Chapter Text
Tina let out a groan, sitting up with difficulty to shake her husband’s shoulder.
“Newt,” she hurried him.
“Mmphyes?” he replied in a sleepy voice.
“We have to go to the hospital,” she said, slightly wincing. “My water just broke.”
Newt sat up, perfectly awake.
“Now?”
With one look, he saw Tina’s expression and understood that his question was a bit stupid. Luckily, he was less stressed than the first time, and he knew what he had to do. He quickly got out of bed and took the bag they had prepared before walking back to Tina, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, breathing heavily.
“Are the contractions close?” he asked anxiously, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.
“I don’t know… I’d say eight minutes, more or less,” Tina replied between gritted teeth.
Newt nodded, his brow furrowed.
“Can you stand up?” he asked, holding out his hand to her.
She nodded and leaned on his arm to get on her feet. They got out in the corridor, Tina leaning on Newt, who was holding the bag in his other hand. Before they got to the stairs, Tina stopped in front of the door.
“Wait,” she said. “We have to tell Elisabeth.”
Newt nodded. “You’re right. Go, I’ll send a Patronus to Queenie.”
He took out his wand while Tina leaned on the door, entering her daughter’s dark room.
She crouched down with difficulty near Elisabeth’s bed, who seemed sound asleep, holding her stuffed Niffler close to her.
“Elisabeth,” Tina whispered, gently stroking her daughter’s hair.
She began to slowly wake up, rubbing her eyes.
“Mummy?” she asked in a sleepy voice.
“You’re staying with Aunt Queenie, today,” Tina said softly, continuing to run her hand in her hair. “Daddy and Mummy are going to the hospital, and when you’ll see us again, you’ll have a little brother or sister.”
Elisabeth’s face lit up. “Weally?” she happily chirped.
“Yes,” Tina smiled, watching her daughter’s excitement fondly. “But for now, you still need to sleep, alright?”
Elisabeth frowned, wanting to protest, but her eyelids were still heavy, and her mother’s comforting touch helped her to slowly go back to sleep.
“I love you, sweetheart,” Tina whispered, pressing a kiss to her daughter’s forehead.
“I love you too, Mummy,” Elisabeth replied in a sleepy voice.
Tina watched her daughter for a moment, smiling, then she leaned on the bed to stand up, and she got out of the room, closing the door behind her.
Newt was waiting for her in the corridor, smiling softly at her.
“I sent a message to Queenie,” he announced. “Shall we go?” he added, wrapping an arm around her waist to support her while she leaned on his other arm.
She nodded, and they began to walk down the stairs. They put on their shoes and coats and were about to go out when the door opened. Queenie entered, with the expression of someone who had been woken up suddenly. Her blond hair was a bit messy, but she hurried to hug her sister anyway.
“Hi, Queenie,” laughed the eldest, hugging her sister back. “Thank you for taking care of Elisabeth. You’ll be alright?”
“Yes, don’t worry!” the blond replied, letting out a slight yawn. “Go give birth, I’m keeping your daughter. Though I wouldn’t say no to finish my night first.”
Tina chuckled, wincing when another contraction passed through her. Queenie hugged Newt too, and the couple walked to the door, waving at the Legilimens, who closed the door behind them.
Newt and Tina walked to St Mungo’s, which was thankfully nearby. They were quickly settled in a delivery room, and Healers examined Tina, saying that the birth would probably not take a long time, giving her actual state.
Newt kept his wife’s hand in his, stroking her hair while she tried to breathe steadily.
“You’re doing great, love,” he said in a reassuring tone, gently squeezing her fingers. “You’re almost there.”
After a few hours, the Healers declared that it was time for Tina to push.
“It’s almost over, darling” Newt said, kissing her forehead. "You can do it, you're strong."
Tina pushed with all her strength, letting out a pained cry.
"I can't do it," she cried, her breathing jerky.
Newt's heart sank. He hated to see her suffer, he wished he could have suffered all the pain in her place.
“Yes, you can,” he repeated with faith. “You can do it. I love you.”
Tina continued to push, squeezing Newt's hand to cut off his blood flow. But far be it from him to complain about it.
After a long while, Tina pushed a last time with all her strength with a cry of pain, before falling back on her pillows, exhausted.
His sight blurred by tears, Newt watched the Healers wrap their baby in a clean towel. He turned his head to Tina, whose breath was jerky.
“You did it,” he whispered in an infinitely happy tone, resting his forehead on her. “You are wonderful.”
“My baby,” Tina whispered weakly, reaching out towards the Healers.
One of them walked to them, placing their baby in Tina’s arms. Their cries stopped as soon as they were in contact with their mother.
“Is it a boy or a girl?” she asked weakly, stroking a finger over the baby’s cheek.
“A boy,” Newt replied, tears in his eyes. “We have a son, Tina.”
“A boy…” she echoed in a whisper. “He is perfect.”
“He is,” Newt nodded, admiring their son’s delicate features.
But suddenly, he realized that something was wrong. Tina was too weak, and she was beginning to lose consciousness.
"Tina?" he called, his voice tinged with panic. "Tina!"
He began to gently shake his wife's shoulder, but she did not react.
“Tina, please, look at me!” A fear stronger than anything else began to overwhelm him, and he continued to beg his wife to wake up. “Tina, you have no right to do that… Don’t leave me, please…”
He turned a despair look to the Healer, who looked down, powerless.
“No,” Newt breathed, feeling like someone had punched him in the stomach. “No, no, no, no, no…”
But he saw that Tina’s chest wasn’t moving, and she wasn’t reacting. He felt the ground give way under his feet, and he collapsed half onto the bed, clutching Tina's lifeless hand in his. He gently stroked her cheek, as if this simple gesture could bring her back.
“Tina…” A sob escaped his lips, soon followed by another one, and tears began to flow down his cheeks. “Tina, no… Stay with me… I’m selfish, I don’t want to lose you… I can’t do it, not without you…”
The only answer he got was silence.
“I love you,” he sobbed. “Please, wake up!”
But Tina didn’t respond anymore, and Newt felt like his world had just collapsed. Tina, the love of his life, his wife, his best friend, his soulmate, was not here anymore. Tears were flowing down his face without stopping, and his sobs made his entire body shake.
The baby, still in Tina’s lifeless arms, let out a coo and began to cry. Newt heard him through his sobs and forced himself to take a deep breath. Running a hand on his face, he gently took his son in his arms, cradling him to his chest to gently rock him.
“I’m here,” he whispered in a broken voice. “Daddy’s here.”
The little boy slowly calmed down, drifting back to sleep in his father’s arms. Newt closed his eyes, feeling new tears roll down his cheeks.
How was he going to raise two children without Tina? He thought of the cruelty of the situation, which had taken the mother of a baby and a girl who was still very small.
He suddenly realized that he was going to have to tell Elizabeth, and the thought shattered the pieces of his broken heart. How could he tell a four-year-old girl that she would never see her mother again?
*****
Newt opened the door with a trembling hand, holding his son close to him with his other arm. They had left the hospital, having no other reason to stay there. He tried to breathe deeply, his breath catching in his throat despite himself. He entered the living room, where Queenie was playing with Elizabeth, on the floor. Both of them raised big smiles at him, but Queenie immediately read Newt's mind and expression, and stood up abruptly to leave the room, aware that his presence would be too much for the broken little family. She also wanted to isolate herself to give free rein to her grief.
“Daddy!” Elisabeth happily exclaimed, running towards him.
His daughter's enthusiasm threatened to make Newt burst into tears, but he miraculously managed to hold back. He couldn't collapse now, not in front of Elizabeth.
“Hi, sweetheart,” he said in a voice he forced not to tremble. He crouched down to be at eyelevel with the little girl. “Guess what? You have a little brother,” he added, looking down at the baby sleeping in his arms.
“Little bwother!” Elisabeth exclaimed, reaching out to gently stroke the little boy’s belly.
Newt smiled weakly at the sight, but the hole that had replaced his heart in his chest hurt even more when Elisabeth looked up, looking around.
“Where is Mummy?”
Newt closed his eyes for a moment, feeling his throat tighten.
“Mummy…” he began, his voice strangled. “Mummy isn’t with us anymore,” he whispered, taking a trembling breath to hold back his tears. “Mummy had to leave. She’s in the stars, now.”
“In the stars?” the little girl asked, looking confuse. “But when is she coming back?”
“She… she isn’t coming back,” Newt stammered. Expressing it out loud made the fact even more tangible and real, and he had to sit on the ground so as not to lose his balance and collapse. "We're never going to see her again."
"N-nevew?" stammered Elizabeth, her lip twitching.
Newt looked down, unable to hold his daughter's tearful gaze. Without a word, he pulled her close to him with his free arm, letting her rest her head on his shoulder.
“M-Mummy,” she called, not seeming to understand why her mother wasn’t answering, and would never answer again. She began to cry, her sobs shaking her little body.
Newt held her tightly against him, closing his eyes. He felt despite him a few tears flow down his face, unable to hold them back in front of his daughter’s grief. He gently rocked her, trying to help her calm down. His son began to cry too, and he hugged his two children tightly, feeling grief crushing them.
He didn’t knew how he was going to manage without Tina, he didn’t knew how he was going to stand. But he knew that he had to, that she would have wanted their children to grow up happy.