5
The quiet after the birth
Just finished a home birth. The mother slept through the last hour, curled into herself like a question mark. I sat in the dim kitchen with a cup of tea that went cold. The baby was asleep too, wrapped in a blanket that smelled faintly of lavender and old laundry. I didn’t touch my phone. Didn’t check the time. Just watched the light shift across the floorboards. There’s something about the silence after labour — not empty, but full. Like the house is holding its breath to remember.