Ultimate Sacrifice

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Michelle felt nauseated by the time the train stopped. They would have had a much easier trip if they could afford the plane tickets, but Japheth was trying to be economical with the little he had. Working as an antique collector wasn't very lucrative in a world and age where almost everything was digitized and people rarely cared for old items.
However, Michelle remained enamoured by Japheth's industrious and creative nature.

Japheth had been very quiet all through their trip, which was unusual. She had imagined they would have so much to want to talk about since they were just recently seeing themselves face to face again after over six months of their forced separation.

She could guess the reason for his distress. Somehow, his siblings got an inkling that he was not planning to divorce her despite her condition.
She knew that his elder sister lived in Bethlehem. Maybe they would stop over there. Michelle had begun to steel her heart for whatever confrontation she would have to face.

She rubbed her taut belly and prayed to Adonai silently as the train doors opened and the nausea dissipated.
"Adonai, please give me strength."

She hoped the whole census business would be fast, after all the process was automated, so they could head back to familiar territory-preferably Lizzy's home-in time for her delivery day.

Japheth helped her get down and made her wait in a sheltered seat while he got the rest of their luggage.
He was panting hard when he finally got the last of their things out just before the train slithered away.
She felt bad for the poor man.

"I'm sorry for the stress you have to go through. I feel puffy and useless," Michelle said as she stood with a heave to meet him.

"Hey, it's fine. You should rest. You're carrying the Christos in your belly. I reckon you're the one doing the greater work on the eternal scale."

Michelle cracked a smile and reached her hand to pick out a strand of thread that had lodged itself in between his beard. Out of the blue, she felt her emotions bubble like a volcano within her.

"Thank you for everything, Japheth. I don't know what I'd have done without you beside me," Michelle said. Her eyes pooled with moisture.

He cupped her face in his hand and looked at her lovingly.
"Princess Michelle, I am honoured to be by your side on this adventure. I thank God for the day you walked into my store, looking so lost. You are my jewel."

He placed a peck on her forehead and Michelle felt as though she would melt. Then, the most surprising thing happened. She felt a sharp tug from the inside of her belly.

"Are you fine?" Japheth asked, concern lacing his voice.

She chuckled and straightened. "You won't believe it but I think Immanuel got jealous there a bit. He gave me a big kick on the inside."

Japheth's growing grin morphed into a chortle. Michelle hit his arm and gave him a pseudo-angry look.

"Urgh! I must look like a mess. I have to freshen up. We're going to your sister's place, right? Let's hurry."

Japheth froze at her words, looking resolute and pained.

She frowned, suddenly understanding. "We're not going there, are we?"

He gave her an apologetic look and sighed heavily as he flagged a cab that would take them to the Central Hall where the census was taking place.

"I don't want to be the cause of a rift between you and your only sister. You guys should better make up fast," Michelle said after a moment when they had settled in the cab.

"Well, I'm hoping she comes to her senses soon enough..." Japheth muttered.

In no time, they were in the hall. There was an impossible crowd waiting in line and it was already getting close to evening. Michelle could only hope that the supervising officials would not send them back home claiming to be tired. Thank Adonai AI-powered androids were doing the bulk of the work, so the progress was fair enough.

At intervals, Japheth would politely excuse himself from the line to check on her well-being. She could not let him know of her growing discomfort or else he would not get his counting done. Her back and waist ached like they were being pounded by a pestle.

"Please, do you perhaps know of any hotel nearby where my wife and I could lodge for the night?" That was Japheth's weary voice asking the android when he finally got to the count station.

"Searching nearby lodging options..." the robotic AI voice replied. "I'm sorry but all hostels, motels, guest houses, hospitals and renting apartments within a thirty-kilometer radius have all been let out. The traffic has been heavy all through the week. Do you have a plan B, perhaps somewhere else to stay for the night?"

"Thanks for the help. We'll figure it out." Japheth looked so dejected as he returned to his waiting wife.
"Michelle, seems like we have to get back on the road. There is no place for us to stay the night. I'm so sorry."

She wanted to say this was the perfect sign that they should go to his sister's house. Instead, she took a big breath and said, "It's okay."

They had walked to the main street, which was still bubbling with activity, waiting to flag an empty cab that could transport them to the train station.

A sharp pain so powerful that it stole her breath sliced through Michelle's midsection. She stopped Japheth abruptly and gripped his hand in a tight clutch. She glanced down and noticed the wet patch that oozed down her legs.

"Oh no!" she breathed. "Japheth, the baby..."

Japheth looked as though he had just been punched.
"What? I- I thought the delivery was not until the next two weeks."

"Yes, I thought so too. Maybe the stress... What do we-AAAAAAAHHH!"

"Oh, Adonai. Relax, Michelle, take a deep breath. I'm right here with you. I can't carry you and this load. You'll have to walk. I know, I'm sorry. Can you lean on my arm... We have to find a place... Oh Adonai, please send help!"

"Is everything alright, son?" a wizened man asked from behind them, startling Michelle.

"My wife. She's in labour and there is no place to go!" Japheth said pleadingly

"Sorry, dear," the man said looking at her sweat-drenched form sympathetically. "If you have no other option, you can come with me. Though my house is already filled up with relatives and visitors, I have a shed behind the house but it has become the place I used to keep farm tools and some of my livestock."

"We don't mind, sir... Thank you," Japheth said.

Michelle wanted to scream that his sister's place was a viable and safer option than following a strange man to a strange place that probably wasn't even suitable for the delivery of the most important baby the world would see in a million years. But another vicious pain seized her, rendering her mute. Japheth led her to the kind man's car and off they drove while she struggled to swallow the screams that were threatening to pour out of her mouth.