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Myna rubbed her swollen belly, pushing back against the limb fighting for space inside.
‘Not long now, little one. Soon you’ll be able to stretch those legs as much as you want.’
There was a bittersweet tang at the thought of it; the excitement of meeting her child for the first time, and yet the loss of this precious time when it was just Myna and her infant, when interactions involved movement and stretches and pushing from within, and rubbing and stroking and talking from without.
Could she look after a child on the outside, as well as her body managed while it was inside? And what if something went wrong? She’d never experienced such joy in her life; what made her worthy of it now?
––––––––
Myna had been rolling with the contractions for hours. She gripped Ronan’s hand as another wave surged through her body.
‘You’re fully dilated, not long now.’ Oulde, the midwife, spoke in soothing tones as she withdrew her fingers from between Myna’s legs. With Ronan’s help, she brought Myna back to a standing position.
Myna cringed as the contraction coursed through her body. ‘I’m not sure I can walk anymore.’ She spoke through gasps, between ever strengthening waves that crippled her.
‘Just a little longer, love. It’ll be over in a moment,’ Ronan murmured.
Earlier in the night, Myna had snapped at him for such ridiculous comments. As if he knew the first thing about birthing a child! But now her energy was fading. Summoning the will to stand, to walk, took every ounce of her strength.
They paced the room. Back and forth, back and forth, Myna’s arm across Ronan’s shoulders, his arm across her back, holding her up. With each new wave that rose and crested Myna tensed, and Ronan stood, holding her up as her fingers dug into his flesh.
It was taking too long.
The pain changed, and Myna’s knees collapsed underneath her, the desire to bear down overtaking everything else.
‘That’s it,’ Oulde cooed. ‘That’s a girl, good work, keep it up.’
Ronan took up the mantra. ‘That’s the way, not long now.’
Myna leaned forward so her arms could bear some of the weight of her oversized body. She gave in to the urge to push, letting out a deep groan as the baby moved lower.
‘We can see the head,’ Oulde said. ‘Take it slow now, easy does it.’
Those words provided the burst of energy Myna needed.
‘Another push now, all right, ease off, take a breath. Now one more.’
Pressure built between Myna’s legs, her skin pulled so tight she thought she must tear, then released, just a little, as a gush of water spilled out onto the floor.
‘Oh!’ Oulde jerked a hand back as though she’d been burned.
Myna tried to peer around. ‘What’s wrong?’
A pause. Then Oulde spoke. ‘Nothing, Myna. Everything’s fine. Now come on, we need you to give another big push, let’s get this body out.’
Myna called up on all her reserves, fighting the stab of fear in her chest. With one almighty push she felt the baby slither out from between her legs.
Silence.
Where was the baby’s cry?
‘Is everything all right?’ She tried to turn but Oulde put a hand on her back.
‘We have to cut the cord now. You just stay there.’
The knife flashed in the candle light, pulling against the cord, still attached to something inside her.
Myna’s chest constricted. Why were they all so quiet?
‘We’ll just wrap the baby now, and get you comfy so you can deliver the placenta.’
In moments Oulde was helping Myna sit, but then she heard the thud of the door.
‘Where’s Ronan and the baby? Do we have a daughter?’
Contractions racked her body again, and Myna bore down as Oulde gently pulled on umbilical cord.
‘Come on, now. Not much longer.’
‘I just want to see my baby.’ Myna spoke through gritted teeth, fighting back the tears that pricked at her eyes.
One final push and a fleshy red mess landed on the cloth beneath her.
Oulde wrapped it, carefully wiping between Myna’s legs with a warm damp cloth.
‘Let me see her.’
‘Shh, now. Let’s just get you onto the bed.’ Oulde gripped under Myna’s arm, helping her to stand.
Myna fought back the fear rising in her chest. ‘What’s wrong? What’s happened?’
‘Don’t worry yourself, Myna, dear.’ Oulde pulled the blankets up around Myna’s waist. She left the room for a moment, returning with a mug of something warm.
‘Drink this. It’ll help.’
Myna did as she was told.
‘You just rest. Ronan will be back soon.’
Myna sank bank into the pillows. Her body had never felt so heavy.
Oulde left the room, and Myna allowed her eyelids to close.
She couldn’t even rouse herself when Ronan’s panicked whisper drifted through the closed door.
‘What do we do?’
––––––––
A wave of revulsion passed through Ronan’s body as he looked on the infant his wife had just birthed. He didn’t want to touch it, but when he put it down a strange slit opened where the mouth should be, and a strange mewling sound emerged, so he picked it up as he paced the room, waiting for Oulde.
The door opened and closed, and he turned.
‘What do we do?’ His heart pounded in his ears.
‘There’s nothing we can do.’ Oulde was calm; brisk and business-like. ‘I’ll deal with it; you don’t need to worry about a thing.’
‘What?’
‘You can’t raise it—look at it.’
‘It’ll break Myna’s heart.’
‘Even more so if she sees it. Best you let it go. We’ll tell her it died. She doesn’t need to see that.’
Ronan looked down at the creature in his arms. The grey tinged skin was nothing compared with the large black eyes without even a hint of white, and two slits where the nose should be. It seemed to be covered by some sort of translucent skin, holding the arms and legs tight against the body, preventing movement.
There was a sense in Oulde’s words, and Ronan felt only relief as he passed the baby over. It was for the best. Myna had suffered through enough in her life. To see she’d given birth to something so... monstrous...would break her.
But then Oulde was gone, and Ronan’s arms were empty, their longed-for addition to the family no-more.
