Chapter 100 Eight Months Later
Eight months later, Astoria.
Cordelia was leaning back in a lounge chair in the garden, her belly swollen in late pregnancy, and her ankles quite puffy too.
Allegra sat beside her, massaging her feet.
"Ten more days until your due date. The baby don't always come right on time."
Cordelia nodded and found a comfortable position to lean back.
In the midst of spring, the sun rested high above, its warmth wrapping the day in comfort.
Listening to Allegra talk, Cordelia felt drowsy.
Seeing Cordelia getting sleepy, Allegra quickly said, "Cordelia, you should go inside to sleep."
The weather was unpredictable these days.
Plus, falling asleep in the yard could easily make her catch a cold.
Hearing Allegra's words, Cordelia opened her eyes and nodded.
Her body was quite heavy now, making it difficult to get up.
Just as she was pushing herself up, she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her belly - clear signs of contractions.
Seeing her standing still, Allegra looked at her with concern.
"What's wrong, Cordelia?"
Donald had prepared some snacks for Cordelia. Seeing the situation, he quickly walked over.
"Are you not feeling well?"
Cordelia nodded slightly, then looked at Donald.
"Dad, go get the hospital bag. We need to go to the hospital."
Donald nodded blankly, turned and went inside, hurriedly grabbing the hospital bag they had packed earlier.
Once everything was ready, Donald came out of the yard carrying bags big and small.
With his free hand, he supported Cordelia, his expression very tense.
"Is the baby coming?"
Cordelia nodded gently.
"I think so."
As they were leaving the yard, Dominic happened to be driving back.
Seeing Donald carrying all those bags and heading out, Dominic quickly walked over.
"Is Cordelia in labor?"
Donald nodded, "Cordelia's a doctor, she shouldn't be wrong."
This contraction was so obvious that Cordelia, as a doctor, felt confident in her judgment.
The group arrived at the hospital, and after a series of examinations, there were no signs of the baby coming yet.
It was just false labor, a false alarm.
Sitting in the car on the way home, Cordelia looked very embarrassed.
She had taken some obstetrics courses recently, but ended up making a fool of herself.
Donald and Allegra sat in the back seat, while Cordelia sat in the passenger seat. She smiled awkwardly and looked at Dominic, "My skills aren't good enough. Sorry for worrying everyone."
Dominic's eyes remained gentle as he said softly.
"Even though you're a doctor, you're still a first-time mom. It's normal to make a wrong call."
As Dominic spoke, he reached out and ruffled Cordelia's hair.
"It's okay."
Cordelia smiled slightly too.
As they were talking, a black luxury car drove past them.
Alaric sat with a stern face, listening to Robert's work report.
When he glanced out the window, a face he'd been thinking about day and night came into view.
She seemed a bit fuller than before.
She smiled shyly and sweetly, like a girl in love.
Through the car window, his eyes locked onto her. When he saw Dominic smile and ruffle her hair, he suddenly clenched his fist, crumpling the documents in his hand.
After finishing his report, Robert received no response from Alaric. A hint of confusion flashed in his eyes as he turned to look at Alaric in the back seat.
He saw Alaric staring intently out the window, his deep eyes fixed on a small sedan.
The documents in his hand were clenched so tightly that the paper was damaged.
Robert immediately guessed he must have seen Cordelia.
There was actually another, shorter route to their destination.
But Alaric had insisted on taking this route.
Clearly, he knew that Evelyn had arranged for Cordelia to live in this area.
He was taking a chance, hoping to run into Cordelia.
These past few months, Alaric had remained perfectly composed about Cordelia's departure.
But his longing for her was probably growing crazier by the day.
"Mr. Hughes."
Robert spoke in a low voice.
Alaric had already released the documents and was looking down, straightening them out.
Robert couldn't see his expression clearly, only heard his voice, low and mixed with other emotions.
"Let's wrap up the project today and head back tomorrow."
Hearing this, Robert didn't dare object and nodded.
"Okay."
Alaric in the back seat said nothing more. The atmosphere was cold.
Robert didn't know what to say either.
A few days later in the evening, Cordelia suddenly thought of some experimental data. She wanted to verify whether her idea was correct, so she drove alone to the university lab.
She was so focused during the entire experiment that she felt she could endure the faint pain coming from her belly.
The experiment was successful and proved her previous approach was wrong.
It was already late outside. Cordelia messaged her advisor about the situation while closing the lab door and leaving.
She had barely walked a few steps when her belly sent a sharp pain through her.
This pain was more intense than any before.
During the experiment, she had thought it was false labor again, but now the contractions were coming more frequently, and she was getting nervous.
Cordelia quickly took out her phone and called Allegra.
Allegra answered quickly. Cordelia was in too much pain to speak.
Her painful appearance caught the attention of two classmates, who helped get her to the hospital. One of them, a Shadowpine student, took Cordelia's phone and told them the address of the hospital they were taking Cordelia to.
After hanging up, Allegra immediately told Donald that Cordelia had gone to the hospital.
Hearing this, Donald quickly packed the hospital bag and notified Evelyn to go to the hospital.
Evelyn had been in Astoria for some business activities recently. After they ended, she stayed in Astoria because Cordelia's due date was coming up.
At the hospital, Cordelia was already preparing to enter the delivery room.
As Cordelia's sister, Evelyn could accompany her inside.
In Astoria, this was common practice, so no one questioned it.
After ten hours of labor, Cordelia was completely exhausted.
Evelyn held Cordelia's hand tightly.
Cordelia's forehead was covered in sweat. Evelyn kept wiping her forehead with a handkerchief.
The handkerchief was soaked with Cordelia's sweat.
Evelyn was extremely anxious.
After all, she had no experience with this either.
"Maybe we should..."
Just as she was about to suggest a C-section if natural birth wasn't working, the baby was born.
All of Cordelia's strength seemed to drain away in an instant.
The baby's cries filled the delivery room.
Evelyn let out a huge sigh of relief, her eyes reddening.
After cleaning the baby, the nurse handed the child to Evelyn, saying, "Cordelia did amazing. It's a girl."
Evelyn took the baby and thanked her in fluent Astorian, "Thank you."
This was Evelyn's first time holding a baby. Looking at the child's tender features, her heart melted.
She brought the baby close to Cordelia, "She looks so much like you. She's definitely going to be a beauty."
As she spoke, the baby suddenly started crying.
Evelyn panicked.
Finally, with the doctor's help, they gave the baby to Cordelia, and she stopped crying.
When the members of the Gray family heard the news that Cordelia had given birth, they hurried to the hospital.
Before long, a cluster of fond faces leaned over the baby's crib.
They all made silly sounds trying to amuse the baby.
Perhaps because there were too much noise, the baby soon got upset and started crying.
The adults scrambled around, not knowing what to do.