That night I dreamt of a little baby boy calling me “Mama. I knew it was time. I woke up my sleepy husband, and we rushed to the maternity hospital. I watched my husband pull on his sweatpants and work jacket, laughing my head off. But then it got painful – we had to hurry.
We arrived at the emergency room in about 15 minutes. My husband and I said goodbye. He went home to get his things, and they started to process me into the delivery room. My doctor was good, so I was totally calm and prepared to meet my son.
Two hours later I held my baby in my arms. When they put him on my belly, I cried with these feelings. This man was the most wanted in the world, because my husband and I had been walking together for a long time.
There were four of us in the postpartum ward. I didn’t really consider my roommates, but then we started getting to know each other. One girl was just a baby, another was a mother of many children, and the third was my age.
We all shared our stories, just could not get the youngest one to stop. Later it turned out she was only 14 years old. She got pregnant by some Caucasian, his parents didn’t want to accept such a daughter-in-law and disowned her. But Helena wasn’t sad. She was sure that she would manage on her own and raise her daughter.
– My daughter was born. We’ll play “Mother Daughters” together, – she laughed.
Helena was an only child. Her mother was a housewife, and her father was a businessman of some sort. Her parents registered their granddaughter in their own name, so there would be no problems later.
The second woman was Armenian. She gave birth to her fifth daughter. When she found out it was a girl again, she was upset, but then she was relieved. Her baby girl was really very beautiful – just a doll. Her husband, however, was drunk with grief and never went to see her.
The rest of my relatives went and went. Aunts, uncles, in-laws, sisters-all with gifts and food. With such relatives there was nothing to be afraid of, and then my father woke up. He gave her a huge bouquet and sang songs under her windows.
His eyes sparkled with happiness. Apparently it was a momentary weakness, so his wife did not take offense at him. Judging from their stories, they had a friendly and strong family. The little girl was lucky with her parents.
The third neighbor was silent and stared at the ceiling. No one came to see her. We treated her to homemade food, but she always refused. Maria was a visitor. She was the only one who fed her daughter and gave her away. Never fondled her, never hugged her, treated her coldly and indifferently.
She was a quiet girl. She was not fussy at all. Apparently, she understood that her mother was up to something. It was only later we found out that Maria decided to write an abstinence. She didn’t want this baby from the beginning, but she didn’t dare to have an abortion.
She was shrinking her belly during the whole pregnancy to make sure no one would find out about her interesting pregnancy. All the doctors persuaded her not to do anything stupid, because the baby was born absolutely healthy.
She left the maternity hospital at night. That night her baby cried a lot – she just burst into tears, as if she were calling for her mommy. The mother-cuckoo abandoned her baby. She ruined a child’s fate. Scary. But it’s real.
