Where or When: A Pearl Harbor Romance

by Bretton, Barbara

  "Over here!” Eden motioned for him to hurry. "I found a place for us."

  Lilly seemed to have fallen asleep in his arms. He made his way across the rocky path, muttering a prayer that he wouldn't misstep.

  "Look," said Eden when they reached her side, "Beneath the bush."

  She lifted a heavy, blossom-laden branch and he saw what appeared to be some kind of shallow cave, barely large enough to shield them. A small shovel rested near the entrance and a well-worn baseball peeked out from inside a bright red pail.

  "Some kids must've dug out a club house," he said. "Talk about luck."

  A series of four explosions shook him right down to his fillings. They were going to need luck, he thought as Eden shook out a receiving blanket from Lilly's bag and spread it on the sand. The bombing had been going on for more than forty minutes now and he had heard only minimal return fire.

  Eden smoothed the blanket and he lay Lilly down, resting her head against a bunched up nightgown Eden had rolled into a makeshift pillow.

  "My watch," Lilly said, as another vicious labor pain released her from its grip. "In my handbag.” He bent down and pulled it from the outer compartment and handed it to her just as she fell into another exhausted doze.

  Eden's blue eyes widened as she looked from her sister-in-law to Rick. "Now what do we do?" she asked, peering over his shoulder toward the smoke-darkened sky.

  He caught the unmistakable odor of sulfur. "Damned if I know."

  "Rick!” She placed her hand on his forearm. "I was hoping you'd--"

  "Know how to deliver a baby? Sorry, but basic training never covered that.” He draped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. "Just telling the truth, princess.” He stopped, wishing he hadn't used that term. "I didn't--"

  "Forget it," she said, giving him a wry smile. "I suppose I've been called worse."

  He wanted to tell her he'd been wrong, that she was a hell of a lot more than a pretty face and a big dress allowance, that he'd been angry and envious and so damn afraid of losing her that he'd struck out in all directions last night like a wild man but Lilly's cry shattered the moment.

  Eden was at her side in a flash. "What is it, Lilly? Is it the pain?"

  Lilly nodded and grabbed for Eden's hand. "Too fast," she managed, her voice reedy and thin. "The pains are coming so close together...less than ninety seconds between the last two...."

  Panic grabbed him by the throat. Jesus, not now! Not in the middle of nowhere.

  Another contraction tore through Lilly's body and he watched, horrified, as her back arched and her stomach seemed to twist with pain before his eyes. Eden looked up and met his eyes. "The baby's on its way," she said.

  "If she can just wait until we can get to the hospital, we can--"

  "She can't.” Her tone held a thread of steel that surprised him. "The baby's coming now."

  The Japanese planes bombing the Harbor didn't scare him as much as the thought of that small life so eager to enter the world. "What the hell are we going to do?"

  Her smile was half fear, half exultation. "I think we're going to deliver a baby."

  "I don't know a damn thing about it."

  "Neither do I, but Lilly's a doctor. She'll help us."

  Short of delivering her own baby, Rick couldn't imagine what Lilly could possibly do to help them. It seemed as if she had more than enough to worry about as it was. His own gut was twisted in a knot of sympathy and that knot tightened with every contraction Lilly had. He couldn't help wondering what he'd do at the first sign of blood.

  He looked at Eden. She was calm, a hell of a lot more self-possessed than he was. That flip remark of his a few minutes ago still hung in the air between them and he realized again how unfair it had been. The woman in front of him wasn't anything like the pampered little princess he'd met at the Royal Hawaiian. That thread of steel he'd detected became more evident with each minute that passed. Put to the test, Eden had the strength of any ten men he knew. Why the hell had it taken him so long to realize it?

  #

  One day in the future, Eden knew she would laugh at the look of utter panic on Rick's face but that day was still far away. She tried to keep that thought in her mind as she held Lilly's hand through another bone-crushing contraction. Sooner or later the time would come when they would look back on this experience with the sweet fondness of memory but right now they had to live through it.

  Another series of bombs exploded in the distance. She closed her eyes and drew in a deep steadying breath while Lilly's cry pierced the air. She'd always believed that the Almighty knew all and saw everything, so this was probably part of some grand design. She couldn't imagine why He would see fit to bring Lilly's baby into the world in the middle of an air attack, but it was becoming more obvious by the second that they had no choice in the matter. She just hoped He explained it to her one day.

  Lilly's pains were coming so close together that the woman scarcely had time to draw a breath between them. Eden had no first hand experience in giving birth, but every horror story she'd ever heard about the pain of childbirth came back to her in vivid, torturous detail.

  She glanced at her watch. "Less than one minute since the last one," she said to Rick. "There's no turning back now.” She pointed toward the two bags near the entrance to their makeshift cave. "Let me have all of her nightgowns, please.” She eyed his shirt. "And--"

  He began to unbutton it quickly. "I'm one step ahead of you."

  He turned away as Eden helped Lilly remove her undergarments. Between contractions, Lilly managed to tell Eden what to expect. Beads of sweat ran down Eden's spine as the enormity of what was about to happen hit her right between the eyes. Following Lilly's instructions, Eden draped her lower torso with a nightgown and folded a silky robe into a pillow to receive the baby.

  Lilly's slender legs were bent at the knee, her thighs spread apart. "The baby," Eden whispered. "I think I can see his head.” She heard a low moan from Rick. "Don't you dare faint on me," she said, looking up at him. "I need you."

  "I'm okay." He sounded anything but. "Just tell me what to do."

  "Wipe Lilly's brow," she said. Lilly met her eyes, a weak but knowing smile on her face. Lilly didn't need her brow wiped, but neither woman needed to have Rick faint dead away on them.

  Beyond their little hiding place, the world she knew and loved could very well be disappearing beneath the enemy's bombs. She wanted to throw herself into Rick's arms and have him kiss away her fears, tell her this was all a bad dream and that any moment she would wake up in her own bed with the sun streaming through the open window. But she knew this wasn't a dream and the lives of her sister-in-law and her unborn nephew rested in her hands.

  Lilly's belly grew rigid as a violent contraction wracked her body. Despite the very real danger everywhere, Eden felt herself borne on a wave of euphoria.

  "I'm going to push," Lilly panted, as Rick supported her shoulders.

  Eden gasped as she watched the baby's head stretch the delicate tissues to the breaking point. Please, God, she prayed silently. Please let Lilly and the baby be all right...

  "Place one hand below the opening," Lilly instructed, her words almost lost in a guttural moan.

  Eden took a deep breath and willed herself to stop shaking. She placed a hand below the opening to the birth canal and waited. Time telescoped around her as Lilly performed the hardest work of her life.

  "He's coming!” She watched as the head emerged from between Lilly's thighs. "My God!” At first the head was face down then as he emerged fully, his head turned to face Lilly's thigh, as if seeking his mother's warmth and comfort. She carefully supported the infant's head as adrenaline raced through her veins like water through rapids. She'd never felt more alive, more valuable in her life. Rick's eyes were riveted to hers and for an instant she pitied him because he could never know the miracle happening right there in front of them. "Here come the shoulders!” First one tiny rounded shoulder appeared after a contraction, qui
ckly followed by the other.

  "This is it," Lilly panted. "This is it...."

  In a sudden rush of blood and fluid, the rest of his body came into the world. For one horrifying instant Eden was terrified she would drop him for his tiny body was slippery, covered in a whitish substance that made it hard for her to hold on to him. She noticed immediately that he had her brother's reddish hair.

  "He looks like Tony!" Eden said with a wild whoop of joy. "He's beautiful."

  "And he's a girl," said Rick. He glanced at his watch. "9:20 a.m., 7 December 1941."

  "A girl," said Lilly in a voice of pure emotion. "My little girl."

  Choking back tears of joy, Eden held the infant by her tiny ankles so the mucous could drain and they all breathed a sigh of relief as the baby's first cry rang out.

  But it wasn't over yet. Lilly arched again in pain. Eden cradled her newborn niece between the mother's thighs as the afterbirth was delivered. There seemed to be an awful lot of blood to Eden and she pressed a clean, folded nightgown against Lilly as a temporary pad.

  Lilly was laughing and crying simultaneously. "My baby...I wish your daddy was here to meet you."

  Rick got up and stepped outside the hideaway.

  "The umbilical cord," she said to Lilly. "I don't have anything to cut it with."

  "Tie it off with something," said Lilly, "but don't cut it. That can wait until we're at the hospital. I'll talk you through it."

  Following instructions, Eden tore the ribbon tie from Lilly's robe and, after making certain the cord no longer had a pulse beat, she tied it off in two places.

  "My niece," Eden whispered as she swabbed the infant's tiny nose and perfect rosebud mouth. "What a way to come into the world.” So little, so perfect, so wondrously innocent. Tears of joy and envy rolled down her cheeks as she wrapped the baby in a blanket and handed her to her mother. "Lilly Aoki Forrester, I'd like you to meet your daughter."

  It almost hurt to look at Lilly. Her beautiful face was radiant with love, a deep and powerful kind of love that knew no boundaries or limitations. The baby lay cradled against Lilly's chest, making mewing sounds.

  "I think you're hungry," Lilly said in a tone of hushed reverence. She reached for the buttons on her nightgown. "Let me see what I can do."

  The moment was private, special, to be shared only by mother and child. Rick was standing just outside the entrance to the shelter and, rising to her feet, Eden joined him. His eyes glistened with unshed tears and he turned slightly to hide his emotions. They said nothing at first. He simply placed his arm around her shoulder and she rested her cheek against his chest and knew a second of perfect happiness there in the middle of madness. She felt so close to him, almost as if they were one person, of one mind. They'd helped to bring a tiny human being into the world. It wasn't every day you came face to face with a miracle. The barriers between them were gone, replaced by a sense of intimacy unlike anything she'd ever known. If only the moment could last.

  But, of course, it couldn't. Soon enough there would be time to say the things that needed to be said, but right now there were Lilly and the baby to consider.

  "We have to get them to the hospital," said Eden, reluctantly breaking the spell.

  "I wouldn't risk it now," said Rick. "I haven't heard any explosions for a few minutes but that doesn't mean it's over yet."

  "Lilly's blood pressure problem," she reminded him. "I don't want anything to happen to her."

  He gestured toward Eden's red car visible through the bushes. "Not in that gas-driven bulls eye," he said. "It could be a suicide mission."

  Eden looked over her shoulder at the mother and child. Lilly had fallen into a deep slumber while the baby suckled at her breast. They'd come so far--and been so lucky--that she wouldn't do anything to jeopardize their safety. "Oh God," she said. "We can't stay here forever. Lilly's bleeding and the baby needs to be cleaned. I don't have clean towels or--"

  He pulled her close and kissed her silent. "I'll go."

  "What?"

  "I'll drive to the hospital and send someone back."

  "You can't do that. It's dangerous out there--you said so yourself."

  He met her eyes. "I don't think we have a choice."

  She touched his face, trying to memorize it with her fingertips. "I wish I could go with you."

  "I don't want to leave you here alone," he said, obviously torn. "If it wasn't for Lilly and the baby, I'd never--"

  "I can handle it," she said. "We'll be fine."

  He looked at her curiously. "You're something, princess," he said, smoothing her hair back from her forehead. They both smiled at his use of the word, recognizing it had become an endearment. "I think you could do just about anything you set your mind to."

  "I know," she said, believing it for the first time in her life. "I think so, too."

  Behind them the baby cried.

  "I'd better get going," said Rick, holding her tightly.

  She nodded, biting back her tears. "Hurry."

  "I love you," he said, his voice clear and certain. "Whatever else happens, don't forget that."

  He was gone before she could say a word.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  I love you, Eden. She clung to Rick's words as she waited with Lilly and the baby in the shallow cave. I love you.

  Time seemed suspended. Only the slow ticking away of the minutes on Lilly's watch gave it any sense of reality. Seconds didn't exist. Minutes seemed like hours. Fear was a palpable presence, standing right next to her, waiting to pounce.

  "What do you think is happening out there?" Lilly asked, cradling her baby close to her breast.

  "I don't know.” She tried to force a smile but failed. "I just don't know.” The sound of bombs falling had finally abated, leaving a strange stillness in its wake. Birds were singing somewhere outside as if it were just another Sunday morning in paradise.

  "I can't imagine our navy being caught by surprise, can you?" asked Lilly.

  "Not really.” She knew how hard her father and the other men worked and, like everyone, she'd heard all the speculation these past few months. "I'll bet some of the explosions we heard were enemy planes being shot down."

  "Owen," said Lilly. "I hope he's safe."

  "Of course he is," said Eden. "He wasn't anywhere near the base."

  "The golf course?"

  "Where else? He had on his special golfing clothes and his hat--” She stopped, struck by memory. "His St. Christopher medal. He wasn't wearing his lucky charm.” A chill breeze seemed to wash over her.

  "He probably had it in his pocket," said Lilly soothingly.

  Eden shook her head. "He never puts it in his pocket. He always wears it around his neck."

  "The chain is broken. Don't you remember? He mentioned it the other night at dinner."

  Eden brightened. "Maybe that's it. Daddy would never go golfing without his lucky charm.” She'd always jokingly complained that Owen loved golfing more than he loved his own daughter.

  They fell silent, both women listening to the absence of noise. After two hours of bombing, it seemed almost ominous.

  "You must hate me," Lilly said suddenly.

  Eden started in surprise. "Don't be ridiculous."

  "If it weren't for the baby and me, you and Rick would be safe somewhere."

  "Don't talk like that, Lilly. I'm glad we were around to help you."

  Lilly gave her a wry smile. "A few months ago you wouldn't have said that."

  "You're right," Eden said with a short laugh. "I probably would have run in the opposite direction."

  "No, you wouldn't have run," said Lilly. "You would have done the right thing no matter how you felt."

  "Are you sure of that? I was wretched to you, Lilly.” Her jealousy toward her accomplished sister-in-law had known no bounds.

  Lilly didn't deny it. "You may have been a bit unkind at times, but you would never have left me alone. I'm certain of that."

  Eden considered Lilly's words. Had this str
ength of spirit been inside her soul all this time, waiting for her to realize it was there? "I'd like to think you're right."

  "I am right," said Lilly. "I knew it that day at the Windward Club when you telephoned for Tony to come and rescue his wife."

  "That day at the club seems a hundred years ago. So much has happened.” Mitzi Montgomery and Sarajane Hawks were distant memories from another time and place. How could she have ever believed people like that were special? "The baby...Tony joining the navy--" She gestured toward the world beyond their hiding spot. "Whatever it is that's going on out there."

  "And Rick?"

  She nodded. "And Rick.”

  "Do you love him?"

  The question embarrassed Eden but she met it head on. "Yes," she said, admitting it aloud for the very first time. "I do.” How she prayed she'd have the chance to tell him so.

  "He's a good man," Lilly said. "He'll go far."

  Eden laughed softly. "Isn't that funny? That used to be so important to me, but it just doesn't seem to matter any more."

  "It does to him."

  "I know," said Eden. She didn't want to think that it might matter even more to him than she did. That was the one rival she couldn't defeat.

  Lilly started to say something but Eden raised her hand to stop her.

  "Listen," she said, rising to her feet. "In the distance...I hear something."

  "It's a truck," said Lilly, holding the baby even closer. "Maybe it's an ambulance.” She started for the mouth of the shallow cave. "I'll bet Rick made it to the hospital and got help for us.” She also understood that once he'd made certain help was on its way to them, Rick would have to live up to the oath he'd taken the day he joined the navy.

  "Be careful," said Lilly. "It could be....” Her voice trailed off.

  She didn't need to finish that sentence because Eden knew exactly what else it could be. Visions of enemy sailors swarming the beaches in search of hapless civilians made her blood run cold, but she couldn't give in to her fears. They were in the middle of nowhere. She had to venture outside and make herself visible if they were to have any hope of rescue.