The lie won't become the truth

December 24, 2025, Wednesday, 3:07. Another maternity hospital is filled with the cries of another newborn baby. The baby's wet skin and the sharp temperature drop from the mother's body temperature to the temperature in the maternity ward creating a danger for the newborns, because their thermoregulation is still poorly developed. Therefore, the midwife first wipes the baby with a warm and clean diaper and places it on the baby's mother's stomach. In this way, a psychological connection begins to be established between the mother and the child. Physical contact with the mother warms the newborn, and the sterile body is populated by the mother's microorganisms, which in the future will protect the child from the hostility of the environment. Then the baby's umbilical cord is cut. Then the neonatologist examines the child and gives an assessment on the Apgar scale. The following signs are assessed: heart rate, breathing, muscle tone, reflexes and skin color. For each sign you can get a maximum of 2 points: 0 points — the sign is absent, 1 point — weakly expressed, 2 points — strongly expressed. This baby, fortunately, was born healthy and strong. In the first minute of life, this little one scored 7 out of 10 points, and in the fifth — all 10 out of 10. Although it is not visible behind the medical masks, the entire staff in the room smiled at the new life that was born. Throughout the entire time that the mother was registered, all the tests were good, there was no reason to worry. Sometimes it even reminded the doctors of some kind of fairy tale. However, now that the child was born healthy, and the mother, although tired, is not in danger, everyone present can allow themselves to breathe a sigh of relief. Meanwhile, the neonatologist continues to do his job. The baby again deserves a smile: she is well formed, there are no developmental anomalies, everything is fine. Afterwards, they wash her and start measuring her height and weight — 52.7 cm and 3367 grams. The last touch remains — a tag on the handle with the time of birth and the mother's last name… 3:07. Hoshino. The baby was wrapped in another clean and warm diaper, after which she was returned to her mother. After 3 hours of hellish pain, tears, screams and fear, the tired and exhausted, but joyful mother is given the newborn baby to support in her arms. The mother hugs and holds her child, pressing her to her chest while she cries and screams. The woman smiles through the pain and fatigue at her sweet little one, not noticing how tears are welling up in the corners of her eyes. The mother looks at her child and thinks only about her… How small, weak, defenseless she is… But this is her child, and she already loves her, not paying attention to her weakness and defenselessness. Someday she will grow up to be a big, big child, but until then mom and dad will protect, educate, raise, feed, dress, spoil, play with her and most importantly — love her. The baby calms down over time. She feels warmth and safety in her mother's arms, and the beating of her heart, which she heard while in her tummy, brings peace. Her eyelids close, and she falls asleep. For both the baby and the mother, the last few hours have been very difficult, and they deserve a full rest and peace. However, there is still something left. One of the doctors turns his gaze to the tired and exhausted woman, who admires her sweet child. Then he looks at the child's father, who agreed to be present at the birth. On this man's face you can see a whole mix, if not a storm of emotions. When the contractions began, the baby's father began to worry a lot about both the child and the mother, so he helped in every way. He supported his mother, spoke kind words, made promises and vows, and was there all the time. During the birth, the excitement increased and mixed with fear, which he stubbornly tried to hide. Seeing your beloved writhe in pain and scream is really not a sight for the faint of heart. Probably, at that moment he remembered all those tragic melodramas in which women or children died during childbirth. Naturally, he began to fear for the well-being of his family. His eyes darted from side to side, sometimes trying to pay attention to his beloved and calm her down, sometimes looking for a guarantee of help in the eyes of the doctors to stop being afraid. When the child was born, as soon as he heard the baby's voice, he began to listen and try to see the child. He was no longer so scared, but his eyes reflected anxiety, the nervousness did not go away. However, as did the mother. Both of them were haunted by only one question: «Is everything okay with the child?» They tried their best to see the baby behind the crowd of doctors who had gathered to examine the newborn. However, as soon as the baby was given to the mother, relief and joy played on the tired faces of both. Finally, after such a long wait, they could see their child with their own eyes. In some ways, this dad became similar to the mother. Both had bags under their eyes, and the cornea of ​​​​their eyes were redder because in addition to the redness from tears, some capillaries had burst in them. This happens often, the capillaries will heal soon. Still, the doctor dared to disturb them to ask a very important question. — «Congratulations, Hoshino, you now have a new addition to your family», — the doctor smiles slightly, but does not remove the mask, which makes his eyes look slightly narrowed. He looks very kind, although not young. Wrinkles have appeared on his forehead, his gaze is tired, his voice too. In general, he looks older than he should. This is not surprising, his work often makes people nervous and worried, and so people age faster. Mum opens her mouth, trying to say something, but during the birth she lost her voice, which made it quiet and hoarse: — «Thank you…» She says nothing more, it is too difficult, and there is no desire to talk either. Dad, without taking his eyes off his family, nods slightly. The doctor stayed silent for a short time. After all, he has many births under his belt, he has already searched for the right words many times. — «If you don’t mind answering, would you like the baby to be in the children’s department or in the ward with the mother?» The father’s expression changes slightly. On the one hand, the mother definitely needs time to rest and recover. On the other hand, it’s worth considering the mother’s wishes. What if she doesn’t want to be separated from the baby? The father and mother exchange glances. He moves a little closer to the baby and mother, then hints, turning his gaze to the doctors. The mother, in turn, frowns and presses the sleeping newborn closer to her chest. The father sighs slightly and closes his eyes for a while before opening them and tilting his head slightly, looking at the mother. The mother nods affirmatively twice, causing a small smile to appear on the father’s face. No matter how many times the doctor has seen such scenes, each time he smiles as if it was the first time. It’s amazing to watch a young couple who have just become parents, who are conducting a silent dialogue using only their glances. The father turns to the doctor, then takes a deep breath and answers with a slight smile: — «Kana wants the baby to be in the room with her.» The doctor sighs with relief, finding the decision correct. After all, newborns sleep most of the time, and if they wake up, it doesn’t mean they’ll cry. In the children’s department, the baby’s diaper is changed according to a schedule, not based on individual needs. The baby is taken to the mother for breastfeeding also according to a schedule, not based on needs. And if the baby starts crying, they won’t coddle the baby — they’ll just feed formula, even if a child is not hungry, even if the mother asked not to do this, because otherwise that child will make others cry too.

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Wednesday, December 24, 2025, 9:43 PM Ai finally woke up from that long sleep after which people usually don't wake up. In that strange place shrouded in darkness, the girl's eyes got used to that darkness, and now the bright light brings a lot of discomfort. Discomfort, in principle, has now become the most frequent feeling that haunts Ai. Her head was haunted by thoughts: «Why am I always so unpleasant?» Why, after waking up in life, where you are given a second chance, the first thing you feel is discomfort, from which it seems there is no escape? Light? = Unpleasant = Discomfort. Cold? = Unpleasant = Discomfort. Hunger? = Unpleasant = Discomfort. Too spacious? = Unpleasant = Discomfort. Quiet? = Unpleasant = Discomfort. And as luck would have it, Ai was experiencing many unpleasant sensations at the same time. A hoarse childish sob was heard, which only a baby could make. Then one grunted, and later began to cry. This child was Ai, and she had already realized it a long time ago. She had managed to realize it back then, when she briefly noticed the tired, exhausted, but happy face of a woman who had beautiful eyes with long eyelashes, the iris of which was red, the same color as her red, long hair. This woman was very beautiful, but at that moment she did not look very good: large bags had formed under her beautiful eyes, and her cornea was red from tears, burst capillaries, and tension. Trying to make out her face, Ai involuntarily remembered herself at 16. However, she was unable to make out her face because of the too bright light and her new body. She saw everything blurry. At first, Ai experienced a variety of mixed feelings, ranging from misunderstanding and shock to distrust and wariness. Ai was aware that she was in the body of a newborn, but she had not established contact with the body well yet. Ai's memories and experiences turned into the child's emotions, which created discomfort stronger than light, cold, hunger, silence and space combined, and the child's emotions burst out in the form of loud crying. In addition to poor control over the child's emotions and expressions, Ai also had poor control over her actions: she could not run, walk, crawl, hold her head, could not make dull consonant sounds, largely due to the fact that she could not control the position of her tongue in her mouth, or even focus her gaze normally on an object. However, over time, she was able to control her body better and better. Immediately after birth, she cried literally because of everything, especially because of the stress that arose from misunderstanding, reinforced discomfort. And yet, after an unknown number of minutes, she managed to fall asleep, albeit not without the help of a woman whose face she could not see. Ai was distracted from her thoughts by the feeling that there was nothing underneath her. All she felt were large, warm hands holding her. Apparently, the loud crying prevented Ai from hearing that someone was approaching her. — «Oh… Who just woke up here?» — a soft female voice said quietly, from which Ai felt warm sensations in her body, emanating from her stomach and chest throughout her entire body. The poor contact with Ai’s body worked both ways — the child felt what Ai felt, and vice versa. However, gradually the line between the child and Ai was erased, turning them into one. The sensations in the child’s body were caused by the fact that one heard the mother's voice and felt her touch, her warmth. Slowly but surely, the baby's crying became weaker, indicating that she was calming down. The woman began to look much better than a few hours ago. She managed to get enough sleep and, albeit a little, but gained strength. The woman was still bothered by certain pains and unpleasant sensations, which was clear from her gait. It was late evening outside, it was snowing. Thin rays of light from the stars and the moon, which resembled white and blue colors, were seeping into the ward through the window, creating a soft and cold lighting inside. Ai gradually began to see. — «You sleep a lot… Well, so do I. We both need to gain strength now, right?» And again, warm sensations in the body. The child is calming down more and more. Small chubby hands began to reach for mom, and she very quickly understood the gesture. The woman herself was very surprised by this, but for some reason she felt a very strong connection with the child in her arms, as if she could read all her needs. She expected that she would rack her brains for hours trying to calm the child down, understand what she wanted, and all this under a very loud, annoying cry. However, it turned out that everything was different. Mum hugged the child, pressing her to her chest, not letting her head and legs hang down. Cramped… Warm… Dark… You can hear mom's breathing and heart… Almost everything that the child lacked. Ai tried to look closely at the woman's face, so that this time she could finally see it clearly. Now that she began to see better, the woman seemed familiar, as if Ai had already seen her once, but did not remember when and where. — «He-he. You have very beautiful eyes, but for some reason you look as if you understand everything… Are you really all like dad?» — the woman said in a gentle voice, smiling sweetly and squinting slightly. — «Mmm?» Ai thought about something. She had already seen her «mother», but not her «father», she had only heard his voice, and even then only briefly. What did he look like? Who was he? — «Hey, Ai, are you hungry?» — the woman asked in the same gentle voice, but now she looked into the child's eyes much softer. However, despite her caring behavior, Ai was shocked and afraid. How did she know her real name? Did she know about Ai? How? Anxiety and panic overwhelmed her in the blink of an eye, and the child began to cry again because of Ai's emotions. — «You probably are…»