Then: January 9th 1991
9:02 pm
"AGHHHHHHHHHH." The shriek pierced the ears of the woman next to it, barely matching the pain in her hand from the tight squeezes. She put a small green blanket over the woman in the passengers seat of her old Chevy hoping that the heat didn't give out before they made it out of the snowy driveway.
"Shh okay I know it hurts but we're going to get you to the hospital and we're going to get a hold of Jake okay?" The woman, Aurora, said trying to calm her best friend who had managed to go into labor during one of the biggest blizzards of the decade.
"Did you try calling?" Abby pleaded weakly drops of sweat and tears mixing as they fell down her cheeks.
"I did sweetie but the phone lines are dead. The power is completely out, there's nothing I can do but once we get you to the hospital we're going to get a hold of him okay?" Aurora added as she shut the side door and raced around to the other side of the car with a bundle curled tightly in her left arm.
Once she managed to open the back door Abby was crying. "What if we don't make it to the hospital?! Oh my god I'm going to have my baby in the snow."
"You are not going to have the baby in the snow." Aurora said sternly putting her own baby in his portable car seat. She had unwrapped the blanket that had been bundled above him before lying it softly over the car seat. He titled his head to the side remaining asleep during the whole process.
She had managed to shovel enough of a path from the front door to the car and around the car but it had taken almost an hour and was when Abby's contractions had merely just started. But it wasn't enough as it had taken her so long to get Abby and the baby to the car that the snow was already filling up the areas around the car she had managed to shovel.
Now the contractions were closer together but so wasn't the snow to the tires of the car and she wasn't sure she was going to be able to get it out. With the phone lines dead she couldn't call for an ambulance so she was running out of options.
"I'm a doctor Aurora" Abby breathed holding onto the dashboard as she kneeled forward.. "I know when contractions start to get this close together the baby is coming. And I also know that there is a blizzard and it's going to be nearly impossible to make it to the hospital."
"We are going to make it." Aurora stated ignoring her own worries as she put her baby's hat on tightly and shut the door getting into the driver's seat.
The weather had differently plan for her though and as she stepped down on the gas at full force the wheels did nothing but spin in place, splattering snow up to the side windows with them.
"Oh my god." Abby whimpered clutching her stomach as she glanced through the icy window. "We're trapped!"
"It's okay I'll just have to shovel the wheels out some more." Aurora replied in the calmest voice she could muster. She glanced back at her still sleeping son before getting out of the car and quickly grabbing the shovel she had left leaning against the house.
Slamming the shovel against the snow and ice, she attempted to break off the hard pieces clutched against the tires but it was no use. The snow was falling at a faster rate than she could shovel and even if she could shovel faster the cold air was freezing it to her car. Looking down at the street she knew that even if she managed a miracle and was able to get the car out the roads were covered and the speed of the falling flakes would limit her ability to see where she was driving anyway.
There was no way they would make it to the hospital.
She took in the cold air trying to think of a solution without giving Abby any more of reason to panic. But the truth was she was panicking. There was no way to get a hold of Jake, no way to get to the hospital and no way to get help to come to them.
She knew what this meant. There was only one option left.
Rushing back to the car she opened the back door and began unbuckling her little boy out of his car seat. He began to stir awake at the movement."We're going back inside come on." She added urgently to Abby looked at her like she was crazy from the seat in the front.
"I'm having a baby!"
"Well either you have the baby in your living room by a fire or you're going to end up having it in this car, make your choice."
Abby's eyes widened in fear at the realization of what was going to have to happen. Aurora shut the door and in one arm carried the baby while trying to help Abby walk into the house with the other.
Darkness flowed through the house and she was slow with leading Abby towards the large living room in an effort not to bump into anything. Once in, Abby leaned herself against the edge of the couch as Aurora headed towards the fire place sitting the now awake but quiet baby onto the floor next to her.
Luckily, Jake left the light on the mantle of the stone fireplace so Aurora was able to easily start the fire, lighting up the room around her.
"Okay good," she said with a breath as she picked up the little boy and headed towards a storage closet in the room. "We're going to get you some blankets and well get Bellamy one to sit on, but you're going to have to tell me what else we are going to need." She grabbed a thick maroon blanket out for Abby and a smaller knitted one for Bellamy.
"We can't do this! What if something is wrong with her? What if she needs a doctor! Aurora you don't know how to deliver a baby and oh god…" Abby clenched her teeth together groaning in another episode of severe pain.
"We don't have a choice. You're going to have to walk me through it okay? And she's going to be fine. I promise I won't let anything happen to her." Aurora assured her lying out the blanket on the floor.
"Okay," Abby nodded slowly still unsure about the whole thing. "You're going to need another small blanket for the baby. Actually I bought a little pink one that in the nursery that should do. Oh and you'll need some sort of basin of water…I guess just take a large bowl out of the kitchen? Bring face cloths too, we'll need to clean off me and the baby. Um we need something to cut the cord with…oh I have an extra medical bag in my office upstairs that will probably have something we can use and some other supplies we may need."
"Alright." Aurora nodded to her friend before grabbing the spare flashlight out of the side table drawer and heading to gather the supplies from around the house.
"Are you sure about this?" Abby whimpered as Aurora came back with her arms full of supplies.
"I'm sure we don't have a choice" Aurora breathed sitting down on the floor with Abby. She looked at her own son sitting a few feet away still in his puffy blue jacket and red and green striped hat with a green fluff ball at the top. She may not have been a doctor but she was a mother, she knew how important it was that this went alright."Stay there Bellamy everything will be okay"
Turning back to Abby she nodded signaling she was ready and Abby took a deep breath, "I need you to look and see how many inches I'm dilated. My contractions are close so I should be around ten but if I'm not I won't be able to push her out yet."
Aurora followed her instruction and while she didn't have anyway of actually measuring how dilated Abby was she could estimate that she was around ten inches. "Oh my god I think I see a head," Aurora glanced up at Abby her anxiety rising. This was real. This was happening.
"Okay I'm going to need to push" Abby practically whispered as she nodded to herself despite the deer in the headlights look in her eyes.
"It's okay," Aurora grabbed her hand, "We'll get through it. You can do this."
"It okayyy" A small voice repeated and the two women glanced over to see Bellamy playing with his toy key set.
They both smiled at each other in union as Abby repeated, "I can do this" to herself with a nod to Aurora to indicate that she was ready.
The sharp screams echoed through the room and despite Bellamy's worried noises Aurora focused on keeping her hands in the position to grab the baby as she came out. "Keep going!" She encouraged as the head came through. "She's coming! Keep it up Abby! You can do this she's coming!"
Abby let out one more push and scream and Aurora slowly caught the rest of the little girl as she entered into the world. Almost immediately a shriek pierced from the baby's mouth and Aurora quickly cut the umbilical cord as Abby had instructed her to do and placed the little girl onto the pink blanket Abby had bought for her.
"Is she okay?" Abby panted through her heavy breaths and deep breath as she attempted to try and get a better angle to see her newborn.
"By the sound of the set of lungs she has I'd say so" Aurora joked with relief flooding through her."Now what are you going to name her?"
"Clarke" Abby whispered with a smile forming on her face. "Her name is Clarke. After my maiden name."
"Clarke" Aurora smiled softly wiping off the blood and afterbirth off of the little girl. She had a few strands of light blonde hair and light aqua eyes glistening from the light of the fire. "She's beautiful."
"Jake needs to see her."
"He will" Aurora assured her as she continued the clean-up process, "Stop worrying. He'll be here when the storm calms down." She laid the baby down next to her so she could focus now on cleaning up Abby.
Within moments the crying began to cease and Aurora looked over at Clarke to see that her own little boy had crawled his way over to the baby to see what was in the blanket. He had seemingly calmed the newborn down and she was looking up at him with her tear stuck eyes drying.
"Is she okay?" Abby asked worried with the new silence.
Aurora laughed, "Yeah I think she just got herself a little friend."
And she smiled as Bellamy reached his small hand down and put it on Clarke's face.