Pregnancy

I woke up the following morning on the couch. I obviously must have moved there some time during the night, but I couldn't recall ever getting up. That day was a strange day. I ate my breakfast, washed the bedding thoroughly, did some painting, and read a book. I waited and waited for the strong depression I expected to hit me. However, the day was closing before I knew it. The next day was the same. The day after that as well. In fact, the days and weeks began moving by in a blue. It is true that as an immortal I am used to the ages moving past me in the blink of an eye, yet ever since my experience with Rodney it was if I have payed attention to nothing. That night had been awful, but I otherwise felt...normal. Changed and desperate for home, but normal. Each day I simply got up to live what had become my life. Nothing out of routine happened. The only new task I had to face was fixing the objects in my house that suddenly began breaking all the time. It was beyond me how I managed to restore everything to its usual condition. Mostly what I end up doing is fiddling around with the many screws, and the problem resolves itself.

About a month after that night, I received a call from Ms. Bird. Although I originally thought she wasn't someone I wanted to know due to her "career", she has proven to be surprisingly kind and helpful. She was the only one around town I moderately knew as she made a point to call me every other day. Her call was expected, but the information she had for me was not. She was curious if I had heard what was going on with Rodney. I did not know. He had been surprisingly distant. It was a strange change from the polite man I had known. It was Ms. Bird's call that would show me the Rodney I had known was not who he actually was at all. Apparently, he had stated romantic intentions towards a woman named Gracie Loveland. Ms. Bird was stunned her had, for Rodney was known for hopping around from woman to woman. The two had been keeping their secret relationship.

Ms. Bird then revealed to me the date when Rodney had stated his intentions towards this Ms. Loveland. It had been on the same evening when we had spent time together. My heart sank further when Ms. Bird continued talking and I learned Ms. Loveland had been seen shopping for something called "emergency contraceptives" the following morning. When I realized what such a thing was, I understood what the two had been doing. The phone call ended, and I sat down on the couch in despair. I harbored no romantic feelings towards Rodney. There was not the slightest chance that we would ever end up together. However, I was still deeply hurt. His kind manner had only been a trick to convince me to give him what he wanted. He had gotten, and he had moved on. How important our time together had been and what it had meant for me was not a concern of his in the slightest. My emotions and my struggles were insignificant.

And yet...I at least had gotten what I needed. My efforts had not been pointless. The nausea striking my stomach was proof of that. However, I had been convinced at first that something had poisoned my food. As elves did not get ill as humans did, it was the only thing I could think of to explain why my stomach began to protest whatever I had eaten. Then I learned of the thing called "morning sickness." It was a foreign concept to me as elves had never experienced it, which left me confused as to why I had to cope with it. I finally remembered the child I was carrying was half-human. Him or her having that heritage had to have been why my pregnancy was already so different from the normal pregnancies back home. It truly was a relief to know I was with child, but my stomach constantly having to release its contents was making it hard to get work done.

Pressed for money again, I sold the space where one is supposed to leave their car. Even if I had the money, I would never purchase one of those machines. Every single one of them has this awful smell about them, and I have heard about the gases they emit and how they are contributing to the destruction of the security of the environment. The money I received allowed me to buy a crib and stuffed toy for the child. Unfortunately, though the purchases were necessary, I was more destitute than ever. My pitiful savings had been reduced to one mere unit of currency. I began painting more than ever as I knew if I didn't hurry up I would have to ace the dreaded repossession. Thankfully, as the months passed the nausea steadily decreased until it stopped completely. I was left with more time to build my savings again.

Unfortunately, the passing of the months also meant that my stomach began to grow. The clothes I had brought with me rapidly grew too small, and I was left panicking as I had no spare money to buy new outfits every several weeks as the size my stomach continued to increase. I was confident I was going to have to lock myself inside my house as I would have no choice but to live in the nude. Then I confessed my problem to Ms. Bird, and she proved once again to be a great help. She said nothing of her plan, but several days later she appeared at my door with a box full of clothes. They were in so many sizes that I could have something to wear for whatever stage of pregnancy I was in. I was told the clothes had been gathered through donations. I knew that Ms. Bird was involved in criminal work, so I had suspicions about whether the clothes were really donated or if she "donated" them to herself. I supposed as long as I didn't have any solid evidence that such a situation was the case, I could wear the outfits without guilt. Well, some of the outfits anyway. A couple are too revealing for my taste.

When Ms. Bird brought me the clothes, she also had more news for me about Rodney. To no ones surprise, he and Ms. Loveland had separated. It had been a miracle they had lasted as long as they had. Needless to say, I was not surprised either that their coupling had not been meant to be. Given that Rodney had still never contacted me after I left him several messages, I figured it was wise to ignore him as he was ignoring me. With his habit of hopping from woman to woman, it would be better for my child to not have that sort of influence around.

I managed to sell enough paintings in order to pay the bills and have a little left over. Painting had begun to grow a bit tedious though, so I took a break to read some of the books that came with the house. Luckily enough, one was on cooking. It instructed the reader how to use the oven and stove. There was also a couple recipes provided in the back. I decided to try making the easiest one- something that was called macaroni and cheese. I didn't burn the food or catch the house on fire, so I marked the endeavor a success. It was the first hot meal I had eaten since I arrived at this house. The taste was unusual compared to what I am used to, but it wasn't bad. I rather enjoyed it.

Time kept on passing. My stomach kept on growing larger and larger until I started to wonder if it would ever stop. I knew the day when I would give birth would not be long off. With just me in the house, the quiet and calm atmosphere had been constant. I knew that was going to change when the monumental day arrived. I hoped I would enjoy the different atmosphere. The silence of the house and I were still not getting along very well.

Rodney eventually decided to answer back to my messages. He had finally deemed me worthy of his attention once again. I didn't know what he wanted to talked about, for I had never revealed my pregnancy to him, and I didn't care what he wanted. I ignored all his attempts to contact me. He was determined though. The rectangular device was constantly making noise as Rodney seemed persistent in getting me to pick up, but I still refused to answer. I didn't think anything good could come out of letting such a womanizing man into my life. Besides, he also couldn't have really cared that much. If he had truly wanted to talk to me, then he should have made it a point to visit the house when he couldn't reach me by phone. The calls stopped after several days. I was relieved.

Rodney became nonexistent in my mind when a great pain suddenly ripped through my body. My labor had begun. I pushed through the pain to gather and prepare what I would need before making myself comfortable on the bed. While I had heard human women preferred to have their children born in the places called hospitals, I decided it was not for me when I learned how overly-complicated the process was made. It also horrified me that it was deemed necessary to have the body injected with all sorts of strange fluids. No one would ever place such things within me, that was for sure! Besides, even if I had wanted to go, I had not the money I would have been charged for the hospital's services.

However, delivering a child completely on my room was not my ideal situation either. I have witnessed many births in addition to helping with a few, yet doing it by oneself to oneself was an entirely different matter. Who could I call on for help though? I really was all on my own. The labor lasted hours. The pain grew intense to the point where I passed out several times, only to be woken up by that same pain moments later. I was thankful I had thought to cover the bed in many towels as they became coated in blood. I was terrified I wouldn't be able to push the child out. What if I did something wrong and hurt him or her? What if he or she accidentally died? The pain increased further, and my panicked ran wild until all thoughts save for getting the child out properly were thrown out of my mind.

And I did it.

I was able to bear the child on my own. More importantly than that, my boy was born healthy. It was clear from the first instant that I saw him that he would take after his father, but I thought it more appropriate to name my first son after my own father. Elrunamir was the name I chose based off ada's name, Elrundir. Elrunamir, thankfully, did not cry for too long after he was born. I was able to rest for a while before I had no choice but to clean up the mess the labor had caused. After that, I held my son for a long, long time. It was so strange to me that I was holding a life that had no existed only hours before. A living person had been formed from almost nothing, and after so many months of waiting he was right there in my arms. I didn't really know what else to think but how amazing Elrunamir was simply for existing. I wanted that moment of miraculous revelation to last forever, but I had to properly get him set down for the night. I was also in a drastic need for rest myself. I understood that how my life was lived was going to change drastically, for I had entered the realm of motherhood......