Chapter 21

When Pain Creates Life

'Bray! Bray!'

It already started to become dusk, and AJ's husband hadn't returned home yet. She was getting worried, so she decided to go look for him.

The temperature was dropping really fast, but she didn't mind it. It was really nice, it was cold in a good way. AJ finally found Bray with Luke and Erick, harvesting the crops. Due to AJ's pregnancy, Bray was forced to take over the tasks of his wife, but he enjoyed doing it.

'There you are!' AJ exclaimed when she saw the three men. 'Dinner's ready!'

The sight made Bray nearly chuckle, it was nearly comical. His wife was standing there in the distance, using one hand to protect her eyes against the lowering yet bright sun, her other hand was placed against her hip and her belly was as large as a beach ball. He could suppress the chuckle just in time.

'We're almost done, sugar!' he replied. 'You can go home, we'll be there in a minute.'

AJ nodded. 'Alright. But make it quick, I don't want the food to get cold!'

Then she turned around and walked back to their home, feeling relieved her husband was still working and not in trouble. 'Told you he's working hard for us...' she said to her belly, gently touching it with a smile on her face.

Waiting at the kitchen table, AJ said sweet little things at her belly, as if her unborn baby could already hear her. Would he or she understand what she was saying? Probably not, but oh well. She couldn't wait to hold her baby once it was born.

She had to wait for almost fifteen minutes for Bray, Luke and Erick to come home. Luckily, dinner didn't get cold. During dinner, the cult leader, his wife and his two favorite followers talked and often cracked jokes. AJ had grown more closer with Erick and Luke over the past year, especially with Luke. Valerie was right; even though Luke could be rough, he was actually a nice guy. He was a good husband to Valerie, but AJ wondered if he would be a good father. He didn't really look like a guy who would be good with kids. But however, Bray was still here, so maybe he could help him a bit when it came to parenthood. And Erick? Well, Erick was Erick. A tall guy with a short fuse. AJ doubted he would get a girl anytime soon. She didn't know exactly how long he had been staying with Bray, but his short fuse never extended, no matter how many preaches he would attend.

After dinner, Luke and Erick stayed over a little bit longer than usual; they usually would leave immediately when they finished dinner. But AJ was okay with it, though. She enjoyed talking with them. But after a while, it was time for the two men to leave. As a result, AJ was stuck with more dirty dishes than usual. That was the only thing that bummed her out.

'Too bad I couldn't have a beer with them.' AJ said while putting the plates in the sink filled with hot water.

'You're craving for one?' Bray asked.

'After nine months, I really could use a beer, Bray.'

The cult leader/future father chuckled. 'You're gonna have to wait a little longer, AJ. We don't want the baby to be born all miserable, do we?'

'No, we don't.' AJ smiled and shook her head. She scrubbed off the leftovers from the plates. 'I'm pretty sure the baby will be a genius when he or she grows up, just like his or her daddy.' She could hear the chair Bray was sitting on moving. The cult leader walked towards her and wrapped his arms around her chest, pulling her in for a hug. AJ closed her eyes and smiled in delight; every time she was being hugged by Bray, it felt like she was being hugged by an angel.

Sister Abigail's angel.

'The child will pry open their eyes, AJ.' Bray whispered, smelling her odor. Even though she was staying here for almost a year, her smell never went away, thank Sister Abigail. 'Together, we shall raise him or her the right way. Because we know what's right for the child.'

'That's true.' AJ slightly turned her head and managed to kiss Bray's cheek. 'You will be a great...'

She abruptly stopped talking when she felt something wet flowing down her thighs. Immediately, the smile disappeared from her face. When she looked down, AJ saw that the wet clear substance had formed a tiny pool on the floor. Her heartbeat raised.

AJ knew exactly what was going on.

Her water broke.

An unbearable pain scorched through her lower body. AJ let out a scream and dropped to the ground, nearly sending a cleaned plate to its destruction.

'AJ? AJ!' Bray kneeled down next to her, his eyes wide with surprise. 'What's the matter?'

AJ groaned in pain.

'The baby...!'

This was the moment.

The moment she had been waiting for, for nine long months.

AJ had seen a few births in her life, most of them were from TV. But she never knew how painful it was.

Lying down on Bray's bed and a towel laid down underneath her lower body, the pain got worse and worse. Those women on TV were right; contractions hurt like hell. Softly whimpering, she waited for Valerie to arrive. Immediately after she showed the first signs of labor, Bray called her and told her to get over here right now. He sounded calm, but from the inside, he was nervous. He had all right to be; his first child was about to be born!

Bray was sitting next to her, holding her hand.

'You'll get through it, alright? Trust me...' he said, trying to reassure his wife. AJ looked at him and nodded, tears of pain welling up in the corner of her eyes.

Three knocks on the door downstairs filled the silence in the house. Bray got up. 'That must be Valerie. I'll be right back, hang in there!' he said.

'Please... hurry...' AJ whimpered. The cult leader nodded and left the room, heading downstairs to open the door. For a moment, it looked like the pain faded away a little bit... until a more intense contraction made her feel like her stomach was ripping in two. AJ arched her back and screamed in pain.

Alerted by her scream, Valerie ran inside her room, followed by Bray.

'Valerie... please... help me...' AJ cried, tears of pain flowing down her cheeks. 'It's alright now, sweetheart. I'm here now.' Valerie said with a reassuring voice, kneeling down in front of her. Thank goodness she had studied to become a nurse, or else AJ would've been in deep trouble.

'Oh my, you're already open for one centimeter!' AJ was surprised of how calm Valerie was acting despite the situation. She just hoped the stress wouldn't affect her baby.

'It needs to be open for... like... ten centimeters, right?' AJ asked, letting out a hiss in pain. 'Yes. Hang in there, darling, don't push just yet.'

Watching her suffering so much pain was almost too much for Bray. He wanted to help her, ease the pain. But all he could do now was holding her hand and hoping it would all be over soon. AJ clenched his hand as hard as she could. It hurt, but Bray didn't mind it. The pain was all part of this.

'Concentrate on your breathing, love.' he said. He too sounded calm, but on the inside, his heart was pounding so fast he was afraid it would jump right out of his chest.

AJ nodded and tried to slow down her breathing; this would only get worse if she'd start hyperventilating. Despite the unbearable pain, she managed to slow down her breathing. Her heart was pounding in her chest.

'Four centimeters. You're doing a good job, AJ.' Valerie said after a while.

'Bray...' AJ looked at her husband, her eyes half-lidded, her face covered in sweat and tears running down her cheeks. 'Don't leave me... stay with me, please...' 'I won't leave you, I promise.' Bray didn't even feel the pain in his hand anymore. He had made a promise to Sister Abigail and damn it, he would keep that promise. For months he had been taking care of AJ, he wouldn't let her fall, not now or ever. Right now, she needed him more than ever. On this moment, she didn't need his words... but his support.

'Five centimeters. You can push a little now!' Valerie exclaimed.

The soon-to-be mother pushed; it felt like her pelvis was ripping in two. Immediately she arched her back and screamed bloody murder. 'AJ, AJ!' Bray held her down, preventing her from turning around on her stomach. 'Sssssh, concentrate on your breathing, alright? Stay calm, you'll make it through this.'

AJ looked down and gasped. The towel underneath her and her thighs was covered in blood. So much blood... was this normal?!

'Eight centimeters!' Valerie said after another while of unbearable pain. 'You're doing perfect, AJ.'

Two more centimeters... would she make it? If she would experience too much pain... would it kill her? 'Bray...' AJ sobbed. 'If I don't make this... please... take care of the baby for me.' 'Don't say that!' the cult leader snarled. He couldn't believe she was saying that; of course she was going to make it, she had to! 'You are going to make it, AJ. Trust me!'

'Ten centimeters! Push, AJ!'

Now! AJ pushed as hard as she could, trying as hard as possible to ignore the pain. She could feel more blood flowing down her thighs. Clenching her jaw, she tried to suppress a scream. But she failed. AJ let out a blood curling scream as the pain reached the highest peak.

No more, please...

No...

More...

Thick black spots clouded AJ's sight. Slowly, she could feel her head getting lighter and lighter. All the sound in the world around her seemed like it was fading away. Her eyes nearly rolled in the back of her head, it was feeling so light.

AJ closed her eyes.

Everything was turned into darkness.

She couldn't even hear Bray's voice pleading her to stay with him anymore.

Was she dead?

Or was she still alive?

AJ didn't know.

She didn't know anything. The world around was pitch black, she couldn't see a thing. The pain was gone, she couldn't feel it anymore. It felt like she was drifting in a universe made of darkness, not a single light to be seen. It was quiet, not a single sound. Where was Bray? Where was her baby? It was like she was in a deep sleep. A deep sleep without a dream.

Suddenly, she heard something faintly crying in the distance. It was a very familiar kind of cry…

It was the crying of a baby.

Her baby!

Along with the cries of the baby, she heard someone calling out her name. That voice… it was Bray's voice!

That gave AJ the strength to break through the darkness. It faded away, replacing it with light. The cries and Bray's voice got louder and louder…

And that's when AJ regained consciousness.

She was back again. She could feel sweat trickling down her face and a big headache coming up. But the pain in her pelvis was gone.

'AJ…'

Thank Sister Abigail, she was back. When she was giving one last push, the pain must've been so intense she passed out. For one moment, Bray was filled with sheer panic to the brim. But on that exact same moment… she gave birth to their child.

AJ looked up. Bray was standing next to her, smiling from ear to ear. For a moment, she could swear she saw tears of happiness welling up in the corners of his eyes. He was holding a bundle of towels in his arms… and from that bundle, AJ heard the cries she heard in the darkness.

The cries of her baby.

'It's here…' Bray whispered. 'It's a girl.'

A girl… she gave birth to a baby girl! AJ smiled and tears of happiness flowed down her face. She reached out with her hands, wanting to hold their newborn daughter in her arms. Bray handed his daughter over. She was so beautiful… just as beautiful as her mother. Looking at her baby, AJ thought she would burst with happiness. The baby was already cleaned off, apparently Valerie had taken care of that. She had thin brown hair, her face was shaped perfectly. Round and soft, just what you would expect from a baby. She was crying out loud, but it sounded like music to AJ's and Bray's ears. Bray kneeled down next to the bed, looking at his daughter. He couldn't believe it… he was a father. A tear trickled down his face. If Sister Abigail was here, she would've been so proud.

'Our baby…' AJ whispered. 'Our little… Lily.'

The pain AJ had to endure was all worth it. It was all worth to see this little beautiful creature.

Valerie watched the two parents and smiled. They had nearly lost AJ, but it looked like this story had a happy ending after all.

Bray kissed Lily on the forehead. This baby right here, this little creature brought into this world, was his daughter. Lily Abigail Wyatt. This had to be the proudest moment of his life. From this moment on, he and his wife would take care of her and prepare her for the day she would lead the family. He was so proud of AJ… so damn proud.

AJ and Bray were the proudest parents in the world.