Microstory 1518: I Was Born a Mother

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I was born a mother, and I know how crazy that sounds

But it’s completely true

It’s just not the whole story

My mother was also born pregnant

As was her mother

And her mother before that

I am not the result of the immaculate conceptions, though

None of us is

We have all become pregnant with the same child

We take hundreds of days to form

The Quantum Child takes hundreds of years

We just keep passing it down the line

In every generation, a young woman in the family is chosen

Chosen to take on the responsibility

We don’t know who exactly is making this choice

Perhaps the mysterious powers that be

Maybe God

It might even be time itself

But it’s never been a very hard job

Each woman is pregnant for one day out of the year

The earlier Quantum Mothers had it easy

They barely noticed any difference

It was just like getting a little sick once a year

And having to worship the porcelain deity

If that

The latter Quantum Mothers, like me

It’s a little harder

But it’s still easier than a regular pregnancy

Which we have to deal with as well

For the Quantum Child to survive

A new Mother must be born

A new Mother must be chosen

I am in the third trimester

One of my daughters will soon take my place

And she will be the one to deliver this baby

The Quantum Child will finally start its life

And no one knows what that looks like

At least I’ll still be alive to see it

I can’t wait