Debt

51: Betrayal

2 years later

When Larielle went into labor, she was busy trying to have a family-sized bag of Cheetos. The first contraction came just as she swallowed the first handful. With orange cheese all over her fingers, she managed to push herself up after the first wave of contractions.

In the backyard, she found her husband and his uncle doing target practice with Abrielle. When all the fire was ceased, she didn't move. She wasn't going to take any chances on them actually being done with their fire.

"Evan," she called.

"Yes, baby?" he asked, not turning away from his target, reloading his clip.

"I'm in labor," she told him.

"Now?"

"No, yesterday."

She rolled her eyes, going back in the house and resuming her bag of Cheetos as if she wasn't in labor.

When Evan came in, he had Nurse Carla with him. "Can she be eating those?" he asked.

"She's fine, Evan," Nurse Carla assured him. "Larielle, sweetie, why don't you go change into a dress. One you won't mind being ruined. Having a baby is messy."

"I know. I was there when Bri did it."

Larielle got up, her fingers orange as she made her way to her room and to change. Evan came up the stairs behind her.

"You don't look like you're in pain," he told her.

"I only had one contraction, Evan. I'm sure when the rest start coming, I'll be hurting to your heart's content."

"You know that isn't what I mean. I mean when Bri was having her baby, she was practically crying."

"You saw her when her contractions were close," she told him. Help me get this shirt off," she told him. He lifted the shirt off her and she moved to get one of his t-shirts. It stopped near her knees, so he didn't say anything about it.

Larielle didn't start experiencing close contractions until close to dinner time, and by that time, she was in a considerable amount of pain. But she did have her husband there to help her through it, massaging her back for her, coaching her through it.

She was only nine centimeters dilated when she felt the need to begin pushing. She let her body do the work, holding Evan's arm as she pushed.

When she could feel her daughter crowning, she swore she had never felt a pain like it in her life.

She tore a little in the process of delivering her child, and Nurse Carla stitched her up while she was busy admiring her little girl.

"She's so beautiful," she told Evan, smiling up at him. He leaned down and kissed her.

"She is," he agreed, taking the little girl.

"She looks exactly like that baby you had no business drawing nearly two years ago," she told him.

"Who, me?" he asked innocently.

He moved to find the drawing and compared it to the infant in his wife's arms. Exactly alike. Larielle shook her head. Nothing about this family could surprise her anymore.

When Evan helped Larielle get cleaned up, they sat in the bed, and she had on a nightgown. "I'm going to take a picture of you three," Shayla told them, picking up Evan's camera.