Work Text:
Love makes us grow
The Wood family lived a very happy and fulfilling life. Wirt was a songwriter and had already worked with some of the biggest names in music. Sara was a journalist, and her work was highly regarded not only locally but nationwide. Their daughter, Elaine, who was eleven and about to finish elementary school, was discovering her musical talent, helped in part by her father. As for the rest of the family, Greg and Rochelle were a couple, Isabelle had moved to Los Angeles with her husband, Arthur, and their daughter, Taylor, to pursue a career in the film industry, and little Mikey was happily living with Sara's parents, who were retired and proud of their family.
Wirt and Sara had already planned to have another child, as they felt Elaine needed companionship and someone else to love. So, for a time, they stopped using contraception when they had sex. And it was on one of those occasions that Wirt's swimming seed once again met Sara's egg, this time in a planned way and not unexpectedly.
A few weeks later, Sara began to feel strange, and she immediately knew what it meant. She bought a pregnancy test and used it, her eyes lighting up when she discovered she was pregnant again. At dinnertime, Sara looked at her husband and daughter with great excitement. Her husband seemed as if something was about to change, while her daughter simply enjoyed her meal as usual.
- "Is everything alright, love?" Wirt asked, with a gentle smile.
Sara looked up. Her eyes had that gleam that Wirt knew so well: she was going to say something important.
- "Yes, everything is fine, but there's something I want to tell you," Sara said gently.
- "What do you want to tell us, Mommy?" Elaine asked, lifting her head.
Sara looked first at her daughter and then at her husband.
- "I have a surprise for you."
She got up, took the small box, and placed it on the table.
- "In fact, everything is fine."
Wirt frowned slightly in curiosity as he opened the small box. It took him only a second to understand, and his eyes widened.
- "Is it what I think it is, darling?" Wirt asked excitedly.
Sara smiled with a mixture of tenderness and nervousness. Inside the box was the positive pregnancy test and an illustration of a stork carrying a baby.
- "Are we going to have another baby?" Wirt asked again, getting even more excited.
- "Yes, love," Sara replied happily.
Elaine looked at them, confused.
- "What's happening, Mom?"
Sara leaned towards her with a warm smile.
- "You're going to have a little sibling, Elaine."
The girl's eyes widened.
- "A little sibling! Yessssssssssssss!" Elaine exclaimed, eager to become a big sister.
Sara opened her arms and her daughter ran to hug her.
- "For real, my darling."
Elaine immediately looked at her mother's belly.
- "Is the baby in there?"
- "Yes, darling, but now it's very small," Sara replied.
Wirt got up from his chair and hugged them both.
- "Love makes us grow, and that's why this family is going to grow," Wirt said proudly.
The months passed, while Sara got used to the feeling of being pregnant again, she and her husband continued working and living quietly, while Elaine was an exemplary student who also won a school recital in the spring.
One of those days, when Sara was in the living room knitting a blue sweater for the baby, and Elaine was drawing while listening to music, lying on the rug, the little girl got up and looked at her mother's belly with curiosity.
- "How does it feel when the baby moves inside you?" Elaine asked.
- "The baby moves when you least expect it, and it's like something is giving you little taps from the inside," his mother replied.
- "That sounds kind of weird," Elaine said.
- "And when you first feel it, it also seems like something strange," added Wirt, who was entering the room with cups of tea for the three of them.
Sara placed her hand on her stomach.
- "Actually... I think baby's awake right now. Do you want to feel it, Ellie?"
- "Yes, Mom, please," the girl replied happily.
Elaine approached carefully, and Sara took her hand and placed it on her belly as well.
- "It's here, wait a moment."
Elaine stood still, focused. For a few seconds nothing happened.
- "I don't feel anything," Elaine said, when it suddenly happened. She felt that little tap like a pleasant little twitch. The girl froze, not knowing what to do or say.
- "Did you feel it yet?" Sara asked with an amused smile.
- "Y-yes, Mom, I felt it," Elaine replied, as if she had touched something magical, "and it was like a little kick. Is my sibling going to play soccer when they grow up?"
- "Anything is possible, and they don't even kick that hard yet," said Wirt, laughing affectionately.
- "Hello, little sibling, I'm going to meet you soon and I'm going to love you very much," Elaine said as she continued to feel the baby's kicks.
- "The baby already knows who you are, and I know she's going to love you very much too," Sara said.
- "I'm sure they'll love having an older sister like you," Wirt said, placing a hand on her shoulder.
- "And how much longer until the baby comes out?" Elaine asked.
- "A few weeks, and besides, they're going to be born here, at home. Would you like to see your sibling being born?" Wirt asked.
- "Of course, it must be something very beautiful," Elaine replied.
- "That's right, my daughter, it's as beautiful as when you were born," Sara said.
- "Time will pass very quickly and soon he will be with us," said Wirt.
- "Is it going to be a boy or a girl?"
- "The doctor already told us it's a boy, and we're thinking of naming him Patrick, after your grandfather. You never met him, because he died when Dad was even younger than you and I hadn't met him yet."
- "I think it's a very nice name, Mom. So, Patrick will be here very soon, right?"
- "Yes, love, very soon" – Sara replied.
Those weeks flew by, and one Friday afternoon, after Elaine arrived home from school, she was surprised to see her mother resting in bed.
- "Elaine, your brother is going to be born very soon," said Wirt.
- "Yes, love, I've already felt contractions and Tiffany, the doctor, will be here soon to help us," Sara said.
Elaine was very excited. Hours later, the room was lit in a very intimate way, while Sara occasionally moaned in pain because of the contractions. Her husband was there, holding her hand and helping her breathe. Elaine was a little worried.
- "Is Mommy okay, Daddy? Does she hurt?" the little girl asked.
- "Yes, it hurts a little, dear. Remember we explained it to you? The baby moves inside Mom so it can come out through her vagina, and it's painful, but your mom is very brave, and all that pain is worth it when the baby arrives. That's how we felt when you were born," Wirt replied.
- "Don't worry, sweetie," Sara said between rapid breaths, "that pain means you're going to meet Patrick soon."
Tiffany arrived and checked on Sara, who was experiencing more intense and frequent contractions. Instinctively, she took Wirt's hand as her body tensed, causing her water to finally break.
- "Relax, love, you're doing great," Wirt said affectionately.
- "Very well, Sara, you are now fully dilated and it's time to start with the good stuff, like when Elaine was born," Tiffany said, looking at the little girl, who blushed.
This time, having studied various birthing techniques, Tiffany would use a special seat in which Sara would squat, so that with the help of gravity, the birth would be easier and a little less painful. Wirt positioned himself behind his wife, embracing her from behind, while Elaine watched her mother attentively, somewhat worried but eager for her little brother to be born.
- "Alright, Sara, remember the first time you did this? Let your body tell you what to do, and when you feel a contraction, push as hard as you can. Everything's ready," Tiffany said, putting on clean gloves.
- "Yes, I think it's coming, phew, hold me, Wirt, please," Sara gasped.
- "I'm not going to let go of you, love, you can do it," her husband replied.
Sara pushed while squeezing Wirt with her hand, who gave her encouraging caresses and said affectionate words to her until the pain ended.
- "That's great, Sara, it's getting closer, look," Tiffany said, pointing to the mirror she had placed in front of the couple and their daughter to watch the baby being born. A small spot was beginning to appear on the mother's dilated vulva, and Elaine stared at it in astonishment.
- "Is that Patrick, Mommy?" she asked.
- "Yes, sweetie, it's him, and he's about to come out," her mother replied.
Sara pushed again, and the spot grew larger until what was clearly the baby's tiny hair began to emerge. Sara let out a small scream at the burning sensation of the baby's head beginning to crown, but Wirt reminded her that the pain would be gone as soon as it appeared.
- "Remember, Sara, inhale, exhale and pant, let the head come out slowly," Tiffany told her.
Sara did as she asked, and the three of them watched in amazement as Patrick's little head emerged completely.
- "Okay, Sara, just one more push and your baby will come out, are you ready?" Tiffany asked.
- "You can do it, love, I love you so much," Wirt encouraged her.
- "Yes, Mommy, you can do it, I love you too," Elaine said, feeling a whirlwind of emotions.
And so, Sara pushed one last time, and the baby's body was fully delivered, held by Tiffany, who proceeded to clean him before handing him to his mother. The baby cried a storm, showing that he had been born without any difficulty and was breathing well.
- "Very good job, Sara, another healthy baby, a beautiful boy."
- "Thank you, thank you," Sara said through tears of joy and relief.
- "Our little boy," Wirt said, wanting to cry, "I will love him for all my life."
- "Hello, Patrick, I'm your sister Elaine. Welcome to the world," Elaine said, looking at the baby with a mixture of amazement and fascination, and also crying tears of joy.
A few minutes later, they carefully moved Sara to her bed so she could rest with the baby, where Wirt also asked Elaine if she wanted the honor of cutting her brother's umbilical cord.
- "Can I do that? Yes, I'd love to!" the girl replied enthusiastically.
- "Okay, Elaine, I'll show you how," Tiffany said. "You're going to take the scissors, and right here, between the two clamps, is where you're gonna cut it. Do it carefully, but don't worry, it won't hurt Patrick, okay?"
- "Okay, Miss Tiffany."
Elaine took the scissors and cut where Tiffany told her to. That crack sound would stay with her for the rest of her life. And so, Patrick was wrapped in his blanket and placed on Sara's chest, where he instinctively searched for his mother's nipple to nurse for the first time. Elaine was amazed and felt like the luckiest girl in the world, watching how her family's love had helped them grow.
- "Patrick, I love you so much, and I know you're going to be the best little brother in the world," Elaine said.
- "I know you'll be the best big sister in the world, daughter, we're very proud of you," her dad replied.
And so, a new chapter was written in the life of the Wood family, a family that was now complete and would continue to love each other until the end of their lives, and even beyond.
END