Through the Darkness
Page 21
"And tell you bad jokes?"
She nodded, her lips bending in a teary smile, "Yes."
True to his word, Everett remained at Elyria's side over the next several hours, holding her hand and doing his best to comfort her in any way he could through each contraction.
When the clock in the main room chimed 8:00 that night, and progress seemed to have stalled, Elyria fell into an exhausted yet fitful slumber.
Another hour passed before the next pain hit harder than the others, and the cycle started all over again. Doc hurried into the room, waited for the pain to ease, then checked her to see how she was progressing.
By midnight Doc had everyone in position and Elyria began pushing. When her strength failed, Everett helped prop her up with his body until she managed to push the first baby free.
A quick smack to the rump had the infant crying in outrage.
"It's a boy," Doc exclaimed with a wide grin, "and a healthy set of lungs by the sound of him." After clamping and cutting the cord with swift and efficient movements, Doc handed him over to Daphne who worked at cleaning and swaddling him.
His angry newborn cries soon settled to a mewling whimper. The sound brought a rush of tears to Everett's eyes and a swell of overflowing love to his heart.
Leaning down, he pressed a kiss to his wife's sweaty brow. "We have a son, Pegleg."
Elyria gasped and panted, her lips curling into a pleased smile. Closing her eyes on a sigh that quickly turned to a groan, her face turned red, and a vein near her temple popped out from the strain when she began pushing once more.
Daphne handed baby number one to Sally and resumed her place at Doc's side until baby number two made its appearance.
Elyria groaned and grunted, giving one last deep push.
A gush of liquid and the tiny baby slid free of her mother into Doc's waiting arms, "A girl." He worked furiously to clamp and cut the cord, a grim look of determination on his face as he tried to help her take the first breath. "Come on, little one."
Everett's heart pounded against his chest, and fear caused his limbs to quake. Words froze on his tongue. Tears stung his eyes and fell freely down his face. Breathe, he silently pleaded, BREATHE.
Minutes passed in agonizing silence.
Elyria started to weep and covered her face with her hands.
Everett choked back a sob and bowed his head in anguish. But then out of the corner of his eye, he saw her tiny limbs stir. He believed it to be a cruel trick of his imagination born of grief and desperation until her soft mewling cry grew into a loud wail.
"There she is," Doc said in a voice thick with emotion. He met Everett's tearful gaze and smiled, "She lives."
"Can we hold them?" Elyria whispered breathlessly, reaching out her trembling arms.
Doc nodded and motioned Sally over to Everett with baby number one. "Give Daphne a moment to get your daughter presentable while you two get acquainted with your little boy…" he said gently. "And I'll work on getting the rest of this finished and cleaned up. I just need one small push from you…excellent job…and there we go."
Everett stared down at the delicate little face of his son and smiled in wonder and disbelief. "He has thick and curly bright red hair, just like you, Pegleg…and the longest fingers I've ever seen."
"He'll be tall like his daddy," Daphne said with a smile.
Everett glanced up, then back down at the child in his arms, "D'you think so?" Caressing a gentle finger down the side of his son's cheek, he whispered with a shake of his head, "How is it possible to love two new people so deeply when we've only just met?"
Daphne came over, a wide grin on her face and tears in her eyes as she helped him cradle both infants in his arms. "They're perfect." She smoothed a gentle hand over the thick, dark head of hair on baby number two. "El, I believe your daughter has your nose."
Wincing as Doc finished cleaning her up, Elyria gave a tired smile, and said weakly, "All ten fingers and toes too?"
"Yes," Daphne murmured, grabbing Elyria's right hand, "and she has the same heart-shaped mole as your mother below her left ear."
"Can everyone please leave the room—except for you Daphne, I need your assistance," Doc said.
It wasn't so much what Doc said, but how he said it that shattered Everett's blissful bubble and made him look up. Having served in the war with the older man, he knew when Doc was trying to remain calm amid something going wrong.
What Everett saw would haunt him for the rest of his life, forever remembered as the moment his joyful existence came crashing down around him.
Cradling his children to his chest, Everett wept.
Epilogue
Sunday, April 3, 1921
My Dearest Pegleg,
Daphne finally wore me down and managed to persuade me to write to you. I’ll admit knowing you’ll never read this makes me feel foolish, and I’ve half a mind to throw it in the bin this instant.
I’ve sat at my desk, staring at this paper for several hours tonight, choosing the words I allow my pen to scratch with such meticulous care that one would think I was writing a speech to be read before the world and recorded in the annals of history.
Do I talk of the day you left? No, I shrink from those memories. And yet, I struggle in speaking of what it’s like now that you’re gone.
There’s not a moment this past year where I haven’t thought of you, pined for you, or ached for another day with you. But even I know the wisdom in heaven refusing such a wish. Should it ever be granted, I’d be incapable of allowing you to leave me again.
Are you watching over us? I admit there have been times I felt you so keenly I’ve been sure you were here with me.
Oh, how I miss you. The word doesn’t express how deeply we feel your absence.
I love you; I’ll always love you.
Forever yours,
Everett
Other titles by B.C. Yancey:
Lost and Found
Breathe Again
Reluctant Berserker: Book One in the Isaacson Trilogy
Fearless Warrior: Book Two in the Isaacson Trilogy
Reckless Protector: Book Three in the Isaacson Trilogy
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