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.