Secret Child

Chapter One

Chapter One

“You're now eight centimetres dilated,” The nurse informed me as she snapped off her rubbed glove, “I'll be back in a little while to check again. Once you reach ten, we'll take you down to the delivery room.”

“Okay...” I breathed, nervous that this was all happening so quickly. Once the nurse left the room, I turned to my right to see my grandmother sitting on the chair next to my hospital bed, “It's too early Grandma!” I cried, my hands were shaking and my brow was sweating. Labour was painful, and for me it had come a month early.

“You'll be fine, Meadow,” She tried to reassure me, “I promise you, everything's going to be okay.”

“But we don't even have a family yet!” I groaned. I had planned for the babies adoptive family to be with me when I gave birth so that they can just take the baby and I won't have time to grow attached, but I still had yet to find suitable parents...

“We'll figure something out,” Grandma shrugged, as though this wasn't a big deal, “Something'll come along.”

“What if it doesn't?” I challenged, “What if nobody wants to take the baby, what then?”

“Then you go back to your mother and live your old life, while I find a home for the baby,” She said, rubbing my shoulder in a soothing manner, “Once the baby is born your job is over, Meadow,” She reminded me for the hundredth time, “You go back to your old life, I'll take care of everything.”

“I just need to know that it's gonna be okay...” I sighed, “Not that I don't trust you, Grandma, but I'm it's mum! I'm already just giving it away, I at least want to make sure he or she goes to the right family.”

“Meadow,” Grandma said sternly, “We've had this discussion before. Once you've recovered, you're going home and you won't have to worry about this anymore. It's what you wanted.”

“I'm not so sure anymore,” I whispered, rubbing my large stomach, “I know I promised myself I wouldn't, but I'm so attached to the little baby growing inside of me, it's just going to be too hard to have gone through these past eight hard months for nothing.”

“You're doing the right thing. Trust me, Meadow, this is for the best, you told me that yourself.” I thought back to when I left my mother in London. I assured her I was doing the right thing, as I did when I first arrived at my grandma's house in America five months ago.

“Ergh!” I groaned loudly, as another contraction plunged through my lower abdomen, “It hurts so bad, Grandma!”

“I know Sweetie,” She cooed, stroking my arm as I gripped her hand, “It'll be over soon, just hang in there, just hang in there...”

“I can't do this!” I exclaimed, “I'm going through all this pain for someone else! For them to have a child! Why can't I keep the baby, I'm it's mother!”

“You know why you can't keep it Meadow,” Grandma said, sternly, raising her eyebrows and looking me in the eye, “You're seventeen years old, certainly not capable of taking care of a child.”

“I'm almost eighteen!” I reminded her, sighing as the contraction slowly faded away, “I'll be fine. I'll go back home, take my exams and then go to college. No one has to know I'm a mother, I don't need to tell anyone.”

“Look,” My grandmother sighed, sitting back in the chair and rubbing her forehead with her hand, “I'm going to go take a walk, and leave you to have time to think. When I come back, I hope you've come to the right decision.”

“I don't know what to do...” I whispered to myself once she'd left the room. Giving the baby up for adoption would be the best thing to do. I would be helping a family have a child, and they'd be able to take care of it properly while I went back to school, but then again it'd be so hard! How could I give away something so close to my heart? How could I just let someone else take my own child, and call it there own? I know I'd regret that decision forever...