Birth

After the long journey, Maria and Joseph finally reach the capital.
The remaining money is only enough for a few more nights.
But the capital appears to be facing a housing shortage due to incompetent politics.
Therefore, there is hardly any place to sleep in the capital. And those that exist are many times more expensive and therefore unaffordable for the two of them.

After a while Maria starts to feel some pain. Her belly is huge already. She looks as if she might give birth to her child any moment.
Joseph desperately searches for a place to stay. After a while, he decides to move out of the city, hoping to find something more affordable there.
And there he finds a barn where they can stay this night together with the animals.

There Maria gives birth. It's exhausting and also stressful for the old Joseph, but soon she's holding a healthy baby boy in her hands.
When both of them start to calm down, Joseph realizes something. The child is a boy.
This means she can't just give birth to children. She agreed to it herself. It would have been a girl.

You didn't just betray me, you also lied to me and I trusted you. I shouldn't just kill your child, I should also kill you. I can't trust you anymore.

Maria is still weak from childbirth, but she has to say something.

But-

I won't believe your stupid excuses anymore. I can't believe I fell for you in the first place.
If I weren't so old, I would kill you.
But I don't have much time anymore. So instead, I'll only kill your child and then I'll plant my own child into you immediately.
And you will live like cattle. I'll put you in that empty cage until you give birth to our child.
And then your only job will be to care of it and give birth to more children.
And when you don't do a good job at that, I might still kill you anyway.

Maria wants to save her child, but if she doesn't agree, she would die herself.

Thanks. This sounds fair. I'm sure I'll take care of them!

I knew you could be obedient, too.
If you want to prove it, kill the boy yourself.
Then I might even reconsider putting you in the cage all the time.

Okay, I'll do it.

Joseph gives Maria a sharp knife.
Maria, with tears in her eyes, puts her little boy into a manger, ready to kill him.

Then suddenly they hear voices in the distance.

Wait! Who's that?

I don't know.

Maria is holding a knife above the boy, moving it closer.
But when she looks to Joseph, she notices he cares for something else right now.
So she puts the knife aside for now.

Three guys are approaching them.

You shouldn't kill him as long as anyone is around.
I'll manage this.

Joseph approaches them back.

What are you doing here?
Why are you coming to the barn?

We've been looking for a young girl who traveled to the capital with an old man.

Why should this be us? I'm sure you're looking for someone else.

She's pregnant. She will give birth to a divine creature.

She already gave birth. Look! It's lying next to her in the manger.

The guys just ignore Joseph and approach Maria.

Oh, this child must be our new king.

They kneel down and take a bow in front of her.

Joseph finally follows the guys to his wife, unsure of what to do next.

I'm Caspar. I got some bread for you, so you'll grow big and strong. I hope you'll accept me as your protector.

He gets a bread from his bag and reaches it to the boy.
Joseph just takes the bread.

This is just a symbol for our support. You'll get as much of them as you need.

I'm Melchior. I got some sausage for you, so you'll grow big and strong. I hope you'll accept me as your subordinate.

He gets a sausage from his bag and reaches it to the boy.
Joseph just takes the sausage.

This is just a symbol for our connection. You'll get as much of them as you need.

I'm Balthasar. I got some beer for you, so you'll have a lot of fun in your life. I hope you'll accept me as your slave.

He holds a jar of beer to the boy.
Joseph just takes this as well and immediately takes a sip.

This is just a symbol for our loyalty. You'll get as much of them as you need.

Joseph is happy about the presents. Bread, sausage and beer is all he needs to be happy.

Even if she betrayed him, his wife is a clever woman.
The lies she was spreading might actually be useful now.

Thank you for your presents.
Since you're so generous, I allow you all to serve the devine son of my wife.
But even if the child grew from a semen planted by got, he's still part human.
So please let him sleep for now.
But please come back again. I will raise him like my own child. But I need help.

Even if the three guys don't value his opinion, they understand his request, and agree to come back regularly to offer their support and guidance in raising the child.

Thank you, wise men. Your help will be greatly appreciated.
We will do our best to raise him in a way that honors both his divine origins and his human nature.

As the guys prepare to leave, Maria looks at Joseph with an unclear expression.
She's thankful that her boy will stay alive for now, but she's still not sure if it will stay like this.
Has she really earned this?

Don't worry. I'm fine now. We'll raise him. As long as they act as our servants, I won't harm your son.
I'm happy with the way this turned out.
Let's have dinner now.

After looking at her son, who's already sleeping, she snuggles up to her husband.
It's great how well her plan worked in the end.

Together they eat bread with sausage.
Maria also tries the beer, but mostly Joseph drinks it.

Eat much, so you will produce enough milk for your son.
If you don't care well for him and he dies, they won't bring us free stuff anymore.

Maria just nods and continues eating.

After a while their child starts to cry.
Maria immediately gets up, gets naked and lets him drink from her breasts.
He's a good sucker and soon they are empty. But it's enough to calm him down and it doesn't take long until he falls asleep again.
Children this young are really easy to satisfy.

As Joseph looks at the naked body of her wife, he remembers something.

I think it's time. You promised me to be ready. So are you?

Maria reluctantly nods and lies down.
She's a little scared, but it's time to fulfill her duty as his wife, finally letting him inside her.
She closes her eyes, just waiting until it's over.
But Joseph really enjoys it. After all this time he finally gets closer to his wife. He already feared he wouldn't experience sex with such a young girl anymore at his age.
But now she's really his. Despite everything that happened, she's in his control now. And she finally accepts it.
Life will soon be better again.