She turned to go back downstairs just as a sharp pain sliced though her abdomen. Amalie cried out and gripped the doorframe, holding on tightly until the pain subsided. She placed her hand to her side and breathed through it, worried that something was wrong. As soon as it passed, she quickly went back downstairs, holding the handrail tightly for support and shuffling towards the kitchen.
‘Hope,’ she called out once she was closer. ‘Hope!’
Hope appeared, just as another pain sluiced through her. Before she knew it, there was a dampness between her legs that turned into a steady trickle.
‘Something’s wrong,’ she whispered, terrified.
‘No, my darling, nothing’s wrong. Your baby is on its way.’
‘But it’s too early!’ Amalie cried.
‘It’s not too early, it’ll be just fine. Besides, babies work to their own schedule,’ Hope said, patting her shoulder and taking the photo from her hand. ‘I’ll put this photo in the box for you, and you start to make your way back to your room. Take it nice and slow, don’t forget to breathe, and I’ll put some water on to boil and get some towels.’
Amalie froze, too scared to move, not wanting to be without Hope for even a second. ‘I don’t think I can do this,’ she whispered. ‘I’m not ready.’
‘No one’s ever ready to birth their first baby,’ Hope said. ‘Just trust me and trust your body, and everything will be fine. It’ll take a while for things to progress, so try to stay calm for now.’
Amalie nodded, knowing that now was not the time to start worrying. She was having this baby whether she wanted to or not. ‘That’s my Oskar,’ she murmured, as a wave of pain made her stomach go taut.
Hope held up the photo and smiled. ‘And how handsome he is,’ she said. ‘Are you sure you don’t want to keep the photo a little longer?’
Amalie shook her head, both hands on her stomach now as she braced herself for the next wave of pain.
‘Head up those stairs nice and slow, and I’ll be up in a minute,’ Hope said, her voice so soothing, her experience obvious. ‘Just remember you’re going to meet your baby soon, Amalie. That’s all you need to think about.’
Almost two hours later, and Amalie realised that the pain she’d felt earlier was nothing compared to the deep, rolling pain that kept coming in waves now. She groaned and gripped the sheet beneath her just as a loud knock echoed out from downstairs. Hope brushed her hair from her forehead and held a damp cloth to her skin, ignoring whoever was at the door, soothing Amalie with her words and her touch.
‘It doesn’t matter if the Pope himself is standing on my doorstep, I’m not leaving you,’ she said.
But as the knocking became more and more insistent, Hope eventually wavered, and in between contractions dashed downto see who it was. Amalie hoped it wasn’t an emergency, because she was in no state to be moved from the bed.
Another wave of pain clawed at her stomach, and she cried out just as Hope returned. But she could tell something was wrong the moment she saw her standing in the doorway.
‘Amalie, you have a visitor,’ Hope said.
‘A visitor?’ Amalie gasped, barely able to catch her breath. ‘Now?’
‘Amalie?’ A voice she’d never imagined she’d ever hear again reached her, as an impeccably dressed woman with a handbag tucked beneath her arm appeared behind Hope.
Pain clutched her again, the time between contractions so short now that the pain was beginning to feel as if it never stopped.
Hope rushed back to her side and lifted the sheet that was draped across her for modesty, her eyes meeting Amalie’s as if to ask if it was all right to have this woman in the room with her.
But as she closed her eyes from the pain, wondering how much longer she could cope, a hand clasped hers. And when she finally opened her eyes, she saw Oskar’s mother sitting there beside her, gripping her hand as if her life depended on it.
‘You came,’ Amalie whispered.
‘I’m here, Amalie,’ she said. ‘After receiving your letter, how could I not?’
Hope’s hand touched Amalie’s knee then, and Amalie heard the words she’d been waiting for, the words she needed to hear before the pain became too much to bear.
‘It’s time to push,’ Hope said. ‘With the next contraction, I want you to grip that hand and push with all your might.’
Amalie gritted her teeth, staring up at Oskar’s mother. She’d never noticed before, but his mother had the same beautiful dark eyes as Oskar, and as their eyes met, it was almost as if it was him looking back at her. Telling her she could do it, that hewould always be there with her, and it gave her the strength she needed.
Amalie gripped Oskar’s mother’s hand then, pushing and pushing until she felt as if her lower half was about to split in two, hearing him in her mind, telling her that she was almost there.
And then a cry that sounded more like a meow rang out through the room.
