Mrs. Brandon: The Story of Christopher and Marianne

Chapter 9 -Victory

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"AAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!"

"Hold her up, Colonel.....There you are.....Keep her steady." The midwife instructed Christopher over Marianne's shrill cry.

Mrs. Brandon kept her eyes squeezed shut as she hunched over her heaving belly.

She sat up in bed with her back against Christopher's chest and her knees spread wide as the midwife performed her work.

Christopher was nearly beside himself with anguish as he gripped Marianne's sweat-slicked body while he let her brace himself against him and hold his hand.

The pressure she put on his fingers was intense, but he would gladly let his darling crack his bones if that would ease the throes of labour.

Once her pain finally abated, Marianne went limp in his arms as he guided her back to rest against him.

Her chemise and his shirt both had been dampened by the perspiration from the long hours of her tedious efforts.

Although the Brandons' baby had seemed more than ready to enter the world earlier in the day, as the sun set that evening, their child had failed to arrive.

Marianne was in agony.

Christopher was sick with fear.

The midwife herself had begun to frown in serious concern.

"It's nearly finished now, Marianne." She cooed soothingly.

Christopher stared down at his wife with the same gaze of kind sympathy he had cast his wounded men on the battlefield.

The midwife spoke over Marianne's exhausted panting as she reassured her patient, "Bear down one last time and you'll have your babe in your arms."

"You told me that an hour ago......" Marianne whispered through cracked lips. She swallowed dryly and closed her eyes as she added in a quiet voice heavy with defeat, ".......And the hour before that."

Christopher looked over at the midwife as if he expected her to speak some truth that could contradict his wife's undeniable claim, foolishly hopeful that she could somehow erase the time his beloved had suffered with a single word, but Marianne's body did not allow the midwife to speak at all.

She grit her teeth as she placed a hand on her belly while she felt the merciless grip of labour constrict her midsection once more.

As Christopher watched her eyes squint shut again while she struggled to sit up, he valiantly came to her rescue.

Marianne barely felt him reach under her to ease her into a sitting position as the midwife cried, "Bear down, my dear! Bear down!"

"I'm here, my love......I'm beside you." Christopher whispered as his wife gripped onto him while her belly quivered as she used her last bit of effort to follow the midwife's command.

Marianne's primal roar shattered Christopher's heart.

"NNNNNNGGGGGHHHHHHHH!"

He looked down at the midwife before he tried to peek over the rounded curve of his darling's swollen belly.

Surely that had to be the end of it?

Surely it had to be over?

How much more could any woman be expected to withstand?

Christopher had witnessed the ferocity of his wife's strenuous efforts, had it not been enough to bring a new life into the world?

When no news came from the midwife's lips, Marianne's strength failed as she collapsed back against her husband's chest with an exhausted wheeze.