Chapter 2: Make a wish on the blue star

"Regina bores her eyes into the gray eyes of her father. Old and wise. "Daddy" she puffs. "Ssh my child, it will be all over soon. Trust me. Not long anymore." Tears streamed from Regina's jaws. The pain, the horrid pain. The rest of her body just got numb. Numb except for about 5 square inches, where some demon (male, surely) was hitting her from the inside with a hammer. She wanted to die, and she was yelling that fact repeatedly. She felt like no one was listening. She was crying again. Furthermore, she couldn't keep her heart rate down. "Breath baby, breath" her father whispered. Concerned about her heart rate, "Just knock me out" she cried. She was joking, but the joke was that she said it out loud. She had never asked for anything more sincere. It was unjust. It was traumatic. My stupid body, she thought. My awful gender. The limitations of sex. Of humanity. "I don't deserve this" she whimpers. Her daddy holds her head supporting her and looks at the nurse, who sits down between Regina her open legs. "Is it almost over" he whispers. The nurse shook her head. She scrunched up her entire being and felt a little glimmer of hope. Then fear. Followed by hope. And once more, pain pain pain. Tired, she tries to pin her thoughts on her baby. It felt so much about her, her body, her pain. It was still so abstract. She never saw its face or heard it cry. A large part of her didn't believe she'd ever see it. Certainly not alive. She continually reminded herself, near the end of pregnancy, that even if she died, she would still get to meet it. It was still a corporeal reality. But she couldn't think that way. It was not all a dream. It could not be taken from her. Despite the truth of this, it remained unfathomable, its existence a mere idea, a source of anxiety. The potential for heartbreak. "Regina, this is it" the nurse suddenly shouted enthusiastically. "Come on your majesty. Give me a big push, and it is all over." "Daddy, I can't" she cried. "I believe in your child" he answered proudly. And just like that, with his words, Regina found her strength again. She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes. She couldn't hear the loud screams escaping between her lips. All she could hear was the silence... And then... A sound everyone was waiting for. The sound of a fresh-born crying baby. "Regina, it is a girl" shouts the nurse happily. Too tired to answer Regina, just grins. Listening to the crying baby. Tears streamed over her face, covered in sweat. "Daddy" she sighs. "Oh, my baby" the old man answers happily and kisses her forehead. "Oh," Regina whispers and holds her daughter, wrapped in a thick cloth. Bright blue eyes stare right into hers. "My little girl, My Moira" Regina whispers. "Rest my child," her father says, and kisses her forehead once again before he leaves.