1.
As the birth drew close, my mother-in-law kept watch outside the door, counting off the gender of every baby born in the delivery room.
"A girl…"
"Another girl…"
The pain in my belly was unbearable. I reached for the call button, but she stopped me.
"You can't give birth now. Every baby born now is a girl."
"That means the helm-child coming is a boy, and he'll be the last one out. If you deliver now, the boy will run off to some other family."
Her superstition made my blood boil, but the pain was too much to bear. The moment she wasn't looking, I dialed Everard Head.
"Can you skip the trip today and come to the hospital to be with me? Mom won't let me deliver."
"I…"
Before I could finish, I heard him and his adopted sister in the background.
"Everard, if you're worried about your wife, you should go be with her. I'll be fine."
"I know the fortune-teller said I need a helm-child to shield me from the curse, but dragging it out like this—what if something happens to your wife?"
Everard hadn't answered yet when a friend cut in.
"Come on, your wife trains in boxing. What could happen to her?"
"She could pop out a baby and still take on all of us at once. Stop stressing and come out with us."
Everard didn't argue back. He just nodded along.
"She's tougher than you. She's only delivering a little later, it won't kill her."
"Worst case, once the baby's out, I'll make it up to her with plenty of perks."
Bit by bit, my heart sank to the bottom of the sea.
So this was the "business trip" he'd talked about.
So this was the whole point of my mother-in-law's helm-child obsession.
So this was how little I weighed in his heart.
Sometimes a heart dies in a single instant.
…
I smiled bitterly, and the fluid between my legs kept coming, more and more.
When the nurse made her rounds, she cried out in shock.
"What is going on here? She's almost nine centimeters dilated and you haven't called a doctor?"
My mother-in-law blocked the nurse who was trying to take me away, her voice shrill and unyielding.
"There's still one mother who hasn't delivered. My daughter-in-law can't give birth yet."
"My daughter-in-law can only go in after the last pregnant woman has delivered."
Her hands clamped onto my bed, refusing to let the doctor or nurse move it an inch.
When she saw she couldn't stop them, she started cursing at them.
"What business is this of yours? If you mess up my daughter-in-law delivering the helm-child, can you take the responsibility?"
The nurse was livid too, but she kept trying to reason.
"If she doesn't deliver soon, the baby could suffer from oxygen deprivation, and the mother could face a life-threatening infection."
"Helm-child, all of that is superstition. Ma'am, you have to believe in science."
At some point my mother had made it to the doorway.
Hearing my mother-in-law's voice, she threw herself at her, sobbing.
"What gives you the right to stop my girl from giving birth? What right?"
"Let go of it, let go, I don't want any helm-child, I just want my girl safe and sound."
The blow knocked my mother-in-law's hands loose, and the nurse could finally push the bed. My mother planted her body squarely in my mother-in-law's path, refusing to let her get one step closer to me no matter how she hit or screamed.
To set my mind at ease, she even forced out a smile.
"Hope Brady, Hope, you just focus on the baby, Mom's here."
"Mom's here!"
The tears fell without my say-so, running into my mouth, and I swallowed them down hard, all the hatred and the bitter ache going down into my stomach together.
My phone chimed.
Just as the nurse was about to take it away, I caught the message flashing up on the screen.
【So what if you're Everard's wife? In his heart, I come first.】
