‘It’s time to let Yusef know,’ Yanne said, as the shadows lengthened in the courtyard, and the sun sank in the west.
And this time Gemma didn’t argue, wanting Yusef with her, wanting to share the miracle of birth with the man she loved so dearly.
‘I should have come before,’ he told her, but when the pains came again and he saw her suffering he forgot to chide her, holding her instead, steadying her, encouraging her in the breathing they had practised together, suggesting pain relief, urging her to take it, growing angry at her refusal yet somehow understanding that it was important for her to deliver her baby as the women of Fajabel delivered theirs.
But they didn’t wholly follow the old ways, for the baby boy was delivered by his father, sliding into the world and into his father’s safe and loving hands, Yusef cradling the baby, his eyes full of wonder, the miracle of birth so deep and meaningful he couldn’t speak.
Gently he laid the baby in his wife’s arms and now he held them both, his arms cradling them as he looked in wonder at his son.
‘He is so absurdly like you I feel cheated,’ Gemma said, after examining the newborn for some time.
‘Ah, but he is your child for sure,’ Yusef argued, ‘for he has arrived with little fuss, just efficiently and well, the way you handle all the situations in our lives.’
Then he kissed his wife and held back tears, wondering if life would ever be as good again as it was right now, in this moment, with his wife, his baby and his little daughter coming in to meet her brother.
Gemma remained in the compound for the forty days, and if she didn’t cut off all contact with the women’s centre, neither did she make her presence felt. She was there if she was needed, but mostly she spent the time with the baby and with Fajella, Yusef joining her each night because there was no way he was going to live apart from his wife and family for forty days.
But on the fortieth day they all climbed the high walls of the compound to a platform above the gate, where Yusef showed the world his son. Knowing the time was right, a huge crowd had gathered outside the compound, and the people yelled and laughed and clapped as Yusef held the baby aloft.
‘Is it so great a thing, to have a baby?’ Gemma asked, when they were back inside the house and the baby was sleeping after a feed.
‘Babies are our future,’ Yusef said. ‘They are our guarantee that no matter how things change in our lives, the next generation will be there to steer the people through whatever lies ahead. But they are also a promise—a new birth of an age when things can get better, for shouldn’t we always look to the future to be better?’
‘That’s a big responsibility for such a little babe,’ Gemma said.
Yusef took her in his arms.
‘I might have feared that once, but not now,’ he said. ‘When I think what you have achieved for my people, I know any child of yours will have the power to achieve anything he or she wishes. With us to guide him, with siblings and cousins and friends, our children will flourish, my Gemma, because on top of all we can give them in a physical sense, we will also give them love.’
‘Love,’ Gemma echoed, and felt her heart fill with it, for her love for Yusef grew with every breath she took. Love bound them together in a way she could never have guessed would happen, and love would see them safely through their lives together, however many little Akkedis they had.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-5565-8
DESERT KING, DOCTOR DADDY
First North American Publication 2010
Copyright © 2010 by Meredith Webber
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