by Pamela Bauer
“They’re not apart at all. They’re one after another,” she said, her face twisting in distress. “Faith, I’m scared. I think I’m having the baby.”
Faith put her hand on Lori’s stomach to feel the contractions. Lori was right. They were coming one on top of another. She reached for the phone and dialed 9-1-1, requesting immediate medical assistance.
“I thought I was waiting for Greg to take me to the hospital.” Fear widened Lori’s eyes.
“No, that’s not a good idea.” Faith dialed Adam’s number again. Just as she had done with the 9-1-1 dispatcher, she spoke calmly. “I wanted to let you know that I’ve called an ambulance to take Lori to the hospital.”
Adam didn’t question why. It didn’t surprise Faith. There was no way he could not hear his sister-in-law’s cries in the background. “If the ambulance has as much trouble getting to you as we’re having getting home, it’ll be a while before it gets there,” he warned her.
“Is driving that bad?”
“The roads are glazed ice. We’re crawling at speeds under ten miles per hour and we’ve had to take at least half a dozen detours because of accidents blocking the roads. Faith, are you going to be able to handle things there?”
“Yes,” she answered confidently. “Tell Greg everything is under control. I’ll call you as soon as the ambulance arrives.”
“How bad is it out there?” Lori demanded as soon as she’d hung up.
“We’re having an ice storm. I already told you that. It’s so typical of March, isn’t it? Warm one day, freezing rain the next,” she stated nonchalantly, although she was feeling anything but unaffected by the storm.
“Why isn’t the ambulance crew here yet?”
“Because we just called them.” Faith put a cold cloth on Lori’s forehead, then placed her hand on her stomach. Something was telling her the baby was not far from being born. “Lori, where do you think you’d be most comfortable having the baby?”
“I chose a birthing room. They just remodeled the OB wing at the hospital and—”
“No,” Faith interrupted her. “I mean, where do you want to have it here? In the house. Do you think you can make it upstairs to one of the spare bedrooms?”
Lori panicked at the realization that she wasn’t going to make it to the hospital. “I can’t have it here! My doctor’s not here! Greg’s not even here!”
“You don’t need them. You’re the one who’s going to do all the work and I’m going to be here to catch it. I know how to do this, Lori. You have to trust me.”
A strong contraction temporarily halted Lori’s panic. When it had passed she said, “I don’t think I can walk up the stairs.”
“Then we’ll do it right here. It’s nice and warm with the fire.”
It was then that Faith realized Lori wasn’t the only one with a look of panic on her face. She turned to Megan and said, “I need you to go upstairs and play in your room for a while. Will you do that for me?”
“But I want to help.”
“I think Lori would be more comfortable if you were in your room, wouldn’t you?” Faith looked to the other woman, expecting her to agree, but she didn’t.
“No, it’s all right. If I were in the hospital she’d be able to come into the birthing room.” She reached for her niece’s hand. “You can be my coach until Greg gets here, okay?”
Megan nodded, her face showing how seriously she took the role.
Faith looked at Lori, then at Megan. “All right. I don’t want to leave you alone, but I’ve got to round up a few things. I’m going to take Megan with me, okay?”
They went first into the kitchen where Faith put two pots of water on the stove to boil. Then they rushed through the house gathering items such as scissors, clean sheets and washcloths. A visit to the medicine cabinet yielded a syringe and a package of sterile gloves.
“We need a couple of clothespins,” Faith told Megan as she opened and closed drawers quickly. “Do you think your father has any?”
“He doesn’t do the laundry. Jill does.”
Jill was the cleaning woman who came once a week. She had her own workroom in the basement. Faith ran downstairs and rummaged through the cabinets of cleaning products but found no clothespins. She did, however, find a metal clamp, which she tucked into her pocket.
Faith knew she had little time and went back up the stairs two at a time. With Megan’s help, she set up Lori’s birthing area in front of the fireplace. “Megan, come with me and we’ll wash our hands,” she told the six-year-old.
They soaped up and rinsed off several times before Faith opened the package containing the sterile gloves and slipped them on. With each item she carried into the living room, she listened for the doorbell to ring announcing the arrival of the paramedics.
Soon she stopped looking at the door and focused on Lori as she prepared for delivery. “Let your body do the work.”
“I can’t do this. It’s too hard,” Lori told her, fatigued.
“Yes, you can. It’s the hardest pain you’ll ever have, but the easiest to forget.” The phone rang and Faith instructed Megan to answer it.
She heard the little girl say, “She can’t come to the phone. Lori’s having the baby!”
“Who was it?” Faith asked.
“It was Uncle Greg. He said they’re almost here.”
Neither Faith nor Lori had time to comment. The top of the baby’s head began to crown. Faith put her fingers on the cap to keep it from coming too quickly. “Stop pushing and pant, Lori.”
Lori did as she was told and the baby’s head rotated. Faith could see his forehead and then the rest of his face. “One more push, Lori, and you’re done.”
Lori pushed one more time and the infant’s body slid into Faith’s hands. She felt as if a jolt of electricity had traveled through her. He started crying right away and she held him up for Lori to see.
Tears of joy spilled onto Lori’s cheeks. “He’s beautiful. He’s so beautiful.”
Faith cleaned the fluids out of his nose and mouth with the syringe. Then she took the scissors and cut the umbilical cord. “Hand me that clamp,” she told Megan, who did as requested. Faith wrapped Matthew Novak in a yellow terry-cloth towel and gave him to his mother just as the doorbell rang.
Megan ran to open the door and the paramedics came rushing in. Faith gladly stepped aside and allowed them to take over. Following on their heels were Adam, Greg and a gray-haired gentleman.
Within minutes Lori, the baby and Greg were in the ambulance on their way to the hospital. Faith began to dismantle her makeshift delivery room.
“Lori peed on the floor,” Megan told her father as he surveyed the living room.
“No, she didn’t,” Faith corrected her. “Her water broke. I wiped it up.”
“She puked one time, too.”
“Not on the floor,” Faith inserted.
“I never expected my nephew would be able to say he was born in my living room,” Adam said with a bemused shake of his head. “The paramedics said you did the right thing, Faith.”
“Yeah, I know. They told me that, too. I really didn’t do much of anything though. Lori was the one who did all the work.”
“We just caught the baby, didn’t we, Faith?” Megan boasted.
“Megan saw the whole thing?” Adam asked.
Megan nodded, wide-eyed. “You should have seen it! First the head came out, then the shoulders, then the belly and finally the tiny little feet. He was all full of gooey stuff,” she said, wrinkling her face. “And he had stuff in his nose that Faith had to suck out with a—”
Adam held up a hand. “It’s all right. I get the picture.” He bent down to pick up the pillows from the floor. “How about helping put some of this stuff away?”
“All right.”
“We’ll launder these right away,” Faith told him, gathering up the linens. She cast a glance at Megan that told her she expected her help.
“Just put them in the laundry room. I have a c
leaning woman who will do it,” Adam told her.
“It’s better if we launder them right away,” she advised him. “Otherwise the stains will set.”
“Listen to the young lady.” The gray-haired gentleman who’d been standing off to one side came forward. He extended his hand to Faith and gave her a grin. “You must be Faith the Fantastic. I’m Megan’s grandfather…or I guess I should say great-grandfather.”
Faith took the wrinkled hand in her grasp, surprised by the firmness of his handshake.
“I’ve been hearing all kinds of good things about you from this little one here.” He tugged on Megan’s braid with his left hand. He looked at Adam and added, “As well as from a few of the grown-ups in this family, too.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Faith said. “Megan has been saying nice things about you, too.”
“Megan, why don’t you and Grandpa go into the den and play a game while Faith and I clean up?” Adam suggested.
Not wanting to be alone with Adam, Faith was tempted to ask if Megan could help her, but she didn’t want to deprive Adam’s grandfather of time with his great-granddaughter simply because she was worried Adam would mention what had happened last night when he’d taken her home. To her relief, he said nothing about the kiss, but went about helping her pick up the living room.
After they finished gathering the soiled linens, Adam led the way down the stairs to the brightly lit laundry room. He opened one of the wall cabinets and pulled out a bottle of detergent. He punched a couple of buttons on the washer, dumped a capful of detergent into the machine and took the sheets from her hands. He stuffed them into the washing machine, then closed the lid.
“I do know how to launder sheets if necessary,” he told her, standing far too close to her for comfort. He looked down at her blouse. “You should probably wash that, too.”
She glanced down and saw blood stains on the sleeves.
“I have a shirt you can borrow,” he offered.
“It’s all right. I’ll wash it as soon as I get home.”
“That might not be for a while. I feel very fortunate to have made it home without smashing up my car. I would prefer not to leave again until I know that I’m not going to slide through every intersection I approach.”
“But the ambulance…”
“Had a newborn and a mother who needed medical attention. They’ll get through.”
Faith took a tentative step toward the door. “I can probably catch a bus.”
“Be my guest. I don’t think you’ll get past my driveway without falling. As I said, it was a miracle Greg and I even made it here. The highway department is advising no travel until sanding crews have been able to get out, and until it stops raining ice, they won’t be doing that.”
She shoved her hands to her hips. “Are you saying you think I should spend the night here?”
“Would that be so horrible?”
Horrible, no. Uncomfortable, yes. She had no change of clothes, no personal care items. And every time he looked at her she felt as if she had Jell-O for legs. And then there was the matter of the kiss—a kiss they still hadn’t acknowledged today. She hadn’t forgotten and by the look in his eyes, he hadn’t, either.
“I have two guest bedrooms and a six-year-old daughter,” he told her, as if he could read her mind.
She blushed.
“Every time you do that I want to kiss you,” he said, enjoying her discomfort.
“Well, don’t.” She had to step around him to get to the door and by the mischievous look on his face she had a feeling he was going to extract a price for her exit. “We should go back upstairs.”
“In a minute. I want to thank you for being here for my family,” he said with a sincerity that darkened his eyes. “You did a remarkable thing and you did it right.”
“I’m not sure how I knew what to do,” she admitted.
“Maybe you’re a nurse.”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. When I saw Lori having those contractions, I knew what I had to do.”
“Well, it’s a good thing it was you here and not me. I’m not sure I would have been as calm as you were about the whole thing. So thank you.”
He leaned toward her and Faith had a feeling he was going to kiss her, but Megan’s voice called out to them. “Hey, I’m up here with Great-Grandpa. Did you guys forget us?”
“We’ll be right there,” Adam called back. “So should I bring you a shirt?”
“I don’t really have much choice, do I?”
“No.” The grin he gave her was one of satisfaction.
CHAPTER TEN
AS ADAM SAT at his desk, savory aromas drifted into his office. He tried to ignore them, but he knew their source and couldn’t resist the temptation to see what Faith was up to in the kitchen. He’d offered to put a couple of frozen pizzas in the oven but she’d insisted on making dinner for the four of them. Now she and Megan stood side by side working together and singing some silly little song about oats.
Because her clothes were in the wash, Faith had borrowed one of his white dress shirts and a pair of his burgundy silk pajama bottoms. She’d rolled up the sleeves on the shirt and the cuffs on the pajamas, but they still made her look as if she were a child playing dress up with an adult’s clothes. What amazed him was that without any effort on her part at all she could look so sexy.
“I’ll do the cucumber,” Megan announced from her perch on the step stool.
Adam expected Faith to give her an easier chore, but to his surprise, she simply handed her the vegetable peeler. Megan beamed a smile in her direction and began to skin the cucumber to another song he didn’t recognize.
When Faith noticed him standing outside the doorway she said, “I thought you said you had work to do?”
He shoved his hands into his pockets. “Just checking to see if you need anything.”
“No, we’re fine.” She turned to Megan, “Aren’t we?”
Megan gave a cheerful “Yup” and resumed her singing.
Adam nodded and went back to his desk, but he had difficulty concentrating. He couldn’t stop thinking about Faith. Instead of looking at diagrams on his laptop he wanted to be watching her move about the kitchen. Actually he wanted to do more than watch her, and after last night, that urge was greater than ever.
He was grateful when one of the Novak sales reps called and he was forced to turn his attention to business matters. By the time he’d finished the conversation, Megan was at his office door.
“Faith said to tell you to come now. Dinner’s ready.”
“Did you tell Great-Grandpa?”
“Yup,” she said then skipped away.
When Adam walked into the kitchen there were four place settings on the table, but enough food to feed twice as many people.
His grandfather must have thought the same thing because when he strolled in he said, “What a spread!” He nudged Adam with an elbow. “Looks like your little lady knows how to do a proper Sunday dinner, linen tablecloth and all.”
Adam wished his grandfather wouldn’t refer to Faith as his little lady. She was hardly small and she certainly wasn’t his.
“Faith is teaching me how to cook!” Megan boasted. “I peeled the cucumbers by myself.”
His grandfather eyed the vegetables appreciatively. “That’s exactly how I like them. In cream. It’s how your great-grandmother served them. She could have easily set this table.” His eyes took in the mashed potatoes and gravy, the bread, the platter of chicken and the assortment of salads and vegetables and he sighed appreciatively. “Now there was woman who could cook. She could get me to eat anything—even creamed celery.”
“Ah, the wedding food,” Faith stated with a knowing smile.
“Why is it a wedding food?” Megan asked.
Faith lifted her eyebrows. “I don’t know. It just is.”
As soon as everyone was seated and had filled their plates, Adam’s grandfather picked up his fork. He was about to begin eating when Megan stoppe
d him.
“Patties down, Great-Grandpa!” she admonished him.
When he gave her a puzzled look Adam said, “Megan, you need to tell Great-Grandpa what ‘patties’ down means.”
“Put your hands in your lap away from your food, bow your head, close your eyes and thank God for the good food. Privately.” She held her finger to her lips.
His grandfather set down his fork. “Forgive my manners, but it’s been a while since I dined with company at a Sunday dinner table.”
Adam could say the same thing. He usually worked at home on weekends, squeezing meals in between projects. Unless Lori invited him and Megan over for dinner, they either ate frozen foods he’d zap in the microwave or had something delivered from one of the local restaurants.
Like his grandfather, however, he hadn’t forgotten the Sunday afternoons he’d spent at his grandmother’s house as a child. They were some of his fondest memories of his youth. It was true his grandmother had been a good cook, but it wasn’t the food that had drawn him there. It was knowing that after dinner his grandfather would take him into his shop and show him the latest boat he was designing.
“Well, ladies. This is very good,” his grandfather said, lifting his fork in appreciation.
Megan beamed and Faith simply murmured a polite “Thank you.”
Then his grandfather turned to Adam and said, “If you were smart, you’d snap her up.” He used his knife to point in Faith’s direction. “It’s about time you got one that could cook. That last one thought mashed potatoes only came out of a box.”
Confused, Megan asked, “What last one?”
Adam cringed. He should have known that his grandfather would either say something about a past girlfriend or hint that Faith should be his current one. He’d managed to do both.
“Grandpa’s referring to a friend of mine,” he said smoothly, not missing the spark of amusement in Faith’s eyes. He decided a change of subject was in order. “If Lori wants company we’ll go visit your new cousin tomorrow.”
“At the hospital?” Megan wanted to know. “Can I miss school?”
“No, we’ll go after you get home from school,” he told her.