First Flower

Sparkles dance through her eyes

Maca's Pov

The drive to the hospital seemed like a never-ending torture. The contractions were getting more recurrent with less span of time between them, and the pain was unbearable. Throughout the way, Zulema tried desperately to calm me down, but I could only focus on the pain I was feeling. One would expect that from all those years in prison I would get a bigger tolerance to pain, and I thought the same, but I felt like my body would shred to pieces.

When we finally get to the front door of the hospital, Zulema tries to take me off the car, but once she realizes that she can't do it by herself she starts yelling to two nurses that were probably on their break, smoking and chatting in front of that same door. Running, the nurses get a wheelchair, and we enter the hospital.

_

Once we finally get to one of the stretchers, a doctor immediately comes to see me, making sure that I was already ten fingers dilated. Unfortunately, I still had two fingers to dilate, so it seemed like I had to endure that pain for a little longer.

Laying down on the stretcher, I mentally try to calm myself down. My mind was a total blank, and I could only feel my anxiety crippling into my body, wondering if the delivery would go well, and also focusing on this awful pain. When the pain finally allows me to take a glance at Zulema, I notice that brunette is already staring at me, with a concerned expression in her face.

"Everything will be ok soon. I'm very proud of you for enduring all of this." Zulema says, whilst her expression slowly softens, maybe to give more truth to her words.

"Thank you. Not just for being here with me right now. But for everything you've been doing these past few months." I say between moans of pain, reaching for a hand.

Once my hand finally reaches hers, she takes it close to her mouth, placing a light kiss on it. I smile.

"There's no other place I rather be right now." I don't know if it's my crazy hormones or all the anxiety and lack of sleep, but when those words come out of her mouth, tears start coming out of my mouth. A few seconds later, I realize that I'm full on sobbing.

"Hey Maca, come on, what's wrong? Calm down please." Zulema says, getting closer to me.

"I'm sorry, I'm just really thankful for you, and how we've been handling everything. I never thought we would experience this together."

"Yeah me neither. That's what I love about life, it never fails to surprise us. Now stop crying, you know I can't stand people crying." She says with a serious, but immediately starts laughing. A beautiful, heavenly sound.

_

A couple of hours slowly go by, and I'm on my limit with my pain. Thankfully, as I'm about to burst into tears again, the doctor that would deliver the baby comes into the room.

"Okay, let's check if we're ready now."

After some seconds of discomfort the doctor finally says that I'm ten fingers dilated. Listening to the doctor's words, I finally realize that this is real. This is happening. I'm about to have a baby, with Zulema. How did we get here? The woman who made me lose my first kid, who made my life a living hell for a couple of years.

And the craziest thing was that I didn't have second thoughts about this. The only thing I could picture in my head was a future with Zulema and our daughter that was about to be born. Zulema and I both had scars, that we made to each other, and once we learned to let our guards down, we allowed ourselves to heal those scars. We made each other go through hell for years, and we aren't trying to erase our past together, but to make our future together brighter, more beautiful. I'll never forget what I lost because of Zulema, just like Zulema won't forget what she lost because of her, but we were willing to use those mistakes as strength, and to give nothing to each other, but love and support.

_

The birth begins and my idea that contractions were the most painful thing I've ever felt was completely erased. This was way worse. I felt my entire being heating and sweating and I reached a point where I could barely see. The doctor and the nurses kept telling me to push and push, but I had no strength left in my body. I was mentally calling myself weak for not pushing harder, but I just felt too exhausted. I was completely disconnected from my surroundings, like I was being tortured from the inside of my body, all by myself.
Suddenly a voice brings me back to reality.

"Maca. Hey, you can do this. You just need to push a little harder, and you'll see that our baby girl we'll be here very soon." Zulema says. I feel her hand gripping mine tightly, and with those words I find the motivation that I needed to push the hardest I possibly can.

After several pushes, several hours, several tears and drops of sweat, the baby is finally here. I take a few minutes to regulate my breathing and heart palpitations, and once I finally feel a little more like myself, the doctor puts the baby on my arms.

I feel like I'm out of breath again. It was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. She was so small, I felt like I could hold her with only one arm, and she had that sweet baby sense. Her nose was small, just like her mouth and her tiny fingers and she had just a few strings of hair. She was perfect, and somehow, she reminded me of Zulema. Maybe because the baby was holding a frown on her face, but she managed to be the most adorable and beautiful thing I've ever seen, just like the woman sitting next to me.

I finally look at Zulema, who is in awe looking at the baby. Sparkles dance through the iris of her eyes, along with tiny drops of tears refusing to come out.

Until they finally do. I stare at her for a little longer, and she gets closer to me, joining our foreheads, and placing carefully one hand on top of the baby's head. I look at the baby again, until the brunette gets once again my attention.

"Maca."

"What?" I ask, looking at her once again.

"I love you."

I feel my heart pounding harder inside my chest, as I let those words sink deep into it. But it doesn't take me to long to answer.

"I love you too."