“I’ll be fine,” he stated, when clearly he was not. “Let’s prep dinner before I go,” he suggested.
As we prepped dinner that night, we discussed plans moving forward. “Heading back next week or so’s probably the best thing to do,” he advised. “Enough time to settle back in, enough time to figure out where things are going with Daniel.”
“Or I can stay here for a while longer, have the babies here and then head back,” I teased.
He gave me a serious look. “Be careful what you wish for,” he said, tossing the salad, then offering me a cherry tomato before placing the bowl on the table.
“I hear you,” I replied. “It’s been nice, being here with you,” I said. “The time away from Daniel’s given me pause to reflect on everything.”
“You think you’ll be happy to go back to him, pick up where you left off?” he asked. The sun-dried tomato and mushroom sauce was just about ready, as was the pasta.
“Of course not,” I replied. “If he’s to get right with me, a lot of things are going to have to change,” I stated. “For one, he needs to learn how to be a lot less controlling.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” David chimmed in.
“And a lot less insecure,” I added.
David nodded in response. “That’ll help heaps.”
Dinner was ready. We sat at the butterfly table, and held hands across the table to pray. Prepared to say grace, I was surprised when he took the initiative and prayed over our meal, for my health and for the health of the babies.
It warmed my heart that he was becoming such a Godly man. As I placed salad on his plate and then mine, I asked point blankly, “Do you still wonder whether God is on your side? Not so long ago, you mentioned that you were not sure. How do you feel now?”
Without hesitation, he said “I know He’s on my side. It’s just a matter of me working in with whatever plan he has in store for me and my future.”
I nodded in response, wishing I was so clear on what the future held for me.
“Forgiveness is another thing,” he added, putting way too much salad dressing on his lettuce, tomato and baby spinach salad. “I don’t know where that notebook’s at, but the information within is enough to open up a world of hurt and pain for so many people. At the time that I started it, I was in a place where I felt so vengeful, so consumed with hate. Now…,” his voice trailed off.
I squeezed his hand across the table. He squeezed back. “I don’t feel much of anything at all now,” he stated. “Still so many problems to be solved, and still so many unanswered questions.”
“What kind of questions?”
“The question of who my father is, for one. The question of what to do with the information I already know about him,” he said. I grew curious and wanted to know more. Reading my mind, he added, “And no, I don’t want to talk about him. Not just yet anyway.” Changing topic, he said, “So we book the return flight to Texas tonight, okay? Leave next Friday or so? Anything after then is cutting it too fine.”
The thought of going back to Texas had me conflicted. On the one hand, I wanted to get back to Daniel and see whether there was a chance to salvage our relationship. On the other hand, being here with David was a dream. The time we’d shared left me feeling renewed, refreshed and ready to take on whatever challenges would come my way. I didn’t want it to end.
David snapped his fingers. “Earth to Teme, earth to Teme,” he joked. “Let’s make the most of the time we have left,” he urged. “We could go out tonight to the local for a bit, but it don’t make sense to go anywhere else anytime soon. I’ve still got my shift at the General, and I dare say the storm will hit real soon.”
“Okay, well, we can book the tickets tonight and take it from there,” I agreed. David wanted to come back with me, to help along the way.
He washed up after dinner while I put some clothes in the laundry, and folded a few others.
“Karaoke?” he asked as he emerged from the kitchen.
“Would love to,” I replied. He raced over to the TV unit, knelt down, propped the drawer open, and pulled out a microphone before proceeding to set up the TV for karaoke.
“Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross - You are Everything?” he asked, smiling widely.
I nodded my head in approval. We went through most of Marvin Gaye’s album, followed by a few other Motown classics save for the Temptations.
“Why not?” he asked.
“Daniel. He hardly listened to any hip hop, soul or R and B but he loved the Four Tops and the Temptations.” I clarified.
“I see,” David said. The Four Tops and Temptations were your thing,” he acknowledged.
I nodded in response.
Not phased, he asked, “How about The Commodores? Can’t go past them!”
“Go for it,” I told him. I loved hearing him sing, and couldn’t think of a better way to spend the time we had left.
All was going well that evening up until the moment I received a text message from Johnny.
Hope you and the babies are well, he said. Look, I know David loved you first, but Daniel is your husband and he’s willing to change anything and everything to get back right with you.
Johnny please stay out of this, I replied.
Too late. Daniel’s as close a friend as I’ll ever get and I care about you both. I won’t stand by and watch a good thing fail, he said.
It isn’t up to you to work at us fixing our relationship, I replied.
When do you get back? he asked, sidestepping my statement.
Hope to leave next week, I told him.
He’s falling apart here, Johnny replied.
I paused before replying. He did this to himself.
He’s only human, Johnny replied.
“Everything okay?” David asked, concerned.
“Yep,” I replied, deciding not to text Johnny back.
“Daniel?” he asked.
“No. Johnny. He says Daniel’s falling apart with me being gone,” I explained.
“Hm,” David replied. “He knew what he was doing when he did it, and he needs to straighten up before the kids get here,” he reminded me. “Give him a chance to really miss you,” he advised. “Maybe then he’ll appreciate what he has.”
I agreed.
“Come, let’s do this,” he urged, keen to get back into karaoke and keep my mind off things. “It’ll all work out in the end,” he said.
16
A NEW DAY
David was dead right about the possibility of the babies arriving in the midst of a storm. The contractions started through the night, while he was on shift at the General. I can’t be in labor already, I thought, the babies are only 35 weeks old.
He returned to find me in pain, walking around the house when each contraction hit. Though he suggested a trip to the hospital, I preferred to wait it out and see where things would lead. “Now’s not the time to be stubborn,” he stated, clearly concerned. “Rest for now, and we can call into the ER for a check-up in a bit?”
“David, I’ll be fine,” I replied. “My body’s just doing its’ thing,” I said, though a little concerned about how early I was having contractions.
“Could just be Braxton Hicks, but just in case they’re not…”
“I hear you,” I replied, very aware of his concern.
“The safest place for you to be is in the hospital,” he added.
“David, will you stop?” I requested. “If it gets too much I’ll let you know, it’s probably nothing,” I promised.
“Okay,” he stated, reluctantly. “Would you at least let Michael come by and give you his opinion?” he requested.
I rolled my eyes in response.
“Please?” he begged, the concern in his eyes apparent.
“Okay,” I obliged.
“For now, take it easy,” he insisted, motioning towards the chair.
“Do I have a choice?” I joked.
“No, you don’t,” he replied.
“You’re st
arting to sound an awful lot like Daniel,” I said.
“Oh, don’t get me started,” he stated. “You can be too stubborn for your own good sometimes.”
“I understand your view though, and I respect how you feel. I’ll go in for a check-up this afternoon?” I asked. “Just after I finish painting that back door.”
He sighed heavily in response. “Do I need to hide the paintbrushes and paint to get you to stop?” he asked. “No waiting. Let’s do it now,” he said, clearly concerned.
“Alright.”
The weather was not the best. Strong winds were brewing outside, and by the time I got my bag together, it was hailing. “I’m not sure we’d make it alright. I’ll call the ambulance instead. Don’t make sense to go out right now,” David said.
I leaned against the wall, feeling every contraction run through me.
“Breathe,” he suggested, a tender hand on my shoulder. I held his hand as another contraction hit.
“I don’t think this is a trial run, it feels like the real thing,” I told him.
“I’ll time them,” he suggested, motioning for me to lie on the sofa for a moment. “Can I check how the babies are doing?” he asked, offering to palpate my belly and determine the babies’ position.
I nodded in response, another contraction surging through me like a wave.
“Breathe,” he said again, hand on my belly this time. He knelt on the floor next to me, waiting for the contraction to come to an end before he checked the position of the babies. “One of them is head down and engaged, the other…slightly at an angle above, but head down too. Good babies,” he remarked, smiling his beautiful smile.
Another contraction hit, and I gripped his hand. The pain was excruciating. It felt as though my insides were being ripped to shreds, and my back hurt terribly.
“With the spacing between your contractions, I think you’re in spontaneous labour,” he stated, rolling up his sleeves before he held my hand again. “I also think you’re in a lot of pain.”
“You think?” I interjected. “Tell me something I don’t know.”
He ignored my sarcasm. “Being in water would help with the pain,” he suggested. “Hot towels on your back would help too.”
“I can try the shower, but the thought of all that water going to waste…”
“The bath then?” he asked.
“Yes,” I said, trying to remember some of the things I’d learnt in my online hypnobirthing class. I hadn’t had a conventional pregnancy. Daniel hadn’t been there, and I’d had to see George on my own several times. The big day had come and Daniel wasn’t there. I was on my own again.
“Darling, I know it’s hard, but let go of any negative thought, any negative thinking,” he urged. “Focus on the moment. These babies. You.”
“Okay,” I said, reassured by his confidence and mere presence.
“The bath it is then,” he said, getting up quickly. “I’ll be back.”
I heard the bath running and I tried to rest for a bit, in between contractions. He came back a little flustered.
“Okay?”
“A tree’s down at the front, driveway is blocked,” he said.
“Oh,” I replied.
“Ambos can just pull up at the front, just means we can’t drive anywhere ourselves,” he said. “You’re doing well so far,” he observed.
“I have a doppler in my suitcase, can you check and see how they’re going in there?”
“A doppler?” he asked. “What are you doing with a doppler?”
“My doula recommended I get one to check on the babies from time to time,” I explained.
“Your doula?” he asked accusatorially. I knew he wouldn’t like that, so I’d kept it from him. “Keeping secrets now, are we?”
“You’re a doctor David.”
“What’s that got to do with anything?” he questioned. “I don’t see why you kept having a doula from me? I’m for anything that would help. Some things, such as you using a doppler outside consulting with a doctor may not be helpful.”
“I knew you wouldn’t be happy so I kept it from you,” I explained. “Your reaction shows you’re not happy.”
“Okay. Let’s not fight,” he said.
“No one’s fighting here, you don’t know what a fight is, until you see Daniel and I in action.”
“Yeah, I hear you,” he said briefly. “I’ll go get that doppler.”
He came back with the doppler and a glass of water with a straw.
Lifting my shirt, he applied a gel to my belly and listened in. All seemed okay.
“I’m happy for you to labour away for a while, up until the ambos get here, but hopefully we won’t be waiting here for much longer. We need you to get to the hospital.” Wiping the gel off my belly with a tissue, then rolling my shirt back down he advised, “I might call Michael and see whether he can give us a lift. Neighbours are away, and I can’t get in touch with the guys on call at the General.”
“Isn’t the General just 20 minutes away?” I asked.
“It is. But I’m being told access roads are blocked off due to flash flooding. Might be easier to get to Buderim Private if we go Rosemount way, down the mountain.”
I felt a little anxious, then he held my hand again. “It’ll be fine. Babies are doing fine,” he said. Though he was calm, I could feel the anxiety in him. “Time you get ready to hop into the bath,” he said, helping me up. Another contraction hit and I leaned into him. He held me close, applying counter pressure to my back until the contraction waned. We stood there for a while before he asked, “You good?”
I nodded in response. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure,” he said. “It truly is an honour.” Offering me his hand, he stated, “Come. The bath awaits.”
He leaned over the bath, emptying some water and refilling with hot water as the water he’d put in previously had cooled down.
Another contraction hit, and I leaned against the wall again. He met me there, and beckoned me to lean into him, applying counter pressure to my lower back again. Once the contraction had waned, he tended to the bath again.
I stripped down to my bra and underwear, remembering I had a bikini packed in my suitcase. I stopped short and decided to go get it.
“Wait, wait wait, where are you going?” he asked.
“To get my bikini from the suitcase.”
“I’ll get it,” he offered.
Had Daniel been with me, I would have stripped down completely, but David wasn’t Daniel, and I didn’t want to be a temptation.
He returned in no time. “So you have me rummaging through your undies now,” he said. “Daniel’s not going to like that.”
“That sounds all wrong,” I laughed and he winked.
“Go on,” he urged, turning his back.
I changed quickly and got into the bath. He knelt by the edge, encouraging me to breathe through each contraction.
“Better?” he asked.
“Much better,” I told him.
“Well, I’d love to see you naked but now’s obviously not an appropriate time,” he said, half serious.
“David!” I exclaimed, flinging a little water off my fingertips and onto his face.
He laughed heartily, wiping the water off with the back of his hand.
“Credit where credit is due. At least you’re being honest,” I said. “At least you know how to make me laugh.”
“That and then some,” he remarked. “I’m completely wrapped you’ve gone into labour and I’m the one to support you through this.”
I could only smile in return.
“I’ve got a bone to pick with these babies though. They couldn’t have chosen a better place or time to look at coming into the world!” he said sarcastically.
“That’s Daniel all over,” I commented. “Marching to the beat of his own drum, going against the grain.”
“That’s so funny,” he laughed. “Funny but it’s true.” He glanced at his watch again. “Speaking of D
aniel, I rang him. He’s not in Texas. Apparently he hasn’t been there for days. Must be on his way down here,” he guessed. “I left a message.”
It was reassuring, but disturbing in ways. If he’d been out of Texas for days, he’d been lying to me when we last spoke on the phone. The contractions suddenly felt stronger and unbearable. I decided to come out of the bath.
“You’ve been in the bath all but five minutes, are you really done?”
“Yes,” I replied curtly. The contractions had changed, and I wanted to be elsewhere as the water didn’t appear to be helping.
When I stood up, my waters broke, and not long after, I felt the urge to push. David’s face suddenly turned pale. “That’s a lot of blood now. Ambos should be here by now but they’re not. It’s probably easier…” he broke off, helping me out of the bath.
“Where to?” he asked.
“Anywhere else but here,” was my response.
“Okay,” he said, handing me a towel, and nervously scrambling for a few more.
“Need to keep you warm,” he said. “Try to rest for a bit while we wait for the ambos or Michael to come around.”
He threw a few towels onto the bed and encouraged me to lie there on my side. “Breathe through them. Breathe,” he urged, as another contraction hit. He was getting increasingly concerned but said very little and maintained a calm demeanour.
I couldn’t lie there on my side, so sat upright, at an angle. He hopped onto the bed, and sat next to me, encouraging me to lean into him.
“I feel I’m going to be sick,” I told him, making a dash to the toilet.
When I finished, he was there at the door, looking in on me. “You’re doing amazing,” he said, offering me his hand and leading me back to the bedroom.
On the bed, he sat behind me and braced my pain. With each contraction I leant into him and he held me, encouraging me to breathe deeply and work with the pain to help the babies descend. Birthing was an incredibly intimate experience, one which I’d hoped to share with Daniel, yet here we were, David and I, juxtaposed against all odds, juxtaposed in an intimate life changing moment, in time.
I suddenly felt the urge to push and stripped off my bikini bottom. I threw a towel across my legs for modesty. David caught the fleeting moment of nudity but said nothing. There was no doubt that the babies were coming out now.
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