"MELANCHOLY DREAMS" by Sarah Ryniker

STORY LAST UPDATED ON 01/03/2003

Melancholy Dreams Prologue Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Epilogue

CHAPTER TEN: BABY

Felicity refused to let me leave the house with her anywhere. Every time I would beg her to go somewhere, she would refuse to take me. The only time I ever saw anyone else other than the people I lived with was when Felicity would take me to see Dr Mazden. And that was a fiasco in itself.
    First, she would throw blanket after blanket on me, no matter how I complained about how hot I was. She yelled at me should I try to throw any off. I would have to be driven to the doctor that way, and would then be put into a room at the doctor's office immediately.
    It wasn't like that at first. It only started after my belly began to grow. No matter how many times I asked why it was doing that and how many times they told me that a baby was inside of me, I seemed to forget. I would ask repeatedly, sometimes more than three times a day. It would frustrate Felicity, who seemed to try her hardest to hide my growing stomach.
    I once heard David ask Felicity how she planned to explain the baby. She simply said that she would figure something out, and the conversation was dropped there. I grew excited because there was to be a baby in the house, once again forgetting that I was the one carrying the baby.
    One evening, not long after dinner, I was playing a game of cards with Kylie when I felt my tummy move. My eyes widened as it did it again. I had felt it move before, but now it felt like it was rolling. I began to cry, and Kylie got up and ran to get Felicity.
    "What's the matter, Cry?" she asked when she walked in, appearing concerned. I didn't know why she was always so on edge suddenly. But it was getting worse day by day, especially if I complained about my stomach hurting.
    "My tummy is moving1 There is something wrong with me!" I cried, and then bawled louder with fear as it did it again.
    "Cry! How many times do I have to explain to you that you have a baby in there? It is only moving around. Don't scare me like that again!" She threw her hands up in the air as she left the room.
    I turned to Kylie, my bottom lip quivering. "Why is Felicity always so angry with me?"
    "She's not angry, Cry. She's only stressed out." I was always amazed by how smart Kylie was. And in my mind, she wasn't much older or younger than me.
    "Why is she stressed?" I asked.
    Kylie just shook her head, and sat back across from me. "Never mind, Cry. Just never mind."
    I shrugged, and dropped it like that. I did that most of the time. I simply went on with life, even if I didn't understand what had just happened. The answers to my questions only seemed to confuse me more.
    That wasn't the last time I felt the baby move, and I began to cry in fear. Several times I had to be calmed down by Felicity. She would always leave in frustration, which only got worse as time wore on, and she was beginning to get very tired with telling me what was going in my body.
    Kylie and Felicity were the only ones I was allowed to see. If any men were in the room, they were made to leave, or Felicity would escort me to another room. This happened especially when Eddie was in a room. She would rush me out the moment we set foot into the room. And Felicity or Kylie was always with me. I was never to be left alone. Felicity would even check on me in my sleep. I only knew this because Kylie told me about it.
    Then in the early hours of the morning, when the sun still has hours to stay sleeping behind the hills, I woke up soaking wet in my bed. It felt like I had wet the bed, and I began to cry. Just as that happened, Felicity entered the room. "What's wrong?" she asked, flipping the light on.
    "I wet the bed, Felicity!" I cried. "I'm sorry! Please don't be mad at me!"
    She came over to get me out of bed and help me change when she noticed the amount of water. "Oh, my God!"
    "What? What's wrong?" I cried, scared by her voice.
    "Your water just broke, Cry, you're about to have a baby!" She pushed me into the bathroom and had me sit on the toilet seat. "You stay here, I'll be right back."
    Dr Mazden escorted me through a back door at the hospital. I followed slowly. Small, mild pains had begun to wrench through my abdomen every now and then, already my muscles were sore from it. When they got me to a bed, I laid down gratefully as I was hooked up to monitors.
    The pain worsened, and I cried and screamed, not understanding what was going on. The doctor, nurses and Felicity all tried to explain it to me, but I still didn't understand why I was in so much pain. And then, twelve hours later, I felt this incredible need to go the bathroom.
    "No, Cry, you don't have to go to the bathroom," Felicity explained to me, holding my hand. "You have to push the baby out."
    I did as the doctor said, and pushed and pushed. I had to be shown several times how to do it. I would push the right way a couple of times, although weak pushes. The rest of the time I would arch my back. It took me an hour and a half before the pressure stopped, and I heard the sound of a screaming baby. I didn't care about the baby, though. I just wanted to sleep.
    But before I fell asleep, Felicity came over to my bedside, holding the baby. "Do you want to see the baby, Cry?"
    I shook my head weakly. "No, you take your baby somewhere else, Felicity. I'll look at it later."
    She left me there like that, a sad look on her face. I didn't understand the sad expression, but I didn't analyse it as I fell asleep. I was so tired, ever so tired. And Felicity's baby would always be there in the morning.

Melancholy Dreams Prologue Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Epilogue

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