I swear it felt like I was going to explode any moment now. My belly was the size of a basketball and a half and thanks to how huge it was, I had officially forgotten how my feet looked like.

Despite the fact that I barely ever wanted to get out of bed in the morning, you could imagine that Atem would not let that happen. He didn't cut me any slack, even when my pregnancy hormones kicked in and I started my bawling my eyes out because of how tired I was.

Nothing could shake this man.

I guess in the end it was for my own good... because I have to admit... when that moment came, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.

It was around six in the evening and I was having a glass of water in the kitchen when I felt water trickling down the side of my legs.

I froze.

At first I thought I peed myself... which, by the way, had happened once (thank god no one was home). But when I stepped away and looked at the water that had now accumulated on the floor, I saw that it was clear.

Clear... and still continuing to drip down my legs underneath my skirt.

"Um... Atem..."

Atem had just gotten home from work and from the sound that I was hearing in the bathroom, he was still taking a shower.

"Um..." I hesitated.

It didn't hurt at all but I couldn't stop it. It just continued to pour down from between the middle of my legs as if some sort of tap had broken down there.

"Atem!" I called loudly.

The water shut off in the washroom and there was a pause. "What?" His voice echoed.

"I... um... I think my water broke?"

I awkwardly continued to step away, leaving a trail of water... my huge belly making it a little difficult to see the floor. By the time Atem burst out of the washroom, however, it had stopped.

He was wet and still in his towel as he rushed towards me. "What?"

"My water broke."

"You feel no pain?"

I shook my head. I read in a book that often times women were already well into labor when their water would break. Why wasn't I feeling any pain?

But then... as we both stared at each other... I think it really hit me...

"I'm going into labor..." panic rose as I whispered those words.

Atem was already running to our bedroom in his towel to grab his phone to probably call Aunty Maya.

I started to panic, beginning to take deep breaths. What was wrong with me? Why wasn't I feeling any pain yet? Was I actually going into labor? Was my baby okay? Was she already on her way out? My water broke! Should I start pushing?

I grabbed a hold of the kitchen counter as I heard Atem telling Aunty Maya what was going on. After another moment, Atem came rushing out of the bedroom in a pair of jeans as he threw on a shirt. "Aunty Maya is coming."

"Should I change?" It was when I spoke that I realized I was hyperventilating.

"Calm down," Atem said, though he himself did not look the least bit calm. "And yes... go clean yourself up and take a hot shower... do you need help?"

I shook my head. No. I didn't need help. Was that a bad thing?

So I went into the washroom, took off all my clothes and started my hot shower.

Aunty Maya had arrived very quickly. When I was done my shower and changed, I walked out to see her packing a small bag with clothes and stuff for me. "Hey honey," she grinned excitedly. "Are you okay?"

I nodded. "I don't feel any pain," I said, panicked. "Is that a bad thing?"

"No... don't get too excited. It'll start soon. Some women have it easier than others at the beginning," she said. "I blame it on the fact that Atem forced you to stay healthy."

I wanted to groan, but didn't. I guess this was better than feeling too much pain.

But like Aunty Maya had said, within a couple hours, I was feeling it. At first, it was kind of like period cramps... but as it continued... oh my dear Lord.

It was a kind of pain that you knew you couldn't do anything about. It didn't necessarily hurt a lot... it was just so uncomfortable. So I stood there in my living room, pacing and awkwardly groaning every time I felt the pain.

My mother and Ro were also here now, and while Aurora cheered me on, both my mother and Aunty Maya sat staring at the timers on their phone.

When I took a deep breath and let out another groan, my mom and aunt looked at each other. "That was about four minutes, right?" My mom asked.

Aunty Maya nodded. "That's what I got too."

The two women stood up. "Okay, time to go to the hospital, honey," my mom said.

I felt relieved but at the same time, terrified.

Atem was clearly also panicking. Every moan and groan that came out of me led to him freaking out and asking multiple questions.

Despite the fact that he seemed to know so much about pregnancy thanks to his sister-in-law... apparently the actual giving birth part was something he wasn't allowed to completely understand. Apparently in Egypt, the actual giving birth part was only witnessed by women.

When Atem heard my moms words, he panicked more. "The hospital? Why? What's wrong? Don't you only go there when bad things happen?"

I rolled my eyes, holding my belly and taking a deep breath. "Atem, calm down. We talked about this." We had. His state of clear panic was obviously clouding his usually smart brain.

He hesitated and then nodded. "Right."

And then we were off.

When we got to the hospital, I was sat in a wheelchair and wheeled towards the delivery room as I took deep breaths. In and out. I tried not to be a wus... mostly because I kind of wanted to prove to Atem that I was as strong as all those Egyptian women he talked about.

Every time I had any sort of first-world problem related to pregnancy, he would always bring up the fact that women in Egypt never worried about that kind of stuff.

So instead of crying in pain or screaming or anything of the sort, I just took deep breaths.

I could do this.

I was a strong woman.

In the delivery room, Atem, my aunt and mom came in. Ro, unfortunately, had to wait outside since only three guests could be in there. But by the time we got there, Uncle Ethan, Kiya, my father, my brother, Alec and Blake had arrived. So at least she had company in the waiting room.

But as they waited...

I squeezed tightly onto Atems hand, nearly ripping it off, while the doctor and my aunt and my mom cheered me on.

And after more hours than I imagined it would have taken, and no drugs whatsoever...

I gave birth to a baby girl.

Neferankh.

~ ☥ ~

I was exhausted. By the time it was over, it was extremely early in the morning and I was ready to just knock out. To be honest... I didn't really think I was ready to have a child throughout this pregnancy. I mean, that didn't mean I didn't want a child, but I wondered if I was really ready for this. I mean... Atem would finally have someone in this world who would actually be his really family... his blood... but I wasn't sure how ready I was, personally.

But when I heard the cries of my baby for the first time, I swear something changed.

You hear stories like this all the time... but you never really get it until it happens to you.

When the doctor handed me my little, tiny baby... the world stopped.

I was a mother now... my entire world had changed.

In my arms was a beautiful little baby girl with a full head of black hair and eyes as dark as Atem's. She didn't cry for too long, so when she finished, she stared at us with wide eyes.

She was perfect.

And then... as I watched Atem hold our baby in awe, as I watched him become a father... I think something changed between us too.

I didn't think I could ever be more in love with someone, but here I was.

Everything had changed.

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