by CJ Murphy
***
Laurel watched Val rush out of the room in a panic, happy she’d finally given in to her grandmother’s prodding’s to call her Gram. Gram had even shed a tear the first time she’d done it. Laurel chuckled, and one of the babies gave her a swift kick to the ribs. “All right, you two, settle down. We need to make it to the hospital before you two decide to make your appearance and your momma passes out.” She sat up on the edge of the bed and rubbed her side.
Gram came in the room, smiling from ear-to-ear and shaking her head. “You’d think that Viking was carrying these babies. I’ve never seen her so flustered. Did ya see her shirt?” Ree was pointing to her own buttons. “She went to get the Jeep. I’ve called Beth. She’s going to meet us there, and she’s calling Amanda. How are the contractions?”
Laurel felt her grandmother’s soothing hand rub her lower back. “Not too bad now that I know what they are. They’re pretty far apart.”
“Val said your water broke?”
Laurel grimaced as a contraction hit. “Yes, I was rolling over.”
Ree shook her head and helped Laurel stand. “Let’s get you changed, Liebchen.”
Laurel hugged her and let out a sigh. “Changed and then a lot less pregnant if you don’t mind. Thanks, Gram, I couldn’t do this without you.”
***
Val flew out of the Jeep, nearly forgetting to put it in park before she tried to get out. She fumbled trying to get the door open, accidentally locking herself in. She ran a shaky hand through her hair and took a deep breath. “Staring down the Taliban wasn’t this terrifying.” She bounded back up the ramp and into the house. Gram and Laurel were coming down the hall. She quickly made her way to her wife’s side. “Just breathe, in and out. Slow.”
Laurel shook her head. “Val?”
“Yes?”
“Momma, take your own advice or you’ll be the one passing out before your children arrive.” Laurel laughed and put her hand to her cheek. “Calm down, we have time.”
Val took a deep breath and shook her head. She couldn’t help being nervous and excited. She was about to become ‘Momma’ to someone. Two someones. At the same time, she was scared to death for her wife. The babies were early. The doctors told them they mostly likely would be. She calmed herself, knowing Laurel needed her to be strong, not a stark raving lunatic. She kissed Laurel and again took a deep settling breath.
Laurel nodded. “That’s better. Now let’s go before I have these babies at home.”
Val’s stomach dropped. She leaned down and whispered to Laurel’s belly. “Don’t you dare.”
They piled into the Jeep and made their way to Garrett Memorial where Laurel was admitted to the Labor and Delivery unit. Amanda was there, as was Beth. They sat in the comfortable room decorated in pastels and furnished with small home-style touches, like a sofa and some recliners. Laurel rested in bed and Val sat next to her, holding her hand.
Doctor Brannigan came in, looking at the monitors and Laurel’s chart. She turned to the couple and grinned. “I thought we were planning on keeping those two baking a little while longer.”
Laurel rubbed her belly. “I think they have other plans.”
“So it seems.” She made a note on the chart. “We’ll watch you for a while, monitor their heartbeats, and as long as they don’t drop, we’ll try to let them come on their own terms. If it drops, we’ll have to take them by cesarean. I need to see how far you’re dilated.”
Doctor Brannigan examined Laurel and gave them the results, saying she was two centimeters. It would be a while. They sat through the next several hours. Val’s nerves stretched thin, and Laurel sent her on several errands just to get her out of the room. The contractions came closer and closer together. Finally, Doctor Brannigan came back and examined Laurel again.
“Okay, I think it’s time we bring these two into the world.” Dr. Brannigan smiled. “We’re going to take you to the OR in case we have to change direction in the middle of the stream.”
Val’s head buzzed, and she felt sick.
Laurel squeezed her hand. “Honey, it’s going to be okay.”
Val tried to put on a brave face. Her fear that something would happen to Laurel or the babies was overwhelming. She took a deep breath and gave Laurel a tremulous smile. “I know.”
Doctor Brannigan released the brake on the hospital bed. “Okay, you two, let’s go have some babies.”
As they readied Laurel to be moved, Amanda stood and walked to Val’s side. She rested her hand in the small of Val’s back. “It’s going to be okay.”
Val melted into her mother’s reassurance. She felt part of the tension leave her body, and her resolve strengthened. She stepped up to the bedside. Looking down at Laurel, she kissed her lips. “I love you. Let’s go meet our kids.”
A few hours later, a grinning Val came into the waiting room, dressed in pale blue scrubs adorned with zoo animals. She pulled off the surgical cap and looked at her family that sat before her. “They’re fine, both of them. Anastasia Marie weighs four pounds, three ounces, and Johann weighs four pounds, four ounces.”
“Did they have to do the C-section?” Ree asked, her hands clasped in front of her chest.
Val breathed a sigh of relief and leaned on the doorframe to rest. “No, they behaved themselves and came into this world the way we’d hoped.”
Ree wrung her hands. “And Laurel?”
Val stretched out her hand and took the older woman’s weathered ones in hers. “Exhausted, but right as rain. In an hour or so, she can have visitors one at a time. Ree, we got permission for you to see her now.”
They made their way to Laurel’s room and found her dozing with a double bassinet beside her. The babies were bundled up, foreheads touching, sleeping peacefully. Val gazed down at her children and then over to her wife, who’d opened her eyes. She reached for Laurel’s hand, and her heart filled with an overwhelming joy. Ree bent down to kiss both of her great grandchildren, tears trickling down the wrinkled cheeks. She picked up her namesake, Anastasia Marie.
Val couldn’t believe how fortunate she was. If not for the love of Laurel and Ree, she might never have known what being a family truly was. She blessed the day she’d rode into the parking lot of the Cool Springs Store. She thought she ought to alter the sign out front. Good food, groceries, ice cream, hardware, feed store, taxidermy, gifts, gas and ‘family.’ Somewhere that sign needed to reflect that love could be found, not on the shelves, but in the people who graced its visitors. Looking at her family, Val was grateful for the day she climbed off Maggie May and found that, frame by frame, she had finally come home.
About CJ Murphy
I grew up a voracious reader, feeding my imagination with books. I spent hours exploring the woods around my farm, pretending I was “Hawk-eye”, surviving in the wilderness. I climbed into the hayloft of our barn, looking for “Charlotte” among the spider webs. Later, I looked in every wardrobe I could trying to find “Narnia and Aslan”. As an adult, I can still remember reading my first novel with a lesbian character and how it made me feel to finally identify in an entirely new way. It completely opened my world.
My adventure into writing came at the suggestion of my wife. Several years ago, she asked me to write her a story. I began crafting her personalized gifts for holidays and special occasions, by writing stories for her. I’d weave in pieces and parts of our life. My brain started asking “what if” after she mentioned forgetting I’d written the story until something sounded familiar.
My wife and I are part owners of an active produce farm and a U Pick strawberry operation on my wife’s family land, all while I continue into my twenty fifth year as a full-time firefighter. On top of all that, we built our dream home in 2016, on property we’ve been clearing and preparing for fourteen years. Now we reside on 221 acres of woodland in the mountains of West Virginia, with three cats as I pine away for another promised Border Collie. We love to go watch our Mountaineers, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Steelers. W
e love leading our great niece and nephews on adventures to fuel their imagination and creativity, as we watch them grow.
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Bright Blessings