It's time

“Norman’s voice rose. “What the hell was that?”

Agnes gawked out the back window. The cat’s paws flailed about, its body seized up, and then went limp.

“You ran over a cat. Stop the car.”

He looked in the rear-view mirror, his profile as hard as bronze. “No. It’s only a cat.”

“Don’t be cruel. I said stop right now – or I will make you stop.” She grabbed him by the arm and the car swayed from left to right.

Norman brought the car to a halt. “Are you crazy, woman?”

Her heart pulsing strong in her head, she got out of the car and waddled over to the animal, feeling the weight of the baby every step. Agnes sat down next to the cat. Her voice broke like glass on a cement floor. “Poor, innocent animal. I’m so sorry, little baby. We didn’t mean to do this.” She picked up the cat, cradled him in her arms, and poured her heart out in a bath of tears.

She heard Norman approach, slow and steady. He spoke to her in velvet tones.

“How dare you,” she mumbled. “You murderer. You killed this poor cat, all because you had to be in a hurry to get home.”

“Agnes, you’re beside yourself. Calm down, or –”

But Something was happening. “Be quiet,” she ordered. Her abdomen clutched her like a vise and she lurched forward. For an eternity, her body tensed up in the spasm, but finally it relaxed.

They stared at each other for a long time, silent and breathing hard. Then, just as Victoria had warned, she felt a warm liquid escape from between her legs.

“My God, a contraction, and the amniotic sac broke. The baby’s coming.”

Norman paced about, at a loss for once. “But it’s not due for two months.”

Agnes rocked back and forth once again. “The baby isn’t waiting. What shall we do?”

And what would they do, out here in the middle of nowhere?