Page 167 of The Moon Sister
‘Sí,’ she answered.
I noticed that Ally was stroking her extended belly tentatively and looking agitated.
‘Are you okay, darling?’ I whispered.
‘I think so. I just . . . need to go to the bathroom.’
As I helped my sister to standing, Angelina looked up at us, her dark eyes narrowing slightly. ‘All is good?’
‘Yes, I’m just going to help Ally to the bathroom,’ I replied.
As we made our way into the interior of the cave, Ally suddenly stopped and winced, one hand on her lower back, the other clutching at her stomach.
At that moment, a sudden gush of clear liquid spattered on the stone floor beneath her legs.
‘Ally, oh my God, I think your waters must have broken!’ Helping her to a chair in the corner, I shouted frantically for Angelina. She appeared in the kitchen two seconds later, followed by Charlie.
‘The baby, it wishes to arrive early. I deliver hundreds of them, no problem,querida.’ Angelina’s eyes were actually alight with excitement. ‘And you have the good British doctor here too. What better?’ She smiled, and I saw Ally’s face relax.
‘It’s a long time since I delivered a baby, mind you,’ Charlie added in hushed tones. ‘Should I go and call an ambulance?’
‘They cannot get one all the way up here but . . . let us see how many fingers you are,querida.’
‘The baby isn’t due for over a month . . . What if—’ Ally was silenced as a contraction took hold of her body and she gripped my hand fiercely.
Angelina rose to her feet and pulled Ally to standing too. She took my sister’s face in her palms, staring hard into her pain-soaked eyes. ‘No time for fear,’ she said firmly. ‘You must use energy to help the baby. Now we will take you to my bedroom – more comfortable.’ She then proceeded to half carry Ally to the room at the back of the cave.
‘So, she is already four fingers!’ pronounced Angelina, having shooed us all out so Ally could have some privacy. ‘Too late to get her to hospital, but go, Charlie, and callambulanciajust in case of the problem. Come with me, Erizo. We get your sister up and we help her walk. Best way to make ready.’
So I did, and in the bedroom where I’d been born, I walked my sister up and down in the limited space until I felt my arm would drop off. Charlie and Angelina kept popping their heads around the curtain – Charlie to take Ally’s blood pressure and monitor her and the baby’s heartbeat, and Angelina to give her a tonic to keep her strength up and check on the cervical dilation.
‘I feel like I want to push!’ Ally shouted after what felt like days, but was probably only a couple of hours.
We helped her onto the bed, and I propped her up with pillows and cushions, while Angelina proceeded to examine her.
‘Baby come quickly. This is good, Mister Charlie,’ Angelina called to him. ‘She nearly fully open. Okay,querida, very close now. Ten more minutes and you can push.’
‘But I want tonow!’ Ally screamed.
All I could do was sit and hold Ally’s hand and stroke her sweat-matted hair as the minutes ticked by.
Angelina checked Ally’s cervix again and nodded. ‘Okay, now no tears. Take big breath and squeeze your sister’s hand. Push on next contraction.’
A few minutes later, with my sister gripping my hand like a vice, Ally let out a huge shriek. A few more pushes and, finally, she delivered her baby into the world.
There were tears, congratulations and broad smiles all round as Angelina raised the squalling infant up from between its mother’s legs so that she could have her first glimpse of the tiny miracle she had produced.
‘It is boy,’ Angelina announced. ‘Okay size too.’
Charlie appeared around the curtain and went to Angelina’s side to do a quick check of the baby’s vital signs. ‘From the looks of things, he’s perfectly healthy, despite his decision to put in an appearance slightly ahead of schedule.’ He gave us all a relieved grin. ‘The ambulance is waiting at the city gates.’
Ally’s eyes brimmed with tears of joy as she asked to hold her son.
‘Ally, we just need to sort out the afterbirth and cut the cord,’ Charlie reassured her, walking up to the head of the bed to check her pulse. ‘A few minutes only, and he’ll be in your arms, I promise.’
However, as he’d been speaking, Angelina had already calmly dealt with the situation, severing the umbilical cord with her own teeth. There were traces of blood still visible on them as she grinned broadly whilst deftly swaddling the infant in a blanket. Somehow it didn’t seem macabre or barbaric, just totally natural.
Angelina handed the squirming parcel to Ally. As she did so, the baby opened his mouth as if to cry again, but emitted only a soft noise that sounded more like a gentle growl. Angelina chuckled and murmured something in Spanish.
