Chapter Twenty-Nine
Millie
I was so ready to not be pregnant anymore. Approaching forty-one weeks, I looked like I was about to birth a toddler. The midwife disagreed and said I was a perfect size, as was the baby. I still wasn’t convinced our child wasn’t going to come out ready to run around the living room.
I trusted our midwife but found it hard to believe I was the “perfect” size when I couldn’t even wear my maternity clothes anymore. And feet? If I had them, I wouldn’t know. I hadn’t seen them in forever and then it was only by lying on the bed and raising my leg as high as I could this far along.
I pushed myself up from my seat and waddled to the door.
I was wearing Tyrone’s T-shirt that I was never going to be able to give back to him because it was so stretched out.
I had Cannon’s sweats on, but rolled down so they were under my belly.
And because my feet were so swollen, I was wearing Felix’s shoes.
I was dressed like my mates, which was kind of how this whole thing started, wasn’t it?
They gave me their clothes so I could get my hair done and not be embarrassed.
Kind of funny how life worked sometimes.
They’d all be back ready for lunch soon, but I wasn’t wanting to wait. I missed them and decided to go see what they were up to.
It was Saturday, and none of them were working-working, but they’d been outside all day completing some secret project. I was nosey and wanted to know what it was. How I managed to stay inside that long was honestly shocking.
I followed the scent in the air to an outbuilding that functioned as the sleuth workshop.
“What are you guys doing?” I held my belly, our little one squirming.
“Well, it was supposed to be a surprise,” Felix said. He came and took me by the hand, leading me to what looked like just a random dry-erase board.
“You’re gonna have to explain this to me. I’m seeing a dry-erase board.” If that were the case, there wouldn’t be anything super-secret about that. I’d told them I wanted a new one, the one I ordered not nearly as large as I thought it would be despite seeing the measurements.
“It’s a dry-erase board, yes, but not just any dry-erase board,” Cannon explained. Then he tapped the bottom of it, and up it went, revealing another behind it.
“Oh, that’s pretty handy.” I could already see a lot of ways that would be helpful.
“We thought you could use the one and then move it up for the other. We wanted you to go without having to erase between.”
“That’s actually really cool.”
“Wait, there’s more.” Then he pulled it away from the wall and pushed back again, flipping it over.
“That’s amazing!” I was seriously in awe. Altogether, they’d managed to make it so that in the space of two dry-erase boards, there were four.
A lot of the online teachers had been using projections and computer displays, and that was great and all, but my niche was more old school. That’s why many of the parents signed up for me in the first place.
“I love it.” And I did. “How did you ever come up with this?”
Felix started to tell the story, but I felt a yank…no, a tear in my abdomen. It hurt bad, and I missed all of his words.
“Hey, hey, Millie, what’s wrong?” Tyrone was in front of me, squatting down until he was at eye level.
“It felt like something tore on the inside.”
“That’s it.” Cannon scooped me up, and suddenly I was being carried back to the house. Tyrone was on the phone with the midwife and Felix was rushing ahead, saying he’d make sure the door was open and that there was a place for me to sit down.
I didn’t think I had to worry nearly as much as they did, but I wasn’t going to argue with them. If it was just me, sure. But I was carrying our child. If there was a chance there was a reason to worry, it was best to get the midwife there and not do anything until she did.
She arrived only ten minutes later. Luck was on our side in that she wasn’t out of town for another birth or busy with an appointment.
“All right, everybody out.” Anna was older, probably could’ve been any of our grandmothers, and she didn’t take shit from nobody, which was good, because that was what I needed. I didn’t want them to leave but figured she had a reason. She’d never told them to leave before.
Anna sat on the edge of the bed, took my hand, and asked me to tell her everything I felt physically since I got up, and not to leave anything out, not even when I had to pee. It was embarrassing going through all of it.
She’d made the right call about not having my mates there because, well, some of it was kind of gross.
That was the thing they didn’t warn you about pregnancy.
Sure, you glowed and were radiant and all of that, but there was an icky side to it, too.
Pregnancy could be kinda gross. I wouldn’t change a moment of it, but facts were facts.
She examined me and decided I was in labor.
“I don’t feel like I’m in labor.”
“Well, technically, you’re not going to be until you drink this. It was more of a prep-you-for-reality declaration of labor.” She handed me a little cup with a tincture in it. “But you need to be in labor, so just down that.”
There was something in her voice that told me not to argue or pause to ask a question. So I didn’t. I drank it despite the awful scent and flavor.
Whatever she put in that tincture, it had me going from no contractions to all the contractions in record time. I kept asking her if it was safe for me to be laboring so quickly, and every time, I’d get cut off by the next contraction.
She did let my mates back in. Cannon rubbed my head while the other two each held one of my hands as the contractions came harder and faster and harder and faster, until I heard the wonderful sound of our sweet baby girl.
“Cord cut, get your mate outside and make her shift…a lot.”
I wanted to argue, but I didn’t have the strength.
I wanted to pull away as Cannon picked me up to carry me out, but I couldn’t so much as move.
I wanted to look and see our baby girl, but my eyes wouldn’t cooperate.
I didn’t even remember getting the rest of the way outside, or what I later discovered was my mates freaking out because I was barely conscious and blood was everywhere.
It wasn’t until Cannon forced my shift again and again and again and again that things came into focus. After the fourth shift, I told him no more, that I needed to see our child, and ran inside. She was bundled in a blanket, being held by the midwife.
“You look better now.”
Anna had managed to change the bed as well as getting the baby all weighed, measured, and ready for snuggles. I didn’t know how. It felt like I was only out there for a second, but that hadn’t been true.
It was only later I discovered it had been over an hour. That tear I felt was part of my body separating. In those moments, the baby had been at risk, and I definitely was. If we hadn’t called the midwife, neither one of us would be here.
As I held our sweet daughter for the first time, I looked down at her perfect face. I was so grateful everyone was there and that I’d gone out to that workshop, because if I hadn’t, the day could have gone so horribly wrong.
“Welcome to the world, Alice. We’re so glad you’re here.” I kissed the top of her head and looked up to see all three of my mates, teary-eyed as they watched her sweet face. “We’re so glad you’re here.”