Willow by Reylinn Sutcliff (books suggested by bill gates .TXT) 📕

"Congratulations, Mrs.White. She is a beautiful baby girl." The male doctors strong voice fills the room. A woman with dark hair, eyes, and skin lies on the hospital bed, her thick black hair messy and her face covered with sweat. She breathes in through her mouth deeply and cradles her newborn baby to her chest. Her eyes become damp as she looks down on her baby girl.

"Nichole...." She whispers. The baby girl yawns and grabs her mothers pinkie. The woman laughs lightly, and the doctor smiles as he cleans up the bloody sheets. The new mother rocks back and forth slowly, pressing her daughter close to her chest. The small child squirms back and forth, but then finds herself comforted by her mothers warmth.

A man walks in, dressed in a pair of stained jeans and a rumpled shirt. His light brown hair looks wind blown, and he has dark circles under his eyes.

"My baby girl..." He says, walking over to the woman and child. With a light touch, he strokes his newborn daughters face. The baby- Nichole- pulls away from his touch, seemingly uncomfortable with her own fathers presence. Sorrow crosses the mans face. The woman looks up and sighs.

"You should have been here for her birth, John. Maybe she would accepted you as her father if you had actually bothered to show up the day she came into the world." The man, John, glares at the woman.

"Traffic was a bitch, Marie." He tells her. The woman, Marie, shakes her head and looks back down at her baby.

"Save it." She mutters, not looking at John.

"No, you listen to me, damn you. I would have made it sooner, but-" He starts, but is cut off by Marie.

"John, you'll frighten the baby, raising your voice like that! I know you were off with that other woman. Don't try to lie. I know you got my message last minute. Traffic was perfect today, my mid-wife even said so about an hour ago."

"Bull shit, Marie. That lying mid-wife is out to get me."

"Out to get you, John? Everyone is out to get you nowadays, aren't they? Because you are scared someone will find out that you are a pervert. A pedophile who should be locked up. So you live your life in fear that everyone has it out for you." Marie snaps at her ex boyfriend.

John's face twists into a look of anger. He raises his hand in a fist, as though he is about to hit Marie. Marie wraps her arms around Nichole and hunches over, her eyes closed, preparing for the impact of the punch. After a few minutes, though, nothing happens, and Marie looks up.

John is gone.

Nichole starts to fuss, and a nurse walks in and takes her from Marie.

"We just have to do a few check ups, make sure everything is okay. You'll have her back within the hour, I promise." The nasally voiced nurse says with a forced-looking smile stretched across her face. Marie nods and turns to look out of the window next to her, locked in a daze.

She is a new mother, with no husband, boyfriend or parents to help guide her through the first steps of motherhood. She is poor, and only sixteen years old. She lives in a one bedroom apartment, which she could possibly lose soon if she doesn't find a way to make her house payment on time.

Marie starts to sob.

This is all John's fault. If he hadn't impregnated me, I wouldn't have been kicked out by my parents. I wouldn't have had to use all my money for doctors appoinments. And Nichole... she could have just died. She is ruining everything. The life I wanted to live. The life I could have lived. Nichole's life is the end of my life. Marie thinks to herself. She wipes her tears and makes a spitting sound. She doesn't deserve this. Nichole and John deserve to be crying and unhappy. They are the bad ones in this equation.

Text: Reylinn Sutcliff
Images: Google
Editing: Erik Powers
Translation: N/A
Publication Date: 09-20-2015

All Rights Reserved

Dedication:
~Dedicated to Jennifer Powers, the best mother a person could ask for~