“Hey there, good-looking,” Katie said, as if nothing in the world was wrong.
“Welcome back,” Rainey said, trying to appear calm.
“I’m sorry, Rainey. I know I scared you. It scared the hell out of me when everything started to fade to black.”
Rainey came to the side of the bed, took Katie’s hand, and kissed her on the cheek. “I’m glad you’re feeling better.”
Katie patted her belly. “Well, I guess I’m going to have to deprive you just a bit longer. Our plans for the evening have changed. It appears our children are ready to make their entrance.”
“The doctor says I can’t be in there with you, but I’ll be right outside the door. By the way, your mom wanted me to tell you she loves you.”
A nurse pulled the curtain back. “It’s time, Katie. We have to move you now.”
Katie squeezed Rainey’s hand tightly. “I’ll see you in a bit. I love you, Rainey Bell. Promise me you will remember that.”
Rainey kissed Katie gently on the lips and choked on the only word she could manage, “Always.”
#
Rainey went back to the waiting room to give everyone a full report on Katie’s condition and what would happen next. She was surprised to find the handsome heart surgeon, Dr. John Herndon, talking to Katie’s parents. John was Rainey’s stepfather, and although they were never really close, she liked him. He turned at Rainey’s approach and smiled.
“I had an emergency surgery here at the Women’s hospital and I saw Katie’s name go up on the operating room board. I thought I might find you here,” he said.
Rainey shook his extended hand, still a bit befuddled by his presence. She didn’t think he knew about Katie’s pregnancy. She forgot that Katie’s parents traveled in the same social circles as her mother and John did.
He continued, “Melanie has been keeping me informed as the pregnancy progressed. I’m very happy for you, Rainey. I explained what’s going on with Katie to everyone and I’d like to escort you to the operating theater, if you’ll let me.”
Rainey nodded that it was okay.
John turned to the rest of group. “If you’ll follow me, I’ll take you to the nursery waiting room.”
Rainey couldn’t summon the words to express all that she was feeling. Fear, excitement, anxiety washed over her, and she was glad to have someone with her who knew what was going on. She had lost the ability to think, simply going through the motions, as Ernie placed a hand in her back and pushed her after her stepfather. The rest of the extended family followed her out of the waiting room to the elevators. Mackie took the stairs. His excitement could not overcome his fear of elevators. Tim and Kenneth said they would follow later, saying they needed to go somewhere first.
As the doors slid shut, Rainey looked at her stepfather. “Does my mother know?”
John smiled at her. “It’s your place to tell her, Rainey. As for me, I’m very much looking forward to being a grandfather, if you approve.”
Rainey smiled and felt the genuine love this man had for her. He was always kind and took her turning away from him at age ten to embrace her biological father in stride. “Yes, John. I think you’ll make a wonderful grandfather.”
The next few minutes were a blur. John stayed with her while she put on the sterile gown and booties. He helped her capture her thick, wavy, chestnut hair into a cap. He talked her quietly through what was happening and reassured her that the babies and Katie were in the best of hands. When the time came, John stood by her as she waited outside the operating room doors. He was gowned and gloved, as well. It seemed like an eternity to Rainey, but it had only been minutes, when Dr. Hutson’s head nurse, Jill, pushed her way out of the doors. She dropped the mask from her face and looked very serious. Rainey’s heart dropped. Jill smiled to cover something.
“Congratulations, Rainey. You have three healthy beautiful babies.”
“Thank God,” Rainey said, her knees almost buckling, and then asked quickly, “What about Katie?”
Jill looked at John, as if she needed him to interpret for Rainey. “Her blood pressure crashed when we put her under. Her heart stopped momentarily, but we were able to recover a strong beat almost instantly. Her pressure stabilized as soon as the placenta was removed. Dr. Hutson is finishing up with her now.”
Rainey’s stepfather faced her. “I’ll go in and check on her, but Rainey, I’m sure she’s fine now. You go see those sweet babies.” He started to back through the operating room doors, stopping to place his mask over his face. He winked at Rainey. “I know I’m going to love those babies as much as I’ve loved you.”
Rainey choked on her words. “I love you, too.”
Jill placed a hand on Rainey’s gowned elbow and said, “Come on, let’s go meet your children.”
Rainey stood over three tiny beds in the neonatal intensive care unit, where Jill said the babies would remain for a few days because they were full term triplets, but premature in terms of normal pregnancies. Three tiny, wrinkled, pink bodies squirmed in front of her. Ernie had been right. Rainey was overwhelmed with awe and yes, she instantly fell in love with them. Her heart swelled and the tears began rolling down her cheeks. She only wished Katie had been with her when she saw them. A young doctor stood next to her, giving her a moment to take it all in.
Finally, he said, “The two boys are both four and half pounds, a good weight for triplets. The little girl is a bit smaller at four-point-two pounds. They are extremely healthy, and should put on weight fast. I anticipate they will be moved to the non-intensive unit within a day or two. Since the mother had some complications, she will not be able to breast-feed right away and you’re probably going to have to supplement the breast milk with formula. We’re going to let you feed them soon.”
“Me?” Rainey said, truly disbelieving. “Shouldn’t Katie do it first?”
One of the boys started to fuss loudly. The other two joined in the chorus. The doctor’s eyes wrinkled into a smile Rainey could not see under his sterile mask. “Looks like they don’t want to wait for Mom. We’ll have them ready in a few minutes.”
Rainey looked at the nurse who brought her to the nursery. “I’d like to see Katie, if I could.”
“I’ll go check,” the nurse answered.
One of the NICU nurses approached Rainey. “We need names for these little darlings. Do you have them picked out already?”
Katie and Rainey knew they were having two boys and a girl. They batted about names for months and finally agreed. Rainey looked at the two boys. She only knew they were the boys because of the blue stocking caps on their heads. It was obvious already that the babies were all different. One of the boys had a few dark hairs peeking from under his cap; the other boy’s hair was lighter. The girl’s peach fuzz blond hair showed a little just over her ears. Rainey was sure the girl had Katie’s blue eyes, but when she opened them to protest having another nurse prodding her, Rainey saw that they were green.
“She has green eyes,” Rainey whispered in amazement.
The nurse beside her said, “Yes, she does. Most babies have pale colored eyes that darken into the color they will be during the first year. Those eyes are already emerald green. She’s going to be a looker for sure. So what is that beautiful girl’s name?”
“Weather Anne Bell Meyers,” Rainey answered.
“And the boys?”
Rainey hated to make this decision. Which one was which? The dark haired one opened his eyelids and blue eyes looked back at her, squinting in displeasure at the lights. His deep-throated cry was louder than the other two.
“That one is William McKinney Bell Meyers and this one is Timothy Earnest Bell Meyers.”
“Okay, we’ll get their little armbands ready and here’s one for you, so they’ll let you back in. No one comes in these units without proper ID.”
“That’s good,” Rainey said, and knew from that moment on she would safeguard these babies with her life, as she did their mother. More tears started falli
ng.
The nurse looked up at Rainey. “Honey, I know you’re overwhelmed.”
Rainey stuttered out. “I… I didn’t expect it to hit me like this. I can’t imagine life without them now. Wow. I have kids.”
Jill stuck her masked face in the door and called to Rainey, “Katie’s coming around now. Come on, I’ll take you to her and then you can come back to feed the babies. I think there are a few volunteers to help you with that, too.”
Rainey followed Jill to the recovery room. Katie was lying with her eyes closed. Jill gently pushed Rainey in the back.
“Go on, talk to her. She’s just resting. She might be a little out of it, but she’s rallying.”
Rainey stepped to the side of the bed. Katie looked so small now, the covers no longer forming a tent over her abdomen. She took Katie’s hand in hers and leaned down to kiss her on the forehead. Katie’s eyes fluttered open.
Rainey grinned uncontrollably. Katie was going to be fine, the babies were beautiful and healthy, all was right with the world.
“Hey there, Mom. Our children are incredibly beautiful,” Rainey said, and the tears started again.
Katie smiled. “I want to see them.”
Rainey turned back to Jill. “When can she see them?”
“The doctor cleared her to be rolled down there as soon as she recovered enough from the procedure, which from the notes here on her chart appears to be now. She needs to hold them and bond with them as soon as possible.”
Katie perked up. “Well, let's do it then.”
Rainey squeezed Katie’s hand. “I love you, you know. Just want to get that in before you fall head over heels for these kids.”
“They’ll just make me love you more, Rainey.”
Rainey smiled. “Yeah, I know the feeling.”
#
Katie was rolled down the hall on her bed. She wasn’t ready to sit all the way up, but reclined at an angle, holding Rainey’s hand the whole way. When they entered the sterile room where the babies were waiting for her, Katie clamped down on Rainey’s hand at the sight of them. The NICU nurses placed the babies in Katie’s arms, as Rainey stood over her. Katie began to cry softly, beholding the wonders she held in her arms.
She looked up at Rainey. “They’re beautiful, sweetheart. Just look at them.”
Rainey pointed to each in turn. “That one is William McKinney, that one is Timothy Ernest, and this beautiful little girl is Weather. I hope you don’t mind that I went ahead and named them. You didn’t think of new names or anything, did you?”
“No, honey. You named them perfectly.” Katie gasped, when Weather opened her eyes. “She has your eyes, Rainey.”
Rainey chuckled. “It’s a miracle, but yes she does.”
Rainey stood back as the NICU nurses pulled Katie’s gown open, leaving her breast partially covered, and positioned the babies so they were each touching some of Katie’s skin. They started to nuzzle and kick, the little girl going at it with an open mouth, searching for what she instinctively knew came next.
“This will help them get ready to feed, but we’ll keep your breasts covered until the doctor clears you to breastfeed. They are going to be eating both ways, so we’ll help you out for the time being with formula,” one nurse explained.
The other nurse moved three rockers into position beside the bed, saying, “Katie, you’re not quite out of the anesthesia yet, so you’re going to have help with this first feeding. Corinne there will stand by you and support one of the babies.” She looked at Rainey. “And you and Katie’s mother will sit here and feed the other two.”
“Who’s the other chair for?” Rainey asked.
The nurse shrugged. “I was told the other grandmother was coming too, in case Katie was too weak to handle the first feeding.”
Rainey fully expected Ernie to enter the room behind Melanie, as just then the door opened and Katie’s sterile gowned mother flew to her side. Rainey missed much of what was said between them, because she was too stunned to move. Constance Herndon, Rainey’s estranged mother, was now standing in front of her, draped in a yellow gown, a sterile mask hanging around her neck.
“What are you doing here?” Rainey finally said.
Melanie turned from Katie and answered, as Rainey watched Constance take in the sight of the babies and Katie. “I asked her to come in here with me, so she could hear all of what the nurses had to say about feeding these precious babies. You and Katie are going to need all the help you can get.”
Rainey was a little wary, understandably. Her mother had been less than supportive of most everything Rainey had done since the age of ten. She didn’t expect this to be any different, but a miraculous transformation was taking place right before her eyes. Constance Herndon was smiling as tears flowed down her face. Rainey could actually see her mother’s chest rise, as her heart grew to twice its size.
“Oh Rainey, they are beautiful,” she said. “I remember the first time your father and I saw you. What a wonderful day that was.”
Rainey had never heard her mother say a kind thing about her father. Maybe these babies were already working magic.
Her mother continued, “I so wish Billy could be here. He would be so proud.”
Constance looked up at her daughter and for the first time in thirty-one years, Rainey thought she really meant it when she said, “I love you, Rainey. I’m sorry I forced you away. Can you forgive me? Can we just start over?”
“Yes, you can,” Katie said, from the bed.
Rainey felt the ice begin to crack around the place where she stored all of her feelings for her mother. Rainey cleared her throat. “Well, I’ve never believed in miracles until today, so one more can’t hurt, but before you make up your mind to accept me for who I am, I need you to understand this completely. These are my children and Katie is going to be my wife in every sense of the word, if she’ll have me.”
Rainey pulled out the little red box from her pocket and crossed to Katie. She opened the box, because Katie’s arms were full, and pulled out the ring she had made. Two white diamonds twinkled on either side of a blue diamond sparkling in the middle. Rainey held up the ring so Katie could see it.
“The color for December gems is blue for the babies' birth month and the white diamonds represent us. I love you, Katherine Anne Meyers. I’d like to make an honest woman out of you and if you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to marry you.”
“I would have never pegged you for the dramatic mushy type, Rainey Bell,” Katie said, grinning. “Yes, I’ll marry you, you old softy.”
There wasn’t a dry eye in the room when Rainey slipped the ring on her finger. Even Constance, who Rainey never thought would come around, had tears streaming down her cheeks. Rainey heard tapping on the glass that looked into the room from the private viewing area and saw the entire extended family beaming on the other side of the glass. Everyone was crying. Tim and Kenneth held up hands full of cigars, as tears trailed down their faces. Even Mackie was crying as he hugged Ernie and Henry to his sides. Ernie smiled and blew a kiss to Rainey and Katie. Helena was hugging Rainey’s stepfather, balling into his sleeve.
That’s when Rainey saw Maria hugging Clarissa, both of them smiling and crying along with everyone else. Rainey wasn’t very religious, but she’d prayed often in her life when she needed extra help from somewhere. She looked around at her new family, taking in each face one by one. She turned back to Katie, who was holding their future in her arms. She leaned down to kiss Katie on the lips.
Rainey whispered, “Now, I do believe in miracles.”
Katie smiled up at her. “You’re my miracle Rainey Bell and I will love you, always.”
“Always,” Rainey repeated.
Rainey heard one of the nurses say, “And God bless us, every one!”
Merry Christmas from Bell-Meyers family - Rainey, Katie, Mack, Timothy (not Tim, soon to be shortened to whatever Rainey can come up with that won’t send Katie into orbit,) and Weather.
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R. E. Bradshaw, Rainey's Christmas Miracle
Rainey's Christmas Miracle Page 4