Isabelle
He felt a strong urge to protect her. This small innocent, so vulnerable to those around. He had not left the room since the midwife had brought the babe out to hold. He brought the child in, his daughter to whom he would give the world. He laid her softly in her bassinet, and watched her drift off peacefully to sleep.
That was when his watch began, he did not sleep or sit the entire time Isabelle slept. He stayed at the ready for any occurrence. He watched both mother and daughter, as if some ill will was soon to befall them.
Isabelle woke after the long ordeal of giving birth to her daughter. The nursemaid laid the child in her arms as she woke slowly.
Alfred walked to the chair at her bedside and sat down. “The world seems so new, now that she has arrived.” He glanced at his daughter, small and pink.
Isabelle sat up and covered herself to nurse the small babe.
Alfred walked to the chaise lounge and relaxed. Closing his eyes, he succumbed to sleep quickly.
Isabelle watched him sleep. Every part of her body ached with pains, she wondered if she would ever feel comfort again. She was afraid now, afraid of many things.
She had not realized how painful it would be to have a child. She had not given much thought about how long it would take her to recover either. What if Alfred strayed?
She cuddled her suckling baby closer.
Isabelle’s fears gripped her harder. It was known to happen, she would no longer have the body of a maid again. Perhaps he would not find her as attractive anymore. These fears soon gave way to new fears. Fears of a different kind of pain, the pain she had just experienced.
She had just given birth to a girl, girls are fine but they are not heirs. Alfred would still need a son. She was not sure she could muster the strength inside her to do this again.
After the babe was done, she straightened herself and had the nursemaid take back the baby. She felt the sharp pains as she tried to lower herself back down.
Isabelle bit the inside of her cheek so she would not wake Alfred. The nursemaid set the child in the bassinet, then rushed off and returned with a small metal cup of liquid.
She held Isabelle up and bade her to drink it.
The foul medicine was strange, the smell of it rose up in to her nostrils and stung harshly. The taste of it was like rotten potatoes fresh off the ground. Isabelle made a face as she swallowed it.
As the nursemaid began to lay her back down, Isabelle felt strange. She laid on the bed and her pain began to dull away into nothing. Her entire body felt as it was levitating, or floating like a cloud in the sky.
Isabelle drew in a deep breath and exhaled it, she felt no pain at all.
The nursemaid bade her to rest, but Isabelle felt too good to go back to sleep. She ordered the window curtain be opened, and the windows pushed out.
Soft afternoon sunlight filtered in from trees shading the garden outside her bedroom. The birds sang cheerfully, and she heard the breeze rustling the trees. She looked at Alfred sleeping peacefully, and felt complete.