Charlie smiled at my bratty response and continued to rub my back. “I know I can’t do much, but you don’t have to go through this alone. I’m here.”
That meant more to me than he would ever realize. “I don’t know what to do about custody, or?—”
“Let’s make sure the baby’s healthy. Then we can figure it out,” Charlie offered.
I didn’t like that we were tabling so many important discussions, but he was right. If the baby was as premature as Luana expected, it wouldn’t be leaving the hospital for a while, anyway. We could take turns visiting or something. We didn’t have to be in the same room just because this baby shared a part of me… and a part of him.
That thought ripped me apart. We’d made this baby because we’d loved each other, dual halves of ourselves brought together like our souls had been. Now we were splitting up before this child was even born.
I knew what I really wanted was to visit this baby as a couple, though we’d never be one again. But at least we were going through this as a unit. We might not be together, but we were doing this together. He hadn’t run scared when the doctor told him I was pregnant. He’d stayed, and he’d promised me he wasn’t going anywhere even though I’d shoved divorce papers in his face. There could be no greater gift.
“I wish we could figure out how this happened. We were always careful,” Charlie said, baffled.
I counted back seven months, then scowled. “We escaped the Institute at the end of June. You weren’t on any birth control until we arrived in Ilamanthe in July.”
“Are you sure that’s right?” Charlie furrowed his brow, like he was still trying to believe this was happening.
“Well, when did you have your last treatment at the Institute?”
“I don’t know. We got thrown into Cellblock 9 around the time I would’ve taken it.”
“Well, did you take it or not?” I growled.
He gaped. “I— I don’t know.”
“So you didn’t. That means we weren’t covered for a few weeks before we got to Ilamanthe.” I rolled my eyes. “The one fucking treatment we skip, we conceive on the first try. At least we know we’re super fertile.”
Charlie gave the slightest of smirks. “I’m not so sure it was the first try. If you remember, we had nothing else to do with our time while we were in that cabin.”
He managed to get a smile out of me with that one. “Marcus and Kallie were always complaining they could hear us.”
“Not like we didn’t hear them. We knew what they were doing in the room next door. They were loud as fuck.”
“Yeah, Marcus in particular.”
I snickered. “It was always after midnight when they thought we were already asleep. They woke me up every time the headboard banged against the wall. I don’t know how they accomplished that, because they didn’t go all the way until they got together officially, but whatever they were doing in the room next door made a hell of a lot of noise. Kallie’s illusion walls didn’t cover any of that up.”
“Maybe they were just jumping on the bed innocently, and your perverted little mind turned it into something it wasn’t,” Charlie joked. “It was just a slumber party!”
“Must’ve been one damn good slumber party. I used to whisper touchdown every time I could hear Marcus moan, which was half the fucking night.”
Charlie smirked. “I remember. If we could hear Kallie three times, we used to say it was a homerun.”
We broke out into giggles, which turned into rapturous laughter. I grasped his arm and squeezed it as the two of us cracked up, unable to hold it in. Oberi’s tail blurred as he wagged it as fast as he could, giving a doggy grin.
Recalling old times helped me remember just how good our lives together had been. It took my mind off of everything that was happening, and made me realize that when this baby had been made, we’d been madly in love.
I wanted to get that feeling back again. Whether it was possible, I wasn’t sure, but the smallest spark ignited in me, telling me there might be a way.
Time passed by so slowly. I continued to dilate, and Luana assured me the baby was moving downward, though it didn’t feel like it. This kid sure was taking their sweet ass time in showing up. I guess the baby took after me, because ancestors knew I never got anywhere on time.
Charlie never left the room, just did whatever I asked. The lights were too bright and pissing me off, so he dimmed them until they no longer hurt my eyes. He kept cool cloths pressed to my head, and moved me to shift positions every half hour. I knew some women didn’t want anyone around them during labor, because it made them feel overstimulated or claustrophobic, but that wasn’t me. I needed constant touch, and Charlie seemed to sense that without me asking for it. Charlie’s hands were always on my body, rubbing my back, holding my hand or playing with my hair. Oberi’s black eyes observed us both, a slight sparkle in them I hadn’t seen in a long while. We slept in short sprints here and there, me in the bed and Charlie on the chair, but I don’t think either of us got much rest. We were too preoccupied with what was to come.
Once it was dark again and night had fallen over Ilamanthe, Luana checked me one last time. When a host of doctors entered the room, one of them pushing in a clear incubator, I knew it was time to get this show on the road.
“The baby’s fully dropped. It’s time to push,” Mama said. “Let’s move you onto your side, Ava. It’ll be a better position for your spinal injury.”
So far, despite the frantic beginning, everything had seemed to progress smoothly. But this was the most complicated part, and the bit I was most worried about. Charlie helped my mom to turn me onto my left side, then she pulled my leg up before saying, “Charlie, come here.”
