by Holly Rayner
Over the next few hours, it felt to Mia as if days passed. Her contractions became still more intense, and she heard her voice getting hoarser as she shouted in reaction to the pain and pressure in her body, the roiling, twisting spasms wringing her out every few minutes. The nurse stayed with her as much as possible, praising and reassuring her, but for a long time Mia was too involved in the upheaval happening inside of her body to even hear the woman, much less make sense of the words leaving her lips. Again and again, the nurse lifted Mia’s gown to check how dilated she was.
After what seemed like an eternity, Mia was brought out of her lull of pain and misery by the sound of the obstetrician’s voice. “Push, Mia. Push!” She opened her eyes and looked around; Rami was right at her side. Mia gave into her body’s demands, feeling muscles she had never been fully aware of moving inside of her, and bore down to push. She could feel the baby, the terrific and terrible pressure of the slow but steady movement. She heard someone say that the baby was crowning, but all Mia could think about was continuing to push.
“One more, Mia! One more big push and you’re home free!” Mia screamed as she pushed a final time, and felt the baby slide free of her body. She collapsed against the bed, panting and gasping. She wasn’t sure if she was awake or unconscious; everything seemed utterly surreal.
“Is the baby okay?” she asked hoarsely, turning her head to look at Rami. “I can’t hear anything.” The next instant, a shrill, sharp shriek greeted her ears, and Mia smiled. Tears slid down her cheeks, flowing steadily as sobs of tired relief broke through her panting breaths.
“It’s a boy! Give us just a moment to check him over. You did great, Mia.”
Mia nodded weakly. She could barely move or speak, but deep down she was ecstatic that the baby was alive and seemingly fine; dimly relieved that she had made it through the birth herself. In her mind, she floated up and out of the room, barely aware of what was going on around her. She came back to herself only when she felt a subtle weight being placed in her folded arms.
“All right, Mama,” the nurse was saying, hovering over her. “It’s time to meet your baby.” Mia’s eyes began to sting at the words.
Let’s get you latched,” the nurse continued, untying the neck of Mia’s gown to free her breast. Mia looked down at her newborn son as the nurse guided her hands. “We want him to use his instinct, but you have to help him,” the nurse was saying. Mia guided her nipple to the newborn’s mouth, and after a brief moment, he latched on.
“Oh—oh my little boy…” Mia felt a flood of emotion as the infant began to nurse, sucking hungrily. Tears flowed from her eyes as she stared down at the bright red, bloodstained newborn. He opened his eyes and Mia saw they were the deepest blue she’d ever seen. He was tiny; so tiny. “He has the most perfect little hands,” Mia said, as the newborn grabbed onto her finger. His skin was pink-red and impossibly soft.
“Oh my God, Mia, this is amazing, you’re amazing. What do you want to name him?” Rami asked, kissing her and putting his arms around them both.
Mia could barely turn her attention away from her son to look at Rami. She laughed, cringing slightly at the twinge of pain the movement sent through her. “You know, I have no idea,” she replied. “After all this time, I don’t think we ever really talked about names, did we?”
Rami’s eyes were full of tears. “No, we didn’t,” he agreed. “We could call him Aziz—it means ‘cherished’.”
Mia pressed her lips together, looking down at her son. “You know what, that sounds perfect. Can we give him my father’s name for a middle name?” She glanced hopefully at Rami.
“Harrison? Of course, Mia, I think that would be a really special tribute to him.” Rami smiled lovingly.
The nurse hovered attentively at Mia’s other side as she nursed. “Your little boy is very healthy, especially considering that he was born a month early,” she told Mia as Aziz suckled greedily. “He’s tiny, but all of his vital signs are strong. You two are going to be just fine.” Mia nodded, feeling exhausted and wincing as the sensation in the lower part of her body began to return. Noticing Mia’s expression, the nurse continued, “We’ll give you a little something for pain, but nothing that will make its way into your milk.” The nurse stood and Mia realized that all if the members of staff were gathering their things to leave. “Now we’ll let you three get some rest and check back in with you later.”
Rami sank down into the chair by the bed and Mia smiled at him. She suddenly felt full to the brim with happiness, relief and bliss. “I’m sorry I said such horrible things to you before,” she said, tears streaming from her eyes.
“No, I deserved them,” Rami said, smiling weakly. “Besides, you were in pain. Giving birth is basically the most painful thing people ever have to go through.”
“Damn straight it is,” Mia agreed. She looked down at her new son, unable to keep from beaming so hard that she thought her cheeks might split. “He’s the most perfect little baby boy, and he’s ours.”
When she looked up, she saw that Rami was crying too; but his tears weren’t the joyful kind that were streaming down her cheeks. “What’s wrong, Rami?”
“I’m just…so sorry I haven’t been here for you,” Rami said, reaching out to take Mia’s free hand. “I’ve been the most terrible fiancé, pretty much since the day we got engaged.”
Mia shook her head. “No—no, you haven’t, Rami,” she insisted. “It’s been difficult but…” she shrugged, looking down at baby Aziz. “But it’s so worth it now.”
“Still,” Rami said. “I haven’t been taking care of you the way I should. And then, to top it all off, I sent you into early labor.”
Mia smiled at him sleepily. “I don’t know if your announcement was the only thing that caused this,” she said. “I don’t think it would have happened if you made the announcement like—last month or something, I think he was trying his best to come out early. And besides we’re okay now; Aziz and I are both fine.”
“But I promised you so much, and now…”
Mia shook her head again, interrupting him. “We have each other,” she said firmly, then paused as Aziz pulled away from her, his mouth stretching into a tiny, toothless yawn as he began to fall asleep, fully content and sated. “We have our son,” Mia continued. “We love each other and we love our little boy. That seems like a great beginning to me.” She watched her son’s eyelids fall over his dark eyes, and in an instant the baby was asleep at her breast. She looked at Rami again.
“You can’t hold yourself responsible for the choices your parents made. It’s up to your family how they move forward now their circumstances have changed. You and I will be just fine, you’ll see.” Mia yawned widely, cradling her newborn against her body. She tilted her head towards Rami. “And now, I would really like to sleep while this little monster lets me.”
“Of course, you get some sleep. You look so beautiful, Mia. I knew you’d be an amazing mother.”
Mia smiled as her exhausted body pulled her inexorably into a deep sleep.
TWELVE
Within a couple of days, Mia, Rami, Aziz, and Rami’s family members, landed back in the city where Rami and Mia had met. The doctors had cleared Mia and the baby to fly, though they cautioned her to pay attention to any unusual pains or aches she felt which could be an early warning of complications.
Amie was waiting for them at the airport. As they exchanged hugs and joyful tears at the new baby meeting his maternal grandmother, Mia was surprised at the change in attitude showed by Rami’s mother, Amal. “I wish we could have gotten you to the hospital, Amie. I know that a mother’s presence can be such a relief when a woman is giving birth,” Amal said.
“I appreciate that, Amal, but even if it hadn’t happened so suddenly, my health would have made flying almost impossible,” Amie replied. “I’m just so relieved that nothing went terribly wrong.”
Even before the flight, Mia had realized that in the wake of Rami’s father’s death, his fami
ly seemed to have become closer to each other; the fact that they had been so welcoming to her and baby Aziz warmed her immensely. She couldn’t quite reconcile Amal’s current caring, comforting presence with the cold reception she’d received back when Rami had announced their engagement.
“You’ll be staying with us, I hope,” Amal said, as they made their way out of the airport. As she had only recently given birth, the airline had insisted on providing Mia with a wheelchair at both ends of the journey. Still aching and sore from her delivery days before, Mia did not protest.
“Are—are you really sure you want us to stay with you?” Mia glanced down into the bundle of blankets that held her son, not wanting to bring up Amal’s previous threat that she would disown Rami if he didn’t sever ties with the woman bearing his child.
“Absolutely, I insist.” Amal replied.
“It would make a lot of sense,” Rami pointed out, and Mia glanced at him in surprise. “We need to sell off as many of my father’s properties as possible. If I sell my home, that’s money that can go towards closing out the estate. I wouldn’t worry about it; there’s a lot of room at my parents’ house.”
“Exactly. Even if we all live there, it won’t be cramped,” Karima said.
Mia remembered the huge, sprawling mansion she had gone to when Rami had brought her to meet his parents. She definitely agreed that the home was large enough to house the entire family; she just wasn’t certain how much she would enjoy living under the same roof as a woman who had previously denounced her for being a commoner.
“And that way, we can help you take care of little Aziz,” Karima continued.
Rami’s sisters had already shown their enthusiasm for helping with the infant. In the days before the flight they had been more than happy to watch him while he slept, giving Mia the opportunity to bathe, sleep, or eat unencumbered. Rami’s younger brothers had already started planning adventures with their new nephew—though most of their plans would have to wait years to come to fruition.
Mia glanced at her mother, wishing that she could speak to Amie privately to get her opinion.
“I think that sounds like an excellent solution,” Amie said, as if reading Mia’s mind. “As long as you don’t object to me visiting regularly.”
“Not at all!” Amal smiled warmly at Mia’s mother. “We are family now, after all.”
Mia suppressed the urge to shake her head in pure shock at the change in Amal’s behavior. She focused instead on getting through the airport. Listening for the slightest sound from her infant son, the chatter of the family faded into the buzz and clamor of the airport.
Following the invitation to move into the family home, Mia began seeing more evidence of Rami’s family’s new, more modest circumstances. Rather than a limo coming to pick them up, Rami had arranged for a van to take them home from the airport. “Well at least it’s nice and spacious,” Karima commented as they loaded their luggage into the back of the vehicle and started to pile in. The company had provided a car seat for Aziz and even though Mia knew that it was the safest place for her new son to be, she still hesitated to put him down—she loved the feeling of the tiny little bundle in her arms.
“How are you feeling, sweetie? Are you recovering okay?” Amie asked.
Mia smiled and leaned against her mother as the van pulled away from the curb. “I’m tired, but the doctors said I’m absolutely fine, and should be fully recovered within a few weeks.” Mia blushed slightly, remembering that the doctor had told her she should not have sex with Rami for at least several weeks. She had only torn a little bit in delivery, and her stitches were healing as expected, but she hadn’t yet become accustomed to everything about her body suddenly being public news.
“Aziz is such a happy baby,” Amal said, beaming down at the infant who was sleeping peacefully. “I’ve barely heard him cry since he was born.”
“A happy baby is a wonderful thing,” Mia’s mother agreed, stroking her daughter’s hair lightly.
By the time they had arrived at Rami’s parents’ home, Mia wanted nothing more than to curl up in the bed she and Rami would be sharing and go to sleep. She was still exhausted from giving birth, and hadn’t been getting a great deal of sleep. Even though his siblings and mother all fussed over her and the baby, little Aziz was insistent on nursing every two hours, although Rami or one of his sisters sometimes bottle fed the baby with her milk.
Mia decided that right now, seeing her mother was more important than sleep. She managed to stay awake and alert long enough to give her mother the news about Rami’s family’s change in circumstances, and the fact that Rami, as the executor of his father’s estate, would be selling off the family properties and doing everything he could to close out the debt that his father had accumulated.
“It is a shame that you won’t have the life of luxury that you were expecting,” Amie said, giving her daughter a hug. “But you and I both know that it doesn’t take vast amount of wealth to have a loving home.”
“I’m just glad that I’ve still got a little cushion from what Rami gave me back when I was going to be his surrogate,” Mia admitted. “In terms of the future, maybe one or two of Rami’s father’s businesses can stay afloat long enough for him to take them over and bring them back into profit.”
Mia watched as Rami’s mother took over the difficult task of informing the household staff that their services would unfortunately no longer be needed. “I know this is very short notice,” Amal said, looking genuinely saddened by the news. “We will be able to keep you on for two weeks from today and no longer. Of course I will be happy to provide excellent references for all of you; if I hear of anyone personally who can use someone on their staff, I will absolutely give them your names.”
A few hours after they had arrived, Mia’s mother went home, begging exhaustion, and Mia found herself cuddled up in bed with Aziz. As she nursed the infant, Rami was only a few feet away, hard at work on consolidating and liquidating his father’s properties and businesses. She fell into a contented doze, happy that she was no longer worrying about whether or not she would stay with Rami—the last few days had brought everything into focus.
THIRTEEN