him on the side of the face.
“It's just you and me now,” I tell him, pulling him tight. “I know it's gonna be difficult, but you'll get used to it, and I promise you'll have a better time than me. I was a baby when I came her too, and Pa wasn't very good at looking after me. At least, I don't think he was. Then again, I was all cut up when I arrived, and Pa had to fix my face. I know he didn't...” I pause, feeling as if I might be about to cry, but finally I manage to stay strong. “Well, I know he didn't do a very good job, and I'm ugly as sin, but that's just another example of how you're gonna have things easy. 'Cause you're so beautiful.”
He's still screaming, but I figure he'll have to stop eventually. Pa says I screamed a lot when I first arrived too, and I turned out just fine. Well, fine enough, anyway. And Alistair's gonna turn out even better. One day, he's gonna take over the farm.
First, though, I've gotta figure out what to do with the woman.
Part Two
PENNY
Penny
“We decided we don't want to know,” Pete says, wrapping an arm around my shoulder while patting my belly with his other hand. “We want it to be a surprise.”
“It's blatantly going to be a boy, though,” I add, laughing. “I don't know how, I can just tell. Maybe it's just a mother's intuition.”
“Don't you have, like, two sisters and no brothers?” Caroline asks Pete.
“Which means it's about time for a Y chromosome to sneak through,” he replies. “If Penny says it's going to be a boy, that's good enough for me. And if it is, we're going to name it Hugh after my father. Get a little of that Welsh lineage front and center!”
As they continue to laugh and joke, I feel a kicking sensation in my belly. I usually smile whenever I feel the baby moving about in there, but this time something seems very different. When I try to reach down, I find that for some reason I can't move either of my arms, as if my wrists are somehow stuck to the sofa. I pull and I pull, but I can't get them to budge at all, and slowly a sense of panic starts to rise through my chest.
Something's wrong.
Something's really, really wrong.
“Pete?” I whisper, but he doesn't respond. He's still laughing with the others.
Suddenly I feel water splashing against my back, as if somehow it's reaching through the sofa. I try to wriggle free, but Pete's holding me tighter and tighter, and the light in our apartment is getting brighter, almost blinding me. At the same time, I look down at my belly as I realize that I feel strangely empty, almost as if in the blink of an eye my child is gone. I know that's impossible, of course, and I tell myself that I'm just being paranoid. At the same time, my body feels colder, too, and I'm shaken by a very sudden, very powerful sense of solitude. Despite the fact that there are three other people here with me in the room, it's as if something has been torn away from me.
“Pete?” I stammer. “I need... I think I need help.”
He and the others are still laughing, but their voices are echoing all around me now. When I turn and try to grab Pete's arm, all I see is a vast, blurry wall of movement.
“Okay,” a voice says in the distance, somewhere beyond the white haze that suddenly fills my vision, “we're going to start bringing her around now. Everyone be ready.”
“We're going to give this kid everything,” Pete continues, but now his voice sounds distorted, as if I'm underwater and he's speaking from somewhere on the shore. I feel like I'm bobbing violently up and down, being buffered from all sides. “No kid of mine is going to go without. He's going to -”
His voice suddenly flares louder and fills my ears, and for a moment my vision flickers away.
“Pete?” I whisper, trying to reach out and grab him. “Where are you? Pete?”
“Just make sure you get the right drugs during the birth,” Caroline adds, her voice echoing through my mind. “There's no point going through all that
“It's just you and me now,” I tell him, pulling him tight. “I know it's gonna be difficult, but you'll get used to it, and I promise you'll have a better time than me. I was a baby when I came her too, and Pa wasn't very good at looking after me. At least, I don't think he was. Then again, I was all cut up when I arrived, and Pa had to fix my face. I know he didn't...” I pause, feeling as if I might be about to cry, but finally I manage to stay strong. “Well, I know he didn't do a very good job, and I'm ugly as sin, but that's just another example of how you're gonna have things easy. 'Cause you're so beautiful.”
He's still screaming, but I figure he'll have to stop eventually. Pa says I screamed a lot when I first arrived too, and I turned out just fine. Well, fine enough, anyway. And Alistair's gonna turn out even better. One day, he's gonna take over the farm.
First, though, I've gotta figure out what to do with the woman.
Part Two
PENNY
Penny
“We decided we don't want to know,” Pete says, wrapping an arm around my shoulder while patting my belly with his other hand. “We want it to be a surprise.”
“It's blatantly going to be a boy, though,” I add, laughing. “I don't know how, I can just tell. Maybe it's just a mother's intuition.”
“Don't you have, like, two sisters and no brothers?” Caroline asks Pete.
“Which means it's about time for a Y chromosome to sneak through,” he replies. “If Penny says it's going to be a boy, that's good enough for me. And if it is, we're going to name it Hugh after my father. Get a little of that Welsh lineage front and center!”
As they continue to laugh and joke, I feel a kicking sensation in my belly. I usually smile whenever I feel the baby moving about in there, but this time something seems very different. When I try to reach down, I find that for some reason I can't move either of my arms, as if my wrists are somehow stuck to the sofa. I pull and I pull, but I can't get them to budge at all, and slowly a sense of panic starts to rise through my chest.
Something's wrong.
Something's really, really wrong.
“Pete?” I whisper, but he doesn't respond. He's still laughing with the others.
Suddenly I feel water splashing against my back, as if somehow it's reaching through the sofa. I try to wriggle free, but Pete's holding me tighter and tighter, and the light in our apartment is getting brighter, almost blinding me. At the same time, I look down at my belly as I realize that I feel strangely empty, almost as if in the blink of an eye my child is gone. I know that's impossible, of course, and I tell myself that I'm just being paranoid. At the same time, my body feels colder, too, and I'm shaken by a very sudden, very powerful sense of solitude. Despite the fact that there are three other people here with me in the room, it's as if something has been torn away from me.
“Pete?” I stammer. “I need... I think I need help.”
He and the others are still laughing, but their voices are echoing all around me now. When I turn and try to grab Pete's arm, all I see is a vast, blurry wall of movement.
“Okay,” a voice says in the distance, somewhere beyond the white haze that suddenly fills my vision, “we're going to start bringing her around now. Everyone be ready.”
“We're going to give this kid everything,” Pete continues, but now his voice sounds distorted, as if I'm underwater and he's speaking from somewhere on the shore. I feel like I'm bobbing violently up and down, being buffered from all sides. “No kid of mine is going to go without. He's going to -”
His voice suddenly flares louder and fills my ears, and for a moment my vision flickers away.
“Pete?” I whisper, trying to reach out and grab him. “Where are you? Pete?”
“Just make sure you get the right drugs during the birth,” Caroline adds, her voice echoing through my mind. “There's no point going through all that
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