*Lena*
The midwife handed me a black and white length of glossy paper with a smile before turning to leave the exam room. Mom was talking to a nurse in the corner of the room as I pulled my sweater down over my belly and huffed a breath, wincing as I struggled into a sitting position.
I looked down at the length of pictures in my lap, my throat tightening painfully as I tried to swallow.
There she was, our baby. I could just make out her head and body in the blurred, somewhat distorted images. I was four months along and doing fine, from what the midwife had said. Nothing looked amiss.
I hadn't mentioned to her that three of those months had been the equivalent of two weeks in the other realm. But Mom had held my hand through the appointment, her eyes on the screen as she nodded and
