Chapter Fourteen
“What was that about?” Harrison asked.
She returned her phone to her purse. “You won’t believe this. Our siblings met up at the ferry terminal and spent the day together. As we speak, Kellie is cooking us dinner at my brother’s condo.”
Harrison appeared as surprised and amazed as Avery was. “You’re joking. You mean to say as we were getting to know each other, they were, too?”
“You got it. But listen, this dinner isn’t me saying I agree to date you, understand?” She needed to make that clear.
“I’m here, baby, I’m here,” James cried out, interrupting the conversation. His grip on the phone was so tight his knuckles had gone pale.
Avery diverted her attention to the expectant father. “What’s happening?” she asked, noticing how tense James was. The latest information was that James’s neighbor had driven Lilly to the hospital after her water broke.
With a desperation that bordered on panic, he turned to Avery. “I only have five percent battery left on my phone. Do you have a charger?”
“Not with me.” She would do whatever she could to help. “Here, take my phone and call your wife with it. Surely someone on board has a charger. I’ll find one for you.”
“Thank you, thank you.”
Speaking to his wife, James said, “Sweetie, hang up and I’ll call you back in less than a minute.”
Accepting Avery’s phone, he gave Avery and Harrison a quick update.
“Lilly has been admitted and labor is progressing. As soon as her water broke, her pains increased dramatically. I need to be with her.” He looked around frantically, as if by some miracle he could be magically transported to his wife’s side.
“Does anyone have an idea when the tugboat will arrive?” he shouted.
The anguish in James’s voice seemed to have captured their attention. Travelers in the area gradually stopped talking, the complaints slowly dying down.
Avery overheard people mumbling, asking one another what was happening because clearly James’s distress was more than just the impatience and frustration they felt.
Curious questions drifted across the open space.
A few people moved closer to where James sat, as if to discover what the problem could be.
James was already back on the phone with his wife, so Avery took the opportunity to explain.
Standing on the chair to gather attention, she called out, “James’s wife is in labor. It’s their first baby.”
“Is she alone?”
“Her neighbor was there for a while, but I don’t know if she stayed.”
James stopped her. “Our neighbor has family obligations and had to leave. All Lilly has for support is me and I’m not there!” he cried out in desperation.
“Tell your wife that we’re with her, too,” a young woman with an oversized handbag and purple hair shouted out. Looking around her, she said, “Isn’t that right?”
Several of those who’d gathered close agreed, with approving nods.
“How far along is her labor?” Beth asked, joining the others. Olivia stood by her side, carefully watching her mother.
“I don’t know how far she’s dilated,” James answered. “Her water broke and she’s in the labor room. She said a nurse comes in every now and again to check her.”
“Is there anything we can do?” a young woman with heavily tattooed arms asked. She held a knitting project in her lap.
“There is,” Avery said. “Does anyone have a charger James can borrow? He’s using my phone now, but I only have about forty percent battery left.”
“He can use my phone.”
“Mine too, if he needs.”
A woman in the back stood up. “I have a charger, if he has an iPhone.”
Avery saw that he did. “He does.” The charger was passed along. Harrison located an outlet and plugged in James’s phone.
All at once James started calling out times, looking down at his wrist. “Five seconds. Ten seconds. Twenty. Thirty. Okay. Okay.”
A blond woman in a blue cable-knit sweater made her way forward. “My name is Cherise and I’m a nurse. I’ve worked in labor and delivery. I’ll be happy to do what I can to help so you understand the labor process.”
James held the phone away from his ear. “Lilly’s labor pains are thirty seconds long. Does that mean the baby will be born soon?” His eyes pleaded for any information Cherise had to give him.
“Not necessarily. Is this your first child?”
“Yes.” He nodded for emphasis.
“Most likely it will be several hours before your wife delivers.”
The relief showed in his shoulders as he relaxed slightly. “That’s good. I need to be there for Lilly.”
More passengers came closer to where James sat, forming a half-circle around him. When the next labor pain struck and James counted out the seconds, several other voices joined his, loud enough for Lilly to hear.
James looked up and smiled as he explained to his wife what was happening. “Those voices are passengers on the ferry. You aren’t alone, Lilly, I’m here and all these people are, too.”
The band members Avery had noticed earlier had been some of the loudest complainers about the long delay.
They were disgruntled to miss their paying gig and made sure the crew knew about it.
It was one of the band members who’d shouted at James earlier when he claimed he needed to get off this ferry.
Learning about Lilly, he now seemed regretful.
“We have a singer here!” he shouted out. “Would it help Lilly if we sang to her?”
James asked his wife. “She says it would, especially during the contractions.”
“You got it.” He called over his shoulder for Tom to retrieve his clarinet. Liam had played his guitar earlier and entertained the children. Olivia had sat front and center, her sweet off-key voice easily distinguishing it from the other kids’.
Once again, James started counting out the seconds, and as before, a loud chorus of voices rose in unison, letting Lilly know she had their support and encouragement.
“The nurse is going to check to see how far Lilly has dilated,” James said after this latest contraction. “When she arrived at the hospital, she was at three,” James explained. “She hadn’t progressed beyond that the last time the nurse checked.”
Cherise took the opportunity to explain the three stages of birth to those who were unfamiliar with the terms. “Once Lilly has dilated to ten, the second phase of the birth will start as the baby enters the birth canal.”
James held the phone close to his ear and his jaw dropped and he gasped.
“What’s happened?” Avery wanted to know.
He blinked several times and then announced, “Lilly is at a seven.”
Avery’s gaze swiveled to the nurse who stood close to James. Cherise’s eyes revealed her surprise. “That’s great. Labor is progressing along nicely. How long has it been since Lilly was admitted?”
“Not long,” James said. “Maybe thirty or forty minutes.” His gaze pleaded with the nurse. “Does that mean I won’t make it to the hospital in time for the birth?”
Cherise gestured weakly with her hands. “That remains to be seen.”
“Is it a boy or a girl?” the woman with the tattoos on her arms asked.
James pushed the hair away from his forehead. “We don’t know. We chose to wait. We just want a healthy baby.”
“A Christmas surprise.”
James jerked and straightened. “Lilly’s having another contraction.”
It seemed like everyone on the entire deck helped count out the forty-five seconds.
Once again, James looked to the nurse, eager for any information. “That’s ten seconds longer than the last contraction,” he announced, as if this earth-shattering information required an explanation.
“It was,” Cherise agreed, without adding anything else.
If James was hoping for some medical insight, he was disappointed.
Avery heard Lilly’s faint voice, since she was the one sitting closest to James. He listened and smiled.
Holding the phone away from his ear, James looked up and said, “Lilly wants you all to know that she appreciates the support. She can hear you, and it’s helping her deal with the pain.”
A couple folks exchanged high fives.
“We took birthing classes when Lilly was six months along. Lilly wanted to give birth naturally, but it was understood I’d be right beside her. She says with all of us helping, she doesn’t feel alone and is better able to manage the birth right now without the epidural.”
A cheer of support followed.
Tom started strumming his guitar. “Liam and Suzie, what should we play?”
“What kind of music does your wife enjoy?” Liam asked.
“Country,” James answered. “New country—you know, like Jelly Roll or Lainey Wilson.”
“Got it,” Liam said, as he took a seat and rested his guitar on his thigh. “Let us know when the next contraction starts, and Suzie and I will start singing. I hope it helps.”
“Now!” James shouted a few minutes later, holding the phone out toward Liam and the tall woman standing at his side to better pick up the music.
Liam and Tom immediately started playing, with Suzie’s alto voice blending in beautifully. It took Avery less than a second to recognize the classic “Fast Car.” It sounded almost as if Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs were singing the duet.
While they sang, those close by started counting out the seconds, along with James. They must have caused something of a ruckus because Earl Jones and another crewman appeared.
“What’s going on up here?” Earl demanded, scrutinizing the way nearly everyone on the passenger deck had gathered around James.
Before anyone was able to answer, he figured it out himself. “You mean the guy with the pregnant wife is the cause of all this?”
Avery nodded. “Her water broke right after the speedboat left and she’s in the labor room by herself. We’re all trying to help her feel less alone.”
Earl did a quick study of the situation and stood, amazed when Lilly had another contraction. Liam and Suzie broke into a country-style Christmas song next while everyone else counted down the seconds. Avery didn’t recognize the lyrics but could tell the singing was helping Lilly and James, too.
“I’ve got a Bluetooth speaker,” the second crewman offered. “That way everyone can hear Lilly, if she’d like that.”
James asked his wife. “Lilly said she’d love that.”
The crewman left and returned no more than a minute later. It took even less time than that to connect the phone with his speaker.
Once it was operational, Cherise encouraged Lilly. “Lilly, rest as best you can between contractions. Take in deep breaths and let them out slowly.”
“Did you hear that, sweetie?” James asked.
“I did. Can everyone hear me okay?”
James looked up and saw several people nodding. “They can.” She must have said something more, something Avery wasn’t able to hear.
James relaxed. “Lilly wants everyone to know how much the counting helps.”
“We’re happy to be here,” Virginia assured her.
Another contraction was serenaded by the two band members. Other voices joined in while those counting the seconds added to the cacophony.
Watching the crowd, it came to Avery that before helping Lilly everyone had been varying degrees of annoyed and angry after the news regarding the failed engine part. The entire atmosphere had now shifted while helping James and Lilly.
The grumbling had all but disappeared. Only a few minutes earlier, James had been understandably distraught and tense. He seemed much calmer now. What had felt like a disaster earlier had brought them all together, given them a purpose.
Beth and Olivia stood side by side. Every now and again Beth would bend closer to her daughter. Avery guessed it was to explain to the little girl what was taking place and why everyone was gathered around James.
From the far side of the room, she noticed the man Olivia had identified as her father come to stand beside Beth and Olivia. He glanced at his wife and seemed to want her attention. Only Beth refused to look at him.
Avery couldn’t help but wonder what all that was about.