the darkest night | hicsqueak | the worst witch 2017

chapter forty-five

"Mildred Hubble, be careful with your bag!" Hecate admonished. Mildred had nearly taken her out by trying to levitate her bag. The students of Cackle's Academy were back from their term break.

"Sorry, Miss Hardbroom," Mildred responded. "Did you have a good break?"

"Yes I did but you need to get your bag in your room before you take someone out with it," Hecate responded. She transported Mildred up to her bedroom. Hecate felt a strange tightening in her lower abdomen and placed a hand on her stomach. It was too early for her to be going into labor. She was only thirty-five weeks pregnant and wasn't due for another five weeks. It was too soon if the baby was coming but the pain did not come back and she had read that the pain would be much more regular and come at intervals.

She knew that if an hour passed without another one of the strange tightenings, she wasn't in labor but she had to let Pippa know that she had felt what could be a contraction.

"Ada, I felt something odd," Hecate murmured to Ada. Ada was helping her to keep an eye on the girls as they came back from term break.

"Are you going into labour or was it a Braxton Hicks contraction?" Ada asked softly. Hecate had Ada reading up on labor as Ada had agreed to support Hecate while she was in it, just until Pippa was able to get to the academy to be with her girlfriend.

"I'm not sure. I would need to read about them. I, unfortunately, have only glanced at that section," Hecate admitted. She had been too busy with lesson planning, something she threw herself into to keep busy when she should have read about her pregnancy progress in her pregnancy books while Pippa had been doing her lesson planning.

"Go take a look at your books. I can handle the girls for half an hour," Ada promised. Hecate smiled and she went to her quarters.

She went into the bedroom, Morgana twisting her way around Hecate's legs, and got the book she needed. Hecate sat down and began to read the section. No pain-like feeling came while she was reading and she deduced it had been false labour.

Hecate read that she would be feeling more pain or a more uncomfortable feeling if it was a true contraction as her womb would be contracting and relaxing, much like with the Braxton Hicks contraction she had experienced. The feeling hadn't been too uncomfortable but it had made its presence known to her and she had felt the tightness in her abdomen. It had been false labour she had been feeling.

Hecate knew that she needed to inform Pippa. Pippa would be getting ready for lunch at her academy. Her students wouldn't be coming until tomorrow so Hecate called her on the mirror.

"Hi, Hiccup!" Pippa greeted. "You never call me in the middle of the day. Are you going into labour?"

"Not quite," Hecate responded. "I've had my first Braxton Hicks contraction. It was a very strange feeling. It was rather like a mild cramp It was just there for a few seconds and then gone. Ada was worried I was going into labour standing on the stairs keeping an eye on the students."

"I am glad she was worried. I wish I could have been with you for it but there's so much to do here," Pippa replied. "I'm glad you're alright and you didn't panic when you felt it. Have you been able to read about the Braxton Hicks contractions?"

"Yes, I did. I wanted to inform you what it was before I called you in a panic thinking I was in labor," Hecate responded. "Our daughter would have been coming much too soon."

Pippa nodded in the mirror. "I'm proud of how you handled false labour though, darling. I hope real labour will go as smoothly as your first contraction. I do want you to call me as soon as you feel that first contraction," Pippa said. She smiled. "I don't care if it's the middle of the night and I'm not there. I want to know so I can get to you as soon as possible."

"I promise that I will," Hecate responded. "Please do not worry about that. I'll see you later tonight. Ada will be expecting me back. The last group of students should be flying in soon."

"I love you, Hiccup," Pippa said. She blew a kiss at Hecate. Hecate smiled.

"I love you too, Pipsqueak," Hecate responded. They hung up the mirror call and Hecate put the book away. She gave Morgana a quick scratch on the head and promised she would be back soon. She went back to Ada.

"Did you call Miss Pentangle and inform her what happened?" Ada asked as soon as Hecate got back.

"Yes I did," Hecate responded. "She said she was proud of how I handled it. I supposed I am in a way as well. I half expected to have either a flashback with the trigger being the feeling of a contraction or go into a panic attack."

"We'll do our best to make sure you do not have a panic attack, Hecate," Ada replied. She gave Hecate a gentle smile. "Would see if any of the girls have blown something up. I think there will be mischief tonight. Particularly from our second years."

"Yes. I shall check on Mildred and her friends first," Hecate responded. Hecate went up the stairs and first checked on Mildred. The girl was working on sketching something in her sketchbook with her two friends beside her in bed. She couldn't help but notice how Enid's and Maud's hands were intertwined. She left the room after a short conversation with the three girls and went to check on the other second years that were in the hall just down another flight of stairs and found they were all still unpacking. She went to check on the other students.

[] Hecate is getting closer! Any guesses on when she will give birth?