The Hate Game

The Baby Fever - Prologue

Eda woke up in the middle of the night and groaned, feeling her bladder bothering her again. She was experiencing more and more sleepless nights in the last two weeks. She still had about two more weeks before giving birth, but she knew she was past the safety date and the baby could arrive at any moment now, but she still didn't feel physically ready. 

She just started to prepare her body two days ago and had a detailed plan of how to proceed with everything to be ready, when the time comes. She religiously watched every video and read every piece of advice. She had a stock of raspberry tea and started massages that were supposed to help her avoid tearing during the birth.

Eda looked at the watch. It was two o'clock in the morning, and the room was completely dark. She took Serkan's hand from her hip and rolled from the bed. He didn't even stir. He was exhausted after putting the baby furniture together for the whole day. 

Eda only yesterday allowed him to finally furnish the nursery. She was scared to buy any baby accessories for her entire pregnancy, not to jinx anything bad. She knew it was surreal and silly on her part, but she needed that for the sanity of her mind, and Serkan understood her.

However, that didn't stop Eda from visiting every baby store she saw in the range of her eyes whenever she was out, and choosing every tinest detail of the baby room and tiny clothes and toys. When she passed the seventh month, she bought everything and made Serkan store it in the garage, but only now did she let him transform the empty room across from their master bedroom into the beautiful baby room. 

Eda knew Serkan could easily let their house staff do it for him, but she also knew he wanted to do it himself. She wasn't overly emotional during her pregnancy. She was spared any hormonal mood changes, had a very easy pregnancy, and not too big a bump, but when she saw her husband proudly showing off the crib he just put together, she melted and cried her eyes out in his arms.

Eda braced her elbows on the edge of the bed to raise herself. She seriously needed to visit the bathroom. 

With a strong push, Eda got up on her feet. She didn't need Serkan's help to get up from the bed or chair, and the bump didn't restrict her movements but lately, she started to experience a slight pain in her core. It was normal at this stage of pregnancy, but it was getting annoying as it wasn't allowing her to fall asleep after she woke up for the bathroom visit and she just lied still to the dawn. 

Why did her body decide to practice for night feedings? Eda thought bitterly. She should be getting as much sleep as she could, as she won't be sleeping for another year at least. 

The woman should give birth, and the man should feed the baby. Eda sighed. It would be more fair. 

Eda took her phone, dragged herself to the bathroom and froze, seeing the slight trace of blood on her underwear. She felt a pang in her heart and panicked for a second before remembering about the mucus plug that could come off even two weeks before the birth. At the same moment, she felt a contraction that was different from what she had for the past month. 

She breathed deeply, trying to calm down, and opened the browser on her phone to read about her symptoms. After she felt calm enough, she returned to the bed, but after a couple of minutes, she felt another contraction. When in one hour, she had three more, she sat up, downloaded the app to measure the contraction, and started to watch seconds flying on the timer. 

It was four in the morning when her contractions bacame more regular and were between seven and eleven minutes apart.

"Serkan." Eda nudged him with her knee, and he stirred murmuring something unintelligible.