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Birth

Alice was lying on the bed, and her baby was not with her. She had just woken up, feeling very strange after the cesarean section. She remembered falling asleep but never remembered seeing her child. Several hours had passed since the cesarean, and she knew nothing about him.

"It's a boy," said her older sister, Sofia, just realizing that her sister was there with her. "You gave birth to a boy," she said again with a smile.

"I want to see him, I need to see him," Alice raised her hand, motioning for her sister to come closer. Her sister took a seat by her side and held her hand, preparing to tell her the next thing.

"Alice, the baby wasn't born healthy, and for now, he can't be with you. He's premature and has other problems he was born with. To be honest, and I hope you can be strong, he has a slim chance of survival. He's very weak and..." She started crying upon learning her son's condition, not letting her sister tell her everything about the little creature.

Alice's sorrow was overwhelming, knowing her child wasn't well, knowing he wasn't born healthy and might be suffering.

"I want to see him. Take me to him, Sofi, please!" She tried to sit up and realized everything hurt, everything. She couldn't move much. She placed her hands on her abdomen where the cesarean incision was. The anesthesia was wearing off, and the pain was intense and strong. "It hurts," she complained amid tears. "It hurts so much."

"I'll call the doctor, Alice. I'll be right back." Sofia left the room, and Alice continued crying, partly for her baby and partly for the pain.

When her sister returned, she was accompanied by a doctor.

"How are you feeling, Mrs. Graham?" he asked, observing her eyes, checking the cesarean site, and then gently pressing her ankles.

"It's... here," she pointed to the cesarean incision. "It hurts a lot," she indicated, letting out a groan.

"I'll be back to give you something for the pain. Wait a moment, and the nurse will be here shortly."

"Wait... please," she stopped him before he left. "I need to see my baby. What's happening with him? You haven't told me anything about him."

"I'm sorry, right now your baby is being treated in another room," was all he said, and she still didn't understand why they weren't giving her all the details of what was happening.

"But I haven't seen him!" She shouted in frustration, demanding to see her son. "I haven't seen my son! I demand to see him! You can't keep me from seeing him!"

"Calm down, Alice. They're just doing what's best for him. Don't lose hope."

There was immense fear in Alice if she didn't see her baby. She needed to see his face, to know he was okay, to hold him in her arms, against her chest.

"He has to stay there, and you have to stay here after the cesarean because of the baby's condition. Maybe you can see him in a few hours; perhaps they'll bring him here later," he said, managing to calm her a bit.

"Our parents are on their way. Mary, Loren, and Sami were here, but they had to leave before you woke up. They might come back during the day, maybe in the evening. By the way, Robert's parents aren't here, and neither is he," Sofia found that extremely strange. It was the birth of their grandson. Where were they? Where was Robert Graham, not being by his wife's side at a moment like this? Why wasn't he at the hospital with her for the delivery? Why wasn't he with her? Sofia couldn't believe there was anything more important than that. "How come your husband isn't here for your delivery? When was the last time you saw him?" she asked with displeasure.

"Last night, but don't worry. He probably knows I'm here, but he doesn't care about what happens or doesn't happen. He's a complete idiot, and I'd rather have him far away. I'm glad he's not here, Sofi."

"You don't get along?" It was becoming evident from Alice's words.

"How can two people who don't know each other and were forced to marry get along? Can two strangers with nothing in common get along?" she asked discontentedly. "We can't get along, we have nothing in common. He acts like a dictator, and obviously, I'm the one who must obey his orders, without speaking up, without complaining, just obeying him because apparently, my husband has a strong superiority complex that doesn't even allow him to listen to my voice, as if I'm going to take away his voice or his sense of command, as if my existence could endanger his, which I find very ridiculous. He fears whatever I say, getting offended by anything that comes out of my mouth, even the slightest thing, because he thinks I want to control him, that I feel superior to him, and he's had all of that in his head since the wedding day. Sofia, this marriage should have never happened, and I'm not trying to play the victim, because he doesn't love me either, so this must be equally difficult for him."

"But how have you managed to share all these months since the wedding? I don't understand. You've been married for almost a year, this marriage is almost a year old, have you been like this the entire time?" Sofia didn't understand what kind of marriage this was, and she was astonished by what her sister was saying. She never imagined it would be so difficult for her or that the union would be turning out so badly.

"We haven't shared anything, except for the wedding day and the honeymoon. Robert just needed to marry a Taylor, and once that was done, I no longer existed to him. He left me in a house and ordered me not to leave. I only had to obey my husband, nothing more. I saw him last night, after months of him being gone. I don't know anything about him, Sofía. But really, I'm glad it's that way because he's a conceited idiot. I used to think... I thought I only disliked him, but now I know I hate him," she admitted out loud for the first time.

"You can't talk about your husband like that, Alice. At some point, you'll have to live together, especially now that you have a child together. What will the baby's name be? Do you have a name already?" Sofia tried to change the subject to not overwhelm the new mother.

"Yes, I have a name for him. His name will be Ethan. I love that name," she said with a smile. The medication was starting to take effect, and she was feeling much better. The pain was decreasing, but she still needed to have her son close, to finally get to know him.

"It's a good name, Alice. I really like it."

After a while of talking with her older sister, as the pain reliever took effect, Alice fell asleep.

Sofia looked at her younger sister's face with pity, realizing how unhappy she was in that marriage, with a husband absent even during the birth of their child.

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