The second rib isn't a long time away, or the third, or another break of the first again. From this rate of progress, something like a month for the entire pregnancy seems to be what's in store for them, but given the givens it seems safer to do the C-section somewhere soon after the end of the third week; Aurene agrees.

James tries to keep the cheer up and does everything he can to help his wife, even if his worry does show through every now and then. Days are spent caring for her and watching as she continues to degrade and get thinner and paler everywhere but the belly, which does indeed grow a noticeable internal solid spherical shell that they can easily feel under her skin; nights are spent finishing the house up, fetching more food, fetching more blood, running away so he can have the vampire equivalent of a panic attack away from her.

Aurene's visions don't subside, artful abstract representations of possible futures, fractals of color and motion intertwining into each other with meaning and feeling. James eventually gets his own, a projected image of their family living happily together, a cracked mirror showing Yvette's beautiful golden eyes and Aurene's blue-green ones, looking older than she should be—clearly the accelerated development will not stop after her birth. When they fret over her growing too fast and dying of old age, they get visions of her at what in a human would look like early twenties, healthy and immortal.

He still frets, but it's mostly restless energy, and time passes.

Blair remains cooperative and helpful, if grumpy in an unsupportive and stoic kind of way. He does not literally rip open Yvette's stomach to get the baby out early to forcibly turn her, but he does have a Disapproving Brother Look that is weapons-grade quality. But nonetheless, he helps. He mostly volunteers for things that involve being away from his visibly degrading and possibly dying sister; clearly he doesn't enjoy seeing her like this. But it's very helpful, and he even (with his long-suffering expression) buys the couple baby things, including a bassinet and some baby clothes in boring neutral colors. Because if they're doing this incredibly, astronomically dumb thing, they might as well do it right. Even if he hates it and is absolutely plotting how to murder James if his sister dies. Which: he is. Conveniently he expects James to cooperate with this endeavor.

Yvette... survives. This is about the best that can be said for the experience. It sucks very, very, very much, but it's fine. Agonizing and painful, awkward as hell, incredibly annoying, but. Tolerable levels of helplessness and agony. For the, comparatively, short period of time she needs to tolerate it. The good thing about a super fast vampire pregnancy is that she doesn't actually need to hang on for all that long. Three weeks, or so. Ish. Easy peasy. She did wedding planning for longer than that, and that required a lot more actual energy and thought and decisionmaking besides just sitting around, being pregnant and kicked to pieces from the inside out. That was definitely higher on the torture level, as these things go.

(Ha. Yeah, right.)

Depending on the date of conception, it's been somewhere between 24 and 22 days of pregnancy, when she finally breaks. (Metaphorically. Literally, she was already there more than a dozen times over.)

"Son of a—" she hisses at the latest crack, cutting herself off by biting her thumb. Not hard enough to bleed, she is surrounded by vampires, but still enough to hurt herself a bit. "I do believe that one was my pelvis!"

"—that seems like as good a sign as any that we should get ready to go."

"Yeah, I'm inclined to agree," she whimpers in a high, pained voice. She takes a few pained breaths and forces her voice back to something resembling even. "Aaaaaugh. Um. Is Blair nearby? I kinda don't want the backyard surgery version of a couple's bonding experience, thanks."

"I'll—I will—fetch him—I love you—both of you—be right back."

Where the fuck is Blair.

Blair: in the nearby town, grocery shopping! Again! There has been a lot of grocery shopping! He sets his half filled shopping basket down and pokes his head out of the store when he hears James show up.

"Time to go, or..?"

"Yes, time to go."

He's practically fidgeting in place, which in a vampire looks like "unnaturally still and unmoving with worry even as he speaks".

"Coming."

He leaves the abandoned basket where it is, and off they can go to his sister at top speed the minute Blair is out of sight of any humans.

His sister is busy (quite reasonably, she feels) quietly crying to herself. She is very tempted to snap at James for leaving her alone without leaving one of his teeth and a vial of venom so she could attempt to cut Aurene out of her and then turn herself. Not as plan A, but if she seemed like she was about to start dying any more than she already is. Probably that's not a very actionable plan, and she's just incredibly stressed and inclined to take it out on everyone around her. That's kind of been what has been going on a lot, with her, lately.

(It has been very annoying that nobody finds her sarcastic and witty commentary very funny. She thinks she is hilarious, thank you.)

"Hello, boys," she grits out instead of bitching about a thing that isn't going to matter in about five minutes. "Which one of you, will be my backyard surgeon, for the day?"

"Me. Blair will provide the scalpel though."

"Great! Pick me up and carry me off, let's not get my blood all over the nice furniture. James love, do you have bondage gear available, or do we need to bring some sheets for that."

"I don't, ah, think you will really—Blair can hold your arms if you really think you need it?"

"Ohhohohono I do not want to thrash and make this any worse, thank you, you will be tying me the fuck up." Pause. "... Sorry, Aurene. Your daddy's being dumb."

"No what I mean is I think you will be... maybe too passed out from blood loss to do much? Um. Blair?"

Blair has already found some sheets that he had bought, and that Yvette had proclaimed to be hideous several days ago, and is efficiently ripping them up into strips.

"I have been helping you two with many stupid ideas so far, why would I stop at this one," he says with a shrug. "Gag or no?"

"No, but something to bite, please. And also I meant it when I said pick me up and carry me off," that last one comes out as a bit of a growl.

Yes, ma'am, picking her up and carrying her off.

She makes a little soft whine, because ow, but. Yes. She would like to not bleed all over the furniture. Then she'd have to send Blair to buy replacements, and he'd buy something horrible and grey and utterly devoid of any personality. This would be very annoying. Are these perhaps the best priorities here? Probably not, no. Does she care? No, absolutely not. She is allowed to be as ridiculous about this as she wants, and she wants to be efficient so they are doing that or else.

Blair is absolutely resigned to being Efficient. It's almost comforting, at this point. James gets the eviscerated sheets for tying up his wife.

"You're better at dealing with squishy humans," he says, getting to ripping a tooth out to be their scalpel.

Yes he is. He can do it fairly easily, not pulling her so fast that he hurts her but the knots themselves do not need such care.

She is cooperative! Such as it is! Mostly she's just in a lot of pain! Wriggling is made very difficult for her!

Blair gives Yvette something to bite on (a sturdy stick, wrapped in some eviscerated sheets) and then hands over his tooth to James.

...he feels like there should be something dramatic here but actually now that Blair's tooth is out he had better do this quickly so it can get reattached before he heals.

It cuts through—the skin easily, like melted butter, and the shell less easily, like solid butter with a hot knife. It's still a vampire tooth after all. A smooth circular cut first, then another above for a clean section and then—

—Blair gets his tooth back and needs to figure out how to take the baby because James's teeth are now for biting. Neck, then between the breasts close to the carotid then major arm arteries then thigh arteries and then—

Blair does not put his bloody tooth back in, because that is how you accidentally eat your sister! He pockets it, then carefully leans forward to scoop up the very small dhampir that is now accessible through the hole in his sister.

Apparently his niece says 'Hello' by biting. Nom.