"The woman will bathe her when she gets here. Pray for her and her children in the meantime." It took time for the work to be done. The woman came and was given money to stay with Karen to watch for fever and help tend to the children before the doctor left to get back to his rounds. He paused to say, "I think she is decent enough for you to sit with her and the woman. It might bring her comfort."

In the meantime, Karen was sitting up with the covers up over her still-rounded belly, looking down almost blankly at the boy who was propped up by her thighs, while the little girl lay in the cradle next to the bed.

Gabriel nodded and entered the room, somewhat reluctantly. He turned red when he saw her. "Congratulations... The doctor tells me both your children are healthy." he said, his voice a bit higher than usual.

She turned red too... it was certainly not every day that a priest got a good, long look at... the unmentionables. She cleared her throat and murmured, "Um... thank ye fer yer help. I know that had ta be... um..." She didn't finish. She was tired and sore, but she had somehow brought two little things into the world with the help of a priest, a boy, and a doctor. Things would be awkward between them for that one, but she still owed him her gratitude. "Anyway... I'd like it very much if ye met the babes... The boy is Harold... after his papa, of course..." She knew Pony would probably not like that, but she owed her husband that much. "And this pretty little one is Niamh," pronounced "Neev." She was trying to make it less awkward by showing off the babies.

"I'm afraid I wasn't much help..." Gabriel muttered, still embarrassed. He didn't know what he would have done if the doctor hadn't arrived. He was glad she turned the attention to the newborns. "Little Harold and I have met." he said. He carefully approached, and looked at the baby girl. "But I've not yet met Niamh." He carefully placed a hand on the baby's head. "I've not heard that name before."

"Tis Irish," she said, "It means 'radiant.'" She wouldn't say that it was a pagan name, she thought she had traumatized the priest quite enough. In fact, she was a bit disturbed that he'd seen a part of her she hoped he forgot about soon enough. How did one confess to a priest who had seen their vagina inadvertantly? What must the poor man be thinking now? She was glad for the layers of cover now in the form of a nightgown and a blanket. Oh, and what would her poor brother think when he came home to seeing the house overturned and two extra people that hadn't been there that morning? Actually, now that she thought of it... with as quick as that delivery was, she was glad he wasn't there to get an eyeful of quim whiskers by accident too. The horror.

[Content warning: Homophobia]

He turned back to face her and smiled. "That is a splendid name." Luckily for both of them, Gabriel was quick to suppress the memory. He supposed it did convince him all the more of his... inordinate nature. Now that the mystery of what was under a woman's skirts was solved for him, he was quite certain he could never desire that. "Erm..." he tried to speak, just to lift the awkwardness between them. "Will there be people to care for you, while you are recovering? I'm sure I can find some elderly women in the church who would have time to tend to you and the baby in the coming weeks, should you require it. Do you have a steady source of income? Enough to eat? Enough coal?"

She gave a tired smile of real pleasure when he complimented the name, that glow of new motherhood coloring her cheeks a little. "My brother takes care o' the coal and food. I have money from the sale of the house my husband and I lived in." And then the pleasure died in her eyes. She looked at her son, the spitting image of Harold, and burst into tears. "Oh, my Harold... I wish ye could hold yer son and yer daughter." Oh, damn. She quickly wiped away the tears, sniffed a few times and took a few breaths to try and calm herself.

"I suppose help from a woman in town is warranted now. If ye would be so kind as ta find one fer me... I would be in your debt, father."

Gabriel was quiet when she cried. He wanted to give her the time to recover on her own, before he got all pastoral. Could he blame her for getting emotional at such a moment? Nevertheless, he was glad that she did recover quickly.

"Alright then," he said, when she agreed to his offer. Gabriel got up. This was a good excuse to go, right? He was certainly eager to get away from her, much as he enjoyed the sight of the innocent newborns. Mentally, he could still see the head of one of them coming out of - good Lord. He needed a long walk. "I'll get to it right away then."