She had not just given birth to a child. She had given birth to a mother. And as the baby’s mouth found its way to her breast, Elara closed her eyes and smiled. The tide had finally brought her home.
They placed the baby on Elara’s bare chest. She was the color of a stormy sky, her face scrunched in protest, her tiny fists opening and closing like sea anemones. Elara looked down at the dark, wet hair, the cord still pulsing between them, and felt a love so fierce and so simple it erased every other thought. women giving birth
“It’s a girl,” Priya said, laughing. She had not just given birth to a child
But Elara wasn’t listening. She was counting ten tiny toes, ten perfect fingers. She was breathing in the new, milky scent of her daughter. Outside the window, the sun crested the horizon, painting the room in shades of rose and gold. The tide had finally brought her home