Chapter Ten
Chapter Ten
Lou woke to a soft, rhythmic bleeping coming from somewhere around her right ear. Her eyes stayed closed, thick and heavy with sleep. Her mouth felt dry as she ran her tongue along the back of her teeth, she gave a little jolt at the sharp pain. I must have bitten my tongue. Lou thought through a groggy haze. She opened a tightly clenched fists, splaying her fingers over the rough surface of the bedspread, she jumped at the contact of someone seizing her hand.
"You're awake." A voice croaked. Lou opened her eyes to see the misty figure of Orli sitting beside her. Lou's eyes cleared just as Orli pulled his chair closer to her side, resting his elbow on the edge of her bed and propping his chin upon his hand.
"How is she?" Lou asked thickly. Her arm seemed so heavy as she lifted her hand to Orli's cheek. Orli closed his eyes, pressing Lou's hand against his lips quickly before releasing it against his cheek.
"How are you feeling?" Orli asked quietly.
"Like I've been hit by a train. My tongue hurts." Lou said, the aftermath of her drugs making her voice light.
Orli smiled and stroked her cheek. "Why does your tongue hurt, Baby?"
Lou frowned deeply. Her hand dropped from Orli's face, even though she tried to keep it upright. "I 'spose I bit it." She shrugged painfully. Lou leant back into her pillows, focusing on the mysterious bleeping, it was slowly sending her to sleep.
Orli nodded and lowered his head, biting his lip to stop from crying.
Lou sighed cleared her throat. "How is she?" She asked again.
Orli sighed, trying to smile. "I want you to get some sleep, we'll talk when you wake up." Orli couldn't get over how sickly Lou looked, her skin a sallow, waxy yellow from loss of blood. She'd lost so much blood during the delivery, she'd continued to bleed for an hour afterwards, and she didn't seem to have noticed that she was connected to a drip and heart monitor.
"Don't bullshit me Bloom." Lou laughed, her throat husky and dry. She coughed, and as she did, winced at the pain in her lower stomach. Her hands raised to lay against her abdomen, palms on hips, fingertips touching.
Orli held Lou's right hand against her stomach, his left pressed against her cheek. "I want you to go to sleep, Baby. You've lost a lot of blood, Lou." He said softly.
Lou shook her head and pushed Orli's hand away from her cheek. She remained silent for a moment, staring at Orli's pained expression. "Orli, tell me." She murmured. "I can see you breaking down."
Orli released his breath and laid his head against the cool metal side of the bed. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to make you worry Lou...But it's just...at least you've got drugs to deal with your pain." He said helplessly. Lou stroked his hair and shushed him.
"What's wrong with her?" Lou could barely hear herself ask the question, white noise seemed to box her in from all sides.
Orli shook his head and held Lou's hand within both of his. He couldn't describe how important it seemed to be physically close to Lou right then. "She's weak. No matter what technology tells you, babies aren't meant to be delivered like that." he said, shaking his head. Lou nodded silently, biting her lip. Orli smiled sadly and wipe Lou's tears away. "She's so small Lou, so little and pale. Mum said that she looks exactly like I did when I was a baby. The doctor said she's got a strong heart. They had her on a respirator for a few hours...but she's breathing by herself now, she's a soldier. She gets that from your side."
"When can I see her?"
Orli stood up and gave Lou's hand a squeeze. "The Matron knew you'd want to see her straight away. She said I could go get her. Are you sure you don't want to sleep for a while first? You're so pale Lou, I've never seen you look this sickly." Orli said, worrying his lower lip.
Lou frowned sternly and shook her head. "Please Orli, I couldn't sleep if I wanted to." She pointed to her stomach and rolled her eyes. "So much for the drugs." Orli kissed her quickly on her brow and ran from the room to find Georgia.
It was only ten minutes later that Orli returned with Georgia behind him pushing a plastic and metal hospital bassinette. Georgia carefully lifted the baby into Orli's arms as he walked slowly towards the bed. He sat down in his chair, holding his daughter.
"Lou?" He said without looking up. He was so busy memorising every feature of the baby he held in his arms that he barely noticed Lou's lack of response. "Lou?" He said again, finally looking up.
Even though it had only been ten minutes, Lou was already asleep. Orli leant back into his chair, humming softly, and spent the rest of the night thinking of baby names.
*
"Ready to go home?" Orli said ceremoniously as he yanked the key from the ignition.
Lou smiled and observed the garage around her- it seemed lie months since she had been home, it was hard to believe it had only been a week ago when Orli had hustled her extremely pregnant form into that same car to drive her to the hospital. It was funny to think they'd left with two people, and returned with three.
He glared at the car seat. "The sooner that car seat leaves my life the better."
Lou smiled and shushed him. "Can you get my bag please." She said sweetly before walking to the lift. Orli followed close behind, and Lou was disconcerted to find he was flitting around her much the same way he had for the last ten months, constantly questioning her on whether she was alright, peering over her shoulder into his daughter's face to make sure she was alright..."You know Orli, I'm not pregnant any more." Lou said finally. She was glad to see the elevator doors open to reveal their apartment door finally.
Orli carried Lou's bag from the elevator, setting it down on the ground to unlock the front door. "Yes...I know this. What's your point?"
Lou shook her head in silence as Orli opened the door, and was about to rebut as she walked into their home, when she saw the audience that had gathered. She stood stock still in the middle of the lounge room, staring at the people before her. Her mother was sitting in Orli's favourite over-stuffed armchair, sipping tea and smiling with luke-warm intensity at Lou. Lou's father was standing beside the bay window, smoking and observing the people on the side walk six levels below them. Orli's mother seemed to have stopped mid-sentence in a conversation with Sam and Lou's mother.
"Welcome home." Orli said flatly as he came to stand beside Lou.
As Lou walked slowly towards her father in silence, Orli was busy trying to gauge her reaction. "Dad?" Lou said with quiet control.
"Honey?" Her father puffed fondly.
"You can't smoke in here." Lou said with measured volume. He father blinked blankly at her for a few seconds before stubbing out his cigarette. Lou nodded gratefully and returned to Orli's side. "May I speak with you for a second?" She said lightly to Orli.
Orli gulped and smiled nervously. "What about our guests?"
"They can wait." Lou hissed through gritted teeth. She turned to Sam. "Sam, would you take the baby and put her to bed?" Sam leapt at the opportunity and proceeded to make her way to the spare room that Orli had turned into the perfect baby bedroom.
Orli sat down on the bed, twiddling his thumbs. "I know you're not happy to see your family-" He began before Lou could whip around to face him.
Lou walked with calculated steps to the bed, sitting down beside Orli. She took his hands in hers. "I'm going to give you one chance, just the one to explain why you would do this to me." She began calmly.
"Lou, they're your parents, and have you any idea what trouble they went to so they could be here when you got home?" Orli protested.
"I'd wager not much." Lou snapped. "Let me guess though. Mum was in Majorca on the yatch with that...that Ken-doll boyfriend of hers, and she had to go to all the trouble of charging a first class ticket to her MasterCard to get here. Poor thing.
And Dad? Hmm...-" Lou tapped her chin thoughtfully for a moment. "- No, I don't see how chartering his private jet to fly over here is trouble. So explain to me exactly how this is an inconvenience to anyone but me." She said sarcastically to Orli.
"You're wrong you know."
"What do you mean 'I'm wrong'?" Lou hissed at Orli.
He grinned sheepishly. "It was Brazil, and she had to travel business class. There were no first class seats. And your father had to cancel...well, I wasn't listening to what he cancelled, but he cancelled something."
"Orli. You know me well enough to know this is not the time to joke." Lou warned in deep tones.
Orli rolled his eyes and stood up to face Lou. "I don't see what the problem is Lou, they're your parents, and you don't even want to see them when you've just given birth to your first child."
"Not like this I don't Orli. You remember how angry Dad was when I went to him to tell him about us being married. And Mum...I mean god Orli, I haven't spoken to the woman in at least a year, and within that time the only communication I've had with her is an e-mail to tell her I was married and pregnant. And she didn't even call!"
"She was on safari!" Orli said desperately.
"Why are you defending her?" Lou said incredulously.
"Because someone needs to!" He hissed. "Lou, be reasonable, even if you this is the last time you see them this year...they're grandparents now, and they want to see their child."
Lou sighed and flung herself down on the bed, screaming with her face pressed firmly against a pillow. Orli sat down on the edge of the bed and rubbed her back affectionately. "Please Baby. Do this for me, for our daughter?" He wheedled.
Lou sat up and glared at him sharply, but her stare soon turned to imploring desperation. "That's really cheap." She said in a sulky voice. She sighed and shook her head. "It's going to take some intensive therapy to forget this afternoon." She murmured.
Orli grinned and kissed Lou. He pulled her up off the bed and led her to the door. "If you can't handle it just make up a lie and leave." He said helpfully.
Lou cocked an eyebrow and said "If you leave me alone with them, you'll regret it for the rest of the year." As she let Orli lead her by the hand into the lounge room. He sat Lou down in an armchair opposite her mother, seating himself on the armrest.
"So, Louise, how are you feeling?" Lou's mother Cary-Anne said woodenly.
Lou smiled with mock-warmth and tilted her head to one side. "Fine, thankyou. And yourself?"
Cary-Anne smiled indulgently and set her tea down on the coffee table in front of her, and launched into a elaborate story about how travelling business class on an airplane was the worst experience of her life. The entire ensemble was grateful for the pause in the story when Orli's mother excused herself, telling Orli nothing more than she had an 'important appointment' before fleeing.
Lou sat in captivated silence the entire time, not so much captivated by Cary-Anne's fruity poodle-yap voice, but by her hands. Through her entire monologue Cary-Anne's hands crept through her lacquered and primped hair, which sat like a tower of curly, auburn straw atop her head. Her be-jewelled hands looked like stodgy, pale spiders scuttling along a web. Not for the first time, Lou found herself questioning her parentage, and continued to do so when he father launched into his own inane tale once his ex-wife had completed her.
Lou jumped when her mobile phone rang loudly, breaking the interesting-conversation-drought with it's incessant bell. "Hello?" She said quickly as she walked from the room.
"Welcome home!" Sean said through the crackling static of his mobile. "I'm sorry I couldn't be there for your little party." He said sarcastically.
Lou laughed and made a mental note to smack Orli upside the head for telling Sean before he told her. "I can't believe you knew about this...it's hell, I can't believe he let them come on the first day I'm out of the hospital."
"Hey, but you're not the only one who's out of the hospital today." Sean said expectantly. "When can I come and see her?"
"When do you finish filming?" Lou said. Please say soon...she begged Sean mentally.
"Around five days." He said.
"Please come as soon as you can. Orli and I are going to need a marriage counsellor after this one..." She said.
Sean laughed and promised he would come as soon as possible before hanging up and leaving Lou to the mercy of her parents. Lou thought with dread upon going back to the lounge room, and then remember Sam in the baby's room. She crept down the hall to into her daughter's room. She smiled as she entered - last time she had seen it, it had been bare of furniture, and now she knew what Orli had been doing with the five minutes he hadn't spent at the hospital each day of the last week.
"Orlando did a good job, didn't he?" Sam asked Lou as she came to lean against the crib. Lou nodded as she stared down at her sleeping daughter. "What are you thinking?" Sam said quietly after Lou had remained silent for five minutes.
Lou smiled warmly at Sam for a second before going back to staring at her baby. "I don't understand how someone who has frequently bad taste in clothes, and couldn't keep a match box clean if his life depended on it, could turn himself around to make such a beautiful room." Lou laughed. "And I'm wondering how I can love someone so much, that I only just met a few days ago." Lou leant down to fit her finger into her baby's fist. Four little fingers bent around Lou's perfectly, accompanied by a tiny, sleeping sigh.
"But you loved Orli as soon as you met him, didn't you?" Sam said as she stared down at the baby.
Lou chuckled quietly and shook her head. "When I met Orli he almost kicked me in the face. The show off..." Lou stated matter-of-factly. "But I suppose I did...she looks so much like him, I suppose it makes sense I would love her so very much."
"What does it feel like?" Sam said, barely concealing the excitement in her voice.
"What does what feel like?" Lou asked in confusion.
Sam shrugged and looked around the room, and then down to the baby again. "Being a mum, having someone to be proud of."
"Great." Lou said, and frowned when she heard an echo. She turned to see her mother standing cautiously in the doorway, wringing her hands and smiling quietly at Lou.
Sam cleared her throat and got up, walking towards the door. "I think I hear Orli calling." She said before running down the hall.
Cary-Anne walked slowly across the room and sat down on the chest beside the crib, she had to sit up straight just so she could see over the edge. "This room is beautiful. Did you do it?"
Lou shook her head. "No, Orli did it all." Lou said meaningfully. She knew her mother would be appropriately surprised that the boy she'd only ever referred to as 'Orson' could decorate a room so nicely.
"I didn't think Orlando would be able to decorate a baby's room so nicely." Cary-Anne said curtly.
"There's a lot of things you'd be surprised at about him. So would Dad. He's the best thing that ever happened to me, he's perfect in every way." Lou shrugged "And we're perfect for each other, you'd see that if you gave yourself the chance-"
"But I do see that Lou." Cary-Anne protested. "I admit I wasn't too excited about the idea of you marrying him at first...you come from very different worlds, and you're still so young in so many ways..."
"I'm a mother, mother. I'm married, I have a career, and a house, and now I have a daughter. I think it's a little unfair for you, of all people to be calling me childish."
"Now, that's not what I mean Lou. Don't get on the defensive." Cary-Anne warned. She raised her eyebrows at Lou, expecting her to protest again. "What I was trying to say, was that I'm sorry I didn't give you two my blessing before you were married. I'm sure the ceremony was beautiful, Orlando's mother showed me the photos."
Lou nodded defensively. "We didn't need anyone's blessing." She muttered. The baby wriggled in her sleep and opened her eyes for a few seconds before falling asleep again. "Why did you and Dad come?"
Cary-Anne laughed in shock, she gripped Lou's hand in her own. "Because we love you, Louise. No matter what we say, or what we don't say, we do love you. And your father agrees with me- for the first time in twelve years- that we're very proud of you."
"Really?" Lou whispered.
Cary-Anne nodded, standing up, and for the first time in almost five years, hugged her daughter. "We love you honey." She said tearfully, patting Lou's back.
"It means so much to me to hear you say that." Lou choked out. She opened her eyes to see Orli leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed and grinning like a Cheshire Cat.
Orli shook his head. "Nothing. Cary-Anne, Arthur says he's got to leave now, and would you like to leave with him, or order a taxi later?" Lou felt a strange tug of regret that her mother had to go back to her hotel so soon, mixed with the usual feelings of relief at her mother's departure.
"Thank you, Orlando. And may I say, you've done a lovely job on this room." Cary-Anne said politely. She kissed Lou's cheek and squeezed her hand before walking towards the door. "We'll see ourselves out. Maybe I'll see you tomorrow Louise?"
Lou nodded and watched her mother walk with soundless, delicate steps from the room. Lou turned to Orli as he took a seat where Cary-Anne had been sitting. "How long were you standing there?"
He gazed lovingly up at Lou with a dreamy smile. "Long enough."
"What does that mean?" Lou said suspiciously. Orli grinned and laughed lightly, pulling Lou onto his lap.
"It doesn't mean anything, it means I was standing there long enough."
Lou laughed and shook her head. "You're crazy, you make no sense."
"But that's why you think I'm perfect, right?" He said sweetly.
Lou sighed and shrugged, crinkling her nose and poking her tongue out at Orli. "That's part of it I suppose."
Orli laughed and kissed Lou. "I think you're perfect as well. Did you talk to Sean?"
Lou nodded. "He said he'd see all three of us in three days."
"All three of us." Orli mused. "I think I like that. Our family. Orli, Lou, and..." They frowned down at their daughter. She had woken up, and was staring up at them through dark, thin eyes. "And?"
"And." Lou agreed. "We're going to have to do something about this."
*
Lou lifted herself out of the car gingerly. She grinned at Orli as he swore under his breath while trying to undo the elaborate harnesses involved in the baby seat connected to the back seat of their care. He finally managed to undo the harness and lifted his sleeping daughter from it's grasp. He closed the car door with his hip and walked slowly around the car, shifting the baby into Lou's open arms.
Lou grabbed Orli's wrist and yanked him towards the bedroom, barely leaving him space to grin nervously again and say "Excuse us." before Lou slammed their bedroom door, locking herself and Orli in.
The small room was caste in gentle light from a dulcet light hanging from the ceiling, complete with a monkey-patterned shade. Sam was sitting on a pale wooden chest beside a crib of the same wood, only the crib was carved with leaves and flowers. Lou silently gave kudos to Orli for his taste in baby furniture. The small set of drawers, changing table, and rocking chair all matched the crib and wooden chest, and all around Lou marvelled at the tons of toys Orli had procured seemingly from nowhere over the past week.
Lou pulled away from her mother slowly and cocked an eyebrow at Orli. "What's wrong?"