"...boy!" Betsy declared. Jasmine's heart sank. She had been desperately hoping for Lord Lake to have been unmanned, like her and Bry. Another contraction tore through her, making her cry out.
"The after birth should not be painful," Patricia said. Betsy quickly handed over the baby boy to Chelsea and looked at Jasmine's womanhood.
"There is another head," she declared.
"Twins?" Jasmine said faintly. "How?" Patricia smiled at her.
"Relax, Jasmine. You have done this twice now. You can do it a third."
"I can do it," Jasmine whispered.
"The second twin is always easier than the first anyways," Betsy said. Jasmine knew that had to be false, but held her tongue. The cook was just trying to keep her calm. "Okay, Jasmine, push!"
Somehow, Betsy had been right. The second twin was easier and faster. Betsy held up the child.
"A girl!"
"One of each," Jasmine mumbled. She was beginning to feel a bit delirious from the pain, stress, and exhaustion.
"Names?" Patricia asked once Jasmine had delivered the afterbirth. Jasmine didn't know what the afterbirth was, and frankly, she had assumed she was done before it came out of her, but she was too tired to let it bother her.
"Umm..." Jasmine frantically searched her mind for names that would suit both a total child and a peasant child. If she decided not to keep the children, she didn't want them stuck with improper names. "Asa for the boy, Anastasia for the girl."
"Asa and Ana," Chelsea cooed. "So sweet!"
"Get up, girl," Betsy, who had been carefully sponging Jasmine clean, said. "We need to change the bedsheets." She smiled. "Then you can nurse and rest." Her mind in a fog, Jasmine numbly did as she was told. She leaned against Patricia while Chelsea made the bed ready for her. Patricia smiled and helped her into a clean sleeping gown.
"All ready, Miss Jasmine," Chelsea said. Jasmine sat on the bed. As if on cue, Betsy returned with Asa and Ana, freshly washed. She gently placed the babes into Jasmine's arms.
"Nurse them before you sleep," Betsy instructed. Jasmine pulled down her gown, exposing her bare breasts. The babes easily latches onto a nipple each and began to suckle hungrily. Jasmine sighed in relief as her breasts were slowly drained. She looked down at her son and daughter. To her surprise, neither looked like an identical copy of Lord Lake. Ana had his hair and ears, but Jasmine's nose and eyes. Asa was bald, so Jasmine wasn't sure what hair color he would have, but he had Lord Lake's eyes and ears, as well as Jasmine's nose. Jasmine was confused as to how Lord Lake had turned into two infants with a mixture of traits. But when she tried to figure out what exactly had happened, her brain hurt.
Asa and Ana stopped drinking and let go. Betsy quickly swooped in to take the babes and instructed Jasmine to sleep. Jasmine nodded numbly. Patricia helped her get under the covers. She squeezed Jasmine's shoulder.
"Good work, Jasmine."
"Thank you... mistress..." Jasmine said sleepily. She closed her eyes and drifted off.