Heartbeat

Annie leaves the race and comes home to her mother, who is going into labor. Annie and her parents drive off to the birthing center, and Annie is full of anxiety and excitement. She also wonders about Max and the race. Annie is relieved when the midwife tells them that her mother is already far along in labor, because the books she read told her it could take a long time. However, the midwife grows concerned with the heart rate of the baby, and the pushing becomes urgent.

Annie grows increasingly concerned for her mother, and now the midwife and Annie and her father all must tell her mother to keep pushing. Suddenly, the baby is out, but doesn’t appear to be breathing. Annie and her father wait, terrified, for the baby to take its first breath, while trying to assure her waiting mother. Finally, the baby cries, and Annie’s mother holds her. The baby is a boy, and Annie reflects on how the cliche that childbirth is a miracle is true. Annie calls her grandfather to tell him the news. As her parents sleep, she holds and admires the baby. The midwife tells them that they can leave once her mother has had a meal and more rest, and Annie is shocked that they can leave with such a small, fragile being.