Chapter 9 #2
“Oh, babies don’t care much about two weeks one way or the other,” Diane said in her gentlest voice.
The most important thing was to get Lizzy to calm down. A mother’s worry was dangerous for a baby.
“But Troy is away. He’s in San Antonio with Jason, Robert, and Lucy. He’s not here until the weekend,” Lizzy moaned. “Can’t you stop this so that he can get back in time?”
“Why don’t you go and lie down, and I’ll examine you?” Diane suggested. “Then we’ll know what we’re dealing with.” She smiled as she helped Lizzy to the bed.
Lizzy gritted her teeth as a strong contraction hit her. She groaned and curled up on the bed in pain.
“Lizzy,” Timothy called from the doorway.
“Come on, Tim, we need to get some water on the range. Where does your sister keep the towels?” Sarah asked. She ushered the scared boy and his pet away from the room.
Diane was grateful. Keeping Lizzy calm with Timothy around would be impossible. He was so scared, anyone would think that women didn’t have babies all the time.
The contraction passed, and Lizzy’s body relaxed. She let out a groan and rolled onto her back.
Diane began her examination.
“Have you done this before?” Lizzy asked.
“Oh, many times,” Diane said. “I worked in the women’s ward at a hospital for seven months. In that time I delivered fourteen babies and helped to deliver another six.”
“Good,” Lizzy said, wiping sweat from her brow. “Then at least one of us has some idea what she’s doing.”
“The wonderful thing about this, Lizzy, is that it is impossible for you to get it wrong,” Diane said. “There is only one direction for a baby to come into this world. So, don’t worry. I’m going to take a look, and then we’ll know how much time we have.”
Diane finished her examination and got Lizzy a drink of water. Sarah came in with towels and a basin of hot water, and Diane instructed her on what to do to massage Lizzy’s lower back. Sarah proved to be very skilled at it. She had strong but gentle hands and didn’t tire of the work.
After about two hours, it was time. Lizzy was much calmer and ready.
“Right. Now, come over here and hold onto the bedpost,” Diane said. She had spread the towels on the floor.
“What?” Lizzy asked. “You want me to stand?”
“I want you to squat,” Diane said. “Then we’ll be using gravity to help you push. It takes some of the strain off you.”
“Okay,” Lizzy said. Sarah and Diane helped her to her feet. A big contraction hit her, and she almost lost her footing, but the two women held her up.
They got her to the foot of the bed, and it was only a short while later that a new pair of lungs began to wail.
Diane wrapped the little baby in a towel and handed him to his mother. “He’s a beautiful boy,” she said.
Lizzy sat on the edge of the bed, tired but happy. “A boy? Troy is going to be insufferable.”
“Why?” Sarah asked, laughing.
“Because we had a bet going. I said we would have a girl, but he said we’d have a boy, so … I lost,” Lizzy said, smiling at her son. “But that’s okay. I don’t mind losing for you.”
The baby blinked.
“Can I take him for a moment?” Diane asked. “He needs a bath, and then he can come right back to you.”
Lizzy nodded. She grimaced then. “Should I still be so sore? I swear I’m having more contractions.” She groaned, sweat breaking out on her skin again.
Diane handed the little boy to Sarah and asked Lizzy to lie down so she could examine her again. What she saw made her act quickly. “There’s another one.”
“What?” Lizzy shouted. “Another one? How can there be another one?”
Leaving the first baby on the bed, they got Lizzy back into position and held her. Luckily, the second baby came as quickly as the first had and soon there was another little one in the room.
Diane wrapped the baby up and handed it to Lizzy. “I think you’re going to have to rethink that bet,” she said.
“Why?” Lizzy asked, twitching a bit of the towel aside. Then she smiled. “Well, how about that? We were both right. Hello, beautiful.” She smiled at her daughter as she cradled the baby. Then, suddenly, she stopped. “There aren’t any more in there, are there?”
“There are no more babies,” Diane assured her. “Just the two.”
“Oh, thank goodness,” Lizzy said. “But how am I going to look after two?”
“You and Troy will manage,” Diane said. “And you’ll have help, I’m sure. Now, get in bed; you’ve had a trying afternoon.”
She and Sarah cleaned up, and soon the whole place looked like nothing miraculous had happened in it at all.
“Can I come in now?” a voice asked from the doorway. It was Timothy.
“So long as you keep Critter away from the babies,” Lizzy said pointedly.
“I left him in my room. He’s going to be mad, but …” he shrugged. “Can I see it?”
“It?” Lizzy asked. “Tim, there are two—a boy and a girl.”
Timothy laughed. “Ha! Troy is going to be so happy, but mad … Because he kind of won the bet and also didn’t.”
“I’m counting on it,” Lizzy said, grinning. “Since I did the heavy lifting, he’s going to have to do some pampering, I think.”
It was getting late.
Diane finished by checking one last time on Lizzy, just to make sure that she and the babies were all right, and then she got ready to go. “I’m going to dinner at Anita and Kevin’s restaurant tonight,” she said. “If you need me, please send Tim. I’ll be here in a flash.”
“I think we’ll be fine,” Lizzy said, holding her babies in her arms. “Tim will help me, won’t you?”
Her brother looked scared and nervous, but he still smiled reassuringly, agreeing to help in any way he could.
Diane hurried to the boarding house and rushed up to wash and get changed.
What a piece of news she had to tell Ethan.
Would he be excited and happy for Lizzy?
She had no idea what he thought of children or if he ever wanted to have them.
Diane had always wanted a family, but, of course, working as she did made it difficult to imagine ever having the time for one.
How would her life change if she and Ethan were to marry?
Would they still work so much? Probably.
But they would come home to each other at the end of the day.
That had her smiling broadly. She would like to curl up on the sofa every evening in his arms and listen to stories of his day. Yes, she would like that very much.
She donned a light blue dress with little white flowers, brushed out her hair before tying it up in a bun again, and then hurried down the road to Anita and Kevin’s.
When she got there, it was just eight and Ethan was already waiting for her. He wore a big smile and a suit. She was glad she had gone home and changed.
“Ethan,” she said when she reached the table. “You got here early.”
“I couldn’t wait,” he said with a shrug. “You look beautiful.”
He stood and pulled out her seat for her. She sat and found a glass of wine waiting for her.
“You are a saint. Where did you get wine from?” she marveled.
“I bought a few bottles when we were in San Antonio,” he said. “I recalled you saying that you like red. I hope a merlot is okay.”
“Are you kidding? A merlot is excellent,” she said, taking a sip. “And it’s a good time for a toast.”
“It is?” he asked.
“It most certainly is. I just came from delivering Lizzy and Troy’s twins,” Diane said excitedly, beaming with joy.
Ethan’s mouth hung open. “Twins?”
“A boy and a girl.”
“Ha! Well, look at that!” Ethan said, smiling broadly. He picked up his glass and held it up to clink with hers. “To their good health.”
“To their good health,” Diane echoed.
They drank, and Diane rested her chin on her palm. “And how was your day?”
“It was nothing as amazing as yours,” Ethan said. “I made copper into bars. Wow. Twins. How do you feel about children?”
And there it was, out of his mouth. Just like that. She blinked.
“I’m sorry,” Ethan said, shaking his head. “I didn’t mean to …”
“I’d like children at some point,” she said. “And you?”
“Oh, I’ve always wanted a couple,” Ethan said. “Not too many. I don’t want ten children, but I thought two or three would be fine.”
She could live with that. Her number had been one or two, so split the difference.
“To having two or three children,” Diane said, holding up her glass. They clinked again and stared at each other.
Perhaps it was the excellent wine that was going to her head, but Diane felt herself falling toward Ethan, and they met somewhere in the middle.
It was delicious, like a summer afternoon with roses in bloom.
It was like a thunder shower, all electricity and flurry and excitement. Diane melted into the kiss.
And then something blew up.