Escape

Humble Beginnings

A man sits in an old wooden chair, reading a book. It had no title to be seen on the cover. The cover itself seemed to be made of crudely made leather. He sat silently, and very still. The only sign of life being a periodic turning of a page, and a slow, tired blink of his eyes. A mid-sized brief case stood on a stand, propped up against the wall next to him. It was open and it's contents messily thrown about the stand . He was wearing a pair of khaki pants along with a white dress shirt and a pair of very small reading glasses, which were perched on his nose, looking as if they could slip off at any moment. There was a tall lamp beside the chair which was turned on, making every wrinkle in his face stand out and the grey roots of his hair almost glisten against the light.

 He let out a loud yawn as his body started to slump over. The book in his hand was slowly sliding from his grip as his body started to shut down to sleep. As darkness welcomed him, it was shattered by an ear splitting scream coming from the room next to him, the bedroom. He quickly got up and put the book on the stand before dashing into the room, almost running into the door on the way. There was a woman in the bed, sweating profusely along with a younger woman, a maid, at the far side of the bed wiping the screaming woman's forehead with a wet cloth . Her face was warped in agony as she screamed again, looking at the man with daggers in her eyes. He looked at her, mortified and dazed. He didn't move until she screamed at him once more and reached a frantic hand toward him. This time he realized she was saying his name and almost obediently went to her side and clutched her hand. She breathed heavily and rapidly as she gripped his hand with a strength that made him wince.

" Are you alright , Delia?, " He whispered,  trying not to pull his hand away from the woman's vise-like grip.

" Does it look like I'm okay, Cyrus?!" she growled at him,  " The baby is coming and that's what you say to me?" The maid looked at him with an expression that surprised him, but he knew it all too well. She was basically giving him the look his wife often shoots him when he's being stupid. He was about to say something to her, when Delia screamed. The noise loud enough to make his ears ring. He looked at her as he sulked.  " Don't you dare look at me like that Cyrus! You'd be screaming too."

"The contractions are coming at a steady pace, sir. It shouldn't be very long until it's time, " the maid said. Her brow was furrowed as she took the cloth from Delia's forehead and replaced it with a new one. Her concentration and calmness baffled Cyrus, so much that he wasn't paying attention to Delia as she was yelling incoherent insults at him.

" I'm sorry Dear, I know it hurts. You'll get through this in no time." He said, once he realized what he was doing. He ran his fingers through her long brown hair and whispered lovingly too her, to try to sooth her. She growled painfully, but  seemed to be calming herself as best she could.

" She's ready sir. Delia, you should start pushing." the maid said as she prepared herself at the foot of the bed, propping Delia's legs into a squatting position. Delia shifted and winced in pain as she began to push. Her screams echoed throughout the room as Cyrus tried to comfort her, not letting go of her hand for a moment, even though his fingers ached. The cycle continued for about an hour, until the baby was born. " It's a boy." the maid said, with a smile as she wiped off the baby and wrapped him in a blanket. " Would you like to hold him Delia?" she said, almost melodically, as she walked to the head of the bed to show the mother.

Tears pooled in Delia's eyes as she nodded her head, unable to speak, and stretched out her arms for her baby. The maid gently laid him in her arms, and the baby open his eyes to reveal two watery pale blue eyes. His focus was a bit delayed but as soon as he fixed his eyes on his mother, he smiled. Cyrus leaned over her to look at his newborn son, and gave him a smile of his own. Both parents wept at the sight of their beautiful son, as the little boys smile, unwavering, cast a light upon them that they never thought they would see.

Delia was supposed to  be sterile from an accident that happened when she was small. The family doctor had said that if she were to somehow get pregnant, it would put her life at risk. By some miracle, Delia got pregnant 7 months ago and by all means was scared. Immediately, she went to the doctor, and he wanted her to abort the child because there was a 90% chance they would both die. She refused to do so, because to her,  the baby was a miracle from God, and whatever happened was according to His plans. The Doctor was devastated by her decision, but proceeded to prepare the parents for the baby's birth. The pregnancy was rough, and unusual. The baby didn't grow normally, and was extremely small. The doctor was almost certain that Delia and the baby would die upon birth, due to her refusing to have the baby at the hospital, and requesting to birth the child at her home.

The woman's will couldn't be wavered, so the Doctor finally agreed and gave them every advice he thought would help them with the birth to take advantage of every percentage of chance that she and the baby may live. He also gave them Maddy, a nurse he had been working with for many years. she had the most experience in odd child births, and would know what to do in almost any situation. She went to live with the couple temporarily until the baby was born and took up the job as a maid for them, as Delia was unable to move around, and Cyrus was away with work all day. She was baffled by the lack of difficulties during Delia's labor. There was no problem's what so ever, in fact. Maddy was almost sure she would have to perform a caesarean section, but Delia did it naturally. The baby was also extremely small, and didn't cry. Even after a slap on the behind the child was silent with no expression, until he met gaze with his mother.

As the baby laid in his mothers arms, all of them smiling uncontrollably, Cyrus finally breaks the moment. " What are we going to name him?" Delia's smile wavered for a moment as she thought.

" Aaron," she said quietly. " Aaron Alfred."