Episode 1
1759 Words
AVA’S POV
“I’m sorry, Mama,” I whispered, with a shaky voice. “I know you won’t understand why I made this decision. You might call me foolish, maybe you would be angry… but I couldn’t keep watching us struggle.”
I pressed my hand against my chest, fighting the ache that refused to leave as I stared at my Mother’s picture.
“I didn’t want to shame you or break your heart. But I had no choice, Mama. This decision… It's the only way I know how to make things better, even if I was hurting. Even if I’ve betrayed everything you taught me.”
My eyes were teary, and I let the tears fall freely.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t be the daughter you dreamed of. I’m sorry this is the road I had to take. Please forgive me, Mama. One day… I hope you’ll see I did this for us.”
I had told myself guilt was a weight you could drop when the crying stopped… but I was wrong.
That was the biggest lie I told myself.
Guilt never leaves instead it eats you up from the inside till you slowly run mad.
I should’ve been with my mother, but instead I was here in a stranger’s house waiting patiently for the day I would hand over the babies growing inside me.
I sat on the bed, rested one hand on my belly, and the other held my mother’s picture tightly.
It had been nine months since I last saw my mother, and I don’t even know how she was doing.
Most times, I thought I am a bad child for not being there for my mother especially when she needed me most.
This was the only way I knew to survive to get money for her everyday chemotherapy, and her medications.
I don’t want to lose her. She was the only family I had; ever since my father left with his mistress.
That’s why I never thought twice of being a surrogate for a billionaire couple, so I could meet up with my mother’s bills.
The deal was simple; carry the child, give birth, walk away and my mother’s health would be restored.
I looked down at my swollen belly, “Just a few more days, it will be over and you will be with your parents so I can go home.”
So I stood up, frowned at the slight pain in my back, and the pressure felt worse today.
I remembered reading about how everything got heavier before labor started.
I took in a deep breath, I walked to and fro in the room, then towards the window when it happened.
A sudden rush; warm and wet, flooded my thighs. I screamed, as it soaked my thighs.
My heart raced, and hands trembled at how sudden this was. Not when I thought I had just a week left to prepare my mind; I was screwed.
“No. No, no, please.”
Pain hit my lower back and my knees buckled, so I grabbed the desk and it kept me from falling.
“Angela!” I screamed, my throat felt so tight. “Angela, help!”. Yet, no one came to my rescue.
Before I could think properly, another contraction hit me, sharper this time.
I quickly lowered myself into the nearest chair, hot tears rolling down my cheeks.
“Angela!” I screamed out. “Please! My water broke. I need help!”
Then Angela burst in, with eyes wide open. “Oh Dios mío! Miss Ava!”
“It hurts,” I choked. “I think…I think they’re coming.”
She said something to the maid behind her and rushed to my side.
“Hold on. We’re getting the car, try to breathe, okay? Just breathe.”
The ride to the hospital was hell, all I felt was pain and panic; every bump on the road felt like a knife was stabbing me.
I gripped the seat so tightly, sweat all over my body as I tried to remember the breathing techniques I watched on YouTube.
By the time we arrived, I was rushed to a delivery room. I could faintly hear voices, “She’s nine centimeters, let’s go!” I heard someone say.
“I need more towels. You, get an OB in here now.” Another added.
A mask was put over my face, as someone took off my soaked clothes.
Then a voice whispered that I was doing great, but I knew they were lying; I wasn’t doing great, I was dying.
Then another contraction hit, it was different from the false ones I felt for weeks.
It started like a cramp, kept increasing and twisted my body until I screamed myself out.
My belly hardened, I felt my hips were tearing . Oh Lord, I cried out, shouting as the contraction ripped through me.
My legs were shaking, and a nurse held my hand tightly.
“Breathe, Miss Ava. In and out, in and out.” She repeated.
“I can't,” I cried out. “It hurts...oh God, it hurts so much!”
“You’re doing beautifully, they’re almost here.”
The pressure in my pelvis became unbearable, like the babies were trying to push their way out of my body with full force.
Then the urge to push came, it was raw, and I couldn’t stop it.
“Okay, Ava, push with the next contraction. As hard as you can.”
The doctor’s voice was encouraging, but all I thought of was the pain tearing my body apart.
So I pushed hard, screamed and pushed harder again.
This time, the pain was beyond comprehension, my whole body was breaking inside me.
My throat was sore from screaming, as my fingernails dug into the nurse’s palm. I felt every tear, every muscle stretch, and how my body surrendered to nature.
No one told me child birth was like this, not even the YouTube videos.
The burn between my legs wasn't just pain, it was violation. As if I was being torn opened by something bigger for my body.
“There’s the head! One more big push!” I gathered strength, screamed until I no longer could.
I felt a release, a strange wet slimy rush and then crying—the first baby.
I collapsed back on the pillow, my legs shaked uncontrollably, and before I could even catch my breath, the second contraction came.
“No…No, I can’t.”
“Yes, you can,” the doctor said firmly. “The second baby is coming. You're almost there.”
I pushed again, crying from exhaustion and pushed. My body no longer felt like mine anymore; it was just a vessel.
Then the second baby slipped free, another cry. At that point, I realized that there was still one more baby, I almost gave up.
But I couldn’t, this was the final battle I had to overcome to support my mom, letting her down was never an option.
So I gathered courage and pushed as much as my body would let me until there was another cry, which the nurses confirmed with the happy looks in their eyes.
Finally, I delivered the triplets I carried for nine months, and that made me happy because accomplishing my goal was the most important priority of my life.
The room was in disorder, nurses carried the babies away, voices confirmed vitals, someone checked my pulse and another stitched me up.
I couldn’t speak or move even though I wanted to.
The pain went down slightly and my legs trembled badly.
Three perfect crying reminders of the choice I made. The nurse beside me patted my arm and told me to rest.
“You did beautifully,” she said again. I managed to smile, before closing my eyes to process my emotions.
Just when I thought it was over, the door slammed open forcefully as I had barely closed my eyes.
Startled, so I looked up, Nicholas Williams stood in the doorway filled with rage.
“You’ve killed her!” he yelled.
Immediately, I blinked in confusion. “What! Killed who?”
Nicholas Williams barged into the room. “You killed her! Why? Because you can’t give the baby away! We paid you, didn’t we? Why take her life?”
“Who are you talking about? I managed to ask, looking confused.
“Vivian! She is dead, and you are the last person she spoke with.”
“Wait… what?!” Goosebumps ran through my body.
The mother of the babies who treated me with so much care and kindness, was suddenly dead?! Without even setting eyes on the babies!
“Yes, we spoke some hours before I was in labor. How come she is suddenly dead?”
“You dare ask me that? I should be the one asking you. You liar.”
Fear immediately gripped my heart, “That’s not true!” My voice cracked, struggling to sit up.
“She said she was going out for a spa treatment. I didn’t—”
“You expect me to believe that?” he shouted, eyes narrowing.
“After everything we gave you, after we trusted you…”
“Mr. Williams,” a nurse said nervously, “please, your wife just gave birth not long ago, so she needs rest.”
“She’s not my wife!” his hand clenched, pointed at me in frustration. “She’s the surrogate.”
The nurses took a step backward. “But we were told—”
“You were told wrong,” his jaw tightened as he barked, and looked at me.
His look alone made my breath shake, he wasn’t here to meet his children or to say thank you.
Instead he thought I had something to do with Vivian’s sudden death and worse… maybe he wanted me to pay for it.
“You have no idea what you’re saying,” my voice trembled.
“I’ve done nothing but protect your children. And now you stand there accusing me?”
“Protect?” he said bitterly. “I promise you Ava, you will regret this! I will make you pay for this! With your life!”
I stared at him in confusion. The pain of giving birth, and now this? All of it made me scared.
My vision blurred out and I didn’t know if I wanted to give him a hot slap or if my body was about to give out from everything it had endured.
And then…Everything went black.
- Writer
