Free Claiming Noah by Amanda Ortlepp Page B

of the spare rooms in her house as a nursery. Liam thought it was a warning sign that she was going to be too involved in their lives once the baby came along, even more so than she was now, but Diana thought it was sweet.
    She quit her job when the school term finished in December. Liam tried to convince her to take maternity leave so she had the option of returning to work when the baby was older, but Diana was adamant that she wanted to be a stay-at-home mum until her child started school, just as her mother had been for her. Liam was an electrician and though his income was erratic, she knew if they were careful it was enough for them to live off for a few years. And if things got really tight, they could use what was left of the inheritance from his parents. She wanted to be there for every moment with her child: the first smile, the first word, the first step. They were too precious for her to miss out on.
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    One morning in mid March, the day after Diana’s due date, she woke to the early pains of labour. She had barely slept the night before; the summer heat had lingered into autumn and the temperature in their bedroom was so warm Diana couldn’t bear to have even the sheet over her. Her discomfort was made worse by the additional heat generating from the little person she was carrying in her womb. She could have sworn she was carrying a hot water bottle in there rather than a baby. Every position she tried was uncomfortable and she resented the ease with which Liam had fallen off to sleep beside her. Eventually she had propped a number of pillows behind her back and slept sitting up. When she woke her neck was stiff and sore, but she barely noticed because of the stabs of pain in her abdomen. The only light in the room was from the blue glow of Liam’s alarm clock, so Diana guessed it was still very early in the morning. She could only just make out the contours of the furniture and the shape of her husband lying next to her. The fan in the corner of the room hummed monotonously, but the cool air wasn’t enough to stop rivulets of sweat coursing down Diana’s temples.
    â€˜Liam.’ She pushed at the bulk beside her, covered in a tangle of sweaty sheets. ‘It’s time, wake up.’
    â€˜What?’ he murmured into his pillow, still half-asleep.
    Before she could answer him, Diana was battered with another contraction. The sensation was far worse than anything she could have imagined. She felt as if her insides were being wrung out like a wet towel. She tried to breathe through the pain, as she had been taught to do in her classes, but it was only once the pain receded that she managed to get the words out to tell Liam what was happening.
    â€˜It’s time,’ she said, pushing at him again as she struggled to get out of bed. ‘Get up. Our baby’s coming. We need to go to the hospital.’
    Diana sat in the car, her bag already in the boot, while Liam took what felt like an inordinately long time to get dressed. She had expected the contractions to build up slowly, like her mother had told her they would, but they were only a few minutes apart and growing in intensity.
    â€˜We have to go now ,’ Diana said when Liam finally got into the car. ‘It’s going to happen soon.’
    â€˜Don’t be silly, you’ve got ages.’
    â€˜I don’t have ages. It’s not meant to happen this quickly. Can you call Mum? I told her she could be in the delivery room.’
    â€˜I’ll call her when we get to the hospital.’
    â€˜Call her now.’
    â€˜Do you want me to drive to the hospital or call your mum? I can’t do both.’
    Diana tried to respond, but another contraction took the words out of her mouth. ‘Well, I can’t call her,’ she said when it was over. ‘Call her when we get to the hospital, then.’
    â€˜That’s what I said.’
    But they never got the