Chapter 27
Lacy Glover rolled over for the umpteenth time, emitting a long, loud sigh as she did. Beside her, her husband, Mitch, continued to snore, though she had woken him with her tossing and turning in the past.
She and Mitch had struggled to get and keep a pregnancy, and Lacy wanted to be grateful for every moment. She pressed her eyes closed against the tears, because she was now forty-one weeks pregnant with no sign of her little girl making an appearance anytime soon.
That wasn’t entirely true, as Lacy had an appointment with her doctor the following afternoon. She’d spent the first hour of the night before falling asleep worried that Dr. Marsdon would induce her, and Lacy didn’t want to have the baby on April Fool’s Day.
One hot tear slithered out of the corner of her eye, and she quickly moved to wipe it away.
Then, with another sigh that would wake anyone except those who were deaf, Lacy pushed herself up and balanced on the edge of the mattress.
She reached for her phone, which she plugged in and left on her nightstand.
The clock read just past four in the morning, which made sense for the amount of darkness pouring through the window.
Lacy really couldn’t get up this early and expect to make it through the day, but she’d been on maternity leave for two weeks now, having planned to have a temporary administrator at Signs for Success, so she could focus on their baby.
She put one hand on her belly and used the other to balance herself against the nightstand as she stood. No matter how she sat or stood or lay, she was uncomfortable, and something hurt, so she didn’t think too much of the pain radiating in a quiet, almost aching way through her lower back.
She’d never been pregnant before and had never gone into labor, and she honestly wasn’t sure what to expect.
She and Mitch had taken two birthing classes, as he’d wanted to be ultra-prepared for what they might experience at the hospital.
He had accompanied her to every doctor’s appointment in the past nine months, and their doctor—the sweetheart that she was—had started to learn some key signs for Mitch, like baby, healthy, girl, and name.
Oh, the name.
Lacy sighed as she got up.
She and Mitch had not been able to agree on what they should name their baby yet, and perhaps that was why Lacy had not delivered her yet.
She’d just stepped onto the cold tile of the master bathroom when a pain unlike anything she’d felt before ripped through her abdomen. She automatically threw out one hand, and thankfully, the vanity stood there ready to support her.
Lacy cried out, knowing immediately that she’d just experienced her first contraction. Panic reared through her, but Lacy reminded herself that she had done a great many difficult things in her life, and she would not be alone through this one.
“Mitch,” she said, her voice loud among the dark silence of the house.
Of course, her husband could not hear her, and Lacy didn’t dare twist to look over her shoulder toward the bedroom.
“Sunshine,” she said. “Alert Mitch.”
The dog barked, and Lacy wished she’d brought her phone with her into the bathroom so she could call Mitch and a light would flash.
“Champ, alert Mitch,” Lacy said, the aching in her lower abdomen radiating around her back now—all signs of her going into labor. She didn’t dare move.
She heard Mitch groan behind her. “Wake him up,” she said to his hearing dogs. “Wake him up…Mitch.”
He’d trained them to alert him when his name was spoken, and Lacy said it one more time.
A moment later, Mitch made another noise, but he wasn’t verbal and didn’t actually speak.
Only a few seconds after that, the bedroom light snapped on, and Lacy managed to reach up and turn the light on in the bathroom too. That brought her husband to her side.
“I’m going into labor,” she told him, her hands flying through the signs.
He was devastatingly handsome, rumpled and fresh from sleep. He looked confused for a couple of heartbeats, and then he said, I’ll get dressed and get your clothes.
Lacy nodded while Mitch returned to the bedroom. She survived another contraction before he came back, and she said, I need my phone to time the contractions.
He jogged away from her and returned with it, as well as her favorite maternity pants and one of his oversized T-shirts that she had taken to wearing as the weather warmed.
Tell me what to do, he said.
Lacy nodded to the shirt. Help me get dressed and make sure I don’t fall down.
They’d talked extensively about how to communicate during the labor, as Lacy might not be able to use her hands to sign as much as she normally did. Just watch my face, baby, remember?
He nodded, his jaw tight and a fierce frown of protectiveness between his eyes.
He helped her get dressed, and then he picked up the baby bag and kept his arm around her as they slowly made their way out of the house and into her SUV.
Mitch growled as he moved the seat back, so he could drive them to the hospital.
They had sat down with Jacob and his parents, so everyone knew how to communicate with them when Lacy went into labor.
She often acted as a go-between for Mitch and the rest of the world, and as he pulled around their circle drive, she reminded herself that she, Jacob, Mitch, and his parents could all sign.
Lacy didn’t want either of Mitch’s parents or her brother in the delivery room with her, and she and Mitch had decided they would manage on their own.
They had promised to call Jacob, Cactus, and Willa when they were on their way to the hospital, so they could help with the academy, the dogs, and Mitch, if necessary.
Mitch had brought Champ and Sunshine with him in the truck, as his two main hearing dogs went everywhere with him, but he had a few others he worked with on a daily basis.
“I’m going to call everyone.” She typed the message on her phone and turned it toward Mitch.
He read it while driving down the lane and nodded. Her brother would be up in another hour and a half, as he got to Signs for Success early to start on the groundskeeping, so she sent a text to Jacob first.
Mitch and I are on the way to the hospital. We’ll let you know what we need beyond help with the dogs. If you could take care of them today, that would be great.
She called Mitch’s mother, because when she had first suggested that she would just text, Willa had looked like Lacy had lit the world on fire. Mitch’s mother didn’t answer, but Lacy simply dialed again—right as another contraction began. She quickly hung up and checked the timer.
“Three and a half minutes,” she said out loud, and then she showed it to Mitch.
He nodded again, flexed his fingers on the wheel, and sped up. They lived about twenty-five minutes away from the hospital, but they’d driven it before, and Lacy thanked the Lord that she’d gone into labor early in the morning when there was no traffic.
Mitch pulled up to the emergency entrance of the hospital, and Lacy opened her own door and turned her legs to get out. In that moment, her water broke and she froze, her mind racing.
Mitch jogged around the front of the truck, which he’d left running—a habit he always had, no matter where they were.
“My water just broke,” she told him.
Mitch nodded, his eyes tracking down to her knees. Can you walk?
Lacy wanted to say yes, but she honestly wasn’t sure. Maybe you could go find me a wheelchair, she said. Type it on your phone.
He quickly pulled out his phone and typed the message, then turned and jogged inside.
Lacy hated that he had to communicate everything through text, but despite there being more accessibility for the hearing-impaired and deaf population, very, very few people in small-town Three Rivers knew sign language.
Thankfully, most people they had to interact with could read, and Mitch returned only a few seconds later with a nurse and a wheelchair.
He held her arm tightly—possessively—as he helped her into it.
The nurse asked, “Who’s your doctor?”
“Doctor Marsdon,” Lacy said. “I had an appointment with her later today.”
“We’ll page her,” the nurse said, and she started pushing Lacy into the hospital.
“My husband is deaf,” Lacy said. “You have to tell me where we’re going, so I can tell him.”
“Labor and delivery is on the third floor,” the woman said pleasantly.
Lacy raised her hand and waved it so Mitch would look at her. “We’ll get you checked in up there,” the woman said. “And they’ll give you a room number.” She stopped by the emergency desk and said, “Call Doctor Marsdon for Lacy Glover.”
“Yes, thank you,” Lacy said, marveling that Mitch had been able to tell her that.
Up they went to the third floor, and Lacy got put in Delivery Room Three. Mitch helped her change into a gown, and her contractions continued.
I never called your mother, Lacy said.
Mitch nodded, and he lifted his phone to do it. She’s not answering, he said. It’s still really early.
I called once, she said. She’s got it on that three-call thing. Call her again, and then again, and then it’ll ring.
He did, and his momma finally did pick up, and Mitch was able to get her on video and tell her that they were at the hospital.
A nurse named Mindy came in and checked Lacy. “Doctor Marsdon is on her way, and you’re dilated to a five already.” She beamed at Lacy like this was fantastic news, but all her statement did was send a round of nerves through Lacy’s whole body.
She leaned her head back against the pillow and nodded, everything rushing by while also moving incredibly slow.
Dr. Marsdon arrived; Lacy got her epidural; they received confirmation from Jacob that he and Ty would take care of the dogs that day.
My mom and daddy are here, Mitch said. I’m going to head outside and talk to them for a minute.
Lacy nodded and watched him depart mere moments before the doctor entered for probably the third time.
“How we doing?” she said. “I feel like you’ve got to be getting close.”
“I feel like I’ve been in labor for hours,” Lacy said, the discomfort coursing through every cell in her body rivaling that of being a week overdue. “I’ve been praying for this baby to come. Now I’m not so sure.”
Dr. Marsdon laughed and asked, “Lots of pressure?”
“So much,” Lacy said, as another contraction moved through her. She groaned and tried to sit up.
Dr. Marsdon took her position. “I think you’re ready to push.”
“Can you grab my husband?” Lacy said. “He just went out to see his parents.”
The nurse went to do that, and Lacy made it through the first push by herself before Mitch came running in, pure panic on his face.
I’m so sorry, he said as he came to stand behind her and shore her up.
He hadn’t wanted to miss a moment of this, and he’d been worried sick for months that their baby would be born deaf.
He brought it up every single day, while it was not something Lacy had worried about.
Once she’d realized how much it concerned Mitch, she’d done her best to assure him and reassure him that they would do the best they could with whatever happened.
After all, God never expected more than that.
Mitch seemed to agree most days, but he really didn’t want a deaf child, because so many opportunities for him had been limited, and he’d had to work harder than most people to be where he was and do what he did.
Several long, tiring minutes later, the doctor finally said, “And here she is!”
The beautiful, gut-wrenching sound of a newborn baby’s wail filled the air, and Lacy burst into tears.
Mitch, she said, waving his name sign with one hand. Go see her. Go see her.
He left his position at her shoulder and moved to the end of the bed. The doctor held up the baby, a look of wonder on her face. “I know you guys were expecting a girl, but I hope you have some male names picked out too, because your baby boy is here.”
Lacy could only stare at the bright, angry red infant as he screamed. Then the doctor handed him to a nurse, who wrapped him up in a warm blanket and turned to put him on a table.
Mitch stood there at her side, pressing in close and asking, He’s a boy? We were supposed to have a girl, to no one in particular. The nurse certainly couldn’t understand him, and Lacy smiled. He looked over to her, and she loved him all the more when she saw tears rolling down his face.
Stay with him, she said. I’m fine. I want you to stay with him.
Mitch nodded, and Lacy called, “Remember, my husband’s deaf, but he wants to stay with the baby. Just show him what you want him to do, and he’ll do it.”
“We’ve got it,” the nurse said. “We’re gonna get his blood to do all of our newborn testing, and I know you want a hearing test.”
“Yes,” Lacy said. “And Mitch wants to give him a bath and show him to his parents, if he can, before I have to nurse him.”
“Well, let’s deliver this afterbirth,” Dr. Marsdon said. “And then whatever you two want to do is fine with me.”