Flower Girls

Chapter 11 - The Baby

I stood in front of the flowers at the supermarket, looking at all the beautiful blooms. I came here every week and bought the calla lilies every time. But since Simon's funeral three weeks ago, I dedicated the lilies to both people that had suddenly disappeared from my life.

I reached out and picked up the beautiful lilies and breathed in their amazing scent. Perfect.

Suddenly my head felt light and dizzy, and my eyes were no longer focused on the flowers. Nausea rose from my stomach as I felt an overwhelming urge to be sick. The lightness in my head continued until my vision was completely gone and I slumped to the floor.

"Oh my gosh, is she OK?" I heard someone saying from next to me.

I opened my eyes and looked up.

"What's going on?" I managed to say.

"I think you might have fainted," said the kindly lady holding out a hand to help me up. "Are you feeling OK now?"

"Yeah, actually I feel fine now," I said, embarrassed at having fainted in the middle of a supermarket. "Thank you."

I didn't remember ever having fainted before, and I wasn't sure what had happened. At least I hadn't been sick as well. I remembered I had felt like I needed to be, but that feeling had gone as well.

I picked up my shopping and continued to the checkout. I paid for the items I had bought, wondering what on earth could have made me feel so peculiar.

That evening, I went to my parents' house for dinner. They cooked a large steak for me, and I devoured it.

"Caroline, are you all right?" asked Mum.

"Yeah, Mum, this steak is amazing," I said.

"I'm glad you like it," she said, looking confused. I understood her confusion. Although we'd had steak before, I'd never enjoyed it this much. And I really was enjoying it a lot.

But about an hour after dinner had finished, I felt sick again.

I fainted again the following day, luckily this time it was in my own house and I just picked myself back up again. But I was concerned about the fainting and sickness (not to mention my new love of red meat), so I made an appointment with my doctor to check whether there was anything wrong with me.

My doctor listened to everything I told her, and she asked if I would kindly provide her with a urine sample, which she promptly tested.

She looked at the results, before turning her head towards me with a raised eyebrow.

"What's wrong with me?" I asked, since her expression suggested she knew the answer.

"Nothing is wrong with you," she replied, starting to smile. "Fainting, sickness, changing the food you like ... it's all part of being pregnant. The test has confirmed it. Congratulations!"

Wow. I was pregnant. Simon and I had been trying to have a baby, but when he passed away, all thoughts of babies had left my head. I'd been so busy trying to make sure that nobody else was hurt by the crystals, that I hadn't even thought about the possibility that I could be pregnant.

"Are you OK?" the doctor's voice drifted in my direction.

"Yeah, wow, yeah, I mean it's just a lot to take in. I wasn't expecting it, that's all. But it's amazing, thank you!"

And it was amazing. A little piece of Simon existed within me. This little baby was going to have everything I could provide.

I rubbed my tummy happily as I left the surgery.

My life was about to change .... again.

Eight months later I was lying in a hospital room with my Mum next to me, holding my hand. The midwife was busy cleaning up the baby as I waited anxiously to meet the little one.

"It's a little girl," said the midwife, placing the little bundle wrapped in a blanket into my arms.

The baby girl was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. She had a small amount of blonde hair like Simon's and green eyes like mine. She gurgled as I cooed at her.

"She's gorgeous honey," said Mum. "I can't believe I'm a grandmother!"

"I can't believe I'm a mother," I said back to her. "She's absolutely perfect."

"Do you know what you want to call her?" asked Mum.

I hadn't thought too much about names in advance, I wanted to see what I'd feel like when the time came. I smiled down at my baby and she gurgled again. So cute!

I loved that her eyes were a sparkly green, like jewels.

"I think I'll call you Jade, because your eyes are like the gemstone," I said. I turned to my Mum. "What do you think? Do you like the name Jade?"

"I think it's a lovely name," Mum replied.

I looked into the eyes of my new baby girl.

"Welcome to the world, Jade Rose."