Bath water warm waves lapped at her toes. She arched her left foot and toed the metallic green fluid. Suddenly the liquid thickened into a tentacle and pulled her under. Babette snapped awake. She was in the narrow waiting area adjacent to the birthing center. Her son’s girlfriend had gone into labor a little early. Babette had Ubered straight to hospital when Remi called her with the news. That was 20 hours ago. Babette looked down at yesterday’s scrubs. Her stomach grumbled over its sorry dinner of hospital coffee and vending machine cheese sandwich. She scrubbed at the side of her face.

Her baby was having a baby. Remy was still her baby. From the best schools to the best clothes to the best therapists, she had lassoed the moon and turned the tides for him. It didn’t stop him from running away during his junior year of high school. When Remy showed up at her door six months later with her pregnant girlfriend, a grown ass woman ten years his senior, Babette’s heart broke. She opened her door but closed her heart. The words of her grandmama Patrice wrapped around her throat, the most saddest thing is a woman who is head over heels in love with a fool.

“Ma! it’s coming.”

Remy’s head, flushed with panic, poked through the double doors. Togther they raced into the birthing room. Together they watched the tiny baby emerge. Remy held Jonique’s hands was she screamed their baby into the world. It was wrapped in a thin transparent membrane. The baby wriggled in the pinkish fluid.

“What the actual fuck?” Jonique’s said, grimacing.

The doctor started to speak but Babette jumped ahead.

“Our baby is born under the veil. It’s a sign of promise and a connection between this world and the next. It’s precious, it’s sacred, it’s…” Babette stuttered and spluttered in wonder.

Dr. Stephanie Lee pierced the delicate tissue. Out of the flush of fluids, the baby girl coughed. Loud and insistent, her screams followed.

“It is just the amniotic sac. It is rare but natural,” Dr. Lee said. She placed the tiny baby on her mother’s abdomen and checked her vitals.

Jonique’s frown stayed in place and she turned to the comfort of Remy’s shoulder. Remy shivered as the weight of fatherhood curled around his shoulders tucking in its tail. After wrapping the newborn in a blanket, the nurse held her up. Neither parent moved. Quickly the nurse placed the crying infant in Babette’s arms. She quieted as her grandmother whispered into her small ear.