“I can’t help it, Hilda!” I yelled at her, and then that sound turned to an agonizing groan. “Ahhhhh!” My legs trembled as my water broke, the liquid trickling down my inner thighs.
“The baby’s coming,” Hilda announced, her tone dripping with urgency. “Konstantin!”
My screams drew the attention of the maids around, and they came running.
“Find Konstantin or Ilya!” Hilda barked at the girls. “Tell them to get the cars ready. The baby’s coming!”
The pain coursing through me was like none I’d ever felt before. My heart was pounding in my heaving chest, and my breathing was coming in ragged gasps.
“You!” she called another maid who’d just arrived at the scene. “Come! Help me!
A few other guards showed up on time, and together they worked toward getting me to the hospital. Konstantin was at the wheel, Ilya was riding shotgun, while Hilda was with me in the backseat.
“Artur!” I cried out. “Where’s Artur?!”
“Celine, calm down.” Hilda stroked my back, trying to make me feel better.
I had a feeling Konstantin had information about my husband’s whereabouts but was keeping it to himself. Maybe he couldn’t tell me anything that he knew would upset me even more.
In no time, they got me to the hospital, and that was where the real work began.
I lay on my back, surrounded by doctors and nurses as I fought to give birth. Hilda was by my side the whole time, encouraging me to push harder. My skin was covered in sweat, the veins on my forehead almost popping out as I groaned deeply.
“I can see its head!” the doctor announced. “You’re doing great, Celine. Keep pushing!”
My body was weak, and I was barely holding on to life. I felt so sleepy, but Hilda’s constant taps on my face wouldn’t let me fall asleep.
“Open your eyes, Celine!”
“Push!” the doctor urged me.
“I’m tired,” I whispered, breathing heavily.
“I know you are,” she said. “But there’s a life inside you that needs your help to be born. So, please…push.”
I held her gaze, my fist tightening around her fingers as I let out a loud scream. I pushed with all my might, my face twisted in severe agony.
“That’s it, almost there. Almost there!”
My groans grew deeper by the second, my eyes slowly rolling backward.
Then I heard it.
The cry of a baby.
“You did it, Celine!” Hilda announced, smiling at me.
My head fell back onto the pillow, tired and exhausted. I was covered in profuse sweat, my chest rising and falling with labored breaths.
“It’s a boy,” the doctor announced, meeting my gaze.
The moment I set my eyes on that baby, that tiny human being in the nurse’s arms, something came alive inside me.
Tears of joy streamed down my cheeks, and I began sobbing, wishing his father were here. I sat up on the bed withmy back against the wall, hands stretched out, ready to receive him.
The nurse stepped forward and gently placed my adorable little boy in my arms. I looked down at his face, smiling as he gradually stopped crying. He was the spitting image of his father, a reminder that I still had no idea whether I’d been widowed or not.
“Hey, handsome,” I whispered, staring at the baby against my chest. “Welcome to Earth.” My tears wouldn’t stop flowing like a river.