Chapter 9 #2
And they’d left right in the nick of time.
Janey had been feeling “off” the last few days, with a weird backache that had been keeping her awake at night and heartburn that had set his nerves to frazzle.
David and the island’s midwife, Victoria Stevens, had been keeping a close eye on her and assured them everything was fine.
But Joe had a sixth sense when it came to Janey, and he could tell she was trying hard to hide her discomfort from him, knowing how he worried about her.
He wasn’t the only one who was worried, which was why her parents had insisted on coming with them today to help with P.J.
as they got settled at Janey’s uncle Frank’s house in Providence.
He and Janey and P.J. would stay there until two days before her delivery date, when she would be admitted as a precaution.
Janey’s parents were due to return the night before she was to be admitted so they could care for P.J.
while he and Janey were in the hospital.
He had the whole thing planned down to the last contingency.
So while he was relieved to finally be leaving the island to get closer to the medical care Janey and the baby would need, he wouldn’t take a full deep breath again until the baby arrived safely and Janey was out of the woods.
And then he’d be getting a vasectomy immediately to ensure he’d never have to worry about getting his wife pregnant again.
They were out of the baby business. Forever.
He laughed to himself, thinking of the conversation he’d had with Janey when he first realized she was pregnant again—and yes, both times, he’d been the one to put the pieces together.
“Let me tell you this, mister,” she’d said, “if we are pregnant, after this, you’re getting that thing snipped.”
“That thing? Did you just refer to the part of me you love best as a thing?” Despite the insult to his manhood, he was relieved that she’d stopped sobbing.
“That’s not the part of you I love best.”
“That’s not what you said the other night when you were all like, ‘More, Joe, give me more.’”
Her face turned bright red. “I never said that.”
“Do I need to start recording these encounters?”
“If you do, I’ll kill you.”
P.J. poked at the corners of his mouth, smiling as big as his daddy. “Your mommy is silly.”
The baby replied with baby gibberish that had Joe laughing some more.
Someday soon, that gibberish would become actual words, and he couldn’t wait to hear what his son had to say about the world around him.
He was looking forward to teaching him everything—from how to throw a football with a perfect spiral to how to captain a one-hundred-foot ferry.
Someday, his children would inherit the ferry business, and he would make sure they were ready.
Hopefully, they wouldn’t have as much responsibility on them as he’d had at a young age when his grandfather died and left the business to him when he was still in his early twenties.
But he’d made a go of it and would teach his kids everything they needed to know to keep it running into the next generation—if that was what they wanted.
It hadn’t been forced on him, and it wouldn’t be forced on them, either.
“What do you think, pal?” he asked P.J. “Can you see yourself at the helm of this ship someday?”
“Joe!”
Later, he would remember that his name had never sounded quite like that coming from Big Mac McCarthy.
In the moment, he simply turned toward his father-in-law, still smiling at his son, who continued to “talk” to him.
The expression on Big Mac’s face made his entire body go cold with fear and panic and disbelief.
The word “no” echoed through his brain as he ran as fast as he dared with the baby in his arms through the door that Big Mac held for him to find Janey on the floor of the ferry’s cabin, surrounded by people.
He couldn’t think or breathe or move, not even to ask what was wrong or what possibly could’ve happened in the ten minutes since he’d left Janey sitting at a table with her parents while he took P.J. outside to get some air.
He forced air into his lungs and shook off the shock to focus on what Janey needed. “What… What happened?”
“Sharp pains in her back that traveled to the front,” Big Mac reported, his expression grim and his eyes full of the same panic Joe was experiencing. “And her water broke.” Big Mac gestured to a puddle on the floor under the table.
Joe glanced outside, saw that they were well past the northern point of the island and wrestled with the decision to press on or turn back. The idea that Janey’s life—and the baby’s life—could hinge on a decision he made had him holding back the need to vomit.
Janey cried out in pain.
Her mother, seated behind her on the floor, held her up as she leaned back. Janey looked up, her gaze frantic as she sought him out.
Joe handed his son to Big Mac and went to his wife. “I’m here, babe,” he said, kneeling next to her and taking her hand. “Tell me what’s going on.”
“The baby,” she said, panting. “It’s coming.”
“Now?”
Her eyes were wild as she nodded. “Right now. Look.”
Joe tore his gaze off her face and looked under the skirt of her dress. When he saw the top of the baby’s head, he nearly passed out.
“Joe!” Janey’s frantic cry centered him and snapped him into action mode.
Looking up at Big Mac, he said, “Go tell Seamus to pour on the coal. Get us to Point Judith as fast as safely possible. Tell him to call 9-1-1 and have an ambulance waiting. Hurry.”
Big Mac handed P.J. to a kindly older woman who held out her arms to him, and then he took off for the bridge.
“I’m going to take him for a little walk,” the lady said.
“Thank you.” Joe hoped he was doing the right thing entrusting his son to a stranger, but what choice did he have at the moment?
The ferry was all but deserted, and he didn’t know anyone else on the boat that morning.
“Breathe, sweetheart,” he said to Janey.
“Just like they taught us in the class. Remember?”
She nodded and started to huff and puff her way through the next contraction.
“I don’t understand,” Linda said, looking to Joe for answers he didn’t have. “How could this have come on so fast?”
“The back pain,” Janey said between huffs. “Might’ve been contractions.”
Jesus, Joe thought. Back labor is a thing? “Wouldn't that show up when Vic monitored you?”
“Didn’t have it while I was there,” she said, continuing to puff.
Someone gave Linda a wet cloth that she used to wipe the sweat from Janey’s face and brow.
“Hurts,” Janey said, taking his hand and squeezing hard.
“She’s not bleeding,” Linda said. “Right?”
“No blood.” Joe felt like he was having a heart attack. This could not be happening.
“That’s a good sign,” Linda said, her face devoid of color and her eyes big with fear that further unnerved him because her composure was legendary.
He wasn’t sure who she was trying to reassure—herself or him. Joe heard—and felt—the moment when Seamus followed his orders to pour on the coal. The boat began to pick up speed that matched Joe’s heart rate. “How’re you doing, honey?”
“Okay,” Janey said, crying out when another contraction hit her. “I need to push.”
“Can you try to wait until we get there?”
“I don’t think I can.”
Joe glanced at Linda. “What should we do?”
“How do you feel about delivering a baby?” she asked.
“Me?”
“Do you have someone else in mind?”
“What if… What if I do it wrong or…”
“Joseph.” One sharp word from his mother-in-law had him blinking and trying to refocus. “She needs you.” To one of the deck hands who’d come in to see what was going on, Linda said, “Go up to the concession stand and get me as many clean towels as you can. We’ll take everything they’ve got. Hurry.”
Janey needs me. Janey needs me. Can’t let her down. “Are we going to do this, babe?” he asked.
She bit her lip and nodded, her eyes bright with tears. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered.
“Not your fault that our baby isn’t interested in waiting two more weeks to make his or her debut.”
“Go wash your hands with hot water, Joe,” Linda said, while continuing to blot the sweat from Janey’s face. “Quickly.”
Joe kissed Janey. “Be right back. We got this, you hear?” He waited until she looked directly at him. “Everything is going to be okay. I promise.”
She seemed to take strength from his promises.
He had to tear himself away from her to run to the men’s room, where he thoroughly washed his hands with soap and the hottest water he could get from the sink. What if she got an infection because he didn’t wash his hands correctly? Or what if the cord was wrapped around the baby’s neck? What if…