apartment a little bit. It took me a second to hear the muffled murmuring of many, many women.
The ones whose heartbeats I’d heard first.
Black Velvet nudged open another door then, because we saw her silhouetted in a rectangle of bright light to our left. The woman screamed again and I could hear women trying to reassure her. Black Velvet disappeared into the room and the door didn’t quite close behind her.
I took that as an invitation. I nodded at Meagan and we went to the door together. I peeked around the edge as the woman screamed for a third time; then someone hauled the door open wide to reveal us standing there.
There was a big bed in the middle of the room; that was the first thing I saw. And a woman was lying on it, her expression anguished and her knees up. She was surrounded by about a dozen women, and Jessica, too. All of them were focused on her, and the one who had opened the door indicated that we should be silent.
All of the women, even Jessica, were wearing red dresses. They were like tubes of sheer fabric, gathered on a drawstring at their shoulders and tied at the waist with a gold cord. They were all barefoot, and the cloth was sheer enough that I could see their legs silhouetted beneath. Even Jessica had abandoned her usual baggy clothes and baseball cap for the sheer red dress. She was clearly the youngest present, but the others treated her with deference. She looked as gorgeous and feminine as she had at Halloween, but more glam.
Was this some kind of ceremony? The bed was more like a platform than a bed you’d sleep on, or maybe like an altar. It had four large golden pillars, one at each corner, which actually connected to the gilded ceiling. I’d thought at first that the light emanating from the room must be sunlight, but it was candlelight reflecting on gold.
The walls were lined with cat sculptures. Most of them were gold, and most of them had red stones for eyes, like rubies. There were candles placed between them on the shelves, the flickering light making the cats seem alive, as if their red eyes were scanning the room.
The whole room shimmered gold and looked exotic. It felt to me as if there were many more present than just the women we could see.
I heard Meagan catch her breath when she saw Jessica, but I’m not sure Jessica knew we were there. Her attention was fixed on the woman on the bed and she looked a bit nervous. Why was Jessica here? Was she related to this woman? Ordid she know her well? Black Velvet climbed onto the bed and lay beside the woman like a pet—or maybe a sentry.
“Push next time,” advised one of the attending women. “It’s close.”
The woman on the bed was delivering a baby.
She had time to nod before the next contraction rippled through her body. She tipped her head back and bared her teeth but didn’t scream. I saw her clench a fistful of Black Velvet’s fur, and Black Velvet’s eyes narrowed, but she didn’t move away or protest. One of the attending women reached to coax the baby into the world, and another firmly guided Jessica to the foot of the bed.
Jessica swallowed.
The baby’s crown appeared, wet and dark.
“Push,” advised the woman who must be the midwife. “Push.”
The next contraction came; the mother pushed. The women leaned closer.
The candles flickered simultaneously.
Meagan and I grasped each other’s hands.
And the baby surged forth in a rush. The midwife lifted the baby and cleared the mucus from its face. She cut the cord, and the baby cried out for the first time, its yowl nearly bouncing off the walls. The midwife tied the cord expertly, as if she’d done this a thousand times. The mother gasped with relief, smiling as the midwife put the child in her arms.
I’d never seen a baby born before. I wasn’t sure whether it was gross or amazing.
The thing was that even though the baby seemed okay, tension remained in the air. The mother rose to her knees, her gaze locked on her baby, and the attending
The ones whose heartbeats I’d heard first.
Black Velvet nudged open another door then, because we saw her silhouetted in a rectangle of bright light to our left. The woman screamed again and I could hear women trying to reassure her. Black Velvet disappeared into the room and the door didn’t quite close behind her.
I took that as an invitation. I nodded at Meagan and we went to the door together. I peeked around the edge as the woman screamed for a third time; then someone hauled the door open wide to reveal us standing there.
There was a big bed in the middle of the room; that was the first thing I saw. And a woman was lying on it, her expression anguished and her knees up. She was surrounded by about a dozen women, and Jessica, too. All of them were focused on her, and the one who had opened the door indicated that we should be silent.
All of the women, even Jessica, were wearing red dresses. They were like tubes of sheer fabric, gathered on a drawstring at their shoulders and tied at the waist with a gold cord. They were all barefoot, and the cloth was sheer enough that I could see their legs silhouetted beneath. Even Jessica had abandoned her usual baggy clothes and baseball cap for the sheer red dress. She was clearly the youngest present, but the others treated her with deference. She looked as gorgeous and feminine as she had at Halloween, but more glam.
Was this some kind of ceremony? The bed was more like a platform than a bed you’d sleep on, or maybe like an altar. It had four large golden pillars, one at each corner, which actually connected to the gilded ceiling. I’d thought at first that the light emanating from the room must be sunlight, but it was candlelight reflecting on gold.
The walls were lined with cat sculptures. Most of them were gold, and most of them had red stones for eyes, like rubies. There were candles placed between them on the shelves, the flickering light making the cats seem alive, as if their red eyes were scanning the room.
The whole room shimmered gold and looked exotic. It felt to me as if there were many more present than just the women we could see.
I heard Meagan catch her breath when she saw Jessica, but I’m not sure Jessica knew we were there. Her attention was fixed on the woman on the bed and she looked a bit nervous. Why was Jessica here? Was she related to this woman? Ordid she know her well? Black Velvet climbed onto the bed and lay beside the woman like a pet—or maybe a sentry.
“Push next time,” advised one of the attending women. “It’s close.”
The woman on the bed was delivering a baby.
She had time to nod before the next contraction rippled through her body. She tipped her head back and bared her teeth but didn’t scream. I saw her clench a fistful of Black Velvet’s fur, and Black Velvet’s eyes narrowed, but she didn’t move away or protest. One of the attending women reached to coax the baby into the world, and another firmly guided Jessica to the foot of the bed.
Jessica swallowed.
The baby’s crown appeared, wet and dark.
“Push,” advised the woman who must be the midwife. “Push.”
The next contraction came; the mother pushed. The women leaned closer.
The candles flickered simultaneously.
Meagan and I grasped each other’s hands.
And the baby surged forth in a rush. The midwife lifted the baby and cleared the mucus from its face. She cut the cord, and the baby cried out for the first time, its yowl nearly bouncing off the walls. The midwife tied the cord expertly, as if she’d done this a thousand times. The mother gasped with relief, smiling as the midwife put the child in her arms.
I’d never seen a baby born before. I wasn’t sure whether it was gross or amazing.
The thing was that even though the baby seemed okay, tension remained in the air. The mother rose to her knees, her gaze locked on her baby, and the attending
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