Member-only story
Fiction
A Normal Child
Parents aren’t perfect. And neither are children.
One of Mai’s greatest fears was to have a child with a birth defect — a cleft lip, Down syndrome. She never expected to suffer the opposite predicament.
The birth of her baby, Ami, went without complications. She was cleaned by the midwife, wrapped in a blanket, and placed in Mai’s arms. This was, no doubt, the happiest day of Mai’s life; she was cradling someone who’d been inside her. Someone who’d been part of her body. Someone she’d been eager to meet for eight months.
This marvelous moment was disrupted by an observation: Ami was watching her. It wasn’t a curious or charming stare. Her eyes were wide and unblinking, as if she were peering right into her soul.
Mai communicated this concern to the obstetrician.
“I don’t see anything wrong,” he said, squinting at Ami. Turning to Mai, he said, “Maybe you’re just tired. Please rest some more.”
She frowned. Was it common to hallucinate after giving birth?
When Mai left Miyazaki Ob-Gyn Clinic, she returned to her parents’ home in Meguro to stay for a month. How strange, sleeping on her childhood bed with her kid.
“Mama.”
