by Jewel Daniel
Within minutes, Tamara was seated on a chair in the center of the room, while men urged Kwabena to remove her garter. The guys were all chanting, "Use your mouth. Use your mouth," encouraging Kwabena to remove the garter with his teeth rather than his hands.
As Kwabena raised Tamara's skirt, she felt a contraction so long and hard she wanted to scream. "Ben, I think the baby's coming," Tamara whispered frantically.
Kwabena could not hear above the din of the chants and proceeded to remove the garter from her leg with his teeth. Suddenly Tamara felt a gush of warm water escape her. Her skirt was wet, her legs were wet. Her water had broken.
Kwabena stood up staggering slightly, a panicked expression on his face. He was happy, excited and scared all at the same time. Despite his normally cool and calm demeanor, Kwabena froze. Tamara was having his baby, and she was having it now.
They had barely made it up to the master bedroom when another contraction hit. This one was barely a minute behind the first one and was accompanied by a second gush of amniotic fluid.
Tamara got to the bed, just as Kwabena's mother entered the room.
"Let me examine you," Akwape said.
"Hell, no!" Tamara responded emphatically before another long contraction hit. The contractions were now coming one on top of the other.
"Tammy, Mama is a midwife. She knows what she's doing. I'll call Dr. Falcon, and we'll meet him at the hospital."
Tamara reluctantly allowed Akwape to examine her. Akwape looked at Kwabena. "Forget about hospital. We aren't going anywhere. The baby is crowning."
Akwape immediately took charge, barking orders to the women who had accompanied them upstairs. In the meantime, the party downstairs resumed under the direction of Darlene and Chris. The music, a mixture of West African drumming, soukous, R&B, hip-hop and jazz could be heard through the open French doors of the master bedroom.
Kwabena stood by the bed, holding Tamara's hand. Akwape looked at him. "Get out!" she barked in heavily accented English. "Childbirth is a women's affair. Men have no duty here."
Kwabena looked at his mother and responded firmly but respectfully, "No Mama, my place is here. I put that baby in there and I want to see it come out."
Akwape shouted to him sharply in Akan. Kwabena answered back in the same language, carefully keeping his tone reverent, but maintaining his position.
Leyoca looked at the exchange before butting in, "In Ghanaian tradition, it may be taboo for men to witness childbirth, but this is America. You don't know how reassuring it is to see a man willing to take responsibility for his child from birth. Akwape, this is the first chance he will get to really bond with his baby. Let him stay if he so desires."
Akwape looked at Tamara, silently questioning her desire for Kwabena to witness the birth. Tamara looked at her and took a deep breath. "Mama, it's ok. I want Ben in here with me." She looked at Ben as he lovingly wiped her sweat-drenched brow with a handkerchief.
"Ok, push," Akwape instructed her.
Tamara pushed with all her might. Perspiration soaked her wedding dress. She squeezed on Kwabena's hand until it went numb.
"Push!"
Tamara pushed with all her might, then lay back exhausted. Suddenly she heard the cries of a baby.
"It's a boy," Akwape said excitedly. She called to Kwabena. "You can cut the cord."
Kwabena smiled and left his station by Tamara's bed side, gently cutting the umbilical cord with sewing scissors, sterilized by boiling water and rubbing alcohol.
Akwape cleaned the baby as best she could and placed the crying infant in Tamara's arms. Tamara looked at her tiny son, and tears came to her eyes. Kwabena could hardly hold back the tears of joy as he looked at his little baby.
Leyoca came over to them and smiled happily. "You broke the trend," she observed.
Tamara looked at her confused. "Single motherhood?"
"No, daughters. My grandmother had one girl, my mother had two girls, Leticia had two girls, I had a girl, and Ebony had two girls. You have a baby boy."
Tamara smiled and looked down at her baby boy. She looked up at her husband and their eyes held. She never felt this loved before in her life. She was complete.
In his wildest dreams Kwabena never imagined his life taking this turn, but he couldn't be happier. In the distance, he could hear the sound of the ambulance coming to take Tamara and his baby to the hospital. He could hear the revelers outside partying. He looked down at Tamara.
"What shall we name him?"
Tamara smiled. "Let's call him Kwabena."
Kwabena shook his head. "Kwabena means born on a Tuesday. Today is Saturday."
"How about Benjamin?"
"Benjamin junior." He smiled. "I love the name. His second name can be Kwame. That means born on a Saturday. It will make Papa very happy."
Tamara looked down at the tiny infant sleeping peacefully in her arms, then looked up at her loving husband. "He looks like a Kwame. Benjamin Kwame Opoku, I love that name."
"I love you, Tammy."
"I love you too, Ben."
They looked at each other and knew they had found love, they had found home, they had a family, they were complete.