I remember the day she was born, the day my prayers were answered, the day she came into my life. My only daughter, Ophelia. She was so precious to me. For as long as I could remember I wanted to be the mother of a son and a daughter. Laertes was such a sweet child but I still prayed for a little girl. I desired to pass a piece of myself onto the world. I felt like I would never die in that sense.

It was the first warm day in April. I went for a walk in the castle gardens clutching to the front of my wool dress taking in every movement of my baby. I was so glad my husband Polonius was The Lord Chamberlain of Elsinore because it allowed our family to live within the castle. I always enjoyed walking through the gardens during the first days of spring. I loved seeing the little hints of new life. The sweet fragrance of lilacs, rain, and grass surrounded me; it was the epitome of spring. I stopped walking for a moment to soak in the warmth of the sun. Its heat felt so nice on my pale skin. I believed I was a flower facing toward the light. It was all so mesmerizing. I remember gently closing my eyes, still holding my belly, and fully immersing myself in the moment. Unfortunately I was brought out of my trance when Polonius called for me. His overgown flowed behind him, as he ran it exposed his hose which would normally be hidden by the gown.

"Claramonda! What are you doing out here by yourself? You should be inside resting, you know you could deliver at any moment."

Polonius always was the protective type. He was so worried about me. When we found out I was once again expectant he immediately had he rewrite my will. He was only looking out for our family, or so I thought. I simply smiled at him. "My lord, the baby just wanted to enjoy the beautiful day. She was so antsy being in the castle all winter she wanted to feel the sun."

Polonius sighed, out of admiration or annoyance I couldn't tell. "My dear, why must you call our baby 'she'? We don't know if you'll be delivering a boy or a girl."

I smiled again and held my belly tighter. "Polonius I know she's a girl. This baby feels different from when I was carrying Laertes. "

"But there are other causes for that, Claramonda."

It was definitely out of annoyance now. "A mother just knows these things, my lord." Polonius didn't argue with me after that. As much as I loved my unborn daughter I couldn't help but wonder if Polonius was just as excited as I was. He was so joyous after the birth of our son Laertes but it seemed as if Polonius would be disappointed if I delivered a baby girl. He has an opportunity to pass a bit of himself on with Laertes why shouldn't I be able to as well?

Just as that thought crossed my mind I fell to my knees and started groaning. My baby was coming and I could feel it. It was more painful than I remember it being with my first born. My blood seemed to have changed into daggers flowing faster and faster through my body. My breath was coming out in short ragged breaths. I felt so faint, so weak.

"Claramonda? Claramonda what's wrong?" Polonius shouted as he crouched down with me. He grasped my shoulders.

"The baby, the baby she's coming," I managed to say between gasps. All of a sudden my vision was shrouded in darkness. It was as if night had just fallen despite it being the early afternoon.

I remember waking up in a tremendous amount of pain with the castle's midwife on her knees at my feet. Even though I wasn't completely aware of what was going on I was able to hear her whisper.

"The baby might not survive, Claramonda might not survive. She's in too much pain."

The baby might not survive? I couldn't let that happen to my child! I had taken the biggest step in my life and begun pushing even though I could barely stay awake. I kept repeating, 'I can do this, I can do this, I must do this' over and over in my head. But the pain was so much to bear. As quickly as I had started pushing I stopped and collapsed on the birthing chair. Just as I thought of giving up, I swore I felt her move. It felt like she sensed that I was having trouble and she was helping me. To this day I swear that she helped me. I found the strength and courage within myself to continue on and in almost no time I heard crying; the crying coming from my newborn baby.

"It's a girl!" the midwife said to me. A girl, a girl. I was the proud mother of a beautiful baby girl. That was all I could remember before the night once again covered my vision.

When I awoke I was in my bedchamber. A tray with jars full of chicken soup and sweetmeats was to my right and Polonius was standing to my left. The birth tray was no doubt from King Hamlet and Queen Gertrude, we couldn't afford such luxuries. My husband was my side with our daughter in his arms. I held out my arms to him in a wordless plea to hold my sweet child. She was even more beautiful than I imagined. She had eyes so blue it would make the sky envious and sweet little tufts of red hair.

"I told you she would be a girl," I said with a smile to my husband.

"Well…what are we going to name her?" Polonius asked. I knew he wouldn't say that I was right, he never did. I knew the perfect name for her, the perfect name for my little helper.

"Ophelia," I said while looking down at my angel with a smile.

I slowly opened my eyes; a ghost of a smile covered my face as the memory of Ophelia's birth crossed my mind. But I was brought back to the horrors of reality. The carrack vessel I was forced into came back into my view, it was so dark I could barely see my feet in front of me. The scent of fish and salt hurriedly filled my nostrils, it made my stomach churn. I remembered why I was here, why I was forced to board this dingy and soon to be abandoned to some God forsaken place. It was all to protect her. All to protect the most precious thing in my life. It was all for Ophelia.