it was long, but everyone else said that Mum was one of those who was quick with the birthing process. Hearing that helped soothe some of my nerves, but Dad’s eyebrows were still knitted together, I felt really bad for him.

“I don’t care if it’s quickor not. If waiting is all it takes for Effa and the baby to be safe this time, I can do it forever…

“This time?”

I blurted out my question. Maybe he had said that because he wanted a healthy baby and not a weak one like me.

“We lost out first kid to a miscarriage. Our second was a boy, but he didn’t even make it past his first year. You and Tuuli are ok now, but our kid after you didn’t make it past winter. And the last one was a miscarriage too. I pray that the baby will live through this time.”

Everything he said gave me a gripping sense of surrealism about infant mortality here. I did read books about the high death rates among infants centuries ago, but the reality never set in until now. I only came to realise its severity when Dad talked about my short-lived siblings. I was so scared that I went back to staring up at our house. Right now, right there, Mum was doing her best for the baby and herself.

“Mum will be fine, right?”

“…Myne, please say a prayer for her.”

Without a second thought, I went into the praying pose and said the prayers will all my might.

“O Goddess of Birth, Entolindage and the retainer of the Goddess of Water, please bless my mother with your divine protection.”

Lutz had returned from the Gilberata Company and orphanage; he was carrying a large open-top basket behind him. He placed it down and took out what was inside.

“Myne, Mister Benno wants to give you all some cloth. Your chambers and the workshop also know about this. Hugo prepared some of the meat that Brother Syl got from the other day.”

“…The baby is not even out yet.”

Even so, I was happy that everyone was so caring and generous.

“I’ll save the smaller parts of the bird meat for Mum to have later. For the naming celebration, we can use up the rest of the bird meat and the deer meat. We’ll have them after she’s given birth and we can share it with the other ladies too. Lutz, take some too, after all you were the one who brought it here,” I said and took out some of the meat for Lutz.

Dad was very pleased with whatever I said and nodded along. Just them, Tuuli came running out into the plaza and her hair was bouncing along with every step, she was smiling brightly.

“Dad, Myne! Everything is good! The baby is a boy!”

“Waaaaa~ Congrats!”

Everyone around the plaza roared out with words of congratulations. And with that, we commenced the naming celebration and began feasting. The fathers from the neighbouring houses gulped down their booze and started grilling the meat on the grills they brought over.

“Dad, Myne, you can go back in. Come one.”

Naturally, the first ones to see the baby were the closest family members. Dad picked up the basket Lutz carried over and carried me into his arms. He skipped up the steps by two, speeding up the flights of stairs because he was so excited.

Dad practically busted down the door, he gave his thanks to the women inside who had helped out and were cleaning the place now. They also gave their congrats and complimented that they baby looked very healthy.

“Dad, keep the germs out of the bedroom!”

I wasn’t going to let Dad into the bedroom like this. I dragged him aside, made him put down the basket and cleaned his hands. Though the other women were teasing me for being a clean freak again, I wasn’t going to listen to them. After that I cleaned my hands too.

“Mum, we’re coming in, ok?”

“Gunther, Myne, look it’s a boy.”

“Thank you, Effa! I’m happy that you’re both safe!”

Dad knelt by Mum’s side and took her hand into his, he left a trail of kisses from the back of her hand to her fingertips.

The baby was sleeping soundly on Mum’s chest. He was so small and wrinkly all over, his skin was flushed red, but that was a sign that he was healthy. My heart welled up with so much joy when I got to see the baby get cleaned and wear the newborn clothes Tuuli had worked hard to make.

“Well, have you decided on the baby’s name?”

“You thought of one already? What’s his name?” Tuuli was between Mum and Dad. She was so excited and bouncing all over the place.

They both nodded back in sync and exchanged looks before looking back at the baby and stroked his head.

“His name will be ‘Camil’. How does it sound?” Mum looked at us to see our response.

“Camil? Camil… hehehe.”

Tuuli gave a little giggle and poked Camil’s cheek. Mum smiled when she saw this and turned to look back at me.

“Myne, would you like to carry him? Tuuli had her turn just now.”

I wanted to, but at the same time I was afraid that I would drop him.

If I’m not wrong, newborns weighed roughly three kilograms. Am I strong enough to hold him?

While I was caught up worrying about that, Mum’s expression sank.

“Do you not want to?”

“No, no, I want to. But… I don’t know how to properly hold a baby, and what if I drop him?” I told them my worries but Dad just gave a chuckle. Before I knew it, I was up in his arms. He was still laughing the whole time he moved to take off my shoes and plopped me onto the bed.

“You can hold him on the bed, you can be at ease then.”

I squeezed myself next to Mum and gently took Camil into my arms. He was so tiny and light that I didn’t have much trouble carrying him. I saw his face twitch and his eyelids slowly opened. He looked at me with a dazed look. He was so warm that it melted my heart.

“Camil, Camil. I’m your big sister.”

I whispered to Camil, and his face started to scrunch up. In the next moment, he burst out crying.

“M-Mum. Crying, he’s… Camil’s crying… W-what should I do?”

“It’s ok, sweetie. Babies cry all the time. Don’t worry about it.”

She said that to comfort me, but it wasn’t doing much because I was still confused with what I needed to do. My eyes kept scanning around the room for help. I felt like crying from my helplessness until Dad, who was still smiling, finally stepped in and took Kamil into his arms. Kamil pushed out a few more whimpers before settling down. Dad did it all so easily. .

“Ok, Camil is going out to meet everyone else.”

“Wait, what? You’re going to take a newborn outside?”

“Of course. Everyone needs to meet Camil, right?”

It was unspeakable for a newborn baby to be exposed to the outside elements because it could prove fatal for it. There was no way I was letting it happen on my watch.

“Dad, must you really insist on taking him outside?”

“Yes, I am. What’s the matter?”

“It’s dangerous for a newborn to go out. He might come into contact with all the bad germs or fall sick from the cold. It’s really bad for him!”

I tried to explain everything as seriously as I could. Dad frowned and his gaze turned profoundly deep. I could tell he was considering my words, but in the end he shook his head.”

“I know that you might be right, but we can’t just forget about traditions.”

“If we really have to take him outside, could you do your best to keep him warm and stop anyone from touching him? Their hands could be very dirty. After that please try to bring him back in as fast as possible. Remember to also—”

“You’re overreacting, Myne. Nothing will happen,” Tuuli brushed off my anxieties. But I wasn’t overreacting, newborns are really weak. They are very susceptible to anything, especially in a place like this. Thank goodness Dad was resolved to keep his baby safe as much as possible this time, so he snuggly wrapped Kamil in a thick cloth.

“So I just have to be quick with this, right?”

“Mhm. Try not to let anyone else touch him.”

“You’re both too paranoid about everything,” Tuuli was getting quite annoyed with us, “Everyone else takes their babies out all the time.”

What she said was not false, but it was better to be safe than sorry in a place like this. There was no harm with trying to be overprotective in this case.

We all descended down the stairs to the ground floor; Dad was holding Kamil in his arms. We noticed that the neighbours had started the grilling party in the square (that is the naming celebration). Right now the ladies who helped with delivering the baby would receive their rewards and the baby would get to meet everyone here. This celebration was also a means to keep track of when the baby was born and when they needed to get baptized. There was no birth registry for commoners so everyone had to rely on their memories.

“Everyone, take you for all your help this early in the morning. My son is safe and healthy. His name is Camil. Please bless him with your well wishes.”

Dad loudly broadcasted this across the plaza and lifted Camil up above his head so that everyone could get a glimpse of him. After that he passed Camil over to Tuuli and told everyone he needed to go back in as he might be as weak as me. No one opposed this as they all knew that I was so weak that I could pass out at any time.

“That would be horrible if Camil was as weak as Myne.”

“She does fall sick once in a while, but she’s much better than before, isn’t she? She will surely grow up nice and healthy now that she’s been baptized.”

Just as I was about to head in with Tuuli, I heard a couple of the neighbours talking about how they didn’t expect me to live past my baptism since I kept tethering close to death.

To be honest, I wanted to eat inside because I was too worried about who had touched the food at the grill. And I was also warned against going outside with any protection. Given that I had spent quite some time outside waiting for the birth, it was best to head back as soon as possible.

“Tuuli, what’s Mum going to eat?”

“I’ll help take some food for her from the grill outside,” Tuuli responded back. She was probably looking forward to the party downstairs because she zoomed back down right after passing Camil to Mum.

I lit the fireplace and heated up the leftover soup from yesterday. As I left the soup to boil, I walked over to the basket that Dad just ditched in the corner of the room. I fished out the bird meat from Hugo that he had stored in the pantry. After that I folded the cloth from Benno and stored it at the side.

“Mum, are you hungry? I’m heating up the leftover soup. You need to eat plenty so that you can make lots of milk.”

“You’re right, thank you for preparing it.”

I poured the soup into two bowls. One for Mum to take in bed, and another for me. I dragged a chair next to the bed so that we could eat together.

“Do you not want to join the others, Myne?”

“Nah, afterall Sir Damuel said not to go outside without him.”

“Is that so,” Mum’s voice had dipped an octave, she seemed troubled that I wasn’t close with our neighbours.

I didn’t like this situation too, but if they understood the importance of hygiene and cleanliness they surely wouldn’t want to eat their food there too.

“Oh, I almost forgot. Lutz helped bring over gifts. Benno got us a cloth and my attendants cut us a share of meat too. Do we have to prepare something to thank them back?” I asked Mum because I didn’t know how things worked here.

Mum shook her head and said that gifts were only given when a child is born. I kind of found it pitiful because Benno was a single man and it was hard for those in the temple to get married.

“Anyways, Myne, could you kindly tell them more about Camil? I hope that more people will remember when Camil was born.”

“Sure, leave it up to me,” I puffed up my chest and nodded enthusiastically. I admired the sight of my little brother sleeping next to Mum. He looked so cute snuggled in that huge cloth. The corner of my eyes went up.

“Camil is so cute.”

“I know, right?”

My time with Camil was limited. We would get separated even before he turns two, he might not even remember me at all. I wanted to at least make him all the picture books and toys he will ever need, so that he would get by fine without me. Maybe they would even help him remember his big sister.

…Now that I can only make picture books for children, I’ll just go all out and make dozens of them for my adorable brother.

Until he’s three months old, monotone picture books will do for Camil, but I would like to make some with colour before he’s six months old. But first, I would need to figure out how to make coloured ink and some new ideas for its contents.

…Hold on. Doesn’t that mean I have lots to do? Maybe I’ll get much busier than expected for the next two years?

Now that I wanted to make as many picture books as I could for Camil, I might not have the time to think about making text-only books. It’s ok if I couldn’t use the printing press, I’ll just work on improving the stencils.

…I don’t have that much time left. I need to work harder. Camil, your big sister is going to do her best!