by Vicky Jones
“Don’t worry, I’ll go see to it. You stay here and rest.” Shona lowered Chloe’s head back to the little cushion on the bench.
“But you’ve been working all day,” Chloe began.
“Yeah, and you’ve been growing a human,” Shona replied, smiling. She kissed Chloe’s stomach. “Relax, OK?”
Chloe closed her eyes and within seconds she was fast asleep again.
“She alright?” Dorothy appeared by Shona’s side.
“Yeah. I guess it’s just a little hard to adjust to how things are now,” Shona added, her gaze lifting to the messy yard, then out on to the peaceful looking ocean. “It’s like everything we wanted, we got, but then this happens.” She motioned her eyes down to Chloe’s bump. “Oh, don’t get me wrong, it’s just amazing the chance we got now. For a family, you know? I never in all my dreams thought I’d have a kid. I thought…”
Dorothy reached out to hold Shona’s hand as she paused. “You thought it’d just be you two. Being young and carefree,” she concluded.
“I love Chloe more than I ever thought it was possible to love anyone. I’d crawl to the moon for her. I just wanna make everything alright. She’s been through so much.”
Shona choked back the tears and felt the old lady squeeze her hand.
“It’ll be OK, you know? It’ll be hard and I don’t pretend to know anything about having children, not having any of my own, but you will both find your way. And whatever those folks think about it in town, well…” Dorothy nodded her head, “we’ve faced worse, haven’t we?”
Shona lifted her eyes to the sky and breathed out a long sigh. “Oh yes,” she agreed, smiling.
“That’s the spirit. Now, you tidy up in there and I’ll start dinner. Like the old days, huh?” Dorothy tapped Shona on the cheeks with both hands and grinned. She shuffled back into the house, leaving Shona to follow seconds later after pulling a blanket over Chloe to keep out the evening chill.
Chapter 17
The drive to work that morning was one of trepidation for Shona. The cool breeze was calming, but her waters were stormy. As she drove, she replayed in her head the heated conversation she’d had the day before with Bertie and feared the worst.
She passed the garage, which at first glance looked intact, then carried on her circuit around the town square. As she reached the first row of stores, she let out a groan, her suspicions confirmed. Windows had been smashed in, with the most badly damaged ones being boarded up temporarily by the owners until the repairs could be carried out properly. Further up the road, she saw the planters at the edge of the doctor’s office being put the correct way up by Blanche and Marion, who were both visibly upset. The police station windows were also broken, in more places than any other building, unsurprisingly. In the green space at the center of the town square, there were flowerbeds ripped out and litter from the garbage pails strewn carelessly around. The place was a mess.
When Shona finally pulled up at the garage, she saw one word was painted on the heavy green doors:
COWARD
Half an hour of wire brushing the door down and three coats of paint later, the word was finally erased from the doors. Shona was kneeling down cleaning the paint off her hands when Bertie’s shadow loomed over her.
“Was this you?” Shona asked, looking up, her face stony.
“Not personally, no. But while you were at home playing happy families, we were all out here making history. Staking our claim to a future where you can have a family like yours, you know what I mean?” Bertie raised an eyebrow, encouraging Shona to get her hint. “You know, Shona, you need to think carefully about which side you’re on. Us girls are tired of being pushed around by Neanderthal men. I can’t promise your place here won’t get caught up in the crossfire next time.”
“Is that a threat, Bertie?” Shona stood up and glared at her.
“Just a friendly warning. Choose wisely, girl.”
Chloe and Dorothy noticed that Shona had been quiet all through dinner and now, as they all sat on the couch together, Dorothy took the opportunity to ask what was wrong.
“Why can’t people just all get along together?” Dorothy asked after Shona had filled her in on the events of last night.
“People just always wanna fight about something,” Chloe added, shifting in her seat, then fanning herself.
“I suppose they were just trying to speak up for themselves and get the cops to leave them alone. But they ain’t gonna leave them alone now. They’ll be all over that bar now looking for reasons to close it down. Even though most of the damage last night was actually done by the cops, so I heard. Oh, they tried to make it look convincing to the townsfolk caught up in it. Lawrence told them that Bertie’s gang struck first, but Alice was telling me that the cops were instructed to get anyone who goes to the bar fired. That’s why the bakery and the grocery store seemed to get the brunt of it all. Alice and Edie managed to keep their jobs though after agreeing to help pay for the damage, but I bet they’ll all be a lot quieter now over at the bar. Lawrence is picking them off one by one, turning the town against Bertie and her girls. I’ll be surprised if she’s still in business by the end of the month if she doesn’t pipe down.”
“Then you need to stay away from those girls. They sound like trouble. The cops might hit the garage next and we all don’t need any more attention brought to us and our setup,” Chloe huffed.
“You’re right. We got our dream home and I got my whole world in this room right now. I don’t want nothing to ruin that.”
Chapter 18
As the warmth of April 1959 grew day by day, so did Chloe’s baby bump. Shona, her stomach churning with nerves, was never more than ten feet away from the telephone on the garage wall.
Then it rang.
Three minutes later, after apologizing to the customer that had just pulled up for his oil change, Shona was wrapping the chain around the garage door handles. Bounding over to her truck, she jumped inside and sped off, nerves and excitement fizzing through her veins as she fought to control the grin that had spread broadly across her face. “This is it,” she said for the hundredth time as she raced home. Minutes later she skidded into the driveway, sand and dirt billowing up from her tires.
“Dorothy, I’m home. What’s happening?” she yelled as she burst through the door.
“In here,” Dorothy called back.
Shona found her and Chloe in the kitchen, Chloe leaning over the kitchen counters with Dorothy rubbing her back. A tray of tea glasses lay smashed on the floor next to the sink.
“Baby, are you alright?” Shona asked, running up behind her.
“Watch that glass,” Chloe’s ragged voice rang out between heavy breaths.
“We need to get her to the hospital, Shona,” Dorothy said. “There’s a bag already packed in the bedroom next to the dresser. Go get it.”
Shona sprinted into the bedroom and found the bag, and then ran back to the kitchen and took Chloe’s free arm, her other one tightly held by the old lady who was walking Chloe to the front door.
“You got the keys?”
“Yeah,” Shona replied.
“Good, then let’s go,” Dorothy said.
“Are you sure this is it?” Shona asked. Chloe groaned as another contraction shuddered through her body.
“Did you see the puddle on the kitchen floor?” Dorothy snapped. Shona nodded. “Then I’m sure. Now come on.”
Between them, they managed to get Chloe down the couple of steps from the porch and into the truck. Shona ran around to the driver’s seat and hit the gas.
“It’s OK, baby, I’ll be with you every step of the way,” Shona said to Chloe, holding her hand.
“You’d better be. I can’t do this without you. And promise me you won’t let them give me any of that twilight sleep crap. I read about it in Woman’s Day. I think it’s bad stuff.”
“OK, baby, I’ll tell the doctor.” Shona tried to comfort her along the way to the hospital, but Chloe’s eyes were
filling with terror by the second at what was happening to her. Shona hadn’t realized fully until this moment just what a massive thing Chloe was about to do. Shona looked past Chloe to Dorothy who was sitting by her side still rubbing Chloe’s back.
It’ll all be OK, the old lady’s eyes silently communicated back.
The next four hours that passed were the longest of Shona’s entire life. Sitting in the less-than-private hospital waiting area next to the delivery room that Chloe’s gurney had been wheeled into, she paced the floor, her nails bitten down to their beds, as Dorothy sat staring at the posters on the wall opposite.
“Eight hours,” the old lady said all of a sudden.
Shona stopped pacing and stared at her, her own face blank. “What?”
“Eight hours. That’s the average for the first one. I read it in that magazine you brought home last week.”
We’re only halfway? Shona thought. Down the corridor, a painful groan echoed out, causing Shona’s own heart to twist when she heard it.
“Why won’t they let me in there?” Shona yelled, pointing in the direction of the delivery room. “She needs me. I promised I wouldn’t leave her.”
“Look, calm down. Even fathers of babies don’t go in there. They ain’t gonna understand who you are, now, are they?” Dorothy replied. “She’s in good hands. The doctors know what they’re doing. You told them about the twilight sleep, so you’ve done all you can.”
Another hour passed before finally a nurse came into the waiting area to give them both an update.
“Are you Mrs. Clark’s family?” the young nurse asked, looking between the expectant faces of Dorothy and Shona.
“Yeah. What’s happening? How’s Chloe?” Dorothy asked. Shona remained silent, the questions catching in her throat as she prayed it wasn’t bad news.
“She’s doin’ OK. There have been some complications, with her refusin’ pain relief, but the doctors are doin’ all they can.”
The nurse’s words were like bee stings to Shona. “Please, I need to be in there,” she begged. “I promised I wouldn’t leave her.”
“I’m sorry, I can’t let anyone in there. I’ll come back out in a little while when I have more news.”
The nurse walked away and back into the delivery room, closing the door firmly behind her.
“I can’t stand this,” Shona blurted out, kicking the garbage pail by the door.
By the ninth hour of Chloe’s labor, the atmosphere in the waiting area seemed to grow heavier by the minute. Lots of nurses were coming and going, their faces graver each time the delivery room door opened. Dorothy had fallen asleep in her high-backed chair but Shona was standing watching the door, her hands rooted in her pockets. The loud groans from the delivery room had quietened down, but rather than being replaced by a baby cry, all that filled the air was an ominous silence.
The delivery room door opened and the nurse from before appeared. Her concerned eyes looked over at Shona, her hands clasped. Shona looked down at the nurse’s apron. It was mottled with dark red blood.
“We’re havin’ a little bit of trouble gettin’ baby out. Mrs. Clark is getting tired and not pushin’ hard enough,” she said, a worried look in her large brown eyes.
“Get out of my way. I need to be in there.” Shona barged her way past her into the delivery room.
“Ma’am, you can’t be in here,” another nurse said, taken aback by the commotion by the door.
“I need to know what’s happening,” Shona replied, looking around the semi-dark room. There were three nurses bustling around, removing heavily blood-stained towels from Chloe’s bedside. There was a doctor leaning over her, checking her pulse with one hand and staring at his watch. He looked up when he heard Shona’s voice.
“Are you related to Mrs. Clark?” he asked. Shona nodded. “Then I’m going to need your help.” He beckoned Shona to the opposite side of Chloe’s bed, over to which Shona bounded.
Chloe, white as the sheet she was lying on, looked exhausted. Her hair was matted to her forehead with sweat, her eyes closed, her breathing ragged.
“I need you to calm her down,” the doctor said softly. “Her heartbeat is racing. It’s putting the baby under a lot of stress. Can you do that for me?” His chocolate brown eyes eased Shona into action.
Shona picked up Chloe’s free hand and began to stroke it. “Hey,” she began, catching herself before she whispered a word she shouldn’t in public. “Chloe, it’s me. I’m here.”
The doctor monitored Chloe’s vital signs as Shona’s soft voice poured into Chloe’s ear.
“It’s working. Keep talking to her,” the doctor said, smiling. Seconds later Chloe’s head lifted, her eyes opening a crack.
“Hey,” Shona murmured. She shrank down to her knees, her head level with Chloe’s. Taking her opportunity while the doctor’s head was turned, she stroked her hair and put her mouth close to Chloe’s ear. “Come on, baby, you can do this.”
Chloe turned her head to face Shona. “Promise me you won’t leave?” she said, her voice cracking.
“I promise. Now with the next contraction you need to push, and push hard. Our baby wants to come out, but it needs a little help,” she whispered.
Chloe nodded. There was a moment of silence before her face screwed up in pain.
“Push. Now,” Shona ordered. Chloe lifted her head off the bed and let out an almighty groan, her teeth gritted, eyes clamped shut.
“Here we go,” the doctor confirmed, resuming his position between Chloe’s parted legs. “That’s the head fully out,” he announced seconds later.
“That’s it, that’s it, keep going. You’re doing great!” Shona yelled, squeezing Chloe’s hand. “Almost there, just one more push. You can do it, come on.”
After one final massive push, Chloe fell back to the bed, her chest heaving up and down, her body completely spent. Shona looked on in bewilderment as the doctor lifted the motionless baby up, inspected it, then passed it over to the nurse standing over him. Their faces were unreadable as the baby disappeared out of sight over to the table in the far end of the room. Shona looked down at Chloe who was in a state of complete exhaustion, then back over to where the baby was.
Nothing. No sound at all.
Outside the delivery room, Dorothy paced the floor waiting. Over half an hour had passed since Shona had gone in there and she had begun to fear the worst. She sat down in her chair and leaned her head back against the cool tiles, her eyes closed.
Please. Please, God, let them have this one, she prayed.
Moments later, a smile crept across her face as a baby’s first cry filled the silence.
Shona looked down at the baby sleeping peacefully in Chloe’s arms. The feeling inside her was indescribable, her mind completely blank.
“What do you think?” Chloe said, looking up at Shona.
“He’s perfect. Just perfect,” Shona murmured. “I’m so proud of you.”
“Now, you’ll have to stay with us for the night so we can keep an eye on you both,” the doctor said, appearing beside the bed. “But you can go home tomorrow. You did very well, Mrs. Clark, and your sister here was a godsend.”
Shona looked at Chloe, both of them suppressing their knowing smiles.
“Oh, and that little tyke’s gonna need a name. We need it for the register,” he added before nodding and leaving them alone.
“What are we calling you then, little one?” Chloe gushed, gazing down at her son.
“How about David?”
Chloe’s eyes widened. “David? But that’s…”
“Your brother’s name. I remember.”
Chloe, tears now streaming from her face, nodded. “Perfect.”
Dorothy was waiting on the veranda for Shona and Chloe to come home with David for the first time. Her hands were clasped to her chest in anticipation and excitement. She had seen David briefly the previous night and couldn’t wait to hold him again.
“Here he is,” she called out as Shona hel
ped Chloe out of the truck. Shona then reached over the seat to pick up the Moses basket.
“Hi Dorothy. Gosh, what’s that I can smell? Is that chicken pie?” Chloe asked.
“Sure is. Come in and get settled, then I’ll serve you some,” Dorothy replied, taking the basket from Shona to allow her to help Chloe into the house. As soon as David was settled into his crib, Chloe and Shona met Dorothy in the kitchen and sat down to tuck into Dorothy’s delicious looking pie.
“How are you feeling, sweetheart?” Dorothy said as the three of them sat back in their chairs with full stomachs.
“I’m fine now. Just exhausted. And a little sore,” Chloe replied, wincing.
“Not surprising. Well, don’t you worry. We’ll take turns looking after that little guy in there.”
Shona looked between Dorothy and Chloe, the words not able to form in her head for her to express her feelings.
“I think I’m gonna go lie down for a while,” Chloe said, getting up from the table.
“OK, baby. I’ll keep watch.”
They both watched as Chloe disappeared into the bedroom.
“I’m so proud of you both. You know that,” Dorothy gushed. “I made something today. I’ll go and get it.” She rose and went into the living room, then reappeared holding a little brown knitted bear. “For David.” She handed it to Shona. “Walt and I, as you know, were never blessed with a child of our own. I’ve always wanted an occasion to make one of these.”
Shona took the bear from her wrinkled hand and gazed lovingly at it. “Dorothy, it’s perfect. Thank you so much. But, well, Chloe and I were talking before and we were wondering if…” Shona paused. “Well, we know it can’t be official like, but would you like to be David’s grandma?”