China Blue (The Dudley Sisters Saga Book 3) by Madalyn Morgan (top 100 novels of all time TXT) 📕

onto the armchair and knelt beside Claire. Between them, Édith and Thérèse took off Claire’s underwear and lifted her knees. Then, while Thérèse held Claire’s hand, Édith went to the bottom of the settee. ‘The baby is coming, Claire. Breathe slowly. In and out, in and out – now push!’

Claire pushed and screamed and pushed again. ‘Only push once, Claire. Breathe again for me. In and out – and now, push!’ Claire growled and pushed with all her strength. ‘I can see the baby’s head,’ Édith cried. Claire collapsed exhausted. ‘Don’t stop, Claire, you must breathe. Again now, in and out, and… push! Push, Claire. Just a little more.’

‘I can’t. I’m too bloody tired,’ Claire shouted, closing her eyes.

‘No! Don’t close your eyes. Your baby is almost here. I can see its head. You mustn’t stop now. Thérèse, talk to her while I see what’s going on.’ Édith opened Claire’s legs wider. ‘Claire? Listen to me. One more push and your child will be here. Come on now, Claire,’ Édith said, sternly. ‘Breathe and push!’ Claire pushed as hard as she was able. Her face was distorted and crimson, her hair soaked in sweat, and she grunted and screamed.

‘Keep pushing, my darling child, keep pushing. Your baby is almost here. Yes, yes!’ Édith shouted. ‘She is here!’ Édith laughed as the tiny premature baby cried at the top of her lungs. ‘Hello, little one,’ Édith cooed. ‘That’s right. You tell the world you have arrived.’ Édith looked at Thérèse and they both laughed at the racket Claire’s baby was making.

Worn out, Claire sank into the settee. ‘A towel, Thérèse,’ Édith whispered. And when her daughter-in-law passed her a small white hand towel, Édith wrapped the tiny mite in it. Then she laid the child in Claire’s arms. ‘Say hello to your daughter, my darling.’

Claire looked down and smiled. ‘Hello baby,’ she whispered, and closed her eyes.

‘Stay with her, Thérèse. I am going to wash my hands and fetch a blanket. Then,’ she said, ‘You and I have earned a glass of wine.’

As Édith left the sitting room the doctor arrived. ‘Boil some water, Madame. How many minutes between contractions?’ He took off his coat, threw it across a chair and began rolling up his sleeves.

‘The baby is here,’ she said, pouring hot water into the bowl in the sink for the doctor to wash his hands. ‘Use this, I will boil some more.’ The doctor scrubbed his hands and lower arms. ‘My niece is in the sitting room, with my daughter-in-law. If you’d like to go through, I shall bring in the water.’

CHAPTER TWENTY

‘Wish your Aunt Édith a happy Christmas, Baby,’ Claire said, as Édith entered the kitchen. Kissing her daughter on the top of her head, she handed her to Édith. ‘I’ll make the coffee.’

‘Hello, beautiful baby. Yes, you are beautiful, aren’t you? Yes you are.... You can’t keep calling her Baby,’ Édith said, rocking the contented child, who suddenly jerked her head towards her. ‘You see, she agrees with her old aunt, don’t you my darling? Yes you do.’

Claire put the coffee pot on the table and sat down. ‘I wish...’ She looked at her daughter and broke down in tears. ‘I wish Alain was here,’ she sobbed.

Putting the baby in her Moses basket, Édith held Claire until she had exhausted herself crying. ‘Is Alain alive, Édith? I keep telling myself he is, but if only I knew for certain. If only I knew I would see him again, that he would one day know his daughter. I keep dreaming that he’s… No! I will not say the word,’ Claire said, and sobbed again. Édith held her and rocked her gently. ‘Aimée,’ Claire said suddenly. ‘I shall call her Aimée, after Alain’s sister. And her middle names will be Edwina, after my best friend in England, and Édith, after my wonderful friend and aunt in France.’

‘And her aunt will take care of her, and you, until Alain returns. And he will return, you know,’ Édith said, wiping Claire’s face.

‘Will he?’ Claire whispered. ‘My head says he is dead, but my heart says he is alive.’ Claire looked pleadingly into Édith’s eyes. ‘I would know, wouldn’t I? Feel it, if he was dead?’ She inhaled deeply and blew out a shuddering breath. ‘I’m sorry for being weak, Édith. I’m just tired.’

‘You are not weak, child, you are strong. You have been very strong since Aimée’s birth. Sometimes it can take months for a woman to settle down after she has a baby.’ Édith pushed a stray curl of hair from Claire’s face. ‘At times like Christmas your emotions are bound to be on the surface. I know mine are. But,’ she said, smiling, ‘we must be positive and try to enjoy the holiday. First we enjoy our coffee, yes?’ Claire nodded. ‘Then we prepare the food. André and Thérèse are coming over, Frédéric will be here of course, and you, me, and Aimée.’ Smiling, Claire looked at her sleeping daughter. ‘That’s better,’ Édith said. ‘All will be well, you’ll see.’

André and Thérèse arrived mid-morning with gifts. ‘They are mostly for Baby,’ Thérèse said, looking in the cradle and cooing.

Claire went over to her friends and welcomed them. ‘I have decided on a name. Aimée Edwina Édith, meet your Aunt Thérèse and Uncle André,’ Claire said, lifting Aimée out of the basket and handing her to Thérèse.

‘What beautiful names. We love the name Aimée, don’t we, André?’

‘If you say so, my love,’ André said, looking at Claire and shrugging his shoulders as if to say he had no recollection of having discussed names.

Édith had said it wasn’t good to keep picking Aimée up, but Claire was not going to stop Thérèse from doing so. She and André had been trying for a baby for as long as they had been married. Thérèse blamed herself for