elloericaa.tumblr.com

follow me, know what's up, that's what's up.

The birth of a child.

The creation of life.

The beginning of a new chapter.      

The period of pregnancy is one that is emotional and life changing, not only for the woman bearing the newborn, but also for the man who aided in the newborn’s creation. The man, if he is faithful, has to deal with the ever-changing mood swings, food cravings, and appearance changes of his partner. Yes, the women have it bad, but the men sometimes have it worse.

“Worse? Never! Men have it easy!” you may say, but in the case of Woohyun Nam, the pregnancy of his wife, Ara Nam, and the birth of his daughter, Julia, was the hardest thing he’s ever had to go through.

No, it wasn’t because of the mood swings, or the food cravings, or the lack of ual attention he received through the pregnancy. In fact, Woohyun loved all of it (except the lack of ) because he loved to please his wife. He’d go to the ends of the world for her. It was the actual delivery that killed him.

And his wife.

On the day of May 26^th, Woohyun took his wife out for dinner. It was a pleasant dinner, with great food and a nice atmosphere. Everything seemed to be going right. It wasn’t till Woohyun was paying the check, that things began to collapse.

Ara fell out of her chair, crying in pain as she held her large baby bump. Tears poured out of her eyes as she took rapid, heavy breaths. “Woohyun! The baby!” she cried as she tried to stand up, “IT’S COMING!”

Woohyun’s eyes widened. The baby wasn’t due for another two weeks! He threw money at the waiter and picked up his sobbing wife. He ran to his car, still holding Ara tightly, cocooning her in his arms. Once he reached the car, his caring arms placed her gently on the passenger seat.

“It’s okay,” he cooed as he pulled the seatbelt over her.

Ara’s impatient hands pulled the seatbelt as she cried, “DRIVE ME TO THE HOSPITAL NOW!”

Without delay, Woohyun drove her to the closest hospital. The cries of pain from his wife pushed Woohyun to go over the speed limit. The hospital was in sight and Woohyun pushed the pedals to reach there faster. Woohyun and Ara ran into the ER, and were immediately escorted away.

While holding Woohyun’s hand, Ara was rushed on a bed to the delivery room. She yelled at him, blaming her pain on him, and even crying to “get this damn baby out of me”.  And while many would have believed that this was the most terrifying thing, Woohyun just internally laughed at his wife’s foul-mouth. On the outside, Woohyun looked at his wife with worried eyes and held her hand tightly. He knew that she would be able to get through all of this. Or so he believed.

Woohyun was stopped at the entrance of the room to remove his jacket and put on the hair net and medical dressings, while his wife was brought in. After tossing his jacket aside, Woohyun ran to be beside his wife.

After a long hour, filled with cries, curses, and assuring words from the doctor, Ara was almost finished delivering her baby. The head appeared first, followed by the body, and finally the feet. The baby was delivered.

With loving eyes, Woohyun looked at the baby cradled in the doctor’s arm, then back at his wife. But, she wasn't looking at him. Her eyes slowly rolled to the back of her head and her eyelids closed shut, leaving Woohyun to wonder why. The tight grasp from his wife’s hand significantly loosened. Her breathing began to slow to a stop. Unknowingly, Woohyun looked up to watch the heart monitor, which once had escalating and descending lines of Ara’s heartbeat, go flat-line.

“Ara?” said Woohyun.

Without even having moments to think, Woohyun was pulled out of the delivery room and into the lobby. The last thing he saw was his wife being shocked to life with a cardiac defibrillator.

“MY WIFE!” yelled Woohyun.

The nurse quickly apologized, assured him that things were going to be fine, then returned to the doctor’s side.

Woohyun took the seat next to the door and removed the clothing from the nurses: the hat and the protective coat. He threw the two on the seat beside him, and then dejectedly laid the back of his head on the wall behind him. For the next hour, Woohyun sat on that seat and waited for the doctors to save his wife’s life.

But, the doctors didn’t. They couldn’t and no matter how hard they tried, she wasn’t coming back to life. When they broke the news to Woohyun, he almost died. He looked around, trying to find the presence of his wife, but she was gone. The pain inside him began to eat him out as he collapsed onto the seat. His hands interlocked themselves and met in front of his face to cover the sobs that came out.

“I’m sorry,” said the doctor as he walked away.

Woohyun cried for several minutes. He cried till his tear ducts were completely wasted of tears. And even after the tears were gone, shallow sobs escaped Woohyun's lips. His wife was gone, and he was left to live on the Earth alone. As he cried, a nurse came up to Woohyun. Her lips softly smiled at him as she carried his newborn baby girl.

“She’s ready to go with you,” she said happily, obviously unaware of the death of his wife.

“Thank you,” mumbled Woohyun as he took his daughter into his arms.

Her eyes were bright brown, just like her mother's. The tips of her eyelashes were long, just like her mother's. Her lips curved into a heart at the top of her upper lip, just like her mother’s. Even the high hairline resembled her mother too. She was the spitting image of her mother; But she had a nose just like his, long and flat. Woohyun began to wonder how such a beautiful thing like the baby could kill her own mother. 

Woohyun looked up at the nurse to find those answers, but of course she didn’t have them. The nurse didn't even know about the internal conflicts that Woohyun was having.

“Let me fill out the paper work for you and Julia, Mr. Nam,” she said cheerily as she walked away from him, leaving the newborn in the hands of her father.

Julia Nam. His newborn baby girl. She was beautiful. She stared at him with wondering eyes, blinking ever so often to show him that she was real. He was supposed to take her home, but for some reason he just didn’t want to. Instead Woohyun wanted a drink. No, he needed a drink. Thoughts of leaving Julia alone, while buying a six-pack of Bud light sinfully crossed his mind. The temptation was strong.

But of course, his conscience wouldn’t let him.

Woohyun continued to carry Julia in his arms. The soft baby was fast asleep in the comforting arms of her father. “She’ll never be able to feel her mother’s arms,” Woohyun mumbled as he passed the front desk.

On the top of the counter, several pamphlets rested on top. Hoping to find a pamphlet on single father’s aid, Woohyun skimmed through the piles. Brochures were titled with things like "Financial Aid" and "Ways To Treat Your On Going Depression". Woohyun slipped that pamphlet into his coat pocket. He continued his search. Instead of finding one on father’s aid, Woohyun found a pamphlet that seemed more fitting to his thoughts.

On the top of the pamphlet, the words “ADOPTION? A Family Option” were bold. A photo of a happy family graced the cover. 

chapter one. 

I actually finished the whole story. I'll be posting the other two chapters tomorrow.

enjoy. and comment! (: