THE WAR BRIDE CLUB (9 page)

      “I’m not going without just because of, well, because of a little blood.”
 

      A crawl of embarrassment made its way from her stomach all the way up her neck and to her face. Her skin felt like it was burning.
 

      “Come on, it’s our last night. Don’t give me any more excuses.”

      She felt sick. Physically sick. Was that what it meant to be a wife? To not have a choice in the matter, even at a time like this?

      During the day, when they were together, even at night when they were in one another’s company, she loved him. So much she could burst sometimes. But this? Something about it just didn’t feel right. But then she was the inexperienced one, so maybe it was just normal? If only she was brave enough to broach the subject with her mother, or one of her sisters to ask.
 

      “Madeline?”

      “Give me a moment,” she said, forcing a smile. “I’ll be back in a second.”

      She ran to the bathroom, toes light to avoid waking anyone. She clicked the door closed behind her and sunk to the floor. Humiliation suffocated her.
 

      All she had ever wanted was to be married. But right now, her husband was acting like a monster.

      
Was she being immature?
 
      She let her tears fall, staying as silent as she could, then rose to press a cold cloth to her face. She didn’t want to disappoint him, but…

      She almost wished he was back on the battlefields already.

      Madeline touched a dab of perfume behind her ear, took a towel with her, and decided to be braver. If this was what marriage was all about, then she’d just have to get used to it. Besides, he was a man about to return to war. Her mother would tell her to suck it up and fulfil her wedding vows, and that’s exactly what she had to do.

* * *

      “Madeline!”

      She raised her eyes from surveying the ocean and pushed up on her elbows, pleased to put her memories at bay again.

      “You don’t have to get that excited over my sandwich.” She smiled as June came flapping toward her.
 

      The smile died on her face. “What is it? What’s happened?”

      June was puffing and stopped to catch her breath before pushing out the words. “It’s, it’s Betty. We think she’s in labor, but she doesn’t want us to call the doctor.”

      Madeline jumped up and scrambled for her shoes. “Where is she now?”

      June’s eyes were wild. “Alice is taking her back to the cabin.”

      They started hurrying toward the door.
 

      “You know anything about babies?” June asked.

      Madeline laughed. She knew more about babies than she cared to. That was one thing she wasn’t naïve about.
 

      “I have three sisters, and they’ve all got children. I helped deliver one before we left, and I’ve been at most of the births.”

      June looked ready to pass out. Madeline grabbed her arm and marched her faster.
 

      “I can deliver this baby, with some help,” she told her. “So long as nothing goes wrong I know what to do.”

      June nodded, the color slowly inching its way back into her face.
 

      “She’s a silly girl saying no to the medics though.”

      But she wasn’t going to tell her off. Betty could get in trouble for lying to the authorities, and now was not the time for her to worry. All they had to do was make sure this baby came into the world kicking and screaming, with no complications. They could deal with any trouble later.

      “Isn’t she rather early?”
 

      June eyes widened. “At least three weeks, she thinks.”      

      Madeline didn’t even think about it. If the baby was ready to come out, there was nothing they could do to stop it. She picked up the pace.  
      “Come on, June. Hurry!”

CHAPTER SIX

WATER hit the deck as the ship swayed from side to side, and Betty tried to focus on the movement rather than the next wave of pain. She listened to the insistent drum of rain as it intensified, bracing herself for the next contraction. The pain was explosive, unlike anything she could have ever imagined before – her pain and the raging storm conspiring against her in rough waves that she feared might kill her before the night was over.
 

      “You’re going to have to push this time,” instructed Madeline. “Hard.”
 

      Her friend’s face was stretched into a determined grimace, much like the other two women crowded around her.
 

      “No!” she wailed, delirious with pain. “It’s too early. I can’t.”

      “Betty, you don’t have a choice. This baby is coming now!”

      The pain built in a series of spasms, each more painful than the last. She tried to fight it, to ignore the wave of despair, but Madeline’s words kept echoing in her ears.
 

      “Push, Betty. Push!” 
      I can’t, she thought, I can’t. No…

      “Push!”

      A hand slipped into hers and she squeezed it tight, holding on as hard as she could. Another hand pressed a cold cloth to her forehead, and still the word echoed in her mind.
 

      
Push.
 

      As the next contraction bore down on her, Betty fought for oxygen, sucking in sharp bursts of air. It built with all the fury of Neptune in the sea below her, and this time she tried to weather the storm. To push with all her might and force this baby out, because she knew she wasn’t strong enough to ride out the pain any longer.
 

      “Ooohhh…” She cried out as a pain that threatened to deplete all her energy tore through her body. A pain so bad she wondered if she was even alive. “I can’t, I can’t push anymore,” she sobbed.
 

      “You can do it,” soothed Madeline, her voice softer, kinder now. “You can, honey, just a couple more might do it.”

      “I can see the head!”
 

      The excited squeal from one of the other girls gave Betty the confidence she needed. Maybe she should have called for the doctors, but right now she felt safe, knowing that the people around her would look after her.
 

      “Come on honey, come on,” Madeline soothed.
 

      Betty waited the seconds until the next spasm hit and then pushed as hard as she could, holding her breath as she fought.
 

      A burst of noise filled the room, like a kitten meowing, and suddenly she couldn’t feel the pain, the hurt, not even the worry she’d felt only seconds before. She could hear her baby!
 

      “Oh Betty, it’s a little boy!” June had been waiting with towels and warm water, and was now wiping down a bloody, messy little scrap of a child.
 

      Tears of joy fell in cold drops against Betty’s hot skin. She had done it. She’d done it! Charlie’s face swam before her, and she let her eyes drop shut to hold him there in her mind, to trap the memory of him and not let go.
 

      “We’re not quite done yet,” said Madeline. “You should feel another contraction and then…”

      Betty hadn’t been prepared for any pain to continue, but Madeline seemed to know what she was doing.
 

      “Done.” Madeline smiled. She looked relieved. “Now we need to get you cleaned up.”

      “Here, Mummy.”

      Betty looked up as June spoke. The pure joy of seeing her little bundle, wrapped in a soft towel, brought on a fresh wave of tears.
       

      Betty held her arms out, trying to stop them shaking as she waited for June to release him. The girls were all cooing and smiling, weeping and giggling as he squirmed then let out a giant wail.
 

      “Good set of lungs,” said Alice with a laugh. “That’s what we like to hear.”

      “Your dad will be proud, little one,” murmured June, tucking one finger against the baby’s cheek. “What will he say when he sees you getting off the ship, huh? A son already.”

      They all stood in silence, united as only women can be, as Betty swallowed her modesty and pushed down the front of her nightdress. The baby squawked indigently as she tried to get the hang of things, before latching on and sucking hard for his first meal.
 

      “Ooh, he’s a fighter, this one,” said Madeline, as they all laughed at his balled fists and determined action. “Tiny as a bird, but a fighter all right.”

      “Like he’s at the milk bar!” Betty laughed, looking down. She loved watching the enthusiastic way he suckled, even if it did hurt.
 

      “So what are you going to call him?” asked June.
 

      “I think I’ll name him after my father. William. I lost both my parents to a virus before the war, and I miss them so much still. Always, even after all this time.”

      They all smiled at her.
 

      “William,” said June. “He looks just like a William, I reckon.”

      Madeline nodded then quietly clapped her hands together.      “Let’s give them some time to get to know one another,” she instructed. “Have a little sleep and then we’ll come back with something for you to eat.”

      Betty nodded her thanks, conscious of how weary she was. She glanced down at her wee man and saw that his eyes had fallen shut, although his mouth was still sucking, just every so often, like he was hungry even in sleep.
 

      “Good night, my love,” she whispered.

      And as the ship continued to sway from side to side, the storm still beating on the deck, Betty let herself fall into the beginnings of slumber, lulling her into its embrace. She tried to forget about the pain, about the aches she was still experiencing, and think only of baby’s little face, and Charlie’s.
Her darling Charlie.
 

      She hadn’t dreamt of him since they’d left England, but tonight she had an inkling that she might see him. That she might remember. That she could go back in time and be with him.
 

* * *

The dance hall was crowded with young people. Betty played with a loose piece of cotton on her dress and shifted from foot to foot. She’d always been uncomfortable in large groups, and the squealing women and thumping music weren’t helping her mood.
 

      Neither was the fact that she was standing alone.
 

      She had walked for five miles with her best friend Lucy to get here. The night air had been warm on their arms, shoulders bare except for their shawls. Her friend’s mother had rolled her hair into a chignon, and she felt wonderful. She’d been nervous, but it had been good just to get out and have fun again. Forget the war and black outs and food rations,
and just be young.
 

      If she’d thought about it she would have realized that Lucy wouldn’t be by her side all night. The whole reason they’d gone was because a young American had invited Lucy to join him. And sure enough, they hadn’t been there fifteen minutes before she was whisked away to dance.

      Betty surveyed the room again and smiled. She could just make Lucy out, lost in the arms of the handsome Yank she’d been yabbering about for days. Other young people looked wildly in love, wrapped together as the song slowed its beat.
 

      It was silly worrying about standing alone, she knew that. There were men and women dying all over the world in this war, so standing alone while her friend fell head over heels in love was a predicament she should relish.
 

      “Excuse me.”

      Betty turned at a deep drawl. Was someone talking to her? Her eyes fell on a man standing less than two feet away. His wide brown eyes shone as he looked back at her.
 

      “Is this seat taken?”

      
He was talking to her
. She looked over one shoulder just to make sure there wasn’t a woman behind her before she made a fool of herself.
 

      “Ah, no. Please go ahead.”

      The young man sat down. She squirmed in her seat, not sure what to do. Should she introduce herself? She knew what she
shouldn’t
be doing and that was ogling him, but it was hard not to.
 

      He had sun-kissed skin and light-brown hair. It was parted but slightly unruly. His uniform, not to mention his accent, made it clear that he was an American. Like almost all the men here.

      Had he sat down to rest his legs, or had he come over to see her? She didn’t consider herself a complete fool when it came to men, but she sure didn’t know what to do with herself right now.
 

      She saw him look across the room and she followed his eyes. A group of guys were nudging and elbowing one another. Were they laughing at her?