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“Well,” she says. “This will be interesting. I’m going towash up—”she sends me a pointed glare as she announces this, “and I’ll be right back, ladies.”
Becky keeps me corralled as best she can from midwife Jane and C’vest. She manages very well until her contractions become more severe.
“Remember,” Stella tells her, speaking through gritted teeth, her hands gripping the flared sections of her chair. “Squeeze the comb during your contraction to distract yourself from the pain. And keep your jaw relaaaaaxed,” she hisses out.
“I think you need to—” I helpfully start.
Becky slaps her hand over my mouth—the hand not holding the comb she’s squeezing.
“Tayyk yer owwn addvyce,” I manage to say, my lips mashed against Becky’s palm. I kiss it.
“Shhhhh,” she says to me, with teeth that aren’t quite gritted, I’m relieved to note.
C’vest growls from the side of his wife’s chair, not pleased that I attempted to point out helpful advice for his mate.
A few contractions later and Becky throws the comb.
By a wide margin, she misses Jane, who is seated on a low stool positioned between Stella’s legs. But Jane still sends Becky a warning look. “Enough of that.”
I retrieve the comb and place it back into Becky’s clammy palm.
Becky begins to sob.
I’ve never felt so powerless in my life. Internally beside myself but gripping onto a calm exterior with everything I’ve got, I offer her more ice chips, ones that C’vest showed me how to obtain from their refrigerator which dispenses them. “You are doing well,” I tell her, not for the first time.
“This is taking forever,” Becky weeps.
“You’ve been laboring for hours,” I agree. “I must say I am quite impressed. It’s my understanding that the pain of childbirth is torturous, and to think that you’ve been undergoing it for so long… The resilience of a woman is astounding.”
Becky only cries harder.
Jane sighs and shoots a harassed look at C’vest. “Do you have duct tape for that one’s mouth?”
To my relief, Becky laughs.
It’s a choked sound, but I recognize it for what it is. Heedful of her condition, I fondly pull her to me.
Just as quickly as her mirth flared though, her face crumples again. She presses her head into my chest.
Carefully I peel sweaty tendrils of her hair off her cheeks and frame her face in my hands. “You will give birth soon,” I promise her. Because it must be soon. As pointed out, she’s already been at work for hours delivering this tadpole.
“I’m scared,” Becky admits, tilting her head back and looking up at me with fear in her eyes.
I bring my arms around her gently and hold her. “I am too,” I admit. “I was once chased by an Orcinus, which is a terrifying predatorfrom where I’m from, and I was very nearly overtaken. This is more frightening than that.”
“SHUT HIM UP!” Midwife Jane barks.
And to my delight, Becky chokes out another laugh.
When the women began pushing in earnest, we moved their chairs so that C’vest and I are essentially back to back.
Even if I glanced over my shoulder, C’vest is blocking my view of his wife, if I dared to look over at her. I don’t. I have plenty enough to focus on, and I grasp the concept of privacy. I give the other couple as much of it as I’m able.
Stella growls as she suddenly bears down during her next contraction, which has arrived even quicker than the last. And her husband’s brain spikes in the sectors for alarm and relief and fear.
“I see the head,” Midwife Jane announces.
“Oh, thank God,” Becky pants in solidarity, getting to her feet and moving to her new friend. And the laboring women reach for each other and hold hands.
