\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 My whole world hurt, a screaming, almost blinding pain.\u00a0 It was pain unlike anything I\u2019d ever experienced\u2014save once before.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A hand squeezed my shoulder and Jacqueline\u2019s encouraging voice faded from my ears as I looked up, expecting to see Thom standing beside me.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The trim, dark-haired figure wasn\u2019t my husband, though\u2014it was our <\/i>son, a boy who\u2019d become a young man without our being here to watch.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t worry, Mom,\u201d he said, fingers squeezing again.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s coming.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cHe shouldn\u2019t be,\u201d I croaked.\u00a0 \u201cHe should stay where he is.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cHe didn\u2019t miss it for me, did he?\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cHe very nearly did,\u201d I said, gritting my teeth as another contraction hit.\u00a0 \u201cHe should have stayed in bed that time, too, but he wouldn\u2019t listen.\u00a0 J.T. brought him.\u00a0 I was too tired to be angry.\u201d\u00a0 <\/i>Too happy to be angry, too much in awe of what we\u2019d created.\u00a0 I reached up and squeezed my son\u2019s arm.\u00a0 \u201cYou don\u2019t have to stay.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI want to.\u00a0 You waited almost eighteen years to give me a little brother or sister.\u00a0 I don\u2019t want to miss a second that I don\u2019t have to.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I squeezed my eyes shut, dimly aware that Jacqueline was telling me to push.\u00a0 Bizarrely, I found myself missing \u00c9riu, who had gone to her rest some years before.\u00a0 J.T. had told me about it\u2014he\u2019d actually shed a few tears when she\u2019d said good-bye, leaving him with a promise that they\u2019d see each other again someday.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cAlmost there, Mar.\u00a0 One or two big pushes.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I sucked in a breath and steeled myself for the last and worst of it.\u00a0 My son took my hand and squeezed.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s okay, Mom,\u201d he whispered.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s going to be okay.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I gasped softly in pain as Tala\u2019s hand spasmed around mine.\u00a0 I jerked back to myself, blinking back stinging tears that had come from nowhere.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne or two more, Tala.\u00a0 You can do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
I shivered at Jacqueline\u2019s words, so like what she\u2019d said to me in the vision.<\/p>\n
\u201cKurt and Gwen,\u201d Tala whispered to me through gritted teeth.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m naming them Kurt and Gwen.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour mom\u2019s name was Gwen,\u201d I said quietly.<\/p>\n
She nodded as I mopped sweat from her brow again.\u00a0 \u201cFeels right.\u00a0 Don\u2019t you think so?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPush now, Tala.\u00a0 Hard, hard!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah,\u201d I said, not sure if she\u2019d hear me.\u00a0 \u201cYeah, I do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Phelan\u2019s eyes met mine over Tala\u2019s head.\u00a0 He gave me a slight nod that almost made me shiver again.\u00a0 Sometimes, even knowing all I knew, being aware of all I was aware of, the sense of knowing still terrified me.<\/p>\n
I wondered if that would ever change.<\/p>\n
Then, my fear stopped mattering at the first sound of a baby\u2019s cry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 My whole world hurt, a screaming, almost blinding pain.\u00a0 It was pain unlike anything I\u2019d ever experienced\u2014save once before. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A hand squeezed my shoulder and Jacqueline\u2019s encouraging voice faded from my ears as I looked up, expecting to … Continue reading