173. Birth Day

The Captain is a father now. After a series of complications, his twins are born and his wife is in stable condition. By him partaking in a Tauren ritual, we are taken back to the day when this red head elf was born.
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A male Tauren ran through the crowds, the woman’s wailings serving as a siren that moved everyone off the path. Soon, there was a trail of tauren following the nomadic male with the elf. She screamed again and it called forth more attention. So when they arrived at the healer tent, the healers were rather surprised at the crowd eagerly hoping for a look at the small screaming woman. 
The female tauren emerged from the tent and her eyes widened. “What is this?” she asked softly.
“Please help her. She’s about to have a child.”
“Why is she not with her kind? Take her to her healers.”
“Because she is part of our tribe. We call her Suncloud. Please, help her.” The woman screamed once more. 
With a bit of hesitation, the female reached for the woman and held her medium frame, “You wait out here, by that log over there. We will tend for her.” She looked at the curious tauren around the tent and said, “Go home. There is nothing to see here.” With that, she walked into the tent, and the nomadic male took a breath. Now, he would wait.

After hours in the tent and in labor, the elf was introduced to a tiny child wrapped in the traditional Tauren receiving blanket of red, blue, and yellow patterns. Suncloud smiled, her red hair pulled back gently by one of the midwives so that she can hold her child without any obstacles. She gave a small chuckle, which led to tears, as she smiled at the little elf in her arms. She caressed his face and tiny ears with her finger and she lifted him close enough to her lips, kissing his head gently. She looked up and smiled at the midwives. “Thank you,” she whispered. The women smiled at her and exited the tent, giving her some time with the child. Suncloud stared at her son, carefully memorizing every tiny detail, to the small pointed ears, to the tiny fingers that wrapped around hers. 
Naming him was not something she had put careful thought into. She didn’t want to name him after his father; that was never an option. However, she wasn’t sure what names would be appropriate. Her family was no more after they were so quick to disown her and her bastard child. Everyone she knew back home were ready to cast stones in her direction. Why would she want to name him after them?
And yet, naming him after the Tauren who had sheltered her for months wasn’t entirely something she wanted to do. She sighed and kissed her son, who briefly opened his eyes. “Do not worry, my little one. We will find a home and we will find those who will love and accept us, regardless of anything.” Almost on cue, the infant appeared to smile and she cried. Those silent tears that rolled down her face were for every single person who hurt her and for those who took her in. The Tauren tribe didn’t have to bring her into their homes and call her one of them, but they did so without judgment. She was grateful.
She wiped her tears and smiled once more at her beautiful boy. She parted her dry lips, licked them once, and although her voice cracked a few times, she began to sing softly. It was an old song, one her mother used to sing to her, and while she had forgotten the face of the woman who once lulled her to sleep, she knew how soothing the song once was to her, and so she sang. 
The male Tauren who had brought her to the Bluff walked in slowly and quietly. Suncloud looked up and smiled, proudly displaying her child. He smiled and whispered, “What is his name?”
“I don’t know,” she said, stopping her song. “I don’t know what to name him.”
He was baffled for a moment. “We usually have that ready,” he said.
She chuckled softly “It’s not like he has a father to help me figure this out.” Her eyes shifted to her son. “I was thinking Little Suncloud for now.”
He nodded and cautiously approached the cot she was in. “May I present him to the world?” Suncloud was hesitant, unaware of what that meant. “It is a prayer the fathers do as soon as the child is born. It is an act of pride, but of humility. As fathers, we are proud of our children for they are our greatest creations…” Suncloud held her son tighter with those words. “…And as children, it is our first time that we realize how small we really are in the greatness of this world and beyond.”
“He will never know his father,” she said somberly. 
“I know, which is why I would like to have the honor of giving this blessing,” he said. Suncloud looked up at him and after a moment of silence, she handed the child over to him. He was very gentle and careful with the delicate pink elf. He walked out of the tent and lifted the little infant over his head at the edge of the mesa.
“This is our pride and our joy. This is Little Suncloud.” He brought the child back into the safety of his arms but held him so that he faced the world. “Little Suncloud, this is the world. Remember that we are part of it, not its owners. Protect it, and it shall protect you.”

“Remember that we are part of this world, my little ones. Marcus, Lyria, protect this world, and it will protect you. Behold the sea. She will guide you and give you the safety you will ever need.” Cristianno took a deep breath as he held his two children in his arms. He was a father now and he was proud to show his children to the world around him and especially to his mother in the sea. As the sun set, he held his children close and kissed them on their heads each. He hoped that they would be luckier and better off than he was. They would never have a mother who knew the warmth of many men to support her family, or a father who denied them. No, he would protect them and they would grow up learning what life truly has to offer. He would make sure of that, and he had no doubt that their mother would too. 

Cristianno turned back and headed home. With one final glance back, he wished his mother, the sea, goodnight.