Against All Odds

10.

Briana Harris

"Welcome to the world babygirl." I look down at my daughter whom I just gave birth to. I've been living here in Texas for about 11 months and I'm loving it. Moving here was like a refresher for me.

"What are you going to name her?", the nurse asks while holding the birth certificate.

I look down at her and smile. "Alaya Nichelle Harris."

"Aww, that's so beautiful." Once we've gotten all her papers signed and set up appointments for her to get her shots, she gives me instructions on bathing her and feeding her. "Um Ms. Harris you never told me who the father is."

I immediately tense up. "Just put unknown."

"Alright. You have a visitor, is It okay if she comes in?"

"Yea, that's fine." The door opens and I look up to see my roommate, Amber holding balloons and a Teddy bear.

"OMG, she's so beautiful. Look at all that hair and those pretty brown eyes." I look down at her and begin to tear up. I'm so proud of myself for being able to carry this baby all on my own. I haven't had contact with anyone from back home and I plan to keep it that way.

"When did the doctor say you can go home?", Amber asks while holding a sleeping Alaya.

"She said sometime tomorrow." I yawn and get comfortable in the bed.

"Uh oh, I know what that means. I'll let you girls sleep and I'll be back tomorrow to come pick you up."

After we said our goodbyes, she left and me and Alaya went to sleep.

Who would've thought that I, Briana Nicole Harris, would be a mother at age 20?

***
1 week later...

"Amber what do I do? She won't eat and she just cries all day." This past week has been terrible for me. I knew motherhood was hard but I didn't know it was this hard. Alaya doesn't eat properly. She'll go all day and only drink half a bottle of milk. I went to social media and they gave me all these remedies to try but none of them are working.

"Just take her to the hospital, Bri. I'll drive you there."

Once we get to the hospital, the doctors immediately admit her. "The only solution we can think of is surgery. We will insert a feeding tube into her stomach which will help her eat. The downside is that as long as the tube is inserted, she will not be able to vomit."

"That's fine. I just want my baby to be healthy."

"Woah, Bri are you sure about this? Maybe you should stop and-"

"I know what I'm doing. This is my child and I'll do what I want with her regarding her health."

"Ma'am this is a very painful surgery and-"

"Just go ahead with the surgery, she'll heal."

The doctor glances at me before saying, "Okay ma'am." We schedule a time for the surgery which will be tomorrow at 7:30 am so she has to spend the night.

***
Next day after surgery...

"The surgery went well and her wounds should heal in about a week or two."

"Thanks Dr. Hamilton." He smiles at me before walking out of the room and closing the door behind him. I pull out my phone and take a picture of Alaya with her stitches and tubes stuck inside of her. I post it to Instagram.

@Bri.Nicole: 'Mommy's little soldier.'

***

From here on out, the story will focus on Briana and her journey through motherhood. The story is ending soon in about 5-7 chapters and things are about to get real twisted.

-Niyah