All I could hear was the monstrosity of a scream louder than a Brazilian crowd in a football match. I

rushed to the lounge room as I’m thinking to myself what or who could possibly make such a sound?

The scream was coming from a being of great terror that is my wife, Maria. The loud rain and the

screaming sirens of the ambulance, even those weren’t enough to drown her screams. I love my wife;

she’s the best thing that has ever happen to me but that night she was a strange and new creature.

I saw Maria clench with another contraction as the ambulance arrived in emergency block. The

paramedics moved light speed, last time I saw anyone moving so quickly was my 3 year old nephew

when someone rang the doorbell. Maria looked at me as she was being rushed to the delivery room. Dr

Suresh stood there calmly ready to deliver our first born into this world. Maria’s face was contorted with

incredibly pure agony. The realisation of knowing that there was nothing I could do to make the pain

disappear or even lessen it was very unsettling for me.

The first time we had met; our first date; our first kiss; our first time moving in together; our marriage;

and now our first child; our lives were enmeshed in shared experiences.

I had caught the train and went to the cafe across the street to get my daily Latte. I noticed that there

were a few new people working that day, they had hired new staff members recently; one of them was

a beautiful brunette, Maria. “How can I help you?” she asked, holding her pen expectedly. I smiled,

thinking of the answer I would like to make & from that day on Maria was an important part of my life.

Maria was now sweating through her favourite white shirt. Dr Suresh being attentive turned the air

conditioner on. On the bed now, Maria looked at me as her face coloured with the tension then drained

as the contraction eased.

“Push, Maria! Push!” along with an unbearably loud and almost deafening screams of my wife, these

were the only things I could here in that room. It was unbearable to say the least. Maria was exhausted

and very angry.

“How are you feeling?” I asked Maria.

“How the hell do you think I’m feeling David you dickhead?!” she shouted, “You’re the reason I’m in this

situation! Arghhh it hurts so fucking much! Shit!” and Maria then went ahead and squeezed the blood

right out of my hand. Dr Suresh lets out a little chuckle which then led to another rant of insults fired by

Maria in his expense.

Maria panted and looked desperately towards the doctor. “I can’t” she said “I can’t do it anymore.” the

exhaustion of the process had finally caught up with her. The expression on her face was grave as he

eased me gently out of the way to the back of the room. Dr Suresh then explained to us that he would

now need to intervene; my baby’s delivery was going to be instrumentally aided.

After days of endless rain, the silence of the night exposed itself as I saw my baby for the first time. With

the bloody umbilical cord still attached to the tiny baby, I heard the most beautiful sound in the world.

It’s a sound I still remember like it was yesterday- the sound of my baby crying. It lit up the whole world

around me, making the long and tiring day worth every single moment. After looking after Maria for the

nine months, running around curing late night cravings, after every moment of pain and distress that

Maria went through… She was here! My beautiful baby daughter was finally here with Maria and me. As

Dr. Suresh handed me the scissors to make the final incision of the umbilical cord, I smiled to myself,

thinking of the future for my beautiful, little family.

I lay next to my beautiful and exhausted wife as I caressed our daughter. Our blushingly beautiful

Bennett baby was now home and with her birth she altered our lives forever. The Bennett family was

complete.