The Baby Read Online Free PDF Page A

wet, living thing which fits perfectly in Olivia’s palm. She can feel a pulse with her fingertips.
    Incredible .
    Nicola lets rip a howl which seems to come from every square inch of her body.
    There is another sound then which will stay with Olivia for at least a decade to come: a wet, tearing sound as the whole body comes out.
    And then there is a baby. I’m holding a newborn baby . A damp, warm, blood-stained, sticky thing, with a mouth whichopens and closes like a goldfish.
    But a baby all the same.
    And a silence. An incredulous and hot silence in which Olivia looks at Ben who’s looking at Nicola who’s looking at the baby in Olivia’s hands.
    â€˜Oh my God,’ someone whispers.
    â€˜What is it?’ Nicola whispers slumping into a heap on the floor.
    â€˜It’s a baby, Nicola. A freakin’ baby.’ Olivia can’t stop staring now. The shock of this warm, living creature in her hands is immense.
    Ben giggles from the side of the bath then clamps his fingers over his mouth. He speaks through them. ‘She means what sex is it?’
    â€˜Oh,’ Olivia looks quickly, catching Ben’s giggle, feeling embarrassed. ‘It’s a girl.’
    Ben clears his throat and looks hesitantly at Nicola. ‘Did you really not have any idea, babe?’
    Nicola shakes her head from the floor, moans softly. She can’t seem to speak.
    â€˜She just thought she was putting on weight again,’ Olivia says. ‘I can’t believe this. I can’t bloody believe it.’ Now the baby is here, she feels her knees tremble. She has to prop herself against the radiator. The baby’s not doing anything and its mother is in a crumpled up, silent heap on the floor. There’s a rush of fear which rages behind Olivia’s ears.
    She looks at the still baby in her hands and then towards Ben. ‘God, what do I do now?’
    But before they can think much further, the door is pushed open and Olivia’s mum is standing there, her face stern and lined, her mouth tight and strained. ‘What the hell’s going on, Livvy?’
    Behind her is Jonty, his eyes wide and unbelieving, and then Olivia’s dad.
    A frightening weeping sound slides from Nicola’s mouth and she shifts her legs awkwardly to hide herself. The room is suddenly full of her sobbing. It echoes around the tiles of the bathroom, bouncing off ceramic and enamel and glass.
    The noise springs Olivia’s mum into action. She takes a look at Nicola; at the baby in Olivia’s arms which is still connected to Nicola by a cord; at the blood; at the mess; and at the shock in both Ben and Olivia’s eyes and yells at the top of her voice. ‘Get out. All of you. Go away.’ She twists her hair from her eyes and looks at her daughter, then puts out her arms. ‘Have you phoned for an ambulance?’
    Olivia nods, hands the baby over. ‘It’s on its way.’ She looks at the baby. ‘She’s too quiet, Mum. Aren’t babies supposed to cry or something?’
    The horror of what might be happening is suddenly too much. Her whole body starts to shake.

    The next ten minutes flash by in a storm of activity.
    There’s another phone call to the hospital. The last remaining party stragglers are ejected from the house by Olivia’s blustering dad. The bathroom door is slammed shut and the three remaining teenagers and the tall eleven-year-old girlhover on the landing. Alice clings to Olivia, her face upturned and questioning. Olivia’s been told by her dad to look after her because this sort of thing freaks Alice out. No one says a word.
    Olivia’s dad stands at the front door, looking from his watch to the end of the road. Olivia can’t help noticing how the soles of his shoes stick to the smears of birthday cake on the floor.
    Minutes twist by. Minutes of confusing information weave around them. There are movements behind the bathroom door.
    Olivia